What a way to start the summer!

Crazy terrible first week of summer.  It started with a fun time at Golden Ponds splashing around trying to catch pollywogs and ended up with an overnight stay at Children's Hospital.  

Tuesday, May 31st.  It was a lovely day on the first week of summer vacation and Jadeyn's buddy Finn invited us to go on a bike ride.  Jadeyn, Finn, Jen and I rode out to the Golden Ponds to see what critters we could catch.  Last summer these two caught several huge pollywogs and were so excited to see if they could catch some this year too.  They played all through the edges of the pond, pouncing and splashing.  There is a stone pathway that cuts right down the middle of the pond and they went up and down it jumping from rock to rock.  We had been there a little over an hour when the boys went leaping towards the shore.  Suddenly, we heard Jadeyn scream and begin to wail in pain.  The last few stones before the shore were under water and slippery with algae.  He had slipped in the algae and fell in between the granite stones and into the water.  The rough rock had gouged a nasty cut into his shin allowing all the pond water into his wound.  It really had to hurt terribly, but he allowed me to rinse the wound with my water bottle enough for us to get back on our bikes and head home.  We only had about 20 minutes to deal with the cut before we had to pile Newt into the car for a vet appointment.  I cleaned the wound in the sink and scrubbed it as best I could, bandaged it up and off we went.  After the vet, I had Jadeyn take a shower to further clean up.  By afternoon, he really didn't want to go to karate and since the cut was still oozing, I thought it was a good idea to skip it too.

Wed June 1st Jadeyn had a pretty fretful night and by morning he didn't want to walk on it at all.  We thought that he should be feeling better by now and wondered if he was being a little wimpy about it.  Jadeyn and I went to the store to pick out bandages because we though butterfly bandages would help hold the wound shut.  We had considered stitches, but honestly, he cried whenever we mentioned it and I felt the cut was borderline.    By evening, he wouldn't walk on it at all.  We told him that he had been sitting around long enough and needed some activity, so we took him for a bike ride to get his legs moving.  We went all over the neighborhood and he tried not to complain.  

 

Thurs June 2nd Another fretful night.  He joined us at 1am and had a fever of 100.5.  He slept in the bed with Kevin and I slept on the floor.  By morning we were so worried about him being in pain that we started suspecting that maybe he had broken the bone.  We made an appt with the pediatrician for 9:30am.  Around 8am, we looked at the wound and it was hot and red.  At the peds office, we unwrapped the wound and it was obvious: it was really infected.  There was an area around the wound that pretty much took up his whole shin that was red and inflamed and fevered, and there were red streaks leading towards his ankle.  Oh no.  It had happened so fast.  The doctor didn't even bother to mess with it and told us that she was sending us to Children's Hospital immediately for IV antibiotics.  The danger is that the cut is directly on the shin bone and infection can go straight into the bone in that area.  We were so scared.  The doc arranged everything for us and we raced home.  She had mentioned that there was a chance we might have to stay overnight, so I grabbed Puck the Penguin, a blanket, jacket, lots of snacks and books and we were off.  The whole time we were keeping Kevin informed by text.  

Children's treated us so well and Jadeyn was pretty excited to ride in a wheelchair when I wasn't carrying him.  By this point, he couldn't walk at all.  The pediatrician was right to send us there, all the terrible suspicions were right: he was severely infected.  They marked the area of inflammation and it was huge, puss was oozing out of his two day old wound and he was in pain.  They took him for an xray to look for bone involvement, took two vials of blood and began to numb the wound for debriding.  Jadeyn was a trooper and put up with all the needles and prodding and wrapping, and doctor and nurse visits.  But, he was rewarded with an unlimited supply of movie choices and getting to be pampered all day long!  Kevin joined us in the evening and we all spend the night in his hospital room.  He is our one and only, we weren't going to leave his side.  

Friday June 3 - Jadeyn was anxious to get home since he was feeling so much better, but we had to wait for one more round of antibiotics and the doctors approval before we could be released.  We didn't get to go home until 1pm. What an ordeal, but we are so grateful for modern medicine and a healthy boy who could make it through this.  We realized our mistakes: dirty pond water--don't clean the wound yourself; dirty wound--never attempt to close it with a butterfly bandage; a cut that causes pain when walking could be infected--don't delay in getting help!  Kevin told Jadeyn how sorry he felt for not taking him in sooner, and Jadeyn replied: I forgive you dad.  

