Flu Shots

Let the frustration begin. Paul and I are able to get seasonal flu shots through his work for basically free. The company providing them (at his work) will just bill the insurance company and not charge us a co-pay. Here's the catch, they will only administer to persons over 19. This leaves us to figure out how to get Brian his seasonal flu shot (because he needs one). His doctor's office will charge $25 and not bill insurance at all. It would be the same if Paul and I got the shot there also. This is annoying and frusterating because our insurance covers recommended childhood vaccines and would, more than likely cover the shot 100%. Plus our insurance covers it under preventative care.

So, I have tried to check out Walgreens Take Care Clinics. They give flu vaccines to people over 2. They are supposedly partnered with our insurance, but the lady on the phone could not tell me whether or not they bill as an outpatient hospital or an urgent care clinic. It makes a difference on the amount we pay. She told me thay bill as specialty...which is not even on our insurance card anymore. We have office visit copay, er copay, or four levels of phramacy benefits. They best she told me I could do is to ask the nurse practicioner at the clinic. That I have to do in person because there aren't any direct lines to the clinics. I also have to figure out forms of payment accepted such as do they take Walgreens gift cards.

All of this and we have to figure out the H1N1 vaccine too. I know Brian and I definately need to get it. Brian needs it because he is a kid; I need it because of the "underlying" medical condition. Plus whatever I caught last December was labeled as a "virus." I was told by my specialist I may need antiviral drugs if it happens again. Scared the crap out of me. Whatever it was, it sent me into, for a while, Stage 4 (back in Stage 3 quite stable). I'm almost positive Paul needs it too. So, that's at least $75 if we go to our doctor's office, they don't charge a copay, they don't change the price (because it's a new vaccine), and they get the vaccine in October.

Odds are we'll bite the bullet and take Brian into our doctor, sooner rather than later. That way if they get the H1N1 vaccine, he can get it first. But with everything else we'll have to see.

Past Couple Weeks

We are well on our way to fall nighttime temperatures here. It all started the weekend of our camping trip with my parents to Warren Dunes State Park . The weather was in the 70s during the day and dipped to the 40s at night. Quite frankly, the cool weather was awesome! Usually we broil when camping in August. It was much easier to climb Mt. Randall with cool temps and an overcast sky than unforgiving sun and hotter than heck temperatures. Brian climbed most of it himself :) We are so proud of him; he was just beaming! No beach pictures this trip. The lake was rolling with all the storms in the area (red warning flag all weekend), we didn't even attempt to take Brian there. We think the seam sealer worked, there was some condensation in the corners of the tents. The fire starters worked beautifully.

Looking up Mt. Randall



View at top Towards Lake Michigan


Looking Down from the Top


The View Down

We got back from camping and had a couple weeks of nice cool temperatures leading up to Labor Day weekend. Shawn and Patrick came to visit. Unfortunately Brian still has a slight fear of dark-haired people. Upon meeting Shawn and his friend Jon, Brian tried to lean as far away from Shawn as possible which lead to me keeping him out of the street. Patrick came home with Daddy, so he was immediately accepted as a friend. We had dinner as a group that night. Jon and Shawn took the trains back into the city; Patrick stayed with us. Saturday we went to Warren Dunes for the beach. We took two cars. We all met at the picnic area.

Picnic Area

The Picnic area has large picnic sites. Each site has a grill and a picnic table. There are a lot of parking spaces. There is a shelter with bathrooms...They weren't the greatest, but there were flush toilets and running water.





Brian hiked the trail to the beach with Shawn, Patrick, Joe, Elizabeth, and myself while Paul set up beach base camp. Some miscommunication on our part lead to us not knowing where Paul had set up (and he had my cell phone), so it took awhile to find him. Again the weather was cooler than forecast. There was a somewhat stiff wind and clouds. Although the water was considered cold by most, everyone did go in the drink. Brain had fun with me in the deep (to him) water.

Even though there wasn't much sun, sunblock was still needed

The guys had the game on Sunday; Brian and I headed to my folks house. Brian showed his first glimpse of being a bratty two year-old by not taking any naps at ALL. Very stressful for Mommy and complicated by going out to dinner with Nana and Grandpa. Paul called at just the wrong moment. I ended up taking Brain outside and sitting by the car (putting him in it would have made the crying worse) while my parents flagged the inattentive waiter down. Brian didn't stop crying (much at all) until Nana and Grandpa came out of the restaurant. Even then there were still tears. So I learned a couple things: my kid needs naps still (Yes, plural. This one I already knew), when he is upset he vomits (found that out in the parking lot at least), and he bites when he is tired (which is not cool).

This last week has been better. Both Brian and I are sick with some sort of bug. Sore throats and fevers with the occasional sneeze just to change things up. I think we're feeling slightly better now, but we'll see how long that lasts. Paul, of course, isn't sick. Brian is eating like a horse, so he is going to grow again (has the belly to prove it). We just moved him up to size 5 diapers again. He has gained half an inch in height since his 2 year appointment in July. So, he is 34 1/2" tall now. He confuses tired and hungry. We've been getting summer daytime temperatures (in the 80s) with high humidity, so the air conditioners are on again in the afternoons. We don't have much planned for this weekend. We were comtemplating a family camping trip to Warren Dunes, but I think we have decided to camp in the backyard instead...still talking about it.