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Long Weekend Update
Aug. 21st, 2006 12:58 pmSaturday morning we left for Mark’s uncle’s campground in Connecticut. We got stuck in bad, bad traffic near exit 9 of I-95 North. We ended up bailing out of I-95 and taking Route 1. We then stopped at Stew Leonard’s for a coffee/breakfast break. Bought cookies and rolls to bring with us.
Got there in time for lunch, which was pasta. Alan even ate a little, but he preferred the applejacks he had later. He and I went down by the water. He threw rocks (although we did it off to the side, not where the beach part was). He saw his old friend the golf cart and I drove him around. But we didn’t get to sail on Uncle Larry’s boat – Alan didn’t want to. And I really couldn’t get him in the water. He barely waded in. I wonder if remembers his head went under last year?
Talked to Mark’s uncle’s SO. She’s being treated for a cancer recurrence (had 4 sessions of chemo). But she looks good (a tiny bit older), has no pain, and is pretty upbeat. She showed us her port (which just looks like a lump under the skin). I think I have at least 1 person on my friends’ list that has one, but never knew what they were like. I hope her cancer basically becomes “chronic” like mine – just needing checkups but not in the way of day-to-day life. We’d been worried about things, but seeing her in person made us feel much better.
We ate dinner at Wendy’s – it was somewhere we knew Alan would eat. Then we went to the local Montville Fair. It was pretty small – it threatened to rain all night so maybe that kept the crowd away. We saw part of an animal show (savannah monitor and albino HUGE snake) that Alan liked. (Couldn’t help but think, “Snakes at a Fair” when I saw the snake, named Corn Pop!) We also saw racing pigs again – but this was a different company and a much smaller, less fancy production than we’d seen before. Alan still liked them. Alan also got to go on a little train ride and jump in a bouncy tent – the ride people were pretty laid back about letting kids stay on a while, maybe because the fair was pretty small and empty. We also saw some local belly dancers perform. They looked good and coordinated. I wonder if I could do it (I’m not all that coordinated.) Uncle Larry also ended up getting free trees from a vendor – 2 little birch trees that he’ll plant at his house. We could of taken one, but the condo probably wouldn’t like us planting a tree!
We came home and we crashed. Alan was so tired; he decided to squish on the floor next to the small bed we shared for a while. He even fell asleep while the outside dance next door was still going on. (It ended around 11 though.). We woke up in the middle of the night to pouring rain – with the trailer’s window open and it being metal it was noisy. I ended up even having to change Alan in the wee hours (it was p**p.) But I think we all got some sleep and got up in the Am and had breakfast and hung out a bit. Uncle Larry took Alan for another golf cart ride also.
The three of us then headed over to Mystic Connecticut. First stop was Mystic Pizza (yes, the one in the 1980’s movie). It is very good pizza – all 3 of us ate it and not that expensive – I think the local AND tourists eat there. If you are passing that way on I-95, it’s worth a stop. Then we went to the Mystic Aquarium. Other than the seal show, Alan didn’t like it much. The large seals and whales scared him. It was also hot/muggy out. So we left after a while, promising him ice cream. As we left there was a girl in a stroller that was even louder than an upset Alan! I didn’t like the aquarium – I think the one in Norwalk is better for smaller kids – more room and less exhibits with lots of reading.
On our way back to town for the ice cream, I got lost. Found a supermarket – we got a box of Good Humor there instead. I also got Polar Diet Orange Dry. Polar Soda comes from Worcester where I went to college and Diet Orange dry is a unique not sweet orange soda.
Then we went into town – turns out that the ice cream line was long, so I’m glad we stopped else where. There was a sidewalk sale going on – didn’t see anything. But we found a nice toy store with train table where Alan played for a bit (except for needing a change – I’d changed his shirt from the ice cream previously!). We eventually got Alan out of there and he was tired. He slept on the way back as we made our way toward New Haven in traffic. I ended up stopping for McDonalds iced coffee to keep awake.
At exit 40, I stopped at a truck stop for gas. We ended up eating at the Wendy’s there. I came in after Mark and Alan as I was filling the car. So they finished before me. Mark went off to the men’s room and I was trying to finish my potato, hanging on to Alan’s right arm so he’d not run away – then something happened – he started crying. I thought I’d pinched him or hurt him – he was holding his right arm very stiffly. Eventually we got him calm enough to get into the car. It was a long ride home for me as I was very worried about him – but the traffic was ok.
When we got home, we actually observed him holding his arm – so after bathroom stops (changing) and Mark opening the keyboard he got on eBay – we drove to the local hospital (Hackensack Hospital).
When we got there – there was a sign for valet parking. Umm? We had to ask if it was free which it was. Then we went to the ER door and went in only to find out the pediatric ER was across the way (no sign). The ER process went fairly quickly with triage (who suspected nursemaid’s elbow), insurance, and going back to the exam room. There we had to wait a bit. Alan watched the TV that was over the bed (alas, the best thing that was on at 10:30 was Adult Swim on the cartoon network, no real kids stuff on the cable I could find.). Meanwhile Mark and I noticed some of the staff (nurses I think) huddled around a computer screen looking at AOL and then some photos @ Costco. I thought it was weird they could look at stuff, and even though it wasn’t busy – it was kind of rude that they did that. (Yes, I surf etc at work but I don’t have clients/patients physically waiting.) The young doctor came in, popped the elbow back in place (in less than a minute and barely a cry from Alan) and after I got her to come back again – she offered him cookies and crayons to make sure the arm was fine as he resisted using it at first. But we were on the way home by 11, so not too bad. And Alan said thank you mommy in the car. (I’d kept telling him I’d fix it.!)
