Beginning of Summer Vacation 2015

For the last two years, we have taken our family vacation at the very beginning of summer - either immediately after the last day of school ... or we've taken the kids out a couple of days early.  We drive 6 hours to Houston, stay in a hotel, and have Ben attend some kind of doctor's appointment.  Last year, it was cardiology (where we got the amazing news that the hole is closing and surgery is not exactly off the table, but teetering way on the edge).  This year, it was a visit to the Down syndrome clinic.

Ben did great.  It's always a little discouraging to hear the results of evaluations ... especially in expressive language.  But ... it's OK.  The therapists and doctors there are very good.  They enjoyed interacting with Ben and had lots of good things to say about him.  They also gave us a referral for a sleep study and an ENT.  I just have to decide if it's worth it to drive 6 hours to Houston or if we should do those visits locally.

As a side note: we totally got stuck in Houston traffic on the way to the appointment and Ben threw up his breakfast in the car.  It was an exciting morning.  Fortunately, I had brought a change of clothes for him, and we managed to arrive on time.  Whew!

And then - off to Hawaii!

Another side note: it's probably not a good idea to fly with me.  I keep encountering delays!  This time, we got stuck at LAX for an extra 4 (5?) hours.  But we made lemonade: we met some other families with little kids and had our own mini preschool camp at an empty gate.

Finally, Hawaii:

We stayed at the Disney Aulani Resort for the first several days and had a wonderful time!  We played beach games, paddled a kayak, swam in beautiful pools, and just enjoyed hanging out as a family - including Emmett's mom and dad, plus Emmett's sister Jen, her husband and their boys.  The cousins had a pretty good time together.