This Month HAS to be Better than LAST Month!

Even though we did enjoy a fabulous week at the beach last month, I am sooo ready to be DONE with August 2010! My Aunt passed away last week after a long battle with dementia/alzheimer's, so Whitney and I headed to Ohio for the services. Why didnt Eric join us? Because Eric has SHINGLES! Yep, only 2 in every 1000 people his age will get this stress-related illness. So naturally, the most laid-back, healthy dude we know would end up with this uncomfortable, unhappy illness right after enjoying a week on the beach. I feel so bad for him and want to make it all better, but it just has to go away in time. That seems to be a common theme I suppose..."Time heals all wounds".
For now, he cant hug or hold Whitney and that is killllllllling her. She wants him to pick her up and hug her, but he has the shingles on his neck/head/chin, so if she wraps her little arms around him, we risk her getting Chicken Pox.  Part of me WANTS her to get chicken pox and get it over with, but we did NOT want her to get them last week, right before we got on the plane to Ohio. I joked that I could just imagine her starting to itch little red bumps when we reached cruising altitude and were about to spend 4 days with family we rarely see. I was only half kidding...that would just flow with the kind of medical marvels we try to provide our docs. :)
Whitney and I enjoyed some time with my aunts and cousins and had a really great time with my parents and brother.  Whitney woke up asking for "Jay? Jay!" (my bro) on our last morning in the Buckeye state. She wasnt ready to let anyone hold her (other than me, Mac, or Gramps), but she was happy to give out tons of high-5's. She played with all the toys Aunt Ger had waiting for her, and enjoyed being around family, even if she wasnt necessarily willing to sit in their lap, give them a hug, or hold their hand yet. I think if we had one more day there, she would have gone to any one of them without thinking twice...but the combo of her age, the foreign environment, and the faces she doesnt get to see every day seemed to make her clingier than normal.
She was a rock star on the plane rides and did great sleeping in the bed with me at the hotel. She is such an adaptable little girl :) She fell asleep during the Mass on Wednesday, but not before yelling "MAC! Mac! MAC!" from the first pew as my mom approached the altar to do her reading. Whoops!  After the Mass, she stayed asleep to the gravesite and woke up just in time to entertain everyone at lunch afterwards.  Auntie Peggy would've loved Whitney and I'm sorry they never got to meet. She is with her sisters and parents now, in a better place. :)

Some pics from the Ohio Adventure:

Standing between me and Mac, watching Nemo and eating a cereal bar. The ONLY way to fly.

Snoozing Whitney, Mac, and Gramps on the way to Ohio.  Whitney did really well and didnt cry at all :) She's a pro!

More Nemo watching with Uncle Jamey at the hotel. That DVD player got quite a workout!!

Aaaand...some more Nemo at Aunt Gerry's. I think we can all recite that movie.

After some serious discussion and consideration....

Whitney decided that holding Uncle Jay's hand would be okay afterall :)

Uncle Jamey, Gramps, and Mac huddled with Whitney on a bed in my room to watch Nemo "ONE more time..."

I didnt take a lot of pictures while we were there, and Whitney is on the go and running everywhere so it's harrd to get good pics, but we were able to send a few pics to Daddy from my phone.  Whitney really missed her Daddy. :( Someone knocked on our door in the hotel and Whitney RAN to the door yelling "DADDY! DADDY! DADDDDY!!"  Overall, she was really well-behaved the entire trip, but we were both ready to be home in our own beds and close to Daddy again.

Although....he couldnt hug her when he got home from work, and that still stinks :( 

SOOOO ready to move on to a new month with new, FUN adventures making HAPPY memories with people who mean the most :) We have a beach weekend coming up and an awesome trip planned to visit amazing friends next month.....but Eric is under strict rules NOT to get sick :) WHO gets sick after a relaxing week on the beach!? He returned to work and joked to his coworkers and employees that he was "never going on vacation again....I must be allergic to relaxtion!" (I, personally think he's allergic to DRAMA...but that's another saga for another place.)

Next month's beach trip with friends will NOT be followed up by a trip to the doc and/or an allergic reaction to relaxation. And we are leaving the drama in August.