Saturday, May 31, 2008

Memorial Weekend

We spent Memorial Day weekend camping with some friends. The weekend was very eventful and had we not been seasoned campers, it probably would have cured us of any future camping bug urges.

We were only camped about 45 minutes away from home, which worked out well, because Jeff had an appointment on Friday night. He set us up, kissed up good night and promised to be back in the morning with Starbucks in hand.

That night was bitterly cold as we settled into our sleeping bags. Noelle's body temperature rises dramatically during the night, so I chose to let her sleep with me to take advantage of that furnace effect. At about 2 a.m., said child woke up crying and delirious. She then proceeded to vomit all over our main source of warmth and comfort against the bitter chill of the night. After cleaning her up and salvaging some comforters and pillows, I converted the dinette into a bed so that we could try to get a little more rest. Noelle would wake up periodically to cry and throw up. As seasoned pukers know, after a while, there is nothing more to throw up and then it becomes the dreaded "dry heaves". As we do not have adequate toilet facilities in our camper, and in order to allow other people to sleep, I had to take her outside while her body tried to wretch up its stomach.

Finally, at about 4:30 a.m., I realized that the fan to the heater was blowing, but there was no heat coming out. I could hear the furnace trying to ignite, but it was to no avail. The propane tank had run out. Jeff did tell me that he thought it was running low, but that we should be ok for the night. If my early morning hours were any indication of my luck...

Now, I was told how to change the propane tank, and having changed a few on the grill, I knew I could handle it. The only problem was, the full tank did not get taken out of the storage area while unpacking and that storage area was directly under my other two sleeping angels and a guest from another family. Since they were completely oblivious to the camper door opening and closing and all of the other ruckus I had made trying to get Noelle and myself resettled during the night, I chose to let them sleep and figured that we would cuddle under the blankets and ride it out. But that fan kept blowing and making so much noise that I could not handle it, knowing that warmth was not near. The thought came to mind that I could just turn the furnace off because no air blowing was better than cold air blowing. Now, when Jeff was explaining the complexities of the furnace to me, he mentioned that the little on/off switch on the thermostat required a lot of force to move and he would not be surprised if it broke one day. Do you see where this story is headed?

Now, what do I do? I can't turn it off and I am freezing! So I pulled and scraped and cussed to get the new tank out of the storage area. After completing that task and making sure that Noelle was not on the edge of trying to puke her intestines up, I then proceeded to try to take the cover off the empty propane tank. Realizing that this would require a screwdriver, I located the toolbox and opened it. However, Jeff did not warn me that it was booby trapped and I opened it on the wrong side. Half of the tools spilled out onto the ground and was followed by the most un-ladylike words orated by myself. I managed to take off the cover in what seemed like 30 minutes and changed out the tank. I haphazardly put the toolbox together, with the intention of doing it correctly after I had had some sleep and did not feel like screaming like a banshee.

I stepped into the camper waiting to hear the glorious sound of the furnace igniting and ready to feel the warm blast of bliss. But, alas, I was to be denied any comforts. The fan was still running and there was no warmth. Why? Why? By this time, I realized that the outside air was warmer than the air in the camper, but I had small children still sleeping and I could not let them suffer. I sent a curt text message to Jeff asking him to call me as soon as possible.
My wonderful husband called me and listened patiently while I moaned and complained about my horrendous night. He explained how to disconnect the battery so that the fan would shut off and then he showed up two hours later with hot coffee and a new thermostat. He hypothesized that the battery power was low and did not have enough oomph to light the furnace. Ugh. Good thing he has a charger and we would not be without heat for the subsequent nights.
I promptly went on a run and when I returned, my dear sweet husband had removed the offending bedding, cleaned up my mishap with the toolbox and was scrubbing the mattress clean of regurgitated matter.
We had a relaxing day and Jeff enjoyed a long mountain bike ride with his friends. After dinner, I was going to bed early and Jeff was going to fix the thermostat. While I was reading in bed, Jeff was on the floor of the camper, trying to remove the old thermostat. I heard an expletive and Jeff immediately went outside and very calmly called for a friend of ours, who happens to be a doctor, to help him. I could hear them talking and Jeff remarked that he was feeling a little dizzy. I got up to check on him and found Jeff with his hand above his head and wrapped in a bandage. That is when they explained that the screwdriver Jeff was using slipped and he managed to stab himself in the meaty part of his hand near his thumb. It did not go all the way through, but it was painful and immediately started to swell. Now, this doctor friend of ours is an OB/GYN and since Jeff's problem could not be solved with a pap smear, he recommended that Jeff head to the ER to get a tetanus shot (for which he was long overdue) and some antibiotics.
The next day, Jeff's hand was still swollen, but he managed to put it in a cycling glove and ride with his friends. We wondered what else could go wrong, but felt that we could handle anything. Noelle wasn't feeling well again, and she was up most of the night with gastrointestinal pains. By this time we had had hardly any sleep the whole weekend and when morning came, we just wanted to go home. We packed up and drove home to hot showers and Jeff promptly took a nap on the sofa. I took the kids to see the new Indiana Jones movie and when we returned, it was to find out that Jeff was battling the same internal turmoil that plagued Noelle two nights prior.
It was certainly a Memorial Day to remember.

Reese was not in a picture taking mood. Good thing I like ALL of her facial expressions.

Contemplating the meaning of life...or just what was in the water.
Emily at the campfire.

Noelle-smiling even after she no longer had any stomach bile.
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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Sand Dunes Camping 2008

Happy Mother's Day to everyone who is a mother or a mother figure in our lives!
We just got back from our yearly Sand Dunes camping trip. Although the weather was better than the last time we were there, we still did encounter wind and some cold temperatures. I do have more pictures coming, as I did not get any pictures while we were on the dunes, but a friend did and she will be sending them soon.


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