Kauai

Our kids were tired.

Tired of school, tired of being sick, tired of life in the good ole state of Washington......

"Maybe we should change things up a bit, " they pondered.  "Hmmmm.
Somewhere tropical sounds nice!  Except lets go further west instead of east."

After arguing if parents could come along (it was decided we could, just this one time), they packed up a weeks worth of stuff, some of them cashed in a few time share points
and we all hopped on a plane.

Destination.....

Kauai!

What can I say?

The kids have good taste.

Welcome to our first tropical vacation, readers.

It wasn't our idea really.

I've got this friend, see?

She has kids that are EXACTLY the same age as my kids.

They practically grew up together.

Katie and Logan since they were one years old.

Mikey and Sienna, well, since they were born.

They asked us if we'd like to join them in Hawaii.

And we gave a very resounding YES.

And, so there we were.  Hawaii.

Wow.

It really is pretty.

And sunny.

And beachy.

And pooly.

And hot.

And, really, kinda fun.

The first day was spent flying over the Pacific ocean, getting to the resort from the airport, waiting for our rooms to be ready, hitting the pool and then trying to find dinner.

We ended up eating in the lounge of some place not at the resort.

And when they said lounge (noun), they really MEANT lounge (verb).

We ate on a coffee table.

Katie tried fish for dinner.

Her choice.

She said she liked it, but it was too peppery.

She was right.  It WAS too peppery.

Too bad.  Maybe she'll try it again sometime....

The next day was beach and pool day.

It was hot.  The water was warm.  The waves were splashy.  The sand was soft.

The kids loved it.

Even the BIG kid.

It was all fun and games until a wave caught Mikey unawares and tumbled him over a couple of times.

Sand and Mikey are NOT friends.

"Blech.  Pa-tooey!"

As the little kids were dealing with an atrocious amount of sand in their swim suits, the big kids were busy conquering the surf one Doom Wave at a time.

Soon, the accumulating sand in suits became so unbearable that the suits came off, towels went on and a couple of naked heinies went up to their rooms to shower.

After clean up it was time to head to......

Costco.

Yep.  What's a trip to Hawaii without a trip to Costco?

"Uuuuuuggggghhhhhhh. Are we done yet?"

Don't worry.  It wasn't all blah.

When we came back from our little shopping excursion we had not just food but pool noodles and boogie boards!

We had time to hit the pool one last time that day before dinner.

Hey.  Did you notice something?

There are pictures of me.

Another reason to go on vacation with another family.

You get pictures of yourself!

And decent ones too!!

After dinner, the kids did some tree climbing.

And the dads did not.

Road triiiiiiip!

We headed here.

The pictures just don't do it justice.

Beautiful.

Mikey was impressed.

"Here.  Let me see those thingies...."

We continued our drive a bit farther up the road to check out the Kalalau Valley look-out, a view of the Na Pali coast from land.

Again, pictures can't capture the magnificence of the view.

This is the best I could do.

On the way back to the resort we stopped at JoJo's for some shave ice.

It was a hit.

Katie did the best she could, but in the end it was just too much.  She had a very interesting flavor combo: root beer, cotton candy and bubblegum, I believe.

Mikey, on the other hand, conquered the mound of shave ice that was just as big as his head.

He picked "Rainbow" which I think was blueberry, strawberry and lemon (or maybe banana). 

Then, it was back to the resort for chicken fights!

The resort had a koi pond.

In it were lots and lots of koi.

They got fed at 9am.

CHOMP!

The kids got to feed them too.

Most kids threw the fish food into the water.

Katie had them eating out of her hand.

Then it was off to the beach.

Sense a pattern here?

Yes.  I did enter the water.

To prove it to Huzbend (who keeps asking, "Did you ever even get into the ocean water?"), I have posted photographic proof below.

Mikey tried to work on his relationship with sand.

Katie became the California (but born in WA) Girl we always knew she was.

She learned how to boogie board.

It wasn't all fun and games this day.

Katie got wiped out by an extra large wave and somehow twisted her ankle.

With a little Children's Tylenol and an ace bandage (picked up from the resort sundry store for the paltry sum of a million dollars), all was made well.

You'll see the wrap in some pictures below.

After a long day of swimming and sun, it was time for dinner.

Look at those rosy sun soaked cheeks.

"Is it ready yeeeeeet? We're staaaaaaaarrrrrrving!"

Then it was off to see a performance of some modern hula.

First, a little re-lax-ation.

