Summer Vacation!!!

We are now home from our summer vacation. What an exciting time we all had! The girls and I left South Carolina on July 9th for Portland, OR. We had an evening flight and the girls did great. They both fell asleep about an hour into the flight and slept the whole way. We arrived in Portland at 11:30pm and Nick and Lisa met us at the airport. We went to get out bags and Nick and I were standing at baggage claim for about 10 minutes and I don't see any of our bags, I start to look around and realize I don't recognize any of the other people that are waiting for bags, so I go to check which baggage claim that we should be at and of course, we are at the wrong one. So we head over to the correct one and there is no one there except one guy who is an airline worker and is picking up all the baggage that was not claimed. He had about 7 bags and 5 of them were mine. Needless to say it was very easy to get our bags since they were all together.

During our first week we took a couple of trips to Mentor Graphics to visit my friends from work. We also visited the CDC where they girls went to school and got to see lots of friends and teachers. We also visited with my grandparents in Salem, OR and my grandmother in Oregon City. All of them are doing really well. My grandfather ended up having bypass surgery while we were in town and is recovering very well. On July 11th, I went out to the movies with Paul, Jenn, Nick, Jason and Lisa. We went on opening day to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We had a great time. We arrived several hours early as we were unsure how many people would be there. We were the first in line, which worked perfectly for Paul. The movie was very good, but strayed from the book more than I would have liked.

We spent a lot of time visiting with my siblings. Morgan had a great time playing with her cousin Devin. The girls were able to go swimming at Heather's house and play in the hot tub at Grandma Didi's house. We were even able to get Devin to join us in the water. It seemed like he had a good time playing with the girls. I think they will all miss each other. Morgan really enjoyed spending time with her uncle's. She wasn't always sure about everyone, but Uncle Nick, Uncle Paul and Uncle Joe were just fine with her.

The second week we were in Portland was also a big Harry Potter event. As you can probably tell, I'm quite a big fan. My cousin Christine and her common law husband Derek and I had pre-ordered our books from Barnes and Noble. We were going on Friday, the 20th at midnight to pick up our copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In order to do this we had to pick up wristbands at the bookstore the day before. So, the girls and I head over to the bookstore at the predetermined time and there is a long line of people waiting for bracelets. So at 6:00pm when we are all ready for dinner the three of us end up standing in line for and hour so that I can pick up the bracelets for Derek and I to get our copies. On Friday, I met Christine and Derek for drinks at Red Robin before we headed over to get in line to pick up our books. There were a lot of people at the bookstore as was the case all over the country on that night. Our bracelets were numbered 1-50 for the first 50 people. Then the next group of 50 all had letter A, the next 50, letter B, etc. Our letter was B. At 11:15pm, they started getting everyone in line according to their bracelet number or letter. Derek and I happened to be in the right place at the right time and saw the Barnes and Noble person put up the "B" sign and we immediately stood next to it. So even though other people got their "B" bracelets before me, we were the first ones in the line. So by about 12:30am, we had our copies of the book and were on our way home to start reading. I only got through a couple of chapters the first night but finished the entire book by Sunday night. I won't tell you what I thought of the book in case you haven't read it yet.

During the second week of our trip Kaylee got sick. She spent 4 days throwing up. On the fourth day, I was getting concerned so I took her an immediate care doctor who told us she more than likely had rotavirus. He told me to keep her on just clear liquids for a full 24 hours so that she could get it all out of her system. So for the rest of the day she had Gatorade, water, jello and some chicken noodle soup. In the evening she started crying about how hungry she was, but I made her stick to the liquids and by the next day she was feeling 100% better.

Our third week in Portland was very fun as Craig and my brother Joe both came into town. It was the first time I've been together with all my siblings since May of 2006. We all had a great time, but we do tend to argue a little when we are together. I guess that's what happens when you get 6 people with very strong opinions together and then you add in a bit of alcohol. On Saturday the 28th, Craig, Kaylee, Morgan, my Mom, Joe, Nick, Lisa and I all drove up to Ocean City, WA for the annual Miletta-Rose Family Reunion. It was held at a beach house in Ocean City that is owned by my mother's cousin, Didi. The weather was great and we all had a nice time. Kaylee had the best time of all. Didi's husband Bob belongs in his own band and they performed for the first part of the reunion. When they were done performing, they left some of the percussion instruments out and the little kids started playing with them. Then Kaylee found out that the microphone was on and then watch out! She started slow, very Jim Morrison like. She had a blanket around her shoulders and was facing away from the crowd. After the huge rounds of applause after the first two songs, she shrugged off the blanket, got the microphone adjusted so she could face the crowd and off she went! I got several videos of her before I ran out of memory on my camera. Morgan even joined her as a back up singer and percussionist on several songs. You can see one of our cousins, Oliver joining in too. Then the best part was Bob asked Kaylee if she had ever played with someone accompanying her. She said no and he offered to play his guitar while she sang with him. They sat together for a few mintues so Bob could see what key she sings in and then they played a couple of songs together. It was a big highlight for her. Bob also told her that she could come up to his home on Vashon Island anytime to recored in his recording studio. She is of course ready to go, but probably needs to write down some of her songs and practice them.

