4th & 5th of July Festivities, Events and Emergencies

Anarchy on the 4th... well 5th if only we'd known... But that's the end of this story, the beginning is a fantastic 4th of July. It was of course my mom's birthday so we started on Thursday with a nice dinner (just me and mom... a rarity without Lea, but good for the grown ups to re-connect) at Simply Fondue. Then Friday we spent all day together, grilling burgers in the back yard for lunch and an afternoon getting ready for Fireworks.
Teddy and Michael came over in the afternoon and around 6 we headed out. Grandma and I took Lea to the playground for some pre-firework energy burn. It worked well. There was a big family reunion at the Stone Tables park by White Rock, so Lea had plenty of playmates. Most older and not quite right, but when Lea found her playmate, they were a good match.

We had a wonderful picnic on the parking garage at work with peach sangria and yummy light food. Lea spent much of her time blowing bubble with Becky and Mandy who joined us. The fireworks were great. Lea was tired by the time they went off. We brought blankey with us and she covered her eyes for half of the display. When I realized she was hiding, I covered her ears and then it seemed ok to watch. She said later that she like the twirly ones. I think those are my favorites too.

Then Saturday was "Wilder's Pool Party." That's what Lea called it. Lea swam from 2pm til 8pm I think. She had a ball running around playing with everyone and swimming with her little floaties.
Lea in her floaties

Wilder and Lea share a bucket of water and toys. It took Wilder a bit to be convinced to wear his floaties, but then he was swimming like a fish. He followed Lea around calling her name, it was adorable. She's got quite a fan. Its mutual too. She still (weeks later) wants to go to "Wilder's Pool Party" like its a weekly occurrence.


It was a really great party until about 5pm, and even then while stressful things happened (I promise I'll get to them) we still had a very nice time. Kris and Jerry threw an excellent party. The best part for Dan and me was we knew almost everyone there without the stress of hosting and ensuring I talked to everyone.  
Here are Rus, Dan and Becky, kicking back.

Lea with the ladies from work (Susie, Prio and Judy)

Old man Hopens. Sadly he didn't wear his speedo as promised!

 

General party chaos. Just lots of people having a good time.

And here is Wilder while he was still having fun... then like I said at 5pm it all kind of took a turn.

Kris came to me and said they were taking Wilder to the Emergency room because he had been in a bad mood, then sleepy and then was not able to stay conscious. We had all read an email article about dry drowning and those were the exact symptoms so the panic was real. It turned out to not be that, but the ER docs agreed those were the symptoms and if kids exhibit those symptoms they should always be brought to the ER. You can't err on the side of caution. 

It seemed to be a case of dehydration, though the two hospitals they visited never gave a diagnosis. There was much supposition among those who stayed after they went to the hospital and dehydration was the favorite diagnosis. Kris said after they had been there a while, suddenly Wilder was himself again, so I can only assume it was once the IV fluids got into him, but I'm no doctor. They did every kind of test from cat scan to testing for diabetes and he got a clean bill of health when they let him go home. Doctors Hospital sent him to Childrens and at 6 am Wilder and Papa (Jerry) came home.

I guess I left out why people were staying even after the parents rushed to the hospital. Well, we stayed with baby Hunter so that stress was not on Kris. Ann, Abel, Mia, and Leo stayed until about 7 or so. Abel being the baby whisper was a huge help, as was Ann who gave baby support and helped Dan and Becky clean up (their dog also tore a toe nail and bled all over the carpet — when it rains it pours). Michael stayed to entertain Becky and me until 11 or so. Becky and I stayed until about 2 am when Kris came home assuming Jerry and Wilder would be close behind. The ended up staying until 6 am or so, like I said, but Kris needed sleep and to breast feed. So it all worked out and made one hell of a party. I guess they say its not a party until someone goes to the ER, but I think that's supposed to change after you hit 30. It does speak well of Kris & Jerry's party that we had an awesome time, even though they ended up in the hospital. Of course we can only say that because Wilder turned out to be fine and we're all very thankful for that.