The performers invited the kids up to learn to hula.

I'm sure you already know who could NOT resist.

Yep.  Katie.

Little did they know that she was already a Hukilau expert!

Her third grade teacher was born in Kauai and at the end of the year her class performed that particular hula at our PTA Volunteer Appreciation event.

See!

Here she is refining her skills....

Here is a complete performance, with accompaniment.

I'm impressed with myself.  The first part of the song actually goes along with the body motions that Katie is doing.

The next day, we headed off to see the Spouting Horn: a hole in the lava shelf that is jutting out into the sea causes water to spray up with the incoming waves.

Again with the pretty.

Here's an unobstructed view.

Next stop, an afternoon boat tour of the Na Pali coast.

Including some snorkeling.

"We're gonna ride that?"

The catamaran.

We had given the kids some dramamine before the cruise, just in case, and this happened.

Oops.  Guess when they mean "marked drowsiness" they mean "marked drowsiness."

Don't worry, he woke up in time for snorkeling.

It got cloudy and rainy just in time for snorkeling.

Katie jumped on in with Huzbend and they were off and away.

Mikey decided that he wanted to enter the water first.  As he was climbing down the ladder into the ocean he looked up at me and said, "Um.  Did the Captain of the boat say that the fish had sharp teeth?"

I think he was a little nervous.

There were fish down there.  Mostly big grey ones (with no sharp teeth) and one big yellow one.

It was a fun swim, albeit just a little chilly due to the rain.

We got back in the boat and moved on.

At one of the waterfalls, we met "Na Pali" the Goat.

Say, "HI!", Na Pali!

The surf was calm enough to let the captain move the boat underneath the waterfall.

The kids got soaked.

Well, the ones not hiding inside the boat from the rain, anyways.

Sigh.

So pretty.

Best part was, we got a family picture.

It was time to head back to port.

Dinner was served.  And, in case you were curious, Katie was able to have salad and rice for dinner.

We made sure that we brought LOADS of snacks where ever we went to be sure the kids could eat.

Mikey said that this day was his favorite of the whole trip.

I have to agree.

The boat was really fun.

 

Captain Kauai (yep, really his name) made sure that each kid got a turn at the wheel.

As we made our way back, we were able to watch the sunset.

Another road trip.

Lighthouse time!

The Kilauea Lighthouse to be exact.

We got our picture taken.

Multiple times.

The pictures were taken by this guy below.  His name was Joe and he was, like, 90 something years old.

He just hung out at the lighthouse asking if he could help people with their pictures.

After the lighthouse, it was time for a little friendly competition.

Mini Golf.

This was the first time that my kids had played mini-golf.

Yikes.

Jeez.

Who brought him?

That night we went to a fancy kid's luau dinner at the Grand Hyatt resort.

(No, that is not Mario in the background)

Although Katie had tried a few new foods throughout the trip, Mikey had been sticking with The Regulars (cheeseburgers, hotdogs, pizza and mac n' cheese).

I convinced Mikey and Katie to try creme brulee.

Katie only like the sugar topping, but Mikey ate the rest.

Yay for new things!

The next day it was time for Huzbend to get what he's been talking about since we first talked about this trip.

Surfing.

He wasn't the only one to try......

West Coast Girlz REPRESENT!!

Damn.  She's awesome.

There they go.  Out into the bay to catch some waves.

"MORE SAND, MOMMIES!"

"Phew.

I'm sooo tired.

But that was SOOOOOO awesome!

Can we move here?"

Time to hit the pool.

This was the biggest pool that I have ever seen in my life.

Huzbend said Vegas's were bigger and even Disney's Beach Club....but I disagree.

It was huge.

That day happened to be Sienna's 6th birthday.

We went out for a nice dinner.

Katie tried ribs, but ate mostly rice (with butter and salt).

The kids HAD to get a picture with the weather coconut.

One last hula show.

Traditional this time.

Wasn't quite as interesting at the modern hula show.

Afterwards, we kinda just hung out.

The hula twins.

Katie and Logan practiced their origami skills while Mikey and Sienna played chase with Huzbend.

Before heading back to watch a movie as part of the birthday celebration, the kids had an opportunity to get in a beach-side wand duel.

Shouts of "EXPELLIARMUS!!" could be heard clear across the bay.

Sorry, honeymooners.

After one last visit with the koi, it was time to head to the airport and go home.

It was a fantastic trip.

The kids got along great and our families had a lot of fun.

