Last One, I Promise!! Of Labor Day that is....

Our friends brought their black lab dog, Holly along camping and she was absolutely the best behaved dog I've been around in a loooonnng time!!

Our friends were very in to Dutch Oven cooking!!! I had a ball and learned tons!! I now want Al to build me one of these tables so I can take it to the next level!!!!
Speaking of Al....
This is how we all felt when we finally got home...
Casey actually fell asleep here on the couch at about 4 PM and didn't wake up until 7 AM the next morning!! Wow was he tired!! But great fun was had by all.

Even Camping

Even camping my sweet children think of me and pick me flowers!

Early?? Morning Fog

One morning while we were camping, the kids woke up early, big surprise there, just when I am hoping to sleep in a little, some little birdie wakes my children up. A camper is not big enough for me to ignore that they are awake, so...on this particular morning they were all excited about the mist and fog rolling on the lake. They drug me and my camera out of bed to document this cool event.

I am so glad I did. These are some of my favs.


Especially this last one...

Labor Day 2...

Since I had these posts basically done, Labor Day was a little while ago, I'm just going to post all my pictures and let you see the great time we had. Think of it as a commercial from our regularly scheduled posting, Casey and His Many Adventures.

The campground/resort was on a lake and there was a dock just across the way from our campsite. The kids had a ball. And we had fun watching. They weren't too far away to hear us tell them to stay out of the mud though!!!!

Labor Day a.k.a. Before Casey broke his leg

The Weekend before Casey broke his leg, I wonder if I'll always think of it that way...in chunks of time before and after his accident, anyway, we went camping with some friends at a resort about an hour or so away from us. It was such fun!!! We rented paddle boats, had squirt gun fights, played at the playground, went on hay rides and even made a trip to a Cabellas near by. Whew!!





I took this picture and wondered where Emily was...


Then I looked up and found her!!! Ironic that she isn't the one with a broken leg right now....




Can't wait to go camping with these friends again! We had a great time!!!

Home at Last

Casey perked up noticeably just going from the hospital to our van. He jabbered to me the whole way home until about 1/2 hour away and then he and I both fell asleep. Last night we managed to make him comfortable with Al and me both in the rocking chair and then he slept in his crib all night. This morning he wanted to go with us into the kitchen so we are trying out the wagon...

Notice the orange cast?? Casey's favorite color!!!

Hindsight is 20/20

This first fun combine ride of the fall led to....

This visit to the Operating Room at University of Iowa Hospital which was the third hospital we'd been to and about 22 hours later...


Casey, Carter and Emily went for a ride around the yard with Al in the combine as we were trying to get ready for fall harvest. I took a bunch of pictures and went back in the house. As they were all getting down, Emily went down a couple of steps and just hopped off the combine. We think Casey watched her and thought, "Well, if sissy can hop off, so can I" and then he stepped off the combine and fell 6 feet. Obviously he was crying, so they brought him to moma and then he said, "My leg, my leg!" Al felt his leg and heard a crunch so we rushed to the ER. They x-rayed and sent us on to another hospital where we stayed overnight just getting morphine for Casey. His leg was having spasms and everytime he cried. That first hospital wanted to do surgery and put a pin in his leg and leave him in traction for 4 to 6 weeks and then put him in a hip spika cast which goes over his belly button and down over his toes, for another 2 months. UGH!!! We asked for a second opinion and ended up in Iowa City at the University of Iowa Hospitals and clinics which has specialized pediatric orthopedic surgeons. They opted to do nonevasive surgery and set his femur and put him in a hip spika cast for about 2 months and then hopefully he will be all done! He gets to go home today already and back for a check up in one week. He chose bright orange for his cast because it is his favorite color. This hospital is definitely the right choice for Casey and us. The doctors have been great! I would recommend them to anyone who needed help. I'll post more once we get home. Just wanted to update everyone on our last 48 hours...