Too Busy

The past two weeks have been a bit much - in a good, social way.

The Sunday I took the girls up North was nice, but the day extended longer with some friends over which was nice, but left me completely run down.

The weekends are usually time for Tim and I to take care of “things;” running, groceries, mowing, errands, cleaning, etc. Then squeeze in the social things between. I wish I had the benefit of completing the household items during weekdays. I do a lot of small pickups at Kroger at 7:30am on my way into work!

Then the following Tuesday, Tim and I worked a half day to scoop up the girls and take them up to my parents. We were seeing a band at Nutter Center and my parents were kind enough to extend their house for us to spend the night. It was - of course - a late night and I didn’t sleep well, maybe five solid hours.

We were home Wednesday with the girls. Back to work Thursday. Then Friday evening the girls went to Nana’s house so we could attend another concert. I know. We knew it was too much, but purely coincidence that two shows we wanted to see were the same week. Yes, I could have not attended one. But I take what social outings I can get.

Both nights were fun, but not sure they were worth the effects the following days. Zzzz. And I do realize that Tim and I are incredibly lucky that both our parents are so close and happy to watch the girls so we can have adult time.

I had crammed in my weekend run on Friday after work which may have been a bad decision. It wasn’t humid, but it was warm and I’m not used to long runs on week evenings. I only made it six miles because my feet were lead and clearly didn’t hydrate enough after I was done. I felt like garbage on Saturday AM. 

So we packed up Saturday and I took Hannah to swim class. We drove up to Miamisburg to pass off the girls to my folks. Then turned around and went back down to Kentucky for our annual Adult Day at our close friend’s lakehouse. It’s an annual event that’s been happening since before we had Nora at our friend’s Williamstown lakehouse. I enjoy the grown-up discussions and sitting in the sun! 

It’s just a bummer because it eats up our entire Saturday and half of Sunday - very little weekend time with our girls. We kept our Sunday fairly lazy and still crammed in grocery shopping and cleaning. 

So in summary - I’m tapped out on adult fun for the summer - ha! Though truly grateful that we have these opportunities. 

Minor Demo work!

I think I’ve mentioned our home was built in 1979 - it’s as old as me : )

It’s “contemporary” 80s - e.g. a wetbar in the living room and some funky walls and angles. Including this horsey built-in that clearly was made for large, boxy TVs from the 80s. There’s a ridiculous amount of outlets on the inside of this thing - for all the old, dated entertainment equipment. 

We managed to slide our flatscreen in there for the past three-and-a-half years, but with the adoption of a 55" TV from my office - Lordy - there’s been some re-configuring. 

So I was headed up North for a family picnic and gave Tim a pass but only if he agreed to demo that sucker (I have some “honey-dos” before Hannah’s 3rd birthday). Thank goodness a super handy friend was able to help. I left with the girls at 9:30am and returned at 3:40pm - they were done and everything cleaned up!

I’m super happy - the patching and painting (light grey) will clearly come in stages - we just don’t have the time or energy. And guess what? We unearthed a vent the dumb-dumbs covered up! Maybe this room will get a bit warmer in the winter now!

Eunice & Rosemary Kennedy

So my daily rabbit hole started when a fellow mom (whose son [that happens to have Ds] will be going to preschool with Hannah - woo!) posted this outstanding video from the ESPYs of Timothy Shriver accepting the Arthur Ashe Award of Courage at the ESPY awards. 

Honoring Eunice Shriver

*Frankly, I’m not sure why the ESPYs exist in general - a lot of these athletes don’t need stroked any more than they already are.

I digress - I loved hearing Timothy’s message and reminding everyone the power and purpose of those with different abilities. Maybe even shedding some new light to those in the audience who never heard of the word “inclusion.” 

I vaguely knew that the Rose and Joe Kennedy’s oldest daughter, Rosemary, had an intellectual disability. This is what I imagine prompted most of the Kennedy’s wonderful advocacy for those with intellectual disabilities. 

