Not-so-quick trip

By request of the "blog fans" (that would be Mom and Laurel), here's the story of our recent fiascos on our brief trip to Bend.

Graeson has had some kind of mystery rash, so since we no longer have a dermatologist here, our family doctor referred us to the one in Bend. So we made arrangements to stay with my dad. Dad (aka Papa to the kids) lives in the podunk little town of Brothers, Oregon which is about 40 miles east of Bend. It's one of those don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it kind of towns. I think the population is somewhere around 20, and that's if you count the cows. So we made the three hour drive for the first time ever without stopping, and miraculously all three kids napped on the way there. (Thank you DVD player and Nintendo DS!) After Kaela & Graeson wore out Dad & Hettie's poor dog, Papa gave them flashlights and let them run around the yard. Needless to say, after the naps in the car, there was an abundance of energy!

So the next morning, about five minutes before we were ready to leave, Maezie started throwing up. And she managed to get both Bryan and I as well as herself in a matter of about three minutes. (I'll spare you the rest of the gorey details....) So by the third child, you do actually learn some things as a parent. One of those things is that there is NOTHING WORSE than carseat vomit. Especially on a three hour drive. Let's just say I have traumatic memories. Yuck! So we decided Bryan and the girls would hang out at my dad's while Graeson and I went to the doctor. Hopefully Maezie would be over it by the time we got back and we would go back home as planned.

So the drive through Bend was, well, scenic because my GPS didn't work, and the Bend road department thought it would be fun to design roads with circle/turntable type intersections. Without road signs. But we made it with only one choice word, which didn't even count because Graeson had headphones on. :)

So of course the dermatologist required EIGHT peices of paper I had to sign. He looked at Graeson for about a half-second and diagnosed him with Molluscum Contagiosum. I only know how to spell it because the brochure is sitting in front of me right now. He never even talked to Graeson, talked only to me, in between dictating orders at his laptop-carrying medical assistant. He said this thing occurs with all children (um....I've been around a lot of kids and I've never seen it) and it will go away on its own. In several weeks. Or maybe months. Or the brochure says five years! Just stop scratching, he says. Um HELLO this is a five year old boy and you want him to NOT scratch! It was at that moment I noticed he didn't have a wedding ring and I had to keep my sarcastic mouth from saying, Listen buddy, you don't have kids do you! He gave us a prescription cream and he went on his way.

So back to Brothers to find out Maezie has vomited a few more times, this time Kaela got the brunt of it when she was holding her. (She's such a good big sister!) So thank you to Hettie for the multiple laundry loads! Throughout the day Maezie was so pitiful she just kept laying on my lap or my chest, dozing now and then. So we decided that since there is NOTHING WORSE than carset vomit (oh, did I already say that?) and she was so clingy, we would just stay another night. Now I do have to confess here that it is nice when kids are sick and they just want to cuddle all day! So at bedtime, because we had thought we were leaving that morning, we had to unpack (again), blow up the kids' mattresses (again), and remake the bed that we had already stripped the sheets off. And though the vomiting had stopped, Maezie now started a major fever. And of course the children's tylenol I had was practically empty. Did I mention we are in the middle of podunk nowhere? So I had to mentally calculate how much of an adult dose to cut, crush, and mix with a spoonful of yogurt. And even though I'm a nurse, this is not an easy task when you're talking about pediatric medication! I did have to get up and do the whole medicine routine three times during the night, but by morning she was improved and we were confident enough to head home.

So we began the trek home, stopping at Safeway for some children's tylenol, and that's when it started snowing. We made it almost exactly halfway home, driving about 40 miles an hour, when traffic came to a complete and total stop. Now Highway 97 is not a big highway, and when you're in between Oregon towns, there's nowhere to go. So through the lovely technology of text messaging, we found out there was a wreck and the highway was actually closed entirely. So we ended up at a standstill for an entire hour. Once again, thank you DVD player! Now here's the miraculous part: not one child had to go potty while we were waiting! Nor was there any vomiting either! (Because as we know, there's NOTHING WORSE!)

Eventually, we did make it home. What was planned as a 24-hour up-and-back trip lasted twice as long with the drive home lasting almost twice as long as normal. Oh and by the way, it's now almost a week later and Graeson rash is actually getting worse. Aren't we glad we made the trip to the dermatologist????

Longest. Trip. Ever.