Because NIGHT CAME & things went downhill from there...
1. It started to get dark & we went over to my cousin's camp, near the creek to say HI to some relatives that had just arrived! We were visiting & within seconds I call to my sister that is walking away, "You have Parker?" She says NO.
I instantly panic.
He is not with me.
I lost my child.
I'm kinda overprotective when we are out and about & never take my eyes off my children.
But I did.
And he was gone.
And it was getting DARK...fast.
I yell for Heidi to look by the creek & I RUN back to our camp.
He is not in either spot.
I just know that he has fallen in the creek and drowned. I am starting to panic. Maybe 5 minutes have gone by.
I start RUNNING back to the creek to look for him.
I hear two of my cousin's daughters calling, "I think we found him...I'm not really sure. What does he look like?! We have a boy" I RUN to wear their voices are coming from & THEY ARE HOLDING PARKER!!!
A huge sigh of relief.
They found him RUNNING in a direction opposite of all of our camps. A couple more minutes & he would have been who knows where?!
I think losing him was the worst feeling I've ever had & finding him was the best feeling I've ever had...all within 10 minutes time!
I should have known at that point my emotions were going to be a rollercoaster that night!
2. Go to Bed. All is well. Parker tucked in his sleeping bag.
Ryler in his pack in play. Me in my sleeping bag.
Heidi & my nephew Mason sleeping soundly in the back of my mom's Tahoe.
From 10:30-Midnight...Life was good.
Midnight-Ryler woke up crying. I tried calming him down. Out of fear of waking the entire camp, I give him a bottle...the ONLY bottle I have left(remember we weren't PLANNING to stay the night) & he is allergic to regular milk.
He falls back to sleep...
Parker wakes up at 12:30am.
I pull him into my sleeping bag...thankfully he goes right back to sleep.
2am-Ryler wakes up crying. He is cold. He is wondering where he is. I have NO bottle. I turn on Matt's ipod. Lifesaver. He plays with it for an HOUR, ooohing & ahhing that we are in a tent. I'm exhausted.
3am-I decide it is time to attempt to get him back to sleep. I try rocking him. The space is so cramped. I need to stand, but can't.
I decide to get out of the tent & rock him.
We get out...it is FREEZING.
There is no WAY I can stay out there...and he has no interest in falling back to sleep.
After 20 minutes, I give up. We get back into the tent & "play". Ryler is WIDE AWAKE.
I pray for the day to hurry & come.
3:30am-Ryler is crying. I climb BACK out of the tent to seach for any remaining bottles in the ice chest. I find one from earlier in the day that has 2 oz in it! YAY!
He drinks it...he doesn't fall back to sleep.
4:00am-We are both tired, Ryler is fussing on and off. I'm trying to do WHATEVER I can to keep him quiet and
not wake up camp. I don't care about MY sleep anymore, just about everyone else's!
5:00am-I have to go to the bathroom. BAD. I try to ignore it. I'm not squatting in the woods with a crying baby on my lap.
5:30am. I'm tired, I'm not thinking straight...I need another option!
I go wake up Heidi(she is my LIFESAVER on this trip)
Ask her to please go sleep next to Parker in the tent.
I'm going to DRIVE Ryler around until he falls asleep.
3. I get in the car...turn out from our campground.
Can't see a THING. The windows are COMPLETELY frosted over & it is pitch black.
I turn on the creek road, instead of the main road.
Not even 1 minute from camp...I get STUCK.
My headlights are shining on EVERYONE's TENTS.
My tires are squealing. I'm praying that the car will GO.
No LUCK. It is stuck.
4. Mason wakes up in the back. He starts crying, "Why did you do this to us!?!"
I turn off the car & explain we have to walk back to camp.
We are both barefoot. Who needs SHOES to go on a drive.
We walk back to camp...in the dark...barefoot...Mason & Ryler crying.
I open the tent..."Heidi, I got mom's Tahoe stuck...can Mason sleep in here until I figure it out?"
Mason climbs in Parker's sleeping bag.
We go back to the Tahoe.
5.I turn it on. Trying AGAIN to get out!
No luck.
We climb in the back & hang out & wait, with no other options available.
6.It FINALLY starts getting light about 6am.
Ryler conveniently falls to sleep about 6:30am, after being awake since 2am.
I leave him the car & go to the bathroom...I'd been dying for hours.
I get back to the car & decide nobody is waking up anytime soon. I might as well catch an hour of sleep.
6:45am-I lay down to sleep. I'm exhausted. My eyes close.
Something pinches my back.
Ouch.
Ouch. Ouch.
I reach up my shirt...huge red fire ant was crawling all over my back!
I take out my night on the ant...
I close my eyes
6:50am...I HEAR little kid's voices!
7am-I get out of the car to assess just "HOW STUCK I AM"
Pretty stuck.
A stranger approaches & says "Nice Parking job"
I start crying. I've held it in all night. But I'm tired & I ask if he can help me!!
He helps me. SO NICE! I feel bad that he found me & not a cousin or uncle, but I'm so grateful for his help. I'm more embarrased that I managed to get stuck in the middle of the night, so I'm hopeful he will get me UN-stuck before everyone wakes up.
Doesn't matter. Half the camp was awake & the other half heard about it{laughed about it} as soon as they heard.
At this point I just want to go home.
But the whole reason we stayed was because our sister was coming up with the kids to play, so we wait. My cousin arrives. Tells us that our sister is not coming.
I tell Heidi..."We are leaving...NOW"
7.We start packing...it starts RAINING.
I don't care...I keep packing
8. But there is NOT ROOM for everything. I have my pack n play & stroller on top of everything else my mom had up there. I ask my cousin if he can take some stuff home in his trailer. I think I looked like a train wreck with rain dripping down my face, puffy eyes from crying/being awake most of the night. He gladly agrees.
We leave. By some miracle I stay awake the whole drive & we have no more problems on the way home...
3. We lost Ryler's Pacifier on Friday night. We looked EVERYWHERE for it & thought about running to the store to buy a few more, but then we decided it was probably a good time to wean him off of it anyways. He has done fine. I don't think he has really noticed that it is gone. Much better than the month of torture I went through with Parker! Next up...taking away his bottle. I think I will wait a while longer for that one...
