White Sands, NM

We spent Easter day driving in the hot camper van with our sick Aaron through New Mexico to White Sands. We thought about skipping it and heading straight to a hotel in Albuquerque since Aaron was sick, but the boys had really been looking forward to playing in the white-as-snow sand dunes we had been telling them about. White Sands has changed a lot since last time we were there. It is now a major sand sledding destination! We pulled into the visitor center and got in line to buy our sled. As we drove through the park, we saw families barbecuing under brightly-colored beach umbrellas in between sledding runs. We parked and the boys eagerly jumped out to partake in the action. With Aaron on my back, we headed up a blinding-white sand dune to make up for lost sledding time we missed back in Montana's almost non-existent winter. At the top, with much anticipation, Isaac diligently waxed the bottom of the sled and excitedly hopped on. We watched as he slowly oozed his way down the sandy slope. Jason tried next and looked like he was sledding through thick molasses. Aaron tried next, with his lighter weight yielding a little more success. Apparently there is a technique that we did not quite grasp. The boys had much more success rolling and hurtling themselves into the air. In an attempt to limit Aaron's activity, we spent only about an hour there before heading to a hotel room in Alamogordo for the night just in case we had another night of crucking. After a hot shower and a bowl of miso soup, Aaron snuggled under the covers and fell asleep around 7:00. At 8:30, he woke up and I could tell just by looking at him that his fever was sky-high so I ran to the camper van to grab some ibuprofen and Tylenol. Aaron has a tendency to run high fevers and I suspect he was hovering around 106. When I got back, Jason was asking Aaron how he was feeling and he would respond with nonsense. He was completely delusional, totally floppy, with eyes unfocused. While we tried to cool him with a wet wash cloth, we tried to get ibuprofen in him, but he chewed it and spit it out instead. We had more luck with the Tylenol. After about ten or ofifteen minutes I carried him to the camper van to head to Urgent Care. With the windows rolled down, the cool air brought him to his senses and he began talking normally again. By the time we pulled up to the closed, dark, crappy Urgent Care building in a sketchy neighborhood with big signs advertising that they no longer gave out narcotics, Aaron fully remembered the day and seemed to be back to himself, Thank God. After stopping at Walgreens to buy a thermometer, we headed to the room where I snuggled into bed with him for the night so I could keep an eye on him. Happily, he snoozed through the night while remaining at a fairly normal temperature. No more scaring us like that, Mr. Aaron Pants.

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