Kyrie's Broken Arm

So, you might have noticed in the aquarium photos that Kyrie has a cast on her arm. This is her first broken bone: a compression fracture on her radius. A few weeks ago, she fell while running up the steps on an indoor playground structures. Looking back, I should have known right away from the way that she was crying that her arm was broken, but she could move her fingers and there was no swelling, bruising or noticeable protrusions. At the time, I looked at the other mom whom I was with and said, "tomorrow, I am going to be at urgent care because her arm will be broken." True to my word, the next evening I took Kyrie to the Children's Hospital urgent care where she was diagnosed with a broken arm. 

She had spent most of the day not using the arm, but said that it didn't really hurt (though it was tender to touch). I told her that she wouldn't participate in tennis or gymnastics, though she thought she might be able to do a little. When she accidentally used her arm and fell to pieces, I knew that something was wrong and took her to urgent care. The nurse said that she felt a protrusion almost immediately, and the x-ray confirmed that there were two tiny cracks in the radius near her wrist. She cried & cried when she found out because they were putting her in a traditional cast, which meant no swimming (among other things). We were scheduled to return to orthopedics in one week for reevaluation. 

That first week in the long-arm cast was fairly difficult. Kyrie's arm movement was really restricted and she needed help with everything from getting dressed to buckling her seatbelt. I adjusted all her school work so that she had stickers with words and numbers to answer questions on worksheets. We had to cancel some of her regular activities for the duration, and she sat out of part or all of other activities. She also had a lot of itchiness. The hardest one for her to miss was the swimming half of her regular gym & swim class. 

Thankfully, when we returned to ortho, they cleared her for a short-arm cast and agreed to our request for a water-proof cast. That evening, she had a bath almost first thing... and was happily splashing in the pool a few days later. She has a lot more mobility with the short-arm cast and hasn't complained about any itchiness at all. She will go back to ortho in mid-November to have the cast removed. 

Playset Addition

At the end of the summer, we got a deal on an addition for our playset. The kids spend LOTS of time playing outside with some of the other neighborhood kids. The playset is often their gathering spot, and as they are getting bigger, we knew we wanted to add some features that allowed them to still enjoy the playset. The main feature is the monkey bars & penthouse. The kids love to climb, so we wanted to give them plenty of opportunities to do it. The monkey bars also have shimmy bars. The penthouse has a crow's nest and lots of room to stretch out and share the day. We also took down our disc swing (we have one in a tree that is much more fun) and put up a buoy ball. The kids have really enjoyed the extra space and new features! 

Homeschool Day at the Newport Aquarium

We were excited to return to the Newport Aquarium this year for their annual Homeschool Day! We had a great time last year, and this year we felt even more prepared to have a great experience. The Newport Aquarium is located right outside downtown Cincinatti, so we started our day with donuts and a road trip. Soon enough, we were at the aquarium and enjoying all the aquatic life on display! This was a really great field trip for our family. The kids definitely loved looking at all the fish, and Darren & I spent a lot of time talking with them about everything from life in the oceans to fish habitats, to conservation and world geography. Already looking forward to next year's visit!

Degen took this photo of us outside the aquarium.

I love how some of the fish are watching Degen & Darren!

The touch tank!

The kids were captivated by all of the varieties of puffer fish!

Love this photo of Darren (and the photo below, too!)

Kyrie petting sharks!

A new activity for us this year was going on a behind-the-scenes tour. A guide showed us some of the large tanks and the kids got to feed the fish! We learned all about the aquarium's operations and some of the jobs people do at the aquarium. This was a great wrap-up to our day at the Newport Aquarium! 

Feeding the fish.

Oktoberfest 2013

We had another great year at Columbus' Oktoberfest. It was a beautiful, autumn day with lots of sunshine. We got there earlier this year so we could eat and enjoy a bit of the festivities as a family before our volunteer session in the Kinderplatz for the Ohio German Language School. We shared lots of delicious food before the kids went off to compete in the pedal pull. 

Our yummy lunch!

This was the first time that the kids had competed in a pedal pull. The basics are that the kids have to pedal a miniature tractor pulling a weighted trailer. The 4-year old division was very competitive with four kids doing 3 different runs to determine placement. Degen got third place, which included a trophy. He had wanted a trophy for several months, so this was a very happy moment.

Kyrie competed next. She was one of two competing in the 7-year old division. She got second place and a trophy! Both kids are now qualified to compete at the pedal pull at the Ohio State Fair in 2014, though we are not sure if that will happen or not. We are proud of our little pedalers!

Kyrie with Ms. Columbus Oktoberfest.

The kids always have a great time at the Kinderplatz! There are inflatables and a cool craft table, as well as a juggling and puppet show. This year, the State Park Service also had a few tables with information about wildlife and the state parks. They also had a bow shooting activity. 

This was our third year helping out with the Wilde Vogel activity. It is a large Angry Birds games that attracts a lot of kids. Darren showed Degen how to set up his shot, and he did really well on his turn.