Town Parade

So for the four years we've now lived here, we finally made it to the town's Christmas parade for the first time! After going, I now know why. Not because parades aren't fun or something the kids will enjoy. But because I can't see a thing (I'm on the shortish side remember!) and I get very nervous and irritated in large crowds. But our friends were going and I wanted to take the kids to do something fun so I put my nerves and irritations to the side and jumped at the chance to go.

It was cold! And I do mean COLD! No matter how warm I dressed the kids, they still complained. We got there a little early - dragged our camping chairs and blankets to catch a good spot to sit and watch. But we were soooo mistaken! The line along the street was a good 5 feet deep. Which translates into me not seeing a thing! Picture taking of the parade was a bit sketchy for this reason alone. Aubrey and her friend stood on the chairs along a business wall and Jocelyn and her friend sat on adult shoulders from our group so thankfully they could see. I on the other hand had other interesting things to do such as hold a cranky and cold 23 month old while being 6, almost 7, months pregnant and trying to dodge cigarette smoke. He cried and whined the entire hour we were there. The parade was scheduled to be 2 hours long but we cut out of there early!! (Which was good as we didn't hit any traffic.) As we were driving back to the house to have pizza with friends, we saw snow flurries coming down. It started to stick when we were leaving to go home but nothing more than a light cover. Despite the parade mishap, we still had a wonderful night out with great friends! :)

 {Kids before parade started}

 {Me with my little crankster hanging out :)}

 {I liked the business we were standing next to - very cute decorations on the windows & toys inside!}

 {The crowd we were up against}

 {Jocelyn and her friend watching the parade}

 {Aubrey & Andrew looking at the neat hanging toys through the window}

 {The camera with flash off + a moving object especially at night = not a good turn out. But I still liked the colored squiggles}

 {Here is the blurry blob once it stopped moving - The Girl Scouts float}

 {Some Navy personnel standing near us}

 {A restaurant dressed pretty for the holidays}

 {Lights in the trees}

{A tree lit up with Christmas lights and decorations in one of the downtown parks}

Local Carnival

Our friends invited us to spend the evening with them and meet up with some of their friends that happened to be attending a carnival for their church members and the local community. They had jumpy houses, blow-up slides, balloons blown into desired shapes (dogs, swords, etc), Alpaca's at the petting zoo area, face paints, live Christian music and local police for support & educating the public. Aubrey ran off with some of her friends and I walked around with my friend as we stood in various lines taking the kids on rides. Jocelyn kept begging to go on the same ride again and again but the lines were long so she was pleased to see the K-9 unit and get a "trading card" with the Officer's picture and information. It was sundown when we left - so making spaghetti for dinner went out the window and Taco Bell became it's instant substitute! Just one of those days. But we had a great night and the kids had no problems falling asleep! :)

Spotsylvania Hospital Open House

Our family took advantage of taking a tour for the general public of the new local area hospital (Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center) before it opens up in June. This hospital will offer 126 private rooms, 24-Hour Emergency/ Urgent Care Services, Cardiac Care, Women's and Children's Healthcare Services, Rehabilitation, Surgical Services, Imaging Center and Orthopedic Services.

We took the 12 o'clock tour that took us through the Maternity and Emergency Departments. Our group was nicknamed the stroller tour. I'm guessing I don't need to explain why! :) We were able to view a patient room that will be for both delivery and postpartum care (I had this kind of room back in Oregon when I had Jocelyn and I loved it...it was so nice!). This spacious room also has a bassinet that stays in the room unless there are complications - and the pediatrician's will come in to see the baby and talk to the patient directly. This hospital tour talked a lot about "doctors spending more time with their patients with higher technology playing a part in lowering the amount of time away from patient care." Next, we saw the nursery - where it will hold up to 10 babies. It also has a NICU down the hall. So all Women's Services are right there on that same floor.

During the tour, I ran into a nurse that I recognized - she was standing outside of the nursery doors while our guide spoke. I talked to her briefly while we continued on our tour and told her I remembered her taking care of Andrew and I when he was born at the other hospital almost 17 months ago. She too said she knew we looked familiar! Apparently, a bunch of staff from the other local hospital has transferred to this one. Better management is a huge part in why that's happening. I haven't had great experiences with 2 of my 3 children's birth at the other hospital, or the ER department for that matter. So I'm really excited for this new and closer-to-home hospital!

Some other things that were mentioned and displayed along the tour were:

*the big and spacious trauma rooms. John noted how huge they were. And I then added, "And let's hope this is the first AND last time we see one of those rooms too!"

*they have a helo pad at this hospital for emergencies.

*their goal is to have patients triaged within 10 minutes of arrival and see a doctor within 30 minutes of arrival.

{The front of Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center}

{Waiting for our tour of the hospital to start}

{John was really interested in these glass panels}

{A view from the other side of the hospital}

After our tour had ended, we walked out the Emergency area and enjoyed a free lunch with at least a thousand other community members that the hospital so generously hosted. They had chicken burgers, veggie burgers, hamburgers and hot dogs along with pasta salad, chips and fresh fruit.

They had local radio stations come out and play music. When we were there, B101.5 was playing and their bee mascot was there to entertain!

It even played peek-a-boo with Andrew, he started to cry. Something about these large costumes scare him. The soccer bird, the red robin bird and now the radio station bee. :)

They also had face paintings (we didn't do this due to the extremely LONG line of people waiting on ONE person to paint faces). They were cute though!

And they had representatives handing out children goodie bags with their logo on fun things like coloring books, crayons and a frisbee. The adult goodie bags were filled with a heart shaped stress ball, band aids, car coasters and their general service information sheet.

{Aubrey in line with us to turn in our raffle information in case we won one of the prizes.}

As we were leaving the event, we stopped at a firetruck that was on display. Jocelyn and Andrew got giddy with excitement and Jocelyn pretty much begged to get down from the stroller to take a look at everything. There were firemen standing outside of the truck to answer questions or let people look inside and it was then that Jocelyn wanted a turn at the wheel. I was shocked she wanted to even get inside the truck. Just a few months ago, there was a local firetruck that was parked out front of the library. They asked her if she wanted to get in and take a look around and she quickly said no. But for some reason, this was her day to try out something new!

While this was going on, I asked Aubrey if she wanted to try on the fireman's hat. She blushed and said, "No way Mom!" I tried convincing her - as the opportunity wouldn't likely come again, but she firmly stuck to her answer so I just shrugged it off and let it go. Would have been fun to get a picture of her wearing the hat though.

But this one will have to do! :)

I'm glad our family took this time to visit the new hospital and get involved in all of the fun.

And as most outings go, we had a blast!