The new nurse that worked today was a stark contrast to the one we had on Monday. Hopefully she will be available to fill in more until we find a more permanent arrangement.

Trevor was up at 5:30am again. I am really not sure why. We did a big bike ride and had to go to the grocery store and pick up distilled water. I thought I wore him out, but instead of napping, he was using his mouth to help pick the robots off of his wall.

I decided to do some experimenting to make bath time interesting. This time it was a pan full of colored shaving cream with paint brushes. The boys LOVED it.

It had to happen. Trevor wasn’t happy. If he got any on him, he would look at me and say, “You got paint on yourself. Wipe it!” He especially didn’t like getting painted by Brendan.

It was good clean fun and easy cleanup with the shower head. The only downside is that the boys smell like shaving cream. 😀

We did not have a day nurse today, but it was a great day. Brendan’s night nurse, Mary Alyn, stayed late and accompanied us on an early outing. The idea was to wear the boys out to make the day a little easier.

We took them to Desert Breeze Park. They have an awesome HUGE shaded playground.

Brendan loved climbing and following Trevor.

Trevor went down 7 different kinds of slides, including a 3-level tornado that he loved. Brendan did some slides too!

On to the splash pad! This is the perfect way to beat the heat. It was only 9:30am, but it was already in the mid 90’s and getting hotter.

Trevor had an absolute blast in the sprayers. Then he was supposed to be drying off, but he had to go back in for more craziness.

Trevor took a great nap and then helped me with a Sam’s Club trip. He was worn out! Brendan took a short nap, I couldn’t believe it!

The boys helped Bill take care of a bunch of email for work. What a way to increase productivity, they are fast!

We would like to wish a very happy birthday to Grampa Dusty today! Here is that cheeseburger you wanted!

We tried:

It wasn’t really a fair start to the day. I was already feeling high anxiety and a little sleep deprivation. We had another fill-in nurse start cold today, and within 15 minutes, I was already wishing the day to be over. By the end of the hour, I was trying to figure out how to politely ask her to leave.
It isn’t that she was a bad person, or even that she lacked experience. She just was slow, non-communicative, and would not do a single thing unless she was specifically told to, and even then would need some coaxing. I don’t have time for it.
I let her stay for her whole shift, but in the end, I think Brendan set a record for the most hours spent playing an iPad in an 8hr period. She would plop him on the couch, get him playing and then sit across the room and wait. She maybe said three words to him all day like he was a piece of equipment. It makes me so frustrated.

This evening when Bill was done working, we decided to do something as a family to try to redeem the day. We took Brendan to his very first restaurant. (Trevor’s favorite little cheeseburger joint)

Brendan licked a whole plate full of fries, took several drinks of Sierra Mist, and licked a giant BBQ burger.

Trevor shows him how to take a real bite. Bill and I were going to split a burger, but I had to share mine with Trevor. He ate half the patty!

This place makes real handmade milk shakes so we ordered one to split. The waitress was so cute, she divided it up into four little cups and put whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry on all four. (We got chocolate peanut butter)

Trevor stole all the cherries and made his best innocent face.

Brendan wasn’t in to the shake at all. The waitress was totally confused when Bill told her that Brendan doesn’t eat anything. She couldn’t figure out why a boy wouldn’t touch his dessert!

The boys did a great job in the restaurant. They were not perfect, but their behavior was good. It is kind of sad how much work, significance, and emotion goes in to taking this family to a casual restaurant. We had a really good time though.