The Sickies

What is worse than your child getting a virus and being miserably sick?? How about the entire family getting the virus and being miserably sick! This is what happened to our family last week and we are just now getting back to some sense of normalcy!

Poor Abigail was sent home from school with a high fever and a horrible cough, so off to the pediatrician's office we went, only to be told that she had a virus that usually morphed into something else, but at this point there was nothing they could do for her. She continued on with her high fever and cough and then 2 days later, Mitchell and I were down with the same symptoms. It was a long weekend, with some even scary times for this experienced Momma, as Mitchell's virus morphed into croup and he was having a hard time breathing, very scary! Five days after Abigail's symptoms first appeared, we were back at the pediatrician's office, this time with Hayden in tow, as he had also begun the high fever/cough fun! At this appointment, the doctor discovered that Abigail now had pneumonia and had to get on some high-powered antibiotics but that Hayden was still in the beginning phases of the dreaded virus. I still felt miserable, but had to continue with my regular, daily routines, which had also been altered to taking care of some very sick kiddos. As last week progressed, Steve ended up contracting the sickies and we had to take Hayden back to the doctor, where we then learned he had broncholitis and also needed to be treated with some major meds. I was finally on the uphill as was Mitchell, and after a few days of the antibiotics both Abigail & Hayden were feeling much better. Poor Daddy was the last one to get all the germs and he ended up with a sinus infection that he too had to take antibiotics for!

A very sick little girl, taking a nap in Mommy & Daddy's bed!

Hayden falling asleep on Mommy before heading to the doctor!

We have had plenty of sickness run through our family over the years, but I have to say this is the first time that we have all been hit with something at the same time. It is one of the hardest things to do, to take care of your children when you are feeling so sick and miserable. But, as parents, we just trudge through and make the most of it. We had lots of TV time, all snuggled under blankets, with our box of tissue handy and I was okay with that! And I am very relieved that we are all back to 100% and enjoying our little family once again!

Friday Night Dates

It's funny how things change so completely when you have kids. Steve and I use to go out all the time, to dinner, the movies, out with friends and all on a whim. Now, we have to plan well in advance to go out to dinner with the kids and we have to go somewhere kid-friendly, that will be able to handle the noise of 3 young children and have food that they will want to eat. We have found all that in our Friday night family date to Qdoba!

Gone are the days of fancy dinners and quiet restaurants and in its' place are early dinners to beat crowds in places that you order your food and then find your seat yourself! We have found that Qdoba offers kids eat free Friday nights and we think this is a great idea and have been capitalizing on it, doing just that tonight. The kids are always full of excitement when we tell them we are going to go out to dinner and if we tell them we are going to the "Quesadilla Store" then they are even more excited, they love the place! And maybe it has something to do with a Coldstone Creamery right next door, but whatever the reason, it is a place that we all enjoy and makes for a wonderful family date night.

I love creating memories with our kids. I know that we only have so long in their childhoods that they will actually want to go out on a Friday night with their Mom and Dad to eat dinner, so I am going to relish every moment that I can. I like the conversations that we have when we are sitting at Qdoba eating our yummy Mexican food and seeing the smiles on their faces, pure joy that we are eating out and just being together. We do most things as a family and it is all our kids know and I think that is a great quality to have in a family. They expect spending the majority of time all together and I hope that is something that we can continue to build on as they get older, something that we can just instill into their beings. I love our little family and although it can get quite insane at times, I will always look forward to our Friday night family dates or any other time that we are together!

And a camping we did go!

So, this weekend we did something very unlike us and on a whim decided to load the kids up & go camping! We had been toying with the idea for months, but due to the extreme heat this summer had never gotten a chance to actually go. We bought a pop-camper from my uncle last August, but had yet to be able to take it out & hit a campground. This weekend was our time!

We tried calling to reserve a campsite on Friday, but found out that you have to give at least 48 hours notice, if not then it is first come, first serve. We made a few calls on Saturday morning and found that our best bet would be to head back to my hometown, about 50 miles south of us, to good ole' General Butler State Resort Park. I was not very keen on the idea, having lived 18 years just miles from that park, but I had actually never camped there, so I was up for it. We very quickly and crazily loaded up our gear, some food, the kids and took off. Abigail & Mitchell were so excited, plus we were all riding in Daddy's new SUV for the first time, so that just added to their happiness.

When we arrived at the park, Steve started getting the camper set up, while I tried to unload our supplies & occupy 3 kids. The spot we were in was perfect, just a stone's throw to the playground and a very short walk to the bath house. Abigail & Mitchell scurried off to the playground & Hayden was content to sit in his cozy coupe car & play with leaves he was finding all around him. In no time, Steve had our home away from home all set up & ready for our adventure. We took off with the kids for a walk that led us to a cute train that we could all ride on and then some more playground fun for everyone. When we returned from our walk, Steve set to work on building our fire so that we could start preparing our dinner. Abigail & Mitchell were very anxious to help, so their job was to collect the kinlin to help Daddy in building a super fire!

The evening ended with everyone filling their bellies with campfire hotdogs & beans and then after a very interesting bathtime for Hayden & bed, the four of us made wonderful s'mores before we retreated for the night. Although I wouldn't say that Steve & I got the best sleep that night, we all woke up in good spirits and sat around the fire again, eating our pancakes and just enjoying God's beauty all around.

Steve & I both grew up camping with our families and I remember very early in our relationship we both shared that those were some of our favorite & best memories as kids. When the opportunity came for us to purchase the camper, we jumped on it because we knew that we wanted to create those same memories with our own children. There was something very special & magical this weekend, as I watched my husband & children around the campfire, that I knew right then & there we were building memories that our children would cherish as we have. And to know that trip was just the first of many was just icing on the cake!