"Personally, I think I would make a great stripper!" 8/10 The End

[mousetravel]

Treyner is not doing much better - they put him on antibiotics Monday ( he went to a reg doc then after the urgent care on Sunday) for strep but is just drained. He said he was glad Dan would be going to drive with him because all he wants to do is sleep.

Hope he gets better soon! And the terrible pollen we've been having in SC surely is not helping! (I also sent you a PM.)

Wasn't going to write about this because I feel like we belong in an ongoing episode of ER the last few months but...I will not be getting an update done I promised..

Aww, hopefully everybody will get well soon!

 

[PrincessOliviasMom]

Hope Carsyn is OK! Never a dull moment with kids in sports ....

 

[tlenzendorf]

Oh poor Carsyn!! Good luck and I hope things go well for you Never a dull moment, huh!

 

[burly]

good luck with the injury. sometimes swelling causes the 'no bend' thing and the panick that comes with that causes the tears. hope all is well and MINOR!
My daughter was in badminton in H.S. and you wouldn't think that would cause injuries, but when you are good and aggressive it is a roughh sport on ankles and knees. and all her injuries came in spurts too......
Played conference with a pulled ligament in one ankle and a brace on the other and a knee brace. Won too!!!
she was such a competitive little thing.

well wishes for a quick recovery.....
sorry to hijack.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Dawn, Hang in there! I hope Carsyn is ok. Knees are tricky so tell her to do WHATEVER her doctor says, even if it means sitting out of games and practice for awhile. It is better to miss now than to have to deal with bad knees forever. You need your knees to do everything. On the plus side, this should be it for injuries and illnesses for now, right? These things come in 3's Carsyn's stitches, Treynor's strep, Carsyn's knee. YOu should catch a break now. *crossing fingers*

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Oh Dawn - Hope all goes well with Carsyn's leg.
I bet you are just saying "what next?" Put Baylor in some bubble wrap for a while!
Hang in there - we'll all be here for you when things are settled down.
Good luck with your sale too. Mine is the following weekend.

 

[kmpprg]

Hi Dawn, You poor thing! Oh, the ups and downs of motherhood. I am sending prayers for both children-Being so active is supposed to be good for them, right? I hope her knee is a temporary pain and not a bigger problem.
My son is going through finals this week too. It is such a stressful time even when being healthy. One more week and they will be home -hopefully to relax a bit.
Good luck to you all.

 

[Dizneydawn]

Hi guys. Well the doc took an x-ray and no broken bones - which none of us were surprised by. She is thinking Carsyn tore something. Her knee is not really swollen but the tears do flow when the doc tried to bend her knee to the side/inward or bend her knee back. It was hard to do a proper exam with how stiff everything was.

So next Monday we have a follow up to see if it is any better - if not, an MRI will be requested and then a visit to the orthopedic if needed. For now, crutches and knee immobilizer. Wait and see. Hopefully just really stiff and nothing requiring surgery or a lengthy recovery.

I need to talk with the financial aid office for Treyner to see what his OOP cost is for food and dorms. He plans on living off campus next year and he needs to know how much the difference will be if it is more expensive.

Thanks for all the well wishes to Carsyn and all the kind comments about her and Ben.

The good news was the Doc asked if I was her mom because she thought I looked quite young.

Carsyn looked like she might be ill!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

That's great! Are you the mom???
Will continue to keep fingers crossed and your family in prayers.

 

[sue and co]

Hi guys. Well the doc took an x-ray and no broken bones - which none of us were surprised by. She is thinking Carsyn tore something. Her knee is not really swollen but the tears do flow when the doc tried to bend her knee to the side/inward or bend her knee back. It was hard to do a proper exam with how stiff everything was.

So next Monday we have a follow up to see if it is any better - if not, an MRI will be requested and then a visit to the orthopedic if needed. For now, crutches and knee immobilizer. Wait and see. Hopefully just really stiff and nothing requiring surgery or a lengthy recovery.

I need to talk with the financial aid office for Treyner to see what his OOP cost is for food and dorms. He plans on living off campus next year and he needs to know how much the difference will be if it is more expensive.

Thanks for all the well wishes to Carsyn and all the kind comments about her and Ben.

