Vacation Day 3 - The Beach! (Eventually, Anyway)

Saturday morning we tried the hotel breakfast (as usual) but (as usual) found it a bit lacking.  There is something about the eggs that most of these places use that Jacob just doesn't like (powdered?), which is a bummer because that's usually one of the few things he can eat.  So, off we went in search of something better closer to the beach.  But first we made another stop at one of the outlet malls along the strip, this time for Adidas.  We found Jacob a new lunch bag, so that was helpful at least.  

We went to a little cafe right near where the final stretch toward the beach area starts, where Jacob was able to get a gluten-free waffle and a muffin.  He really liked his waffle and it's always nice to get him something new and different!  The plan after that was to go to the beach for a few hours, snack from the boardwalk, and then get dinner from a place nearby that had gluten-free fried chicken.  Well...that didn't work out as planned because the parking down by the beach was INSANE.  We drove around for probably 45 minutes with zero luck.  There aren't really a lot of big public lots in Rehoboth Beach.  Most of the parking is metered on the street (though there is a good amount of that, but clearly not enough) or you have to get some sort of other parking permit from a special office that I think is a longer term one.  We checked seemingly every street and drove around the main area so many times.  One time we thought we had one, but the guy next to us went through a red light just as it began to turn green in order to get ahead of us and snag the spot.  It was brutal.  I was SO annoyed by that point and almost convinced we'd never make it to the beach.  It was already getting toward mid-afternoon by this point and we were so frustrated.  We made the decision to go back to the commercial strip, make another stop at Nike for Jacob, since he'd thought through what he had seen the previous day, then go to the chicken place for a late lunch.  Then we'd try to go back to the beach in the late afternoon when hopefully people were starting to leave.

The chicken place ended up being really good.  It was--once again--a bit of a wait, but it was worth it.  It's sort of funny, though, because Jacob had no idea how to eat bone-in chicken because gluten-free fried chicken is so rare.  He usually complains when I have anything bone-in at home aside from a rotisserie chicken, but he loves real fried chicken.  He just chomped on pieces randomly and hit bone a few times before he started to get the hang of it.  Craig had a grilled chicken sandwich, I had a fried chicken sandwich (it was supposed to be spicy but wasn't, but it was still good), and Carter had tenders.  The fries were basic crinkles but were SO good--perfectly done and salted.  It was so good we decided we'd probably go to the other location on our way out of town the next day, too!

Back to the beach we went, and this time we probably only drove for about 20 minutes before finding a lot we hadn't seen before, tucked behind a hotel.  There were spots with "reserved" signs but they were only for weekdays, so that might have thrown people off.  We snagged probably one of the only spots there...thank goodness.  But what a pain!  It was still about a 15-minute walk to the beach, but off we went with all of our stuff.  The bathroom situation before getting to the sand wasn't great--the women's room line was eternal and there were cheaters (who kept trying to use the exit door for the same group of stalls), so that was yet another exercise in patience.  We finally hit the sand around 4:45, which wasn't ideal but it also wasn't as hot or busy by then, so it worked out. 

The beach was really nice.  Very soft sand and not many shells or rocks on the main beach at all.  The water was a different story, but it was still light years better than what we're used to on the Great Lakes beaches.  It wasn't too bad to walk on most of the time, but the waves came in so strongly that it displaced a lot of sand every time, and inevitably it would either expose some shells or knock some into your ankles.  I was excited for a beach to find some treasures (unlike Punta Cana), but it was definitely an interesting experience.

The boys went to check out the water first while I stayed with our stuff.  Normally I take a blissed and happy selfie.  This one was a bit more reserved.  I was relieved we were there but still pretty annoyed.

