Tuesday, August 29, 2006

MONTANA DAY 9: Going Home

We had said our farewells the night before, because Grama and Grampa both had to be at work when we left for the airport in the morning. Daddy had gotten the airline to give him a voucher, so we could take a taxi to the airport; that way, Grama and Grampa didn't have to miss any work to drive us there.

***

We took a different airline, and a different route, home. The airline we came on had wanted us to take the same plane as the night before, but leaving at 7:00 in the morning--and they wanted us to be at airport at 5:00 in the morning! Yeah, right! So we got them to book us on Frontier Airlines. Our flight left from Montana at 11:20 in the morning, and took us on a short flight to Denver. There was a quick layover in Denver (maybe 30 minutes) and then a longer flight back to Detroit. But, we still got home at the same time as we would have if we'd taken that original 7:00 flight--which we heard from security had been chaos that morning. Thank goodness Daddy got us on a different airline!

***

Oh, and about security: we had another run-in with them, but this time they were extremely sympathetic and friendly. :)) You see, the computer identified us for "special screening," probably because it picked up that we'd been through on a different flight yesterday, and now we were back again. You can see how that might look odd. But they were very nice about it. They guided us over to a side area, patted down our upper bodies, rechecked our documents, and went through all of our carry-ons very carefully. But they were polite, and made jokes, and explained everything as they went along, which made the process non-threatening.

***

We had a smooth, comfortable, non-traumatic flight home. I think I might fly this Frontier airline again, if I get the opportunity, rather than the other big-name one. The only thing Frontier did that annoyed me was they wouldn't let Andrea use her car seat in their plane, because it didn't have the proper sticker saying it was approved for flying. But I think Andrea was happier without it, anyways. :))

  • Here's Andrea, following along with the safety instructions as the flight attendants prepare us for take-off.

  • She really seemed to enjoy the plane ride sans car seat.

  • This is all we saw of Denver (the airport), but I guess now we can say that we've been there.

  • On our connecting flight, we got a larger plane that had the in-flight screens available, that you can follow your trip on. It was kind of neat to watch our progress, and see the speed and elevation, too.

  • Andrea was pretty tired on the connecting flight. It was a long day, especially considering the time change made it later for us when we got home. She fell asleep sitting up;

so, we let her stretch out across the seats and take a nice nap.

***

We're safely home, and thus ends our cross-continent adventure. :))

Monday, August 28, 2006

MONTANA DAY 8: Farewell (We Thought!)

We spent most of the morning packing, because our flight was due to leave at 2:00 in the afternoon, and we were going to the airport at 12:30. Andrea was driving me crazy, because she was getting underfoot, so I put together a makeshift playpen. It didn't last too long. Now that Andrea's mobile, she won't tolerate being cooped up for too long.


By the way, you can see Grama's cockatiel, Kiwi, in his cage in the background. Andrea didn't notice him too much; but he always got vocal when Andrea let out a high-pitched squeal. :))

***
Grampa had to go back to work that morning, but he came home for lunch, and we said our good-byes then. He held Andrea on his lap, and let her play with his voltage checker, which lights up when it picks up electricity. He showed her how to tap it on people's skin to make it light up. She got a big kick out of that.


