Trip to Houston: Sunday, July 31

On Sunday, we woke up early---since we went to bed so early--- and headed out of town. We decided not to go to mass in Memphis and instead get on the road and go Sunday evening in Houston. On the way out of the hotel, John and I each had a bag or two and also the hand of one of the girls. Jack was such a good boy holding Kate's hand. We understand he is four, but we needed his help and he was good helper. One the way out of the hotel, Anna fell and cut her lip! We decided the logistics of unloading and loading in hotels was very hard to do without an extra adult and we thought about driving straight through on our way home. Our girls are just too young. The trip to Texas that day was hot! The kids rode fairly well in the car, especially the girls who are still rear-facing in their car seats. We made it to Texas and Sarah and John were nice enough to watch the girls while John, Jack and I went to church.

Trip to Houston: Saturday, July 30

On our way to Houston, day one of the trip, we drove to Louisville and stopped to have lunch with some dear friends of ours that we have not seen in about a year-and-a-half. Amy and Chris have a 4 year-old boy, Alexander, and Ellie is one month younger than our girls. We have been friends with them for ten years now! It is always so nice to see them and we wish we lived closer so we could see them more. It was a nice half-way point for the kids in the car too, we got them out, ate lunch and played at the park outside. If only it wasn't 100 degrees outside!

After stopping, we got back in the car and made it down to Memphis and spent the night. It was quite challenging getting all the kids/luggage into the hotel room, especially since it was about to POUR down rain, but we managed and thankfully we had an extra pack-n-play in the car because the hotel only had two! The girls, even though they were up way past their bedtime (it was 9:30 our time) were playing with each other from their beds. They were throwing their blankets to each other, giving away their lovies, etc. They were laughing, laughing, laughing! We all ended up having to go to bed because they wouldn't settle down without the lights off. But, we were all tired, so it was OK. Before getting to our room, Jack kept talking about Marie and Aunt Sarah and Uncle John. I think he thought they were going to be at the hotel. We had to tell him we were just stopping to sleep and we would make it to their house tomorrow...after driving ALL DAY again. Jack was almost in tears with the thought of getting back in the car again for another day, but I think he was more sad not to see his cousin and Aunt and Uncle that night.

Jack and Alexander playing with fake phones

Most of the crew

All of us: Four adults and 6 kids ages 4 and under--and lunch wasn't too bad considering

Chris and Ellie

Amy and me

John and Anna at the park

Ellie and Kate

Elizabeth and Kate

Last time they were together they were 5 months old. We got a picture of them sitting together against a couch. This time we couldn't get them all to sit down!

Kate

15 Year High School Reunion

John and I had our 15 year high school reunion. Seems so weird that we have been out of high school that long and that we are that old! This is the first one we have been too, so some our classmates we have not seen since graduation. It was a fun night.

Trading Places

Well, sort of. This week I had my niece, Erin come to stay with me and it has be WONDERFUL! She, is such a big help with the girls and me. I started thinking that if Jack was a little older when we had the triplets, it would have been slightly easier. Erin is almost 13. She loves the girls and will do anything to help--I think she even changed her first poo-dog this week! Jack went to Michigan with my mom on Monday and was going to come back on Tuesday, but instead, he went to Grand Rapids to visit Julie. At 4.5, he is a little unsure of being away from me, but does great with my mom or his Mimi. At Julie's, he loves his cousins, Braden and Abby, and plays all day. On Wednesday night, I thought I might have to meet Julie half-way because he was starting to say he wanted me and wanted to go home, but he fell asleep early and was fine. We are anxious to see him tomorrow! The house has been quiet without him--retract that--the house has been quieter without him!

Erin and I did a lot of errands with the girls, took them to the zoo, went to St. Anne's Nursing home to visit the residents there, took a meal over to my friend that just lost her husband to cancer a few weeks ago and we also all made it to Sarah and Claire's last softball game and got to see Sarah pitch! Sarah has been here to help out too and tonight the two girls made a few bows for themselves and their sisters (so nice to think about them). It was a great week with her here!

Looking at the tortoise

New Shoes

We took the kids to get new shoes for the fall this week at Fred Toenges--a shoe store that my parents took my siblings and I growing up. They had a huge sale this week, buy one shoe, get the second pair for one dollar. Elizabeth's physical therapist recommended that I take her there to get a good pair of shoes and also orthotics since she pronates while walking. Since I usually buy shoes at Target, I thought maybe I would go and look at the shoes  at Fred's considering they would essentially be half-price and they make good shoes, probably much better quality than Target shoes. So, John and I load up the kids and the triple stroller and head over there after the girls got up from their nap. Once we got inside, we took a number and realized that it was going to be about a 20 minute wait until someone would measure their feet and bring out the sale shoes. I guess there are a lot of people that come for this sale! A nice man came to help us and started with Anna since she was in the "cherry-picker" seat. She started screaming after he touched her foot. Next was Kate, same story, and finally, Elizabeth, whom I was already holding because she has been under the weather this week with fevers. I swear the girls are afraid for each other and when they see one cry, the others do too. Kate is so good with strangers, it was weird that she cried. Well, Anna measured a 4 and Kate and Elizabeth measured a 3.5. The man told us the sale shoes started in size , but he had some Stride Ride shoes small enough for the girls that we could get 20% off. Meanwhile, another guy started to measure and mold Elizabeth's orthotics. Jack measured a size 10 and they also thought he pronated and would benefit from an insert orthotic. His pronation was less in depth compared to Elizabeth's, but we decided to have them make one. The whole time I am thinking I could buy two shoes at Target for the price of one of these Stride Ride shoes and we probably won't get the girls' shoes here today. However, after being there almost two hours and figuring out the orthotic situation, dealing with Elizabeth--who was screaming while I was holding her (when I got home I took her temperature--103--at least she had a reason for being so fussy), John informed me that we should just buy the shoes. John is a much different shopper than me. I tend to think things over, try to get the BEST deal/sale, shop around for the best price. He thinks, just walk in get what you want, and buy it. But, he shops once a year and I tend to shop a little more frequently than that ;)Anyway, we did buy all the kids shoes, Jack's were half price and a great deal on a New Balance shoe. The girls--well, let's just say they will have some pretty darn cute shoes this fall. I chalking this experience up to--Sometimes when you have triplets and small things become a large task, you go with the flow and just buy it, even if you  might pay a little more.

Summer Pictures...Random

Summer Pictures...Kate Twenty-two Months

Summer Pictures...Elizabeth Twenty-two Months