Spring Break 2016: Tuesday and Wednesday

n Tuesday Thomas took Kara to another Tigers game. This time they were playing the Blue Jays and the stadium was overridden with Canadians. Kara was the only kid who wanted to go and she really enjoyed the alone time with her Dad. She kept score, using a notepad and writing down the speed of the pitch whenever anyone scored a run. She may create a new baseball statistic with that method. Thomas bought her a Spring Training hat and they had a great time. They sat in the bleachers again, surrounded by the Blue Jays fans. Thomas said the rumors about Canadians were true and the people around him were super friendly.

Kara and Thomas both got a bit sunburned, but still enjoyed their time at the game together.

Meanwhile, I went to lunch with my sister and brother. We went to my favorite Japanese steakhouse, Osaka. The service was really slow (we got there at 12 and didn't eat until 1:30), but the food was so good that I didn't mind, plus it was nice to talk with Kim and Kevin. After lunch, I went back to Marta's house and hung out with the kids while we waited for Thomas and Kara. It was a very relaxing afternoon in the midst of a super busy week.

Thomas and Kara got home around 4:45 and we lounged around for about 30 minutes until it was time to meet Debby at Olive Garden. We had a very nice dinner, even Luke was good! Then, we went and dropped the older three kids off at my sister's for their slumber party. This was the first night they've ever spent away from us and not in their own beds (we've gone away). They were excited! The night was made even better by the fact that their cousins just got a WiiU, something Kara and Jack have wanted for a while.

The slumber party went well. Anna especially loved it. Kara felt she missed out on fun activities with Amanda because she spent all her time playing the Wii with Jack and JD. She was ready to go by the time we picked them up and was very cranky, possibly from lack of sleep. My sister had sent me a picture of them eating breakfast at 7:15, which is considerably earlier than they've been waking during our vacation.

After we picked the kids up, we went to Kissimmee State Park and climbed trees, had balancing contests around the playground, and looked for wildlife. It was a beautiful day and it was good to be outside. 

With Marta and Elizabeth at the top of the observation tower.

Everyone liked climbing all the trees

Kara got pretty high...

But, Thomas got higher.

Kara carrying Luke and Thomas carrying Kara.

We had an extremely late lunch and went to my dad's, where Thomas fixed his door and then we walked to the miniature golf course in his neighborhood. Luke was pretty funny, every time we hit a ball he ran to pick it up to give back to us. Finally, we got him interested in his own club and ball and we were able to play.

Golf with Grandpa

He was holding 3 of our golf balls, but when I pulled out my camera he gave 2 of them to me before I could get the picture.

Jack and Luke got tired of golfing and decided it was time to sit and contemplate all of life's mysteries.

After golf, Thomas took the kids back to Marta's and I went to dinner with my dad, sister and brother. We missed my brother Jim, who lives in England and of course, my mom. We were meeting at 5, and my Dad did call-ahead seating. I thought it was very odd that he did so. How crowded is a restaurant going to be at 5pm on a Wednesday? The answer: very crowded! I had forgotten that the population in Winter Haven this time of year is overrun with snowbirds, who tend to enjoy early bird specials. Even with the call ahead, the wait for a table was 30+ minutes, so we went across the street to Longhorn. They don't have any early birds and weren't very crowded. We had a nice dinner, and even managed to discuss politics without any arguing (I can remember one election where we all canceled each other out by each of us voting for a different candidate). My sister then drove me around the some areas of town I hadn't seen yet and I got to see all the growth that has happened since I left. We had a nice conversation and it makes me wish we lived closer. Although, I am starting to feel a bit homesick for Maryland and my routine back home.

My dad and brother Kevin.

My sister and I.  See any resemblance/

Of course, while I was having a relaxing dinner, Thomas was busy dealing with 4 kids, none of whom got much sleep last night, and Luke never napped today. When he got back to Marta's house, no one was home and I had the house key. He managed to jump their 6-foot privacy fence and was able to get in, but then the girls somehow managed to let the dogs out. So, poor Thomas had to chase two dogs through the neighborhood, while still keeping track of Luke and the other 3. His evening was not quite as relaxing as mine!

