Souvenirs

What's a vacation without a few kitschie souvenirs? We visited a bison reserve with the kids, and they begged for every tacky object in the gift shop. I held my ground, though, and we came home free of expensive-yet-highly-breakable-doodads. I was proud of myself, but did they feel deprived? Is that feeling of loss the reason they decided to bring something else home with them - something entirely disagreeable? I'd have taken a plastic chomping bison head over this any day. Surely, you're wondering what they could have found to bring home with them. Well, I'll give you a little hint. What do you get when you bring together children from different regions for a little summer fun? Yes, you do get lots of little spats, but what else? That's right, a free exchange of viruses.

When I stepped off the train after riding back up to be with my kiddos, the first thing I did was get big hugs and kisses. That's how I noticed Lambchop #2's fever. It was apparently passed off to us by some family friends. Nothing too horrible. Just a little fever, and according to the older child who had recently had it, a little sore throat, too. That was pretty short-lived, and my little lambchop barely even missed a beat, even with a fever. Then, it was Lambchop #1's turn. She doesn't deal with fevers quite as well, so she was pretty well knocked out for a couple of days, but soon she started to feel better.

That's when the violent vomiting and diarrhea set in. Lambchop #2, the little fella still in diapers, got the diarrhea, while our big girl spent her last two days on vacation with her head over a bowl. I felt so bad for them both, and I decided we were better off leaving a day early, late in the evening, so it was cool in the car, we'd have less traffic and they'd sleep at least part of the trip. Turned out to be a good plan. The ride went surprisingly well, and I even got a chance to take them to their regular village doctor Saturday morning. So, now we've got a nice pile of meds to administer, and things are looking up. Lambchop #1 has actually kept down three tiny meals now, and we're no longer changing close to ten diapers a day for Lambchop #2.

My question, now, is: should I have just sprung for the silly plastic toys so they wouldn't have felt obliged to concoct their own souvenirs to bring home?

By the way, in case you're wondering what caused all of this, I'm thinking (and the doctor seemed to agree) that the fever was too far disconnected from the vomiting and diarrhea to be related. They most likely ate something that didn't sit well, because no one else has had any trouble, with the exception of my mother-in-law, which makes me think it must have been the ham that the three of them had at lunch a few days ago (there was not enough for me, so I ate something else). Whatever it was, though, I'm just happy it's starting to works its way out of their little systems, because there is nothing like looking into the sad, exhausted eyes of a five-year-old who asks, "why is this happening to me?"

On a brighter note, I do have some fun pictures to post (though none of them will be of the cute little museum I had hoped to visit - that just didn't happen this time around). I'll post those on a later date. Oh, and for those who were wondering - no I didn't give birth while on vacation. As big as I'm getting, it was apparently on people's mind, though. Still have to wait till some time near the end of this month for that one. I am getting pretty excited though. Ooh, and a little last thought... the hubster and his helper got some work done on the new house while the kids and I were away. Almost all of the countertops are installed in both the kitchen and the bathroom (we went with stainless steel sheets for ease of installation), and a wall in our livingroom got painted a lovely brick red. That wall was particularly exciting to see, since it really made things start to look a little more like a home. It adds quite a bit of warmth to the room, and I'm getting so anxious to see it all done. You can count on some pictures of that soon, too.