I am not funny, China is funny.

Monday, 18 November 2013

New Zealand

I recently read the book The Blessing of a B Minus by Wendy Mogel. It is a wonderful guide in raising teenage children. The book has given me a completely different outlook and will hopefully help me survive the teenage years. Throughout the book, Mogel offers a different viewpoint when looking at teenage behaviors such as talking back, breaking rules, or perhaps not quite making the grade. She has the reader look at these behaviors as normal steps into adulthood. You may be wondering, “Why in the world is she bringing this book up in a blog about New Zealand?” Well, when Ellis broke his arm, I was in the process of reading her book. I wondered what Ellis and I could learn from the experience and how we could look at it as a blessing. Here is what I came up with: Ellis may put a little more thought into what he climbs; children will get hurt, but they will survive; Just because I live in another country doesn’t mean we won’t have great doctors to take care of us; I have great friends all over the world; AND our trip to New Zealand had to be postponed to a more appealing time of year for me. Originally our trip was planned in September, over the children's school holiday. Because it is the end of winter there, the weather can be quite cold, rainy/icy. I would much rather experience the warmer conditions that we had in November. The kids were excited to miss a little school, too. The Blessing of a Broken Arm.

I heard that New Zealand was beautiful, but I really had no idea! We landed on Saturday literally in the mountains. Luckily, the pilot came over the intercom to say that we would be close to the mountains and that was perfectly normal. My children laughed at my fear as we went in for our landing. Queenstown (and I think New Zealand as a whole) is known for it’s thrill seeking adventure. That landing was about all the thrill seeking that I needed!

View from the plane

Queenstown

The view from our room as we sipped on Toffee Nut Latte and listened to Christmas music

I could not capture a good picture of the water in Queenstown. It was as blue as the waters of the Caribbean. BEAUTIFUL! This picture shows a trout swimming along the shoreline.

We spent our first full day touring Queenstown. We rode the Skyline Gondola before having some fun on the luge. The Gondola ride provided beautiful views, but brought on a bit of fear in Hannah Grace and me. Once at the top of the mountain, I was basically brought to my knees with the fear of falling off. Eventually, I was able to get my senses about me and enjoy the beauty. This particular day was the only day that we had rain. I can only imagine what it must be like on a clear, blue sky day!

View from the Gondola

My knees were a bit wobbly for this picture

The joke behind this picture: Tony and I started the track at the same time. He managed to get off his luge and get out the camera before I even made it down to the finish line.

Speed demons!

I'll just take my time. By the end of the ride, my arms ached from pulling so hard on the brakes!

After riding the gondola, you had to catch another lift to the luge ride. EEK!

There I go...just kidding!

On Monday, at the request of Hannah Grace, we went horseback riding. I was a little nervous because I knew Ellis could not afford to fall off the horse and hurt his arm. He was a pro, though! The scenery was incredible! At one point, I became a bit teary eyed taking in the beauty of New Zealand and wondering how I could be so lucky to be experiencing such a fabulous trip. Just as the tears welled up in my eyes, George (my horse) decided to steer away from the group in his own direction. Did I mention that I have zero experience with horses? The guides were saying, squeeze your left leg and pull the right reign. Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out my left and right. I got a good laugh, dried up my tears, and joined back in line with the group.

A little time in the Hot Springs Pool after the ride.

On Tuesday, we fit in a zipline trip before heading over to Te Anau for a tour of the glow worm caves. Hannah Grace loved the zip line and wants to bungee jump off the bridge when we go back to New Zealand. It looks like that was our first and last trip to New Zealand. J

The sun didn't allow for a great picture. I hope you can see the excitement on Ellis's face.

This is the gentle ride back to the starting point. My kind of ride!

Again, not a great picture because of the sun. Hannah Grace is on the left...UPSIDE DOWN AND BACKWARDS! I am on the right...about to wet my pants!

The sight in the glow worm caves was magnificent! I did not expect such spectacular waterfalls inside the cave! We walked through the carved out limestone to an area that housed a small john boat. There we boarded the boat with about eight others. Up until this point, the caves were illuminated with lights and people were chatting amongst each other. At this point the cave turned into complete darkness and we were asked to be silent. As you looked up at the ceiling of the cave, the glow worms were shining bright. It resembled a night sky lit up by stars. It was beautiful! At one point, Tony and I did get the giggles as we heard a noise that sounded like a possum. It is so hard to control your laughter when you are supposed to be silent! We later determined it must have been someone’s shoe squeaking on the floor of the boat. After a while, the darkness became a bit creepy and I was certain that bright doors were going to open and we were going to shoot down a large waterfall. Have I had too many trips to Disney?