Busch Gardens

I was really excited for our Busch Gardens day. We wanted to get there at opening, but were running a few minutes late. We pulled into their parking area at 9:55. At 11:07 we made it to the front of the security line. You read that correct, it took an hour and 12 minutes to get through the line to park our car and get through the bag check. When we went to scan our tickets, my ticket required a military i.d. for admission, which I had left with my wallet in the car (I had a free military ticket). They called over a supervisor who was immovable and not at all nice, she stated if I wanted to use the ticket, I needed the military i.d (even though the ticket said picture i.d. and I had my driver's license. I thought since I had verified military service with Troop ID online, I would be good to go).  Back to the car I went, then I waited for a tram, went back through security and finally joined the rest of my family. I was thankful that at least I had the i.d. in the car, but I certainly wished the supervisor was a bit nicer about it. Frankly, the less I say on the matter, the better--I still feel angry thinking about the whole interaction.

It was the six of us, my niece and nephew, and Marta and Elizabeth. We were a party of 10. I would like to say the day got better. And, I suppose it did. But, the crowds were unbelievable. I know it is Spring Break and I was expecting it to be crowded, but it was honestly ridiculous. The positives for the day were the ride on Skeikra, which is an awesome roller coaster, seeing all the animals, and being with people I love. The negatives were the lines, the lines, and the lines. We only got to ride one roller coaster because by noon, the wait times for the others were all over an hour (the one I really wanted to ride was 2 hours!).  Actually, I only got to ride 1 ride, period. The kids did have a great time climbing around on the two giant climbing structures and they all had fun being together.

Here are the pictures from the day:

The line to have bags checked

The ONE guy at the front of our line. There were a few different lines, but you would have thought there would be multiple people to manage each line.

One of the cool climbing structures

Luke loved seeing the zebras during the train ride

Luke on the swing, one of the 2 rides he went on (3 if you count the train)

The kids in front of a cool topiary.

Really, the less I say about the day, the better. I would never, ever, EVER recommend that anyone visit any type of theme park in Florida during Spring Break.

Bowling and Spring Training

Saturday was a comparatively quiet day. We had planned on going to the Florida Renaissance Festival with my sister's family, but the forecast called for several hours of rain so we decided to skip it. Instead, we had a leisurely breakfast with the Tilleys, then met my sister's family at Arts in the Park in downtown Winter Haven. They had lots of vendors with very creative crafts. We bought a really neat carved glass piece. It was much more affordable than the Arts in Park in Maryland we go to at Ann Marie Gardens. We were amazed that we could actually buy stuff at this one :) We also went into the library, where they have a book sale area. The kids and Thomas all found some interesting items. Anna chose a book about mythological creatures that has been a source of frustration for the past couple of days--the kids are constantly fighting over the book, with Anna wielding her power to determine readership like a cruel dictator ("I only said maybe after this page you could have it").

While we were there it began to rain, fortunately, it waited until after I had bought my Italian Ice. We decided bowling would be a good indoor activity. We could only do an hour rental, because their birthday parties were taking over after that. So, we bowled one game (I won!). It was really expensive. Two lanes and shoes for one hour came out to over 60 dollars for the 8 of us who bowled! I was bummed that we only got one game out of it. We had lunch at the bowling alley and took the kids back to Marta's to watch a movie.

I did not take many pictures. Here's one of Anna bowling.

And, one of Luke.  He loved it, everytime the ball hit the pins, he'd turn and say "yay" and jump up and down.