The water was chilly, but when it was my turn to go down, I tried to hop right in.  It made me cringe for a few seconds, but I managed.  The boys questioned it since I hate when the pool is cold, but the beach is so different and so rare that I had to try to embrace it while we were there.  And once you were wet, it wasn't as bad unless you took a break, at which point it got cold again.  As I said, there were a lot of shells and rocks near the shoreline depending on how the water came in, but the waves were so relentless that you could barely grab anything that became visible before the next wave came through and overtook everything.  That didn't stop Carter and me from trying to grab whatever we could, and we ended up with a pretty significant group of oyster shells along with a few other cool ones.  The waves were pretty big, though, so it was tough to do much.  You could feel the undertow when the waves came in so it definitely wasn't anything I wanted to mess around with too much.  I pretty much only went in a little past my waist, though I got splashed higher.

You can see in this video how constant they were.  They were also bigger than they looked.  You can sort of see how the rocks and shells moved in with the waves.

As usual we did a lot of building, but first Carter got his legs buried.

It was rapidly becoming the golden hour, and I couldn't resist taking this shot with the long shadow.

This video attempted to capture the cool ripples in the sand and water as the waves moved back out.  I don't know if it was the angle of the sun or something about the beach, because it didn't happen every wave, but it looked really cool in person. 

 

It was a really nice day, though, and I was so happy we finally got our beach time, even if it was short lived.  

I panicked a little bit at one point because the lifeguards started whistling everyone out of the water.  I realized pretty quickly that it was 5:30 and apparently that's the end of their shift.  I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but it seemed to mean everyone "pretends" to get out and then continues on their merry way once they're gone.  

We took a few final pictures of the excavation and attempt at a castle...

So deep!

Hard to see, but there's a couple castle towers (only one that fully stayed up), a wall, and some roads and trenches (and maybe a moat that was never filled?)

Had to get one selfie for the road to add to our collection!

We wrapped up on the beach and headed up to the boardwalk.  I wanted to take a quick look at the amusement park before we headed out.  I didn't expect to ride anything based on what I had researched, but I just wanted to see it. 

The inside was kind of crazy chaos--lots of games and some kiddie rides right as you walked in.

I thought this was such a "summer" shot.

Of course Jacob wanted to take on the basketball game, and he did hit enough to get a mini basketball that will likely end up as one of our pool balls.

We started to head back to the van, and I got one more shot of the dunes.

And I thought this hazy sunset shot with the Rehoboth Beach water tower was a lovely way to end it.

We stopped at an Auntie Anne's along the walk because we had promised Carter a pretzel and he hadn't gotten one yet.  I had been hoping for a Rita's ice with custard, but alas, timing never quite worked out.  We headed off to Chick-fil-A for dinner.  We just took it to go, because it was getting later and we had a long drive ahead back to the hotel.  Jacob also wanted to stop at this sports facility about halfway back along our route because he needed to get some shots up.  He is all-in on basketball now so shooting was a priority for him the entire trip.  We stopped there for maybe 20 minutes while he shot in the dark before heading back to the hotel for the night.  I spent the rest of the night booking the rest of our trip, since I hadn't really done that yet--I had to get tickets for Monday's activity and book our Sunday night hotel.  With that done, I was able to sleep in peace and rest up for another busy day Sunday!

Vacation Day 2 - Patience is Virtue

We slept in a bit on Friday, as long as we could to still make the hotel breakfast.  It wasn't that great, though, especially for Jacob, so we planned to stop at Starbucks as usual.  Before we left, Jacob, Craig, and eventually Carter took advantage of the basketball court at the hotel. 

View from our room

Craig's POV

We packed up and stopped at Starbucks, mostly for egg bites for Jacob.  Carter got a racoon cake pop!

We stopped at a Wawa to get gas, and of course a pretzel was high on my list.  They're so good!  After a longer wait than would have been ideal, we finally, officially got on the road around 11:30.  Unfortunately, everything just seemed to be a slow go.  We kept hitting traffic and it started to get really frustrating because we were already running later than planned.  Along the way we struggled to find a good gluten-free lunch spot, but finally found one outside Philly in Conshohocken.  It was a cute little cafe nestled in a business district.  Jacob got a grilled cheese (he liked it but found it greasy--clearly he's not used to real cheese!), Carter had a pizza, I had a tasty chicken sandwich, and Craig had a salad.  Everything was good and it was nice to get a break from all of our usual chains, even if it once again took longer than planned.  

