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The plan for the 4th of July this year was to head on up to the lake, suffer through 1 really hot day and relax for a couple days.  It didn’t work out that way.

On Friday, July 1st, we arrived and unpacked like we normally would.  There was some weather on the way, but no indications that it was anything worse than we’d already seen.  It was hot and muggy, so everyone was in the garage enjoying the A/C while I got to be in the hotter-than-blazes kitchen doing prep work for dinner.  Once I finished chopping, I thought I’d take a break and sit out by the fire ring to see if I could get a bit more comfortable.  As I was sitting there, I noticed a large, bow shaped cloud coming across the lake, moving NE at pretty good clip.  I thought the people in the garage would like to see it, so I briskly walked up to let them know.  They came out immediately, which coincided with the wind coming up out of nowhere and trees starting to break.  No warning, no storm build up – just calm to trees snapping.

At that point it was pretty clear that we needed to get to the someplace safer in a hurry – like now.  So, all 9 of us ran flat out.  I had to stop along the way to pick up Peter, who had tripped, and to get Zoey pointed in the right direction, trees falling behind us the whole way.  When I got close to the door Annie (holding Thomas) was on my left, some people ahead of us and some behind.  As she rounded the corner she was accosted by a tree or large branch, which threw her to the ground.  She landed on her back and Thomas skidded away.  I went for Thomas first and handed him off (he was unscathed), then helped Annie inside, not 20 feet away.  Total time from trees breaking: <30 seconds.  She had lost her glasses and suffered some pretty gnarly “tree rash” on he left shoulder, but had no external bleeding or obvious signs or broken bones or dislocations.  She started to exhibit signs of shock (shaking, nausea, light headed), so we got her down and covered with a blanket.  I thought she may have had a fractured collar based on where she was feeling pain, so it was clear we would be going to the hospital, but it wasn’t clear what the actual diagnosis would be.

The wind and rain stopped after a few minutes, and the storm broke just like it came.  First order of business was to assess the damage – someone else took care of that, I went looking for Annie’s glasses.  I found them under a pile of debris after a few minutes of searching (score!), hoping that it would help with her state of mind.  The reports started coming back that there was a significant amount of damage and a significant number of trees down – the only way to move around was by using the shoreline.  The driveways were impassable and we figured the road would be impassable.  Our vehicles were useless.  I went north along the shore to see if anyone else was injured (and how bad) and to see what kind of resources we had access to.  No one hurt to the north, the roads were in worse condition and one of the guys had a working cell phone (yay!).  I turned and headed south while Drew took our boat out to see if anything around the landing was open – it was clear this was going to be our best play for getting out.

In the meantime, Annie had not improved, the boat had stalled, and I hadn’t found anything useful to the south.  I think it was around this point that someone called an ambulance for Annie – that timeline is a bit fuzzy for me.  We also tried to call anyone else to see if they could get to the landing from the south roads.  Drew, having been stranded out around the bend, found shore and walked to the landing to meet anyone passing by.  He ended up meeting Pede and Jay out there and they were prepared to bring us to the hospital.  Mark and I helped Annie get down to the water and we took the neighbor’s boat out to the landing.  She was still shivering and she was starting to ask how she’d been hurt (uh oh).  We arrived just as the ambulance was getting to the landing, so we loaded her up and pointed south.  At that point, the ambulance driver wanted to know if I knew the way out (!!!).  There were lots of trees across the road, but we eventually got out to highway 35 and it was smooth sailing to Spooner.  Fun fact: 20% of drivers don’t pull over for an ambulance with sirens and horn blaring.  Assholes.

We arrived at the Spooner hospital at about 10p, 3 hours after the storm rolled through.  At this point, Annie had about 20 seconds of short term memory, which meant that I spent the next 3 hours telling her why her shoulder hurt on a 20 second loop.  It wasn’t as funny as the scene in ’50 First Dates’.  The folks in Spooner did some scans and found no broken bones and no spine damage (2 CTs and an x-ray), but they were not equipped to deal with head trauma, so at 2a they loaded us up for a trip down to Regions in St. Paul.

