Trailing of the Sheep, and Tummy Aches

This past week has been a doozy! Nico and Guy returned home from band practice last Thursday night after I had updated the blog, and Nico started complaining of a tummy ache. I tucked him into bed and prayed he would feel better in the morning.

Friday was meant to be the day we left for Ketchum, ID to attend the Trailing of the Sheep festival, but Guy and I discussed it and we decided that if Nico was still feeling poorly in the morning that Guy would go to the festival on his own and I would stay home with Nico.

Alas, Nico's tummy ache persisted into Friday and I called the school to let them know he wouldn't be coming in. I prepped everything for Guy to leave for Ketchum at 12:30 and we saw him off. I packed him one of the cupcakes I was going to take with us, to celebrate his birthday in Ketchum on Sunday. I kept the other 3 at home, knowing he'd be back Sunday and we could celebrate with him then.

Nico's tummy ache was unique in that he could continue eating normally. We went to Chipotle Friday night and picked up some food, as well as some smaller cupcakes from Trader Joe's. Nico ate his ENTIRE Chipotle meal (he has never done this before), plus 2 cupcakes, while we watched The Secret Life of Pets 2.

Guy's Friday night was full of Lamb food. I had purchased 3 tickets to "For the Love of Lamb", which allowed each participant 5 "bites" of lamb food from various restaurants in downtown Ketchum. Since Guy had 3 tickets, he got 3 "passports". He gave one to someone who had lost theirs, and used the other two to get 10 bites of lamb food. Guy said the age demographic for Friday was double his own.

Waiting in line.

#1 Lamb Samosa

#2 Lamb Meatball Gyros

#3 Lamb Curry

#4 Lamb Shepard's Pie

#5 (too tasty to remember to take the picture beforehand)

#6 Lamb Pasta with Mushrooms (not tasty, didn't finish it)

#7 Lamb chili - not tasty, didn't finish it

#8 Lamb ribs

#9 Lamb Sausage

#10 ?

He went back to the Airbnb and texted me "Yeah, it was intense. I'm back at the room, glad I saved my ginger ale"

SATURDAY

Saturday, Nico woke up still feeling sick, but he ate his pancakes just fine :) He spent the day playing on his Switch while I schemed to put together Guy's office for him while he was away. I put together the new bookcase we ordered (Nico helped a little) and unpacked a large portion of the boxes that were covering Guy's desk. I put his monitors on his desk as well. Not perfect but a large step forward.

Saturday night I ordered Nico a gluten free Chicago Connection pizza, I made my own pizza, and we rented another movie. Ugly Dolls. Nico ate almost his entire 10" pizza, leaving only one piece behind. 

In Ketchum, Guy went to breakfast and got Lamb Benedict. He told me later that he usually doesn't order eggs Benedict because it's so difficult to make and he doesn't like putting out the chef. But, they were advertising this as a special and since it was a special occasion he went ahead and ordered it. His thought was, "Well, they did it to themselves by advertising it." :)

The Airbnb he stayed in was in downtown Ketchum a handful of blocks away from most of the places he needed to go. It was a "treehouse" (see video at end), but it wasn't built in a tree, more like it was built up off the ground. It didn't have its own bathroom, it shared a bathroom with the other "treehouse" on the lot. The bathroom was outside.

After breakfast on Saturday Guy drove to Hailey, ID (about 15 minutes away) to go to the Sheep Trials and the Folk Life Festival. There are snippets of these in the video as well. He really enjoyed the sheep trials. 

He took this picture because of the dog on the leash in front of him. It's looking intently at what's going on in the field.

Lunch at the Sheep Trials.

He says next year we'll be sure to bring CHAIRS. Near the end of his stay at the sheep trials, he ran into two older women he had met the night before while waiting in line for sausage. He mentioned to them that he wished he had brought a chair, and they told him that they went to a thrift store that day to purchase some, and got 3 chairs when they only needed 2, so they had an extra. They told him they'd save him a seat at the sheep parade the next day. Front row. During the parade the next day they said they had "adopted" him as a stray, after finding out why he was there on his own without his family.

Anyway, back to Saturday. After the sheep trials, he went to the festival. He ran into a woman from our church, Debbie, who plays the bagpipes. She was participating in one of the performances that day (video clip of that below). 

That night he went to Smokey Mountain Pizza, and who do you guess was there, but Coach Vellotti, Nico's chess coach! Coach Vellotti was putting on a chess tournament at the Smokey Mountain Pizza in Ketchum, ID the same time that Guy was there! Crazy!

