Here's Matt's perspective on the weekend happenings:
I ended up having a four day weekend because of schedules and day care arrangements. I took Thursday off to stay home and watch the kids while Tara had parent/teacher conferences all day. I ended up taking Camden to daycare so I could get some cleaning done around the house before the family came for a visit. I had a good day with Shelby...just me and Shelby. We went to Costco (which ruined her new nap time routine) and visited mom at the school. Camden came home from Pat's with a red mustache....he had fruit punch with Red40 I'm sure. He was a MESS!!! Rude, bossy, mr. cranky pants. We have a pretty good idea that it was the fruit punch that did it. I still don't know the brand or if it had aspartame.
Friday we had a good visit with my parents and their good friends from Nebraska (Cliff and Gwen). We knew Camden needed to take a nap since he would be out so late that night so I laid down with him to take a nap. 30 minutes later it was time for me to pick up Mark at the airport shuttle, but Camden was still awake. Two minutes later he was out, so I was able to sneak out and head to the airport. Timing was perfect, as I was pulling up to the airport, Mark called and told me where he was standing.
We went to the Mariners game that evening after having some yummy roast beef sandwiches and watermelon that Tara made for us all. Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Camden and i all piled in the car to head to the game. On the way we were stopped at the first avenue south bridge as it went up to let a boat pass by. Camden said it was a little scary to see the road lift up in front of us, but we got out of the car and took a good look at it to make sure it was safe. As we were getting back in the car, Camden was excited to see the Seagulls. Funny to me that the most exciting part of the trip so far were the birds.
Once we arrived at the stadium we were greeted by an increase in parking prices and a shortage of the free bobble heads. Disappointed, we entered and found our seats. I took Camden down to the railing so he could see the Mariner Moose and the people spraying the field with water. He enjoyed seeing the Moose and all his crazy antics. The game started and Camden enjoyed clapping loudly when everyone else did. We were about 3 minutes into the game when Camden got out of his seat and asked if we could go home. I took him for a walk around the stadium where we saw trains, escalators, drinking fountains, and more seagulls. Several of the people working there gave him baseball cards. He was excited to get those. Grandpa got some popcorn to share and Camden’s favorite kernels were at the very bottom. So each time he would reach to the bottom of the bucket and grab a handful to munch. Greasy greasy popcorn that made his hands wet with butter....he liked it a lot! I tired to get him to try the 'giant pancake' (also known as an Elephant Ear) but he wouldn't try it at all. After a terrifying visit to see the Mariner Moose, we headed home around 9pm.
We dropped off Grandpa at the hotel and headed home. I put Camden in his jammies and put him down for the night, Mark and I stayed up a little longer for some ice cream and nerdy gadget talk. I went to bed knowing the next day would be a busy one….not realizing how crazy it was about to get.
At 2:30am, I woke up with an intense pain in my side, as I rolled over it got significantly worse so I headed to the bathroom. I ended up curled up on the floor in pain waiting to throw up. The pain subsided after a while so I headed back to bed. A little while later the pain returned and I revisited the bathroom for my ‘special time’ on the bathroom floor. One more round of back to bed then back to the bathroom before I finally was able to fall asleep. At 5am I curled up on the bed in pain and Tara awoke to my new ‘comfort’ position. She tapped me on the shoulder and asked what I was doing. I let her know I wasn't feeling well and she asked if we needed to go to the doctor. I decided we probably should even though it was sure to mess up everyone’s plans for the day. Tara got Shelby ready, woke Mark up and let him know we were going to the Emergency Room, and that he should probably call mom and dad (who were still in town) and let them know what was going on.
We got right in to the ER and I waited in the little room for quite a while for a doctor. By that time the pain was gone so I fell asleep for a bit. In the meantime Tara went home to make sure everything was fine with Camden. Apparently Camden had woken up and wandered the house looking for us. He told Mark “I can’t find my mom and dad”. Mark assured him everything was fine and about that time Tara came home. Once everything was in control at the house with Grandma there, Mark at his meeting and Shelby asleep, Tara came back to the hospital for me.
The doctor was very confident I had kidney stones (again) and sent me home with medicine for pain and nausea and I should wait for them to pass. If things got worse, I was to come back and get x-rays and a CT Scan. We got home in time for Tara to get ready and go to her class where she turned in her final paperwork that allows her to continue teaching. She came home, got Shelby and went off to a wedding shower for a friend.
I stayed home with Grandma and Camden, we played and had lunch then took a bit of a nap. Just a few minutes after laying down, the pain returned. Luckily this time I had pain pills to take and some insight that I should try propping myself up to take a nap since that was the way the hospital bed was situated. Both of those things helped and I was able to sleep. Grandma and Grandpa Lee headed home once they saw I was able to sleep.
That night was a potluck dinner at the church so we all got ready and headed out the door for a fun time. We did have a good time…lots of good food, lots of good company. We headed home when Shelby began to complain…just at the same time my nausea set in. Once home, Tara headed off to put Shelby to bed while I tried to entertain Camden and not throw up all over. Tara tried to put both Camden and Shelby to bed as they both screamed at the top of their lungs. The nausea medication kicked in so I headed upstairs to try and help. Eventually they both were asleep and we could put our busy day behind us.
Sunday we stayed home from everything. Took it easy and slept as much as we could. Tara’s mom came in the afternoon to help out for a few days in case I had another ‘episode’. Always glad to have her here to help out…extra helping hands are always welcome.
That was the weekend. I blame it all on Tara, she was talking to a friend last week about the upcoming weekend and said something to the effect of; “The only thing that would make this weekend busier would be an unexpected trip to the ER”. Thanks a lot!
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading the whole thing.
-Matt
Saturday we visited the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium with Matt, Maggie & Bella. I was pretty surprised that Camden was willing to pose for this picture before entering the zoo. It was nice of the polar bears to hold still for the photo, too.
Shelby hung out in the stroller most of the day. She enjoyed some finger sandwiches.
Today was the grand opening of the new kid's area. They had live kettle drum music, a juggler, and Camden grew a lemur tail!
The elephants are always a favorite. Camden asked if he could go in and get the Elephant's big plastic ball. We said, "sure, why not..."
Maggie and Bella enjoyed the aquarium part of the zoo. Bella is pretty darn cute and so happy!
