Last Day of School!

Yippee! Today was FINALLY the last day of school. I gotta tell ya - I am SO ready for this! The last 2-3 weeks of school are always filled with end of year activities so the schedule is nutty. I'm just glad it's done with!

This past weekend, we went to the lake again. We keep our camper there from Memorial Day through the 4th of July. It was a late start on Friday - we didn't get out of here until nearly 7 PM. We thought that Sophie might take a snooze in the car. In fact, we were praying for it, as she hasn't been too happy in the car for more than about 20 minutes.

Well, it didn't work out that way, of course. She was WIDE awake and buzzing the whole way there, and practically delirious and silly by the time we pulled in. I had to crawl in the back seat about 1/3 of the way there to help keep her occupied. She didn't get to sleep until at least 9:45 PM, at least 90 minutes after her normal bedtime. But at least she collapsed. For a while. For a very short while.

A few minutes before midnight, she started crying. I hopped up, rubbed my eyes to make sure I had really only been asleep less than an hour, and went to calm her down. Usually, if you just rub her back for a few seconds, she goes right back to sleep. Not the case on Friday. She wailed. And screamed. And wailed and screamed some more. There was no end in sight. There was NOTHING we could do to calm her down. None of the normal tricks worked. She didn't want us to touch her. It was almost like she was still sleeping and just couldn't snap out of it.

Our trailer is a hybrid...hard-sided all around with tents that tip out of the ends. K and I sleep in the queen sized tent in the front, EJ sleeps in the double in the back, and Sophie is still in the pack-and-play in the center this year. Well, the wailing wasn't very well contained in a trailer with tent ends. After 30 minutes of this, K took her out to the van, thinking it would contain the noise a little better. I got on the phone to call the dr's office. Earlier in the day, I had consulted them about a rash, which they diagnosed as Fifth's Disease, a relatively harmless rash that is very contagious about a week before the rash appears. I thought that perhaps she was being tortured by itching or pains from the rash. The nurse didn't think so. From everything we told her, she thought it was a night terror.

She finally settled a bit after about 1 hour and 15 minutes of wailing. I heard lots of other campers leaving their trailers and heading to the bath house. I'm sure they were interested in who was torturing their child in the middle of the night. I can tell you that in the few short steps between the trailer and the van door, her cries just echoed all around the mountains there. Poor baby. She slept until nearly 8 AM the next day and then took a 2+ hour nap in the afternoon (me too!).

We got home mid-afternoon on Sunday and we were too exhausted to do much. And then, to top it all off, the power vent on the furnace sizzled itself out at 3 AM (we heard it buzzing), so we had no hot water until early today. Fortunately, there is a gym with a shower in my office building, so I made good use of it (the shower, not the gym!) the last two mornings.

We have some more busy days ahead, but most of the schedule is FUN! EJ signed up for the library summer reading program, so we have a lot of activities ahead of us there. Friday night, she and I are going bowling with some friends (K has some other things to catch up on, so he's staying home with Sophie). EJ is going to a pool party on Saturday afternoon, but perhaps there will be enough time for some strawberry picking in the morning. And on Sunday, we're going to try to see the movie WALL-E with some friends.

And then, Pap Pap (my dad) and Mamaw S are coming to visit. Daycare (also where EJ goes to day camp in the summer) is closed the week before the 4th, so they are our official daycare providers Monday through Wednesday next week. In return, we're treating them to a weekend in the White Mountains over the 4th. They'll be staying in the lodge where we camp, and we're hoping to do a little swimming, hiking, and even drive up the Mt. Washington Auto Road.