The Rest of Summer Break

So, the end of summer is here. It has been an amazing summer for all of us, Sophie especially, I think. We packed every single day we were home full of friends and family and fun.
There are so so many pictures of all the fun things we did this summer in Michigan- I'll do my best to not make this one too long as we are now back in Shanghai and ready to start another school year.

This was on a weekend that we spent at my parent's place on Lincoln Lake. We had been swimming all day and on the pontoon ride back from an ajoining lake, Coop fell asleep in my arms. I thought he'd wake up for sure when we arrived back at the house but he didn't, so we bundled him up and let him get a few extra winks.

We spent many a day at local playgrounds. Coop wanted to swing all the time and would have seriously spent the whole day in this swing if I'd let him...

Another favorite? Splash pads! No bathing suit? Who cares! It's why we carry extra clothes... :)

Sophia took tennis lessons this summer with her best buds, Ava and Gerrit. The only downside being that each and every lesson was outside in 95+ degree heat and when you add that to 15 5 yr-olds, not much gets accomplished!

Ava and Sophie "practicing". So cute...

On the weekend of July 20 we were able to go camping with our small group again. We're hoping this becomes an annual tradition forever bc we all enjoy the time spent together so much! We squeezed 6 families onto 3 ajoining sites with 3 campers and 3 tents. A total of 11 adults (Ben was still in China) and 13 kids, all aged 8 and under.

Many meals eatten together

 One of the days was spent at Lake Michigan. Gorgeous sun and warm water and great friends. What else do you need?

Oh, you need a cute sunhat? Check....

Sophie, Ava and Kiera planning who knows what :)

Nothing like some smores to end the day

This is the problem with Michigan summers and camping. The sun doesn't go down until 10 and tents don't block out light! So, we fill the children with sugar and hope they crash...  :)

On the last day of our camping trip, everyone high-tailed it out of there so quickly that the Oostings and I still wanted to play for the day. So we headed to Grand Haven and would have had a perfect day, if not for the ridiculous amounts of algae that filled the lake.

Soph, Ava and Gerrit digging holes

After Ben arrived to join us we had a Rottschafer family gathering at my parents for a long weekend. Days of games and fun and food caught up with Coop. He just wanted a little downtime with Dora...

My sis-in-law, Michelle, and my super handsome nephew, Luca. Seriously could eat this kid for breakfast, he's so cute. And he knows where his elbow is. :)

My parents have a big tree swing on their property and Coop took full advantage. He LOVES to swing!!

Sophie, Andrew and Jaden playing in the hammock. Great friends and not just cousins!

Let the games begin! Our games were themed around the gameshow, Minute to Win It. We also took some leway and made up a few of our own. Here the goal was to have the most cheesy puffs on the shaving cream head. :) Jaden demonstrates the shower cap with shaving cream ready to have puffs thrown onto it.



 

My brother, Ben, and my dad prepping...



And the tossing commences...

 The girls' turn. Mom seems a bit close...

Sophie's new do thanks to Mommy. :)

The cousins on a paddleboat ride.

There was fierce cornhole competition. Pete won the overall prize

A gorgeous day at mom and dad's beach

Sophie and Jaden in the new floaty tube

This is how Coop spent most of the summer. Floating in water whilst drinking it... ;) He's so happy!

While at my parent's, we celebrated my nephew, Andrew's, birthday. The big 6! My sister made this cake. It's a giant bacugon ball (yes, I know I killed the spelling of that).

Fishing off the dock at night

Soph being cute on the swing

On July 31, Cooper had a repeat MRI of his brain. We were expecting this as his neurologist told us 18 months ago that bc he had an abnormal one then that they'd want to repeat it after he had turned 3 to look for changes. Thankfully, this time it meant only propofol and not the full general anesthesia.

Here we are in the prep room. Cooper had been without food or drink for 13 hours in this picture and was oddly calm. I think he could tell something was up bc he just wanted his blankie, his pacey and Dora. We were happy to oblige. :)

He did amazingly well through his IV start, barely fighting it at all and not fussing with it afterwards. I was able to carry him to the MRI room and hold him as he fell asleep with the meds.
While they were getting a peak at his brain, Sophia, Ben and I headed upstairs for some pizza and then outside to play in the children's garden. Brilliant place!

Daddy was far away in the other shell and yet they could talk to each other with just whispers.

We were paged down to recovery after only 35 minutes- way shorter than anticipated, but he had been very still so they had gotten all the pictures they needed in record time.
In recovery, Sophie wanted to help her brother wake up with kisses. :)

After sissy's onslaught of kisses, Coop awoke and wanted to just chill for a bit. He always wakes up from anesthesia like this- both hands behind his head. It's cute bc he never sleeps like this...

