Excerpts of the Craig Chronicles

I knew my parents were going to Arizona a couple months before but the thought never occurred to me to hitch a ride to and go visit my in-laws. That is until Lydia mentioned the possibility to me.
So two weeks before the scheduled departure date we set this plan in motion.

Then a week before Lizzy got really sick. Fevers, dehydration, and not eating. She had a fever for 3 days before we ended up going to the ER on Sunday night at 2 am because she wouldn't stop screaming. We thought it might be an ear ache. Well it turned out they thought it was strep, but the cultures never came back. But she did have a sore throat and a fever still. So we were sent home with a prescription for antibiotics and this Benadryl/anti-acid mix (and recipe to make ourselves) to help with her sore throat. Well the Benadryl mix seemed to help her sleep better, but we had a doctors appointment on Tuesday to follow up and the pediatrician said it wasn't bacterial it was viral whatever it was and to stop the antibiotics. At this time she had developed white pustals all over the roof of her mouth, and the only thing she wanted to eat was marshmallows. The doctor was only concerned about liquids at this point. She said if she stopped eating for a few days, ya she'd lose some weight, but it wasn't life threatening. The pediatrician couldn't diagnose it, but she did think it was hand, foot, and mouth disease even though her hands and feet had no symptoms whatsoever.
So we stopped the 60 dollar antibiotics after one day of use. :(

She kinda hovered between improving and staying the same. Her fever went away, but she still had a really sore throat, plus the pustals. So we continued ibuprofen/Tylenol for another few days. On Friday, the 22nd, the day we were leaving for Arizona, I had scheduled a dentist appointment for both girls. Sydney did great. But as soon as I started mentioning Lizzy's symptoms, the Dentist knew what it was. Said she had herpes. And that it would only appear when her immune system was already taxed, and by the time she was two it would appear as cold sores. I asked how she possibly got that and he said she could have touched anything that someone who also had herpes had touched and then touched her mouth, and BAM she had herpes. So i called up the peditriacian to let her know and she said well unless she has another episode that we're just going to say it was hand, foot, mouth disease.

So we get back to my parents house after the dentist visit, and load everything from my car to the suburban. Oh my gosh, was it packed. So crowded. Sydney, Lizzy, and I shared the middle seat, with me on the far right side, sitting on the seat that moved to allow Shayla into the back. And being 8 months pregnant (or almost) on this trip meant that every time Shay had to get out of the back meant I had to move which meant I had to pee. Lots of roadside stops.

We left Heber City around 3 pm, and got to Provo where my mom had to run a couple errands. So we didn't leave Provo til 5 pm. My dad had gotten a hotel room in Kanab, UT for the night, but we didn't get there til pretty late. Like 10:30 pm. I ended up missing this really nice work dinner party that Jake's work was hosting. I felt bad, but he dressed up so handsomely for it. Anyway, we had brought down all this wire for Rhian, so he met us at the hotel to pick up his wire. And low and behold he was also growing facial hair. He startled me at first, and I had to do a double take.

I didn't know how well the girls would sleep in this two bed hotel room. So Sydney was sleeping in a roll-away bed and Shay and I were sharing a bed, and Lizzy was in her playpen between the beds. Everyone was really tired because it was so late. When we had first got there my mom was walking Lizzy up and down the hall and Sydney was running. Eventually to get away from all the rooms we took the girls down to this big dining room the hotel had.

Now at home, I normally put Sydney in her room and she plays for awhile before falling asleep. I couldn't do that here, so I let her watch her tablet to try and keep her in the bed long enough for her to fall asleep. It didn't work and took her forever to fall asleep because Lizzy. Everytime I put Lizzy in her playpen she would scream. And at home I would normally let her scream and cry for 5-10 minutes and then she'd fall asleep. I couldn't do that in the hotel room, because every time she would scream my dad would get upset. I also was trying to use a flashlight for a nightlight, which was distracting my dad, because he sleeps in the pitch black. So for hours I would hold her trying to help her fall alseep, or let her crawl around the hotel floor. But I was so tired, I would try once again to put her to bed, and she'd just scream. Eventually my dad and I ended up in a fight. And at that point (like 2 am) my mom said lets move her playpen on the other side of the wall to wear the bathroom was. And that worked way better, but she still had to cry herself to sleep.

And so because of the previous night we didn't end up leaving Kanab til like 11 am. We spent the day driving through Arizona, stopping off to take pictures and let me use the bathroom, and get food for the kiddos. The kids were pretty bored and I was hard pressed to keep them entertained during the trip. We stopped in Flagstaff at the mall to get something to eat and stretch our legs. We ended up doing some shopping while there. Mom and Shay got some new boots because they were on a way good sale since spring was coming. Anyway we probably spent like 2 to 3 hours in the mall. By the time we got back in the car everyone was tired. So once we got out of the city limits me and the girls and Shay fell asleep. We woke up about 45 min from our destination, but then Shay said she had to go to the bathroom really badly, so we took the next exit and spent twenty or so minutes looking for somewhere to go to the bathroom. And the whole time mom kept saying, with a more worried/frantic tone" Shay where are we, don't you know where we are going? So finally we turned the car around and found a place. After that we headed to the place my parents would be staying, and where we would meet up with Lydia, who would take the girls and I back to her place. At this point it was like 8:30 pm. So we get back to Lydia's place around 9:20 pm. And oh my was it so nice to be done driving. And I had brought so much stuff with us!

That night Sydney slept on the top bunk in Josh's room, and I had to let Lizzy cry herself to sleep in the playpen before I could climb in bed. At which point it was past 11pm. And then in the middle of the night Lizzy woke up and I cuddled her in my bed and we slept like that for a while.

