So a few weeks ago we headed up to Jordanelle for one of our last camping trips of the year. So far this year we had had better water than we'd had in many summers. So we were optimistic that the streak would continue. All things began great. We headed up Friday night and grabbed a quick dinner on the way since we were running a little behind. Cooking in the dark isn't the best. Saturday morning Jeramie and I were signed up to run the Hobble Creek Half Marathon. We were planning to run the race together (as in side by side the whole way). So he and I were up at 4am in order to leave the campground by 4:15am. This is by far the very worst part of running races. I can't stand the early mornings. Off we raced down Provo Canyon. In short we ran a good race. We decided to take it easy and while Jeramie decided that he was going to kick it into high gear towards the end, and basically just leave me without saying anything. He made one big mistake. He thought he was at mile 12 when really he was only at mile 11. So by about mile 12 he had run out of gas and I easily caught up to him and pushed him hard to the finish. It was a good race.
After the race we went to grab a cup of coffee in Provo and headed back up to the campsite. Once we arrived back there we had a very yummy breakfast. Definitely nice to come back to a huge breakfast when you just ran your butt off for 2 plus hours.
Once we were done with breakfast and all cleaned up we loaded up the boat to head out onto the lake. We dropped into the water and I headed up front to sit with Jackson. As we headed out I paused to take a quick photo with my iPhone of the smoke from what looked like a fire. Actually what looked like two fires. But there wasn't a ton of smoke and it's not like we haven't seen tons of small fires this summer. So out we headed onto the lake. All of a sudden out of nowhere the boat jerks to a stop. As this happened Jackson was sitting at the very nose of the boat and I literally grabbed the back of his life jacket and prevented him from flying out the front of the boat. It all happened in such slow motion. After I had grabbed Jackson's jacket I turned my head to look towards my dad who was driving. Basically going to give him a crusty look for stopping so abruptly. But as I looked behind me all I saw was a spray of dirt and rocks into the air behind the boat. It was truly bizarre. Again .. the whole thing happened in slow motion. At first I thought we had driven over a log or debree of some sort and it was being chopped up by the propeller. Then there was Jeramie screaming, "WHERE'S SHARON???!!!!"
Well she didn't fall out of the boat like he thought. She slid off the back bench onto the floor of the boat and the dog landed on top of her. We had a lot of good laughs about this after it was all over. Turns out in the middle of the lake we hit a sand bar. Scary as crap I tell you. When I got out of the boat to try and help maneuver it off the water literally came halfway up my calf. So we were maybe in 8-10 inches of water. There was a guy driving by with his son on a waverunner who helped Jeramie and I get the boat afloat again. Fortunately there was no damage to the boat at all. So so lucky we were. The water was choppy and terrible so in the spirit of being safe we ended up pulling the boat right back out of the water and making sure everything with it was okay.
Bad Thing #1 - High Centered the Boat
So instead of boating we made our way over to the beach where Evan and Rachel were hanging out doing a paddle board demo. I was a little nervous to try one of those things. But they were actually pretty fun. And I didn't fall off once.
The fire as we headed out.
Wyland and Uncle Evan
I actually did stand up .. I just look fat in those pictures .. haha.
This is the view as we walked up from paddle boarding. Not good.
Once we got to the parking lot the ranger was driving around and telling people they were evacuating the park. We were instructed to leave our trailers and head home ASAP. We rushed back to the campsite thinking .. well crap we just barely got here and now we have to go home. We weren't however planning to leave our trailer just to either let it burn down or have to drive up again the next day. So we literally threw everything into the trailer. We were in such a hurry. You can see in the below picture how that campground was EMPTY! I have no idea how long it took them to head out onto the lake and tell people to get off and go home. But home we went.
Bad Thing #2 - Evacuated Due to Fire
As we drove home (fortunately still able to make it to Parley's and head home the quick way) we passed a lot of the fire and firefighters working on it.
This could technically be Bad Thing #3. But it wasn't that bad. Once we got back to my parents house we planned to unpack the trailer again and put things away properly. However, the door was locked and we couldn't find the keys. Last place Jeramie saw them was inside the trailer. How they got locked in there we will never know. But that's exactly where they were. So Jeramie slid in (as demonstrated below) to lift up the back bed. Then we fed Jackson inside beside him on his "secret mission" to go open the door from the inside. It worked!!
So here we were unpacking the trailer and sorting things out. The kids were all playing in the driveway and cul de sac on bikes and stuff. Running in and out of the garage. Wyland woke up where he had been sleeping in my dad's truck. And this kid always wakes up Grumpy! So I was sat on the grass with him sorting out the grumpiness when all of a sudden I turn and see Oliver running out of the garage with a glass beer bottle. EEK! So I start getting up right as his feet slip out from under him. Down he goes. The bottle bursts on impact. At this point I'm not really sure whether he fell and landed on the bottle or whether the bottle burst on impact. Either way he gets up in a puddle of beer screaming. And slips and falls again on top of the broken glass. As I lift him up the first thing I'm doing is checking his eyes. That was my biggest fear at that point was that he would have glass in his eyes.
Thank God .. no glass in his eyes.
Next I start searching for blood from anywhere else. I think we're in the clear and then his chin tilts slightly upwards and I can see the trickle of blood. I tilt my head to get a better look and the first thing I see is a little white meaty bit. Yep instantly I know we're headed to Instacare. At this point my dad takes charge and says he'll drive us. I command Jeramie to get me Oliver's bottle and blanket. I know we're going to be in for a bit of time at instacare. Because NOTHING is quick at instacare. As we're driving my dad calls (I don't even know who he called) but finds out where the neared instacare is. We get there and they send us right back. No sitting and waiting whatsoever. He cries the entire time. Never stopping. Once we get there and the nurse has a look she says that they can't knock him out there, so if I would rather have him sedated that we'll have to head up to Primary Children's. At this point the decision is easy. I know they aren't going to put him through any pain. He's simply going to be PISSED when they strap him down. Well a pissed baby is fine if it's the difference between a $40 co-pay and a $100 co-pay. Besides I've done this (not as severe) with both Jackson and Wyland already.
And so we wait. And wait. Jeramie didn't actually give me Oliver's bottle and I know that this will bring great comfort to him. So my dad drives back home to get it. As soon as he's back with it Oliver settles down really quickly. You know, all the time he doesn't see a stranger that is. They had me put this numbing stuff that was on a pad of gauze and just hold it to his chin. We did that a couple times and it numbed him up good.
And here's where he gets pissed.
It took three of them to hold him down while the doctor got to work sewing him back up. I thought it was a cut about an inch long. But once I got a good look at it, it was closer to 2 inches. Poor kiddo.
Sorry this one is a little graphic.
The final count was ten stitches.
The staff even said that was a LOT for a kid his age.
We finished up. He got a Popsicle.
Then we headed to my mums house and off to dinner at 11pm.
We hadn't eaten since that great breakfast much earlier that day.
And as you can see at this point Oliver was a happy camper.
Bad Thing #3 - Oliver got TEN Stitches
Oliver now holds the family record for most stitches. I'm pretty proud that I didn't freak out. I actually think that I handle these kinds of situations really well. Besides perhaps my hysterical yelling at Jeramie who wasn't following my orders quick enough for my liking.
All of that happened in one Saturday. It was a bad day.
But in actuality all of those bad things could have been so much worse than they actually were. And when I crawled into bed that night I felt very lucky that it had only been what it was.