***
Soon, it was time to leave. We loaded up the truck with our things, and Grama drove us to the airport, which was only about 10 minutes away. Grama came all the way to the security gate with us, gave us all a quick and loving farewell, and off we went.
***
Then things went CUCKOO:
  • Security: I had all the same items in our carry-on as before, at Detroit, where they gave us no problems--not even a second glance. This time, they went through the diaper bag about three times, and they dumped out Andrea's bottle of water (which was in a baby bottle). Then, they ransacked my purse about 5 times, ran it through the x-ray about three times, and kept asking me if I had a lighter somewhere in my purse, because they couldn't find it, and saw one on the x-ray. I insisted that I don't carry a lighter; I don't smoke, etc. Finally, they decided it was my Tide pen that looked like a lighter on x-ray, and since it had a liquid in it, I had to throw it out. Geez. I think they were bored or something.
  • Flight: We sat in the lobby and waited until 1:50. When they hadn't started boarding yet, we got curious. Suddenly, the lady came over the speaker: "There will be a fifteen minute delay, due to mechanical problems." Okay, that's reasonable. And then: "There will be a 15 minute delay while we isolate the problem." People started to grumble, so she got on the system and said, "If you have a connecting flight, don't worry, we have at least an hour to play with!" (How unprofessional.) After 15 more minutes pass: "There will be a 15 minute delay while we get the tools necessary to fix a pinhole leak in the hydraulic lines." Then: "We have isolated the leak, and it should be repaired in about 15 minutes." And finally: "We're sorry, the flight has been cancelled. The next available flight will be at 7:00 in the morning tomorrow." Meanwhile, Andrea had been fussy this whole time, because she was due for a nap, she was hungry, and she wouldn't settle down until we were on a plane, and moving.
  • Re-Booking: So, we had to go back downstairs, and retrieve our luggage. Then, we had to stand in line to re-book the flight for tomorrow. I was freaking out because I had a cranky baby, I was supposed to baby-sit tomorrow, and I didn't know how to get a hold of Grama, who was out to lunch with a friend! Daddy stood in line for an hour without moving, while I tried to entertain Andrea in a nearby seating area. So now we had been at the airport for 3 hours and had achieved nothing. I think this video I got of Andrea at the airport summed up our situation very well:

http://media.putfile.com/Reaction-to-Flight-Cancellation

***

In the end, I finally caught Grama at home, and she came to the rescue. Daddy stayed at the airport to re-book our flight, while Grama packed up Andrea and I and took us back to the house. I was so mad, and worried, and stressed out, that I was crying; Andrea fell asleep before we left the airport parking lot, the poor baby! Then we went and picked up Grampa from work. Daddy came back via taxi not long after we got back to the house; he'd had to fight with the airline to get that much out of them! Plus, the power went out just as he got up to the counter--causing him to wait an extra 20 minutes on top of it all! Oh, the irony!

***

The rest of the evening we all sat around and tried to unwind. Andrea played at swatting flies on the patio--a useful skill Grampa taught her while we were out there. :))

***

On the positive side of things:

  • Grama and Grampa got to keep us for an extra day!
  • It's better they caught the plane's mechanical problems and grounded it, rather than discovering the leak in the air!

Sunday, August 27, 2006

MONTANA DAY 7: MoCones!

Andrea got up at 6:30, and got a bit restless again, so Daddy took her for another walk. Daddy says they had lots of fun. I guess Andrea was chattering away the whole time, and one lady stopped to say to Daddy, "That baby has a story to tell!"

***
Mommy slept in a bit, but was up and dressed by about 9:00. As Mommy went to grab her purse off the bedroom door, Andrea called out, "Bye!" all on her own! Too funny.
***
When Andrea layed down for her nap around 10:00, Mommy and Grama went out to do some more shopping. Mommy got Andrea the cutest thing. I couldn't resist.

The photo doesn't do them justice: tiny pink and white cowgirl boots, with sparkles! They are a bit big, so she can wear them in the Spring, with a jean jacket and dress I also bought for her.

***

Daddy decided it was a nice day out, so he took Andrea for another walk! But when they got back, he realized he'd lost her hat (which matched her outfit) along the way! So, he went back out with her AGAIN, and found the hat on the sidewalk, by the park. :))

***

We had a relaxing afternoon. We took a family nap for a few hours, and when we got up, we sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather. I took some pictures of Andrea and Grama in Grama's rose garden in the back yard.