We moved on south toward Delaware, still dealing with lots of traffic.  We did cross this amazing bridge.

We saw Wilmington from afar and later passed Dover Air Force Base, which had some interesting sights--lots of housing and some big planes.  Finally, at long last, made it to the hotel.  It was over a half hour away from the beach, but it was decent and it's mere existence got us there, right?  We stopped in long enough to drop everything off and then had to grab some dinner before heading to the beach.  We once again struggled to find a place.  We decided on Chipotle on the main strip before you hit the beach area, but it was the absolute grossest Chipotle we'd ever seen.  I'm sure they were getting through the dinner rush and were likely understaffed, but it was awful.  Every table was dirty, every garbage can was overflowing, the juices were almost empty, and there was still a long line.  We pretty quickly decided that wasn't a great option and walked across the parking lot to Mission BBQ.  It's a chain that we actually have here in Rochester but have never been to.  Turns out it's not a bad option for Jacob.  I honestly wasn't that hungry and just didn't want BBQ so I had a side of mac and cheese and ate a bunch of Jacob's fries, which were really good.  The boys both got giant racks of ribs! 

I guess everything was really good, and it's good to know there's another place here that works for us!  As if it didn't take us long enough to get to the beach, we delayed it even further because Jacob really wanted to go to the Nike outlet.  In all we ended up there three times over the weekend for various reasons, but I did get a super nice pair of sneakers for walking for cheaper than the Brooks I was trying to convince myself to buy.  I haven't bought new sneakers for an athletic purpose in a really long time and it was badly needed, so I was glad to find something.

Finally it was on to the boardwalk just as it was getting dark.  We found a spot to park away from the busiest area but very close to the boardwalk, and started our stoll to get the lay of the land.  This boardwalk was not what I was expecting.  The main area was actually pretty small, and most of it was full of hotels.  Much like the Jersey Shore, they are pretty typical motels--some look nicer but most are probably of the two star variety, except that they have been dolled up a bit (nice outside, balconies, fancy lighting) and are so incredibly expensive because of their location.  We laughed that you can get a Disney hotel for far cheaper than a lot of those.  There were a few shops and food places along the boardwalk, but very little entertainment.  There was a small amusement park just past where we ended up walking to that night, and two arcade locations, but not much else that was particularly kid-friendly.  There was, however, a long stretch of road perpendicular to the boardwalk that had the rest of the shops (some very high end) and food places.  It went down pretty far so there was a lot there, but I was annoyed that it wasn't near the water the whole time like Ocean City, and the lack of family activities really had me bummed.  Most of those things seemed to be on the major commercial strip heading into town, rather than near the beach.  It was so weird.
 

One of the many pretty but overpriced hotels near the boardwalk

Jacob was eager to run in the sand, even though it was dark.

There was a concert in the big gazebo at the end of the road near the boardwalk.  The mood was nice and chill there, I'll say that.

We walked up the road a good way and mostly window shopped.  We did go in a giant candy store.  They had some fun statues out front.

There were a few cute side streets branching off from the main drag, and this one, Penny Lane, was so picturesque.  We did stop in a toy store in this area.

Here's a closer look at the concert gazebo from the back.  A Beach Boys cover band was playing, and I'm guessing they were the source of the old school vehicle in the foreground.

This was maybe my favorite iconic view--a fry joint, a taffy/caramel corn place, and a Kohr Bros. custard stand, which is an Ocean City classic as well.  We did get caramel corn and taffy from that Dolles place.

We decided to wrap it up for the night and headed back to the van.  It was a long 30+ minute drive back to the hotel, which was not ideal in the dark.  But we made it and gladly crashed after a very long day.  I was relieved we finally made it to the boardwalk, but man, that day took some patience.  It just seemed like everything took far longer than expected, and with a very short trip as it was, it had me a bit on edge because I wanted to get the full experience while we were there.  The next day wasn't much better on that front, unfortunately, but we did have a couple wins.

