Poop Fest 2009

On our way back from Ark City we decided to stop in Wichita to visit the Museum of World Treasures. Really we stopped so that Tommy could eat at the brewery and fill up his jug of beer.

Anyway, the real story ... not for the faint hearted or weak stomachs ....

We turned onto K-15 and Lyla started crying, it was about time for her to eat and we decided that we wouldn't make her wait until the next town since we didn't know how far it would be so we pulled onto a gravel road. I got out, ran around the car, got her out of her car seat and yuck - put my hand in poop. No wonder she was crying - I wouldn't have wanted to sit in that blow out! It was so bad that Tommy jumped out of the car, ran to the back of the subaru, lifted the tailgate and started to throw our luggage to the side so that we had room to operate. We used approximately 25 wipes to contain the spill and searched the car up and down to find enough plastic bags to dispose of the messy clothes and diapers. All in all, Lyla did very well and tried not to squirm too much. The story gets better so continue reading.

Since we were stopped I decided to feed Lyla and Tommy was going take a walk with Steven. Side note - it had been raining that morning and we were on a muddy gravel road. As I was sitting in the car nursing Lyla, I watched Tommy holding Steven's hand walking down the middle of the road with the tree canopy above - it was truly a Hallmark moment until ... Steven got loose, ran to the edge of the road and proceeded to flop down on the ground as Tommy chased after him. Needless to say, he and his clothes were covered in mud. Since there were no more plastic bags in the car his shorts just got thrown in the back.

Then we got back on the road, went to the museum, and remembered that the poop bags were still in the back of the car! It was getting hot and we didn't want to drive home with the stink so before we went to lunch Tommy ran to the car and threw out the bags. Lunch was a fiasco but that isn't anything to write home about for our family! As we got back in the car I said "oh, we should have stopped and washed out Lyla's clothes." But we didn't because we wanted to get on the road. About 20 minutes later, Tommy said "oh crap (how ironic), I threw Lyla's clothes away." How my comment about washing the clothes didn't trigger this memory sooner we'll never know but it was probably better that the clothes were in the trash than stinking up the car!

And the story gets better...

The kids fell asleep and napped for about an hour. Steven then woke up and few minutes later I smelled the tell tale smell. Tommy wanted to wait until the next rest area but I suggested we stop at the next exit. Thank God we did.

I got Steven out of his seat, grabbed the diaper bag and walked him into the truck stop. I got to the bathroom, lifted him onto the changing station and again, put my hand in poop. It was everywhere!!!! Down his leg, on his shoes, in his shorts - everywhere. He was so sweet, though. I think he understood how bad it was and just laid there holding the bag of wipes for me. At one point a woman asked me if I needed help and I held up my hands to say stop where you are don't come any closer. She understood. Then another woman came in and said "did you step in dog poop?" No, lady, it's my kid.

This whole time Tommy was standing near the door of the truck stop wondering what happened to us. He kept looking to the car and in the store and back at the car.

I then had to have Steven stand next to me in the bathroom wearing only his shirt, diaper and socks while I cleaned up our mess. Again, he was so good. He just stood there looking up at me as if to say "I'm sorry this happened twice today, Mommy."

The best part of the whole experience was walking back out to the car. It wasn't hard to remember where we parked because we were able to follow the trail of poop back to it! I hope the lady in the bathroom stepped in some of it on her way back to her car!