After the movie, Kim took JD and Amanda home for a few hours, while Thomas and I ran errands. Then, the kids came back so JD could help Elizabeth babysit, while Thomas and I took Frank and Marta to dinner. We went to a delicious Mexican restaurant. Frank also took us to his new building for his business. It has grown a lot since I had last visited and it was interesting to see all the machines and organization. Thomas and I were both very impressed. Frank has owned the business for 37 years and it has grown from one machine in his garage to 8 employees in a building they own with a lot of very fancy, high-tech equipment. It was a good example of the American dream and what you can achieve with a lot of very hard work. Luke will be wearing one of their creations tomorrow at Busch Gardens, so keep an eye out for his shirt in my next blog.

Sunday was Thomas' most anticipated day--a Spring Training game! The Tigers played the Nationals at Joker Marchant Stadium. We like to joke that it was my connection to Spring training that really brought us together, Thomas heard where I was from and figured the relationship might be good for a free trip to Spring Training country (this was before so many teams moved to Arizona). We have been to several games over the years, but this was the first since we had kids. But, I am getting ahead of myself. The game didn't start until 1, so after breakfast, we I took the kids on a Kori highlights tour. I showed them my old houses, drove them the route I would take my bike to get to a nearby lake and then the Elementary school where I went for 5th and 6th grades and met my friend Jennifer (who they know and love) and where their Uncle Kevin is now a teacher. Later, when talking about their day, Anna remarked that she couldn't remember the name of the school, but she thought it was "Memory Lane". :)

Anna has been asking to see an alligator, so we went to Lakeland to Lake Parker where I have frequently seen gators lounging around. Sure enough, there was a giant one in the grass as we drove past. Unfortunately, the kids didn't see it. We went to the park area and took a nature walk, but didn't see any others. We will have to try again.

I liked this picture so much...

I made them turn around, so I could take another with the alligator sign.

Finally, we got to the game. We had bleacher seats, but the best thing about Spring training is there are no bad seats and we had a great view of the field. Luke was difficult, but the other kids were good. We got to see Justin Verlander pitch. We watched him pitch in one of the first games Thomas and I attended and he has gone on to be a MVP, so that was pretty cool. On the Nationals side, Bryce Harper hit two home-runs! One of them was straight over the scoreboard, I think he may be in for a good year. The older kids actually watched some of the game this time, as opposed to just asking for ice cream and making multiple trips to the bathroom (of course, that happened too). Luke was cranky. It was his nap time and he was tired and hot and unhappy. He just wanted to wander the bleachers and couldn't understand why we didn't trust him to climb the concrete steps by himself. We took him for lots of walks, during one, he was lifting his shirt and sticking his belly out. He walked up to a stranger and said something and she responded by giving his belly button a little push (that sounds creepy, but it wasn't, he was all up in her personal space with his shirt up). After that, he kept trying to get other strangers to do the same, but no one else was biting.

A red-cheeked. unhappy Luke. We knew it would be tough, since the game started at nap time.

Even though we were in the bleachers, we still had a great view!

We waited for the 7th inning stretch and headed out after they sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame, which Kara always looks forward to. It would have been nice to stay for the whole game, especially since it was a kids run the bases day, but Luke was done and my dad was having everyone over for an early dinner.

We got my dad's around 4:30 and finally go to see Kevin, who has been sick. We had a fun clam boil, which is my most favorite meal in the world. It's a New England thing, possibly specific to the Portuguese area of Massachusetts and not to be confused with a clam bake. It was a good meal, although I was disappointed that the girls didn't like clams. I am sure Jack wouldn't like them either, but he is allergic, so he didn't even have to put up with me attempting to coax him into trying one. This was another dark time for Luke, he fell asleep in the car on the way over. We laid him down and tried to wake him up at 5:30. The poor kid was so exhausted he didn't want to get up and wasn't sure what to do with himself. Repeatedly hitting me in the face while shouting "NO" seemed like the logical choice. He would cry when anyone tried to take him from me, although Thomas did eventually get him to calm down. It was rough, though.

Finally, it was back "home".  We went with Marta and Elizabeth while they walked the dogs (4 kids, 4 adults and 4 dogs). It was another fun, full day.  Today, we are off to Busch Gardens!

Legoland!!!