Craig, Joe, Mark and Paul spent Sunday afternoon golfing. It was a relaxed and unofficial round. Then on Tuesday, we sent Joe back to sunny San Diego. He almost missed his flight as the girls and I ended up taking him down to Salem to see Grandpa before his flight and then we had to come home and get his stuff. We dropped him at the airport at 12:45pm for his 1:30pm flight. Luckily he and his bags made it on time. The next day we took Craig to the airport for his flight back to South Carolina.

As Craig was on his way home on Wednesday evening, my mom and I were just sitting down to watch So You Think You Can Dance when things really got interesting! Morgan was playing on her booster seat (the kind that go on a dining room chair) while it was sitting on the floor. She had been playing on it all day, but this time, she decided to kneel on it and then lean towards the back, which pushed the whole thing over and she fell onto the tile floor. She is screaming like I've never heard her scream before and I run over and pick her up and there is blood everywhere! I say "Mom, she's bleeding.", but I'm not sure from where. I'm sure she has knocked out all of her teeth. My mom started wiping her up and says, "Oh, that's what it is, her chin.". Mom goes and gets my stepdad Mark who used to be an EMT to come take a look at the cut to see what we need to do. He confirms that she needs stitches. I change out of my pj's into some pants and mom and I take Morgan to the ER. It's not like this poor child has not had her share of ER visits! While we are waiting for her to get stitched up I'm also waiting for Craig to call me to let me know he has landed in South Carolina and trying to figure out how I'm going to tell him that Morgan fell and is getting stitches in the ER. I guess it was hard for Craig to get through to us while we were at the hospital because after about 15 tries, he called my mom's house because he assumed something was wrong and Mark had to tell him that we were in the ER. He finally got through to me and we confirmed where we were and what had happened. Morgan ended up getting three stitches in her chin. I also had stitches twice in my chin. Once when I was 5 and then again when I was 7. My sister Lisa and cousin Christine have also had stitches in the same place. I guess it is our initiation ritual into our private club! Morgan is now a member! She got the stitched out the day before we left Portland and seems to be healing perfectly.

We spent Friday night, August 3rd at the Kyllo's house. The girls had a great time riding around in a child's size motorized Hummer. Kaylee played some T-ball and got to swing. She though Nancy's back yard was like being at a park. Kaylee also had a great time building a train set with Nancy in their front room. I had a great time visiting with Nancy and Steve and the girls loved playing with Ryan and Michael.

On August 4th, my friends from Mentor put together a day at the park and picnic. We went to a water park in Wilsonville with Candy, Teresa and her kids, Ella and Emily, Kristi and Harrison, Nancy and her kids Ryan and Michael and Tammi and her niece Alex. Amy and her kids, Liam and Emma were able to join us later in the day as they had been moving all morning. The kids played on the play equipment, ran through the water fountains and had an all around great time. I enjoyed spending time hanging out with my friends and catching up with everyone. The girls and I went over to Amy's house after the park to see all of the remodeling that was just completed. The Wheatcroft's just did a whole house remodel and they did an amazing job. I enjoyed getting to see it before we left Portland and I look forward to seeing the pictures when they get everything moved in and organized. By the way, Amy, I expect to see that pantry fully stocked!!!

We spent our last few days visiting with family and getting ready to come home. I was able to go out to dinner with my sister, Lisa and spend the evening driving around Portland picking up menu's at different McMenamins to finish the decor in our breakfast room. After four weeks we were all looking forward to sleeping in our own beds and having all of our stuff. We took another red eye flight but it was not as smooth as the first. Our flight did not leave Portland until 10:10pm on Monday night. By the time we were ready to take off, Morgan wanted to lay down without her seatbelt and the flight attendants wanted her to sit up with her seatbelt so she cried through the entire take off. Then we had missed the window for her to go to sleep and she got her second wind and wanted to play. Kaylee was able to go to sleep around 11pm, but Morgan was up till after midnight. Once I got her to sleep and I wanted to sleep we hit turbulence which made it difficult for me to relax and sleep. I listened to Harry Potter and the OOTP on my ipod to try to calm me down. I probably got about and hour of sleep and by the time we reached Charlotte it as already 6am on Tuesday! Craig drove us home and Kaylee stayed up all day playing with all of her toys. Morgan and I went straight to bed and slept till around noon. I ate some lunch and took another nap while the girls played. Both girls fell asleep around 8pm and slept until almost 11am the following day. I think we are finally getting caught up. Starting next week, it is back to our normal routine of working out in the morning and by August 20th, Kaylee will start 1st grade!

Well, I'll update you soon on how school is going. Have a great rest of the summer!

Here are all the great pictures from our trip! Enjoy!