The good news was the Doc asked if I was her mom because she thought I looked quite young.

Carsyn looked like she might be ill!

Don't you just love it when someone says something like that.

Poor Carsyn hope her knee is fine with just resting it this week and that is the end of your trips to the doctor.

 

[Christy LOVES Disney]

I'm glad nothing is broken. II'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing is torn either. Hope everything starts going better for your family.

 

[Dizneydawn]

Chapter Seven: Taylor and Treyner Oh MY!

We left Allison and made a quick stop at the Biltmore Estate. I absolutely love this place and the past summer, the boys, Dan and I had stopped there after visiting friends from Ireland who were in Florida. Carsyn stayed another week with them and flew back later so she has never seen it.

There was no time for a tour and if you do not pay to get to the Estate itself, you cannot go to the gift shop next to the mansion. They do though, have a small gift shop outside of the entrance.

We had a mission. To buy lemonade enhancers, cider enhancers and I wanted another cookbook from a series because my very favorite one had come from there last year. This from someone who probably has 200 cookbooks (I need to count them,) is saying a lot!

This is a great aerial view for those who have never been to the Biltmore.

The smaller gift shop outside the estate entrance we shopped at.

The gift house was quite nice but nothing compared to the mega one in the estate! They did have the lemonade mixes and cider mixes but no cookbook.

Here is a description for the Wassail cider mix:
Mix Biltmore's own Wassail Spice Blend with apple cider, tea, or red wine for delicious and aromatic hot beverage

I can tell you that every person I know who has had this, says it is the best cider they have ever had. I have had friends ask to buy it from me. I use it with wine for a Silpada party I had here last fall and it was well received as well.

Here is the description of the blackberry lemonade mix:
Add a splash of this unique mix to iced tea, lemonade, mixed drinks, marinades, vinaigrette's, and desserts. Also available in Southern Raspberry and Southern Black Cherry.

We like the blackberry a ton. Not a fan of the Raspberry at all. IMO tastes like cough syrup and the rest of the house agrees. The black cherry was OK but man, that blackberry we fell in love with last summer and it still is awesome!

We were out of luck with the cookbook though. I know that I can order it online but there is just something in getting a book at a location to make it a favorite memory. I always tell my kids where the recipes come from they are eating and if it has a specific place, there is always conversation.

Not much to talk about if the UPS guy is your only point of reference...although - if my UPS guy was hot, maybe I would do more ordering online!

Here is the link to the Biltmore store if anyone wants to order this stuff! I just saw free shipping through the 30th!!
http://shop.biltmore.com/browse.cfm/4,42.html

This is actually to the black raspberry lemonade mix!

We spent about 20 minutes and then had to leave. Treyner had already called about 2,476 times to make sure we would be on time. He did not want her there waiting long! He had a soccer scrimmage so was going to be on campus and not able to get her. We had never met her before so needless to say, it was going to be interesting.

No issues from Ashville, NC to Greenville, SC at all. We found the airport and can I say it is probably the nicest landscaped airport I had ever seen!

The drive on airport property to the terminal.

Very small airport but they did not make it look like a dump like some I have seen!

Taylor had just landed and was not outside yet. Within a few minutes we saw her! Can't miss Taylor weighing all of 105 pounds and 230 pound of luggage!

Sooooo kidding. She did only have one suitcase, a big purse and small bag. She packed well. She was very nice and really cute and bubbly. I think we were tired and she was nervous so for a few minutes, we all just had small talk but within a few miles, her and Carsyn hit it off, found out they knew similar people and all was good.

Taylor was very friendly and beyond cute. If you picture someone from 90210 or the Hills getting off a plane, that would have been Taylor. We spent a ton of time talking about the differences in our lives and thing she did not like about her area in AZ - more on that later - but I can tell you that under the, almost orange tanning bed skin and perfectly manicured exterior, we found a girl who I think started to realize that she was more than skin deep in beauty and that not everyone would be critical of her being just who she is.

Having a ton of money can have blessings, but also can be a curse because it can trick you into worrying about the wrong priorities. Taylor has not had an ideal life and I will not share her story here, but please know that as the week progressed, I came to adore her and really be impressed with her inner strength and ability to look at things from the perspective of others.

