Aunt Ainsley, a tag along pseudo-nanny for 3 weeks, with me and the girls
Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, WA
We just pulled in from dropping off the Grandma and the Aunt at the SEA-TAC airport after a week of touring San Juan and Orcas Islands by car. Not without a couple good stories to tell:
First of all, we didn't even make it off the ferry dock in Anacortes before our first *disaster.* My sister and I were to meet my mom, just recently dropped off by the airporter shuttle, in the ferry line at Anacortes. Although we saw her shuttle fly by us, we contacted each other via cell phone (what did we ever do before these?!) and met up at the ticket shop. Grandma, who hadn't seen her grandkids in 2 weeks, was eager to hold one while walking back to the car, already in line for the 3:10pm ferry. I carried the other kid and my sister wheeled Grandma's luggage. I was second in the single-file line walking in between the columns of cars when I suddenly saw 19 different car doors open and people starting to run behind me. I hear, "My baby! My baby!" being yelled. Curious about what happened to someone's baby, I turn to see my mother on the ground and Ava screaming at the top of her lungs. Grandma's maternal instincts seems to have skipped her back a generation. Grandma has tripped and unintentionally used Ava as an air-bag. I hand Tina to Ainsley and run down to stop my baby's cries. There's some blood, but not as bad as I think...I'm trying to recreate what happened to her little head so I can figure out what to do.
Well, if something horrible is going to happen to you, you might as well pick the Anacortes Ferry Landing to be the place. So many helpful people! Within seconds I have baby wipes to clean up the mess and figure out what's damaged, gauze (which Ava refuses to have on her head), and infant Tylinol for her pain. A nurse 3 cars back has her EMT suitcase unzipped and is handing me a bit of everything. Another woman has already called the clinic in Friday Harbor to see if they're open and can take me. I look at the wound and I know that she'll need between 2-3 stitches. My sister, a nurse as well, has called my Dad, who lives minutes up the hill, to come be an ambulance to take us to the Anacortes Hospital. I quickly weight the merits between missing the ferry (the next one will be at 8:20pm) and getting care at a hospital rather than a clinic. My husband's presumed concern, the scar, and my sister's stanch lobbying lead me to jump in the passenger seat of my dad's truck and ride toward the Anacortes hospital. His wife, a nurse there, has already been called and will be waiting in the Emergency Room. And, what do I worry about? The fact I have no car seat and have to pull a Brittany Spears riding with her on my lap.
Ava turns out to be a champ and, within 2-hours, she bears 3 stitches and has her hospital souvenir, a 12" Minnie Mouse toy, in tow, and another confirmation of the nickname her Nonna gave her: "Pepper." However, the nurses and doctor at the hospital have upgraded her to "Habanero" status. She does have strong and spicy opinions!
The rest of the trip is flawless: 2 days in the Great Gatsby-seque town of Roche Harbor - a charming harbor basically woven into both our and our mother's childhood memories of summertime boat trips. We visited the lavender farm, the Westcott Bay Reserve outdoor sculpture museum, the chapel where Paul and I were engaged, and my Great-Uncle Warren's cabin on the Straits of Juan de Fuca. It belongs to my Great-Aunt Mary now and her brother was visiting with his family. They were gracious enough to great us warmly, take pictures for us and let us snoop through the rooms to strenghten our memories of this one often-visited family get-away.
We then took the inter-island ferry to Orcas Island, staying in Eastsound where we visited with Ainsley's friends Amy and Jeff who recently moved there from Lake Tahoe. There we enjoyed lots of their homemade cooking and fresh crab caught hours before by Jeff, we lunched at the Rosario Resort, saw bald eagles fishing at the beach, and visited Moran State Park, which boasts of the best views of the islands (at 2,500', it's the highest thing between the Canadian Rockies and the Olympic Mountains).
After dropping off my sister (who's been acting as pseudo-nanny for the last 2-weeks) and mom at the airport, I'm flying solo with two 1-year old kids 16 hours away from home. It is for this reason that I've mapped out all family members between here and there and will be strategically visiting them so that I won't have to drive more than 3 hours without a stop at a friendly house with another set of arms. I plan to stay a couple of days at each place so that I'm not constantly packing and unpacking the car (that takes a lot of energy!).
We talk to Daddy every night before the girls go to bed. We excited that the City has finally given out the permits, the contractor started his work last Wednesday on fortifying the foundations and Paul and his "crew" have replaced the sewer line and moved the washing machines and hot water heater (he hopes to have it turned back on by this weekend). Then he will finally have water and the sewer again. This is why I've fled and created this grand oydessy. I pray that great progress will be made in our absence; that they work 11-hour days and that the place is as livable as it can be when we get home. I was also happy to hear Paul's suggestion that we house-sit my mom's while she's in France for the month of September. It was my plan all along, but the idea coming from his mouth means that he understands the challenge of living in construction especially since the contractor will have to practically live there to get the 3rd story done by October's rain. (A big heavy sigh of relief from me!)