Some time on the trip down Annie started remembering things.  I was still soaked to the bone from rain and running in the lake and all I had on me was my cell phone, keys to the van, and a small ziplock bag to keep them dry.  No wallet, no money, no nothing.  And I smelled like I’d been running in the lake and rolling in pine needles and dirt.  One of the EMTs gave me a package that they save for pediatric transports. She made sure to point out that it had a clean shirt, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste – twice.

We arrived at Regions around 4a; a time when everyone in the emergency room has a police officer waiting by their door, except us.  The next couple of hours were pretty boring.  We had a steady stream of doctors and NPs come and visit.  Some labs were done.  Nothing special.  Annie’s short term memory was about 10 minutes at this point and we were both getting kind of dopey from being awake for going on 24 hours.  There wasn’t a whole lot that they could do at that point besides observation, so we were moved to a room with a view at about 9a.

Annie was in a bit of pain, so she was given some fun pain killers and allowed to sleep.  I gave the NP Annie’s history and then called Bethy to give me a ride home.  I needed a shower and a nap in a bad way.  She got me a ride back at 2p and we met up with Annie’s parents.  All of us spent the evening watching Annie sleep.  At about 10p we all left.  Over night, Annie got a few more CTs.  Sunday morning we got back up there to find Annie in good spirits.  She was awake, alert and had just passed some testing, so she was able to get up and move about by herself.  This, of course, meant that she was able to finally take a shower and clean off the random pine pitch, mud and leaves she’d accumulated in her fall.  Scooter brought the boys home that morning(they helped clean up at the lake), so Annie’s parents brought them out to visit.  We stayed around a bit longer so they could do another x-ray for her shoulder and an MRI for her head.  She was cleared to leave Sunday afternoon.

We spent Monday laying low and resting.  And telling everyone the story.  Annie is doing better now, but she’s a bit bruised up.  She’ll probably never remember anything about injuries or all of the people that were there to help us along the way.

To everyone that helped and visited, I know there are a lot of ‘I’s in the above narrative, but it was far from a one man show.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

-Dustin

P.S. – The word on the street is that we were on the receiving end of straight line winds, clocked in excess of 100mph.

P.P.S. – Scooter has posted a photo album of some of the damage.

First off, I promise there is a real post coming.  It takes awhile when you get so far behind and then have two little helpers.

Second, the last post was from Dustin.  He’s still at Donaldson but has a new cube and a new job.  He’s excited to do something different.  I’m still at the same old, same old although I did get hired for summer school.

Lastly, the quote of the week would be from Peter… “FARTS ARE NOT FUNNY DAD!”

Fun news – I’ve been reorganized at work. So, I have a new role in a new group doing different things.

I think it’s going to be a busy summer.

And he is an awesome photographer!  Here is a sampling of the very many pictures he’s taken so far.

Also, Peter got a haircut.  He looks so grown up now.  Along with his new do, he pulled out his puddle boots.  He found a really nice puddle to test them out in while Dustin was finishing up in the hair salon.

We went to Donna and Pop Pop’s for a St. Patty’s day dinner.  Peter was so excited that the patio was dry so he decided we should go out and play.  The path going out into the yard was just too much temptation though.

And to round things out, here is one of my sad efforts at taking a picture of the two boys together.

We haven’t done a lot since we’ve had an awesome round of colds and then a wonderful round of stomach flu come through our house.

I thought I’d just share a few pictures to tide everyone over until there is actually something to post about.

Happy new year!  Our family has so much to be thankful for as we start 2011.  It’s so wonderful to be a family of four.  So far it has been really tough but so rewarding.

Everyone was very generous for Christmas this year.  Peter is the pro at opening wrapping paper and is having lots of fun with his loot.  One of the gifts he received is a tent with a tunnel.  It will be great this summer when we can set it up outside with more space.  We had to try it out though.  Amazingly, we got Peter to clean all his toys so he could have the tent up.  He thought it was such a fun hide out.  Even Thomas got in on the action.  He wasn’t as big of a fan.

We decided to visit the zoo.  I had the bright idea of going on a Thursday so it wouldn’t be so crowded.  Apparently others had the same thoughts.  Also, it was raining and the zoo entrance is under construction.  After running through the rain, we got in and had a good time.  The warm tropic trail felt good.  We went on the monorail as well.  It was a fun way to see the outside animals while staying dry and seated.

