John and I were recently called to serve on this year's youth conference committee for our stake. Yesterday morning, a group of us drove up to check out the campsite (which was reserved site unseen), to make sure it would not only accommodate some 200 youth and leaders, but that it would also allow us the opportunity to do all the recreational activities that we have planned. Because we would be meeting at the church at 6:00 am, we waited until the very last minute to load the kids in the car. We knew that the likelihood of accomplishing the task at hand, without disturbing them from their peaceful slumber, was nearly impossible; but, being as careful as we could, we lifted them from their beds, and fastidiously placed each in their appointed carseat. So far, everything was going according to plan. It wasn't until we had been driving for nearly 3 hours, and were less than 30 minutes from our destination, that our fun little family outing started going south. Ruby suddenly began to panic because she needed to go potty. She had gone to bed at 6:45 the night before (I know - totally unheard of for her...our zoo excursion must have completed wiped her out), and it was now around 8:30 in the morning.
She had not emptied her bladder in over 14 hours. Because we were nowhere near an exit, and also because we were following another car, our options were limited.
Why had I not even thought about taking her in to use bathroom before I loaded her up in the car? While She was in the back seat slipping into hysterics, I was in the front racking my brain for ideas.
That's it...
I would put a diaper on her. Ingenious. I even had a size 4 diaper in my bag from the zoo when my friend asked if I could carry it for her...her son never ended up needing it, and I forgot to give it back to her. Size four would be a little snug, but we could totally make it work. I convinced Ruby that this was our only option until we could get off at the exit; and somehow, she became almost
excited about the idea. Unfortunately, by the time I made it into the back to remove her from her seat, I discovered that we were too late; and the only pair of clean and dry panties that we had on our trip, were, well - no longer clean and dry. I removed her wet bottoms, wiped up and dried off everything as best I could, and then put the diaper on her. She thought it was great until she realized that she still had to go potty. I assured her that it was ok to go in the diaper, but she was throwing a fit. To me that was a good sign, the girl doesn't like to wet herself. She finally surrendered, and filled the diaper. I didn't quite know what to do at that point...her panties were wet, the size 4 diaper was wet...we were definitely out of options. It was then that Ruby so brilliantly suggested that she wear one of Asher's. It was a struggle to force a size 3 diaper over her buns and around her waist...but we managed (and before the completion of our trip, we succeeded in squeezing her into three more).
We finally made it to the campsite; and while it was breathtakingly beautiful - rich, lush Ponderosa pines blanketing the entire landscape, and a lake for fishing and canoeing located just yards away - the terrain was rough, every few feet spotted with lava rock and tree stumps. It would be nearly impossible to set up 50 or more tents on that land. Plus, because the domain was so flat, the zip line would be a no go. And if that wasn't enough, we were told that we would not be permitted to use bows and arrows, or shoot rifles - two other activities that we had hoped to be able to provide for the youth. Needless to say, the cons of the campsite far outweighed the pros; and we were forced to begin the hunt for a new location. We drove to a neighboring site located about 8 miles away, but it was not quite what we had in mind either. After what seemed like hours of driving through canyons, and forests, dirt roads, construction zones, up and down hills, following endless bends and curves, and making countless u-turns, we finally found a place (about an hour away) that was equipped with almost everything we needed and wanted...plus it was big and open, and still quite beautiful. We were happy that the day wasn't a complete bust, and began our journey home. I think all that stop-and-go travelling - not to mention the windy roads - took it's toll on poor Ruby; because just a mile away from our exit, she threw up everywhere. John quickly veered off onto the shoulder, and both of us jumped out to begin the clean up. This fun little family day trip I had previously envisioned, had evolved into a strange series of misadventure and unfortunate events; and please make note, I have only disclosed about half of our family's misfortune for the day. Thankfully, at that point, we were just minutes from home; and I must say - walking in that door, almost never felt better...especially after John pointed out that we could have made it to Utah in the time we were non-stop changing diapers on a potty trained 3 year old, cleaning up vomit, and exploring every camp site in the state of Arizona.
