June 19, 2010: Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

Around 8:30am I IM'd Dave (I was in the office, he was in the bedroom, I could have yelled, but sometimes it is easier to type since I am at around 90wpm and I don't think I could talk 90 wpm) and said, "Go wake up Ben. We talked about going to Kneaders for breakfast." Then I heard Dave laugh from the other room (so maybe I wouldn't have actually had to yell) and then I heard the shower running and I just knew it was going to be a great day.

So we went to Kneaders because they had free french toast for dads. Score! Ben got his free, too, because he is of "the age of fathers". Score! Then we came home and Clara and Josh climbed all over poor Ben until I said, "So, here's the thing. You set the boundaries with my kids. They will get away with what you let them." That empowered him to peel them off like monkeys. Then they hauled him downstairs to watch a movie.

Clara taking over Ben's iPhone.

Ben looks calm and relaxed, but really he was thinking, "Why did I agree to stay here?!"

And then, the inevitable happened. Josh decided to jump off of the coffee table downstairs onto the bean bag and missed and landed on top of his head. Where was I? Oh, ya know. Just touring model homes. Blissful. Happy. Then I got home and was told that Josh probably had a concussion. Dave looked up head injuries on the internet and freaked out (I did the same thing last year when Clara hit her head so no pointing fingers) and so I called Ragnar Bob and said, "We'll be a bit late." Ragnar Bob was totally zen about it, so I guess it is good that he is an aging hippie who drives a VW Bus with peace signs painted on it.

Doesn't he look so sad? That urine specimen bottle actually held taffy that they give to kids when they come in. I guess to distract them. Josh dozed on and off while Dave played solitaire on his phone and I played brickbreaker on mine.

Finally Josh said, "I have to pee."

Since the urine specimen cup was full of taffy, we took that as a sign that he was going to be fine and got him up and took him to the bathroom. Then he was released with a slew of notes for us.

Wait a second? Who is Ragnar Bob? What?! Well, you see, months ago Dave and I signed up to be volunteers at a particular spot in Heber for the Ragnar Relay. Our dear friends the Monarch Maniacs needed volunteers and since we love Heber, and more specifically Don Pedros, we signed up. Ama agreed to babysit. We got out of the hospital just about the time we were supposed to start our shift.

Ragnar Bob said, "No worries - things are wrapping up. You don't need to come."

I said, "Will that get our team in trouble?" Because, really, I still wanted Don Pedros.

"Yeah....you better come up. At least get checked in, but you won't have to stay long."

Score!

So we dropped off Josh and Clara at my mom's with the list of instructions on what to look for in a head injury, and headed to Heber. Upon arrival we were given awesome glow in the dark vests to wear, and big black garbage bags so that we could go around and pick up the excessive amount of trash that the runners left behind. FUN, HUH? I'm not sure why we had to be electric while picking up trash. Supposedly it was so that runners would know that we were volunteers. After wandering around several fields picking up little bits of stuff, we went back to the tent and sat. And sat. And sat. For what seemed like hours, but it was really about 90 minutes. We couldn't find Ragnar Bob anywhere and the last runner had come in, so we decided it was time for Don Pedros and headed out. Hopefully we will be forgiven. The fajitas were excellent and worth the weird day.

These are the honey buckets. It was awesome that they were so close to the information station. We even got to enjoy watching the sanitation guys cleaning them out. Again, so awesome.

This was our home base. Lots of activity going on here. The First Aid station up and abandoned their post. Those cots sure looked comfy.

I love my running friends. They rock. But the above sign doesn't make this relay sound like fun.

This was where the runners came in. Their team number was shouted out over a bullhorn so that the rest of their team could cheer. I went over and checked to see when the Monarch Maniacs had come into the exchange. 8:30am this morning. So they were probably back home in their pjs icing their knees and eating bon bons.

And this is a house across the street that I thought was just adorable. What character! In the middle of my boredom I wondered just how inappropriate it would have been to wander over and ask to go inside and see the floorplan. Probably too inappropriate.

We picked up the kids who had been just fine and had colored and eaten hot dogs and green beans for dinner and made cupcakes for dessert. We got home too soon and interrupted their tent in the living room building activity. Maybe next time.