The Adventure: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Yesterday was rough for B. You'd think Saturday would have been the rough day--little sleep, recovering from facial injuries and the stomach flu. And he certainly wasn't himself. But yesterday was just not good. He slept in pretty late, woke up crabby, and wanted nothing to do with anything that wasn't on TV. Didn't want to play, didn't want to go anywhere, didn't want to eat. He had barely any energy and it seemed as though he could fall asleep on the floor at any moment.

Despite the rough morning, my uncle was in town from South Carolina, and I rarely get to see him. He's an army man, and for most of my life he's been running around the world. He settled Stateside many years ago, but it was the wrong side of the states--Hawaii for a while, and now the east coast. Okay, so maybe it was just wrong for me, right for him.The great thing about my army uncle is that we've managed to have a special relationship from afar. He used to send me money from all the countries he'd go to, and I had a pretty sweet collection. And for some reason, out of all my uncles (and I have quite a few), I've always felt closest to him. So when he visits, it's a real treat. He has an amazing wife and two incredible kids, whom I haven't seen since I spent a week with them in West Point several years ago. Maybe 2002? When were the winter Olympics before last? Anyway, he was out for a very short visit, and despite the travel fatigue and the cranky toddler we trekked out to Fontana to see him (and, of course, the many other family members that were there). It was actually quite the gathering. The Cobbs aren't really known to party too hard. But I was impressed. I got to see a couple of cousins I haven't seen in ages, and four of the six kids were there (one uncle is in Nor Cal and my aunt is in Arkansas). It took Ben a while to get acclimated since he'd had a tough morning and had slept all the way there (which was a God-send, because he clearly needed it). But he warmed up because there were a few little dogs running around. Ben just spent a week with two dogs, one of whom he cuddled with every five minutes. So he was pretty excited. And the dogs were pretty excited, too, to have a little guy just their size to play with. And then it happened--Ben was across the room with the dogs, one of them got excited, and he nipped Ben twice in the upper thigh. It happened so fast. I didn't even really see it; I thought I saw the dog jump up on him, but I had no idea he'd actually bitten Ben. Ben came crying to me, sobbing and shaking. I took him upstairs to see what had actually happened--sure enough, two little purple pinches. Fortunately they were pinches, and no teeth or blood. But that was it for him. He was done for the day, firmly planted in my arms for the remainder of our stay.


My cousin, Megan

another cousin, Daniel

sweet grandparents

four cousins and two kiddos

four cousins, four kiddos, and a grandma

B with a dog--not the one that bit him

tired little B

B and his Great Grandpa

Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle John (the army man)

weary travelers

my dad, grandma, and uncle Greg

me 'n my uncle John's obligatory facebook pic

John, Mike, Greg, Mark, Del, and Bob

The Stacker

We only stayed for a couple of hours, and we left pretty early. Ben was done, Matt had a headache, and we were all travel-worn and injured. (Oh, did I mention that Ben accidentally scratched my gums? He was running to me to hug me, arms outstretched, and somehow a fingernail ended up in my mouth.) Drama aside, it was nice to see everyone. But it was also nice to be home, in our jammies. Ben went to bed early after watching half a movie, half-heartedly playing with his trains, barely touching his dinner, and having another diarrhea diaper. Poor little guy.