The boys and I drove back from Lakeview on a Saturday, and met Ben at his parent's house in Portland for dinner and then to watch Levi's team in a playoff game for a State berth. They won the game...which meant we would be heading to Baker City (five hour road trip) on Thursday. Wednesday evening Josh started getting what seemed like a cold. Ben and I debated on what we should do, knowing that it was going to be somewhat difficult to have Josh at the tournament anyways--should I maybe just stay home with him? But we knew it would be a fun trip as a family, and we especially wanted to visit all the cool Oregon Trail stuff together. So, when Josh was a bit worse on Thursday morning, we still decided to all stay together. Josh's cold progressed throughout the car ride, and by game time that afternoon, he had a fever. Ugh.
Levi's team won the first game, and sick kid or not, we were so thankful that we got to be there! Levi played excellent, and he even dunked it! Later that night, Ben and the big boys headed back to the gym to watch another game, and I stayed at the hotel with Josh, hoping that with some Tylenol and sleep, he'd feel better in the morning. Nope. First vomit came around 8:00. Second, 8:30. Third, 9:00. Thankfully, that was all. But, what were we supposed to do? Should we pack up our family and head home right then, hoping that we'd make it home by the time it hit the rest of us? Would we be spending the next two days in a hotel room, all with the stomach flu? I'll never forget Ben and I sitting across from each other in the room, weighing our options, all of which seemed like losing. See, not only was Josh sick, but Levi's entire basketball team, except himself and one other player, had all had the stomach flu that week. Ben's mom had had the stomach flu as well. It was all around us! Not the greatest time to be in a hotel room as a family of five, 300 miles from home.
We decided to stay and we learned some really valuable lessons through it all. First, don't make decisions based on fear of what might happen. Thankfully, no one else in our family got sick; if we would have gone home based on maybe getting sick, we would have missed out on some great experiences! Second, even if your situation is less than ideal (i.e. having a really sick kid away from home), you'll still come home with great memories and want to continue traveling. Third, essential oils are amazing; I'm convinced that they helped keep the rest of us from getting sick while all sharing a hotel room! And finally, sick kid or not, sleeping in a hotel, in a room right by the stairs, with a basketball team staying above you, is miserable. We seriously had three of the worst nights sleep...ever. Night one: stay up all night wondering if everyone is getting the stomach flu. Night two: get woken up every 10 minutes by Josh, who ended up with the full blown influenza, which meant he still had a fever, but now it was coupled by a horrible cough. Night three: be so exhausted that you throw in the towel and simply sleep on the toddler-sized air mattress with Josh (and compared to the other two night categorize it as a "good" night.)
Alright, enough complaining about the sickness part of our Baker City trip. There were some really great highlights! On Friday morning, we all headed to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center for a couple hours. It was such a cool museum and since reading the Little House on the Prairie books, the twins have really been into this time period in American history. Jeff and Diane went with us as well, and we had a really great time. Friday afternoon was Levi's second game, and they won that game too...which meant that they got to play for the championship game on Saturday night!
Saturday was characterized by a lot of tiredness on Ben and I's part (would you believe that the twins slept through every night despite Josh's coughing!?). I took the morning shift with the kids, letting Ben sleep in. We went to Jeff and Diane's trailer to eat breakfast, hang out, and then got to do what was probably the best possible thing for Josh's congestion: hot tub! Ben took the afternoon shift and let me take a long nap. He drove the boy's to Sumpter, a small town in the mountains and let the kids play in some snow. They also stopped back by the museum and this time got to visit the actual ruts made by the wagons of the Oregon Trail.
Saturday night, unfortunately, brought more sickness drama to our lives. A couple hours before the championship game, Levi started vomiting. What a horrible time for the stomach flu to hit! Amazingly, after nine vomits, he headed to the gym, presumably just to watch; however, by half time, he decided to dress down and ended up playing quite a few minutes in the second half. He was a great spark for the team, scoring 9 points. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and his team lost. We were so proud of Levi! He received second team all-tournament and played all his games with drive, integrity, character and passion. It was a real treat to watch him and his team!
Whew, I get tired just thinking about those four days in Baker City! What a physically and emotionally intense time. But, we wouldn't trade it for the world! I was thankful to finally get the "Baker City" experience, something that Ben had grown up doing as a child Seth and Sam's age, and then as a high school player (he still has strangers stop him and tell him that they remember his 48 point game at Baker City!). I was thankful that the twins got to experience the whole State Tournament atmosphere. They are still playing basketball every day, complete with warm-ups, clothing changes, stretching, announcements, four quarters, etc. I believe that watching those types of things as a child help give kids a drive to compete and be excellent. We will always remember this trip...for better or for worse!
Here's Ellie, Seth and Sam cheering for Levi at his play-off game
On our trip over the gorge we made a quick stop at Multnomah Falls and I walked to boys up to the observatory deck. It was fun to show them where Ben and I got engaged!
All loaded up on the drive. I'm still trying to figure out this "selfie" thing. Why doesn't everyone else always look as awkward as me?
Unfortunately I didn't have my zoom lens, but in the distance of this photo you can see a herd of big-horn sheep. When we saw them, Ben pulled right over on I-84 to let boys try to get a closer look.
Trying to get a good view of the sheep
Watching them run away
The sick boy himself
Josh and Sammy at Levi's first game. Josh looks pretty proud to be hanging with his brother.
Part of Levi's #1 fan club
Here's our visit to the museum
Grandma is so fun at places like this! She always rouses the boys' curiosity and helps them learn.
Seth and Josh
A trooper at the museum
We all loved the museum. This buffalo was amazing! Sam loved it!
Getting ready to load up the wagon. There was tons of "hands on" things for the kids to do!
Playing with puppets
I love Seth's face in this one:
We ate a restaurant that claims it has "Oregon's Biggest Pizza". They may have been right. Ben's giving me a "fat face" here:
It was so fun to watch these three men cheer on their youngest brother!
They indulged me in a picture
After the championship game; Levi with his medal for second team all-tourney
A sweet moment with Ben letting Levi know how proud he was of him!
Our final morning before leaving Baker City we had to eat at Sumpter Junction restaurant for breakfast. My parents insisted we eat there because there is a train that travels throughout the restaurant...it even goes right past your seat! The kids loved it!!
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