High Five for Friday!

We haven't had a whole lot to report in the past few weeks...just moving along in Toddler School, trying to spend as much time outside as we can {at least when it's not raining!}. But I had a few recent updates I thought I'd mention in a High Five for Friday! post :)

{one} This morning we headed over to Bull Run Regional Park for the Jurassic Encounter! We had bought the tickets a month ago, not quite sure how it would be received by the kiddos. It was either going to be really cool...or completely terrifying haha. We bought tickets hoping for the best, and the kids loved it! I didn't get a single photo, because we were too busy managing the audio tour, but that's ok. The kids enjoyed their snack as we watched the dinosaurs go by :)  We got an adventure pack with the tour, so they enjoyed the fun dinosaur-themed goodies, one of which was a dig-for-your-own-dinosaur. It was a lot more work than I anticipated, but the kids loved it!

{two} Maddie is back in glasses! She had her eye surgery last year {1 year ago yesterday!}, but recently I have noticed a slight crossing with here eyes again. Not as bad as it was before, but enough to have it checked out. So we're hoping that the new prescription {along with continued patching}, will be just the thing to strengthen here eyes. I'm just glad that this cutie girl is excited to wear her new pink glasses!

{three} I had an appointment with my GI last week, and since I am still having symptoms so frequently, he had me do some follow-up bloodwork and another stool test. The good news is that we are moving in the right direction! My inflammation numbers are still high, above the normal range. But they have come WAY down from what they were back in December. That's really good news! Just need to continue tweaking my treatment to get those numbers back within normal range.

I also scheduled another colonoscopy, as he needs to be able to see what's still causing inflammation and symptoms. I would have to have another one soon anyway, so we both agreed to move ahead with it now. That will be able to tell us if I need any additional treatment {on top of Entyvio and Lialda}, or if it's time to switch to another medication altogether. 

{four} For weeks, we have been preparing for THE INVASION. We are in an area where the Brood X cicadas are scheduled to make their appearance after 17 years of being underground. Thankfully, we are in a neighborhood that isn't old enough, so they're not invading our personal yard {small graces from Jesus}. But there are plenty of other places that we have seen them. When we went on a hike at Frying Pan Farm Park, we saw a whole brood of them. The shells litter the parking lot of the Labcorp where I had my tests done {think, having to carefully step so you don't crunch them underfoot}. And when we go up to the church playground, you can hear them all along the perimeter of the church property. Supposedly we are still waiting for the mating to begin, which is when things get REALLY loud. Blah.

{five} The women's Bible study at church is taking a break over the summer from formal study, and they are going to do a summer book club! We received a list of 8 books from which to choose, and we will meet each month to discuss our reading. I'm hoping to read all of them, but I chose these 3 for discussion. I had already bought Ten Words to Live By for my summer reading, I had never heard of the author for Control Girl so I chose it to try something new, and I will be leading the discussion on Gentle and Lowly. Here's to a summer of good reading!