Vacation Day 1 - Not the Start We Wanted

When I left off my last post, we had decided on Wednesday to leave for a trip on Thursday.  We had a rough plan in mind--we knew the beginning and the end, but the middle was the messy part.  We had been trying to go to the Jersey Shore, but Ocean City hotels were so expensive.  Even Atlantic City was iffy, and I think we just didn't have enough time or energy to research other possible areas that might have worked.  Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, came up up in the conversation, as well.  That was where Craig and Jacob went with Craig's family when Jacob was three.  I didn't go mostly due to work and general mommy exhaustion at the time.  Our nephew was supposed to play in a baseball tournament that ended up getting canceled, and they just decided to make a week of it in the house they'd rented.  They stopped in Gettysburg along the way, and that's when Jacob flopped off the bed late at night and gashed his face on the nightstand.  The rest of the trip continued on to Rehoboth Beach but Jacob couldn't go in the ocean or a pool.  I'd heard bits and pieces from that trip and they seemed to like it, so it was something to consider.  I didn't love the distance as it wasn't particularly convenient to one of the other planned parts of the trip, and it wasn't much cheaper, but while I was working Wednesday the boys found a decent option.  I didn't have much time to look deeply into it while I was experiencing virtual reality for the first time (SO cool) or listening to a prominent donor speak (insightful) or having a fun working lunch at my work retreat day, so I took a quick look and made sure the basics were OK, and let Craig book it.  Of course, after a long day that meant a lot of planning and packing to do.  Oh, and did I mention that night was a middle school new parent meeting for Carter AND I was dealing with a lot of head/neck tension, as seems to be a weird post-COVID symptom for me.  I had it for weeks last year, but this year it's more sporadic.  It was driving me nuts that day, though.  Could be stress?  So after all of that, I rushed through as much packing as I could muster that night.

I knew I needed to be productive in the morning but I ended up waking up so tired that I laid in bed for longer than I wanted to.  We were planning on leaving shortly after lunch and I had a lot to cram in.  I finished packing clothes, then did toiletries as we finished getting ready, and then started in on all of the other stuff--beach things, travel snacks, etc.  I also tried to get in some work because I was on a tight timeline for a few things, and now here I was taking off three work days on a few hours' notice.  So I worked through some emails, wrote a letter and sent it off for approval, and finally called it good in between my and the boys' lunches and last-minute packing.  

In the middle of all of that, Jacob casually mentioned that the symptoms he had that brought on a pediatrician visit and urinalysis for a UTI the previous weekend were still there, and now he had testicle pain.  Like...what now?  It didn't seem terrible (it wasn't a sharp, constant pain, at least) but in my brain I was wondering if it was possible the UTI just wasn't strong enough previously and now would be.  And then Craig found an article about epididymitis, which is an infection of the tube semen travels through, and that actually sounded really plausible.  Since we were headed out of town I wondered if his doctor would just assume it was some sort of infection and just send along antibiotics sight unseen, so I called and left a message for the nurse.  When she called back we were about 15 minutes from home and she said she wouldn't wait to get him looked at.  Well, great.  

We decided to stop at an urgent care 30 minutes from home rather than turn back.  We figured if they could diagnose something, we could continue on and make it to the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs vs. Rochester Red Wings game we were aiming for in Allentown that night.  We might be late but it was still doable.  Well, the UTI test was still negative but the pain was concerning to them so they were still a bit worried it could be testicular torsion, which is usually a genetic thing that allows them to twist freely inside the body and can cause issues.  I didn't think it was that since we don't have a family history and he wasn't in excruciating pain, but they strongly suggested we go to the ER since it's a really time-sensitive thing that can cause testicular death, so to speak.  I resigned myself to the fact that the baseball game was probably not happening, and we headed off to the ER.  I got to be the parent this time, which was actually a first among all the times Jacob has gone.  Jacob says I ask better questions, so guess who's the default parent for his stuff now a lot of the time?  All of the horrors of the ER Craig and Jacob had shared previously turned out to be true--crowded halls of overflow patients, a motley crew of waiting room patients--it was uncomfortable, to say the least.  Oh, and there were a bunch of cops there when we arrived and I think it was because three idiot teenagers stole a car and ended up hitting and killing an elderly driver.  I don't know for sure they were there for that, but I feel like there would have been more chaos if the living criminals would have been brought in together while we were there.  