Day two was highly anticipated, at least by me. The six Wilsons, my dad and Maggie, and JD and Amanda all went to Legoland. Unfortunately, Kim and Dave had to work. But, the 10 of us made a nice group.

We got there in time for park opening and then headed to the back to try some of the bigger rides. We were able to walk right on Coastersaurus and Flying School. We did a few more rides and then went to the water ski show.

The show is a vestige to Cypress Gardens, which was Florida's first theme park. It opened in 1936. It was 5-minutes from my house and we went several times when I was a kid. My sister even worked there at one point. Anyway, the park I first remember (late 80s era) had a water ski show, the Island in the Sky, a theater that ran a few different acts, a beautiful gardens area, a diving show, a boat ride on the lake, and a few other small rides. I was anxious to see what it was like now that it had transformed into Legoland. Unfortunately, I never could get my bearings. The place is completely transformed. There were a few things that remained, but they seemed out of place from where I remembered them, even though I know they didn't move two large stadiums or the Island in the Sky. All that is to say, I was excited both to visit Legoland and to see the remnants of my childhood park. While I never could quite place things, I did enjoy the water ski show, which was the top attraction back in the Cypress Gardens era. Now, while some of the skiers are dressed like minifigures, they still did their iconic jumps and pyramid.

Waiting for the show to begin

Skiing minifigs!

We got there early and were able to secure prime seats, center of the stadium, first row in front of a water canon. Unfortunately, it was a little too close for Luke's comfort. He got scared when the oddly dressed cast came out. I had to take him to the back of the stadium, which was a safe enough distance to make him feel comfortable. He actually had good timing, right after we left, Thomas and the kids got soaked!

After the show, we waited in an extremely long line to get our over-priced theme park lunch. Actually, in terms of tourist places, it wasn't that bad. They had $7 kids meals that had burgers or chicken strips, fries, a fruit pouch and milk or bottled water. From there it was more rides.

One of everyone's favorite things was Leog City. The 4D show was also very good. And, of course the kids enjoyed the rides. Luke never napped and got a little crankier as the day went on. After he went on one ride, he couldn't understand why he couldn't go on all the rides.

Anna in front of the DC area

We got ice cream around 5 then decided to see what remained of the gardens. My dad and Maggie left with JD and Amanda, so it was just the 6 of us, but before he went it was time for a picture.

Grandpa Lou with 6 of his 10 grandkids

The gardens were a lot like I remembered. I saw the old waterfall and gazebo and of course, the banyan tree. Kara remarked that she felt like she was in the rain forest and it definitely did have a unique feel. We saw interesting trees and plants. It was well-maintained and very beautiful. Of course, the highlight was the banyan tree.

At the entrance, next to a lego Southern Belle, when the park was Cypress Gardens, women walked around the gardens in these massive dresses.

The massive tree, it drops roots that grow into what looks like trunks that then send out more roots.

From there we made our way out of the park, stopping to get apple fries, which I had heard a lot about. They lived up to the hype. I took Jack and Kara on the Island in the Sky. It was wussified. In my day, once it reached its height of 150 feet, you could stand and enjoy the view. Now, you have to stay seated and they have netting all around, which makes taking pictures rather pointless.

An obstructed view of the Legoland hotel

We browsed the giant Legostore and left at 6:38. At 6:46, we pulled into Marta's driveway. I am not exaggerating when I tell people that Legoland is minutes from where I lived (my house was in the same neighborhood as Marta's, although my dad has since moved about 10 minutes away). Marta had a delicious dinner waiting for us, which everyone but Luke enjoyed. Unfortunately, he was exhausted and refused to eat. We got him to drink some milk and then put him to bed. The kids were in bed by 8:15. Thomas stayed with Jack and Luke in the poolhouse, since Jack was a little nervous to be alone, and I stayed up until 11 chatting with Marta, Matt and Frank. It was a fun day from morning till night!