A few days later, we did our summer tradition of getting Yesterdog hotdogs and bringing them to the park in East Grand Rapids to eat for dinner. Beforehand, Sophia and I went to get pedicures- Sophie's first. She LOVED the pampering and the sparkly polish!

There was a band at the park that night and it was warm and there was a breeze- even Cooper thought it was a great night to just relax and take in Reed's Lake

However, he soon discovered there was water in that there lake and he wanted in. After several thwarted attempts, he was getting very frustrated with me blocking his way. You can't ever say this kid can't communicate some things.... :)

Sophie and Ben were oblivious to Cooper's lake attempts as they were enjoying some kite flying

Cooper was a bit happier with me holding him, but he still wanted in that lake!

Aug 5 proved to be a super duper fun day! Dad, Pete, Jenn and I all ran together in Grand Rapids' first Color Run. We were team Agents Orange and I made us some little outfits to wear while running. On the backs were our nicknames- Dad, Rocky, Little Sis and Sweet Pete. Like the socks??

After running our 5K and getting pummeled with purple, orange, yellow and green, we emerged together at the finish in a colorful display. What fun it was!!

 

 

All the runners at the Calder Plaza post color-throwing. Oh, it was such a mess.... :)

My sis and fam- Megan, Jaden, Andrew, and Pete. The kids got caughtin the crossfire... :)

That day we headed up to my in-laws cottage for a week of sun, fun and relaxation. My parents were able to come up for a few days as well! Donna and my mom took Coop swimming one afternoon (keeping him out of them shallows due to swimmers itch). He was apparently too tired to swim this day as he laid down on the backrest and fell asleep...

While we were up north Ben and I were able to get away for an overnight at a winery to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We stayed at Black Star Farms and strolled the grounds, ate dinner slowly, had some great wine and enjoyed walking around Suttons Bay.
Here is the entrance to the winery-

The Big Red House- also known as the Black Star Farms B&B and winery. They also had horse stables so we got to visit with several of them while roaming around. Still hoping to own one some day....

A last sunset on Crystal Lake before heading back to GR. It really is so peaceful and beautiful there.

 

 

After a last few days of hurrying around seeing everyone and buying our loot to bring back to China and packing and packing, we were all set to fly out on Thursday Aug 16. We had a small village of helpers again as we had our 12 bags, 6 carry-ons, 2 kids and a stroller to keep track of.

Everything was checked in and we were headed to security when I noticed on one of the tvs in the airport that there seemed to be a storm heading to Chicago. Hmmm, never a good sign.

We said our goodbyes again, although this time it wasn't so heartwrenching. Knowing what we are going back to helps so much. Having already lived in Shanghai and not having that fear of the unknown- oh, it makes such a difference! We were actually looking forward to going back and seeing friends and getting back into routine.

We were settled on our plane and taxiing onto to the runway when suddenly we did a 180. Hmmm. Then the pilot got on the loudspeaker and said we would be delayed in the plane for an hour bc of a storm in Chicago. Ugh!!! Then, after that hour they told us we were going back to the terminal bc it was going to be at least another 90 minutes. Then, another 90 minutes. At this point we were quite sure we would miss our flight to Shanghai from Chicago so we decided to scrap the day and try again the next day. Needless to say, I was not super happy. Having prepped for this day for weeks, I was ready to get this 20+hour travel day over with!

Instead, we called Ben's parents, we were shocked and came back to get us. We got all 12 of our bags back (to recheck the next day), and headed back to the VPs.

That day actually ended up to be a blessing. We went out to lunch, Soph and I went to see Brave with her cousins and Donna while Coop slept, and then we had a fun dinner out. Who would've thought?

 

The next day was long, but we made it. Soph watched about 4 movies then fell asleep for almost 7 hours. Coop slept a bit on his own but then with 3 1/2 hours left in the flight we decided he really needed some more sleep as he was getting restless and tired but couldn't fall asleep. We gave him his meds like we've done on both previous flights. Oh man.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, he had a really really bad reaction to his meds this time and just lost it. He was scared and tired and out of control. He screamed and thrashed around for the next 2 1/2 hours, trying to fall asleep but then another onslaught of whatever it was would come on. We tried every trick in the bag without success. He finally passed out with 20 minutes left in the flight. The ride home was uneventful but then when we got inside the apartment, Cooper started up again and didn't stop for another 2 hours. He wouldn't eat or calm down. Finally he just fell asleep and we put him to bed for the night. He then proceeded to sleep 13 hours, the poor thing.

