Chicago, IL & Wisconsin Dells, WI Vacation

Our family just spent a week on vacation. First we went to Chicago for Ashlee's college orientation at Columbia College. She registered for her first semester classes and got her official college ID and then we toured University Center where she will be living. Columbia College is located in the South Loop. She is all set to go and she is very excited!!!! It was 104 degrees the first 3 days that we were gone in Chicago.

Here is a pic of University Center...the building where Ashlee will be living and a pic of Ashlee in front of University Center.

While we were in Chicago, Ashlee bought herself a Coach purse...something she has wanted for a very long time!!!

From there we drove to Wisconsin Dells and spent the rest of the week at the Kalahari Resort. We had great weather while we were there...80's and sunny!!!! We laid by the pool, got lots of sun, sat in a tube and floated down the lazy river and went in the pools and hot tubs! The kids went on the water slides and in the pools.

Thursday night we all got dressed up and went out to a fabulous dinner buffet!

While we were at the Kalahari, Lexi entered the coloring contest at Camp Kalahari. They picked 4 finalists and Lexi was one of them! She was so excited!!!! Here are pics of her holding her picture and a pic of her next to the board with the four finalists pictures.

We got home last night about 8:30 PM! When we got home we found out that there had been a bad storm on Tuesday with rain, high winds, power outages, downed trees and fires. The Christmas lights in the tree in the front yard were on the ground, there were branches everywhere and one of the double gates in the back was totally ripped off the post...screws and all!!! It was leaning up against the fence so we are thinking one of the neighbors must have picked it up for us. Butch has to fix that tomorrow!

I am still having trouble with my hand/arm!!! The pain pills are not doing anything at all! I will have to call the doc to see if there is anything else he can give me for the pain.

With this blog post I am starting the official countdown to when Ashlee leaves for Chicago.......38 days!!!!!

Our next blog challenge at CSS is our "Top 5 Vacation Memories"

~One of my top vacation memories was my trip to North Carolina in 1991 or 1992. It was my first vacation as a single mom and I went with 5 couples who were all good friends of mine. I flew Ashlee to New York to stay with her dad and then I drove from there with one of the couples to NC. We all rented a house on the beach for 10 days and we had a fabulous time!!!

~My next top vacation memory is my Carnival Cruise with Ashlee in 2000. Ashlee performed on the cruise ship in Mexico (she twirled baton). We had a terrific time together. It was our first cruise. We went to Grand Cayman, Calica and Cancun. Ashlee and I went snorkeling with the stingrays in Grand Cayman. It was the trip of a lifetime and one I would love to go on again!!!!

~The next vacation memory that comes to mind is our first BIG family vacation to Florida in 2002. This trip was also a performance trip for Ashlee. She was performing in the Capital One Citrus Bowl Half Time Show as a Baton Twirler. We also took my niece Samantha on this trip with us. Lexi and Samantha had never been on an airplane and so this was a very exciting trip for them. In addition to their first airplane ride they were also going to Disney World. We spent an entire day at Magic Kingdom, spent New Years Eve at Universal Studios, went to the Citrus Bowl Football Game and that evening they had a big island style pool party at the hotel to celebrate. We had a great time!! By the way...two years later in 2004 Ashlee and I went back to Florida again and she performed in the half time show again but as a dancer!!!

~My next memory is not just a memory but actually 3 memories! I am talking about my scrapbooking retreats to http://www.atimetocreate.com/. I have some really great friends that I get together with and we go here and we laugh, cry, create and just have fun together!!! Let me tell you...Jeanne and Lori know how to to take good care of you and pamper you at this place. They make you feel like you are part of their family while you are there. If you want to get away with the girls and be creative and have some fun...this is the place to go.

~My next vacation memory is the vacation that we just came back from which I am going to blog about in a few minutes so you can read all about it in a few minutes up above!!!! We had a fabulous time and I will remember it always!!!

Thanks for the blog challenge Amanda!! I look forward to the next one!!!

Much needed vacation!

Well it is finally Friday and we are officially on vacation!!!! I have been looking forward to this for awhile now and after the news that I got from the doctor today, I especially need the rest and relaxation with my family.

I started occupational therapy last week and we have just been working on massage and finger movement because I have been in so much pain and my hand and arm have been swelling so much. My hand has been turning purple on and off and I get these terrible shooting pains up my arm that bring me to tears but I have been trying not to complain too much because I know it has only been a month since surgery and I am still healing. Well I knew that something was wrong and when the doc walked in the room today he looked at me and said you don't look so good and I said I don't feel so good. He looked at my hand and arm and said that I had RSD...Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy which is a chronic regional pain syndrome. I am still doing research on it. He said some people get it after a surgery like this and some don't. They don't know why some do or why they do. He had talked at one point about doing another surgery on my arm but now that he has diagnosed me with the RSD....he said no more surgeries. He said if I had another surgery the chance of RSD would be more severe. We talked at great length today about my situation and although I knew it was coming...it was hard to hear the words...I need to deal with the fact that my arm and hand will never be normal again...it was very emotional for me! For two years this has interrupted my life in many ways and has taken a great toll on me. This is the end of the road as far as surgeries and now it is time to prepare my case and try to move forward.

So we are getting ready to go on vacation...first going to Chicago for Ashlee's college orientation...which is something else that has been very emotional for me lately. I am having a hard time with the thought of Ashlee leaving and going off on her own. I know it is what she wants and I want it for her and I know she is going to have so much fun...but I just can't imagine not having her around the house. I am very excited to see where she will be living and going to school. She will be living in a suite with 3 other girls. She is so excited!!!

We are going to Wisconsin Dells and staying at the Kalahari Resort for 3 days on the way home from Chicago. The Kalahari is my favorite place to go and relax!!

I am going for my mani and pedi tomorrow morning. I requested Anne so I can ask her to be gentle with my hand...it will be a good start to my relaxing vacation. Then I will come home and finish packing.

We are having Ashlee's going away party on August 18th. It is going to be a Hawaiian themed Luau and we rented a hot tub!! I will be sending out invites...so stop by and say Aloha. She moves into her apartment in Chicago on August 22nd!!!!

Well, I will have my laptop on vaca so I will update again while we are gone. Have a great week!!

I signed up my first Stampin' Up! recruit today!!

I had a really nice lady call me a few weeks ago to place an order for SU products. She had gotten my name and number off of the SU website. After talking for awhile, she decided that she wanted to sign up as a demonstrator so she can get her discount. That is totally fine with me...that is why I signed up 5 years ago. Today she came over and we filled out the paperwork and sat and chatted for awhile. I am very excited for her to get her starter kit! She is going to have fun with it! I am looking forward to getting to know her better as well as stampin' and scrappin' with her and sharing creative ideas!!

Debi...welcome to the Stampin' Up! family!!!