Waterfalls inside the caves

Te Anau

We stayed the night in Te Anau before heading to Milford Sounds. Just the drive to Milford Sounds was breath taking! Again, we were lucky with the weather. It rains most days there (approximately 250 days of rain a year/ collecting 7-8 meters of rain). We were lucky enough to have blue skies and relatively warm weather. The pictures don’t even begin to adequately share the beauty, but you can get an idea. I decided to help drive on the ride back to Queenstown. Honestly, my arms were tired from grabbing the door, my seatbelt, and anything else I could get my hands on as we rounded the curves of the mountain. I thought driving might help my anxiety. At one point, when I was approaching a bend, a sign read “85” with arrows. In other words, slow down to 85 KM as you round the corner. I laughed out loud, “I’m supposed to SLOW DOWN to 85?!” I think I was going 70. Oh well, it was easier to take in the views at my pace!

Mirror Lakes: One of the beautiful stops on the way to Milford Sounds

Pictures from the boat:

Hmmm...could have been a great Christmas card!

Our trip came to an end too quickly. I loved every moment spent with my family laughing and taking in all the sights and adventure. I know it is a long way from the states, but I highly recommend you add a trip to New Zealand to your bucket list!

Saturday, 12 October 2013

School Holiday

Our two week school holiday began a little early with a trip to the emergency room with Ellis. So, our holiday may not have been what we expected, but we certainly tried to make the most of it! It took several days to get Ellis’s pain to a manageable level, so we had some “snuggle” days at first. After that, we played a lot of games, watched movies, and baked more cookies than we probably should have baked. Our trip to New Zealand was cancelled, but it was kind of nice to have some relaxing time at home. We did manage to find a few special things to fill our days.

The second Saturday of the holiday was Riverfire. This is a spectacular fireworks display that closes a three week festival in Brisbane.

We enjoyed having the Gelaude's join us for the firework show!

So, I cheated and captured this shot off of the TV.

The Gelaudes invited us to come along with them to the Koala Bushlands. In theory, this sounded great. How fun would it be to see a koala in the wild? When we pulled up to what seemed to be a deserted park, I began to second guess our decision to join them. Remember, Australia is home to 8 of the 10 deadliest snakes. Koalas hang out in trees. It is quite difficult to find a koala UP in a tree when I have my eyes glued DOWN at the road.

All that was missing was some banjo music.

This is the closest we came to seeing a koala. It isn't a koala.

We did spot this kookaburra.

I was determined to find something fun and exciting that we could do before the kids headed back to school. When the temperatures are in the upper 80’s and you have a child in a cast, this isn’t the easiest of tasks. Whale watching was what I decided upon. Due to our excursion with the kids last year, we all took medicine to keep from getting sick. I know this was a good idea, because this particular day was extremely rocky. You’ll notice the white caps on the water. The only problem with taking medicine is we all became very drowsy. I felt my eyes crossing, just trying to stay awake.

I just love having these two week breaks throughout the school year! We are back to reality, though. A week of school is behind us. Apparently, there are only 46 days until Christmas holiday. Oh dear.

Thursday, 19 September 2013

Hopefully the one and only hospital visit!

Ellis has always been a climber and a jumper. Always. I am surprised it took us 9 years, 4 months, and two days for our first hospital visit.

One of the things I look forward to each school day is our afternoon play. The parents gather around and chat about what we did or didn’t do that day. The children participate in various games, including Ellis’s favorite, Tiggy (tag). Wednesday, however, ended very differently.

I knew the minute I saw Ellis’s arm that it was broken. I felt my heart breaking right along with it. He bravely walked towards me, holding his arm so that it wouldn’t dangle from side to side. I gathered my arms around him, did a few 360 degree turns trying to decide which way I should go, before settling down in the dirt. I handed my phone to my friend, Bhanu, and told her to call 000. (I always wondered in a state of emergency if I would think to call 000 before 911. Now I know.) Meanwhile, Ellis is somewhere between a scream and a cry. For the amount of pain he was in, I am so proud of how well he kept it together. Although loud, it wasn’t ear piercing. As Bhanu is telling 000 our location, I feel my heart rate changing, my face starts to tingle and everything began to look light in color. Crap. I am going to faint. I manage to toss my bag towards the feet standing next to me and ask the person to get my water. After a few sips, I looked at Bhanu in desperation. The good multi-tasker that she is, she continues to talk to 000 and tells me to put my head between my knees. At this point, my head is pretty much next to Ellis’s. I calmly tell him that the doctors are on the way and will give him medicine for the pain. The good mama that I am then continues to tell him to try not to cry. I needed him to be brave for me. Yep, that’s right, brave for his mama that can hardly keep it together. Nice.