Drive to Florida and Day 1

In honor of Luke's birthday/spring break, we decided to go to Florida. Our spring break coincides with my sister's, so it was a good time to visit. The first hurdle was clearing our house of the virus that plagued us in the weeks before we were scheduled to leave. Thankfully, everyone was well by Sunday. The second was Thomas' work. He has been extremely busy lately and before he could leave he needed to review 13000 documents to determine whether they were releasable (basically nothing classified in them). He only had about 3 weeks and this was in addition to all his other work duties. He brought his computer home on the weekends and after work and somehow managed to get it all done.

Hurdle 3 was getting to Florida. Airfares were relatively cheap, around $150/person.  But, with a family of 6, that adds up to almost $1000, throw in airport parking and minivan rental and we were closer to $1500. Of course, there is also the aggravation of transporting 3 booster seats and a car seat and all the other stuff we needed to bring. We decided driving made the most sense, which would cost us about $150 and allow us to bring all the stuff we needed without carting it through two airports and Orlando is a massive airport to try and hustle through.

However, the drive to Florida is around 13.5 hours, without stops. The older kids are fairly easy to entertain, they can watch movies, play Kindles, read books, color, etc. Luke was the wild card. This was going to be his longest car ride ever. To minimize the misery, we planned on leaving at 1am, so the kids could spend the first 6 hours sleeping. Thomas was going to go to bed by 7 to rest up in preparation. Unfortunately, it turned out that departure day (err night?) was also Jack and Kara's first practice for baseball. And, Thomas is the assistant coach. They didn't even get home until 7:30. I had spent the day packing and preparing, but there was still stuff to check/double-check and load. We finally laid down around 9, but were too wound up to sleep. Hence we decided to just go. We knew we could always sleep at a rest stop if we needed to and we could take turns sleeping/driving.

The boys had fallen asleep but the girls were still awake and very excited by the change in plans. Thomas took a quick shower while I did the very last minute stuff, like packing up our picnic lunch, and we departed at 9:49pm.

Everyone had trouble falling asleep, even Luke. But, no one was grouchy. With Luke still rear-facing, I couldn't recline the passenger seat very much, so I never got in a comfortable sleeping position. But, I was able to doze off and on throughout the night. I was also worried about Thomas falling asleep and frequently woke to make sure he was okay, which he always was. The kids also didn't get much solid sleep. They kept waking up, but remained quiet. I imagine their night was a lot like mine. Around midnight, Kara needed to use the bathroom, so we made our first stop of the trip at a North Carolina rest area. Luke was (mostly) asleep, so Thomas and I took turns staying with him.

We were off again. Our next stop was for gas. This time we took Luke out so he could walk around a bit too. We actually had to make two stops because the card reader wasn't working at the first place, which we didn't realize until everyone was out and half of us were inside using the restroom. Then, we were on our way again. Around 5, Thomas was too tired to go on, so I took over. Fortunately, I felt pretty good. It was still dark out and it was very boring driving in the dark while everyone else slept. I have no idea how Thomas managed for 7.5 hours. People started waking up for good, as opposed to the quiet dozing, around 7. I was ready for another bathroom break, so we stopped at a rest area somewhere in Georgia. Everyone got out and walked around again. Thomas realized he wasn't going to be able to sleep and it was much more fun driving with him to keep me company. We played our special drive mix, which included everyone's five favorite songs, or at least the songs they chose for the drive. We had it on shuffle, and it was fun to see whose song would come on next. At one point, we had already heard one of Luke's, when it started to play a second time. It happened to be his favorite song (Steal my Girl) and Thomas tried to quickly hit next. But, Luke had heard the opening and knew it was his song and started yelling and crying. Thomas quickly turned it back on and all was well again. It was pretty hilarious listening to Luke sing along. He has a few more words in the song now. It used to just be "I know, I know, I know" and "for sure".  Now he does "she knows" too.  :)

For those who might be curious, here's our playlist. Those who know us well can probably figure out who belongs to at least a few songs. For Luke, we just picked songs from the Kings Dominion playlist:

 

We stopped again for gas just before the Florida border, but no one got out since we knew were just a few miles from the big Welcome to Florida rest area where we planned on having a breakfast picnic. Thomas resumed driving duties. Originally, this would have been our lunchtime stop, but obviously plans had changed.