Luckily, because Jacob's case was time-sensitive, they put us in a room away from all of that chaos.  We hoped that meant it would be quick, but alas...if that was quick, I'd hate to be anyone else.  We probably ended up being there for about four hours.  Craig and Carter just killed time nearby, first at the UR bookstore, and later getting dinner (Carter ate his first full-size Chipotle burrito!) and Insomnia Cookies.  

We just waited a lot--through another urine test, through vitals, a couple provider visits, getting a roommate on the other side of the curtain who had stomach pains previously diagnosed as reflux, a long wait for an ultrasound, and another long wait to be transported back to the room and released.  We eventually started looking at my old blog posts of our various trips to Pittsburgh to compare seating locations and recall certain memories, which was sort of fun until we got transported back to our room.  Ultimately the ultrasound showed nothing of concern, so that was good.  It seems like epididymitis was the suspicion.  It seems it could have come through his previous week's mystery virus and just happened to settle there.  The bacterial cultures didn't show anything, so that seems likely.  Hopefully the symptoms will be gone within a couple weeks, so yet another viral waiting game begins.  This exhausting, brutal summer continues.  It seems now we can't go out of town without some sort of weird, last-minute medical emergency, three times over now.  What the heck?!

As a side note, the whole thing felt so surreal.  I mean, for one, I had already just sat with Jacob for an ultrasound the previous Tuesday, that one on his heart.  And then four days later he's getting another one, and on his scrotum, no less?  I mean...seriously.  What alternate universe am I living in, and how do I escape?  It just seems like one thing after another, after another, and I think I need brake.  And let me tell you, it is super awkward to be the mom of a kid with issues in that area.  I had to leave the room multiple times for questioning and exams, and then sit behind the curtain for the ultrasound itself.  It's not an area teenagers usually talk about with doctors or their mom present, and the whole thing just felt so awkward.  I have to say, Jacob handled it like a champ.  I hate that he's getting an early lesson in letting go of all shame (not sure I had that until childbirth), but he did well.

Once we were released, we grabbed a quick dinner of our own on our way out of town, about 50 minutes after the baseball game we wanted to go to (four hours away) had started (sob),  We headed toward Allentown to at least break up the trip and use our hotel room.  We didn't get there until after 1am, so that was rough, but Craig was a trooper and handled it like a champ.  I don't even think we stopped, actually, so that was quite a haul.  We were in bed by 2am, thankful to be on our way but a little bummed that we had already missed event #1 on this crazy trip.

Trying...and Failing

I've been trying for weeks now to figure out how to finish off our summer on a high note, and...it wasn't working.  I'll get more into that in a minute, but at least I got Carter to Seabreeze.  I decided last week to just take a random Thursday off because the weather would be nice, my work was in a holding pattern, and I just needed a day.  We had gotten two free tickets to Seabreeze through Jacob's brain study, and he was uninterested, so Carter and I needed to go.  I hadn't gone with Carter since 2018, and he was still too short back then for the Jack Rabbit or the toilet bowl water slide.  He's been back a couple times himself through camp or school, but for whatever reason it never worked out for him to go during either of those things.  It was time!