Thanks to our friends for inviting us.

It was really just what we needed after a hard end of the school year.

Here's a video compilation of some of the stuff we did....

The kids kept asking when we would be able to go back.

I know that Huzbend would in a heartbeat.

And, believe it or not, Anti-Beach/Pool Lady, would like to return as well.

But, for now, it was back to non-island life.

Mt. Rainier and the moon were there to greet us home.

Um. Hi.

The poopy hit the fan at the end of April.  Like, really.

There was Easter.  Good times.  Not so much candy this year.  You can see pictures over on Flickr.

Mikey's celiac test came back negative.

We went to a depressing for the adults and uplifting for Katie conference on Pediatric Crohn's and Colitis.  Depressing for us adults because we had to sit and listen to a bunch of seminars talking about all sorts of horribleness the chronic disease could cause - physical symptoms, mental symptoms -  treatment options and the like.  We also saw some kids that just looked really sick.  Feeding tubes and bandages and just ... sad.  It was a dose of reality about what Katie could be facing in the future. And it was uplifting for Katie because she got to hang with a whole group of kids that had the same medical problems she does.  She didn't feel so alone in her struggles.

The kids Spring Break happened.

I had them re-tested for allergies and some old allergens dropped off and new ones popped on.  Katie got rid of egg and gained trees and, of course, dog.  Mikey didn't lose any food allergies but he gained grass and cat.

I went to a State PTA convention and was voted in as next year's Co-President of the kids elementary PTA.

Ralph was neutered.

ANNNNNNNDDDDD, that's when it all went to poop.

Katie had been on her new medication a month (see last entry) and slowly weaned off of her steroid. As soon as she was completely off her steroid, she began to have a Crohn's flare up.  Actually, it was the day that I met with the school nurse and Katie's teacher to put a 504 plan in place to protect her rights for equal education in the face of chronic illness (read more about 504's here).  If you don't know what I mean by flare up, you can read about them here.  Who knew that the seminar that we had attended a few weeks earlier would come in handy so soon.  We had never experienced a full on flare up, but knew what to expect because of the seminar.  Ultra-bummer.

That last Sunday in April, the 26th, was Ralph's first birthday and also happened to be the day one of Mikey's good friends had a birthday party.  Mikey wasn't able to go to the party because he was sick and he had thrown up.  As the day went on he got sicker and sicker - low SpO2 levels and increasing incidence of vomiting.  He was so sick that after dinner I took him to the Urgent Care Center.  At the Urgent Care center he got worse.  They sent him to Children's Hospital emergency room.  He was not improving and ended up in ICU.  The official diagnosis was pneumonia in one lung with the complication of a possible collapsing of the other lung.  He was hooked up to an IV to replace the fluids he'd lost from vomiting, given super doses of antibiotics and high flow oxygen to pop his lungs back open.  Finally after a long night and two days in hospital, he went home on Wednesday, April 29th.

Katie was still flaring.  Badly.  Really badly.  And she was not eating.  The day after Mikey got home from the hospital we headed back to Children's to the GI clinic to talk with a nutritionist about switching Katie to a liquid diet consisting of nutritional shakes.  The liquid diet was going to be used to give her GI tract a rest from breaking down food while assuring that she still got all the nutrition she needed.  We didn't want to put her back on steroids again.  Steroids are not good for anyone, especially growing bodies.

The first weekend in May was spent anxiously trying to get Katie to drink shakes and eat, well, anything.  She didn't.  It was a tough weekend.  One of the toughest yet as far as Crohn's went.

On to May...

By coincidence, we already had an GI appointment set up for Monday May 4th.  Back to Children's we went.  The doc listened to Katie's symptoms, was not shocked at our failure to get her to drink the shakes and told us she should be hospitalized that day.  They were also concerned that she had caught the virus that landed Mikey in the ICU to boot.

A couple of options were floated:  immediate high doses of steroids via IV to get symptoms to stop OR a non-medication route of using a feeding tube to do an all liquid diet (since she wouldn't drink the shakes (she thinks they're disgusting)).  We chose feeding tube.

Upon entering the hospital she began to exhibit other symptoms - a super high fever and weird lumps/bruises up and down her shins.  The doctors decided that she might have been allergic to the immunosuppressant medicine that she had started the month before and it was only now that we were seeing the symptoms because the steroids she was previously taking were masking them.  Her fever became so bad at one point that, even though they were using tylenol to bring the fever down, they had to line the sides of her body with long ice packs.