I know a recent book, Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter, is on the market and found a link that dipped a bit into it. The actual cause of her intellectual disability seems to have been preventable and is quite shocking (the end of the article does get politically biased as the author has a brother with Ds):

The Secret Lobotomy of Rosemary Kennedy

“When that failed, she reached into Rose's birth canal and held the baby's head in place for an unbelievable two hours. In her book Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter, Kate Clifford Larson writes, “It was well understood that preventing the movement of the baby through the birth canal could cause a lack of oxygen, exposing the baby to possible brain damage and physical disability.””

Utterly unbelievable. Rosemary had a difficult time growing up and her parents struggled with how to help her. Unfortunately in those days, horrific practices such as lobotomies weren’t unheard of. And more unfortunately, her father decided to proceed with this possible “cure.” The procedure ultimately left her unable to walk or talk for years. 

It’s quite a fascinating yet tragic story that I think I need to read in its entirety. If you can even say there was a silver lining to this story, it’s that it prompted a lot of great work by the Kennedy family for those with disabilities including the start of the Special Olympics in 1968.

I can’t imagine the direction we would have received for Hannah back in the 1940s. Heck, there are still MDs in 2017 who don’t have current information and still paint these babies’ lives as “less than.”

While I’m nervous about Hannah’s future and expect the most out of it, I’m also grateful she was born in modern times where a bulk of our society do see her potential. 

Folly Beach 2017 - Part Three: Getting Home

Around 8am on Friday morning after being up with Hannah since 6:30am, Tim and I decided we wanted to go home. Three mornings at the beach with our energetic girls was enough and while we love Folly Beach, it’s mostly shops and restaurants and weren’t sure what we’d do another day with the girls. So we decided to power back to Milford in one day. 

We departed at 9:45am - not bad for a last minute decision! Got about two hours out and did lunch - Burger King. They have veggie burgers at least? We’d all been off our regular diets and schedules... both girls had chicken nuggets [ew] and Nora had a strawberry banana “smoothie.” 

About 30 minutes back on the road, Nora wasn’t feeling well. “Mommy, I need the bucket.” Thank God I knew Nora has a carsick tendency. Thank God I grew up with a Mom who always had “the bucket.” I slipped it under her just in time - so much pink vomit. 

We cleaned it up fairly fast and Nora felt just fine afterwards. March on.

I can’t even remember the hours between 1pm and 4pm... driving and probably one stop. No one had slept yet!! Finally at 4pm, Nora fell asleep. She woke up at 6pm as we pulled off for Taco Bell - the first one we’d seen at all. No more burgers. 

Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea. It took half an hour to get our order. Thankfully Nora loved the pintos and cheese. They only got one of my two items. Hannah refused her beans. 

Onward. We must have been just through Lexington around 9:30 when the sun was setting and Hannah finally fell asleep after being awake for 15 hours. My anxiousness finally settled a bit. 

We arrived home at 11pm - over a thirteen hour trip that typically takes ten. Talk about being wiped.

We dumped the girls in bed. Dumped our stuff in the hallway. Dumped red wine in some glasses and ourselves in bed by midnight. 

Overall, it was a fun trip. I think we may wait to go back to the beach with it being so far away again... and when Hannah [ever] slows down. We’re already contemplating a kid-focused, closer trip to Gatlinburg next year. Dollywood here we come!

Happy to be home and back in our routine!

Folly Beach 2017 - Part Two: Being There

The week was great - the house was perfect - large main space and kitchen. Our bedroom was on the main level since Hannah averages a 6:30am wakeup. We had a king bed and brought a basic queen air mattress. We figured out the best situation was to put Hannah on the floor and have Nora between Tim and I in the king. 

Having the pool was perfect - especially when Hannah napped, Nora splashed. 

We did the beach a total of three times which was enough. The first time we drove which was silly - it cost $15 to park and then Nora had a conniption because she was covered in sand to drive home. 

We quickly learned that we could easily walk into town/the beach - only about a 3-4 block walk. Dottie & Mike lent us their collapsable wagon which was amazing - both girls loved it. Tim and I loved being able to walk everywhere - exercise and able to see all the fun beach homes!