I was not being Kathy Kodak this day. I think I was not wanting to overwhelm her quite yet!

Here are a pic of Taylor and Treyner from his visit to AZ in February.

We ended up going some back woods way to the campus but found it and went to the bookstore right away because we all wanted t-shirts and it closed before Treyner's scrimmage would.

It was pouring out and we had to laugh because the only 2 times we had ever been there, involved a drenching! The coach blamed us!

That campus is so pretty. There is just a charm about Southern Universities that I do not think the Midwest can give.

By Treyner's dorm.

Campus

After we were done shopping, we found the gym where the scrimmage had moved to due to rain.

Treyner was in goal and we all felt a bit silly. The only people watching and then to have it be all one person's family, who had been traveling all day and I am sure did not look coiffed, was a sight to behold I am sure. I did not take pics here either because I think he might have killed me.

As it was we tried to stay out of the way but there was nowhere on the gym floor we could be minus the stands, next to the players. Carsyn was mortified but Taylor, who almost got drilled in the head 4 times with a soccer ball, while we sat /stood in the out of bounds area, could have cared less! The safety of the bleachers even if it meant smelling the locker room socks, was better than a Focker volleyball incident!

Treyner and the team finished up and we also got to meet his friend Nick who was with him at Ft. Lewis and was looking to transfer as well. He had flown in Thursday morning and was leaving Sat morning. Treyner came over and tried to give us hugs but due to the smell wafting off his body, only Taylor got suckered into the arms o stench and then, realized we were AWOL for a reason.

We followed Treyner back to his dorm and you could tell he had tried hard to clean it and make it a proud moment for the family to see. The plan was to go to Olive Garden with Nick and then, get to the hotel. Treyner, Baylor and Nick would be staying at the dorms and the girls and us would have the hotel room.

Up next: Nothing goes as planned and sometimes, it gets better!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

That Biltmore is beautiful and so is the Anderson campus!!
Taylor is a pretty girl - but I really appreciate what you said about her as a person. She sounds like a good match for Treyner.

 

[vamassey1]

What a lovely campus. We lived in Columbia, SC for a few years but we never made it up to Anderson. We did find the parts of SC we visited to be beautiful.

I hope Carsyn's knee heals and she has no lasting effects. Sports can be so hard on their bodies.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

That was really nice what you said about Treynor's girlfriend. Most moms (trust me, I know this) just hate you from the beginning and don't even look at you or try to get to know you before they determine they don't like you. It is so nice that you gave her a chance and got to know her. It shows what a truly genuine person you are.

And how nice was it to have all three of your babies in the same place???

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

My mom and I always help with these receptions my church does for our Community Chorus, and we always do the punch. The last time we volunteered to help, we were told one of the older ladies at church asked "Are the S___ sisters doing punch again?".

It's funny to go on vacations with my DBF's family. He has two sisters, and between them and his mom the back of their van gets PACKED to to the top. And then way in the corner you see Taylor's (my Taylor, not Treyner's) one bookbag, and then my one carry-on and crown case. Guess who gets stuck carrying everything in though.

I hope Carsyn's knee gets better! From one injured athlete to the next.

 

[Christy LOVES Disney]

Man, I can sit here and read you TR's all day long... only problem is im actually keeping up with this one and not reading one that is already complete. I got an email to my blackberry saying that you updated.. while I was gone in a different car somone ran into mine. So instead of calling their insurance company I came on here to read your report.....NOT good. But I can't help it. lol. Off to call the insurance company and waiting patiently again for the next update.

 

[PrincessBetsy]

Great update! I've always wanted to visit the Biltmore, but still haven't found the time to go there. And that campus is so pretty! Looking forward to the next installment!

I hope Carsyn's knee gets better soon and Treyner is feeling better. You better keep a close watch on Baylor to make sure nothing happens to him!

 

[DisneyJo]

I hope both Treyner and Carsyn get better soon, poor girl hasn't been very lucky with rugby yet has she?

How kind of you to pick Taylor up from the airport, she sounds very sweet

 

[karebear23]

Ok I found your TR today and just read through everything! Can't wait to find out what happens next!