In Which Papi Breaks His Hip, We Travel to California, and the Fourth of July is Celebrated

For the Fourth of July, my family decided to go to San Diego and meet up with my cousins who have a timeshare condo there. My sister Amanda and her husband Alex were driving up from Texas, and it was going to be one of those increasingly rare times where my whole immediate family (minus Brandon) would be together.

My dad broke his hip cycling up Hobble Creek canyon about a week before the trip, and our family get-together was thrown into a crisis. Syd and I had already bought our plane tickets, and Alex and Amanda had already started their long trek over to California. 

I want to take a moment here and talk about my amazing freak of a father. He was cycling up the canyon when he skidded on some gravel and slammed into the pavement. Since his foot was locked in the pedal his leg wasn't able to move with the fall and that's what broke his hip. At first he thought he had just dislocated it. He tried calling my brother for help, but didn't have any service, so he got back on his bike and biked ALL THE WAY BACK HOME.

But the story doesn't end there. After getting home, since everyone was still asleep, he dug some crutches out of the front closet, went downstairs and tried to pop his hip back into place by himself. 

Only when that didn't seem to be working did he wake up my mom and asked her to drive him to the hospital to have it checked out.

He jokingly told the X-ray tech he wasn't allowed to tell him if it was broken. After the X-ray, the tech came back and when questioned by my dad, said "I'm not allowed to talk to you about this."

It turns out he needed immediate surgery. For awhile they were considering giving him a hip replacement, but decided to try pinning his bones back together first. He might need a hip replacement in the future, but they won't be able to tell for a few more months if the injury cut off blood supply and killed any bone. 

My dad is an awesome freak of nature. He went back to work the day after the surgery and was determined to go to California. Luckily the doctor said he could, as long as he got out every couple of hours to walk around on his crutches and stretch it out, though he wasn't allowed to put any weight on it for 6 months. I was just relieved he was going to be able to go, since this was to be the only time I would be able to see him. He came later, with John and Aly. 

So, we all met up in California for a few days and spent the Fourth with my cousins. 

It was perfect.

We were a little concerned how all of us were going to fit in a two bedroom condo, but we managed surprising well, with my parents in one bed and my youngest brothers on the floor, and then Amanda and Alex on an air mattress my uncle bought for the occasion, and Autumn on the couch, and Caleb on a cot (also brought over by my uncle) and Aly and John on a cabinet fold-down bed in the living room, and Syd and I in the other bedroom in twin beds, and Oliver in the closet in his playcrib.

Oliver fell off the bed for the first time while we were there. He had woken up rather early, and I was nursing him and (I guess) fell asleep. The next thing I knew there was a loud thunk (which jolted me awake) and then Oliver was crying. I felt so bad. He hasn't slept with me since then. To this day, I still occasionally jolt awake scrambling for Oliver, terrified he's falling again, only to realize it's just a bad dream.

I was lamentably remiss in taking photos of this trip, and I regret it. My phone has become my camera, and it was rather full and unable to accommadate much photo-taking. Luckily, I have awesome siblings who take epic photos (much better than mine) and then share them with me.

Family in Portland (June)

In early June, my gorgeous sister Sydnee and two of my younger brothers flew out for a visit. Jeremiah and Corban stayed for two weeks, and Syd for almost a month. Our apartment was a bit cramped, but perfectly so. I absolutely loved having them out here, and Oliver did too. Who could not love being doted upon night and day by adoring uncles and aunt?

Oliver and I (and sometimes Bran too) took them all over Portland and surrounding areas. We no longer had a car, so they got very good at taking public transit, and they loved it of course.

My maiden name, for those of you are unaware, is Gay. Hence this picture needed to happen.

We took them to the Rose Gardens, which were in full bloom while they were here, and went to the Portland Zoo the same day. Brandon could never remember ever going to the zoo, so we dragged him away from his studies to come with us.

Geez. Isn't she gorgeous?

Some days we just stayed home and relaxed. On one rainy day we made Totoro sugar cookies with the cookie cutters Bran got me for my birthday. 

There were a couple of places I wanted to take the siblings where public transit just wasn't feasible, so we rented a car a few times over the course of their stay. One of the prettiest places we went was Multnomah Falls.

                      

I brought the stroller with me (which in hindsight wasn't the best idea) so I couldn't really get much further than the bottom of the falls. Syd and the boys wanted to at least go to the bridge (that's them waving in the right corner) but then they decided they wanted to hike all the way up, so Oliver and I waited for them below and took shelter in the little gift shop and restaurant there.

                                                                         

Eventually Caleb flew out so he could get some time with us and help the boys fly back a couple days later (since Syd was going to stay a while longer with us on her own). One day when Caleb was here, we rented a van and drove out to the coast to see the Tillamook Cheese Factory and Cannon Beach. 

Poor Corban, who has never really had a problem with motion sickness before, got sick and threw up in the parking lot just  when we got there (luckily not in the car, but he got it all over his shirt). Syd bought him and herself matching shirts because she is an awewsome sister like that.

Oliver's first experience at the beach was a (somewhat) success. He LOVED playing in the water, but wanted to eat the sand, and when I took him out of the little puddle, he screamed pretty much non-stop for a half an hour, even when I tried putting him back into the water.

Even though I promise I put sunscreen on him, his face still got burnt. I felt SO. BAD, and like a terrible mother. It didn't seem to bother him much, but I made him drink a lot of water and nursed him more often than usual to try and keep him hydrated. We also contacted the doctor, and they said I should bring him in to get him checked out, just in case. So we did, and he was fine. But I immediately went online and bought a sunhat to prevent future sun exposure. 

#nobabysunburnonmywatcheveragain

After the brothers had left, we just had Sydnee for a little while and got her all to ourselves. It was so nice having her around! Oliver adores his Auntie Syd. I adore her too. She is an awesome sister and human being. She is little bubbling ball of warm light - it is impossible to be around her and not smile and feel happy. 

                          

 On one of her last days with us, we rented a car and took a trip to Seaside, and she used her fabulous photography skills to take awesome pictures of us, though not many because her camera was being lame and kept dying. 

                     

We have loved living so close to the coast. I can't wait until we have a car again and we can actually visit it on occasion. It was such a fun month for me and Oliver, and Brandon had a good time too, once his boards exam was over and he was able to take a little break from medical school. Hopefully we'll get another visit from the uncles and aunts soon! My sister Autumn has yet to come out...