Dustin, Thomas and I went to Matt and Mandy’s house New Years Eve.  It was fun to get together with everyone.  Thomas slept, or tried to sleep, through most of the evening.  I think that was the latest I’ve stayed awake in forever!  Peter spent the night with Grandma and Ya Ya.  I don’t know that there is a time he doesn’t have fun while there.  The next day we all laid low and relaxed, but Peter really did it in style.

Our final Christmas gathering was at Donna and Pop Pop’s house.  There was lots of snow so we thought it would be a good idea to go early and send Peter outside.  He could play hard and enjoy the snow and then crash until the gathering started.  The plan worked and he had a great time.  Dustin convinced Denis to suit up and go out with Peter.  I’m pretty sure Dustin thought it meant he got out of freezing outside.  I made him go out anyway and take pictures.

Peter took a nice nap and then when he woke up, the family was all there and ready to have some fun.  He helped Donna be Santa and pass out the gifts.  He was excited to find out what name was on each but way more excited to hear his name.  One of the toys he received was a truck with a drill to put it together and take it apart.  While the truck is awesome, the drill is great for lots of uses.

I thought I’d throw in a picture of Mr. T on the couch.  It was cold but after countless diaper changes, the pants just seemed like way too much work.

I was trying to take pictures of the boys and no one seemed to cooperate.  Thomas was crying so Peter thought he’d try to help by roaring him.  It didn’t help.  Then Peter found his measure and proceeded to measure things instead of putting his pants on.  Dustin thought he would give Peter some inspiration by putting said pants on Thomas.  Instead of getting Peter to want to get dressed, he thought it was hilarious and wanted me to take pictures.  So in the end I got some pictures but they weren’t what I had intended from the start.  Guess that’s how life goes now.

And finally, Thomas went in for his 2 month check up.  He is the chunker coming in at 11.7 pounds already.  He is healthy and doing well.  He wasn’t a fan of the shots though.

We are the proud parents of two boys now!  It’s amazing how different life is.  It’s a lot harder but it’s a lot of fun too.  If only we could get them both to sleep when it’s night, we will be golden.

Thomas ended up coming out via c-section.  I made it all the way dilated and then his heart rate started doing funny things.  They decided to just get him out.  That was a scary and exciting ride to the other room for surgery.  It was a little nerve racking to hear the doctors and nurses talking about how they had all just woken up to come though, being that it was in the middle of the night.  He came out completely healthy.  I was worn out but couldn’t be more proud and happy to finally see my baby.

Peter came with the grandparents to meet his new brother.  The first visit, he was more excited by the buttons on my bed.  We called the nurse a few times.  He did like seeing Thomas though and was very excited to see his mom and dad.

It was wonderful to be home and be able to sleep in our own beds but I did miss that nurse call button.  That would be the ultimate gift to have one installed in our house 🙂

Peter decided that he likes to “have it,” meaning hold his brother.  He’s really good until he’s done and then just gets up.  Poor Thomas will have to learn to fend for himself at a very young age.  Peter also likes to read to him and share cars with him.  Thomas doesn’t always appreciate as much as Peter would believe.  I think it may have something to do with the shared items ending up on his head.

Peter got a big bucket of letters as one of his first Christmas gifts.  He was so excited.  As he took them out, one by one, he would proudly say a letter name.  Of course it had no correlation with what letter he actually had, except for S.  He not only knows which one is S, but what sound it makes.  Also, X means stop.

Thomas got to have his first official bath just before 3 weeks.  The icky stump finally fell off so I filled up the little tub.  He actually didn’t hate it.  I don’t know that it’s his favorite activity but he at least didn’t hate it.  The getting out part wasn’t as fun but that’s cold for anyone.  He loved the big warm towel and smelled like clean baby.

I actually don’t have two sons.  I have one baby and one rabbit.  Peter has decided to be a slightly picky eater.  He goes in phases as to whether or not he’ll eat anything.  Vegetables are almost always on the not so much side.  Randomly, he’ll eat carrots if you give it to him whole.  He needs to hop while chewing but if it works, we’ll rock it!

