July 28

We have been in Leavenworth, WA for a wedding. Thanks to food and iPods, the flights went easily, if sometimes messily. For the first flight, Carl had been given seat far away from the girls and me, because our flight plans to get home are different. He gave that seat to me!! If that’s not love, I don’t know what is. He also traded because on Tuesday the girls and I fly home on our own. Fingers crossed. This should be fine, but every once in a while Sarah has a meltdown at really inconvenient times. 

Unfortunately on the way west, Carl’s suitcase didn’t arrive in Seattle when we did. Luckily we would only need to wait two hours for it. We picked up our rental camper and got some groceries and then the suitcase. We knew we were going to have a long day, but the suitcase hiccup added little delays to everything which then meant we were leaving at rush hour for a 2 1/2 hour drive. And we would not arrive in time for dinner, so we stopped for fast food along the way. We did arrive at our destination in time to be dressed for the party by 9pm. That is midnight in Pittsburgh. Our day began at 5am. So this was one seriously long day, especially for Sarah because she doesn’t nap in cars or planes. The girls and I went to bed at 10pm (aka 1pm according to our bodies). 

Our camper was a vintage yellow camper called Purdy. It had a double bed and bunks and a tiny kitchen (though we didn’t have electricity hookups where we were). We all slept relatively well Friday, although Sarah woke with a start many times and couldn’t find the pillow that was so close to her. Once she fell out of bed. She was on the bottom bunk so she was fine. It did make for a fitful night, but that is not unusual even at home. 

Saturday we had an amazing day with just one spot of trouble. We went into the town of Leavenworth and played in the river for hours. It was the perfect temperature to keep us cool in the heat. The water was clear. The stones were polished and rounded. There were deeper spots for swimming too, but the girls mostly stayed in the shallows. The mountains were around us. It was sunny and gorgeous. Then we went to a German restaurant for lunch. We had hoped for live polka music but were too early in the day. That didn’t stop Sarah from getting on the dance floor, announcing a show, and doing a few dance moves. Then we walked to get some of the best ice cream in the best cones. At this point we had used up our buffer time so we headed back to camp for a ten minute rest before getting ready to attend the wedding ceremony. 

This could have been fine, but after a short nap Sarah was struggling. She put on her new dress but then her dress shoes (that I’d made her test at home) now hurt. Then nothing was right and she was taking off everything and screaming. Carl tried his magic while Amy and I finished getting ready elsewhere. Then I took over because I really didn’t want Carl to miss the ceremony of one of his best college friends. Carl had at least succeeded in getting Sarah to wear a skort and shirt instead of pajamas. I tried pretending she was a baby panda to get her shoes on. It worked beautifully until it didn’t and the shoes came back off. I paused to just breathe. At this point she wasn’t screaming. I said how sad I was to probably miss the ceremony. She put on her shoes. We headed up to the ceremony, which luckily started after the scheduled time. It was a beautiful beautiful beautiful ceremony. The girls did a wonderful job staying seated and quiet. The rest of the evening went relatively well, with another late bedtime after some dinner, dancing, and donuts. No one fell out of bed, but Sarah’s night was still fitful until I traded spots with her. 

Today had two frustrating moments regarding Sarah and her allergies. I explained that she couldn’t have any of the pretzels that were around because they all had peanut butter. She whined about wanting pretzels, but then moved on. Later she wanted a goldfish, which is normally fine. This time I noticed that they were in a bowl with nuts, including a pecan. I told her she couldn’t have those goldfish but we could go get some from the car. When I turned from throwing away the one she had been planning on eating, she had another in her mouth. She was fine, but that was risky and isn’t how I want her to be about taking responsibility for her own allergies. Sitters and SR people, let’s work on this whole concept!