Summer is officially over and we pretty much ended it with a bang.  Every weekend during this summer has been filled with fun and exciting.  The last few weeks were no exception to the rule.  Since the last update, we've been to Folsom Lake, the California State Fair, a family gathering in Folsom, and camping. Plenty of fun and adventure to top off the end of a great summer. 

Of course, this summer has also brought lots of pains and worries.  Michael missed out on both the State Fair and the highly anticipated camping trip due to illnesses.  In both instances, he had really had headaches.  The one during the State Fair was not too bad.  A typical headache for Michael, but the one during the camping trip was worrisome.  It started the Sunday before the camping trip.  He started getting this really unbearable headache.  It was Labor Day weekend, if I remember clearly.  I remember going up to Folsom to see Uncle Don's house.  He was fine that Saturday.  We had lots of fun and got to see lots of people that we don't normally see.  The kids had a blast playing with the football, bubbles (plastic ones too), and punching balloons (that hit Mackenzie in the face causing a big bruise on under her right eye).  The next day when he woke up, he was complaining of a headache.  We didn't think much of it because he gets a lot of headaches.  So the usually, some Motrin and ice bags.  Monday rolls around and he's still in lots of pain.  So painful that he decided that he's going to the doctor the next day when the office is open.  That's a sign of pain when Michael decides for himself that he needs to go to the doctor.  So, the next day, he went to the doctor and the doctor gave him some migraine medication.  He took some and it seemed to help.  Wednesday morning, he gets up and starts getting ready for work.  Half way to work, he turns around because the headache was coming back.  He took some of the medication that the doctor gave, but by 7 AM, he's waking me up to take him to the ER.  At first, I ignored him and told him that my alarm clock hasn't gone off yet.  Next thing I hear is, "I need to go to the ER."  That was a pretty effective wake up call.  Off to the ER we went within 10 minutes and we ended up staying there until 11 AM or so.  They gave him some stronger medication for the migraine (or at least that's what they all thought it was).  And like the day before, he seem to be better again.  Later that evening, he said that he can feel it coming back again so he decided on another trip to the doctor.  This time, they gave him a few new drugs to try out and an MRI was being schedule.  Now, this is Thursday and the next day was supposed to be our camping trip.  Worried like a paranoid person I am, I had lots of different thoughts going through my head about what might be the cause of this headache.  And somehow, Michael was able to convince me to take the boys camping and leave him at home. 

So, the next day, I packed up and headed towards Shasta.  During the trip, I checked on Michael every few hours and thank goodness, he seemed to be doing about the same and not worse.  He was given this one medication that only had 9 pills.  By Saturday afternoon, he was out of this pill and the insurance would not allow us to refill the medication because it was limited to 9 per month.  Boy, when I found out about this, I was ready to pack up the kids and go back home.  He convinced me to stay until Sunday and see what happens then.  To my surprise, he called me on Sunday morning and said that his head was not hurting anymore and he seemed to be doing much better.  I guess one of those other medications that the doctor gave him on his second visit was helping (one being an antibiotic).  So, we took our time getting home and we came home to a normal Michael again.  Although he did miss out on a great camping trip and a very beautiful waterfall. 

To complete this story, he did go get the MRI and the results came back this past week.  All seems normal except for signs of a sinus infection.  So, time to take a deep breath.

During the camping weekend, Mackenzie stayed with my parents.  This is the first time she's spent the night over there without either Michael or I. I wasn't sure if she was going to be okay or not.  From what I heard, my mother didn't get a lot of sleep, but besides that, she was pretty good.  She thought that we were at work the whole time.  When we got back, she seemed to have caught a cold.  So the next few days, she was a little grumpy and was sleeping with us a lot instead of in her own room.  I think that's how I ended up catching the cold also.  You can say I'm not young anymore because this cold has been bothering me for over a week now.  I don't remember the last time I had a cold, one where I've actually missed work.  After 10 days of coughing, sneezing and running nose, I think I'm finally getting over it.

The boys are doing great.  They are currently off track. They'll be back in school in about a week.  They are going pretty well in school.  Nicholas brings home progress reports every Friday and thus far, they've been pretty good.  Zachary needs a little help in some areas, but overall, not bad either. 

As for Mackenzie, we've been trying to potty train her for a little while now, but she doesn't seem to be ready for it yet.  There are days where she'll be really good at it and then there are days where she'll just not want to do it.  Oh, well, we'll just keep trying until she gets the hang of it. 

Well, I think this is enough for a day.  We hope everyone had a wonderful summer and we are really looking forward to Fall.