4th of July Bend Style

What an amazing 4th of July we had this year. We drove over to Bend on Friday late afternoon and got in town in time for the boys to have dinner and then for us adults to have a nice dinner and drinks on Bill & Sandy's back deck. The weather was absolutely perfect. Saturday morning we took a beautiful hike (although I was having a hard time after just being sick, more on that next) and then Greg and I went out for a date night that evening. We went to 10 Barrel first and then to Brother Jon's for dinner. I had the Captain Jack Sparrow sandwich and it was AWESOME. Sunday mid day we went out to Sunriver and met up with the Castrey family for some fun at the pool. The boys loved the kiddie pool and we had a hard time getting them out. Ryan was in heaven splashing around in the water and Ian found some fun water toys to keep him entertained. We both thought they were so much easier this year then last year, so self sufficient and able to play on their own in the water. Sunday evening we had a nice dinner with Bill and Sandy again and then watched True Grit. I had seen it, but loved it and was happy to watch it again. Monday Greg and Bill went skiing (yes in July). Bachelor opened up Summit and the boys had a few ski runs wearing shorts. What a neat experience. Sandy and I took the boys down to the pet parade and then to 10 Barrel for lunch. That evening we went to a BBQ, but again couldn't make it to watch the fire works. We were all too exhausted, Greg and I more then the boys. Maybe next year we will see the fire works. Tuesday morning we headed home.

Now we are just getting back into the swing of the week. I had one of the hardest weeks of my life last week. The boys caught a horrible flu on Friday and were super sick and Greg left Monday for Canada. Monday morning I woke up with a low grade fever and was the sickest I have been in over 4 years. I could hardly move and the boys were sick too so needless to say, the first part of the week I basically changed diapers, fed the kids and had them watch tons of movies. Because they were sick and cranky too they wanted me to hold them the whole time. It was like pins and needles on my body. I NEVER want to re-live a week like that again. Greg got home on Thursday evening and luckily we were all starting to feel better. I am going to go to the doctor today, just to make sure everything is okay. I still have a lingering cough and am still REALLY worn out. Ian had speech class today (we had to cancel last week) and I am really frustrated with his progress. He was doing so well and now it is like he doesn't even want to try and is getting so angry. I am not sure which way to go with him and am looking forward to my meeting with the speech therapist from the state next week to figure out what to do about his lack of progress. Ryan had his initial evaluation done and was placed in the "very likely" category for ASD (autism spectrum disorder). We will also be discussing his plan for the next school year. I am trying just to take the news in stride and am feeling confident we can get him the help he needs to be in regular school classes. He has an amazing memory and if nothing else he can memorize numbers, letters and other things so hopefully that will help him in the long run.

Molly is coming late this afternoon to watch the boys and Greg and I are going Nike and then out to dinner.