SUNDAY

Happy Birthday to Guy!

Nico woke up feeling sicker. He ate no breakfast and complained of a progressively worsening tummy ache. This was the day he started throwing up.

Guy attended the Sheep Parade on Saturday after breakfast. I wasn't able to get that video off Guy's phone to include in the video at the end of the blog, so I will post snippets from the parade video next week. They move the sheep from summer pasture to winter pasture, right through the middle of town. They make a parade out of it!

Guy arrived home with just enough time to open his presents and eat a piece of pumpkin pie (a present from Jeff & Allicia) before he had to head to the church to help with an event that night. It was a long Birthday day for him, he even stopped by the store on his way home from church to pick up a few things for me.

Nico continued to throw up through Monday. Tuesday evening I called the doctor and he prescribed some anti-nausea meds to give to Nico since he wasn't able to eat, and drinking hurt his tummy. The anti-nausea meds helped a little bit, but he is still complaining of not feeling well and not able to eat much. 

Nico has a doctor's appointment tomorrow at 11:15, for an unrelated reason (a sore on his foot), but we will certainly talk about Nico's tummy issues. I am concerned about getting him into the doctor's office, because he can't sit up or stand up for very long. I will call ahead to arrange to have a room ready for him so he can go straight in to lie down. That's my plan at least. I suspect he is dehydrated though I'm pushing fluids on him, as much as he'll take. I bought a pack of 6 fresh pressed juices from Boise Juice Co. yesterday (Allicia picked up my Fred Meyer grocery order AND went to Boise Juice Co. for me!!) Most of the juices also have coconut water in them which is good for rehydration.

Nico unfortunately has missed 5 days of school so far. Tomorrow there is no school anyway, so that's good. He also missed a field trip on Wednesday, as well as the yearly Boo Bash celebration at his school tonight. Just this weekend we had ordered a new costume for Nico on Amazon, he said he doesn't want to be a ninja this year (boy that ninja costume, though, he wore for 4 years!!!) But Nico is not complaining about missing anything, he is happy to stay in bed because he feels terrible whenever he tries to get up. When I ask him how he's feeling, he says "Still not very good" every time.

But he has his humor still, Guy and him watched Three Stooges last night and Nico was being his silly self. Then tonight as I'm updating the blog, he has asked me several times into his room to show me cakes on Youtube that he wants to make with me. He watched a food video today and moaned the whole time, "I wish I could eat that food it looks sooooo good!"

Yesterday he told me he wanted strawberries so I drove to M&W Market, leaving him at home. I kept him on FaceTime the whole time and showed him what other fruits they had. He told me to also get a watermelon and a cantaloupe. He said no to the bananas and the asparagus ;)

Today he said he wanted Great Steak and Potato (a restaurant in the mall), so I asked Guy to pick some up on his way home (Turkey sandwich, no bread, with cheese on a bed of lettuce). Nico could only eat a bite of it, even though he asked for Guy to buy a LARGE. Oh well. We have leftovers now so he can try again tomorrow.

If he didn't have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, I probably would have called the doctor today to get a recommendation. Nico might need IV fluids to feel better. We'll ask the doc tomorrow and do whatever is needed.

From Guy's pumpkin pie. I texted Guy this picture "Happy Birthday ants!"

Drinking Nuun electrolyte drink through a straw. Everything through a straw.

Allicia brought these Nuun tablets over with the pumpkin pie on Sunday, knowing that Nico wasn't feeling well.

We received mail at Louisa St address that Avery biked over to us. Nico was happy for the distraction. Also, Allicia brought him some treats from the dollar store, some fun activities to do as he starts feeling better.

Me getting out of the house yesterday evening. A walk next to the foothills.

Oh, on Sunday night, I was a little worried going to bed in our bedroom with Nico being so far away in his bedroom. Nico didn't like it either, he ran to our bedroom in the middle of the night feeling sick. He didn't want to be alone and sick. So I camped out on the couch that night, and have stayed there all the nights since. It's a comfy couch, so I don't mind!

Here's the video snippets from Guy's trip. I'll include the ones from the parade next week! I forgot to label one part of the video, when there's a man sheering the sheep. The sheep is OK, he's just shaving it ;) 

Summer Break, Children's Race, Cousins!

Friday was Nico's last day of school - we are officially on summer break over here!!

Saturday Nico participated in the St Al's Capitol Classic Children's Race.  For ages 6-12. I picked up the race packet on Thursday with all the instructions on where to drop him off and where to get him after the race was over. The race was from the Train Depot all the way down to the Capitol building.