 

Anyway, we have now been back for a bit over a week and are fully settled in and back into routine. We've caught up with friends and gone swimming and out to eat- it's oddly good to be back. Although I'm still glad we'll be coming home next summer. :)

 

Prayer Requests:

-Sophie started school today. Pray that it is a good year for her and that she finds it fun (right now

  there are many days she'd rather stay home with mom :).

-Cooper has also started school- he's been going for a week now. Pray for his safety traveling to and

  from school as the highways of Shanghai are not kind. Also pray that he is blessed by the teachers

  there and that he may learn to communicate with us better this year.

-My grandmother, Hannah Garrison (aka, Gram) is celebrating her 95th birthday on Aug 31st. We are

  praising God for her long life and dedicated service to Him.

 

Thanks again for reading and I'll try and post again soon!

 

 

 

We're baaaaaaaaack!

My goodness, how time flies!
I must apologize. I intended to post something much sooner than this but the jetlag was awful and there was no internet connection at the cottage and then I left my power cord at the cottage. Whew! Anyway, we are back and have fallen right back into step. :)

The flight home was brutal and great all at once. The beginning of the challenges was leaving Ben at the airport while we headed into our journey. When Sophie realized he really wasn't coming with us it was tears and sorrow. Thankfully she pulled it together once we made it through security and had headed up to the lounge for some snacks.
We ran around a bit and burned some energy before boarding. I had 5 carry-ons, the stroller and 2 kids. Here we go! 19 hours and counting...
I put on some Dora to entertain the kids while I put Coop's harness on his seat. I had one child on each side of me. The one thing I am so thankful to GE for is the business class seats. It's so nice to have the extra room and reclining seats and free drinks. ;)
The flight home almost mirrored our flight to Shanghai- snacks, movie, walking around, nap, snacks, Dora, nap, snacks, toys here and there. The kids actually slept a bit more on this flight, however, I slept less. I think I probably got about an hour total, broken up. It's hard to sleep when you're on duty with your babies. :)
The layover in Chicago was so intensely stressful. I had to get my kids, all 5 carry-ons (including the IPad- NOT leaving that behind this time!) and the stroller through immigration, get our 4 suitcases, go through customs with them, recheck the suitcases, get on the tram and get to the domestic terminal and then get through security again and then find our gate. All in less than 2 hours. And solely for all your prayers and the grace of God, we did it.
They lost our stroller and sent me on a goose chase (so I had to carry Cooper and 4 carry-ons while dragging a sobbing Sophie- she was tired). I finally got it but then the line for immigration was so long. But it went quickly and then we found our suitcases. With some help from a kind couple I got the suitcases, Sophie and the stroller through customs and then, hallelujah, the lady told me I could still make my flight, so I rechecked my bags and then there was an angel from Heaven waiting for me. My brother drove all the way from the Chicago suburbs, 40 minutes away, to see if there was anything he could do to help us make our connection. I wonder if he will ever know how much that meant and how seeing a friendly face helped me get through to the end when I thought I was losing it! He helped us get to the tram, to our correct terminal and off to security. So to my baby brother, Ben, thank you for loving us and helping us and taking care of us!!
We barely made the connection as we were originally sent to the wrong gate, but then to get off that plane in Grand Rapids was such a relief. I had made it.
We had a huge group waiting for us- my parents, Ben's parents, my brother-in-law and nephews, my best friend, Christy, and her husband and Soph's best friends, Ava and Gerrit. It brought tears to my eyes just seeing all their faces again! Sophie sprung to life at seeing her cousins and best friends and there was running and hugging and giggles all around. Even Cooper was looking at each face and smiling.

Since then there were about 10 days of brutal jet lag but lots of fun with friends and family in between to help buffer the pain. :) The first night was the worst. Cooper barely slept and then was up screaming at 5 am, so then Sophie and I were also up. When he was still screaming at 7 I decided we may as well head to Meijer and do some grocery shopping. He screamed throughout the store for the hour we were there and then I finally headed to the baby department and got him a pacifier. I seriously did. And I don't regret it bc it totally worked. My soul couldn't take anymore and I don't think his could either. Poor buddy. :( It's been the hardest on him, for sure, but that only means I'm not far behind bc he's my special boy and so much is so hard on him anyway.
Here's a bit of what we've been up to:

A few days after we got home we headed to the pool in our old neighborhood with some good friends.

It doesn't look it here but Cooper was really happy in the water!

After the pool we headed to Christy's house to hang out. So far, this house is where I have seen Cooper the most relaxed and comfortable. I guess it makes sense bc this house is where we spent the most time besides our old house. He's climbing all over the swing set while Soph (with Ava and Alanna) "lay out" in the sun. :)

 The next day we went to my sister's place bc Soph was wanting to hang out with her cousins. My sister and niece were in Washington DC so it was just Soph, Coop and the boys. Oh how fun trampolines are for my kids!!

