Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Connor's twin brother Trevor


Connor has had a wonderful attitude about our move and has done a good job socializing and making new friends. He's probably done the best of everyone with the move. That said, he still does miss some of his good buddies from the old neighborhood. This Saturday, Rachel invited Paige to go to lunch with them, and Andrea was planning to drop Paige off in our old neighborhood. Andrea got to thinking that it would be a good time to pick up Trevor for the day and thankfully Gina (Trevor's mom) agreed that it would work. We kept it a secret until Sunday morning, and Andrea surprised both kids with the plans.

Paige had a fun time with Kennedy, and Connor enjoyed hanging out with Trevor all day. I did the tennis clinics in the morning at the club and then Andrea met me at the beach with the boys. They played in the ocean for a little while and then we all had lunch. Connor wanted us to tell everyone they were twin brothers and we played along with them. It was pretty easy to assume they were brothers, their hair color and skin color is identical. Their eyes are different, but other than that they do look very similar.


Rachel and Chad dropped Paige off in the afternoon and Gina and Mark came to pick up Trevor. We gave a couple tours of the new house, which is almost complete. We went to Cantina for dinner with the Haskins and it was a nice opportunity to catch up with them and hear about everything that's been happening in the old neighborhood.


I'm thankful that Connor and Paige both got to spend time with some friends and thankful that Andrea is so thoughtful to put together fun days for them.

Finding Dori party


The kids went to a "Finding Dori" themed party at the beach club. There were a bunch of kids that went and Paige was excited that Abby, who lives in our neighborhood and rides their bus, was there too. The kids did a scavenger hunt, ate dinner, did some artwork, and played some games with everyone. Andrea and I went out to dinner and did a little shopping. When we picked them up, they were playing "Duck Duck Goose" and they were pretty wound up and in great moods.

Haircut for Chloe


Chloe finally got a proper haircut this past week. She was getting pretty shaggy lately. Grandma Alice had trimmed her a bit early in the summer and poor Chloe Bear was overdue for a real haircut. She can actually see now and hopefully is a bit more comfortable.

Chloe officially turned 13 this past month and has been doing well overall, although she had a couple instances of upset tummy overnight. It always seems to be overnight, and she ends up pooping her guts out. It's something she does every once in a while over the years, although it does worry me that it was a couple instances in the past few weeks. Hopefully she's feeling better now.

Splash Dance class with the PV Sharks!





Andrea signed Paige up for a dance class with the PV high school Sharks dance team. Paige was super pumped for the event and was excited to learn some real dance moves. Andrea dropped her off at the high school on Saturday for a few hours and Paige worked with the dancers to learn a routine that she'll be performing during an upcoming JV football game.


The girls also played some games together and had a few other activities for the day.

Andrea snapped a pic of Paige with her group and also bought her a little framed pic of her with the dance teammates.


When she got home, Paige said the song that they danced to was playing in her head all day and we'd always catch her practicing her new moves. We're looking forwards to seeing her perform!


School pic


We were a little early going to the bus stop on Friday, so I snapped a pic of the kids with their backpacks. No reason, just thought they looked cute.

Paige doing cartwheels and sassy posing


Paige has been doing a lot of cartwheels lately and decided it'd be fun to do her cartwheels and then fall in to a sassy pose. It was too silly for me not to take a few pics and a video. We were trying not to laugh during the video, but it was hard!



Saturday, September 17, 2016

Our week with Grandma Genie



Our week with Genie has been busy, difficult, and wonderful. We are so thankful that Genie took the time to come all the way to Florida to be with us and to help us through Andrea's surgery. Genie has been a huge help with Andrea and the kids. We've all had fun going on walks with her, going to lunches and dinners, and the kids have had so much fun. Genie is always good about thinking about what the kids like and what they enjoy. Genie took them to Target early in the trip and they've played with the toys they got and read the books that Grandma gave them. Grandma has played ping pong a bunch with Connor and done all kinds of girly things with Paige.





We went to Cinotti's for lunch during the week and today on Sunday we stopped in for some more goodies. As Andrea guessed, it reminded Genie of the bakery that her father would go to in Sedalia when they would visit.



One of the most fun moments of the week was the pet shop. Genie noticed that the kids are puppy crazy lately, talking about all kinds of different breeds and showing a lot of interest. She asked if there was a pet store around and we found a store Pet Land that had all kinds of pets to see and best of all they had a bunch of puppies. Although we were there today just to look, the staff were very nice about letting us play with some of the puppies. Puppies need lots of attention and the kids couldn't get enough of the energetic doggies. They played for a bit with a Jack Russel Terrier puppy and then with a very nippy wild poodle.




Although Grandma didn't really care for dogs, she knew the kids would love it and they did. The kids wanted to play with all the puppies in the store, but two was enough for one day, especially since we knew we weren't paying customers.


After playing with the puppies, we went to Barbara Jeans and had lunch while we watched the boats go by.


This Sunday was the first day the kids swam in the pool at our new house, thanks to Grandma Genie. She convinced them to go out and give it a try.










