As previously mentioned, we spent a week in Auburn with Matt's family for Christmas. We flew this time, which was nice since the last two times we've been up there (August and October) we drove, and the mere thought of two more eight-hour road trips with the mini made me want to crawl under my bed and cry. But let's be honest, here. Flying with a two-year-old mildly sucks. Especially since a weather apocalypse was raging in Orange County in ways that these poor weather-deprived rich people had no idea how to function. Okay, to be fair, it was a lot of rain, and in other parts of the country real weather was causing legitimate flight issues. So we hung out at the airport. For kind of a long time. Again, to be fair, our two-hour delay had nothing on people who were stranded for days. But two extra hours in an airport with a little feel like several days. For us, for him, for our fellow strandees. But I've got to hand it to Ben, he was actually a champ. We'd brought along loads of toys, puzzles, and a portable DVD player, which thankfully we were able to save for the flight, which was basically the best thing ever invented. He entertained himself rather well. Matt, on the other hand... ;) The main trouble came from the fact that we are poor so we fly Southwest, which means that we spend some time standing in line to get on the plane. And the double trouble of it was that half of our delay happened after they herded us all into the line. Which meant that instead of spending our delay allowing Ben to fun free with Buzz and Woody, we had to make him stand in line. Obviously it did not go well. At one point he just laid down on the floor and stuck his thumb in his mouth. I really don't blame him. Had it been socially acceptable I would have done the same.
Eventually we got on the plane, and after reaching altitude we could turn on the DVD player and let Ben watch Madagascar in peace. We landed a couple of hours behind schedule, way too late for our planned dinner with the parents. But that was okay. We got to their house, watched a bit of Polar Express, and went to bed way too late for my liking. But since this was our third trip there in just a few months, Ben felt right at home and there was ne'er a fight for bedtime or naptime. Keeping him asleep for a reasonable length of time was a different story. But hey, you can't have too many wins when you're on "vacation" with your kids. Claire on Modern Family put it perfectly: when you have your kids, it's not a vacation, it's a business trip.
The week was a blend. I wasn't feeling well, and neither was Ben. He gets sick every time we go up there; my theory is its because he gets run into the ground and barely gets any sleep, and his poor little body just can't handle it. Or maybe it's just exposure to new and different germs. Or maybe it's Satan. Either way, he always gets sick. In August he busted his tooth and got a 104 fever and diarrhea. In October he got a cold. This trip was no exception. He got a cold. A nasty one. And then there was the vomit.
I should say that a couple of days before we left he calmly walked into the kitchen while I was doing dishes and said, "Mommy, I burped." Oh, and there was barf on his face. Awesome. For the next couple of days there was no more vomiting, but there was a decent amount of diarrhea. Fine. I'd rather it all stay in the diaper. So I was nervous anyway. On Thursday evening we had Big Family Christmas Party #1 (there are always two, one with each parent). Ben was a blur, eating chips, running and chasing his cousins, dancing--generally making merry like there was no tomorrow. He had the time of his life, which was awesome. What wasn't awesome is that when I sat at the table with him to share a cookie, he got that look in his eyes. You know--the one that says, "Man, I'm not feeling so good." And then it happened. A torrent of vomit like I've never seen. It just kept coming. The poor little guy was terrified, so he was sobbing, which was only making it worse. I just held him as wave after wave of puke covered both of us. Towels were grabbed, they were quickly filled. It went on for several days. Okay, maybe a few minutes. But they were the longest few minutes of my life. Eventually the tsunami of barf came to an end. I gingerly carried him upstairs to the bathroom and stripped him down, which made him cry more because he saw how much puke there was and he felt bad. I tried to get him into the bathtub, but he would have none of it. So I wet a hand towel and hand-washed his trembling little body while my new sister-in-law, whose house my son had just redecorated with a week's worth of regurgitated food, got his extra shirt from his backpack, a pair of pants from his cousin, and her pajamas (those were for me). Once I got him cleaned up and changed, Matt took him while I sponge-bathed myself and donned my sister- and brother-in-law's pajama pants and t-shirt.
Afterwards, Ben was trying to play some more, although he really didn't have it in him and his cousins didn't want to be anywhere near him (fair enough). He found a light switch and started playing with it. Whatever, he wasn't moving much, so I let him. But his cousin didn't. The almost-three-year-old came up to Ben and shoved him down the stairs. That was our cue to take off.
Things didn't improve much from there. The next day Ben's nose sealed shut with snot. We had fun off and on with our family, and that was good. On Friday we were pretty wiped out, but Jon and Rachel came over for Jon's birthday. Ben read a book to him (true story), we had cake--it was good. In the late afternoon we took the dogs for a walk; Ben was a pro. Christmas day was nice. We had a quiet morning, and in the afternoon there was Christmas Party #2. Ben had a great time, despite the fact his nose was running enough to drown us all and he hadn't slept in days. But eventually the busy-ness took us both down. We closed the day cuddled on the couch watching Toy Story 3.
Sunday and Monday were a little frustrating, to be honest, but we found pockets of fun. It's very hard to get five siblings, their parents, and their children to agree on things to do. But we managed. We spent time together, went bowling, and visited the railroad museum in Sacramento, which Ben loved. But honestly the first few days and the sickness had knocked Ben and I out, so much of the time was spent dragging our bodies around trying to make the best of it despite feeling terrible. Thankfully the flight home went smoothly and without drama. We spent Tuesday recovering.
As hectic and illness-riddled as it was, we really did enjoy our time with our family. It's hard to squeeze in quality time with everyone when we're only up there for a few days, but we tried our best, and we had fun. When we weren't puking. :)
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