Miracle Mayo Trip

So while we were in Rochester I stopped by the Mayo Clinic for a fantastic visit with my Doctors.

I'M TUMOR FREE!!

In fact, I've healed so well that I don't have to come back for five years!! FIVE YEARS!! When I left this time last year I was told that I would need annual check-ups for five years. Finding out that I don't have to go back until Addison is eight years old was so unexpected. Walking out of the office I think I was just as excited about my 5 years news as I was about being tumor free.

A highlight of the visit, was walking out of my appointment room and meeting up with my redhead buddy who helped me tremendously last Summer. He took one look at me (for the first time in a year) and remembered who I was. He asked, "SO?" It was so awesome to throw my arms up in the air and say, " No tumors!!!!" He jumped up off his seat and said, "Get outta here!!"

The calls back home were so much better than those I had to make last Summer. Pure joy!

I received instructions on what to watch for and if nothing comes up before then(which I KNOW it won't) , I'll see you in five years Rochester!!!

A month of travel . . .

. . . seriously. A month and really . . . . we're still going . . .

And so the marathon of postings begins with this:

Mind you, this post is nothing thrilling - not even close; but I think it's important to catch you up on the amount of travel that was done in three days. . . . WITH a three year old.

Sean, Addison and I left on a Monday and drove to Anchorage.

It should've been about a 6 hour drive (But it wasn't. We had about 11,789 potty breaks. Little girl = little bladder, apparently). And if you take into account the two hour nap Addison SHOULD have had, I would've only needed to entertain her for four hours. (Mind you, we do not do cartoons or tv in the car despite the tv in the headrest right in front of Addison's carseat).

Well, this girl had other plans . . . . She was like this:

for the entire drive. Wide awake - but happy.

So I figured since she kept busy coloring and reading she'd go to bed early that night.

Not so much.

We got to Nana & Papadopolis' house and she was wired. It took forever for her to get to sleep. Once she did, it was only four hours before we had to wake up and be at the airport.

So Sean dropped Addison & I off at the airport where we met up with Monka.

To recap:

It's Tuesday.

We're at the airport.

No nap the previous day.

Only four hours of sleep.

Lovely.

Even though Addison is potty trained and we rarely ever have accidents I put her in a pull-up; because she should've fallen right to sleep on the plane; right?

Nope.

Two flights - 11 hours of travel - and she only took two naps lasting 20 minutes each.

The naps, of course, took place during the plane's decent. Do I even have to tell you about the crying that took place when her ears wouldn't pop because she was asleep and, oh yeah, exhausted? Yeah, didn't think so.

This all takes place while the man in front of us is having a SERIOUS medical emergency. We land in Minneapolis with fire trucks and ambulances waiting. Thankfully, the gentleman was in much better shape by the time the medics took him off of the plane.

So . . . . where was I?

Oh yeah, so Addison, my Mom & I land in Minneapolis.

The upside: even though she was put in a pull-up she did not regress. The thing stayed dry. Which means all of the time I spent stressing about whether or not to put her in a pull-up was for nothing.

So we (and when I say, "we" I mean Monka) retrieve our mountain of luggage haul that and the carseat to the rental car desk - because we are not done with traveling. We still have a hour and a half drive to Rochester.

Without dinner we get about 10 minutes from the airport and it's time for a potty break. Nice.

So after a drive FULL of potty breaks we get about 15 minutes outside of Rochester and Addison crashes. She's completely out.

We pull up to our hotel in downtown and the bellman removes our luggage. All the while, Addison sleeps on my shoulder through the traffic noise. We went inside and checked in. She's still asleep. Get to the room. Yep, she's out. I put her on the bed, tipped the bellman look over and look what she's laying next to:

A pillow that says, Sweet Dreams.

That has to be a sign of things to come; right? I mean, what a fantastic way to get her adjusted to a new three hour time change?!?!

Ha.

Not even close.

She slept for another half hour, for a total of a hour and a half nap.

