just another day in paradise

WARNING: Long whiny post!!

What was suppose to be a fun family get away exploring things like this......

Turned into exploring things like this instead.....

Insta Care

&

So here's the story:

Nate was working in the St. George area (Hurricane, to be exact) so we decided to meet him down there Wednesday evening to have a fun little trip for Fall Break. We haven't gone on any family trips all year so we thought this would be a nice break from our everyday life. Boy were we wrong! My brother, Rick and my sister's husband, Ryan also work with Nate so their wives also drove down for the "fun".

We arrived at our hotel a little before 8:00 p.m. The kids did great driving down and I we didn't even have to make any potty stops for me! We got settled and excited for the fun days ahead.

The next morning Nate and the guys still had work to do periodically throughout the day so I took the kids down to the free breakfast by myself, but Tye was coughing and coughing so we tried to eat as fast as we could. I felt so stupid because the day before he had perked up from having a fever and cough and I thought we were out of the woods. And of course all the people would be older than 55 and not "kid" people. It seemed the only other kids within a 30 mile radius were my nieces and nephew still up in their hotel rooms. Some of the kids got yelled at by an elderly couple who wouldn't close their door all the way. Haley pushed it open then I whisked her away before they saw me, but then the other kids in the hall got their wrath. We usually stay in a condo or something, but with last minute plans it didn't work out. It was time to get the kids out of there so my sister, Shelly and I took our kids out to the miniature golf course our fabulous 5 star (ha, ha) hotel had.... which we just assumed was free, but it wasn't.... The kids were entertained for a whole 30 minutes!! I told some to start at the end so all 8 kids playing wouldn't be waiting for each other. Whoops! The last hole swallows the ball and you don't get it back. Luckily the lady at the front desk gave me another golf ball with out paying for it. Who knew it was so high-tec to gobble up your ball at the end???



(Never mind the two year old with the binky in her mouth.... I haven't figured out a convenient time for ME to wean her from it yet!)

Haley entertained herself by stepping on giant ants and picking them up.

After golfing the kids had fun running around and chasing lizards.

Next on the list: swimming. It was nice and warm and of course swimming is always a hit.

Little did I know Kaden was wilting.

I knew Tye wasn't feeling well, but wasn't willing to admit defeat.... yet. He wanted to golf, swim and have lots of fun. He was cheerful, but was getting worse.

So after lunch Nate and I took him to the Hurricane Valley Insta Care.  The doctor there was really nice and considerate of what I thought, but she never made a real decision on what he had or what to do about it. His fever had come back and his cough was getting pretty barky. Was it croup? Did he have H1N1? Was it something else? Hmmm.... that's why I took him to the doctor.... HELLOOOOO.... to get answers. We did get some cough syrup with codeine to give the little guy a break from the non-stop coughing. He was worn out! He actually slept on my lap during the whole doctor visit and then most of the afternoon.

Then Rachel zonked out and I thought the worst..... but she was just tired and nothing else. Phew!

Kaden started running a fever, but was determined to keep going. So while the other kids slept he went to a park with his cousins..... not very considerate, but how awful to be on vacation and be stuck in a stinky hotel room. So after a VERY boring afternoon cooped up in a our room we let the kids go swimming again (minus Tye and Haley). I'm glad we let them because that would be the last of our fun (if you can call it that)!

Ok, maybe not the last of the kids fun, but definitely the last of my fun. We went to Pirate Island that night for dinner. The kids of course loved the arcade and never wanted to leave. It was a late dinner and Haley was getting sleepy so I was snuggling her on my lap and she started coughing a little then gagged and threw up a little on me. Ugh! Seriously! I tell Nate and he gets ready to help me try to clean it up and then the mother load comes out. I was soaked! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Right then and there we knew we were heading home first thing in the morning. We almost started home that night, but opted for one more night of bliss on a hard, spring loaded bed. Tye ended up coughing up some blood in the night, but when I called the doctor they acted like it wasn't a big deal. What? Well, it's a big deal to ME!

Nate had a couple hours left of work that next morning. By the time he got back I had everything packed and waiting for him to take to the car. We were out of there! Sadly my brother had a migraine for a day or two so they were happy to be leaving and my sister, Shelly had kids teetering on the edge of illness and wasn't feeling well herself.... I'm sure it didn't help that my kids were spreading all their joy.... so they got all packed up too.

We were glad to arrive home and I was soooo thankful for my bed. I never knew a crappy bed could make you go into labor. Okay, not really, but it did give me contractions and left me sleepless. Surprisingly, the kids all slept well both nights in spite of everything that was going on. I know it wasn't the end of the world, but I was so disappointed. It looks like we won't be going anywhere until after the baby is born now, but I'm okay with that.

FYI- We took Tye to the on-call doctor Saturday. He does have croup...... had something else at the beginning of the week. No one was ever tested for H1N1 or seen by a doctor when they had the coughs and fevers...... who knows what it was. Kaden is on the mend and should be good to go to school tomorrow. Haley and Rachel are fine.... there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Nate is off to Baltimore (oh no, the light is fading!!). Here's to hoping (once again) for a better week because it's been a LONG two weeks already!