We were getting ready to go later that morning and I discovered that our tub drain was blocked.  Our sink had been running slow and I put some Drano down it that morning and grabbed our little drain hook that pulls out hair and gunk.  I got a good hunk and thought I finally got it cleared, so I moved on to the tub, which had periodically been running slow but seemed to right itself mid-shower most of the time.  I cleared a whole bunch of hair out of the drain apparatus and used the hook tool, but then I realized it was not draining at all.  Weird.  I hoped that when someone used the shower it would clear itself again, but after Craig left that morning I went back up and found a few inches of standing water.  That has never happened to me before.  I tried to use a sink plunger that sounded like it was working but didn't, and finally gave up and ran to Wegmans.  I got two bottles of Drano and a much-needed giant pack of tissues (Jacob had used all of ours thanks to another random virus thing).  Luckily, once I got home I realized the tub had cleared while I was gone, but I still dumped Drano down to be safe.  I don't know if the sink clog just moved down the line or what.  The sink can still be slow-ish, so I have no idea what's happening, but it's better.  And we now own a Tub Shroom for an extra layer of protection.

Off to Seabreeze we went.  We parked by the water park and headed in.  We looked around and decided it was time to conquer the Jack Rabbit!  As we walked past the Screaming Eagle, Carter saw our neighbor, who's a year younger than him.  Ten seconds later we walked by my co-worker's son, who's Jacob's age and was there with his soccer team.  Small world!  The Jack Rabbit line was very doable and of course Carter enjoyed it.  It's definitely not as exciting as what he's used to riding now, but it's still a fun one!  He passed 48 inches a while ago, but we still felt the picture was appropriate!

Next up we tried the newest ride, Windstarz.  It replaced the ride that had the rudders you could move like a sail to adjust your flying position.  This is similar in that you move a bar back and forth to sail higher or lower.

Waiting to ride!

It was fun--sort of like the kiddie airplane ride for adults, but a little jerkier so a bit more exciting!  

We wandered over to the other end of the main midway and hopped on the Music Express, which is always a good time.  He only squished me once!

Next up was the Bobsleds.  That might have been our longest ride wait of the day, maybe 20 minutes.  It's still such a cute little ride and I love it.  We were bummed we ended up in the Italy car instead of the USA or Jamaica car (I think they used to have Norway but it wasn't there), but it was a good ride.

We did a quick ride on Whirlwind, the spinning coaster, which was a lot of fun--it really sends you flying around!  Then we decided it was time for some lunch, so we settled on walking tacos, which were really good.  We had good meal time entertainment watching the midway games in action.  That balloon dart game is apparently a tough one!  We were just about ready for the water park, but before that was the log flume.  I've shared my general dislike of flumes here before.  This one just has a couple very small drops, almost like little dips into rapids, and then one big one.  But the big one is a pretty wet one!  I sat in the back and got a solidly wet shirt.  Nothing like the big ones, of course, but quite damp!  But it's a fun hill.  I just had to hope our waterpark locker baked it dry!
 

It was the perfect day for the water park.  It was hot but not too hot.  We started with Carter playing in the water gun area, and then we waited for the slide on the left in the picture below, which was new since my last visit.  It's a fun sit down slide--kid-friendly but exciting enough for adults.  Then it was time to brave the toilet bowl line.  It was long, almost all the way down the stairs, but it actually went quickly.  Based on a sign in the line I thought we'd be about a half hour but I think it was less.  I guess we had a good view throughout so it went fast enough, but it's the best slide there so it was worth it.  The initial slide down (also in the picture below) is so fast, and we had a blast in the bowl.  And of course, we went down backward into the pool!

We moved on to the two tube slides--one enclosed tube that we rode singly, and one swishy open slide we rode together.  Both of those were fast and fun.  After that was the racing slide.  This one might be my least favorite because it splashes you in the face in the tube too, not just as you're coming down the final slope and into the end channels.  You can see all three of those below.

Then it was on to the lazy river.  We always struggle to stay together in those, especially since I avoid most obstacles and Carter goes toward them, and then he just seems to move faster once we get past them.  After that it was on to the wave pool, which was in full wave mode when we got there.  We waded out about up to our waists and let the waves hit us, and I'm telling you, some of them were rough!  The last wave was especially giant and it totally knocked me right over!  I prefer wave pools with a tube, for sure!  