Then every possible stimulating thing took place, room service, fire alarm etc. . . .

She was wired again.

It took her over TWO hours to fall asleep - which was late for even our AK time zone.

Geez....

Oh. Did I tell you that I had to wake up at 3 am AK time to be at my first appointment the next day?

Two days down and one more day of travel to go . . . . yowsers.

So that morning she slept in.

Then the three of us walked to our favorite Rochester restaurant.

On the way the wind was blowing. Addison loved it.

After lunch we loaded back up and hit the road for Iowa. Should've been a four and a half drive; but it ended up taking us more like six and a half. Arg.

Addison didn't nap until the last half hour of the drive. Notice a pattern?

Lots and lots of miles and no sleep - But we made it.

Three days of nothing but travel.

My heart is filled with joy!

I can't tell you how happy this picture makes me:

Her first time using a baton.

She instinctively rolled it through her fingers.

My heart is filled with joy!

Dandelions

Dandelions were a HUGE hit with Addison, when they were just little yellow flowers.

Once we discovered that they turned into "blowie flowers," she had a new favorite.

One afternoon we had to get a large number of errands run in a very small amount of time. Every time we passed even a small patch of dandelions, Addison would happily yell, "Blowie Flowers!"

On the way home there was a large stretch of blowie flowers. So I turned our car off the road and we got out. Addison's face just lit up as she went from one flower to the next. After about ten minutes of playing I got my phone out to take pictures.

Check out that stance:

Cars passed us and honked their horns and waved. She'd jump up and down and wave back, all the while holding her blowie flower up in the air.

Then it was time to dance.

She was giving it her all

Oh, it just doesn't get cuter than this!

Best way to end a frantic errand-running- mission.

Little Hike

Ireland led the way . . .

. . . and the rest of us followed him through Dock Point Trail.

At the mention of bears my girl froze. It took quite awhile to get her moving again. I had no idea that she was that concerned about them. Given the number of bears that live in our neighborhood, its a good thing.

So when she wasn't sliding down the hill or rolling down the rock steps, she was busy looking at her surroundings.

She loved the small wildflowers we found along the way.

The bridges were also a big hit with her.

Ireland was so sweet. He'd run back to ask if we were ok.

Then he'd zoom back up the trail.

We had to stop and check on the beach once we were done with the trail.

She found a nice clam shell thanks to the tide going out.

She wanted to know why the ocean was "going down the drain."

This little guy joined us too. Archer spent his time in his pack with his Momma. Isn't he just adorable!?

After an exchange of dandelions and an argument over the breaking of the stems (turns out these kids ARE three) They hugged and said good-bye with plans to reunite after our vacation.

Sweet, sweet kids.

Major Girls came to play!

Hailey and Addison were upstairs playing and it got quiet.

I went up to check and found them in my make up. Lipstick as eyeliner - not a look that will catch on; but let me tell you if anyone an pull it off it's these two!

The second silence triggered another check - this time I brought my camera. They were pretending to go to sleep.

Empty the toys and play with the buckets. Yep. That sounds about right.

One was a tight fit in the bucket . . . I don't know how well two will work . . . Silly girls!

Now . . . Where's Whitney??

WHAT are you watching little girl??!!

Salmonberries

Oh the anticipation is running high as we do daily checks on our salmonberries.

And I have no idea what those berries are called; but we call them Bird Berries. After explaining to Addison how we do not eat these berries she has re-named them: Sick Berries.

Now we check on those daily too.

Minnie Mouse & Pluto

Chalk

All the outside toys in the world cannot compare with chalk. Addison loves to decorate our entire driveway with her art.

I drew a picture of Addison and she finished the mural by adding, Tudie, Mommy, Daddy, Hailey, Shannon, Rachael, Monka & Ireland.

Our driveway was full of all kinds of important people. With more to come . . .

Uncle Clint

Clint stopped in town for a night

After waking up from her nap,

she was very excited to see her Uncle.

What a cute pair!