Friday, August 21, 2009

Rerun...kind of

This is actually an email I sent out last summer. It was before my blogger days, so that was how I used to update our friends and families what we were up to over here in the desert. This story hit it big when I shared it last year, so I decided to post it here for everyone to enjoy. I mean, come on, who doesn't enjoy a good story about bodily functions and pools?
**
So, Maria, Keith and the girls (the Moore's) came for the weekend. Maria sent me a text on Thursday night that they were about 20 minutes away. Not five minutes later Hannah gave me a very strange look and proceeded to vomit all over me and the floor. While I cleaned her up, Shad got out the Bissel and cleaned the carpet. Poor Hannah vomited again a few minutes later, so I sent Maria a text letting her know what was happening. (Like they would turn around and go home or something.) When they pulled into the drive way a few minutes later I could see Maria reading the text, then start laughing. So we tried our best to keep the kids away from Hannah while they got settled in. Of course that is difficult because Molly and Emma just love Hannah and want to kiss, hug and snuggle with her.

That night the Moore's and Josh slept in the trailer. (Josh just thought it would be fun, not because we were in quarantine.) Hannah slept well, except the time between 3 am and 4:30 am when I was up with her cleaning up, uh, loose stools. Friday morning Hannah was begging for food and drink, so I eased her into it and she seemed to do well. All oral intake was staying down and up and she was pretty perky. So Maria and I decided to stick to the plan and go to the water slide park. The kids were not happy with the idea to stop for lunch on the way, so lunch was a little crazy. I also started to notice that Josh was pretty touchy and whiny. Let's get to the park!

About 2 hours after swimming, sliding and playing Josh asked to go the bathroom, so I took him. I had to help him pull down his wet shorts and noticed something interesting. Stuck to his skin and shorts was those lovely little flakes of...diarrhea. You know the kind that are impossible to wash off. I asked him when that happened and he answered, "when we were playing in the water." All I could think was that I hope no one saw. So I cleaned him up the best I could with TP then off to the next slide. This was one where we sit on a double tube, only his side has a bottom on it so he won't fall through. A great spot for water, and other stuff, to pool. I checked it after we were done and didn't see anything gross. Meanwhile, Hannah had gotten pretty cranky and tired, I guess from a night of vomiting and diarrhea. So she fell asleep in Maria's arms while we were eating ice cream. She ended up sleeping in the stroller for 2 hours. That worked out quite well. Maria and I just took turns sitting with her and playing with the big kids.

After the tube slide it dawned on me that this place has showers and I have more swim diapers. So I took Josh to the bathroom and gave him, and his shorts, a quick shower. The water was cold so anyone within ear shot, or outside the echoey bathroom, must have thought I was torturing my son. He kept yelling, "No Mom, it's too cold. Why are you washing me?" I scrubbed him using soap and my hands and managed to get all the flakes off, while trying to explain in his ear (so no one would hear) that I am trying to wash the poo off. So, sporting clean skin, pretty clean shorts and a pink Dora swim diaper we were back at it in the water. Hey, we had to get our money's worth. It's $20-25 per person to get into that place! Josh rode home in one of Hannah's diapers and only had one more "problem" the rest of the day. Needless to say, he went to bed and never made a peep that night.

Saturday the guys went hunting and Maria and I took the kids to the park. It was a nice day, not too hot. However the kids didn't think so. Each one of them whined, complained or was generally grumpy the entire time. We figured they were hungry so we took them to Carl's Junior that happens to have a huge play land.

While Maria and I were sitting I realized that the child we could hear screaming up in the play place was Hannah. It was an "I'm in pain" kind of scream. I tried in vain to maneuver the maze while hunched over as it is made for little people. All of a sudden I ran into Emma and she was very upset. She tried to tell me that Hannah had fallen and she was trying to come and get me. The look on her face told me that it could have been bad. At that point I could see Hannah, but had no idea how to get to her. She was just standing there crying and screaming "Mommy!" Thankfully I ran into Molly and she was able to lead me to Hannah. She had 1 large red knot on her forehead and 3 more little ones. Apparently she fell off of one of the platforms as Emma was trying to help her climb up. It seemed tragic as I was looking for Hannah, but by the end of nap time the red knots were gone. She's a bit of a drama queen, she is a girl you know.

Sunday morning Maria came in from the trailer (our hotel room) and informed me that Emma took a turn with the stomach disease during the night. Did I mention that she was carrying an arm full of clothes and blankets? But it didn't matter because it was the big girls' turn to play. We got to leave all 4 kids with the dads and headed to Boise to, you guessed it, shop! I know that sounds like a strange thing for Maria and I to do, but we took the plunge! I even got a haircut at the mall. We went to The Cheesecake Factory for a snack and sat at the bar. We even had a cocktail! (I was reminded that I am a cheep date. One drink and I was getting pretty giggly.) That evening we met the guys and kids for dinner, then headed to Boondocks. It's a family fun center next to the water park. We had a blast wasting money on games where you get tickets to buy cheap toys that you have to throw away the next day with the children screaming because their new toy broke. We also got to take the kids on the go karts. I beat Shad and Keith in a race! That was a blast. Monday the Moore's took off for Dallas. Molly, so far, was the only kid not to get sick and none of the adults did, thankfully! It was a great weekend, with only a few bumps.

**

Ah the memories!

No comments:

We're Going to Bulgaria...Soon

When we were filling out our adoption applications 4 years ago, we had no idea what we were getting in to.  And as we have been waiting for ...