Science Center

We also visited the Science Center, not a lot had changed since we were there 7 years ago. Sarah really enjoyed everything and jumped right in on all the hands on exhibits.
Here is Sarah playing with the star fish and sea anemones

The three girls in the dinosaur exhibit.

Entering the bug exhibit



















Racheal inside the butterfly house posing with a butterfly.















Racheal, Alissa and Sarah tired of me taking pictures, but smiling anyway in the butterfly house














Sarah trying out the rock wall



















The three girls just wanting icecream, but smiling anyway. And yes, we had icecream too.

Seattle Trip

When we were in Washington visiting Grandma and the family we were able to go to Seattle and play for a day. We saw the Space Needle.


















We rode on the rides at the base of the Space Needle, they only had about half as many as they did when I was younger, but enough that it kept us busy and having fun. Here is Colby and Alissa watching the Merry-Go-Round.


















Sarah and Racheal are in the 2nd row and Lacy is in the 3rd row riding the roller coaster. We could not get Colby and Alissa to ride it, so they got to take pictures of us on it.














Racheal, Sarah and Alissa in front of the Pirate Ship ride, that is their favorite ride, they went on it several times.














Sarah, Racheal and Colby on the river ride.

braces update: part 2

So we met with another specialist today and he had a totally different plan for the kids, he doesn't want to do anything for Sarah right now, he likes how her teeth are coming in and doesn't think it will be a big deal to fix in a few years when all her permanent teeth come in. Sarah's teeth are not as bad as Alissa's are. And we got a much different plan for Alissa than the first Dr. This new Dr. wants to start with braces on just her top teeth for about 6 months and see what that changes, then put braces on the bottom as well. He doesn't like the jaw surgery that is out there now and does not recommend it to any of his patients, he likes to pull permanent teeth instead, he said it is a lot cheaper and gives the same effects. So after the first 6 months of braces he will see if he will need to pull 2 permanent teeth and then adjust her braces for that. Needless to say Alissa liked that idea a lot better. I don't know how many of you remember that I had that same thing done when I was in 8th grade, and it worked fine for me with no problems so far, so we decided that we will go this route with Alissa. Yes, she can thank her mom for her wonderfully crowded teeth.

One more thing I purposely left out of the last post, the other Dr. said Alissa would need to wear head gear for 14 hours a day for 2 years, but this second orthodontist said she wouldn't have to since we may be pulling the teeth instead. So thank goodness for that, Alissa is thrilled with not having to wear head gear, and we are thrilled with not having surgery and not having 2 kids in braces at once. Yeah!!!

An update on the braces

Alissa and Sarah had a consultation with an orthodontist specialist and he wants to put braces on Sarah now for a year and then again when she has all her permanent teeth, they call it a 2 phase treatment plan. We have 2 options for Alissa...the first is put braces on her right away and hopefully still be able to move her upper jaw forward now, with hopes that she is not done growing and there is still enough 'give ' in her bones to move. She would have braces on for about 2 years with several heavy elastics on both sides of her mouth, if the braces didn't work then she will need the surgery to break her jaw and reposition it when she is 16 or 17 years old. The other option is to wait until she is 16 and put braces on her for a few months then do the surgery and continue to straighten her teeth with braces for about a year. So right now we are leaning towards putting braces on them both right now and getting it over with, with high hopes that the braces do the trick for Alissa and we can avoid surgery down the road and by the time she is 16 she will be done with braces and not just starting with them.

We also have another appointment with a different orthodontist on Monday to get a second opinion, so we will see what he thinks.

The news we were expecting, the news that surprised us, and the news we didn't want to hear

To start with...the news we were expecting...Alissa needs braces, she had a consultation the other day and will be getting them on soon. She has an under bite and needs help pulling those front teeth over her bottom teeth.

The news that surprised us is that Sarah needs them now too, hopefully to correct the same problem Alissa has and catch it early enough to avoid further problems later. So we will have 2 kids in braces at the same time...all I can say is I am grateful for dental insurance that will help cover 50%.

Now for the news we didn't want to hear...BEFORE Alissa can get braces on she needs surgery to BREAK her jaw and reset it in the right place. So she has another consultation on Monday with a different orthodontist that specialises in difficult cases and then we will see the surgeon after that. Needless to say we are trying to get this started soon so that she doesn't have to miss any school and her jaw will only be wired shut for a few weeks of school. Her teachers will think she is the quietest student in their whole class, that is until she gets her wires out.

I will update more after our Monday appt. Wish us luck! And if you have any yummy smoothy or shake recipes please pass them on to us, I am sure Alissa will appreciate it in the month to come.

Over the river and through the woods

We drove to Washington this past weekend and had a great time with family and friends. On Saturday we met up with Colby's Aunt and Uncle at their river property and played in the water. Everyone in Colby's family came (except Steve who was out of town) and his cousin (Tara) was visiting from Georgia with her two kids. We had a picnic and the kids floated down the river and then they hiked up to a waterfall. It was even beautiful weather for Washington.
Here is Racheal floating by...















And Sarah who is trying not to get too wet.














Racheal after floating the river.



















Timory (Colby's Sister) and Alissa enjoying the sun.

What beautiful weather

So it was only 106 degrees last Thursday so we went to the water park, we had a fun day cooling off in the wave pool and lazy river. Then on Friday for the 4th of July we went to a fire work show in a very tiny town south of us...it was a good show and it was fun not to 'have' to do anything for the day. Just sitting at the park on our blanket eating snow cones and playing card games waiting for the fire works to start. We plan on going again next year.