That weekend we headed up to the VP cottage for the July 4th holiday. Our friends, the Oostings, were up there as well so it was going to be a fun few days with friends and family!
Cooper is getting more and more daring with everything. Here he is venturing out onto the dock.

Grandpa VP put up the trampoline so the kids were on cloud nine. :) Coop's favorite game is to lay flat on the trampoline and have sissy bounce him.

The view from the back deck out onto the lake.

A new toy- the inflatable raft has been a huge hit! Sophie has became fast friends with the 2 boys next door, Carson and Max, and has spent a lot of time with them up north already!

Here, the Oostings had come to play at the lake. "Uncle" Peter went swimming with all three 5-yr-olds (brave!).

This was hilarious. Peter and the three kids were all going to jump in off the raft at the same time.

Um, yeah, Sophie had other plans. Ha!

A hint of my poor Cooper's battle. I was trying to feed him lunch and he just couldn't stay awake anymore. I also have a great video of it but I can't figure out how to upload it.

Great Grandma Barrett and GGpa Dick came for a few days and brought gifts!

This is a vibrating, singing pig. Sophie loves it but Coop is still figuring it out.

Sophie's new butterfly chair from GGma. She loves it!

On July 3, we and the Oostings headed to Crystal Mountain, a local ski resort, to have an early 4th of July celebration. We got there at 7pm so Cooper stayed home with Grandma to go to bed at a good time. There were many booths with kids games, food, music, and more!
The kids made candy sticks. Clear tubes filled with colored powder sugar. Oh boy.

This was great- a spinning small piece of cardboard and then you drop paint in on it and then see what you made! Here are Christy and Ava having a go at it.

This was Sophie's creation.

Having a snack before the big chairlift ride!

Gerrit, Sophie and Ava showing their wins/creations.

Heading up the chair lift. Sophie loved it!

The Oostings behind us.

Our view going up the lift. Sophie said hi to every person that passed us going down. :)

At the top there was a sand box where the kids played and there was a band and a bar.

Christy and I at the top of the hill.

We were all missing Ben that night. It wasn't the same without him. Here's Peter pretending Ben was with us. :)

Gerrit and Sophie showing us their tongues after eating their sugar sticks they had made. Ugh.

Sophie snuggling up for the fireworks.

A shot of our firework fun.

The next morning we headed to Frankfort for the parade. It was a hot one so we were really happy to have some shade!

Cooper watched more than I thought he would. He did a bit of listening, a bit of Dora, and was pretty interested in the things that passed in front of him. Isn't he cute? :)

Sophie and Ava

I have no idea what this is doing in a 4th of July parade, but it was cool. A car covered in mosaic with a lady in her 70s wearing an old wedding gown. Ok....

This, however, took the cake. A trailer full of stuffed dear and bears with small children. Only in northern Michigan. :)

I had to go home that day bc Cooper had his neurology appt and therapy the next day. Sophie was having so much fun playing with the neighbor boys that she stayed up north until Monday.
Coop's doc wants his brain MRI repeated before we go back to Shanghai, so we're in the process of getting that organized.

Since then we've had play days at my parent's lake with family, more swimming days with friends, Sophie has started tennis lessons with Ava and Gerrit, Coop started at a new therapy place in addition to his normal therapy, I've been active in a summer Bible study that I'm loving, and I even have had a dinner out with some work friends already. Whew! I am trying to pack in every day and I think it's working. The kids are finally adjusted and having fun with friends and family. Hopefully a summer to remember!

Prayer Requests:
Are you surprised I have some? Oh, please! If there's anyone that can benefit from constant prayer, it's me. :)

-Cooper is on a mission to hurt himself- not on purpose, I don't think, but still. In the 2 1/2 weeks
  we've been home I have found him dangling from the second floor at the cottage, stuck between a
  headboard and the wall, sitting on the kitchen counter with his foot inside INSIDE of the garbage
  disposal, and he's obsessed with eating shampoo and body wash right now. Not to mention the
  goose poop he ate a few weeks ago. I'm telling you, I'm watching him ALL THE TIME and these
  things still happen. Please pray that he finds joy in his toys and not in things that can hurt him.

-Please pray that I have endless patience with my children and those around me as I continue to be a
  single parent until Ben gets here July 25. I do not know how single parents of special needs kids do
  it bc I am exhausted most days and I am doing the best I can.

-Please pray for Ben as he is in Shanghai still and most of our friends have left for home now so he
  is by himself and certainly getting lonely. Pray he stays busy and has some time to refresh and
  renew as he will be very busy once he gets here!