With that we wrapped up and headed back to change and do more rides.  Carter wanted to ride the teacups.  I can't spin so we went separately!  Ironically, he didn't want to go on the hot air balloons, which are the same ride but up in the air, because he said he spun too much last time he was there.  But he spun this one like a madman!  Go figure.  If I'm not spinning I actually like those better because you get a good view!

We rode the viking ship quickly, then grabbed another ride on the Whirlwind, this time in the backward seat.  It's definitely a different ride depending on whether you're in the front or the back--not just the lift hill (which is different) but also how and when you get swung around.  It was an intense ride.  I think the front ride was more enjoyable for me, but the back ride was crazier!

I debated long and hard about the Revolution 360.  Carter had never been on one, but the last time I did one--Fantasy Island in 2015--I got a bit motion sick.  But that was also in my ride lull period where I wasn't riding much and my brain might have been out of practice, so I was tempted to give it a shot.  I figured by that point in the day we'd ridding almost everything, so it was worth a try.  I regretted it for a moment once we were on, but in the end it wasn't bad.  It's a weird sensation, but it's also like a big swing and gives you some nice views.  By the end I was about ready for it to be over before I moved into icky territory, but I did pretty well and of course Carter liked it a lot!  I'm not sure if that means I'll try the one at Cedar Point that's a similar concept but does waves instead of the half pipe, since the constant up and down while spinning could be more intense, but it's food for thought.  I was proud of myself.  

We went back to ride the Screaming Eagle, which probably wasn't my best move right after the Revolution.  I really felt that one but I managed.  The hanging upside-down and backward swing was not my favorite.  After that we grabbed one more Jack Rabbit ride.  Carter really wanted to get fried dough before we left, so we headed over to the fried dough stand to scope things out.  I wasn't sure I wanted to battle a giant fried dough and messy sugar, and as much as I love those amusement park waffles I wasn't sure I was up for one of those either, so we took a chance and got the funnel cake fries.  They're like a funnel cake but in individual fry form.  We got a big bag and sat down on a bench to carefully eat them without dousing ourselves in sugar.  They were SO good.  They were just the perfect mix of crispy and pillowy.  We did a pretty good job but still had leftovers. 

We grabbed our wet clothes from the locker and headed out.  Carter decided he wanted to stop at the playground across the street, one of our favorites.  It's the one where we first went on one of the spinning swing things with three disc seats, and it has a cute nautical theme.  I was still feeling the effects of the Screaming Eagle, just a light headache and wanting to sit for a bit, but luckily some kid recruited Carter in a chase, so he was occupied for a while.  I helped him on the spinner to give him a few good swings, and eventually we headed out.  He really wanted to go to Abbott's across the way, so we topped off our funnel cake fries with ice cream!  I got a root beer float, and he got this crazy chocolate covered cookie sandwich!

It was such a nice night to sit out.  Of course, he decided he was still hungry on the way home so I grabbed him some KFC and just got myself a single chicken taco from Taco Bell to get something of substance in my stomach, too.  But what a fun day we had!

In other news, we've been back in high-level wildfire smoke so we've had some interesting skies lately.  I managed to capture three good sunsets in less than a week from the same mile of road. I caught the first one on a walk on Sunday.

Then I took a bike ride on Tuesday night and the sun was so red the entire time it was setting.  The phone camera never captures it right, but it was stunning.  I stopped in front of McDonald's up the road from where I was the last time to get this shot.

Then Thursday night on our way home the sun was amazing again, this time with clouds, so I took the long way home from Taco Bell to grab this one.