The ambulance arrived almost immediately. Simon and John were the medics that jumped right in and took care of my sweet baby. Seeing his arm, they immediately gave him some medicine to ease the pain. Thank goodness for IPhones and the ability to convert pounds to kilograms! Also, thank goodness Ellis knew his weight (Mama fail #2). One of the first questions: How did this happen? I didn’t know because I wasn’t watching (mama fail #3). Turns out, Ellis was climbing a fence that enclosed the bike rack, got his foot stuck in one of the links and fell. He tried to catch himself with his arm, but obviously that didn’t go very well. Later I asked how it felt after he fell and he said, “My arm was wobbling, disconnected, and itchy.” Yuck. Ellis was loaded on to a stretcher and then into the ambulance. At some point I removed my head between my knees and climbed into the ambulance with him. My saving grace was my sweet friend, Jen, who rode in the ambulance with me and guided me through all the questions in the ambulance and at the hospital. She told me later that John (the driver) drove extra slow to keep from disturbing Ellis’s arm on any bumps or turns.

We arrived at Mater Children’s Hospital to an incredible team! I just can’t say enough about them! I wish I could remember all of their names and would love to be able to thank each one of them! There was an Irish nurse that made me laugh, Sophie, Kirsten, Meghan, and some I never met because my head was between my knees. My friend, Jen, is a nurse and she helped me so much when it came time to communicate with the doctors and nurses. I am sure they were thankful to have her there with me! She helped me comprehend and answer questions. She also accompanied Ellis into XRAY. Here we go, mama fail #4. I just cried in the waiting room while my friend sat with my son.

I could sense the urgency in the surgeon’s voice that Ellis needed to be operated on very quickly. He kept mentioning when Ellis heads into “theatre”. It didn’t take me long to realize that “theatre” meant surgery. I love that term so much more! Way to go Aussies! I guess it is quite a production! By the time Ellis was ready to head into theatre, Bhanu had joined Ellis, Jen, and me. Watching my baby being rolled back behind closed doors, in a foreign country, was gut wrenching. I hugged the nurse and then balled my eyes out. I do believe Bhanu’s shirt needs a good washing! We headed to the recovery room where Erica joined us. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful support group! It was here that I got great hugs from my dear friends, a few good laughs to pass the time, and phone calls from friends and FLUOR employees. I was surrounded by love and felt it! The doctor eventually came in to say that Ellis did well and lots of other things that I am sure my friends took good notes on. J

I met up with Ellis in Recovery. Goodness, what a trooper. I thought we would have our own room, but instead we shared it with 3 other families. Ellis and I settled in for the night. This is when my stench began to settle in. I had walked earlier in the morning, worked up at the school, done a few things around the house, but I had not showered. Yay. Luckily, I had Dove wipes in my bag to sponge bathe and the hospital had a toothbrush for me. I would like to say I was so exhausted that I went straight to sleep, but I didn’t. Between my overworked mind, my body odor, and the person (later identified as a woman) snoring across from me, I didn’t sleep.

The sun began to peek through and it was time to go home. We had to wait a bit for the doctor to release us, but I was glad he did! The nurse, Meghan, couldn’t have been more kind to us. She joked around with Ellis and even wheeled him out to the car. He was in such good hands! The rest of our day was spent resting. Well, rest until it came time to bathe Ellis. Good thing Tony was here. That may have to be another blog.

Many of you have asked, “But where was Hannah Grace?” Luckily, we have a friend (and one of Tony’s coworkers) that lives two doors down from us. I was able to call her and tell her what happened. Kelly met up with Hannah Grace, told her what happened, and kept an eye on her. After a while, she was picked up by her friend’s mom and stayed the night with her. The friend’s family fed her, packed her lunch for the next day, and got her to school. Friends are so good!

You may think it is odd that I took pictures of the days events. I think it helped keep me out of reality. The pictures of his arm were not taken by me because I couldn't look at it. What parent fail number are we up to???