Where's Waldo?

From June 2010

Where have we been?
The short answer is: Seattle.

The LONG answer is as follows:

Boise, Idaho
Meridian, Idaho
Nampa, Idaho
Bellevue, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Everett, Washington
Mulkilteo, Washington
A ferry on Puget Sound
South Whidbey Island, Washington
Overlake Hospital, Bellevue Washington
Kirkland, Washington
Medina, Washington
Nampa, again
Boise, again
Countless gas stations
Many grocery stores
2 pharmacies
Several beaches
A few playgrounds
Many a fast-food restaurant
A couple rest areas
The side of the highway

Basically, we should be forbidden to travel. Know why? Because every time we do, people vomit. And in this case, much MUCH worse.

From June 2010

A random horse parked outside a gas station.

Before I get to the bad, let me say we actually had a ton of fun, really we did. Road trips can be a blast. And this one was.

From June 2010

Pike Place Market

We spent exactly 3 hours in the city of Seattle. We went to Pike Place Market, because I am fairly certain it's illegal not when you're a tourist. Derek and I enjoyed it, and the children did not.

From June 2010

Oliver hating Pike Place Market. 

So we beat feet outta there and headed up to a cute little place called Everett. (It is OFFICIAL, Derek and I are NOT urbanites!) (We literally did not set foot in the city of Seattle for the rest of our trip to Seattle. AWESOME!)

 We found a farm with cute animals, and ended up on a ferry to a beautiful place called South Whidbey Island. If I had to pick a final resting spot for myself, I think this island would be it. Gorgeous. Trees + Water+ Cool air + Not sleeping outside? My idea of a perfect vacation. The kids LOVED it.

From June 2010

My children accosting a baby cow. Poor thing.

From June 2010

It was VERY windy on the ferry.

From June 2010

Derek showing the boys where the ferry was headed.

From June 2010

Finding seashells and rocks to take home. 

We also hit some beach land on the main land and just basically had a blast. The kids traveled exceptionally well, with perhaps the minor exception of Oliver, who is still rear-facing in the car and therefore, not able to watch the DVDs on constant loop.

We enjoyed some fantastic food. We got to see some good friends. It was a wonderful trip.

From June 2010

From June 2010

From June 2010

Now for the bad stuff:
There were SEVERAL incidents of vomit. 2 from me (pregnant), 1 from Oliver (car sick) 2 from Henry (croup.)

There was ONE incident of me calling 911. Henry came down with croup literally out of nowhere at 4:30 one morning. Croup unto itself would not warrant a call to professional help, but his was far worse than a cough. In the matter of about two minutes he went from coughing until he vomited to having his airways so restricted he could neither talk nor really breathe too terribly well. So, I did something I hoped I never do and called 911.

I was only slightly hysterical and got my freaking self together quickly. But still. Babies who can't breathe are not my favorite.

The paramedics were fantastic and ended up transporting Henry and I to the hospital, where it took a solid six hours to get him breathing properly.

I was fighting off feelings of being REALLY stupid, and "why did I call 911?" when the main paramedic showed up at the ER to talk to me. He was just checking in and remarked that he was SO glad I'd called and we did the right thing. Clearly, Henry needed help beyond the steam of the hot shower.

So, Henry was miserable for the remainder of the trip.

Now we're all dying of a cold, (which is how the croup got started in the first place). Driving home was pure misery because of it. I have more pictures which are currently MIA, but I'll get them up eventually.

Suffice it to say, while the trip was fun (mostly) we are DONE going anywhere, ever. Something horrible ALWAYS happens. :)

But we survived. And we're home. And we (in all our virus-covered misery) watched 12 straight hours of movies today. (Thank you Netflicks for your instant stream.)