Canada and Covid

 Well, we wanted to go to Canada for a year to visit our dear friends that we made in Albuquerque.  My friend got pregnant again quickly after they moved back to Canada, so I wanted to wait until she had the baby.  So, the minute she did, I started to plan a time that we could go up there.  Finally, everything worked out and we took off for Canada the week before Thanksgiving.

What was meant to be a marvelous trip turned out to be absolutely miserable.  We did have a great time the first 24 hours we were there.

But then Joe said that his throat felt a little scratchy and he was pretty down and out for the next day.  Then, Quincey, who has never even had a runny nose woke up the next day and was just miserable.  She threw up twice and kept telling me that she wanted to go to sleep.  She felt so hot, so I took her temperature.  103.8.  Poor little princess but, as soon as she got some IBU in her system, she started to perk up.  It was so horrible seeing her that way and being so helpless.  Luckily, she was just super lethargic and didn't want to do anything.  It didn't seem like she was in a ton of pain.

We were even able to go to an amazing art studio before I got sick.  Quincey absolutely loved it!  And we also did a lot of playing in the snow.

But then, 24 hours later, 3 days into our trip, I woke up not feeling good at all and continued to deteriorate over the next 5 days.  I tried so hard to interact with our friends and not be a downer to others but I was in bad shape.  I can't remember the last time I was that sick.  I was throwing up too, I couldn't eat (I lost 5 pounds in 5 days) and my body ached so bad.  I also couldn't seem to get warm.  On the worst night, I took 8 baths throughout the night.  It was only when I was in the warm water that I had a small reprieve.  I was popping tylenol like crazy but they were not helping.  Tylenol has never helped me but we had to IBU except for Quincey's baby IBU and I didn't want to use hers.  Joe came out to the couch where I was sleeping and found me on my hands and knees just wailing.  I had the worst headache I have ever had in my life.  He encouraged me to take some of Quincey's IBU.  Within 30 minutes of taking it, my fever broke and I was able to get some sleep.  But, I just never did get better the whole trip.  

Finally, it was time to head back to the airport in Buffalo New York.  There had been a massive snowstorm and we weren't even sure if we would be able to fly out.  We stayed the night in Niagra Falls, Canada.  I did muster enough energy to go see the falls, but I was just so miserable.  I was trying so hard to be present and spend time with our friends.  

The next day we did make out flight out to Denver and then made the 6-hour drive home from there.  Again, sick as a dog!  It wasn't until we got back home that Joe and Quincey started to take a turn for the worse.  Quincey had a horrible cough, and you could tell she just wasn't feeling well again and the same for Joe.  

Finally, after being home for two days, my nose finally unplugged but I realized that I still couldn't smell and the day before I could taste my food but all the sudden I couldn't.  I took a covid test and, of course, I had covid.  As did the rest of my little family. 

 

So, we had to cancel thanksgiving with my dad which made me bawl like a baby and we hunkered down determined to get better before leaving for Mexico in 14 days.  It took us the full 14 days to get better and we still had coughs and congestion when we left for Mexico, but we were no longer contagious.

And, in the midst of it all, Quincey woke up from a nap bawling about her ear hurting.  We immediately took her to the urgent care here and sure enough, she had a bad ear infection.  Her first trip to the doctor for being sick.  And man, did she HATE the medicine.  It was a fight every morning and night to get her to take the stuff.  I had to plug her nose and hold her so she would swallow it.  She would gag and her eyes would water.  Poor little thing.  But we made it through!

It was NOT fun to get Covid.  It felt like nothing I have felt before.  I would not recommend it.

On Thanksgiving Day, I mustered up the energy to cook us a turkey.  It wasn't pretty but darn it!  I was determined to have thanksgiving dinner.  So, we laid in our nest we made in our living room (mattress on the floor so we could all just lay there for days) and ate thanksgiving dinner.  

It wasn't the Thanksgiving that we were planning but, we were together and on the mend.  We were thankful for that!

Random Fall Fun

 We have had lots of fun fall adventures this year.  

Auntie Grace recommended that we go squirrel hunting and boy, has Quincey loved that.  Her and her friend London love to grab their fake guns and roam around the block shooting fake squirrels.

We have loved our last days at the park before the snow hits and Quincey continues to absolutely love riding her bike everywhere although it is so small for her now.  She legit rides the thing like a crazy person tearing around corners and she will jump off of it while it's still going!  Crazy girl.

And we have also had some fun trips to the mountains before the roads closed.  Joe found out that the huge fish he caught was high in mercury so, although we could have eaten it still in smaller quantities, he decided that he wanted to take it to the mountains and set up a game camera to see if we could catch any wildlife around it.  I had great hopes of a big ol' bear eating our fish but the next week, we went up to find the fish buried in snow and hadn't been touched.  So, we dug it out of the snow and left it there; however, the roads closed shortly after so we would have to wait until spring to see if we got any good footage.  But we had a great time going to the mountains.  

And, we went to the local pumpkin patch.  We had a good time gutting them and I was quite proud of the pumpkin seeds I made.  I had never done it before but I made three different flavors that turned out awesome!  The best was probably the curry flavored ones.  A lot of people say that they can't seem to get them to crisp up but our were excellent and had just enough crisp.  Quincey even loved them!

Quincey and Her Best Buddy London

 Quincey has befriended the little girl that lives across the street.  Her name is London and she is the sweetest little thing.  She is 5 years old but Quincey and her still enjoy playing together.  London comes over often and hangs out with us.  It's been very nice to have a neighbor that Quincey can play with!  And even better that London is patient with her and understand that there is an age difference between the two of them.

Fall Fun

 For the first time since I can remember, Fall in Wyoming lasted longer than a week!  We had a good month and a half of watching the leaves change.  I have never been a fan of fall.  It always just seems like a death happening.  It's always been depressing to me but this year, I really enjoyed seeing all the colors and had a blast watching Quincey play in her changing enviornment.  She absolutely loved to gather the leaves into a pile and jump in them or ride her bike through them.

We even went up into the mountains to enjoy the beautiful colors.  It was insanely beautiful!