Provo Vacation

I neglected to take my camera with me this weekend on vacation. So ya'll will have to use your imaginations. I'll be as vivid as I can.

Usually, the eve before departing for any vacation is spent packing by myself. Not because I have nothing better to do or because Michael is a slacker. He's still at work trying to tie up loose ends and get everything in order because it seems that no one else is interested in the nuts and bolts of the business succeeding. (That's a whole other post in and of itself. Let's just say that there are FAR too many people out there who don't know the meaning of "work ethic" and if they did, Michael wouldn't have to work so hard.) But this time it was a little different. He was able to get home early enough that we opted to watch a movie instead of pack. Thus, the next morning found us scrambling to get things together to leave on time. We had dentist appointments to keep that afternoon. We weren't that excited about them, but when you travel 4 hrs. to go to the dentist, you don't want to miss it. Our trip up was rather uneventful. Just the normal stuff of kids whining to get out of carseats, "I'm hungry", etc.
Almost every time we come up we stay with my aunt and uncle. Uncle Arden and Aunt Lorraine - who up until I was 5 or 6 I thought their names were Uncle Garden and Aunt The Rain. True story. Their number is under that title in my cell. 'Course I also had an Aunt Tana who EVERYBODY thought was Antenna. Hahaha! We've told the kids that we will be staying with Aunt Lorraine and they are very excited. Aunt Lorraine has toys! Aunt Lorraine plays with them and makes them lunch when Mommy forgets! So as we drive we hear a constant stream of comments about "Au-n Lo-AIN 'oUSE". (Yes, that is where they put the inflection.)
That night we had dinner with some old friends and enjoyed it thoroughly. Unfortunately, Patrick's oddness began. He wouldn't eat anthing. Not even a cookie. He cried if someone looked at him for too long. All he wanted to do was play basketball (ba-ke(t)-BAAW). He got to bed late. He woke up at 5 and didn't want to go back to sleep. He didn't get more than an hour nap that day. Still didn't eat hardly anything. Woke up the next night at 2 and 4 - he didn't want to go back to sleep after that. Eventually I got him to sleep on my chest from 5:45-9:00. He didn't get a nap that day, but he was eating a little better. The last night he slept much better, but it still wasn't sufficient. Church was normal. Then he let loose on a diaper that was complete liquid. Now I was sure he wasn't feeling right. But we were heading home within an hour. So we packed him into the car and went. I was holding him in the back seat when he vomited all over me, himself, the back seat, and even left a puddle in my lap as a momento. I was disgusted. I couldn't move and had to force myself to get out of the car. Never before have I stripped out of my clothes on the side of a freeway. But with a little help from Michael, I did it decently and managed to change my clothes. Poor Patrick was standing next to the car for about 6 min in his vomit-soaked clothes. He began to shiver and I felt so much pity for the kid. We stripped him down too, and got back on the road. An hour and a half later we repeated said adventure in his carseat. It was a long drive home. We went straight to the doctor's office and found that he had an ear infection and probably a little bit of the stomach flu bug. Fun stuff. Well, today is a new day. Hopefully it will not have any sick in it.
On a positive note, we spent a whole afternoon with Joseph and it was wonderful. He's really good at playing with the kids. He has a lot of patience with them and love for them. We also got to take Esther out for lunch and it was scrumptious. We spent an evening playing games with Arden and Lorraine which was hilarious! I've discovered that I'm married to a very good bluffer. The funny part is that he can't keep a secret worth a darn. We spent another afternoon eating and visiting with my cousin's family. It's great to be able to see family every so often.