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Memorial Day 2009 – One for the history books
By Moriah on May 26th, 2009
I had a mental lapse yesterday morning and agreed to go hiking with Andy and the kids. It ended up being the hike from, well, you know where.
For one thing, everything was wet; wet leaves, wet dirt, wet rocks. Which meant that everything was slick. And there are parts that if you were to slip off the side of the trail, you’d fall about 40 feet. (We made the kids hold our hands during those lengths, obviously.) So I was a little on edge to begin with.
We all did mostly fine getting up to the falls, and when it got kind of rocky, I started carrying Adelaide. We were at a fairly level spot of just big rocks to step on or around, when I slipped on one and fell. Cut my elbow and scraped/bruised a patch on each leg. (Adelaide was fine since she landed cradled in my elbow.)
After that we decided to call it a day and head back down. The kids got distracted by another family splashing in this little water pool we passed and we had a hard time getting them to focus on being careful with their steps downward. And our puppy was just altogether a nuisance.
Both girls cried pretty much the whole way back to the car. Madeline wanted to ride Andy’s shoulders but her jeans were sopping and muddy and Adelaide wouldn’t let me put her down even though my arm felt like it was going to fall off. I was also bleeding and my legs were sore – I SO just wanted to snap my fingers and be home!
We had a very low-key afternoon consisting of lunch and naps. We put the kids down early because we needed to leave in enough time to pick up fruit and chips and get to some friends’ house for a Memorial Day cook-out with several other families (mostly from church).
(Side note: of course it would start pouring the very minute I was getting out of the van to run into the store. Goodbye, smooth hair.)
We managed to make it through the meal and ice cream treats without incident…unless you count Adelaide covering herself head-to-toe in fudgesicle:
And then Drew came in with a scraped and bloody knee. We cleaned it up and applied a band-aid and he ran back outside to play.
It wasn’t three minutes later one of the kids said Drew had fallen. There was a little confusion because at first we thought they were referring to the first time. But then one of the guys carried him in, blood streaming down his leg. I’ll spare you the details but he basically split his knee open and Andy ended up taking him to the ER. The girls and I stayed for a while and then got a ride home.
He said it was an entirely miserable experience. First Andy was directed to clean the wound, (something about kids taking pain from parents better? Don’t ask me) and then he and two nurses had to hold Drew down for the numbing Novocain shots. The little guy got so worked up he couldn’t breathe (he sounded a little wheezy yesterday for some reason) so they also gave him two steroid shots in the rear to get the swelling in his neck down.
The doctor had a very poor bedside manner and Andy said for that reason alone he was glad I wasn’t there. (Hmph.) Drew got 9 stitches and almost as many stickers (which are now stuck to my living room wall). They had given him Tylenol with Codeine for the pain and so of course Andy had to tell him to stop running in the parking lot.
And also? The ER ain’t cheap.
So I think for today we’ll be staying inside, trying to avoid further catastrophe.
17 Responses to “Memorial Day 2009 – One for the history books”
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UGH! Sorry you guys had a bad ER experience – bad bedside manner should be illegal. Nine stitches is impressive (Daegan’s was 7). Hope it heals quickly!!
Oh yuck! SO SO SO sorry! We took the kids on a bike ride yesterday and they were so crazy E and I are both amazed that we’ve still had no stitches or broken bones. (knock on wood)
Oh Moriah. I’m sorry your day was so crazy. Doesn’t sound like much fun.
I think all little boys end up in the ER at some point with “battle wounds”. ;) I just hope Drew isn’t super sore today!
If it makes you feel any better (probably doesn’t) we spent one Labor Day with a child vomiting to the point of dehydration and she ended up in the hospital overnight. The next year, our Labor Day was gloriously uneventful and quite redemeptive. I hope that will become your story too.
Wow, sounds like fun ;o) Did Drew fall off of or onto something? Nine is alot!
Oh my. I’m so sorry Moriah, what a day! That’s hilarious that he was running in the parking lot after the stitches. I am always amazed at the resilience of little kids!
See, this is why I don’t hike. (Ok, so I know the stitches were not a result of the hike, but my hubby won’t hear about that part!)
So sorry for your rough day. I hope today is better.
Ouch, oh no, and ouch!
Next year the whole family should just stay in bed to avoid all risks of pain and injury.
So feeling for you – and praying for His peace in the everyday which can pull us under.
Wow! Nice day.
Where did you go hiking?
WOWsers. Don’tcha just love holiday fun ? Hopefully today is healing for you and drew!
Oh my! What a day! I hope today is much better…I think staying inside is a great idea.
That doesn’t seem possible for one day! Glad you are alive (albeit with skinned knees) to tell about it. So I’m thinking maybe a movie and board games for next year???
What an ordeal! Excitement like that would all happen in one day, wouldn’t it?! Hope you have had a restful day today.
Oh my word!!
I love that Drew is smiling for his stitches picture. :-) So sorry about everything!
Oh my lands, you need some sort of reward for just making it through that day without losing your mind. I’m so sorry it was a crappy day!
Oh, Drew! I’m so sorry.
We had a HORRIBLE experience at the ER last year, with a doctor who’s bedside manner was positively non-existent. He might have just been having an off night, but it made me wonder why he went into medicine in the first place, since he seemed to hate it so much.
But I’m glad you are ok – you scared me when you said you FELL. Holding Adelaide….AND preggo.