It is 1.4 miles. 

Driving to the race dropoff

We had to drop him off between 9am and 9:15, but the car line was so long going up Capitol Blvd that it would have been about 9:30 before we got him there, so Nico and I got out of the car and we walked up the hill to the Train Depot. Guy picked me up and then we drove down to Capitol Park and found a place to park. We had some time to wander briefly around the downtown market before the race started at 10am. The girls ran first. Watching that big group of kids running down from the Train Depot on the hill was so cool, all their green shirts and all the clapping and yelling. Zoomed in you can't quite catch the detail but you can see the green mob.

The boys were released about 15 minutes later. I went out to cheer him on from the sidelines while Guy waited at the finish line for him. I saw him and clapped and yelled and only was able to snap a picture after he had already passed me. 

They had smoothies available for free for all the racers, (plus frozen yogurt and Blimpie sandwiches!) but the line for the smoothies was long and we had already before decided we would walk down to Jamba Juice to get him a smoothie, so that's what we did instead.

They gave every child a medal after they crossed the finish line.

Nico's time was 14:33

Nico didn't feel well the rest of the day, he seemed very subdued, even when we drove out to find a bike for him. We found a bike at the Boise Bicycle Project for $20 and they even adjusted the brakes on it for him to make it easier for him. They also gave him free bike LEDs. On the 1st Thursday (or 2nd?) of every month, kids can bring their bikes in if they are broken and they will teach the kids how to fix their own bikes for free.

Nico said he had a sore throat, so I gave him all the stuff to help him feel better. The next day he had a low grade fever but felt fine, saying his sore throat was gone. He had a bit of phlegm but it resolved quickly. Which is good, because he was invited over to the Grandparents Salisbury's house with cousins for a few nights of sleepover! Nico asked me the other day when we were going to have more kids because he wants someone to play with in the clubhouse. I'm so glad he has cousins that he gets to hang out with, and Evelyn who is right next door! I dropped him off on Monday after lunch, and Guy picked him up Wednesday after work.

Playing bird bingo with the cousins

Thank you Grandma and Papa!

The only cousins not there were Leah and Karli.

Wednesday night when he came home he asked: "When do I get to go back to Grandma and Papa's house?"

He'll be staying there a few more nights this summer.

On Monday night, Guy and I picked up Chipotle and an Izze Pop for dinner and watched Guardians of the Galaxy on Amazon, with the intention of going to see the 2nd in the series in the theaters on Tuesday night. But we didn't plan ahead, and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was sold out on Tuesday! So we came home and watched shows at home. Jeff offered to let us use their new couch downstairs to watch shows on the big screen, so we did that. Super fun!! It was like having our own living room!

And then that's it! On to next week!

Zoo, Brianna, Chipotle, Evelyn

Friday morning was Nico's first chess meeting. He loved it and is excited to go back tomorrow morning.

On Saturday I had a birthday lunch with just the girls to celebrate Grandma Salisbury. We went to a local eatery called Locavore. They have very good food with gluten free options! Happy Birthday Mom!

Afterwards me and the boys went to the library to see if they had any more comics for Free Comic Book Day, but they were out. That's ok, because Nico picked up a few comics to check out as well as some chapter books. He has lost steam on the Treehouse books and has stalled on #14.

Sunday was a fun day. We went to the Zoo with Brianna, who is moving in a few weeks and had never been to the zoo. It was also the first time Nico has been to the zoo in a very long time and it was fun to watch him as he saw the animals. We saw everything, I think, and then drove over to Chipotle for dinner. It was a very good day.

Nico helping Evelyn fold socks.

Nico has been spending more time with Evelyn ever since Aadam and Sam moved away. They've easily gotten back into the rhythm of hanging out.

They randomly wore the same shirt today, not planned.

Picking up Evelyn from school on Tuesday, Nico walks right up to her and puts his arm around her.

Our Monday night date, playing the intense game of Agricola. It took an hour, or more.

We will be seeing the Grandparents Russell tomorrow and Saturday! They are going to be in town for a short visit. Can't wait to see them! Hoping for sun tomorrow so we can venture to the Nature Center after school.

See you all next week!

Garage sale, Kestrel

One night before bed, Nico asked Alexa to play his favorite lullaby which is called Australian Lullaby. We started talking about playing the song on the piano and I asked him if he wanted to learn how to play the piano and he said Yes so I started talking about it and after I was done I hear this almost silent whine come from Nico. I look over at him in his bed and he has this sad look on his face and I ask him what's wrong. He says, "I don't WANT to learn how to play the piano."