So now it's Sunday. And we just relaxed and let the girls do whatever they wanted. Lizzy wanted nothing to do with anyone but Lydia and I. Poor Scott, she screamed whenever he came around. We went to this huge park in the city. There was many different activities the kids could do. Sydney loved it, although she got upset about something partly way through and we had to play her way out of that mood. And that night we made smores in the fire pit in the backyard. Sydney and Josh loved it. Sydney slept in the same room as Josh on the top bunk. I didn't let Sydney sleep in Josh's room for the rest of our stay, she slept in the spare guest room, because she likes to play herself to sleep so she was bugging Josh and he wakes up really early so She woke up early and was tired an onery.

Monday Josh was at school, and the kids slept in. So we just played around the house. And then when it was time for school to get out we went and met Josh at a park nearby. Then it was time for dinner and we went to Chuck e Cheese for dinner. They didn't have a playground so Josh got bored extremely fast. Lizzy was afraid of the Chuck E Cheese mouse. Sydney played for awhile, she loved trying every game-bonus was getting tickets.

Tuesday we didn't do anything much, Just relaxed.

Wednesday went to the Zoo. Lydia had Josh stay home from school. We stopped by the store to pick up water and snacks to take with us. We got there probably around noon. We got tickets that included a movie. And I had to rent a double stroller. It started out good, but Josh just talked back and didn't listen so many times that the afternoon went a little bit sour. I had to control myself from laughing out loud at the arguments he had with Lydia.

We got to see some cool scenery and animals. Although the poor elephant that was there. Lonely all by itself. He was clearly stressed. It made me sad to see. The train ride was actually really good. It covered basically the whole zoo (and what it didn't drive by you could see from a distance.)

Thursday morning my parents came and picked us up to take us to Show Low, where Shayla had finished her mission. After the situation with my dad the first night, I booked the girls and I a separate hotel room; which happened to be in a separate hotel. It was a 3 hr drive to Show Low through one of the bendiest roads. We pulled in and Dad dropped us off and everyone helped me take our stuff in and then Mom and Dad and Shay were off to one of her appointments. But I didn't have any food, not many snacks, and no stroller. So we walked up the street to this Diner and had dinner. And then walked a quarter mile down the road to Kmart and picked up some snacks and activities for the kids and a stroller. That stroller was so wonderful to have. Lizzy gets heavy after a while of carrying her.
We then walked back to our hotel room and ate our food and relaxed. We then went swimming for like fifteen minutes and then we got back to the room and I bathed the girls. Getting the kids to sleep was easier for me because I just let them play/cry until they fell asleep.

Friday we woke up and had the hotel breakfast. It was yummy. I took some extras back to our room for later. We packed up the diaper bag and put Lizzy in the stroller and off we went to find something to keep the kids entertained since they were so bored inside the hotel room. They had this little park back behind the hotel that we played on for a few minutes. But it was really cold in the shade. So we started walking the opposite direction than the previous day. We crossed the street to a fast food restaurant (maybe McDonald's) and got something to eat. Then we kept on walking and ended up in Cal Ranch, where we browsed for awhile. Sydney got a gun. And the girls got suckers. We then walked up to this gas station and got a Powerball ticket and a drink. We then walked (which was probably a half a mile) back to our hotel and mom and dad came and picked us and took us to Dinner where we were meeting some people Shayla new from her mission. The dinner was really good. I don't remember the restaurant name, but it was a Cafe Rio style set up, but with more options. Loved it. We stayed there probably 2 to 3 hours, before my kids were just done. We went back to my hotel to get our swimming stuff and then went to my parents hotel to go swimming. We probably swam for an hour. The kids were done and tired. So we bathed the girls at my parents hotel, I took a quick shower there. And then my dad dropped us off back at our hotel. The girls slept pretty good, but sometime in the middle of the night Lizzy started crying, so I gave her a bottle of milk and then she slept in my bed with me. The stinker. She did that a lot this trip. Like 3 out of the 4 nights at Lydia's she ended up in my bed sometime during the night.

Saturday. I had everything mostly packed up the night before, so after getting dressed, I finished packing. I didn't get much sleep that night because of Lizzy, she once again was in my bed, so I was tired. I hoped I could nap on the way home. The girls were still asleep, so I tip toed out to the hotel dining area and got breakfast for us. We ate some of it in the room, but I grabbed extras to eat on our drive home. My parents picked us up later than expecting. But we got on the road and headed for home. We once again stopped at the mall in Flagstaff, AZ for food and a place to stretch our legs and let the girls get some energy out. We only made a few more stops for food, and I slept a little on the drive. We got back to my parents house around 11:30 pm/Midnight. And I was determined to get back home so I only had to unload my bags once more. So I left my parents house after packing up the kids and the car around 1 AM and got home at 2 AM. Surprisingly I didn't get drowsy til I was only 5 minutes from home. And man did it feel so good to be home, with beds in separate rooms for everyone. And no more driving.

The trip overall was really nice. The girls and I had fun. And we were glad to be able to see Lydia and Scott and Josh. But I was glad to be home.

park

Nana's Backyard

playground by the school

Zoo

Bear Lake. We were entering the AZ boarder.

park

Chuck E Cheese

Chuck E Cheese: this is how she was with Scott the whole time we were there

Chuck E Cheese

Chuck E Cheese: Lizzy is afraid of the mouse.

Phoenix Zoo

Phoenix Zoo: petting Mantra Sting Rays.

Phoenix Zoo

drive down to AZ

Hotel in Kanab, UT

drive down to AZ

Lydias house

playground by the school

Lydias house

Lizzy was throwing a temper tantrum, she didn't want to be near Dana or Scott (the whole time, poor guy). She threw one every time I got up to go somewhere (ex:bathroom, kitchen) even if Lydia was holding her. It wasn't until the end of our stay that she was finally comfortable enough to walk on her own and let me leave the room.