NICU Reunion - 2017

Our NICU hosts a reunion party each fall and invites all the graduates to come back. We missed the reunion last year due to some conflict (can't remember) but were excited to get back this year! We were also able to coordinate with our NICU friends, the Alexanders, to meet them there and then grab dinner afterwards.

The awesome thing about this reunion this year is that they hosted it at the Children's Museum! We've only taken the boys to the museum one time ever so this was a special treat! We had the whole museum (I think) and got to play all around and have so much fun. The entrance and food area was really crowded, so we didn't stay long there and didn't eat anything, but we did run in to our favorite neonatologist (Dr. Ohning) but didn't get a chance to chat with him because he was understandably in high demand there, and we also got to see the Welsh triplets/family, some of the boys' twin friends from school, and a few other people that we recognized. 

The boys and Grant played and played, basically until it was time to shut down and end the party. Inside the museum we saw some other families we knew (The Williams, my neighbor Kristen & kids, a friend from soccer, a high school friend of mine that manages the NICU staff now, and two of our favorite nurses - Kathleen and Mary Ellen). In terms of connecting and visiting with people, I'd say it was a success!

Learning about water

William with Mary Ellen

All the boys with Mary Ellen

The boys with Kathleen - she was one of our primary nurses

One of the highlights for me (other than seeing so many familiar faces) was Ryan in the wind tunnel. He LOVED it! Check out this proof...

Wind is starting to pick up...

JOY!

Pure bliss!
And I wish you could "hear" it because
he was cracking up!

Wind dying back down

Admittedly, I didn't do very well with taking pictures and didn't get any with cute Grant in them! After the reunion, we grabbed dinner at Wild Wing Cafe with Grant, Bonnie and Brian. When we were trying to pick a place, they mentioned that Grant loves wings. He's a kid after my own heart. Our boys have never tried wings, and probably don't even know what they are, so I was impressed/tickled that Grant loved them! We had a fun dinner and enjoyed hanging out with that family so very much. We just recently hung out with them again...post coming soon!

So the NICU Reunion 2017 was a great success. I hope that they will do it again at the Museum in the future. It's so educational and entertaining for the kids! My only regret about the party was not getting to see and chat with more of the people I saw at the entrance that was so crowded...and not taking more pictures of the boys with their buddy. I'm thankful to the NICU for continuing to host this event year after year. It's nice and comforting (and fun, in a weird way) to come back with our emotional scars that are still healing, and be among a lot of people with the same scars. We're all in this collective group together. Prayers for all the current NICU babies and families out there right now...