July

July was a little busy.
First we went to the Capitol building for the Fourth of July. It was awesome! The only real downer was the heat and humidity. DC was having some record setting heat, and the humidity was just awful. I was glad we brought along several water bottles, the two boys drank most of them.

Patrick had his tear duct probe surgery this month as well. We looked forward to this appointment for a long time. His right tear duct was blocked, so it wasn't draining the tears and all that gunk that ends up in your eyes. The gunk was just sitting on top of his lid, gathering. We would have to wipe his eye clean every time he woke up, and plus a few other times throughout the day. He was a champ for the surgery, and it was only 15 minutes long. 

There's a spray ground not too far from where we live. It's free!

It took Patrick quite some time to warm up to it, but he will now sit down and touch the water.

Patrick has started waving hello to everyone now

Kiernan has been making some great strides with cueing

The boys being boys

We went to Virginia Beach for a few days in the middle of the month. It was a much needed break for us, and Kiernan was fearless with the water. Patrick was a little more brave this time than when we went to chiconteague. We got to see a pod of dolphins going by, all just from sitting on the beach! One thing we have learned is that the beach is now a lot more exhausting with kids as they are constantly wanting us to help them jump waves. :)

Our house was attacked with illnesses again this month. This time it was Hand Foot Mouth disease. The two boys had the fever, cough, and then some blisters show up. Bryan also got it, and had maybe 6 blisters himself, if that. I also got it, and I'm pretty sure I made up for their lack of blisters. My entire palm on both hands were covered in blisters, as well as the soles of my feet. My mouth just had a couple of blisters, but I did get some on my nostrils and my ears as well. It took a week before the blisters started going away. All I can say is I'm so grateful it happened when I wasn't working, because I would've had to take off two, maybe three weeks between all of us having this horrible virus. 

Bryan's Aunt San passed away this month from a single car accident. This was shocking, especially as she had just beaten cancer. I had a chance to meet her earlier this year, and she was a fun and wonderful person to talk with. Unfortunately we were not able to go to the funeral as it was in California, and we just couldn't make it out in time. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the King family. 

My grandfather passed away on the 30th of July. He was expected to die a long time ago, and it has mostly just been a waiting game for him to be ready to leave this existence. It wasn't a surprise, but it sure still wasn't easy. Up until his death, all of my grandparents were alive, and it's the first relative that I've had pass away where I was close to him. The only other ones I know of that happened in my life time are my great grandparents. Unfortunately, I was not able to fly home to attend the funeral. This was difficult to accept, but it was just the way it was. The funeral was held in August, and my siblings were kind enough to take some pictures and send them to me. My father also made a DVD of pictures of Grandpa, and sent me an actual copy of the program. I'll miss my grandpa, but I'm happy to know he's in a better place. My heart hurts more for my grandmother than anything else, as she has dedicated her life to him these past few years as he continued to get worse health wise. Our prayers also continue to be with her.