Washington

We are in Washington and things are FINALLY settling down. Here is the story of our adventure.

5/28 (Fri) Last day of school. Dismiss at 12 30, stay and pack up classroom until about 5.

5/29 (Sat) Return to school with Katie and pack the rest of my classroom until we drop. Ash joined us for the last hour or so.

5/30 (Sun) Drive with Grandma to the airport. She flew back to LA and I flew to Portland to meet up with Ken and go to Maegan's wedding. We went to the pre-rehearsal dinner at Maegan's condo and then explored downtown Portland a little bit on our own. We learned 3 things that night.

#1 GPS is our best friend
#2 One way streets SUCK
#3 Voodoo doughnuts are awesomely delicious and worth the 30 min+ wait outside in the rain at 10pm.

5/31 (Mon) Maegan's wedding - Ceremony at the church, reception afterward. My favorite part was Maegan hitching up her entire wedding dress skirt around her chest, showing off her flip flops and practically waddling down the aisle after the pictures were taken saying "See you all at the reception, we're going to go take pictures with the dog!"

6/1 (Tues) Fly with Ken back to Utah. Rent a car at the airport to drive back to Orem. Begin packing madness while my mom is watching Charlie.

6/2 (Wed) Packing madness continues. Pick up Uhaul truck (PS, did you know that Uhaul will match any competitor price, even if the trucks aren't exactly the same size? AWESOMENESS). Go to Mountainville with Ken and Ryan to load my classroom stuff in the truck. Turn in classroom keys (*sniff*). Go to Jackie's to pick up our treadmill and bins of baby girl stuff that have been in their basement. Katie and Ryan also helped us pack more stuff that night. Much listening to the Gopher soundtrack of life (Missy Higgins, The Sound of White) and tears insued.

6/3 (Thurs) Packing madness continues. Ken and I also had to pick up to car dolly at Uhaul. Elders' Quorum came around 6 to help load the truck with everything that was packed. Awesome shout out to Darren who rescued Charlie's play table from the depths of the truck when someone else loaded it early. That was one of the first things off the truck when we got here so Charlie would have something to do while we unloaded. Also, awesome shout out to Ash who came over and helped ALL day until the very end--she is the master packer! Then Ash, Stacey and Linsay helped me SCRUB the entire apartment top to bottom. I have new respect for Stacey and her cleaning-guru-ness (yes, I just made up that word). We finished cleaning around midnight and then Ken and I went to the hotel where my mom and Charlie we sleeping. Ken showered and then took off with the truck around one. I zonked into bed at the hotel while trying not to wake Charlie in the portacrib (unsuccessful).

6/4 (Fri) Mom and I got up early the next morning and drove the rental car back to the airport. She helped me through ticket check and security, then ran off to catch her flight to CA. Charlie and I waited around for a while because our flight was later than Mom's. So I have him strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn, and am dragging a carry-on and a diaper bag behind me. I had gone to the bathroom before Mom left us, so I figured I would try not to drink much and be fine through the flight, right? (SO WRONG, but we will get to that).

So, we wait in the terminal and stand up to line up for Southwest. We're A29, so I figure we'll get some really good seats. We stand in line FOREVER ( an omen of what was to come) and my shoulders and neck are starting to feel the strain of the 20 pound child that is strapped to me. Finally, we board. I head towards the back of the plane with Charlie flirting with all the flight attendants along the way. A very nice lady helped me put the carry-on in the overhead bin. We get settled into an empty row, sitting in the aisle seat with the diaper bag in the middle seat. (Nothing screams "Don't even THINK about sitting next to me... I have a stinky squirmy baby so any sitting will be done at your OWN risk so might I suggest the aisle behind me?
like the diaper bag on the next seat. ) We get all settled and the flight attendant announces that the flight is only 3/4 full (hooray for small miracles!). Charlie and I really settle down into our own row. Then the captain comes on the loudspeaker, announcing "Folks, I really wish I could tell you that we were getting ready to leave, but there's been some weather issues in Spokane so we're going to be on the ground for a while waiting for updates." BOO. At that point I unstrapped Charlie from the Baby Bjorn and let him roam the row. He eventually got buckled into the middle seat and ate snacks from his tray table. At some point, the flight attendants started playing "Classic TV trivia" over the intercom, giving away free snacks and prizes for correct answers. About an hour and a half into our wait, a very nice flight attendant held Charlie for me so I could run to the bathroom. The kind lady next to me (who had helped me with the carry-on) went off the plane to get food for herself and kids so I gave her some cash and she brought me back a sandwich. All the while, Charlie is far too excited to nap and is flirting with everyone around us.
Two+ hours in, we finally take off. The waiting wasn't too bad, and it was definitely better than being diverted to a different airport like some of the flights before us. Charlie slept like a champ the entire flight, spread out across 2 seats once we finally took off.

