Brandon did his first "moonlighting" shift last weekend - we drove out to rural Western Kansas (nearly to the Colorado border!), and he covered the hospital/clinic/nursing home/long-term care facility in a small town for five days. He saw patients in clinic Th/F/M, and he was the physician on-call for any patients who came into the ER, any time of day or night! The entire town was (much!) smaller than my high school...so thankfully he wasn't too busy, and we got to enjoy some time together as a family. Unfortunately, it was 50 and rainy most of the weekend, so we had to get a little creative to keep the kids busy (and there was maybe a little more tv-watching than normal). There was supposed to be a "Wind and Wheels" festival - kites and a car show - but it was cancelled because of the rain. Bummer :(
The first night we were there, Brandon got called into the hospital at some point after we went to bed. When he got back to the house around 2am, he discovered a naked Cora wondering around the kitchen. When she saw him, she exclaimed, "I took off my diaper and my jammies. I peed on the potty. I can't put my diaper back on!!" Ha! She must have woken up to use the potty, then been unsure where Mom was sleeping - thus the naked kitchen wandering. He helped her back into her diaper and jammies and back into bed.
Wrestling and Wild Kratts
The first night we were there, Brandon got called into the hospital at some point after we went to bed. When he got back to the house around 2am, he discovered a naked Cora wondering around the kitchen. When she saw him, she exclaimed, "I took off my diaper and my jammies. I peed on the potty. I can't put my diaper back on!!" Ha! She must have woken up to use the potty, then been unsure where Mom was sleeping - thus the naked kitchen wandering. He helped her back into her diaper and jammies and back into bed.
On Saturday morning, in an attempt to get out of the house, we decided to check out the town's library. It was located in a tiny brick building on Main Street and didn't look too impressive from the outside, but we were delighted to discover a wonderful children's section that made up nearly half the space! The kids had fun playing in the play kitchen, coloring, reading, and driving a pretend fire truck. There was also an impressive puppet collection.....but, for some reason, our kids continue to be terrified of puppets! Haha.
After naps on Saturday, there appeared to be a break in the rain, so we headed out to the park. It was chilly and windy (it's always windy in Kansas!!) and still kind of drizzly, so it didn't last too long. But the park was an impressive collection of new and very old-looking equipment scattered around a fairly large area.
Originally, we had been invited to dinner at the home of the hospital CEO on Sunday. Apparently she lives on a farm, and she invited the kids to come see the animals. But with all the rain, she had to call and cancel, because the roads were pretty messy and she didn't want us to get stuck. Since we hadn't planned on dinner at the house, we didn't have any food. We also discovered that none of the three restaurants in town are open on Sundays, haha! So we had to make due with burritos from the gas station for our last night in town.
After naps on Saturday, there appeared to be a break in the rain, so we headed out to the park. It was chilly and windy (it's always windy in Kansas!!) and still kind of drizzly, so it didn't last too long. But the park was an impressive collection of new and very old-looking equipment scattered around a fairly large area.
Wet and cold...but still smiling :)
Esther did pretty well with the driving portion of the travel - better than I expected. But, much like Cora at this age, she seems to prefer sleeping in her own bed. She had a rough time sleeping in the pack and play. And it was tough trying to keep the other two quiet while they were cooped up all weekend. We had a few naps cut short by loud siblings. But Esther is generally pretty laid back and she recovered pretty quickly.
On Sunday, we attended a community church service that was originally scheduled to coincide with the festival - nine different churches in the area did a joint service, which was nice. After naps on Sunday, the rain really did stop for a bit, so we attempted the park again. This time, the kids had a blast! We had to tear them away.
Originally, we had been invited to dinner at the home of the hospital CEO on Sunday. Apparently she lives on a farm, and she invited the kids to come see the animals. But with all the rain, she had to call and cancel, because the roads were pretty messy and she didn't want us to get stuck. Since we hadn't planned on dinner at the house, we didn't have any food. We also discovered that none of the three restaurants in town are open on Sundays, haha! So we had to make due with burritos from the gas station for our last night in town.
The kids and I left town mid-morning on Monday to make the long drive back to Wichita. Brandon had stay for one more day of clinic, and then he drove home late Monday night. It was a fun change of pace, and nice to spend so much "forced" time together. Hopefully, if we do it again, the weather will be a little nicer, so we aren't so cooped up.
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