I also got Andrea, on video, doing a quick run-through of Patty Cake. She likes to rush to the end, so she can throw her arms in the air.

http://media.putfile.com/MT-Patty-Cake-Quick-Version

***

During dinner, Andrea showed off another trick the men had taught her. Mommy thinks this one doesn't show very good manners, but it is kind of cute. Daddy and Grampa taught her to take a sip, and then say, "Ahhh": but she does it very quietly.

http://media.putfile.com/Sip--Ahhhh

***

After dinner, we went for a 15-20 minute drive to a small, nearby town to get some "MoCones!" "MoCones" is a tiny ice cream place that gives out HUGE scoops of excellent ice cream for the unbelievable price of $1.25. Mommy had a single scoop of Moose Tracks (vanilla, peanut butter, and chocolate, with chocolate chunks and mini-Reese peanut butter cups--OMG); Daddy got a double scoop of Strawberry; and they put a good size scoop of vanilla into one of Andrea's little bowls for us--and didn't even charge us for it. That was so nice of them! Andrea ate all of her ice cream, and proceeded to suck on her toes as well, getting them all sticky. :))

***

While we were at MoCones, we also saw a puppy who got a doggy cone with a little dog bone treat on the top! So cute! We asked the owners to let us take a picture of him.

***

On the drive back to the house, Andrea was chattering up a storm. At one point, it sounded like she was babbling, "Dadadadadada SUGAR!" Of course, when we got home, she had no interest in going to bed. So, Daddy found a new game to play with her. She was laying on his chest, and he prompted her to say the word "up"; then he would lift her feet into the air, until she was upside-down! She loved it, and kept saying, "Uppa" or "Up!" every time he set her back down!

***

Once Daddy finally got her settled into bed, we went outside for our last chiminea fire :(( --or so we thought . . .

Saturday, August 26, 2006

MONTANA DAY 6: Andrea's First Boat Trip

We left to go on our boat trip at about 11:15 in the morning, and arrived at the Yellowtail Dam at about 1:00 in the afternoon. On the way there, we saw wild pheasants and turkeys. The Yellowtail Dam and Bighorn Canyon are on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, and the Canyon and River go into Wyoming, as well. The Bighorn Canyon had a railroad running at the bottom of it, before the Yellowtail Dam was built in the 1960s. Now there is a very deep lake running through the Canyon (except when it's a dry season, like now!), with huge, fascinating rock formations surrounding it, and hills covered with fir trees. Here is a picture of the Yellowtail Dam: it's the white structure in the distance.

***

As I mentioned in the title, this was Andrea's first boat ride! She didn't like the life jacket too much, so she was a bit whiny, at first; but about 2 minutes after the boat started moving, and she felt the wind in her face, she LOVED the boat ride!

http://media.putfile.com/MT-First-Boat-Ride

***

Andrea was SO GOOD the whole time we were on the boat. Grama said she'd never seen her smile so much! She was giving everyone huge smiles, chattering away, and making "Weeeeee!" noises when Grampa made the boat go fast! Andrea loves the wind in her hair. :))

http://media.putfile.com/Mt-First-Boat-Ride--Daddy-2

http://media.putfile.com/First-Boat-Ride--Wild-Hair--Tongue-Out

***

We had a picnic lunch on the boat, soon after we got there. Grampa stopped us in a pretty place, and we all had something to eat. Andrea had a special treat: she tried cheesies for the first time! And now she's hooked!

***

At one point, we thought it looked like rain, so we put on the boat cover. Luckily, only a few drops fell. It got cold and windy for a bit, so we just snuggled up together until the skies lightened.

***

Grampa even let Andrea sit on his lap and drive the boat for a few minutes, on our way back!

By the way, we did about 37 miles of the 71 mile length of the Bighorn River (55 miles of the River are in the actual Canyon). It was quite a long ride, but Andrea loved every minute of it!

***

On the way home, we saw lots of animals in the hills and valleys, because it was dusk: a small herd of antelope; several deer; and even a fox ran across the highway in front of our truck!

***

We got home around 8:00 in the evening. Andrea napped in the truck on the way back, so she got a second wind. We all sat outside by the fire while supper was cooking.

We were talking over the day when we suddenly noticed Andrea was sitting there, quietly doing the actions to Patty Cake (pat, roll, throw it in the pan!) all by herself, with no one even singing the song. I guess she was practicing. Too cute!

