Lake Owen 2012

When Kaiya broke her leg, the very first words out of her mouth (and through her tears) were, "What about Lake Owen, mom?"  I didn't have the heart to tell her then that I didn't think it would happen.  However, this year was different than last in that two of Kaiya's former teammates were planning to come and Kaiya had no intentions of leaving them to fend for themselves.  And, they were counting on me to be the camp nurse.

So, after a lot of discussion with these two girls and their families, we decided to still go.  Kaiya got permission to put weight on and walk on her cast the day we got there and she never looked back.  Don't get me wrong--still a huge bummer to be stuck in a cast at gymnastic camp that is famous for it's waterfront activities, but she really made the best of it.  

By the end of the week, she had worn a hole through the bottom of her cast and I had seen enough kids in the health hut to open a full-time clinic.  It was a super busy week, but we both made the best of it and came home exhausted.  My other "nurse" counterpart was actually a physician from Wisconsin whose daughter was there.  He was great with the kids and we made a good team, but we saw over three times the volume the previous weeks' nurses had seen, including a ton of 8-year-old "I have a tummy ache, which really means I'm homesick." 

I know the two young ladies that came with us had a blast.  It was so fun for Kaiya to have buddies there this year as well and we are all planning our return next summer. 

Here are some of our favorite pics from the week. . . . . 

Getting strapped in for the bungee tramp--I'm sure this is on the approved activity list with a cast.

With Olympian, Morgan Hamm

Their whole group.  Goofy girls!

In one tiny Kia, we packed 4 of us and ALL of our luggage.  Not sure how, but we did!

She was thinking of showing this to the doctor when we got back. 

It was a great week!

Evelyn decided to injure her ankle (mildly, thankfully!) on the last day and Maddie's foot was sore.  You can imagine how this looked in the airport.

Disgusting cast complete with a patch job, an Olympian's signature and ketchup.


Until next year!!!

Down but not out!

Fact:  I have never broken a bone.  Fact:  Doug broke his nose, but you can't put a cast on a nose.  Fact:  Because of these facts, neither Doug or I didn't really realize what a pain it is to break a bone and be casted . . . especially in the summertime.

Miss Kaiya, who now does 22 hrs of gymnastics per week, broke her leg while playing at a friend's house.  Are you kidding me?  Of course, I get yet another Mother of the Year award on this one.  The rest of us were at a Rockies game when I got a call from the mom where she was staying.  The call made me believe that it wasn't really all that bad.  The first question I was asked was if she was a 'drama queen' or not.  Hmm, not really.  Next question was did she have a high pain tolerance.  Again, not really was my answer.  Then Kaiya got on the phone and the tears should have told me to go get her right then.  I could tell she was hurting quite a bit, but she said she wanted to stay.

Turns out, when gymnasts gather at each other's homes, they play gymnastics related games.  The one they were playing is called Lover's Leap whereby the girls literally jump sideways into each other's arms.  Not a big deal for these strong girls, except that Kaiya wasn't even looking when one of the girls jumped into her arms that weren't there and came crashing down into her shin.

Fast forward to about 24 hours post incident and her whole right leg is huge and turning colors.  So, I took her into the back door at work late at night to just get a quick x-ray and as soon as I saw the image pop up on the screen, I knew it was bad.  Telling her it was broken was a whole different story.  We had big plans for gymnastics camp again this summer.  We had big plans for lots more days at the pool. Having a casted leg just wasn't in those plans.

Well, two casts and a month later, I have to say that I am as proud of this girl as I have ever been.  She was on crutches for 3 solid weeks and in a hard cast for over a month.  She has never complained.  She has been 100% compliant with everything she's been told to do or not to do.  She goes to the gym and does conditioning for hours and still hasn't complained.  I am also incredibly proud of Kinley.  She has been so sweet to her sister.  Gave up her bed and slept by her on the floor for a week, carried her stuff and just genuinely was a huge help.  Cooper also decided to give Kaiya and compliment and told her she was really tough.  Ha!

We just returned from Lake Owen (post to follow soon) and she was such a trooper.  She is so ready for the cast to come off in the morning!  I just feel really, really bad for whomever has to cut it off.  She got the green light to walk on it a week ago and has worn a hole in the bottom, had it reinforced by a trainer at Lake Owen, spilled ketchup on it and had it signed by a former olympian who was at camp.  It's black on the bottom and it stinks to high heaven.

I guess this is a summer she'll not soon forget!

The night of the incident

No medical training needed to see the break

Kinley has been an amazing helper and so sweet to her sister

After 10 days and in between cast 1 and cast 2

Purple and . . . .

a black stripe to make it look cool.  

A trip to the American Girl store after getting casted

Cast #2.  The girl's got style!

One day before removal.  Ketchup and all.  Nasty!!!

Jumpin' June

I was doing so good for a while updating this blog once a week.  Guess I need to get back on track because now I have a whole month to update!

I cannot believe June is over, but then again, time flies when you're having fun.  Between baseball, gymnastics, volleyball camp, training runs and pool trips, we were never home!

I'm going to let the photos tell the stories of our summer, but suffice it to say, we have not been bored!

Kaiya's new gym buddy, Reagan.  They have been inseparable.  What a blessing! Kaiya goes to gym 22 hrs/week!!

Lori was in town and we took all the kids to a place called Big Jump.  Big hit!

I love how these kids can pick up right where they left off

Catching some air!

Splash park day . . . except they all ended up running through the sprinklers at the park. 

Still can't get used to how tall Kinley is!

Family time . . we had all been so busy that we finally just celebrated Mother's Day, Father's Day and Erika, Brandon and Doug's birthdays all at the same time.  

My girls cannot get enough of Syd

Checking out Windsor Lake--the future home of my dad's new house slated to be done in Sept. 

Cooper's turn for some Syd time

Getting her first real mani/pedi--her reward for filling her fuzzy jar!

Pool day! Might be my favorite pic of the summer--they really do have the ability to get along!

Volleyball camp!  She absolutely loved it!

The much anticipated horseback riding day--compliments of Kinley's Brownie troop and all the cookies they sold. 

So fun!

Grinned the entire time.

Heading off on the trail in beautiful Estes Park

One of many games--3 each week plus practice the other days!  Good thing he can't get enough of it.

Still his favorite position

Hit pretty well this summer

Nice swing

Not as slow as he used to be, either!

Another pool day, this time in Brighton

Cousins!!

Doug's new hobby--just don't ask to see his bumps and bruises.  Not pretty!

Youth Conference--hiking his first 14er!

Got her braces off!  

Does it get any cuter than this?

At the drive-in movie in Ft. Collins--view of the High Park fire.  So sad!

Flipping off the diving board