Hawaii Part 1 - Day 1

Other than having a stomach bug with endless diarrhea for a week, the boys were beyond excited to go to Hawaii for our good friends Ethan and Randi's wedding.  I, on the other hand was freaking out about packing enough diapers and extra clothes for the plane ride and worrying about entertaining Max for 6 hours.  We usually fly at night and 6 hours is a long time for a wiggly 2 year old.    But despite Max pooping 4 times and Sam twice from Anchorage to Maui (the flight attendant kept spraying air freshener in the bathroom after we left), the boys did great on the plane.  They each zoned out to their itouches and took a nap.  I was so proud of them.  And on top of that, we made it there in our original clothes.  Bonus!

Just landed and all smiles

We rented a 3 bedroom condo in Kahana for the week and enjoyed not having a schedule or anything planned (other than a few wedding festivities).  It was a great vacation and felt amazing to escape the cold of Fairbanks for awhile. 

View from our lanai

Early the next morning we went to the beach for the first time and Bo and Sam went wild.  They were in heaven and ran and laughed for hours. 

 

Max on the other hand was not so sure.  It was his first time ever to the beach and was a little freaked out.  The first day he just stayed back and dug in the sand. 

Later that afternoon we went on a three hour snorkeling cruise with the other wedding guests.  The weather wasn't great and the water really choppy so we unfortunately did not get to go to the good snorkeling spot but we still had a nice time.  They boys even swam with us for a while and Max actually fell asleep while bobbing in the ocean. 

Lapro Choly

Seems so weird to me that I can be sitting here, 48 hours post op,  without my gallbladder and not feel like its missing. Serously.  It has been with me for 33 years and then poof, it's gone.  I kind of feel like I should have thrown it a farewell party or something, but nope.  Nothing.  All it got after having me cuss at it for 9 months was a first class ticket out of my belly button in a platic bag.  Poor thing was probably just as sick of me as I was of it.  Holy cow.  I hated it.   And despite the fact that I was born with it, I do not miss it one bit.  Sorry GB, no soup for you!!!

Sam Is Finally Sam

It took paperwork, one court appearance and three months, but it's finally official . . .

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA

FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT AT FAIRBANKS

CASE# 4FA-11-02174CI

CERTIFICATE OF NAME CHANGE

A judgement was entered by this court 9/6/11, authorizing Samuel Michael Madden to assume the legal name of Sam Michael Madden effective on the date stated in this certificate, which mush be after notice of the judgement has been published. 

All requirements for publishing and posting a copy of this judgement have been met.

Therefore, the effective date of the name change will be 10/31/2011.

T6 & Counting

It's only taken 10 months, 1 ER visit, an ultrasound, two meds, a couple x-rays, a CAT scan, a HIDA scan with CCK, 1 trip to Anchorage and an Endoscopy but in 6 days everything will hopefully be better and my gallbladder will be out of me!! 

WTF?! . . .Fart Gun Version

So, I got shot with a fart gun tonight.  Yep.  A FART GUN.

Oh, What's a fart gun, you ask?

Apparently it is when a buck naked 5 or 3 year old bends over at his waist and puts his head on the floor while using his hands to spread his butt cheeks apart and aim farts at you or his enemy brother while screaming "FART GUN!" and laughing hysterically.

WTF?!  Where do they come up with this stuff and what on Earth am I in for?

All Hands On Deck

Math whiz

The other night at dinner I asked Bo how many chicken nuggets I cooked if I made 6, 6 & 4. He thought for about 5 seconds and answered, "16". I was shocked!