Allergic to Kansas City!

Daddy took Brock to the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 and the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 races at Kansas Speedway this weekend. Brock really enjoyed seeing all of the cars/trucks and especially liked all of the candy and goodies that Mommy packed for the races. The races would have been too loud for Ella, so Mommy and Ella got to spend some one-on-one time together while the boys were at the race.

We headed up to Kansas City on Saturday morning after dropping Sophie off with Grandma and Grandpa. We went straight to the track since check-in time at the hotel wasn't until 3:00, and the race started at 4:30. When we first arrived to the track and got out to look around, we noticed that Ella had broken out with hives all over her body and was scratching like crazy. She has never gotten them before, so this was quite of a shock to us. After much convincing on my part that we would be fine to venture out by ourselves, Mommy and Ella started for the hotel for a cold bath and change of clothes in attempts to rid the hives. Well, the directions on MapQuest didn't really work to my advantage, and we ended up getting lost. After 30 minutes of driving in the wrong direction (our hotel is only 15 miles from the track), I finally stopped and asked for directions. Since I hadn't heard back from the doctor's office about Ella's hives, I purchased everything in the gas station that was an anti-itch/antihistamine product just so I wouldn't have to drive around by myself again. =) We got turned around and made it to our hotel safe and sound. In the mean time, the doctor's office called back and said that she can take benadryl for her hives, and that she was having an allergic reaction to something. So I gave her some medicine, and by the time I gave her a bath and changed her clothes, the hives were gone. She continued to get hives throughout the whole trip, but were easily controlled with the medicine.

We made it back to the track to pick up Daddy and Brock right before the bad weather started to hit. Not too long after they left, the race was postponed until Monday.

Saturday's truck races

The Indy Car races were on Sunday, and we all decided that Mommy and Ella wouldn't leave the track this time. We had planned to watch movies and have a popcorn party in the Surburban until the boys were done with the race. When we first arrived, the kids were already watching a movie, so we let them finish watching it until it was time for the race to start. Mid-movie, the battery dies in the truck and it won't start. After 40 minutes of panicking and children crying over their dead movie, a nice group of tailgaters agreed to give us a jump and had it working in no time. Terrified of the truck dying again, there was no movie party for Mommy and Ella. We walked around the grounds for a while and then camped out in the back of the truck with gum, lotion, bandaids, and oranges. It's interesting what you can do with a little bit of imagination. When Daddy and Brock were done with the race, they greeted us with a big greasy funnel cake! UMM!

Despite all of the unfortunate events, everyone had a BLAST! The kids loved being in the hotel and really enjoyed the pool and jacuzzi.

The Indy Car race

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Everyone was hopped up on sugar, doughnuts,

and cheetos the entire trip.

Random Pics

Lots of Easter Fun!

What a fun Easter weekend! On top of all of our activities, everyone is starting to get sick...again. Yuck! Sophie had her 4 month check-up on Friday, and she is as healthy as ever. Here are her stats:
Height: 24 1/2" (55%)
Weight: 13 lbs 1 oz (32%)
Head: 16 1/4" (50-75%)
Chad played in an alumni basketball tourney on Saturday. They had two games on Saturday morning and one in the afternoon. He was only able to make it to the two morning games due to the Easter egg hunt that afternoon.


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After nap, we headed out to Madden's for the huge Easter egg hunt that they host every year. There were probably 500 kids out there between the two fields, and Brock and Ella had a BLAST! It was so much fun to see them get excited for all of the eggs. This year, Brock was able to really take off and grab some eggs; he got a whole bucket full! It was a lot of fun running around with him. Daddy took Ella and Sophie around, and they were able to snatch a few eggs. After the hunt, they had cupcakes, juice, and pop for all the kids. Tons and tons of fun for the kids and Mama and Daddy. I know we will be looking forward to that every year.
When we got home, we still needed to dye our eggs. Maddux was able to get her paws on a fallen egg and kept hovering around the table in search of another.
Today the kids were excited to see that the Easter Bunny had come. Their tummies were full of candy within the first half hour of waking up. For lunch we went to Great Grandpa and Grandma's. There was another egg hunt for the kids, and they raked in some more candy. When we got home, everyone was pooped! The kids took a 4-hour nap, and Mommy and Daddy were able to catch some z's as well.

Sophie's first Easter

As I look down at my bloody hand, I ask myself, "Why were you scrubbing the kitchen floor with a scratchy pad and razor blade?" Only my mom would understand.

Look at Brock Go!

This weekend we are continuing to work on Brock's room. We are in the final stages and just need to do some detail work. I am currently working on trying to remove the 800 layers of paint from our molding downstairs to salvage the original woodwork from our house. After doing some research on paint removal products, I found Peel Away 7 to be completely safe for interior paint removal with no harmful vapors. I tested it out on the baseboard in the hallway and it took it off great; however, the bathroom was a different story. Since the bathroom has 801 layers of paint on it, it might take two coats to completely remove. I was pretty impressed with the product, and with as much as it costs (ouch!), I should be.

Rock painting!

What does mama do to you??

The kids had a tea party with "fancy" plates.

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic