I Think I'll Go to Boston

Today I checked out possibilities for future travels into Boston.

There’s a commuter train station 5 minutes from school. To park all day costs $2.

To ride the train into Boston is a 45 minute trip, costing me and Steph each $6.25 each way (the girls are free). (Total up to $27)

Once arriving at North Station in Boston, within a 30 minute walking and/or public transportation (subway or bus, which are free with a commuter rail ticket) radius are the following:

• Fenway Park (They give tours! Woo hoo!)
• Boston’s Children Hospital (where we will take Lizzie for her cardiology appointments)
• a couple shopping malls
• the Museum of Science
• quite a few historical landmarks
• the M.I.T. campus (I’ve always wanted to visit there)
• the Harvard campus (again, always wanted to visit there)
• quite a number of parks
• Logan International Airport
• did I mention Fenway?!

Sweet.

Diaper

Lizzie helped change Ellie's diaper this morning. What a good helper!

Dooooooo nut

Lizzie ate a whole raised glazed donut by herself this morning. I'm beaming with pride.

Chuck

The other day Steph, Nana and the girls went to Chuck E Cheese's. Much fun ensued.

Last Friday

Some Ellie pics!

And my fav of the bunch...

Road Trip

Spent a good chunk of the day with my folks planning out the big trip to MA. Got a basic game plan for the schedule, discovered what’s reasonable for one day’s driving and found out what highways are better than others. (My folks have been taking big road trip vacations at least annually for as long as I can remember. They’re experts at it now. So we leaned on their wisdom quite a bit).

Here’s how the basic itinerary:

May 31 – Leave the ‘Couv early in the morn. Go as far as Brigham City, UT.

June 1 – Travel to (or near) Denver, CO

June 2 – Spend the day with Benji and his family. WE’RE SUPER EXCITED. Haven’t seen Benji since his wedding, I think. Really looking forward to seeing them and spending the day with them.

June 3 – Travel to Rapid City, SD. Meet up with my folks at Hart Ranch, pretty much the coolest campground in the U.S. Brings back memories of many a summer vacation.

June 4 – See the faces in the morning and Reptile Gardens in the afternoon.

June 5 – Travel to Albert Lea or Hayward, MN.

June 6 – Hit the Mall of America and then the IKEA across the street. Travel on to Hixton, WI.

June 7 – On to Elkhart, IN.

June 8 – Travel to the Grand Rapids, MI area to see some places of Steph’s dad’s childhood. Then on to Perrysburg, OH.

June 9 – Two words: Cedar Point. My sister and her family will travel up from the Dayton area to meet us for a very fun day.

June 10 – Travel to Hershey, PA.

June 11 – Enjoy the chocolatey bliss of Hershey, PA. Steph, stop drooling.

June 12 – Travel on to GCTS

I’m getting excited. Today made the whole thing more real.

Class starts June 18.

2 Months Already!

Well Ellie had her 2 month check-up yesterday and passed with flying colors. She is 13lbs 2 oz and 23 inches long which puts her in the 75th percentile for her weight as well as her height. That means that our little girl is above average, but perfectly proportioned, something we are not used to after going to Lizzie's appointments where they tell us to fatten her up. Ellie did get 5 shots, but took them like a trooper. She cried, but the second she was being held, she stopped and just sucked back the tears. Hope you enjoy one of Ellie's first bathtub photos. What a funny face?

Getting Back to Normal

Well, we are still a bit sluggish and having to be careul what foods we choose to eat, but all and all we are well again.

Ellie returned home late Wednesday morning and has loved being home and watching her crazy family again. We missed her so much while she was away, but now that she is home and healthy we know it was the right thing. If she had gotten this awful virus, then we would have had to take our sweet littlest girl to the hospital, and unlike Lizzie, they would have kept her there.

As it was, Allen and myself contemplated calling an ambulance several times throughout the first 24 hours of our being ill. We were too weak to walk, stand, or even sit-up. There were other more troubling aspects to this illness, but I will spare you the details, and spare my stomach from being reminded of them. Thank you to those that prayed for us. My fever did reach 103, but broke that same night and by the next evening was gone.

You know, I have thought the past year that I was a fairly careful mother when it came to germs. I didn't want to be crazy germ-killer-must-sanitize-everything-lady, but after this experience I know why some people are. To think that perhaps a few extra squirts of some good ol' hand sanitizer might have prevented all of this (or not since somehow kids seem to find germs so easily and not always when you are looking). However, I have learned my lesson that trips to the mall (since that is where I am convinced Lizzie aquired this lovely little bug) will always call for a lathering of hand sanitizer throughout the trip and possibly even a bath when we get home, at least until the memory of this weeks journey are somewhat more distant.

It is my prayer that as you read this that you too are well and that you remain so for many moons to come.

Now a cute picture of little Ellie sporting her winter hat and greeting you with a classic Ellie smile, as only she can do.

Sick

Sick time in Hutchison land. Lizzie went to the ER Saturday night. Dehydrated from throwing up so much.

Sunday night, Allen and Steph are the sickest they’ve ever been. Period. I wish this bug on no one. Right now, we’re surviving on intermittent sleep, Gatorade, Saltines and some applesauce. Constant stomach pain. Constant need to fight trouble inside that wants to come out. Steph’s got a 102 fever.

Please pray her fever breaks tonight and that Jesus heals us thru sleep.

My mom got Ellie Sunday night so little one wouldn’t get sick. Lizzie is on the mend and back to her normal self, though she is sleeping more than usual. But we’ll take that.

Time to go sleep. Thanks.

Reading

Reading to her baby doll