Summer is in full swing and the Banks' Water Park is open! Livi loves all kinds of water and being outside, so having that water table is win-win!
This week, we went on our first family road trip to Gatlinburg to celebrate Grandma's Sue's 60th birthday. We rented a cabin in the Smokey Mountains for a nice long weekend with Grandma, PaPa, Uncle Drew, Aunt Lisa, Charlotte (Drew and Lisa's dog), and Tinker. I have to admit I was a little bit nervous about the drive, but Livi did great! The cabin was beautiful and had a great set-up so we all had plenty of room. Livi wanted so badly to get into the hot tub at the cabin, but had to settle for just putting her hands in. She also used those little hands to dig right into Grandma's birthday cake!
There was also a very nice pool near our cabin. It even met Livi's high standards and was perfect for wearing her out before naptime.
We did venture out and into downtown Gatlinburg. We started with a ride on the aerial tram up to Ober Gatlinburg. The view was amazing! Livi loved riding on the cars and train at the top (although, she was a little unsure at first!).
After our trip to the top of the mountains, it was time for dinner. Grandma Sue had said all she wanted for her birthday was for all of us to have dinner together, which is normally kind of tricky since we are all so spread out. But, since we were finally all in the same town for a few days it was considerably easier! It was also Grandma and PaPa's 39th wedding anniversary. All the more reason to celebrate!
Sunday was Father's Day. Livi loves her Daddy very much and we're both pretty lucky to have him around. We made another trip to downtown Gatlinburg to do a little bit of shopping . One very important stop was to the "Donut Friar." Josh has many, many fond memories of visiting the shop with his Grandma Rose to get their special cinnamon bread. It definitely lived up to Josh's recollections! Getting some ice cream and other tasty treats was also a pretty fun way to spend the afternoon.
Livi was also happy to be give her gifts to PaPa on Father's Day. He's pretty good at reading stories and spoiling his granddaughter. He also gives a pretty mean pony ride!
After all the fun we had, it was time to head home so Grandma, PaPa, and Livi could cheer on the Blackhawks.
Unfortunately, on the drive home we noticed Olivia was getting more and more irritable. She also felt warm and when I took her temperature it was over 100. We gave her a little ibuprofen to make her comfortable and continued the long drive home. The next morning her fever climbed to 103 and she was wheezing. We took her to the doctor and discovered she had bronchitis. After a breathing treatment (an experience that was awful for all involved) we headed home where Olivia finally got some rest. The next day the wheezing seemed to get worse, so we went back to the doctor who agreed that it had gotten worse. He gave her the equivalent of a liquid inhaler which thankfully helped after a few days. It was by far one of the more scary illnesses Olivia has had. Between the high fever and wheezing it really seemed to have her down for the count.
Another unfortunate symptom of the bronchitis was her decreased appetite. That is until we took her to Noodles & Co. for one of her favorites - Mac N Cheese. She happily and eagerly made the clean bowl club!
Later that week, we went to the dentist. Let's just say Olivia is not a big fan of the dentist quite yet. But the ladies there do an excellent job of getting us in and out quickly so it's not too traumatic. The office is also decorated very cute with lots of beach and surf items, so hopefully that will eventually win this beachy girl over.
Finally to help cheer us up, Auntie Carrie came to visit for the weekend! She also brought her dog, Sophie. Livi is such an animal lover that it's always nice to have a peppy, friendly dog in the house. She was also pretty attached to Carrie too. She woke up the morning after she left and said, "Where's Care-we?"
No comments:
Post a Comment