Wow! The first thing Nico has declared he doesn't want to do. And I am A-ok with that! I really just want to give him opportunities to pursue the things he wants to pursue. If it's not piano, then OK!

Last Friday, the entire new season of MST3K was released on Netflix and Guy took the day off to watch them. I watched some with him, but some of the day was spent getting ready for the yard sale which we had on Saturday!

We had everything priced in boxes, so Saturday morning we moved boxes and tables and then just unloaded all the boxes onto the tables. This was actually a bit more work than I was expecting, but we had it pretty much unloaded by the time 9AM rolled around. Papa came that morning to drop off some moving boxes to give away at the yard sale, and to help haul boxes. Thank you Papa!

Nico and Evelyn went up and down the aisle and picked out things to buy. Evelyn was purchasing stuff for her Grandma's cabin. Nico chose to buy Papa's old wallet, a cherry pitter, and an empty tin.

Relaxing in the afternoon after a hard morning of selling his toys

Nico sold a lot of his toys and was a very eager salesman. He asked people outright if they wanted to buy some of his stuff, and when one lady paused to look at his toy table he said to her: "I think your dog would like this gorilla. Do you want to buy it?" When someone tried to haggle with him and lower his price on his train set, he said "No. $10." She laughed and said he drove a hard bargain and bought it from him. He made $32 total! 

And it turns out, about an hour before the end of the garage sale, he grabbed his gorilla and said "I think I want to keep this." so he brought it inside.

We ended at 3PM. A lot of stuff sold but we still had a lot of stuff leftover, so we loaded up our car and Jeff and Allicia's van and Guy and Jeff drove a load to the Youth Ranch to donate it. On the way home they picked up Chipotle for dinner and some Izze Pops from Whole Foods. We ate our dinner on the front lawn, picnic style. We were beat!

The day was sunny but it started out very cold! We were thankful for the sun.

That evening, though we were beat, Guy took Nico to the glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hunt that our church was putting on. Because it was glow-in-the-dark, it had to start late. The mini-sermon started at 8:00 and the hunt wasn't until 8:45. The church was expecting about 100 people but they had about 500. The hunt itself lasted maybe 3 minutes and some kids didn't get any eggs. Nico grabbed 3 eggs and then they sped to the car to get out of the parking lot before the rush. Nico came home and was asleep instantly.

Sunday was Easter, it was a good sermon. Then we went to pick up the eggs and milk from Papa. Grandma Salisbury was out of town visiting her mom in Moscow. Papa told us how to make egg nog with the milk and eggs, so we tried it that night. Guy liked it so he put some in his coffee! 

Since we weren't able to do pizza on Saturday night, we did it on Sunday. We started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. Nico actually enjoyed it! Guy told us that he used to watch this with the fam while eating pizza on Saturday nights. I remember watching it with my brothers all the time and it will be a fun tradition to continue.

We played a game Easter night that we learned last time we were in Arlington. Grandma Russell sent us what we needed, a list of nursery rhymes, which we cut up and put into all the eggs we could locate which was just 4. You go around and pick an egg, and then sing/say the nursery rhyme. Then it's the next person's turn. Video link here if you'd like to see the round we did: https://goo.gl/photos/cVRu4d1ZtwjPPLVS7

Thanks Grandma Russell! :)

Yesterday was a sunny day, so I picked Nico up from school on my bike. He had his scooter, and we rode to the MK Nature Center (aka Fish Park). I wanted Nico to see the American Kestrel they have there. The greenbelt path was closed due to risk of deterioration because of the height of the river, though everyone was still using it. We rode it to the Nature Center but used a different route home. It will be hard to get around this summer on our bikes because all the paths are closed. They don't think they will get around to assessing danger until August.

Nico found a shady spot and asked if he could finish his lunch that he didn't finish at school.

We went into the lobby of the Nature Center and saw so many animals that had been stuffed. We saw some different birds, a crane, a heron, lots of different ducks, quail, even a bald eagle! All stuffed. Then we went out to meet the American Kestrel. Meet Fiona. American Kestrels are a bird of prey but they are surprisingly small! They have Fiona at the nature center because she is missing an eye. 

Nico told me his leg was hurting from pushing on the scooter, so we figured out a way for him to stand on the lowest bar of my bike right in front of me and I swung the scooter over my handle bars. We rode that way about half of the way home. It was so nice to be outside!

Nico is on Magic Treehouse book #13

We are waiting for its arrival at the library along with #14.

Until next time!