It's been a good week, and we are so thankful for Grandma Genie to be here for us and to spend time in our new house with us. We love her so much!

Andrea's Oophorectomy surgery

On Tuesday, September 13th, Andrea had her oophorectomy surgery at Mayo Clinic. We got up early at 5:00 and Andrea had to wash herself with her anti-microbial soap. We drove to the hospital and checked in and she went back pretty early to get prepped and ready for surgery. Her surgery started around 7:45 and I waited in the waiting room until around 10:00 when the doctor came to tell me everything had gone well. From his visual inspection, the ovaries had looked normal, although we wouldn't know for sure until a couple days later when pathology told us that they were fine.


I was able to go back and see Andrea around 11:30 and I sat with her for a little while until she had enough fluids and was awake enough to go potty. After that, we listened to the discharge instructions, the doctor came in to check on her, and then we were discharged. I drove Andrea the short ride home and she was ready to start her process of recovery.

So far, she's been healing pretty well and has been in pretty good spirits. She's been able to eat mostly what she wants, although she is struggling a bit with constipation. Andrea has three small holes, and is a little concerned with the laparoscopic hole that's higher up on her stomach. Immediately after surgery it seemed like a bit of an indention and in the days following surgery, it's got a harder feel to it and seems to be protruding slightly. We're a little worried it's a hernia, but we also remember that after her last surgery that same spot seemed hard and odd too, so hopefully it's nothing. Either way, she's going to call the hospital on Monday to check and see what they think.

Hopefully things continue to heal well and Andrea will be back to her regular activities as normal. This kind of things definitely does make you appreciate the times you're healthy and able to do regular activities, much less fun stuff like tennis.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Grandma Genie comes in town



On Saturday, Grandma Genie came in town in the afternoon. Andrea is scheduled for her ovarian surgery on Tuesday, and Grandma Genie came to Florida to help out with things while Andrea recovers. After we got Grandma from the airport, we went to Cantina Laredo for dinner and then came home and showed her our new house. Andrea gave her a tour of the inside and told her about the renovations. It was dark, so we couldn't show her the outside until Sunday morning. On Sunday, we went to the beach in the morning, had lunch at the club, and then played a little longer at the beach and pool before heading to Target. Grandma Genie spoiled the kids and got them some toys and games, and we're all relaxing at home now, doing laundry, changing light bulbs, and getting ready for our week.






Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Labor day - tennis and beach time with the family

This weekend was Labor day. We ended up with a four day weekend because hurricane Hermine came through Florida and everyone freaked out. Andrea's dentist canceled her Thursday appointment, businesses were closed Thursday and Friday and school was canceled for Friday. Thankfully the storm went to the north of us and while it got pretty windy and a bit rainy as the outer bands of the storm passed over us, it was mostly a non-event.

We really wanted to go out of town and enjoy our extended weekend, but unfortunately we didn't have anyone to watch Chloe. Not only was Chloe due for her shots, so we couldn't take her to a boarding place, but she had an upset tummy. Chloe messed in her kennel on Thursday night and I cleaned it up and didn't feed her anything until late in the day. Per Grandma Alice's suggestion, I made her rice and beef for dinner. It was the fanciest meal we've cooked in the new house and it was all for the dog.


Saturday morning, Andrea and I did the 9 and 10 o'clock clinics at the club and after we wrapped up, Andrea filled in for someone and did the second half of the Labor Day mixer. After she finished, we all went to lunch. Since Chloe was feeling a bit better, we took her to get her annual shots at the Shotvet. The kids came too, to learn all about it.


Sunday was a work around the house day. I'd planned to hang some mirrors, do some touch up painting, hang some pictures, and change out electrical switches and outlets. I started with the outlets and was trying to be very careful. I figured out how the three way switches and regular switches were wired and replaced a few. It was a slow process at times to find the right breaker in the garage. I'd have to turn on a switch, go to the breaker, guess at the poorly or non-labeled breaker, then walk back and check to see if I'd shut off the power. On one occasion in the master bath, I'd gotten the outlets to shut off, however the outlet in the water closet was on a different breaker than the rest. I figured that out when my left hand got a buzzing sensation when I touched the exposed wires. I shut off a whole bunch of breakers and got that one turned off finally. On another occasion, I'd shut off all the electricity in the master bedroom and was working on a switch when I got another shock. I hadn't thought about how the switch inside the master bedroom was actually controlling the lights in the cabana area. It was very slow progress and I was disappointed that I only managed to get the outlets done all day. Andrea brought me lunch, and I went out to dinner and then to Home Depot to pick up some additional outlets, but otherwise I was just working on it all day.

Monday, Labor Day, was a fun day. I got up and did the 9am clinic and then Andrea met me at the club at 10:30 and we did the Labor Day mixer. The first three rounds I got to play with Andrea and we played very well together. We had lunch at the club and then went to the beach and pool for a bit. It was a red flag day, so we didn't go past our ankles in the ocean, but we still had a great time.




After swimming, we dried off, took some pics of the kids with their towels wrapped on their heads, and then had some ice cream cookie and smoothies.