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I got called in to a C-section this morning at 5:30- Zach had crawled into our bed, so the call woke him up.
“Momma, is wake up time yet?”
“No bug, go back to bed.”
“Momma, you going to work?”
“Yes, sweetie, there is a sick baby that needs Mommy’s help”
“Is ok I come with you and help?
“That is so nice, but the baby only needs Mommy.”
“Please! I will listen!”
“No, sweetie, stay here”
“Ok, is ok then I watch a movie?”
Sigh… looking at my watch. “Ok you can have a movie”
“And a picnic”
“Ok, a picnic too.” I start his movie and dash downstairs to get his food.
“No momma, a bigger picnic”
I get him a little more food and wonder what excuse I can use when I’m late to the OR.
“Ok Momma, I’m fine now. You can go now. I love you”
Our usual Saturday haunt. I am really trying to feed our family as much local, organic food as possible and I also keep vainly hoping that if Zach helps me pick out a vegetable he may actually eat one someday. Anyway, we are wandering around after making our purchases and Zachary walks up to a stand of lettuce that is toddler height and TAKES A BITE OF THE DISPLAY LETTUCE! I cannot even begin to describe both my horror and supreme satisfaction. Luckily the vender was super nice, laughed and tore off the pieces that he had bitten and gave them to Zach and THEN HE ATE MORE. I was flabbergasted. Joe and I eat salad almost every night and this was the first time he has ever shown any interest. At home today, we wandered down to the garden and sampled some of our own lettuce, which he did try (!) but didn’t like.
So, if you bought some green leaf lettuce from Lazy J, Saturday sometime after 11:30, please make sure you wash it carefully.
How do you even begin to describe a two week, 2500 mile road trip with your husband, 3yr old, 1 yr old and dog? Chaos, love, adventure, discovery, and fatigue are all the words that initially come to my mind.
We rented a tent trailer and headed out- me with fairly low expectations of how this was going to go. Our first day was at Mt. Rainer- complete with snow and mud at our primitive campsite and not even a glimpse of the mountain. It was a little harder than we had anticipated to have both kids at a primitive campsite so we decided to re-group the next night and stay at a Motel 6 in Pasco, WA. That was hands down the WORST night of the trip- Arlo was so exhausted and out of his element and he SCREAMED bloody murder all night. After that I think we hit our stride- Joe found campsites with grass and playgrounds and the kids finally succumbed to fatigue and learned to sleep great in the car and in the camper.
Making Pancakes in Kamiah, Idaho
We took the scenic route through Idaho and Montana, going through Yellowstone and the Beartooth Pass. I wish I could say we did all these wonderful things in Yellowstone, but the truth is the kids were exhausted and couldn’t deal with stopping, so we just drove through. But at least we had something wonderful to look at while they napped. In Billings, we stayed with Joe’s friends and met their 16 month old son. Then we headed to Helena and stayed with friends who have goats, a sheep, chickens, tractors and lots of room for boys to roam. Not to mention the keys to the Montana City Fire Department- Zach had a blast playing in the fire truck.
We headed home and made a drive through Browning, MT (where Joe and I met) and then up to Glacier National Park. We had hoped to drive through the park on the way home, but an avalanche closed the road that day. This is the second time I have visited Glacier and the second time an avalanche has closed the road the day I arrived! We at least had pie at the St. Mary’s Park Cafe, though we did nothing to deserve it (unless nursing all night counts for something).
KOA in St. Mary Montana, just outside of GNP
Arlo at Lake McDonald in GNP
We didn’t have any major malfunctions until the day we left Glacier- the window in the back of the truck broke and we had to put Elowa up in the cab of the truck with the rest of us. We were pretty cozy! Then later that afternoon a tire blew on the trailer and we (I mean Joe) had to stop and fix it. The boys were super cute with all the tools and what could have been a bummer, was actually kind of fun.
We eventually made it to Winthrop, WA and had a chance to check out the beautiful Methow Valley. I hope we have a chance to head back there and spend a little more time someday. Then we cruised through Seattle, saw some friends and then hopped on the ferry and suddenly, we were back home.
Before we left on this trip, I had been worried about so many of the details- like getting any sleep and how the hell were we going to drive that far with two little kids. But in a way, the worst things turned out to be the best things. I didn’t get great sleep- but I got to cuddle with Arlo and nurse every night. Those days are precious and will end soon so it was so sweet to have that time with him. And being in the car was actually fun- we had to drive, and we had to be together and we tried to make it fun. I would crawl in the backseat with the kids to entertain them and nurse the baby (no small feat btw to lean over a carseat and nurse while someone else drives, applause please) and when the kids slept, Joe and I actually had some time together.
Some of our time in the car was a little rough- when Zach got really fried he would yell “MY BOTTOM HURTS! STOP THE CAR! I NEED EXERCISE! ” at the top of his lungs in this screeching voice that only a toddler can perfect. I also did not enjoy his song of “Bad Momma, Bad Momma, whatcha gonna do?” (think the “Bad Boys” song from Cops- how the hell does my 3yr old know the Cops theme song when we don’t have a TV?!)
Taking a break from the car in Idaho
I really owe Joe a huge thanks for this trip- this was something WAY out of my comfort zone and it turned out to be so much fun and was so good for us. Thank you Joe, I love you.