I had a couple rough days at the end of the week, still struggling with the kids' various ailments.  Something the dental hygienist said to me when I went on Thursday morning got me worried again about Carter's mouth, and Jacob was still having weird stuff happening.  I took him to the doctor on Wednesday because he was still feeling weird and was having neck pain in addition to all the weird viral symptoms he'd been having.  It was just time to go and get some peace of mind, and sure enough, the doctor said exactly what I said she would--it's probably a virus and if everything stuck around for another week or so, then maybe go back.  Of course, then he swore he was having some abdominal pain and a slight burning with urination, so he ended up back there over the weekend to get that checked too.  Negative, though.  We did get some good news that week because he finally had his cardiologist appointment.  They actually said that our pediatrician messed up a bit because the high blood pressure thing goes more through the kidney doctor (?) but his blood pressure was normal, as was the EKG and a cardiac ultrasound.  So, things seem to have eased up, whatever it was.  If we notice it creep up again, we can get a referral to nephrology, but for now at least that is fine.  And that gives me extra piece of mind that he's not at risk for any sudden cardiac events like you hear about teenagers having sometimes.  Now if all the other symptoms would disappear, that would be great.  I still think some of it is stress, but I don't think stress produces a swollen lymph node, so who knows.  It's just been a terrible run.  And I was just in the depths of it most of the weekend, worried about both kids and just confronting the fact that I'm exhausted and anxious and probably need to get help with that.  And if God forbid something is really wrong with one or both kids, I am totally screwed.  I have seen more than I'd like to of what cancer parents and chronic illness parents go through, and it absolutely terrifies me.  I just got caught in that muck for a few days (it took me days to come out of the worst of it but at least I'm just poking my head out and trying to be functional), so that wasn't my best weekend.

So, imagine the moment I walked out of Dollar Tree that Sunday after a quick burst of errands to see this:
    

 

It was so vivid.  We'd had wacky weather for a number of days at that point.  Fluctuating rain and sun, downpours, and then days of abnormally cool weather after it all, but this was quite the sight that evening.  It was so pretty and while I wanted it to be reassuring, I'm at a point where it felt a bit juvenile or something to consider it a sign that everything is going to be okay.  Rather, I probably should be seeing it as a reminder that God's always there even when I am struggling mightily and even if everything is going terribly wrong.  It was amazing to see, though.

My gardens are pretty much going to crap right on schedule--or maybe a bit early--but I have had a couple winners.  This new flower just popped out of my one random pot the other day and I just find it so lovely.

This pot is oddly thriving despite being swamped for days at a time half the summer.  The coleus and the celosia match better than I even planned!

My front planter is thriving, almost out of control.  My front zinnias are mostly pink and have been getting destroyed by birds (?) looking for seeds, but the little pot on the porch table has kicked out an orange and a yellow.  This one has been delighting me the last few days as it continues to kick out petals.

My garden seems to be dying off rapidly from fungus.  I had a zucchini growing, but I left it to grow bigger only to discover that the plant must be dying off and the zucchini was half rotted.  Darn it.  I did make a nice hibachi-style stir fry for myself out of the good half.  Cukes have slowed down, too, and my tomatoes are crap.  Hardly any this year.  Guessing it's the constant heat?  Boo.  So, with the gardens going to crap, it feels like just about that time for vacation, just like the last three years when we've gone around now and come back to just complete garden chaos or sudden death.  But I wasn't sure vacation was going to happen this time, despite our best efforts for a last-minute push.  We just seemed to keep running into issues.  I wanted to get Carter to Cedar Point during the last week of summer, even though Top Thrill 2 officially isn't reopening this summer, but that was also pretty much our only chance for family vacation because we had to work around my work retreat and a middle school parent meeting one Wednesday, middle school orientation the next, and Carter's dentist appointment (which feels important to keep on schedule given the mouth issues) a couple days later.  But we kept talking about options, finding only expensive hotel options, and sort of giving up for a bit.  And then there was a high school basketball complication--Jacob needing to make gym time in order to play fall ball--that made it seem almost impossible.  But while I was at my retreat on Wednesday, in between doing this amazing virtual reality experience and listening to a huge donor answer our questions, Craig texted me to say they wanted to get the vacation in.  So we started planning just a day ahead of leaving...but true to form this summer, that's not even close to the end of the drama of this story!  But that's plenty for another post, so stay tuned!