The St. Boniface 450
(Just for Angie...the lesser-known, non-NASCAR race HAHAHAHAAAA)
Today I took another day off (I was home yesterday with the boys since the sitter needed to take a day off) so that I could go see Mom. After talking to her on Sunday I really really needed to get there! I can't believe it's been over a week since we left there and since the surgery. She looked sooooooo much better!
Okay, rewind a little (got excited about seeing Mom)...I decided to take Carter with me along for the ride. That way, I didn't have to worry about picking up both boys at a specific time. Chris could pick up one kid in his truck so since Carter is the easier of the two, I brought him. He...is an excellent traveler. I realized somewhere along the way that my cell phone was about to die....and...I had forgotten my charger at home. Crap. I had left it in my suitcase from the previous trip to Winnipeg and didn't bring my suitcase since this was to be a day trip.
We stopped at Tim Horton's in the next town and at the cell phone place. I begrudgingly spent the thirty-four (insert curse word here) dollars to purchase a brand new one; I had quasi-jokingly asked the guy if I could 'borrow' it. 'Cause really - I used it for about an hour and a half and may never need it again. Anyhoo, we also stopped by to visit a coworker at the office there then we were on our way again. With all the stops to this point, Carter didn't need to pee yet.
We were cruising along and I decided to stop for gas, but I was going about 120ish when a cop drove past. I let my foot off the gas and I saw the cruiser's brake lights. Crap. The timing was impeccable, since I was also just reaching the driveway of the gas station, where there were TWO MORE police cars. Police car number one must have radioed to the other two, since it looked like I was being closely scrutinized when I pulled into the gas station. Whew! Close call!
Carter still didn't need the washroom; I was duly impressed. The kid travels like his mother. Good bladder! I had picked up a mini DVD player for the ride but by this time Carter was already done with it. I hope it gets more use in the future. I brought about eight movies for him to choose from but he was more interested in the scenery. Which was cool.
We arrived in Winnipeg just after noon and parked the Jeep at the hotel we had stayed at the last time we went. Carter and I walked the few blocks to the hospital and just the very second we were about to get in the elevator, Cindy called (on my freshly-charged cell phone). We chatted for a second and I told her if she wanted to say hi to Mom, to call me again in a few minutes.
We got up to Mom's floor (Carter LOOOOOOOOOOOVED the elevator; this was one of the highlights of his day) and Mom was just walking back into her room. She turned and saw us and got all teary (happy tears!) and we went into her room. I was a little verklempt too and we exchanged hugs. I recorded a little video of Cooper saying hi to her and showed her. She had her staples taken out today, so she was feeling a little tender, along with the still-present pain from the surgery. She has been up and walking quite a bit, but has suffered with some swelling in her legs that seems to come and go. Today she looked fantastic to me, since we had left the morning after the surgery. She's a new woman compared to then! She still has some serious healing to do, and is on blood thinners and pain meds still. There is some talk about transferring her back here; I can't wait for that! I hate not being able to check in on her every day. But driving for eight hours is something that I couldn't do every day, that's for sure!
Carter was sooooooo good all the way there and during our visit (and the walks from the Jeep to the hospital and back) that I really wanted to reward him with something fun before we left the city. I would have LOVED to take him to the Museum of Man and Nature IF I HAD A HOT CLUE WHERE IT WAS!!! I finagled my way around to where I thought it was and wasted a whole bunch of time. Mom had suggested a McDonald's Play Place, and if I'd taken her suggestion in the first place instead of trying to find the museum, he could have had a much longer play time. So right about the time I gave up on the museum, it was like God dropped a McDonald's with a play place right in front of the Jeep. Hallelujah!
I took Carter in and (by the way, we don't have a Play Place at our McDonald's and Carter has never been to one)...he was a little apprehensive with all the climbing at first so I climbed in with him the first time and we went down the slide together. After that he instantly went pro. I lost count of how many times he went into each and every tunnel. Each time he got to the bottom of the slide he'd built up quite a static charge and his hair was on end. Then he would touch one of the rivets on the way out of the slide and the shock would snap his hair back down into place. He got quite a kick out of it. I took pictures, including this amazing shot of him. You can seriously tell when this kid is genuinely happy; there is truly not a more REAL smile anywhere in the world!
We grabbed a happy meal for the ride home (Carter only wanted the toy!) and we hit the road. We stopped once more for gas before heading out...oh and then finally a pee break at a Pizza Hut next to the gas station we stopped at. Then it was positively smooth sailing after that. It was a beautiful day for a drive...a 450-mile drive! Give or take a few kilometres! I'm so happy we went to see Mom; it was a perfect day! Now if I could just get Carter to wind down and go to sleep; he's still wide awake!
I grabbed us all a bite to eat just before arriving home. By this time I really needed to pee so I launched Carter out of the Jeep, grabbed the food and ran in the house to the potty. I went back out for all the rest of our stuff and came in to snack with the boys. Cooper was pretty rambunctious but snuggled up to me eventually and went to sleep. Carter was full of stories from the trip for Daddy, and was anxious to get on the computer and play his games. I didn't mention in my last post how much more experienced he has gotten on the computer. He knows where to go online to all the game sites, and knows to stay away from the shooting games and surprisingly stays away from all the advertisements. I think that's where he's getting much of his reading skills too - plenty of word recognition from all the games he plays! His favourites are the dirtbike and monster truck racing games. Now I should start teaching him how to type! heehee. Just so he can hurry up and be a geek like his Mom. :)
Today I took another day off (I was home yesterday with the boys since the sitter needed to take a day off) so that I could go see Mom. After talking to her on Sunday I really really needed to get there! I can't believe it's been over a week since we left there and since the surgery. She looked sooooooo much better!