***

Anyhow, Daddy didn't get Andrea to sleep until about 11:00; but then he joined Mommy in the hot tub for a restful soak before bed. :))

Friday, August 25, 2006

MONTANA DAY 5: Grama's Birthday

Grama was the Birthday Princess!

***

Andrea got up at 6:45, and wow, was it a chilly morning! But she was really restless, so Daddy put some warm clothes on her, and took her for a long walk, with a stop at the park. Again, Andrea had a lot of fun on the swings!

http://media.putfile.com/MT-Park-Swings-Daddy

***

After breakfast, we gave Grama her birthday gift: a personalized t-shirt with Andrea's one-year-old picture on it, that reads "I Love Grandma Marty." Grama started to cry, because she loved it so much!

Andrea was trying to do her new actions to Patty Cake for us all, too.

http://media.putfile.com/MT-Patty-Cake-1

***

Then, Andrea napped while Mommy and Grama went shopping. We bought a lot of cute fall outfits for Andrea, and a new watch for Mommy. Grama also talked Mommy into highlighting her hair for the first time, so we bought some hair products, too.

***

When we got back from shopping, it was time to highlight Mommy's hair. I think it turned out pretty nice--just some lighter highlights around my face and in the layers of my hair. Nothing drastic.

***

While we were doing my hair, one of Grampa's daughters and her daughter (that would be Andrea's Step-Aunt and Step-Cousin) came by to drop off a birthday cake for Grama, and to meet us all for the first time. SA is taking a cake-decorating course, and she made a lovely cake for Grama.

***

SA and SC both held Andrea for a while, and she really seemed to like them--especially SC, who is a nine-year-old girl that loves babies!

***

After dinner we noticed two new things about Andrea: one good, and questionable. The good thing was: she cut another molar! This time it was on her bottom right side. The questionable thing was: well, I always thought the term "red-neck" was figurative, and furthermore, I didn't realize it was contagious!

[Just kidding! We've seen this on Andrea before--it's from her scratching too much.]

Anyway, it was time for Andrea's bath, and Grama volunteered to do it; and, of course, she got nice and wet in the process. It looked like they had a lot fun, though. :))

[Grama's trying to scrub away the red-neck! Just kidding!]

***

It had been a long day for Andrea, so Mommy rocked and hummed her to sleep by 9:15.

***

Then the adults sat outside and enjoyed a fairy fire, and a visit with the Van L.'s, who had stopped by to help celebrate Grama's birthday.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

MONTANA DAY 4: Taking it Easy

Andrea and Mommy were up at 6:30, but Grampa got up at 8:00 and took over, so Mommy fell asleep on the couch until breakfast.

After breakfast, Mommy and Grama went through two boxes of old pictures while Andrea played outside with Daddy and Grampa. Mommy found a lot of interesting pictures from when she was younger, including some of her and Daddy when they were first dating. Geez, we were cute back then! What happened? :))


***
After lunch, Mommy and Andrea decided to go in the hot tub. Grama put Andrea's bathing suit on her. As they looked into the mirror together, Andrea waved at her reflection and said, "Hi, Baby!" as clear as day!

***

It was Andrea's first time in a hot tub, and she was terrified of the bubbles! So, Grama shut the bubbles off, and then Andrea was her usual, splashy self.

***

After supper, we went for a drive out to the Van L.'s, where Grama has been doing some sharecropping. Grama has her own plot of land where she grows vegetables, that "Grandpa" Van L. gave her to work. I took Andrea for a walk to Grama's garden, and we watched her pick some of her corn for us.

It was getting dark, and the mosquitoes were coming out, so we put Andrea on the porch with the guys to visit the Van L.'s, while Mommy and Grama went to pick some more corn, and also some apples to make pies.

***

Andrea entertained the Van L.'s with her newly-learned actions to Patty Cake. She also thought it was great fun to hang upside down off Daddy's lap, and wave at everyone!