Nora was great at the beach, though we had to make sure she didn’t go too far out - and we kept her water vest on. Hannah, however, was her usual self - roaming everywhere, including into the ocean. Little one doesn’t know she can’t swim. Plus she wanted to meet everyone, put on everyone’s sandals, sit in everyone’s seats... it was a lot of picking up/carrying and being covered in sand with her. Not exactly fun or relaxing. 

Tuesday we went into Charleston. The family went on a carriage ride though the city. Tim and I stayed back because we weren’t sure how “Roaming Hannah” would do. We walked around the back streets, parks and the market - Charleston is just beautiful. I’m sure we’ll go back when the girls are older. 

Tuckered before we even got started

Thank heavens for umbrella strollers!

We were done at 2pm and got ice cream. It was incredibly hot and not a mealtime, so some of us just went back to Folly. We had an early dinner at The Crab Shack - good casual seafood! I had scallops which I love and rarely have! 

Wednesday we explored the main drag - Nora got herself a souvenir and some shaved ice. Stopped in Taco Boy for some snacks and a margarita - yum! 

Wednesday night we all gathered to watch FC Cincy since our awesome team was being aired on ESPN! Amazing match that ended in penalty kicks! 

Hannah loooooves her cousin Izzie!

Nora & Alex

Thursday turned out to be our last day - beach morning. Hannah was kind of a hot mess, having some allergy attack, so we got her back and sleeping and Mama got some quiet time alone with a beer and the pool. 

The Kron/Kieffer/Morrison cousins!

Krons first beach trip!

We had another group dinner at The Crab Shack - I didn’t mind because I wanted to try it all! 

Folly Beach 2017 - Part One: Getting There

We’re coming out of a whirlwind near-two week vacation!

Started when I left work on Thursday the 22nd - Tim and I packed everything we could into the living room then left for a concert that night - ! Poor timing, but I can never miss My Morning Jacket! 

The next AM, we had a bustling house (Grammy & Grandpa spent the night to watch the girls) and were on the road by 9am. 

I think we stopped for lunch around 11:30 - Cracker Barrel for kid-friendliness. Girls were both asleep by 1pm - sweet! 

I think we had one more gas stop before we arrived at our hotel in Asheville somewhere around 4-4:30pm. We stayed at the Ramada Asheville Biltmore West. Based on some reviews and the price - under $150 - we thought it’d do the job. 

Well, shame on Tim and I for not researching a bit more. We didn’t realize it was a motel - which wasn’t a dealbreaker. However, it was the most run down place I’ve ever stayed. And I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels. I can’t pinpoint one exact “thing,” but it was just dirty, torn linens, stains on walls... we refused to wash the girls in the tub. Never set our bags on any fabric. 

Ramada Asheville Biltmore West
*We should have reviewed on TripAdvisor [my favorite site] - those traveller photos on the right side tell the story better than I can!

We managed the pool - which wasn’t clean. Nora got in the hottub which I wish we hadn’t... bacteria?? It was as if the place used to be super cool like twenty or thirty years ago and is now just abandoned. The only employees we saw were at the front desk. 

We thankfully found Upcountry Brewing just a few miles down - an amazing brewery with fantastic food. I felt “off” with all the driving, Hannah being a difficult toddler at dinner, and the motel room was not helping me relax. 

Tim and I got some mini wine bottles and hunkered down just waiting for morning light. I forgot how hard it is to sleep in a hotel room with your children - ack. I think Hannah was asleep by 9pm, Nora by 10pm. 

We were at the connecting IHOP by 7:30am. We attempted to eat fast and get on the road. Which we achieved by 8:30am - way ahead of schedule. The beach house wouldn’t be open until 4pm - !

Man I love the mountains

With only a supposed four hours between Asheville and Folly Beach, I think we stopped once for lunch and the girls miraculously again both fell asleep by 1pm! They woke up as we were waiting in traffic on Folly Road, slowly making our way onto the island : ) 

And even more thankfully, the house was ready by 2pm, so when we arrived by 2:45, we were able to unload and Nora was immediately in the amazing little pool out back!

The house was amazing and exactly what you want a beach house to feel like - cozy and roomy!