Long story short, the feeding tube was a no-go.  Even with "calming meds" the nurses and I were not able to get the tube up her nose and down her throat into her stomach.  We tried four times.  To say that Katie was upset would be an understatement.  She was a wreck and I wasn't much better.

There wasn't much choice but to go a medicine route.  We had two choices: an injection every other day or an IV infusion of medication every 6-8 weeks.  I let Katie choose because the side effects of both medications were pretty much the same.  Both nasty.

Katie chose IV infusion because it would be less "pokies" in the long run.

She got her first infusion in-hospital and, crazy as it sounds, was ready to go home the next day.  That's how fast (and how powerful) the meds were.

We came home and Granma was in town for a visit (it had been planned a few months back).  Katie was happy she got out in time to see her.  We had a nice relaxing weekend recouping at home.

And, well, since then it's just felt like a slog to "catch back up" to life as we know it.  Various school events, after school activities, field trips for both kids, another IV infusion appointment, Crohn's and Colitis Walk-a-thons, etc.

OH!  And in the middle of May my youngest sister had a baby!  It took a while for him to make his way into the world and he did so in a most dramatic fashion.  What's with kids and drama?  Sheesh. Welcome, Jacob!  We love you!

One thing has led to another and now it's already mid-June and Mikey's last day of school is tomorrow.  Katie's is Thursday.  And, as soon as that last bell rings, we'll be jumping in the car to bring her for IV infusion #3.  After that it'll be every 8 weeks.

Sigh.  Summer's right around the corner.

We've got vacations planned.  Some really big ones.  Lots of summer camps for the kids and two camping trips (Will Ralph come camping?  Stay tuned!).

It's all a bit overwhelming.  Having both kids laid low in the space of two weeks was a bit too much to handle.  Stressful, at times depressing, thoughts swirling in my head about the what if's.  Walking around with an all consuming feeling of dread and anxiousness hanging over my shoulder.  Discussions between myself and Huzbend becoming all about medications, treatment options, how to handle symptoms, coming up with strategies to deal with future illnesses and hospitalizations, the risks.....we kind of lost our "life" for a while there.

I can tell that I'm ready to move on because I'm on here writing about it and thinking about it again.  Putting it on here will help me in the future.  I'm sure of it.  Somehow.

I'm happy that we're back to "a normal".

Whadda Crazy Month!

The month of March started off with a visit to Katie's G.I. doctor.

(See here to revisit her issues)

Katie's most recent labs weren't spectacular and she was still having issues.

It was decided that just targeting the celiac disease was not working and that she does indeed have both celiac AND crohn's.

This was not happy news as this meant that her medications would have to get stronger.

She's on a steroid to get her symptoms under control (which brings mood swings, insomnia and other fun side effects) and a immunomodulator (an immune system suppressant).

The immunomodulator can effect bone marrow, liver, kidneys and as such requires frequent blood tests.

Pokies are not a favorite of Katie's.
We have some numbing cream to help with the ouchies though.
It seems to help.
A tiny bit.

We were also advised to have Mikey tested for the chance of celiac through blood testing.  The results should be in shortly.

Annnnndddd, 'cause I LOVE having my kids poked and prodded, I signed them up to be retested for their food allergies.  It's been years since we've tested them.
Maybe there are some new allergies....
...Maybe some of the old allergies are gone....
....Maybe...

On to happier things!

Mikey had his V.I.P. day at school.

He got to share some facts and answer questions about himself.

It was fun to watch him be the center of attention.
He was so serious.

Here is his "All About Mikey" poster.

After his little presentation, we passed out a special treat to his class and a goody bag full of Avengers thingies.

"Whaddaya mean my actual birthday isn't for, like, 4 months?"

That same day was the Family Bingo Night event for our school.

For some reason, I volunteered to chair it this year.

Ugh.  It was A LOT of work.

But, the kids love it......sigh.

We held it at the local high school cafeteria and it was packed!!!

We ended up making about $700 profit from it, even though it was supposed to be a wash.

So, that's good news.

This is what it looked like from the stage.

I even recruited Huzbend to create a bingo call sheet app for me so that people would know what numbers were called.  We projected it on a big screen.

He was the official bingo number recorder, while at the same time checking all of our bingo cards for BINGOs.

The kids had a great time, but I was SO glad the event was over.

The next day we paid a visit to the traveling Cirque du Soliel show, Kurios.

It was fantastic.