***

Andrea and Daddy fell asleep soon after we got back to the house, but the rest of us sat on the back patio to enjoy another fairy fire before bed.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

MONTANA DAY 3: The Beartooth Pass

At 10:00 in the morning, we started out on a road trip into Red Lodge, and ultimately up to the Beartooth Pass (which is a highway of switchbacks that go up the mountain). Many people say the Beartooth Highway is the most scenic route in the United States; but it is definitely not for the faint of heart! Here I got a picture of the mountain in the distance.

***

We stopped two-thirds of the way up the mountain at Vista Point, and had a picnic lunch.

It was very windy up there (but Andrea likes that), and the air was thin; it was difficult to breathe if you walked too fast! But the scenery was awesome.



See the little white ribbons going back and forth up the side of the mountain? That's the highway we drove up on!

***

There were some curious chipmunks keeping an eye on us, and we discovered that they like cheesies. :)) One came up and inspected Andrea quite closely!

***

Our intention was to drive all the way to the top of the mountain and down the other side, but Mommy had some particularly nasty intestinal problems, so we headed back the way we came. Andrea was good throughout the trip; she chattered or slept the whole way home. Mommy was disappointed, but it was a good decision to leave--she got sick several times just after we got back to the house. :((

***

In the evening, after Mommy had some medicine and a rest, we girls decided to go for a walk to the park. Andrea was fascinated by the new sights, and was waving hi to everyone, and everything! But we had the most fun at the baby swings. Grama and Andrea had a riot playing together. I have never heard Andrea laugh so much on the swings!

http://media.putfile.com/MT-Park-Swings-Grama

It was getting dark, so it was time to head home. But we weren't afraid; the people are SO NICE there! Even the "young punks" gave us friendly smiles as we passed by.

***

After Andrea's bath, Andrea and Grama cuddled together in the chair; Grama helped her with her bottle, and then sang Andrea to sleep with songs from Mommy's babyhood--talk about poignant moments! Andrea was drifting off to sleep, but she would lift her head from Grama's chest once in a while and give her the sweetest smile: it was so beautiful. Then, Mommy and Grama layed her down in bed, and sat and watched her till she fell asleep. :))

***

Mommy and Grama headed out to the hot-tub and had a nice, relaxing soak (about 2 hours!), and a great chat. When the guys came home (they had been visiting Grampa's brother) we all sat around the chiminea to enjoy one of Grama's special "fairy fires." She knows how to make the flames turn blue, green, aqua, violet, and pink. It's very pretty.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

MONTANA DAY 2: Day of (Near) Disasters

The day started off okay. Andrea woke up at 4:30 in the morning, but Grama usually gets up at that time for work anyway, so she took over Andrea's care, and let Mommy go back to bed. In fact, Grama got Andrea to do something I've been waiting for: she finally started holding her own bottle!



***
But when I got up around 8:00, I knew something was wrong with Andrea. She was really cranky, and had an extremely swollen upper lip. We thought maybe she had bit her lip or something.
***
Then, when Daddy gave her the next bottle of milk, she started to wail, and rub her eyes a lot. We thought she was just really tired, or kind of messed up because of the time change; but, suddenly, she projectile vomited twice on Daddy!
***
I took her to the bathtub, and stripped her down, and washed her up. But now she was wheezing, and coughing, and rubbing her eyes; and she would not stop crying. We decided to rush her to the nearby clinic. As we headed for the door, she projectile vomited two times on me, but I didn't care--we were getting her to a doctor!
***
They were great at the clinic--they took her in right away, and kept us near the nurses until a doctor could see us. Andrea's blood pressure was low, and she had no fever; her symptoms made us all think she was having some kind of severe allergic reaction to something. Grama Marty was very upset, because she had peanut butter on toast while feeding Andrea, and thought it might have gotten on her fingers; you see, Grama had a sister who died from an allergic reaction to peanuts. Our other suspected culprit was the dogs; Grama had taken Andrea out and let her pet them and play with them, just before her symptoms started.
***
Well, we were right. The doctor said Andrea had the classic symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction: swollen lips, a distended stomach, vomiting, red face, wheezing, etc. The doctor gave her a prescription for Zyrtec liquid, and suggested we talk to our doctor about allergy testing for Andrea (although I already asked our doctor for this, and she said no, not until 4 years old) and the possibility of her needing an epi-pen in the future. The doctor wasn't sure what caused the reaction; but we think it was the dogs, because I've had peanut butter around her many times with no problems. Also, she's never actually petted a dog before; we imagine she petted the dogs, rubbed her eyes and put her fingers in her mouth as babies will do, and BOOM--massive reaction. [We kept Andrea away from the dogs for the rest of the trip, and she was fine. Also, Mommy was very allergic to dogs and cats when she was little, too.]
***
After we picked up the Zyrtec, she was already doing better (probably the fresh air), and she was fine after we gave her the medicine. We were all emotionally exhausted, so we took a nap.
***