June 4-9  -Over the next few days, the wound went through lots of different stages including one that landed us back with the pediatrician just to make sure everything looked okay.  It was a nasty wound and it is going to leave quite the battle wound.  Timing wise, it was a bummer of a way to start the summer, but a blessing to have it happen with enough time to heal before our major trips!

Pawnee National Grasslands!

Pawnee National Grasslands!
May 28th- 29th, 2016

Pawnee National Grasslands!  First time camping in this area and we really didn't know what to expect.  We weren't in the mountains, but instead out on the open plains with groves of massive trees nestled around river beds.  The campground itself was mostly flooded due to the high river levels and we weren't certain that we would even be able to stay the night, but upon talking to the camp host, he opened up the group sites for multiple families.  We joined four other families.  One of the families had a four year old boy that Jadeyn got to romp and run around with!  Down by the flooded river, we started noticing that almost everyone around us was toting huge cameras with long lenses and big binoculars.  This area is well known for its bird watching and we sure were surrounded by birders.  But the birds were amazing and plentiful.  Just holding still and listening to their songs was so rewarding.  We hiked a bit around the campground trying to make it to some of the nature trails but we were cut off by so much water.  Not sure what kind of snake it was that we came across but it was big and had an orange stripe all down its back.

We took the 21 mile road tour around looking for birds and were not disappointed.  Since we didn't know all the names of them yet, we called the dark brown ones Tie-Fighters and the lighter colored one Millennium Falcons!  There were Meadowlarks proudly singing they amazing song about every 100 yards!  Their song can carry so far.  Grasshoppers were everywhere on the road and a few even joined us on in the Jeep when we rolled down the windows!  That caused a bit of excitement! 

The hike we chose to do was to the Pawnee Buttes. Hiking out in the middle of nowhere.  The trail wound around through grasslands and strange rock formations and gullies carved by water.  The end destination was two huge buttes that rose out of the flat lands.  We stumbled upon an unhappy rattle snake just off the trail too! Excellent places for raptors and falcons to nest in.  Along the trail, we noticed small furry looking worm like shapes on the ground.  We examined them and found out they were owl pellets from the burrowing owls in the area!  Little rodent bones and teeth in them!

 
 During the hike, the wind really started to pick up.  By the time we got back to camp, it was whipping around so strong, we knew that a campfire was going to be impossible.  Jadeyn was so disappointed. We played Kub by the river and came across a few more snakes.  Back in the tent out of the wind we read some Harry Potter.  We had heard the frogs chirping so loudly during the day and head from a troop of Boy Scouts that they come out of the water at night.  When it got dark, out they came!  We walked all down by the river and their chirping was so loud it almost hurt our ears.  Then we started seeing them!  They were so easy to catch and we all sorts of sizes!

 
Back at camp, Jadeyn was still disappointed about the fire, so, we made the best of it.  We grabbed the camp stove, and all the s'more stuff and set up inside the tent awning.  We roasted those little guys over the propane and they were delicious.  

The wind blew all night long really hard.  By morning, it was still blowing so we knew it wasn't going to get any better.  We stopped along the way at a shooting range to let Jadeyn try out Grandpa Johnson's .22.  Perfect shot! Packed up everything, made it halfway home and decided to stop for breakfast at Panera.  Yummy!

Cub Scouts: Wolf Rank

Jadeyn completed his Wolf Badge in Cub Scouts!  He has absolytly loved Scouts this year and set a goal to get as many badges and belt loops as possible.  He made his goal.  He got all six of the required adventures, and was only required to do one of the electives, he did all 13!  We were so proud of the hard work that he put into it!  Today was graduation and advancement to the Bear rank and he is roaring to go! 
He was so happy to have two of his best buddies in Scouts with him this year as well.
Jadeyn,  Finn and Brody.

The Wolf Den had 22 boys in it which was a little overwhelming...so, they asked for volunteers for another Den leader so they could split the Den.  Guess who volunteered?  Yup, Kevin and I will be the new Den Parents of the Bear Den next year!  We are pretty excited!