Our summer vacation began with a road trip to California, where we met my parents near Pismo Beach for a weekend that we hoped would be full of sun, sand, and fun.
That first day was gorgeous.
Since then, the rest of our summer vacation has looked like this . . . .
We have been through the ringer the last 2 1/2 weeks.
First there was croup, and a visit to urgent care in Santa Maria for Conner.
Then I got a fever and chills and achiness and a cough and nausea and headaches and fatigue over a period of 12 days, during which I felt pretty much miserable.
Payton and Anna also started the fever while at my parents' house. A favorite quote from Payton during his groggy/zombie days, "Grammer, is this what it feels like to be old?"
After coming home from California I eventually went to the doctor (after 11 days of feeling horrible) and had my first ever chest x-ray. They thought I had pneumonia, but no dice.
Somewhere along the way Scott picked it up, of course -- fatigue, congestion, sore throat.
Then we went to Utah and the kids and I seemed to be doing okay. We visited friends, family, temple square, and even went to a water park.
But wouldn't you know it, Payton woke up with a bad ear ache the day we left.
And 5 miles from home Anna announced that she needed to throw up. Thanks to Scott's quick thinking & reflexes (I was driving) he caught it all inside a cooler. We threw that cooler in the dumpster when we got home.
Then things got just plain ridiculous as I spent all of sunday night and monday tending to three . . . count them, three . . . puking kids.
Welcome to the Brown Infirmary! Literally. I wheeled Payton's trundle bed out to the living room on Monday, rented 3 Redbox movies, gave everyone a bowl, and handed out glasses of pedialyte when they were awake.
Summer vacation has not been kind to us so far. We've carried our ailments through three states: California, Nevada, and Utah. Not the way I pictured our summer vacation starting out, but what can you do?
I am happy to report (knock on wood) that we are all feeling much better!
The residuals: I pulled a muscle on my side from coughing, which is still pretty tender. Payton's ear is still a bit plugged up. He has a hard time hearing us sometimes, so we have to repeat things a lot. We'll get that checked out next week if it's still a problem.
I saw this the other day on Pinterest and it made me think
Source: nettiesexpressions.com via Shannon on Pinterest
Well, hmm. What can I pull out of this situation to be thankful for?
I'm thankful that of all places I could get sick and be practically bed-ridden, it was at my parents' house where my mom could take care of me and entertain the kids. Had this happened while I was at home, I can only imagine the torture & insanity that would result from the kids being cooped up in an apartment for a week with a sick mom who can't feed or entertain them. Thank you mom.
I'm thankful that Scott insisted he come home early from work so I could go to the doctor and get me some drugs.
I'm thankful for access to modern medicine and over the counter drugs.
I'm thankful for the kids who were real troopers and really didn't complain at all. Through their own sicknesses and mine.
I'm thankful for hot chocolate to soothe a sore throat.
And this experience has made me especially thankful to have a healthy body once again!
Here's to a healthy summer vacation!
