Our First Family Camping Trip

We've been wanting to take our kids camping for quite some time, but we never got around to it. We decided that we would plan a camping trip this summer and we ended up planning a trip together with a wedding of one of Chris's school friends. The wedding was 3 hours away, so we found a campground near the wedding and took our first family camping trip! I'm sure that camping at a campground sounds silly to all you Arizonans, but that's just how people camp here. We ended up staying at Pioneer Campground and we loved it. We had a beautiful site and it was quiet and beautiful. 

Matthew and Aaron were SO excited. Our car was packed to the brim!

I loved watching Chris teach them how to make a fire and how to do things outdoors. We are raising a couple of city boys right now and we don't have much choice in the matter. It's nice to be able to get them outdoors every once in a while! 

We got this tent for our wedding but have rarely ever used it. It was so nice to pull it out and have a really nice tent to use on our camping trip!

We had dinner, roasted marshmallows, drank root beer, and really enjoyed sitting by the fire on our first night there! Matthew had surgery a few days before, so we took it easy. He didn't want to because it didn't hurt, but we were still careful not to do too much.

Matthew's Surgery

Towards the beginning of the year we noticed a very strange mole in between Matthew's toes. We took him to the dermatologist and scheduled it to be removed in March in the office. Everything went fine. We didn't hear from the doctor for a few months and after a while noticed that the mole wasn't all gone. We called and the office said that the doctor needed to speak with me and would call back. Yikes! So he called back and said he was grateful that we called because his office was supposed to call us and tell us that additional surgery was needed. The biopsy came back inconclusive and he would need to go to see a plastic surgeon for additional surgery. 

Long story short, we took him to St. Christopher's Children's Hospital and scheduled surgery. He would need to go under general anesthesia (a first for Matthew) and they would remove all of the mole. We were nervous! We were also very lucky because a friend watched Aaron for us super early in the morning (starting at 6am) so that we could both be with Matthew on the day of his surgery.

He was such a trooper as he was waiting!

The surgery was pretty quick. They had me go back first as he was just waking up. It was pretty shocking to see him right afterwards.  He was so disoriented!

Once he was brought into the actual recovery area, Chris was able to join us. He freaked out a bit when he saw the IV, but he did okay.

They had TV for him to watch and a popsicle for him to eat. He cried soooo much when we took the monitors off his chest. They were really stuck on there. They left red marks and hurt him when we took them off. 

After a while we were able to take him home. He did so well! The recovery from it was pretty easy. He needed to stay off his feet for a couple of days, but other than that he was great!

Les Miserables in NYC!!

Ever since Les Miserables opened in New York I have been waiting for the opportunity to see it. We decided that my 30th birthday would be the perfect reason to go! I really wanted to see the original Broadway cast and patiently waited my turn. We found an incredible friend who watched our kids and made it possible for us to go and come home sooo late. It was SO exciting!

We had to walk through Times Square to get to the theater and restaurant where we had reservations. Also, I should note that Chris bought me the pearls I'm wearing in this picture for my birthday. He's pretty great.

We made reservations at Sardi's because finding a restaurant in NYC is crazy. There are so many!! The one I really wanted was an Italian place, but there wasn't availability. So we chose Sardi's because apparently it has a really rich history with Broadway. It wasn't as nice as I had hoped (decor wise), but it was delicious.

After dinner we headed over to the Imperial Theater.

It was seriously a dream come true and I think I teared up seconds after the show started.

Did I mention our seats were in the front row?! I was torn about whether or not to sit in the front or to sit 4-5 rows back so that we wouldn't have to look up as much. I am so happy I chose the front row, though. We had a more intimate experience because there was nothing between us and the actors. It was incredible. I feel like there is a part of me that comes alive when I am at a Broadway show that remains dormant 99% of the time. I love being so close to NYC.

We stopped at Magnolia's before we headed home.

Chris is such a champion. I know that Les Mis is a musical that he likes as well and that he is able to enjoy and appreciate it, but I also know that he does these things for me. He enjoys seeing me happy and he has said countless times that I smile more while at a musical performance than any other time. He is so good to me. I love that man so much!

The Elmwood Park Zoo

The Elmwood Park Zoo is a small zoo about 45 minutes away from us. It was a lovely day and it wasn't too crowded. Also, Chris came with us! Now that his summer classes and boards had ended, he was able to spend a lot more time with us than we were used to.

We went into a special bird exhibit and for a few dollar Aaron was able to hold and feed one of the birds. Matthew wasn't a bit too nervous to do it, but Aaron was entranced by their pretty colors!

We took a group picture with a giant Toucan (and paid $5 for it), but somehow the zoo lost it and we never ended up getting our photo.

The rest of the day was great. The boys really liked it. I can't wait to take them to the Philadelphia Zoo because I hear it is so much bigger and more fun!

Chris really wanted Matthew to be able to do this adventure course that the zoo had. Matthew works really hard at overcoming his fears, which are many, and he wanted to do this so bad! Chris thought it would be a really good opportunity to allow him to do something that is out of his comfort zone. It was awesome watching him!

He was so proud of himself when he was done! It was awesome. I'm grateful that Chris insisted on us spending the money for Matthew to have that experience.

On our way out of the zoo we came across this lovely little peacock who was roaming around. Peacocks always remind me of my high school drama teacher, Mrs. Aguilar, who passed away about 10 years ago. She was an incredible teacher who taught me many things. Anyway, I don't think I've ever seen a peacock up close before this!

Hand, Foot & Mouth

A day or two after our visit to the Adventure Aquarium, Aaron ended up with Hand, Food, and Mouth Disease. It sounds worse than it really is. It's a virus that makes kids feel yucky and they get sores on their hands, feet, and mouth. Poor Aaron was miserable. We spent a lot of time cuddling and he got a lot of extra sleep.

After having it for a few days, we called the doctor to see how long he was contagious. We were told that as long as none of his sores were open, he was no longer contagious. So to celebrate being able to leave the house after a long week of being quarantined indoors (we stayed home to avoid giving it to anyone else), we went to the Elmwood Park Zoo, which is the sister site to the Adventure Aquarium. It was so much fun! I'll post about it later. For now, you can see the pictures of his little hands and mouth. Poor kid!