Minnesota Bound

On the morning of April 1st, Jasper and I took off for a mid-week trip to visit his cousins and his aunties in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Auntie Lindsay had arrived in MN the day before, just as snow was starting to fall heavily. She was spending part of her spring break with all of us. Grandma and Papa Jasper were going to join us the next day. Uncle Adam was coming back from a business trip later in the week, too. It was going to be a full house, and we were looking forward to seeing everyone - most of whom we hadn't seen since Christmas.

We were fortunate to be on a fairly light plane and got an empty seat next to ours so that Jasper had room to spread out. Before take off, the Texaco tanker truck provided much excitement to Jasper.
He's crouching down to get a closer look here:
Breakfast on the plane consisted of bananas, grapefruit and waffles. He loved having his own little spot to settle in, enjoy breakfast and do some reading. He made fast friends with the people sitting around us and the flight attendants who hung out at the back of the plane. He walked the aisle, about five rows up and then would turn around and run back. He even started trying to crawl under the seat. It was slight craziness on this flight since he was SO awake and rar-rar-ing to go. :)

When we got to Minnesota, his cousins Linnea and Karin were very excited to see him! That very first afternoon we headed out in the crisp cold air (of which we had not felt any since Christmas) and made our way to the Mall of America. The girls wanted to check out the new rides at the in-mall amusement park. Look at those three blonde-haired beauties!
This is the craziness of the Mall of America, just the amusement park part of it.
We wasted no time and immediately hit the truck ride. All the kids enjoyed riding the big rigs with Auntie Lindsay.
Isn't this so cute! Two cousins, hanging out.
Karin got to go on the swings with Auntie Lindsay, and the Linnea (5.5yrs) wanted to go on the big-girl "splat-o-sphere." Brave Brittany took her on this ride that Lindsay and I both shunned off. You can see how high in the air they got. Crazy!
And here you can see that Linnea is totally LOVING this ride. She had so much fun!
While we waited down on the solid ground, Karin was the keeper of the purses. She didn't mind this job at all, little fashionista that she is. :)
After dinner at Famous Dave's, at which Jasper had some stashed away strawberries, it appears that some strawberries got stuck in the fold of his camo pants and created quite a mark. At first glance it kind of looks like blood - but of course no one was harmed in the making of this photograph.

Shivelys have a little trampoline in their basement which Jasper soon figured out how to use. His cousins gave him a demo first, and then he had a ball. We had just been practicing kicking at home, and he was able to do some kicking while holding on to the trampoline bar.
Linnea and Karin also had a treasure trove of little cars that we raced across their long hardwood floors. They were trickster little cars - one popped a wheelie, one bounced up and down and another spun around. Jasper loved having this as entertainment. Linnea would race them down the floor, and Jasper would go retrieve them for her.
On the second day of our visit, we went to Como Zoo. It was the first zoo Jasper had been to, and he really enjoyed it. We saw all kinds of primates and even had a huge gorilla come over to the glass right where we were standing. He loved the tiger and the seals. We also saw lions, zebras, giraffes, a polar bear, penguins, and much more. It was a great day. The only oddity about the day is that Jasper started being totally clingy to me. He's been dealing more with separation anxiety these days (he screams when we drop him off at he nursery), but considering we were with two other women who look almost identical to me - I was completely surprised that he didn't go to us interchangeably. But consequently I have no pictures from the day. We're waiting to get some from Auntie Lindsay.

After the day-long clinginess, at dinner on Wednesday night Jasper didn't eat well and I felt his forehead and could tell he had a temperature. By bedtime it was 102deg, and overnight the fever did not go away. In the morning it was 102.7deg, but he still ate breakfast like gangbusters (much to the amazement of his auntie Britt). After an abnormal morning nap (abnormal in that he had a morning nap), he didn't eat lunch and was completely lethargic. By 2pm his temp was 104deg, and I started calling around to figure out where we could get him in to see a pediatrician. We found a pediatric prompt care and headed out with Auntie Britt to Minnetonka.

At the prompt care, we were seen by super sweet Dr. Mamet who, after a long consultation, diagnosed him as having croup. Jasper got a steroid shot to help relax the swelling around the vocal chords and wind pipe, with the hope of reducing the severity of the condition. But being that croup is a viral infection, we just had to wait it out. Nights were tough with him coughing a lot. Thankfully by Friday his fever was coming down for good. He maintained a low-grade fever through the weekend, even after we got home. But nothing scary like 104deg.

While he was sick, he spent a good deal of time hanging out in his short-sleeve onesies because I had brought mostly pants and long-sleeve shirts for him. We were going to Minnesota after all, and it had just snowed. But he did well and still enjoyed spending time with his cousins and being read to by Auntie Britt. He also like spending time with Grandma, Papa and Adam.

On the day we were leaving to return to Texas, there was tons of activity in the Shively household. Linnea was getting ready for a birthday party, and her dad was cleaning her fingernails for a new polish application. Then Adam, Papa and Karin went to the outdoor show. I've been told Karin climbed in and out of so many boats while they were there that she fell asleep in the car as they were pulling out of the parking ramp. She was tuckered out!

For some reason, a full family gathering in the winter always means someone will get sick. This time it was our turn. Of course it was also our turn at Christmas, but oh well. These things happen. We were fortunate to be with family in such a loving and comfortable environment. Our flight home was completely uneventful. After eating his lunch for the first hour of the flight, Jasper abruptly turned around in my lap, snuggled in and fell asleep ... until touch down (1.5hrs later). Drew was at the airport (after a 95mile ride that day!) to meet us and bring us home. We were glad to be back, and I was especially glad to have Drew's help with Jasper. Nights were better starting on Saturday. We spent some time with him in a steamy bathroom before he went down to help him be relaxed and more able to sleep for a prolonged time. He did cough overnight but not enough to wake up. His croupy-cough lingered, dissipating over time, for another week. By the weekend of the MS150 it was completely gone.