In the early afternoon, things settled down for a bit. Andrea, Daddy and Grampa relaxed on the patio while Mommy and Grama did some shopping, and went to pick up a baby life jacket from Grama's friend. Grampa taught Andrea a new version of Patty Cake, which she perfected as the week went on.


And here's a nice picture I got later, of Andrea and Daddy sitting by the pond in Grama and Grampa's front yard.

***

While Mommy and Grama were out shopping, we saw lots of smoke in the sky. Grama also got a call from her work saying many of the people had to go to their homes, because a wild fire had started in the hills just outside town, and they needed to evacuate. [You'll read more about the fire after.]

Mommy spotted an interesting gift for Daddy while she was shopping. In honor of Daddy's valiant effort in keeping calm during the baptism of vomit earlier, she got him this:


"Polly Pukey": it's a kids' juice bottle where you pull the girl's ponytail, and she pretend-vomits into her hand. Gross! :))
***

Soon it's dinner, and I guess things had been going too smoothly that afternoon, so it was time for more chaos. Andrea was chewing on a celery stick, and managed to bite off a big hunk before we could stop her. Now she was choking! Grama grabbed her out of the high chair, flipped her over, and whacked her on the back a few times--and out popped the celery. Geez! Andrea was very upset, but just fine. She was crying a bit the whole time, anyway, so it wasn't a true choking event--but still, very scary!

***
So, what do we do for our after-dinner recreation? We all wanted to get a closer look at the wildfire! The wildfire was first reported around 11:40 that morning, and about 4300 acres had burned so far. It tore through the hills and forest, and we had seen smoke all day--it was only about 5 miles outside the city! But we were not in danger. First we drove out to the airport, to get a view of the fire in the distance. Then, we drove out of the way and came up from behind the wildfire area, and drove right through the edge of it. On the map below, you can see I-90; and that's where we drove through the fire area.
[The following pictures were taken from the Billings Gazette newspaper.]

The fire was mostly out in the area we drove through, but there were still a lot of hot spots--it looked like little camp fires burning all over the hills on either side of the truck. It was quite eerie: the smoke in the air was like thick fog, and the air was hot when we rolled down the windows to try and take some pictures (which didn't work out). But this is what it would have looked like if you had been up in the air, looking down on our little truck on the highway. See the planes dropping fire-retardant chemicals? We saw them landing, loading, and taking off from the airport when we were there.


By the time we got home, it was dark out. We could see the glow of the fire in the hills at the end of Grama and Grampa's street. And this photo shows exactly how it looked to us.

In the end, I heard only one home was destroyed, and two outbuildings, and everyone was okay. The fire was well-contained within a couple days.

***

Once home, Grama noticed Andrea had cut her first molar! It's on the bottom left side, and it is huge.

***

Finally, we wound down this crazy day with apple pie and vanilla ice cream at 10:00 (we needed it!), and Andrea didn't go to sleep until 11:00!

Lilypie 2nd Birthday Ticker