We visited Santa at the Masonic Day with Santa this year.  Thomas didn’t care where he was but Peter had other thoughts.  He was very interested in that Santa guy but didn’t want to get anywhere close.  Finally when I held him, he would go by him.  He proudly told Santa he wanted an awesome airplane though.  He wasn’t too shy to put in a request.

Donna held her annual Christmas party.  The house was very full of kids and their families.  Santa visited that party too.  That Santa sang songs and even handed out flashlights.  Peter decided that he was maybe ok and got all the way to sitting on his lap.  He’ll do anything for a flashlight!

Dustin and Thomas had to rest up to get ready for all of the Christmas fun.

Peter had a Christmas party at daycare.  He got a neat foam bowling set from one of the other kids.  He likes to bowl but hasn’t quite got setting the pins back up by himself yet.  He also got a Buzz Lighyear from Sheila.  We happened to watch Toy Story on tv just before that so he came home so proud.  We heard “Buzzlightyear!” too many times to count.  Peter would make him fly and even say “to immmenty and yond!”

Christmas means getting together with lots of family.  It’s great to be able to spend time with everyone and catch up on their lives.

Christmas Eve is spent with Dustin’s family.  We go to mass in the afternoon.  Both boys did awesome this year.  I was nervous about either of them having issues but Peter had gummi worms, cars, and lots of laps to go back and forth.  Dustin took Peter with him to go for communion.  Peter decided it was his chance to escape and took off running the other way.  He happily came back and made it through the rest of the service.  Thomas only squawked once.  It happened to be right when the priest told us to give everyone peace.  I guess it was his way of giving peace.  After mass we went to Dee and Mel’s house for lots of good food and conversations.  My parents came after their church service too.  It was fun night but much shorter than in past years.  With lots more gatherings to come, Peter had to get to bed.

Christmas morning Santa had come!  We told Peter to go look under the tree.  He ran out and looked out the window.  When he finally figured out what tree, he was so excited.  Santa accidentally bought foil paper and it didn’t tear at all.  He won’t do that next year… oops.  Peter was so proud of his awesome airplane that he got.  Zoey got a gift too.  She liked it but maybe not the hood part.

Then we went to my parents house to have breakfast and open gifts from the immediate family.  Peter got little airplanes that were fun but the best was a little trampoline.  He loved jumping!  Thomas didn’t get to jump quite yet.

That afternoon was off to spend time with the Bjostad side.  It was a small crew this year but still good.  Jan has two of the cutest little dogs and I ate way too much.  Peter got a set of 20 cars!  I don’t think his eyes could have gotten any bigger when he opened that paper.

Sunday was the Sackett side.  That family has the tradition of opening gifts starting with the youngest and then going in age order.  This was the first and only year Thomas got to go first.  Next year his cousin will get the honor.  He didn’t even realize how sweet he had it.

We’ll get together with Dustin’s immediate family this next weekend.  We just couldn’t fit it all in one weekend like we used to before babies.  That just means there is more to look forward to.

With all of these occasions that we looked nice and were together as a family.  I thought a family photo would be nice since we are four now.  Well it didn’t go as smoothly as I thought it would.  Here are just some of the takes.

After the big weekend of family, we are trying to enjoy a little down time together.  Thomas discovered the joys of his vibrating bouncy chair.  His eyes got huge and he couldn’t look away.  Peter thought he should play too but we have been working on the concept that not everything is for him.  I think that is going to be a life long battle.

Not surprisingly, after everything that has gone on, we got the dreaded phone call from daycare this morning.  Peter came home with a fever.  His one request when he came home was the race car channel.  He and Dustin sat in the chair and played Mario Kart until Peter crashed.

And if you’ve made it this far, you are a dedicated fan of our family!  Thank you.  We couldn’t be more happy to go into 2011 with our wonderful family and friends.

Thomas William is here!  He joined us at 12:16 am on Nov 20th.  He weighed 8 pounds and 7.9 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

He’s a healthy and beautiful little boy!