So we are all tired today. I’ve got laundry to do tonight and cleaning up. And a client thing here to look at.
Got there in time for lunch, which was pasta. Alan even ate a little, but he preferred the applejacks he had later. He and I went down by the water. He threw rocks (although we did it off to the side, not where the beach part was). He saw his old friend the golf cart and I drove him around. But we didn’t get to sail on Uncle Larry’s boat – Alan didn’t want to. And I really couldn’t get him in the water. He barely waded in. I wonder if remembers his head went under last year?
Talked to Mark’s uncle’s SO. She’s being treated for a cancer recurrence (had 4 sessions of chemo). But she looks good (a tiny bit older), has no pain, and is pretty upbeat. She showed us her port (which just looks like a lump under the skin). I think I have at least 1 person on my friends’ list that has one, but never knew what they were like. I hope her cancer basically becomes “chronic” like mine – just needing checkups but not in the way of day-to-day life. We’d been worried about things, but seeing her in person made us feel much better.
We ate dinner at Wendy’s – it was somewhere we knew Alan would eat. Then we went to the local Montville Fair. It was pretty small – it threatened to rain all night so maybe that kept the crowd away. We saw part of an animal show (savannah monitor and albino HUGE snake) that Alan liked. (Couldn’t help but think, “Snakes at a Fair” when I saw the snake, named Corn Pop!) We also saw racing pigs again – but this was a different company and a much smaller, less fancy production than we’d seen before. Alan still liked them. Alan also got to go on a little train ride and jump in a bouncy tent – the ride people were pretty laid back about letting kids stay on a while, maybe because the fair was pretty small and empty. We also saw some local belly dancers perform. They looked good and coordinated. I wonder if I could do it (I’m not all that coordinated.) Uncle Larry also ended up getting free trees from a vendor – 2 little birch trees that he’ll plant at his house. We could of taken one, but the condo probably wouldn’t like us planting a tree!
We came home and we crashed. Alan was so tired; he decided to squish on the floor next to the small bed we shared for a while. He even fell asleep while the outside dance next door was still going on. (It ended around 11 though.). We woke up in the middle of the night to pouring rain – with the trailer’s window open and it being metal it was noisy. I ended up even having to change Alan in the wee hours (it was p**p.) But I think we all got some sleep and got up in the Am and had breakfast and hung out a bit. Uncle Larry took Alan for another golf cart ride also.
The three of us then headed over to Mystic Connecticut. First stop was Mystic Pizza (yes, the one in the 1980’s movie). It is very good pizza – all 3 of us ate it and not that expensive – I think the local AND tourists eat there. If you are passing that way on I-95, it’s worth a stop. Then we went to the Mystic Aquarium. Other than the seal show, Alan didn’t like it much. The large seals and whales scared him. It was also hot/muggy out. So we left after a while, promising him ice cream. As we left there was a girl in a stroller that was even louder than an upset Alan! I didn’t like the aquarium – I think the one in Norwalk is better for smaller kids – more room and less exhibits with lots of reading.
On our way back to town for the ice cream, I got lost. Found a supermarket – we got a box of Good Humor there instead. I also got Polar Diet Orange Dry. Polar Soda comes from Worcester where I went to college and Diet Orange dry is a unique not sweet orange soda.
Then we went into town – turns out that the ice cream line was long, so I’m glad we stopped else where. There was a sidewalk sale going on – didn’t see anything. But we found a nice toy store with train table where Alan played for a bit (except for needing a change – I’d changed his shirt from the ice cream previously!). We eventually got Alan out of there and he was tired. He slept on the way back as we made our way toward New Haven in traffic. I ended up stopping for McDonalds iced coffee to keep awake.
At exit 40, I stopped at a truck stop for gas. We ended up eating at the Wendy’s there. I came in after Mark and Alan as I was filling the car. So they finished before me. Mark went off to the men’s room and I was trying to finish my potato, hanging on to Alan’s right arm so he’d not run away – then something happened – he started crying. I thought I’d pinched him or hurt him – he was holding his right arm very stiffly. Eventually we got him calm enough to get into the car. It was a long ride home for me as I was very worried about him – but the traffic was ok.
When we got home, we actually observed him holding his arm – so after bathroom stops (changing) and Mark opening the keyboard he got on eBay – we drove to the local hospital (Hackensack Hospital).
When we got there – there was a sign for valet parking. Umm? We had to ask if it was free which it was. Then we went to the ER door and went in only to find out the pediatric ER was across the way (no sign). The ER process went fairly quickly with triage (who suspected nursemaid’s elbow), insurance, and going back to the exam room. There we had to wait a bit. Alan watched the TV that was over the bed (alas, the best thing that was on at 10:30 was Adult Swim on the cartoon network, no real kids stuff on the cable I could find.). Meanwhile Mark and I noticed some of the staff (nurses I think) huddled around a computer screen looking at AOL and then some photos @ Costco. I thought it was weird they could look at stuff, and even though it wasn’t busy – it was kind of rude that they did that. (Yes, I surf etc at work but I don’t have clients/patients physically waiting.) The young doctor came in, popped the elbow back in place (in less than a minute and barely a cry from Alan) and after I got her to come back again – she offered him cookies and crayons to make sure the arm was fine as he resisted using it at first. But we were on the way home by 11, so not too bad. And Alan said thank you mommy in the car. (I’d kept telling him I’d fix it.!)
So we are all tired today. I’ve got laundry to do tonight and cleaning up. And a client thing here to look at.
