Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Family Reunion Part 4 (Monday)

Monday morning rolled around, and I was in a good mood. Lil wasn't sick anymore, so I could continue with my plans to visit with some friends at lunch while my niece babysat my kids. I was then gonna go visit Grandma with my sisters and get some good quality time in with her. All this while my mom visited with her friends and sisters.


When I got out of bed (at 9 - it seemed my alarm clock was broken. Or tired.) I noticed that Lil wasn't in her sleeping bag, but was across the room sleeping on just her pillow. No biggie, it was warm Sunday night. Right? Wrong...

When she woke up she said, "Mom, I threw up in my sleeping bag last night and I am going to throw up again." And then she did. I am ashamed to admit I actually started crying. I was so SICK of sickness. I was so tired of being at my cousin's house, constantly worrying about where my kid would throw up next. I was not getting to do any of the things I had stayed two extra days to do. I wanted to go home! I called my friend in tears and she took over canceling lunch for me. I then called my mom. And bawled to her. And she, bless her heart, said, "Lets go home." (Told you she was awesome and fantastical) So that is exactly what we did. I didn't get to visit with Grandma. I didn't see my friends. And for that I am truly sad. But - well, my kid is sick. You do what you have to do.

Mom drove over with a bunch of sick food provided by my aunt and my sister (life savers, they were!). We were loaded up and in the car by 11, and on our way back home. We originally hoped to make the trip in one shot. So very optimistic, huh? We made a stop at the nearest Walmart for some snack foods for us non sickies, and then got on the road. A half an hour later we stopped on the side of the road cause Lacey said she felt sick. False alarm. Drive on. 10 minutes later we stopped for gas. And to get Dramamine (in case it works for flu bugs too). They didn't have any, so we drove on. We made a stop for a potty break for Lil about 15 minutes later, and that's when Lacey threw up. She didn't cry, and she seemed fine afterward, so we were hoping it was just car sickness. We gave her and Lil a half pill each of Dramamine (this gas station had it), and were back on the road. We were already nearly 2 hours out and have made it less than 100 miles from our starting point. ::Sigh:: Not good. We had a few more stops for little things, mostly potty breaks. We weren't making good time at all, and it was seeming less and less likely that we would make this trip in one day with such a late start. To add to it, around 5 pm Matthew started to cry. I turned around just in time to see him loose his lunch, dinner, and every snack from the last two days ALL OVER himself and the carseat. We pulled over, and I cleaned him up with diaper wipes and a plastic bag. Ewww. I then called Joe and asked him to look up hotel and motel numbers for the half way point (about half an hour away) for us. He gave me a nice long list and I started calling around. I finally found a Motel 6 that had a vacancy, and booked us a room. WORST. MOTEL. ROOM. EVER. Not gonna get into the details, but lets just say my mom and I complained and earned a free night's stay sometime in the next year. I know this was not the norm for their motels, so I am fine with using them again. In a different city. Anyway- I digress...

Before we could get checked into the hotel Matthew had thrown up two more times. We managed to contain most of those two... Once in our room, I called in for extra towels and found that they had a laundromat on site. YAY. I took the car seat cover off (for the second time this trip) and all his clothes and our 5 (beach) towels and ran a load of laundry. We also set up the playpen, lined it with 5 towels and corralled Matthew. Each time he threw up we just removed a layer of towel. He used all 5 before the load of laundry was done. When I came back from the laundromat the final time, with all our dry and clean stuff, Matthew was sound asleep wrapped in a blanket on top of yet another towel. Poor little man. He was quite literally green. Eventually we all settled in to sleep. And woke up the next morning ready to finish the drive home. Lacey never did throw up again, so her initial bout was deemed motion sickness.

During the down time in between bouts of everything, I had some awesome conversation with my mom, and watched some pretty cute kids movies with my girls... All in all, though quite the icky day, I did find some enjoyment.

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