The Girls invade Birmingham......

At the museum there is a giant map carved into the walkway. The girls enjoyed being "giants" in Birmingham.......

They also enjoyed being dwarfed by the plaster casting of Vulcan's foot. As you can see in the second picture, Sam is quite insistent that her "baby" accompany us on all outings as of late. Most of the time Mom ends up carrying her or pushing her in Sam's umbrella stroller. And yes, it is a little awkward confronting the stares of strangers in the mall as I push a doll while both of my children walk, but it is significantly less awkward than the fit Sam would throw if her baby was not in the stroller........I pick my battles carefully and all I can say in my defense is that at least this "third child" is quiet, well behaved, and doesn't require much in the way of feeding or potty stops. :)

More of Birmingham

On Friday, we headed to Vulcan Park on the hill overlooking Birmingham. Vulcan Park is an educational museum built around the statue of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and forge. The statue of Vulcan is the largest cast iron statue in the world and was built in 1904 for the World's Fair to represent the birth of Birmingham's iron and steel industry. Iron mining created the city of Birmingham and many of the original factories and mines still stand today. In fact, the majority of vehicles and weapons used in WWII were made in the iron factories of Birmingham, AL. The museum is located on a hill that was once a huge mine and overlooks the entire city. Each exhibit tells the story of Birmingham's history, first as a mining town, then as the gateway to the Civil Rights Movement, and finally, as home to one of the largest and finest medical complexes in the United States. For two history fanatics, this was a great stop on our trip! The museum is fascinating and the city, beautiful. Add one more thing to the list of things I am learning to love about the South: the wealth of national history, of struggle and triumph represented in each small town and burgeoning city here.

Birmingham, AL

On Wednesday morning we loaded the minivan with suitcases, the DVD player, plenty of Polly Pockets, colorbooks and crayons, snacks, and a few baby dolls and headed out for Birmingham, Alabama, about 5 hours from Camp Rudder, FL. Were we staying for a week, a month? Oh no, just a few days. Our many travels in the minivan with two toddlers has taught us to be prepared with plenty of amusement and fruit snacks to keep them distracted from the fact that they are strapped into car seats.

This was our second trip to Birmingham but it will not be our last. Kaitlyn's Cleft Team is located at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Children's Hospital and we go once a year for check ins. Last year we had to go during the school year so we did not get a chance to see the city at all. This year we decided to go up a day early and stay a day after so we had a chance to see Birmingham. Birmingham is a fascinating southern city, full of our nation's history and we had a great time experiencing some of the city's magic. On the drive up we stopped at Priester's Pecan Factory where they have been making Pecan products since the early 1900's. We got to watch the candy being made and sample quite a bit. Duane had to call Mom and rub it in a bit as they share a great love of Pecans and Pecan Pie. He made up for it by buying some pecans to ship to her though. :)

After arriving in Birmingham, we settled into our hotel and got things ready for the next morning. Cleft Clinic starts early and so we made our way to UAB Children's first thing in the morning. UAB is rated among the top 3 Children's hospitals in the U.S. and is the single largest employer in Birmingham. The clinics and hospitals span the entire downtown portion of the city and are surrounded by the actual UAB campus. The sidewalks and restaurants are filled with medical students, doctors, and nurses in scrubs on their lunch or dinner breaks. Children's itself is a huge building that spans two of the city blocks and is decorated brightly with all artwork at a child's eye level. It is a fun and engaging place and Kaitlyn loves her visits there. We feel incredibly thankful that we have the opportunity of receiving care at Children's. Kaitlyn's visit went exceptionally well this year. She has never had an abnormal hearing or speech test so she was actually exited from both clinics this year!!! This means she will only need to receive future screenings if we feel there is a problem that develops. I usually go into the booth with her when she does her hearing tests but this year, she went in by herself and was perfectly comfortable following the directions. She is growing up and becoming so confident! All in all, it was a great visit, with no surgeries expected in the near future.

After the hospital, we spent the remainder of the day at the Birmingham Zoo where we saw everything from monkeys and gorillas to alligators, Flamingos, and hippos. One of the Gorillas there was the first in the world to receive a heart implant. The surgery was performed by both Vets and cardiologists from UAB that normally operate on humans. Pretty fascinating! The zoo was beautiful and we had a fabulous time and were exhausted by early evening - well, mom and dad were................

Fashionista in the Making

This is what Sam decided to wear for a day of playing in the neighborhood.......do I need to say more?

Our Little Firecrackers

4th of July weekend arrived with a bang here in the panhandle of Florida.....literally. We are in the midst of hurricane season and the 4th was a stormy day. We spent most of the day indoors, relaxing and avoiding the torrential rain, high winds, and lightning. We rarely get the chance to hang out and do nothing as a family so it was nice to just watch the storm, listen to the thunder, and read and play games. By evening the storm had cleared and the neighborhood gathered in the circle to set off a few fireworks and a LOT of sparklers and Pop Its, as most of our neighbors have little kids too. We spent the rest of the 4th chatting with old friends in the circle and getting to know new friends who have just arrived at Camp Rudder. Long after the sun had gone down and the kiddos had fallen asleep in laps, we finished off the last of the juice boxes and headed on in to bed. Yep, you know you can no longer claim membership in the "cool people" club when you think a good party consists of conversations about breastfeeding tips, positive discipline methods, and your favorite brand of fruit snacks over juice boxes stolen from the kids' stash...............And a "late night" means after 10pm. We have officially become our own parents and we don't really have the energy to fight our descent into "uncool." We hope you still love us anyway! ;)

Hope your 4th was as enjoyable as ours!