June 15 -- Medical Clinic

Things with Elsa turned from bad to worse today as we had to make a trip to the medical clinic after Elsa spent last night with a temperature of 103.6 degrees. They diagnosed her with an ear infection, but Christi and I are skeptical because she hasn't had one before and the PA who saw her said she "thought" she might have an infection in one ear. They put her on an antibiotic, and we gave her the second dose tonight. She still has a fever as I write this, and fluctuates between clingy and tired and very cranky. In typical two-year-old fashion, she has no patience for the bus system here, waiting for dinner to be made, or even taking her medication. I had to apologize to our camping neighbors (who are so close that they they can hear my fingers tap the screen as I type this) after the latter because it sounded like we were killing her and she started gagging and screaming. It was terrible. We got no sleep last night because she was awake and we had to postpone the penultimate family hike of the trip (Four-Mile Trail), till tomorrow, assuming that she will be feeling better then. I sure hope she is. For her sake of course, but also for Christi and myself.

It has really been a tough trip with Elsa. I expected some hardship, but she has really been difficult. We were so happy to leave San Fran because she was having screaming fits during meals and when we were out in public, but the parks haven't been much better. Don't get me wrong, she has had some great moments, and at times she has seemed to truly understand what she is looking at. For instance, we have gotten several unprompted "wows" from her when we get to a really good view. But other times her whining or screaming has ruined the moment for me, because we can't pause to appreciate it without an uninterrupted tantrum. For example, today we visited the Swinging Bridge and were trying to enjoy the fantastic view of Yosemite Falls, but Elsa just continued to wail away. Her favorite is just begging for mommy any time she isn't being held by Christi. If I try to carry her, hold her hand to walk, put her on my lap to eat, put her to bed, etc., she starts to whine for mommy. It has to be annoying to Christi because she can't get a break, and it sucks for me because I can't even help appropriately.







I really really hope we can finish the hike tomorrow. I have been looking forward to it for a long time, and we are at a point where we will start having to cancel hikes because we can't stack too many strenuous hikes back to back. Let's just pray that we don't have to make another trip to the medical clinic.

On a positive note, we did get to hike to the medical clinic, and the trail was nice and devoid of any people which made the Valley seem a little more like the place I had envisioned and less like Disneyworld. We stopped to watch a couple climbers working their way up, when one started to yelp and then quickly rappelled down to the bottom and proceeded to rip all of his clothes off right in front of us. I am not sure what happened, but I surmise something like fire ants or bees. Anyway, it was a little humor to offset an otherwise less than perfect day.