It's the End of the Summer as We Know it

It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here. That will happen when you try to fit a zillion things into the last weeks of summer.

The first things we had to fit in were the annual hand foot and mouth disease ritual. I find this odd since most (but not all) kids only get this once and most kids don't get it over the age of 5. Nonetheless, both kids had it last year and both kids got it this year.

Jane's hand foot and mouth disease coincided with Chris' twisted intestine. Here's how it went down: we went to swim lessons one day and everything was fine. I pulled Jane out of the pool at the end and she was suddenly covered with spots. Chris' stomach was hurting during swim lessons so he went to the doctor afterwards and was later admitted to the hospital for two days. Chris' tummy eventually untwisted and Jane's spots went away. We went to work for most of one day only to have Emily come down with a fever for about two hours that day. She never had any more symptoms, but she got a freebie sick day out of the deal.

Luckily, Chris was able to get better in time for his birthday. His appetite had returned so he needed some birthday cinnamon rolls:

And cake:

                                     

This is why Chris runs. Don't let him tell you otherwise. 

We got him a bike so we can finally go on bike rides as a family (or at least that's how it works in my head. Reality may turn out slightly differently)

I proudly put it together all by myself. When Chris took it into the bicycle shop to have the brakes and gears adjusted, the guy at the shop very politely let him know he'd throw in a handlebar adjustment while he was at it. It turns out I'm not great at putting together bikes.

The next day was Jane's annual checkup at the Children's hospital. We always try to have a little fun while we're in Denver for her appointments and this time we took it up a notch and had a lot of fun. We visited the zoo, where my children were unable to walk in the heat.

We were able to see almost every animal including this super adorable snow leopard baby that is probably already big enough to kill me. 

Jane sought relief from the heat at the bottom of a yard o'Icee. 

The next day we went to Elitch Gardens, where it was even hotter than it had been the day before. Emily was thrilled. She loves rides of every sort. Jane was consistently reluctant to enjoy and frequently angry. 

Probably due in no small part to the heat, which we tried to alleviate by going on this ride.
       

Which worked out well until the end when there is a shameless display of gratuitous soaking in the form of what feels like a fire hose. 

While it may have saved us from heatstroke, it resulted in a very soggy day.

During which we rode on a lot of rides that were uncomfortably small for the adult types.

And a few very tame ones. 

All the while, Emily, who boasts 48'' of height now, was chomping at the bit to go on rides like this:

Which Jane was prohibited from due to her height and immaturity. Probably for the best.

Now we are all exhausted both in a physical sense and a work-leave sense. Needless to say, we are sticking around for awhile which, at this point, is just fine by me.

Coming attraction: First Day of School.