So we arrive at Spokane airport, and by this time I definitely have to pee again. So.. I brave the bathroom with Charlie strapped to me (definitely an experience), then head to the baggage claim. I got one of those luggage carts and start watching for luggage. I grabbed my duffel bag, but was having a hard time putting it on the cart, so another nice person helped me put it on the cart. I grabbed the carseat next, but then wait forever for the grab'n'go stroller. Turns out, it's the last thing off the belt. I mean the VERY last piece of luggage. So, I unstrap Charlie from my (because my back is KILLING me at this point) , put him in the carseat in the stroller and proceed to push Charlie in the stroller with one hand and the luggage cart (with duffel, carry-on, and diaper bag) in the other. Needless to say, we cut a wide path. Ken's cousin that lives in Spokane had parked Ken's car in the airport short term and had texted directions on how to find the car. The directions appeared to be very clear upon first glance... but not when the first two landmarks could be taken two different ways. After 5 minutes of wandering around, I finally lost it and cried. I had made it all this way with Charlie by myself, only to be caught by a freaking PARKING GARAGE. Yet another VNL (very nice lady) parked her car and helped me look all over the place. 20 minutes later we found the car and I HUGGED her. Then I loaded up the car, installed the carseat base, put Charlie in, got the GPS going and proceeded to drive an hour and a half to Pullman. Luckily, Charlie zonked out for the entire car ride there. We met Ken there and crashed for the night at the place he had been staying, then got up bright and early to unpack the truck with the Elders' Quorum from our new ward.

6/4-6/8 Normal days, unpacking, Ken going to work, etc.


6/9 Ken went to work as usual, while I spend most of Charlie's precious nap time to get everyone packed for Seattle. I had no idea how long it would be post-surgery til Charlie could travel the 5 ish hours back to Pullman, so packing was a bit tricky. So we loaded up the car around 730pm and were off on another adventure.

6/10 Arrive at Uncle Ed and Aunt Rita's house in Newcastle approximately 130am (we had some stops along the way). Crash into bed. Wake up at 6 to be at the hospital for a consultation at 8am. Meet with the doctor, nurses, etc. Stop at Denny's for breakfast, then go back to the house and crash again. That evening we hung out with Ken's cousin Juliet and her family. Her youngest, Ryan, is two days younger than Charlie and they had a BLAST rolling around and playing with each other.

6/11 arrive at the hospital at 645am. Go through all the paperwork, braceleting, etc. They take Charlie back to the OR for a "2 hour surgery". Turns out, they found some more (fixable) things while they were in there, so a "2 hour surgery" turned into a "5 hour surgery". Oy. It's terrible waiting there. All I can say is, I think we had the best pediatric urologist on the west coast (seriously, Ken googled him) and I'm glad everything went well and that it's OVER. He has a catheter in still, and I hate it because sometimes it gets caught in something or tugged and he SCREAMS and cries because it hurts, and I hate it because diaper changes and baths have become a 2 person job, and because he needs round the clock tylenol and ibuprofen until it comes out, but hopefully it will fall out soon.

6/13 Leave Seattle to come back home. Resume unpacking.

The End.