Great Time at Great Wolf

We took a brief overnight trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Ohio Friday. The boys had fun and I enjoyed watching them get completely worn out. I am so grateful for the help from other St. Margaret Mary families who were there. It was Winter Break for the Catholic schools in L'ville. There were about 7 or 8 families from SMM who went, too. The boys and I drove up and shared a room with our friends the Straubs. They are so good to us! Rudy, the dad, took Davey on several slides that I just couldn't do with my sciatic nerve issue. I tried to go on a couple and ended up yelping like I was being tortured. Max found a set of slides he really enjoyed and could get up to so that I could watch him all the way to the entrance to the slide. He just kept going and going. He crashed on my lap before his food arrived at dinner, so he was ravenous at Waffle House yesterday morning. Davey made it through dinner, but was down for the count within 10 minutes of getting back to the room. Jennifer (Rudy's wife) was not feeling well the whole time and even debated staying back in L'ville while we all went. I am not sure if she regrets going after all, but it was good to have her there, even if we didn't actually see much of her. Now we have another trip to another GWL to look forward to with Chip, Sherri, J.T., my mom and dad. I hope the doctors and physical therapists and I can get this sciatica taken care of by April!!

I have my MRI tomorrow afternoon. I have never had any of this kind of tests before, so I only have the advice and descriptions from others to go on. All I know is that the tube is small and the noise is very, very loud. I have never had a problem with claustrophobia before, so we will see how it goes. I just hope some answers arise out of it. I am not feeling like a very effective mother with this problem hanging over me. This weekend, Max did tell me frequently that I am "the best mommy in the 'woild'!" I can't hear that enough these days!

I received several calls and cards from people wishing me a good Valentine's day. I guess since it was my first without my usual Valentine, it warranted special wishes. I appreciated them greatly. The boys and the trip helped keep me distracted yesterday. I think in many ways, Valentine's day has become more and more of a kids' holiday. It was really great to get packages from both Tena and my parents with some goodies for the boys AND some for me, too! My mom knitted me an amazingly soft red sweater. I got a fantastic quilted pillowcase handmade with love by Tena, too. They are both creative and love me so! I enjoy benefiting from their creativity.

I hope everyone felt especially loved this weekend and that it carries on for a long while!