Minnesota

September 6-10th~

We wanted to get another trip in to Minnesota while Molly could still fly free and was hesitant to tempt the weather much later than September.  Molly refused to sleep on the plane ride there but happily played with her toys and books.  She never even let out so much as a little cry or scream.  Her favorite part of the plane ride both there and back was sitting on Dad's lap and looking out the window.  She would laugh a little and then say "look mom" and point out the window.  It was so cute!

 

 

We were able to get together with Chris' cousin's family and Grandpa John's family.  

 

               John's grandkids and Molly        

 

                                                               Lucy, Molly and William

 

 

Saturday morning was the ALS Walk in Rochester.  We did not participate in the walk but showed up before it started to say high to friends of Jody's. 

 

 

After the walk we had the Sullivan side of the family show up.  My Aunt, Uncle and cousins from Minneapolis were also able to make the drive down to see us.  I was a little afraid Molly would clam up when everyone showed up, but she was very happy to show off for all the family.  

 

 

 

 

 Sunday the King's side of the family came over and we had just as much fun as the day before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday we headed to John and Jody's trailer in Lake City.  Jody borrowed this little car from one of the neighbors and Molly thought it was the best this ever.

 

The trailer is right on the river and we were able to go and see the boats.  Molly loved the boats and is still talking about them and how they had to go bye bye and night....that was the only way we could get her away from them!

 

 

 

 

What a perfect ending to a great trip! 

 

Poison Ivy

August 31st~

So I was not sure about posting this one, but I know this will be a family story that will follow me for the rest of my days, so why not.

Saturday before we left for girls’ weekend I had to pee while running with my group.  We stopped to regroup about 4 miles from the car and one of the girl’s asked why I just didn’t go behind a tree and they would keep a lookout for me.  I am married to Chris, so this is not a huge a deal in the least, and I decided four more miles would be a lot more comfortable with an empty bladder.  Poison Ivy did cross my mind so I looked around quickly, but I honestly did not think I had to worry about it where I was, so I obviously did not look too hard. 

The rest of the run was fine and then off to McCall I went.  Sunday morning I woke up with some welt type bumps on my legs that I thought were mosquito bites (they don’t always agree with me).  A pain, but no big deal.  By that night I had some new spots on my belly.  I called Chris asking if we had poison oak around because I don’t know what that looks like.  He said we don’t, but I was fine because it does not show up that quickly.  Well by the time I got home on Monday my spots turned into classic looking poison ivy and was everywhere.  By that night I was in serious pain and had to call in sick for the next day.  I took a good little pain pill that night and slept most of the next day.  I accually thought I was doing better until Chris and Molly came home and I started to move around again. 

The next morning I went to employee health before work and they prescribed topical steroids and told me to get this fantastic over the counter medication, Zanfel.  The Zanfel washes away the Urishol that causes the inflammatory and itching response from the reaction.  That was a life saver and stopped my itching after 2 applications (normally you only need one, but I had a severe reaction).  I thought that I was in the clear but by the next morning I had new spots still appearing and my lymph nodes were swollen, all suggesting a systemic reaction.  Employee health then started me on heavy doses of oral prednisone.  By the next morning I could stand walking again which was good because we were headed to Minnesota to see Chris’ family. 

Everything there was fine and my skin started to heal and scab over.  This caused new itching, but I did not mind.  Then on Sunday when I was started to decrease the prednisone dose I ended up with a horrible new rash all across my back, the back of my arms, and the side of my neck and face.  Jody and I ended up going to Urgent Care where they said they really couldn’t help me if they didn’t have assess to my chart to change my medications and suggested I stop taking the prednisone since that was the newest factor in all this.  I was very hesitant to that since I was instructed I needed a full 2 weeks of the predinose to make sure the poison ivy did not reappear at the end of my medication.  So I put in a phone call to two pharamictists I know (a cousin and a co-worker) and they both agreed that the rash was probably due to not being on a high enough dose of prednisone any more and not to stop taking it.   The next day the rash was better but still noticeable.  Tuesday we few in at 2 pm and I was at my nurse practiniors by 3.  She said in a lucky few when your system is so overwhelmed a heat like rash will appear once the prednisone has been decreased so she backed me up to a higher dose again and is weening me off more slowly.  So far this seems to be the magic trick. 

We decided a poison ivy branch broke the skin on my knee and that is where it got into my blood stream since that is by far my worst spot.  However, my shorts much have touched the plants and that is why it then started all around my waist.  I then ran 4 miles where the sweat and poison ivy oils mixed and that just spread it even more.

Lesson in all of this…next time I will just pee in the middle of the road!

Warning graphic photos....

                                                            The back of my knee

 

                                                                   My stomach and back

 

                             My knee when it started to scab over and then the side of my leg

 

                                                 What my stomach started to turn into

                         It randomly appearing on my arm (I also had it on my eye lid and neck)

This doesn't really due it justice but the rash on my face and arm once I decreased my prednisone

  

While the Girl's are Away the Daddies will Play

August 31st-September 2nd~

There was definitely no storage of fun while I was in McCall with the girls. 

Chris gave Molly her first ever single full ponytail....

 

Then Conor invited Molly and Miles over for a pool party!

Girls' Weekend

August 31^st- September 2^nd

After the Saturday run Andrea and I headed up to McCall to have a girl’s weekend.  Meghan was able to get us her friend's parent’s place that was pretty much downtown McCall.  We were the last to arrive and once we got settled in decided to take a walk a bar Meghan knew.  It turned out to be quite a walk away from town, especially in the heat, so you imagine our disappointment when they didn’t open until 4pm and we showed up at 3!  We then turned ourselves around and aimed to the Salmon Brewery!!!  Luckily they were open and serving happy hour.  We stayed there for quite awhile before we headed back to the place for dinner.  That night was fairly low key and we stayed up chatting.  The next morning we then headed to Duke Lake for nice easy hike. 

Once we got back to town Charity got ahold of a gal she works with who had stand up paddle boards at Payette Lake.  I have to say it was a little scary trying to get on the board for the first time but was definilty easier than I had expected.  We did not go too far out or spend too much time on them, but I am excited about the possibility of renting them next year and trying them out for a little longer. 

 After that, Ally, Andrea and I decided to head to Ice Cream Alley.  I had never been before and the line was outrageous, but Andrea promised us it was well worth the wait and I have to say I agree!

We stayed up a little longer that night and then left the next morning for home.  I had such a great time with all my friends and it was nice to get “away” but I was also very excited to get back to Molly and Chris.

I am still waiting on pictures from the hike and a group shot of all the girls, but figured I am on a role with updates so I will just add them in later!