Thanksgiving Trip Part 1- OBX and Myrtle Beach

The first stop of our big Thanksgiving road trip was Kitty Hawk, NC.  The first order of business was barbecue.  There was a nice restaurant across the street from our hotel.  We liked it so much we ate there for dinner both nights!  Kaitlyn tried hush puppies, collards, and fried okra for the first time.  Verdict: loved the hush puppies and fried okra, but wasn’t a fan of the collards.

The view from our hotel balcony the next morning…

Our first stop was the Wright Brothers’ National Memorial

Next we drove down to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  The girls’ got their National Park passport books stamped.

The final stop of the day was Roanoke Island.  The Fort Raleigh National Park is in the general vicinity of  where the lost colony was located.  I’ve been obsessed with the lost colony since I learned about it in school and even did a report on it in college.  Needless to say, I was very excited about this visit.  After watching the video in the visitor’s center, Kaitlyn kept asking if we were going to see any ghosts.  One of the stations in the museum had a book where you could leave your hypothesis of what happened to the colonists.  Kaitlyn left her index card and guess that they went to live with the Indians.

The shores of Roanoke Island…

When we got back to hotel, we went for a walk on the beach.  Kenzie was fascinated by the waves and excited to dip her little toes into the ocean for the first time!

Our hotel had several large fish tanks in the lobby.  The girls loved watching the fish.

One last walk on the beach the next morning before we continued the trek south…

The next day in Myrtle Beach was very rainy and stormy, so we spent a relaxing day in the room and on our balcony.

There was a brief break in the rain, so we snuck in a walk on the beach before the lightning started.  Kaitlyn was very excited that there were shells everywhere!

Of course the morning we  left it was bright and sunny! 

Kenzie apparently loves Chick-fil-a!

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

Kaitlyn’s birthday celebration kicked off on Tuesday this year.  She got to be the class helper and she brought in panda cupcakes for class snack.  She apparently had one of the leftovers at After Care.  Then had another for dessert.  At bedtime she confessed that she’d eaten three cupcakes that day and wanted to know if it was ok!

After she was in bed that night, I baked her cake and did most of the decorating.  I put the finishing touches on it the following morning before she came downstairs.

Here’s Kaitlyn seeing the cake for the first time.  I didn’t even tell her what the theme was this year.  Please ignore the piles of stuff in the background.  Our carpet was being replaced and we spent several days moving furniture back and forth between rooms.  They did our dining room on Kaitlyn’s birthday so the table, highchair, and a bunch of other stuff was in the living room.  Thankfully they finished the dining room before it was time for cake and presents that afternoon.

Kaitlyn once again chose Red Robin for her birthday lunch.  She claimed she is going to pick Red Robin every year until she is 18.  When we asked her what was going to happen wen she turned 18, she said she was going to pick Roadhouse until she was 25!

It’s a present for Mommy and Daddy too!  I remember how long road trips seem with a child in the backseat!

That night we had a hockey game too!  As a member of the Kids Club, she gets to go down and High-Five the players as they enter the ice before the game.  Today they asked if she wanted to bring the puck to the official before the game since it was her birthday.  She got her name and birthday announced while she was out there!

We had talked about having a “real” party for Kaitlyn and inviting her class, but with our upcoming trip it was too hard to work out the logistics.  And they are very expensive!  Instead, Kaitlyn invited her best friend from school to Friday night’s hockey game.  They had a blast!  They took a picture with Salty Pete and did the High-Five tunnel.  They got an autographed photo of one of the players.  Payton got one of the game pucks that went flying into the team bench in front of our seats.  We bought the girls souvenir hockey sticks.  And of course there was lots of junk food involved!

Physical Therapy

Kenzie had her first physical therapy visit today.  It went very well.  We like this office and physical therapist very much (Mainely Kidz), even if the office is a little bit more out of the way than we’d like. 

The therapist stated that Kenzie is doing very well, especially with her sitting and being able to catch herself if she is starting to fall over.  It seems most of the trouble is with transitional movements like brining herself to a standing position, pulling herself up, etc.  As we very well already knew the therapist commented on how strong she is and how strong her abdominal muscles are.  We will be visiting the physical therapist once a week for a few months, and in the meantime have some things we can do with Kenzie at home. 

We will keep everyone updated with Kenzie’s progress as we go through this period, the therapist has high hopes that everything going on with Kenzie will work itself out and that at first glance there doesn’t seem to be any neurological or other problems. 

Halloween

Kaitlyn wasn’t sure what she wanted to be this year.  She finally decided a few days before trunk-or-treating at school that she would be Princess Merida from Brave.  Kenzie was Cookie Monster.  Her costume was so adorable…  when she would shake her head the eyes would light up and flash. 

The day of Halloween, however, Kaitlyn decided she did not want to be Princess Merida anymore.  She wanted to be Elsa again.  So we broke out last year’s costume. Before trick-or-treating, we went to the Pirates game.  Kaitlyn loved getting to wear her costume to the game and Cookie Monster had to have some cookie!

We had a great night for trick-or-treating.  After a stop at Grammy’s, the girl’s pumpkins were already half full.  It was a pretty warm night out too.  I didn’t need a coat and Kaitlyn only needed a light jacket.  It would be great if we have the same weather next year!

Preparations for Kaitlyn’s birthday are now in full swing.  Last year she told me what kind of cake theme she wanted.  This year I am surprising her.  I can’t wait til she sees it!

14 Months

Kenzie’s Neurology Appointment

Today was Kenzie’s neurology appointment.  The doctor agreed that Kenzie’s head circumference is small and she is behind in her milestones.  After observing Kenzie on the floor, checking her eyes, etc., the doctor did not see any immediately concerning problems.  She does not want to give Kenzie an MRI immediately because at Kenzie’s age that would require putting Kenzie under anesthesia.  So Kenzie has been referred back to physical therapy.  This time she will be going for about 3 months and working on her gross motor skills rather than concentrating on her neck.  We will go back to the neurologist in March to re-evaluate.  If Kenzie hasn’t made progress with her milestones, she will consider running other tests, such as the MRI.