Okay, rewind a little (got excited about seeing Mom)...I decided to take Carter with me along for the ride. That way, I didn't have to worry about picking up both boys at a specific time. Chris could pick up one kid in his truck so since Carter is the easier of the two, I brought him. He...is an excellent traveler. I realized somewhere along the way that my cell phone was about to die....and...I had forgotten my charger at home. Crap. I had left it in my suitcase from the previous trip to Winnipeg and didn't bring my suitcase since this was to be a day trip.
We stopped at Tim Horton's in the next town and at the cell phone place. I begrudgingly spent the thirty-four (insert curse word here) dollars to purchase a brand new one; I had quasi-jokingly asked the guy if I could 'borrow' it. 'Cause really - I used it for about an hour and a half and may never need it again. Anyhoo, we also stopped by to visit a coworker at the office there then we were on our way again. With all the stops to this point, Carter didn't need to pee yet.
We were cruising along and I decided to stop for gas, but I was going about 120ish when a cop drove past. I let my foot off the gas and I saw the cruiser's brake lights. Crap. The timing was impeccable, since I was also just reaching the driveway of the gas station, where there were TWO MORE police cars. Police car number one must have radioed to the other two, since it looked like I was being closely scrutinized when I pulled into the gas station. Whew! Close call!
Carter still didn't need the washroom; I was duly impressed. The kid travels like his mother. Good bladder! I had picked up a mini DVD player for the ride but by this time Carter was already done with it. I hope it gets more use in the future. I brought about eight movies for him to choose from but he was more interested in the scenery. Which was cool.
We arrived in Winnipeg just after noon and parked the Jeep at the hotel we had stayed at the last time we went. Carter and I walked the few blocks to the hospital and just the very second we were about to get in the elevator, Cindy called (on my freshly-charged cell phone). We chatted for a second and I told her if she wanted to say hi to Mom, to call me again in a few minutes.
We got up to Mom's floor (Carter LOOOOOOOOOOOVED the elevator; this was one of the highlights of his day) and Mom was just walking back into her room. She turned and saw us and got all teary (happy tears!) and we went into her room. I was a little verklempt too and we exchanged hugs. I recorded a little video of Cooper saying hi to her and showed her. She had her staples taken out today, so she was feeling a little tender, along with the still-present pain from the surgery. She has been up and walking quite a bit, but has suffered with some swelling in her legs that seems to come and go. Today she looked fantastic to me, since we had left the morning after the surgery. She's a new woman compared to then! She still has some serious healing to do, and is on blood thinners and pain meds still. There is some talk about transferring her back here; I can't wait for that! I hate not being able to check in on her every day. But driving for eight hours is something that I couldn't do every day, that's for sure!
Carter was sooooooo good all the way there and during our visit (and the walks from the Jeep to the hospital and back) that I really wanted to reward him with something fun before we left the city. I would have LOVED to take him to the Museum of Man and Nature IF I HAD A HOT CLUE WHERE IT WAS!!! I finagled my way around to where I thought it was and wasted a whole bunch of time. Mom had suggested a McDonald's Play Place, and if I'd taken her suggestion in the first place instead of trying to find the museum, he could have had a much longer play time. So right about the time I gave up on the museum, it was like God dropped a McDonald's with a play place right in front of the Jeep. Hallelujah!
I took Carter in and (by the way, we don't have a Play Place at our McDonald's and Carter has never been to one)...he was a little apprehensive with all the climbing at first so I climbed in with him the first time and we went down the slide together. After that he instantly went pro. I lost count of how many times he went into each and every tunnel. Each time he got to the bottom of the slide he'd built up quite a static charge and his hair was on end. Then he would touch one of the rivets on the way out of the slide and the shock would snap his hair back down into place. He got quite a kick out of it. I took pictures, including this amazing shot of him. You can seriously tell when this kid is genuinely happy; there is truly not a more REAL smile anywhere in the world!
We grabbed a happy meal for the ride home (Carter only wanted the toy!) and we hit the road. We stopped once more for gas before heading out...oh and then finally a pee break at a Pizza Hut next to the gas station we stopped at. Then it was positively smooth sailing after that. It was a beautiful day for a drive...a 450-mile drive! Give or take a few kilometres! I'm so happy we went to see Mom; it was a perfect day! Now if I could just get Carter to wind down and go to sleep; he's still wide awake!I grabbed us all a bite to eat just before arriving home. By this time I really needed to pee so I launched Carter out of the Jeep, grabbed the food and ran in the house to the potty. I went back out for all the rest of our stuff and came in to snack with the boys. Cooper was pretty rambunctious but snuggled up to me eventually and went to sleep. Carter was full of stories from the trip for Daddy, and was anxious to get on the computer and play his games. I didn't mention in my last post how much more experienced he has gotten on the computer. He knows where to go online to all the game sites, and knows to stay away from the shooting games and surprisingly stays away from all the advertisements. I think that's where he's getting much of his reading skills too - plenty of word recognition from all the games he plays! His favourites are the dirtbike and monster truck racing games. Now I should start teaching him how to type! heehee. Just so he can hurry up and be a geek like his Mom. :)
posted by Mellykat at 9:37 p.m.
1 Comments:
What fun! I love that he travels so well. Mine? Well, she's getting there.
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