A Day at the Children's Museum

 On Friday Ken took the kids to the Children's Museum while I got a perm.  The kids love this place.

 Lila and Brad in the "sound booth".

Atlantis Park

 A few days ago we went to Atlantis Park with our friends.  Atlantis Park is an underwater-themed playground/park that is completely enclosed.  It's a great park but a bit far from our house so we don't get there often.

 King Triton is always a big draw.  Lila called him Santa.

 Brad still LOVES the swings (since birth he has loved swings) but he still doesn't know how to pump.  I've tried to teach him, God knows I have, but I still have to push this big boy until he figures it all out. 

 Lila loves the riding toys and she also enjoyed chasing the wild rabbits in the park. 

 The serpentine slide is soooo cool.  The kids made train after train and slid down together, usually landing in a heap like this at the bottom.  Even Sarah, Sky's American Girl doll was among the train. 

Snow in So Cal

 Every year our church does a community event called "Snow Day" where they bring in snow for the kids to play in.  This year they also had food trucks (you can see in the background of above pic) and the food was awesome.  It's funny to me that we came here straight from Sky's swim lessons.  Only in So Cal...

 There was free face painting, tattoes, baked goods, crafts, pics with Santa (vacation Santa) and bounce houses. 

 The kids had an awesome time, as always.  Below, Brad and Sky raced each other through a bounce house obstacle course. 

 Sky even ran into a friend from her old school and they did some sled runs together.

 In the picture below, Sky and Brad rode together but it's hard to see.

 When asked what her favorite part of Snow Day was, Lila responded, "Eating the snow".  Ugh.

My dear friend Amy makes these hats and I just think they are the cutest things ever! 

Sky's High Blood Pressure Update

At Sky's 7 year old physical examination, it was determined that she had high blood pressure.  To be sure, we had to go to the doctor's office once every 2 weeks during the summer to have it checked.  Each time it registered higher than normal for her age.  We also had blood work done but it all came back normal.  Sky doesn't have any of the symptoms of high blood pressure like dizziness or headaches.
For further examination, we were referred to a kidney specialist.  We saw him and he initially thought it was white coat hypertension (fear of doctors, etc.) which made a lot of sense if you know Sky.  So, he had us take her blood pressure a few times a week at home (to set her at ease with the process and get used to having it done).  My sister-in-law Michelle sent us a child's cuff and we did as the doctor told us to do.  Still, the blood pressure was higher than normal. 
We went back to the kidney specialist right before Christmas and he made the discovery that Sky's arms are longer than the average 7 year old and that she should have her blood pressure checked using a small adult cuff.  We bought this cuff and since then the readings have been within the realm of normal. 
However, at the last visit, the doctor had discovered slightly more blood in Sky's urine than there should be and so he also wanted to run some additional tests. So we recently had an ultrasound done of her bladder and kidneys, more blood work, and a 24 hour urine collection.  We went for the ultrasound yesterday and the technicians were running a full hour behind schedule so Sky had to sit with a very full bladder for a very long time.  It wasn't a happy time, let me tell you!  Poor Sky!  We will go back for the results and further consultation in a couple of weeks. 
I really like the kidney specialist.  He is very personable and very thorough. 
We are praying that everything comes back normal and that the use of the wrong size cuff was the problem all along.  I'll let you know when there's more news to share...

Brad Starts Basketball

 Brad started his basketball career on Saturday.  He's on a team of 4 and 5 year olds and their team is The Purple Dragons.  Brad is #5 and, yes, his jersey was too big so they are getting a smaller size.

 There are 10 kids on his team, 2 of them are girls.  It is through a Christian league at a local church.  He will play in a game every Saturday.  There is no stealing or blocking shots in this age group and it sounds like the referees are pretty tolerant of double dribbling, etc.  The coaches are actually allowed on the court to help the players during the games.  Each player is guaranteed equal playing time too. 

 I'm hoping that this will be a great experience for Brad and that he will catch the "basketball bug".