Singin' in the Rain and Playin' Old Maid

Ok, ok, ok – perhaps, this title is a little misleading (I’ll get to that a little bit later), but when trying to come up with a catchy title for our most recent vacation to Canada this, it was the first thing that came to mind. But before I get to the misleading part of the title, let’s start with the truth…

B/c indeed, we did do some singin’ in the rain!

We consider our family’s getaway in Canada that has been passed down through the generations as a little piece of “heaven on earth.” We’ve had some absolutely dreamy “too good to be true” kind of trips there. However, weather often plays a MAJOR role in the experience. It can be absolutely beautiful like our July trip OR downright nasty, and when you are in the heart of the 1,000 Islands and all activities are outdoors, “cabin fever” can settle in quickly when couped up to escape bad weather. I’m sure you can see where this is leading, but after a late arrival Sunday evening, Monday afternoon through Thursday night had very few glimmers of nice weather. There were moments that it was just downright nasty. Add 2 toddlers and a newborn to this mix, and well, let’s just say that people would randomly disappear to take a leisurely “walk in the rain” to regain composure!

The little boys didn’t seem to mind the extravagant Thomas tracks built or extra overload of Elmo; however, at times we felt like we even had to break the Elmo glaze that would seem to set in on them.


SO after naptime one particulary downpoury day, we ventured out for some “duddle jumping” (as C calls them). And WOW – I am talking little boy duddle heaven. They were like mini rivers, and two little boys were on Cloud 9. And seriously amidst the rain and wind and cabin fever, it was one of those “dreamy moments” where you feel like you have to pinch yourself to make sure you are really in the moment. Who knew duddle rivers could bring SO.MUCH.JOY amidst a dreary day. And again, two little boys taught us all yet another lesson – something like…If life gives you rain, joyfully go jump in a “duddle!”

(this was Landon's first "duddle jumping" experience, and he was mighty fine at it!)

And I wish I could say that we spent our evenings playing Old Maid and other old fashioned fun games; however, we spent many nights battling a very bity, teething toddler and meeting a different maid on vacation…Nursemaid Elbow. Wednesday evening had finally cleared up enough that we were able to enjoy dinner bundled up outside by the river. Excited to get some fresh air, I grabbed Caleb’s arm to direct him to the bathroom to wash up his hands before dinner. Caleb, however, had his sights set on bypassing the sink and heading straight outside. He went one way, I went the other way, and pop goes the elbow! Me, Mom of the Year that I am, thought he was just throwing a tantrum, so continued to scoop him up and escort him to the bathroom to wash those dirty little boy fingers (yes, yanking his unbeknownst to me hurt arm here and there!). When we finally made it outside and the fit continued, we finally got the hint that something was wrong. Poor little bubba held his little arm very close to his body, and my little ball of energy who never slows down or stops for very long did not even want to interact with the bubbles coming from the neighbor’s cabin. All he wanted was to sit on Pap’s lap with some ice and an Elmo movie. We thought that maybe after a ½ hour or so, he’d be back to himself (yes, he too is a bit dramatic like his Momma so we thought he may just be hamming up this boo boo). A ½ hour showed little improvement – any time we tried to move his little wrist or arm, he’d wimper and cry. Finally, Pap said that we’d better get it checked out, and when Pap make this sort of suggestion, you follow it (he’s more of a brush it off, you’re OK kind of Pap!). We made some calls and decided it was best to cross back over the border to a hospital in New York rather than deal with international insurance issues. A very helpful, friendly, QUICK crew at River Hospital in Alex Bay greeted us, assured a worrisome Momma that all was just fine, and literally in a matter of minutes had my little guy waving his hands all around like NOTHING had happened. I was amazed and oh so RELIEVED! Here I thought I had broken my little.boy.joy’s wrist and had visions of vacation ending early with a little cast on his precious little arm, and instead with a simple what seemed painless twist of the arm, ALL was well. I’d say the most traumatic part was just the hospital experience in general (C is NOT a fan of anything resembling a doctor’s office, and he kept saying “No, No Docor, Allllll Done”). Whew what an eventful evening that certainly deserved a double fisting of pops for C Man – a tootsie pop in one and an ice cream pop in the other.
(sorry for the poor picture quality – I think my hands were still a little shaky and it was in the dark with an iphone!).


I must say though that the rainbow did come out after the storm, and we woke up to sunshine Friday morning and packed Friday and Saturday so full of activity that the cabin fever Nursemaid Elbow teething fiasco very quickly faded.



Sunshine has its way of fading the dreary days preceding it, and it was great to leave on a high note with lots of boating, kayaking, jet skiing, island hiking, beach digging, river swimming…Oh, Canada – how we’ll miss you til another year! Big props to Mom and Dad Roush for yet another enjoyable, unforgettable week in our little piece of heaven! A water-logged vacation or not, these moments with family are "duddle jumpin' joy!"