We've got some catching up to do! Our trip to Maryland was fun, but we did have a few hitches. We started our trip Thursday night by driving to Kentucky to split up the drive. I had worked my butt off that day to have everything packed up and ready to go by the time Brandon got home from work. It was no small feat with Grayson too, since he is requiring much more attention these days! I had everything except 2 small bags packed and loaded into the car--my list-making skills paid off and we didn't forget anything! We stopped overnight at Molly and Tyler's house; they were gracious enough to let us take over their guest bedroom for the night. Molly also made us a wonderful breakfast Friday morning to start the day off! They were such wonderful hosts!! I don't know what we'd do without them!
We rolled into Maryland Friday night after driving for about 13 hours total. We stopped about every 2 to 2.5 hours to get Grayson out of the carseat and stretch all of our legs. He did amazingly well on the drive. I couldn't believe it. Brandon drove the whole way while I sat in the back and entertained him. I had enough forethought to pack a large bag full of toys to rotate in and out to keep him occupied and it worked! Towards the end of the trip, we did have to pull out our "Ace in the Hole" toy, Mortimer the Moose! Surprisingly, a plastic clothespin held his attention for about 15 minutes, longer than everything but Mortimer. I'm so glad we spend money on all of the expensive toys and yet he enjoys the simple clothespin more than any of them! hahah I guess that's how it goes.
We enjoyed playing with Morgan and Collin, Lora & Jason's kiddos (that were in our wedding almost 3 years ago). They have grown so much and are now both in school (Morgan in first grade, Collin in preschool). We laughed about how our lives are running in parallel, with Brandon & I just being a few years behind! Lora and I have known each other since Kindergarten and are pretty similar. Jason and Brandon met several years back and are also surprisingly similar. They both do similar-ish jobs and enjoy the same things. Saturday morning we got to enjoy our first t-ball game and Grayson took his morning nap during most of the game. We spent the afternoon playing outside and Brandon enjoyed playing freeze tag with the kids.
Sunday morning, Lora & Jason had planned for us all to go the the annual airshow on the military base out in D.C. celebrating Air Forces Day. It sounded like a great idea to us until we got there and realized how loud it was! Lora had told me ahead of time that we would be going and I thought it sounded like fun--I didn't remember the fact that even the vacuum cleaner and the blender scare the bejeezes out of Grayson. Needless to say, those jets flying over so low and fast terrified him. Terrified isn't even a good enough word for it!! He turned red, shook, screamed and cried violently. It was the awfullest feeling as a Mother. He couldn't even eat. Brandon and I ended up taking him into a hanger where it was quieter and fed him and let him play on a blanket. I felt bad for Lora, Jason & the kids because they had planned a special day and were enjoying themselves and we had to leave the show early. We know now to think about these things ahead of time! Rookie parent mistake...
Brandon had to work in Virginia Beach Monday and Tuesday, so he drove down there after the airshow Sunday. Lora and I just followed her normal routine of taking the kids to their respective schools and enjoyed the afternoon Monday. Tuesday Collin had a special field trip to an air museum, so Lora, Grayson and I planned to attend with his class. Unfortunately, on Monday, we realized that they had just gotten new carpet in the house and it was made of wool. Grayson is allergic to wool. Very allergic. By Monday night, he had a bright red, raised rash covering the entire back of his neck, his head, and behind his ears. He hadn't even laid on the carpet--we had just let him sleep with a blanket that had been laying on the carpet before we realized it was new carpet. We tried a bath, some Zyrtec and Calamine Lotion, none of which made a bit of difference and by Tuesday morning it was spreading around to the front of his neck, down his chest and down his back. After we dropped Collin at his school to get on the bus for the trip, we ran to Walgreens to get some Benadryl and then head on our way, since Grayson seemed to be tolerating the rash alright. Then, things got worse... As soon as I gave him the Benadryl, he vomited ALL OVER himself and the carseat and I was not prepared to clean up that much puke!! I was able to get his clothes off of him and we used the back-up outfit I had in the diaper bag. I put the Udder Cover in his seat to protect his new clothes from what was left in the seat and we headed on. We basically went into the museum and told them we were going back home. We got home finally and Grayson's temperature was 101. I put him down for a nap and we were contemplating going to Urgent Care if it didn't get better. By that night, it seemed to be getting a little better, so Wednesday morning, we just headed for home (Indiana).
The drive back to Indiana started at 7:30 a.m. and we got back here around 12:30 a.m.--yes, 17 hours in the car!!!!! We will not ever do that again. Grayson did great with our previous method of rotating new toys in and out about every 10 minutes. Brandon and I took turns driving this time, which was better. Grayson had had enough by about 10:30 p.m. and started melting down. That last hour was horrendous. We finally made it home and our very, very exhausted boy fell asleep almost immediately when I put him in his crib. He slept straight through the night and the next morning and woke up about 11:30 a.m.! It was a fun trip, but I don't think we'll do it again for a long time. We've decided that we'll be flying from now on. No more trips over 7-8 hours away. It's just too much for Grayson to be in the carseat that long. It's just not good for him to be immobile for that long--we all, not just him, run the risk of clots and varicose veins from the stationary positions.
We did have a great time seeing them and had a lot of fun, despite Grayson's troubles. Grayson got to see his first t-ball game, he got to see the ocean (we did not get in though--still too cold), and he checked 3 more states off his list--Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. Even though he had a rash, a temperature and vomited, he was still a pretty happy boy considering! We'll be discussing this wool allergy thing with the pediatrician here in a couple of weeks at his 9 month checkup for sure. Hopefully he'll give us something to put on it that will help.
Anyway, here are some videos to bring you a smile!
Playing with Jason Norton:
Still playing with Jason:
Story time with Morgan Norton before bed:
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