The End of Summer

The last week has been so crazy busy, it's no wonder Zoe crashed like this on the chair today

(note the butt up in the air):

: 

In the last post, I'd promised pictures of Zoe and Maddie's first fish, 

and so, here they are - better late than never!

Maddie actually kissed hers!

Zoe wasn't afraid to touch her sunny

And... a few more pics from the Zinken's cabin:

  

Dave took a few extra days off so we had a long weekend over Labor Day; last Thursday was hot enough for our first and last trip to the beach this summer. The kids loved it even though the water was already a little on the cool side. Hopefully we'll make it over there more next year. 

We'd originally planned to go to the State Fair on Thursday but since it was so hot out, we postponed our trip to Friday. We got there about 10:30 with all four kids in tow and stayed until almost 6:30! Do I think that was a crazy amount of time to spend with 4 young kids at the Fair? Yes, yes I do. We started out at the Kidway, where each of the kids got to choose 2 rides: Ellie and Aidan both rode the little airplanes and then did an obstacle-course climbing thing. Zoe and Maddie rode some dinosaur-type ride and then I was talked into a tilt-a-whirl ride with them. That was enough for me! And thankfully, they were satisfied with those rides too so we could move on.

After a quick stop for some chicken hats:

 

We went through the Little Farm Hands exhibit where the kids could pretend to be farmers, "grow" their own food, bring it to the market, and sell it (i.e. exchange it for a snack or a stuffed sheep. Hard to believe, I know, but while the other kids all picked a snack, Maddie picked the stuffed sheep.

 We poked around some more, went through the barns, ate cheese curds, french fries, a corn dog, a quesadilla, onion rings, a wild rice burger, and more (we shared one serving of everything). One of the kids actually fell asleep in the stroller for a little while - you'll have to guess which one using the poll
at the upper right of the blog.
Finally, we came to the Giant Slide:

If you look closely, you'll see Aidan with my sister Lisa in the upper left, and Ellie and me right in the center. Dave and I took Maddie and Zoe down right afterward - they loved it!

We even got to meet Princess Kay of the Milky Way! Aidan gave her a hug and a kiss.

Zoe modeling her fish hat

One group shot before we left

In other news, Ellie starts kindergarten tomorrow! Actually, tomorrow's just an orientation that I'll attend with her for about 2 hours, then she starts her first full day on Wednesday. Her school had an open house last week so we all trekked over there to meet her teacher, tour the school, and help her get acquainted with some of her new classmates. She is so excited, but so nervous too. I'm sure once she gets into the swing of it, she'll do great! 

Aidan, Maddie and Zoe also have their preschool orientation this Thursday morning, and then they'll start next Tuesday! We've been talking about it a lot but I'm not really sure they quite understand what'll be happening, so we'll have to see what they think after their orientation. We've been working so hard at potty-training as they have to be potty trained to attend preschool, and we're about 90% there! Maddie's been a little more stubborn than the other two- and honestly, it's been harder than I ever thought it would be! I'll be so glad when we're completely done with pull-ups, diapers, etc. and they're as independent as Ellie is!

Last, but certainly not least, we're getting things rolling to get Zoe started on growth hormone treatments. We saw her endocrinologist last Monday who confirmed our suspicions that she likely has Russell-Silver Syndrome. Her diagnosis also includes SGA (small for gestational age), IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction), and Failure to Thrive. What it all really boils down to, though, is that she's an excellent candidate for the FDA recommended treatment, which is growth hormones. We've started the process to get this approved through our insurance, and once it's approved, we'll have to go back and learn how to give Zoe her daily shot of hormone, which she'll have to continue to take until she reaches full maturity. It's a lot to take in, but on the other hand, it's really a simple thing we can do for her to help her physically and emotionally so that she'll be able to live up to her full potential. I'm anxious to get going with this and hope we get good news from our insurance soon!