We spent around 45 relaxing minutes eating and walking around inside and out. It wasn't quite 9, but they were still handing out OJ samples, which is a fun tradition. Another tradition is that I always drive in Florida. So, I took back over. We let the kids play their Kindles, which didn't last too long. Then, we listened to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We handed out their first treat of the drive (some fun sticker scene books) and everyone was happy. We hit traffic in Orlando, despite the fact that it was 11AM, there were some stop and go moments. It was much worse on the other side which was backed-up for miles. There were no accidents, just congestion.

It feels like we should be there when we get to Florida, but it's actually the longest state to get through on the drive. We still had over 200 miles to go.

In his jammies and eating a breakfast bar. An inauspicious start to his birthday.

We just can't resist a face cutout.

Luke wanted in too

Because, why not?

Anna needed to use the bathroom again, so we gassed up and had one final restroom break. Then, we went to a park in Winter Haven to get rid of some more energy and enjoy our picnic lunch. We were right near Debby's work, so she popped over and said a quick hello on her lunch break.

We headed to my dad's house. Luke fell asleep on the drive and we tried to put him down for a nap, but he wasn't interested.  We propped the kids in front of the t.v. and Thomas and I tried to sleep. Thomas did eventually fall asleep, and the kids grew tired of t.v., so I took them out for a short walk to the mini golf area. We played for a little while when my sister called and said she and the kids would be home shortly.

We went back to my dad's, who was now home from his appointment and made dinner plans before going to my sister's house to say a quick hello and meet their bearded dragons. Luke wasn't interested in the dragons, but he was fascinated with their two cats. He loved them! Then, it was off to dinner with my Dad and Maggie. We definitely needed a casual place, so we opted for Cici's, a pizza buffet.

Shortly after 6, a mere 21 hours after departing Maryland, we got to Marta's house where we are staying this trip. It was only a 10-minute drive from Cici's, but Luke fell asleep and was completely out. We couldn't wake him, so we finally just put him down for the night. The poor kid was exhausted. Not much of a birthday, but he still has Legoland to look forward to. He handled the drive much better than we expected. He only cried twice the entire time, both for relatively short periods. The first was when we tried to skip his song. The second was at our last bathroom break when we didn't let him out of the car. We knew it was going to only be another 20 minutes to the park, but of course, he had no idea and just knew that Anna got to leave the car and he didn't. The older kids were fantastic. We were worried that with so little sleep they would be cranky and difficult, but they weren't. It went much better than we could have even hoped for.

Now, it is 7:15 on Friday. Luke is playing next to me while everyone else sleeps. He has already had his breakfast and is ready for the day to begin. Reading back over this, I can certainly write a much more detailed blog when the facts are fresh in my mind, but I am not sure that is a good thing. :)

Luke is 2!

Technically, my title is incorrect, since Luke won't be 2 until tomorrow, but close enough, right? So, what can I say about our little Lukey?

-He now loves books. I was rereading his 18-month blog and I can't believe there was ever a time where we didn't have to read him a dozen books a day. I would say his favorite is Brown Bear. We have two copies and he will often make us read both as if they are different books.

-His siblings are starting to see him more as a person and less as a baby, which means they aren't always as patient as they once were. But, he still generally manages to get his way and remains their favorite person.

-Luke still loves throwing balls and stacking blocks. He is now up to stacking 17.

-He loves being outside and gets really irritated when for some reason we won't let him go. Thomas had to put a lock up high on the sliding doors because he would take matters into his own hands and saunter into the backyard with nary a glance.

