Our Whirlwind Thanksgiving Break

I think you better sit down for this... for a week over Thanksgiving, Ari and I were actually on vacation together! The stars must have aligned when our chiefs wrote our schedules this year!! We were delighted to take the time to catch up with our friends and loved ones. Here is a synopsis of the insane itinerary:

We left Tuesday morning and headed to Peoria to see Tim, Michelle, and their beautiful daughters. They are old friends from medical school and we were glad to catch up and see how big their girls have gotten. Elizabeth, who was born during medical school, is now almost 3 and Lauren just turned one. While I sat and cuddled with Lauren and read a book, Ari and Elizabeth ran around in circles until he almost passed out. When Tim got home from the hospital we went out to dinner and Dave, one of Ari's med school roommates, got to join us. Unfortunately his wife Amanda was on call. As luck would have it, Aja and Jill, friends from my class, were there too! Finally, stuffed full of pasta, we rolled into the car and down to St. Louis.

Wednesday, Ari went to play golf while mom and I shopped in historic St. Charles. I found a couple of ornaments for our tree and some Christmas presents. That night mom cooked an awesome meal - steak for the carnivores and pasta for the vegetarian! We finished off the night with an exciting game of Mexican train.

Thursday, which some people call Thanksgiving and I fondly refer to the festival of food, we ate all day! My mom cooked a delicious meal for me, Ari, Tracy, Mike, Tina, Don, John, and Holly. She even made sweet potatoes (which she hates) because she knows we love 'em. We were so glad that Holly could join us after her crazy night in the Cardinal Glennon PICU. Believe it or not, I was so full from the wonderful dinner that I couldn't eat the obligatory turkey sandwhich later that night!

Friday, mom and I treated ourselved to manicures and pedicures. Then, Ari wanted to go shopping... I swear it was his idea!! Miraculously, we found parking easily. We got what we were looking for and headed to Aunt Camille's for a visit. It was wonderful to see Dad, Lily, Kelsey, Aunt Camille, Uncle Orville, Uncle Brucey, Aunt Kathy, my cousin Adam and his fiancee Katie. We then went to have Japanese with mom and were off to the boat... casino, that is. If you have been reading our blog at all, you probably get the impression that we like to gamble... you are probably right! Ari had terrific luck at Harrah's, though I kept trying to give back our winnings!

Saturday we went to visit Laura, Tim, and Audrey. Laura, Tim and I went to the U of I together where Laura was my pledge mom. Ari and I were so excited to meet their new daughter. She is so beautiful... and such a good sleeper! That night was my 10 year high school reunion. The picture above is me and Sara who has tolerated being my friend longer than anyone else... now about 15 years! I had a great time catching up with everyone and seeing what they were up to. It was fun to meet the spouses, too!

Sunday we slept in and regretfully made our way home back to the real world.

Ladies' Night

Before we all scattered to celebrate Turkey Day, a few of girls got together for Ladies' Night. Tara, Jackie, Sarah and I started out at the Melting Pot for dinner, where they actually have a "Girls Night Out" menu. I had never been so it was a new experience. The food was good but my favorite part was dessert. After dinner we headed to the casino, Jackie had never been so it was fun to show her around. Tara and I were clearly casino veterans and headed toward our favorite games... craps for me, blackjack for Tara. Tara won a big hand on Let it Ride and came to see what I was up to. I taught her some craps basics and she did great! She was an awesome shooter and made both of us some money. Before leaving, I decided to give the casino back my winnings on Roulette. Oops! Overall, it was a great time!

Pediatrics in Action!!

For the last month I have been on a rotation called MDEP (multi-disciplinary educational project) with the goal being that a group of residents develops a project for kids in the community. It has been a nice four weeks away from the hospital! Our group has been working with Head Start to develop healthy snacks parents and kids can do together as well as encouraging physical activity. So far we made vegetable roll-ups, dynamite sticks (fruit kabobs), and yogurt parfaits. The kids have LOVED it. It has been fun trying to make sure they don't poke their eyes out with skewers! We have also made obstacle courses, taught them tae kwon do, and yoga. Here Ebe and I are playing a rousing game of Duck Duck Goose when it was 72 degrees outside... in November... in Milwaukee... amazing!! I am not quite sure we have achieved life-changing health for the kids but we sure have had fun trying!!

The Q4 Kickers

For the first time in Children's Hospital of Wisconsin history, the residents formed a kickball team. Believe it or not, the game we all grew up playing a recess is a VERY popular Milwaukee past-time. We joined a league through MUSA (the Milwaukee unconventional sports association) that also sponsors dodgeball leagues and putt-putt tournaments. You know it is going to be a fun time when we play rock/paper/scissors to decide who will be the home team!! Our team of 20 residents and spouses had a challenging season. We didn't realize how seriously some teams take the sport! Needlesstosay, we ended the year with a losing record but a winning attitude. We look forward to next season when we will focus on the fundamentals - catching, kicking, and aggressive base running! The picture above is two of my classmates Jackie (star right fielder) and Sarah (star catcher and team cheerleader). We were out celebrating an end to the season and planning the rest of the winter social calendar.