Leave it to my kids to stay healthy ALL winter, then get back to back illnesses all summer. Majority of this month was spent treating fevers, ear infections, croup (yes, again), amoxicillin reactions, who-knows-what-caused-them hives, snotty noses and lingering coughs. We have been healthy for about a week, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed it stays that was as Caleb recovers from his surgery this upcoming Monday to have his tonsils and adenoids removed as well as his ear tubes replaced. I won't lie; I'm a little nervous, but I also know (thanks to multiple chats with his ENT, his pediatrician, his ENT on-call nurses, other Down Syndrome parents, prayers and a blessing) that this is the right thing to do and it will benefit him in more ways than we fully are aware of right now. We are doing it mainly to help with severe sleep apnea, so that is the main goal. Anyway, if we could all just be healthy for the duration of summer, that would be just heavenly!
In between illness, we managed to get out a little for some hikes, birthday celebrations and a family Reunion at Island Park with the Green clan.
Fresh air and sunshine were just what the doctor ordered. Not only for the boys, but also for this mama's sanity. No one ever tells you how when you have kids, your heart is completely exposed to such raw, unfiltered moments of overwhelming worry and ache every time a child is sick. I also have the bad habit of jumping to worst-case-scenarios when they have a slight out of the ordinary sniffle or cough, which only exacerbates the whole letting my heart run around on a 4-year-old and 2-year-old day after day. Mellow-dramatics aside, getting out into nature was where I found my happy place and moments of not worrying as I watched Luke scale a waterfall without fear and Caleb squawk with delight at every tree and bird he saw. So you better believe that we went on a few hikes while they were sick.
One day, I suggested a hike, to which Luke quickly asked if we could go on the Rocky Mountain hike. I was completely impressed that he even remembered that hike from last November that I had to say yes and we made the 40 minute trek to Sandy to hike the Rocky Mouth Trail. We thought it was gorgeous in November with all the vibrant fall leaves, but in the summer, holy moly. It was filled with lush, green trees, a roaring stream that originated at a roaring waterfall which was only a trickle in November, and, of course, the many rocks and caves for us to explore. I knew it was just what we needed as Luke sang little diddies he made up as we happily walked the trail.
Lately, while trying to get dinner ready, the boys have been giving me a run for my money. They play so nicely all day, then the second they even suspect that I'm about to make dinner, they both latch onto me like leeches. Caleb more so than Luke, but Luke has his moments of intensely wanting to help or suddenly needing to have me read or see something or play something right that very moment or he might not make it to dinnertime. I've been trying to come up with ways to barricade them in the living room or distract them so they don't realize I'm making dinner, but they are too smart for my tricks. Luke literally taught Caleb how to climb through my most intricate barricade within minutes one day. Anyway, on one particular evening, I was getting dinner ready and they were my human slippers until they found my purse. I figured there were just receipts and credit cards in there so let them rummage through as I hastily prepared dinner. After not being tapped or summoned for a good 15 minutes, I look down to find them both trying to figure out how to open a tampon. Luke noticed me looking and asked what it was. Like any grown, responsible mother, I told him it was a tampon then promptly gave him a bowl full of water to avoid an awkward conversation with a 4-year-old about their true purpose. Can't have that being his ice breaker on the playground, now can we? They had a blast with the water and tampon and I was able to make dinner in peace and Dallin was not nearly as mortified as I thought he would be when he came home to his sons exploring feminine products. Well, until Luke started blowing bubbles with the applicator...
Grandma and Grandpa Green planned a wonderful week-long adventure in Island Park for all the Green kids. We headed up Monday afternoon, just in time to be greeted by a snowstorm. The California Greens came ready to lounge in swimsuits and flip flops while fishing on a dock, but us midwesteners knew better and brought winter jackets for all to share. Some of the brothers were brave enough to still go fishing on Tuesday, despite the freezing snow, while the rest of us stayed huddled in the cabin with a little outing to the Henry Fork Angler's store to get Dallin some new flies. Katie was in baby heaven getting to snuggle Miles, Luke was in cousin heaven getting to play with Roonie, Lucy and Haley and Caleb was in heaven getting to just run around, visiting with whomever would smile at him, while trying to escape upstairs when he knew he shouldn't.
Wednesday, we made our way up to West Yellowstone aka an outdoor amusement park filled with lines of cars rather than lines of people to catch a glimpse of each attraction. We all eventually made it to Ol' Faithful in time for her to show off, then headed back to the cabin for more fishing.
Before going to Ol' Faithful, we made a pitstop at Bear World where we got to observe Sam the Grizzly fight off ravens for food that children had hidden in his little outdoor play area for him. Guys. he was HUGE! Before he came out, they had four other grizzlies in there playing, trying to bust open coolers, swimming, etc and they were pretty big, but then they took them in and brought out Sam and it was like Goliath entering the arena. Pretty impressive. Luke was not impressed. He was more amazed at the telescopes.
Thursday morning, we loaded up, took pictures and headed out. We all gathered at grandma and grandpa's in McCammon for one last meal together before we all went our separate ways home. I married into a pretty amazing family and am grateful for each one of them!
The rest of June has been all about celebrating Luke turning 4, Father's Day, staying cool and enjoying the sunshine. We've ventured to the International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake, viewed many a magnificent sunset, enjoyed Splash Pads, tried to convince a 2-year-old that picky eating is not a cool trend to follow and have eater our weight in ice cream. More of that to come with Caleb's surgery! Send prayers for that little babe.
No comments:
Post a Comment