The girls at work were very sweet and threw a shower for Thomas.  We went to Las Margaritas in Woodbury.  There was lots of fun had by all and Thomas got lots of great clothing, diapers, and toys.  He’ll be all set if he ever decides to come out.  Peter also got some gifts.  He was so very excited to get a whole stack of Diego books.  Dustin may not be quite as excited after reading them, one after another, again and again.  Peter also got a fireman hat and coat.  He wasn’t sure at first and then figured out what they were and put them on, running around the house with the “really loud” siren.

This morning we woke up to a white outside.  Peter went to the window and yelled “SNOWIN!”  I wasn’t sure if he’d even remember what that white stuff was but he was excited.  We decided we should go outside and explore in said snow.  I showed Peter that you have to wear all the winter gear and he wasn’t too sure.  I put on my boots and pulled out my hat and mittens.  That helped but he was really mad when I tried to put his snow pants on.  He already had pants and I’m sure he thought I was crazy for giving him two at once.  We worked through though and got him all bundled.  The poor kid waddled to the door but was very ready to bust outside.  He ran, threw snowballs, was much to busy stomping to look at the camera, and even used his little slide.  Peter officially loves snow!

Oh, and still no baby yet… in case you were wondering

I am determined to squeak in before October ends!  It’s just been a tad bit more effort to do anything lately.

A little self portrait to start things off

We’ll get in the way back machine and there are some pictures from a cabin weekend.  I spent most of it either in the chair or in bed but everyone else had a great time.  Peter found a rake and decided to help.  I think he just moved dirt and dust around rather than any leaves but he had a fun.  That’s what matters.  He also had a few cars to play with and was very proud to show them off.  They were all lined up along the window sill.  The very favorite of the bunch was the fire engine.  It has a really loud siren when Peter drives it.  Lastly, there was a pontoon ride.  I heard that there was quite a bit of snacks eaten and some play in the water.

Next, Dustin and I went to Green Bay with Paul and Donna for a wedding.  While we were there, we had to go visit Lambeau Field.  We didn’t pay for the official tour but walking around the atrium was a sight in itself.  My ultimate favorite part was the fans already tailgating a day early in the K-Mart parking lot.  Nothing says class like campers in the parking lot across the street from the field.

Cassie and Pierce got married.  It was suppose to be outside in a park but it was way too windy and cold so it got moved in to the building.  It turned out beautiful even with the changes.

We held the annual tavern tour weekend.  It started Friday on the way up to the cabin with a stop in Balsam Lake and then up by the cabin at the Tap.  Saturday we split it into two chunks.  Late morning we headed out and stopped at a few places going north.  The plan was to then stop at a bridge and have sandwiches for lunch.  We stopped and got it all out but then there was some shooting going on in the woods.  I’m pretty sure they weren’t hunting for us but it made a few in the party a little nervous.  It was time to head back to the cabin anyway so we packed up and headed out.  We made a pit stop at the cabin, let the dog out, and picked up Karthik.  It was then off for more fun and festivities.  Everyone crashed early that night.

Today is Halloween.  Peter has been asking to go to the pumpkin store for weeks.  Every time we would drive by a house with a bunch outside, he would remind us that he wanted one.  We finally bought a big one.  He saw the baby pumpkins too so we had to get one of those too, of course.  He was a little excited when it came time to give our pumpkin a face.  He ended up in a box ready to ride.  Once we got everything set up and going, he came over.  He didn’t want to touch the goop at all.  It was “icky.”  He was good with a spoon to scoop though.  The funny part is that he went and got his baby pumpkin so Dustin could cut that one open next.  It’s hard to explain to a two year old that you can’t actually carve a tiny pumpkin.  Peter helped draw the face and wanted it to look spooky.  He was so proud to point out the different pieces of the face once it was all done.

Peter dressed up as Diego this year.  He made such a cute animal rescuer with his vest and back pack.  He says trick or treat so cute and had his pumpkin bucket ready to go but when we actually got to each house, he just pushed his bucket out.  I did at least get him to say thank you afterwards.  It was really hard to wait until we got home to eat the candy but we did.  The next big hurdle was the fact that you can’t in fact eat a bite out of every piece of candy.  It’s a learning process.