If you have the chance, or the dough (expensive!!! Yikes!)...GO!

Katie ate cotton candy for the first time and fell in love.

Mikey hated it.

"Yaaayyy!  More for me!  : )"

And then, one nice Saturday afternoon, we paid a visit to a local park and brought some bikes along.

Mikey requested that his training wheels be taken off.

So, they were.

One push and he did it.

Rode like a champ.

Took him just a few more tries and then this happened.....

 

He couldn't wait to "ride in the circle" at home.

Here he is showing off his skills.

There was a Skate Night PTA event we decided to attend.

Mikey did okay for his first time.

It's very hard to hold up a 5 year old and try to remember how to skate at the same time.

He almost wiped me out a few times and my arms were killing me by the end of the night.

I managed to soften the blow of all of his falls, except one last one.

He was standing by himself and WHAM! fell right onto his butt.

After that, and a few tears, he was done for the night.

Katie jumped into her skates, jumped out onto the skate deck and did not look back.

She had a great time (and some hard falls!) and wants to go back again.

Here's some Crazee Katie skating technique.

Look for red shirt and leopard print pants.

What else would you wear skating?

And then, there's Ralph.

Yep.  Ralph.

He's a good dog.  Really, he is.

Just a big pain in the butt sometimes.

On a positive note, I think he could give Terminix a run for their money.

Emerald City Comiccon was coming up and we needed a place for Ralph to spend the day.

We decided to try boarding him as a test run for some vacations coming up.

Well, turns out that Ralph had many issues according to the lady that owns the boarding place.

This place is "open format", which means there are no kennels that the dogs stay in.  They have big yards to run in with other dogs and then every couple of hours they take a break.

At night, they sleep in a communal doggie living room, unless they're a puppy and then they sleep in a crate.

Here's the feedback I got:

Ralph loves people more than dogs.  He has separation anxiety.

When he does hang with dogs, he doesn't have good manners and annoys them (i.e. mounts them constantly).

He jumps on people (he hit some worker in the nuts), whines when alone, uses his weight to push over gates and refused to enter his crate at night.

Annnnnd, he's overweight.

Dude has issues.

Well, issues when he's not with us.

I knew that he was a Mama's Boy.

That he was a bit, uh, big boned.

That he got overexcited when meeting people.

Just didn't think it was a problem.

Guess it is, when he isn't home.

Needless to say, he survived the weekend.

He seemed fine when I picked him up, even after all the comments I got from the owner.

Sigh.

We've got a lot to work out before we go away.

So, while Ralph was experiencing separation anxiety, we were on our way to the Emerald City Comiccon.

Wampas!

Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Wizards, Riders of Rohan, Gondorians, etc.!

Tiamat, Dragon Lady, OH MY!

Comicon is pretty awesome.

Fun and super, super, super crowded.

They have a kids area with all sorts of stuff kids like.

Like booths to have your photo taken.....

....with silly props.

And legos.  Lots and lots of legos.

(We actually ran into some fellow geek neighbors.

The two Dr. Who's, Leia and Luke below)

Even full sized Artoo units made out of legos that move around and beep at you!

And don't get me started on the Ewoks.

If you've never had a run in with the 501st Legion.

I suggest you search them out.

Then the Starship Troopers (along with the requisite Bug) entered the building and made their way down this tight hallway near some bathrooms.

Only at comicon.....

Oh yeah.

We saw No Face.

He tried to give the kids gold coins.

Mikey, remembering what happened in the movie, was thinking twice about his choice to take the coin.

He gave it back.

Black Manta was there!

Outrageous!

And this dude.

I mean, who IS that?

Right before we left we came face to face with a life-sized MODOK and some of his minions.

The Batman and Joker were intrigued......

Joker was very pleased to meet a villain that looked so ridiculously evil. 

Batman, on the other hand, had been tipped off by that dude in the red metal suit and decided to take matters into his own hands.......

KA-POW!!!!

We decided that it was time to head home.

Walking through the parking garage, some people were gushing over the kids.

"OH MY GOD!  A KID JOKER!  OH!  AND LOOK, KID BATMAN!!!"

It had happened a few times during the day.

Mikey turned around and said,

"Hi!  You can take a picture of us, you know!"

The Joker enjoyed the days entertainment and vowed to return next year, pie in hand.

Batman told us that it was, "Awesome" and then cuddled with his Yoshi while skimming through a comic book based on a role playing game.

"Smile for the camera, Batsy!"