-He is still talking all the time, but we can't understand half of it. Some of his understandable phrases are really cute, like whenever I give him something he wants he says "tank you, Mommy," in the sweetest little voice. Yesterday, he came up to me and said, "nap," because he was actually ready to take a nap! He is so happy when we understand what he's saying. It is great for him to be able to communicate with us and we are enjoying seeing him develop this skill.

-Story-time is one of his favorite activities, particularly when they do ring-around-the-rosie.

-He is still thrilled to greet the kids when they get off the bus. He will wave and shout their names as if they have been gone for years. I think it may be the highlight of their day as well.

-Luke gives great kisses. If you ask him for a hug, he will generally respond "sure" and promptly kiss your cheek. If you ask him for a kiss, you get the same.

-He still has terrible eating habits. We actually put a lock on the snack pantry in hopes that he would eat more real food if we cut off his supply. It's not really working.

Tomorrow will be spent traveling, but on Friday we will celebrate his birthday with a trip to Legoland! We can't wait to see what changes the coming years brings!

If the big kids are doing it, Luke wants in!

He likes to walk around with his hands in his pocket. :)

 

Pictures of his foot are still showing up on my phone.

Sick Kids

We have been dealing with sick kids for two weeks. Two very long, very miserable weeks.  It started with Kara coming downstairs one morning and reporting that her head hurt and she just didn't feel good. Her temperature was 102.7, so home from school she stayed. After three days with a fever consistently between 102-103, we headed to the doctor. He swabbed for strep and flu and both came back negative. On Thursday afternoon, the fever was gone, so we thought we had cleared the hurdle. She even went to school on Friday. But that night, the fever and headache were back. Finally, Kara was completely normal on Sunday, the very day Anna first complained that her throat hurt. But, Anna didn't have a fever and her allergies can be wacky this time of year, so we hoped for the best.

Al Bundy, also known as patient zero.

Monday, Luke woke up with a fever of 104.2, but the older three all went to school. Tuesday, Anna, Jack and Luke all had fevers. Anna reported that she couldn't swallow because her throat hurt so much. Anytime Luke tried to eat, he would spit out the food and cry "hot, hot".  After all of Anna's strep throat this winter, we decided a trip to the doctor was warranted. Again, strep and flu were tested, again they were negative. Jack never seemed quite as sick (maybe he just complains less) and he even made it to school on Friday, but his symptoms returned Saturday afternoon. It is now Sunday and Anna and Jack are still running fevers. Their tonsils are massive and spotty and neither one wants to each much besides popsicles and ice cream. Luke hasn't taken a real nap in a week and is incredibly cranky.

Five minute power nap/meditation.

There have been a variety of symptoms, from vomit to dizziness to runny noses. The only thing they've had in common is a high temperature and a headache. So, as I said, it has been a long, miserable, unpleasant, lousy, tiring, frustrating two weeks. I can't remember having so many kids sick for so long ever before. We've done many loads of laundry and lots of sanitizing, but the virus is strong and powerful and winning the war. We have no idea when this will end. My current fear is that just as the kids get better, Thomas or I will get it. Frankly, I'm shocked that we haven't already, considering the amount of germs that have been spewed in our faces. I'm also afraid that the kids are going to reinfect each other. This is particularly troublesome because we are supposed to go on vacation soon and there's no way we can travel at this point.

Incredibly messy, even by my standards. Luke has been pulling out every toy he can find. Perhaps searching for a magical cure? Anna and Jack have been bringing books by the dozen into the family room.

In other news. Well, there is no other news. We have done virtually nothing for two weeks. Have I mentioned that? One thing I can say is that I am glad I stay home. Thomas has been incredibly busy at work and this situation would have been 10x more stressful if we had to worry about childcare on top of everything else. And, actually, I do have a bit of other news. I have glasses! I noticed my vision seemed blurry when I read for long periods (thanks to Stephen Kings 11/23/63, this became much more noticeable). The kids think I look very smart when I wear them (as opposed to the rest of the time when I guess I just look dumb).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everyone magically wakes up healthy tomorrow, Thomas and I stay healthy, and this illness leaves our home forever!