It's the Thought that Counts

Last weekend we went to Memphis to celebrate my dad's birthday. We had lots of fun activities planned, and the kids were so excited to go visit Bud and KayKay!


Unfortunately, things did not go as well as planned...


The drive to Memphis went pretty well. The kids took a great nap in the car, which was really nice! But then, about 30 minutes outside of Memphis, Jonathan threw up in the car...and then he threw up again...and then he threw up a third time just as Jim was trying to take him out of the car, so it went everywhere! Disgusting! After that, however, he seemed to feel fine, so we thought maybe it was just car sickness.


The next morning we had plans to meet up with Jodie, Jeff, and the girls to go to the zoo. I was so excited because the kids have never been to the zoo before! And then Reagan woke up with a fever. She was pitiful. We gave her some medicine and she perked right up and seemed to be great so we decided to go ahead and go to the zoo.


Thomas threw up in the car on the way there.

But we toured the zoo anyway and had a fabulous time! The kids, even Thomas and Reagan, seemed to feel fine, and they loved seeing all the animals. For those of you who have never been there, Memphis has a really great zoo! Lots of shady walkways and they've really put a LOT of effort over the past several years to renovating and providing more roomy and natural habitats for the animals.

The entrance to the Memphis Zoo

Some of us with some of the kids--would you believe my sister actually had enough strollers to accommodate her two children and all four of mine! And yes, this is the first published pic of my new haircut, but it doesn't do it justice so don't pay too much attention!

This MAY have been the kids' favorite part of the whole day because we actually let them get out of the strollers and climb around in the canoe. From the left: Thomas, Jonathan, Reagan, Kallen, and Zachary climbing out in the back.

The rest of the afternoon passed in good spirits, although Reagan continued to be feverish and Jonathan seemed headed that way as well. We went to Jodie's that night for a family get-together in honor of Bud's birthday and so we could check out their new house! (It's beautiful, by the way!) We played in the playroom, we ate dinner, we played outside. Everyone seemed fine. Then it was time for cake and ice cream. We got desserts passed out just in time for Reagan to throw up all over me and the floor and herself...and then again outside on Jim.

And that pretty much ended the party. Two children with fevers and three had thrown up (not to mention Jim hadn't been feeling well either and I was ill the night before we left town) and Jim and I decided we had best just take our disease-ridden family home. The only thing worse than throwing up is throwing up in other people's houses! If we were going to be sick, we'd rather be sick at home. So we packed up all our things, put the kids in their pajamas, and hit the road to home. Mostly the trip was fine. The kids slept for nearly all of it and went back to sleep quite easily when we finally got home around 3 in the morning!


Sunday was a puny day, especially for Jonathan who was content to lie around a lot. But no one else threw up.

I wish things had gone differently. We were so excited about the visit! It was so short I barely had any time at all to spend with my family or do much celebrating for Dad's birthday. Oh, well. We just have to hope we can make up for it next time! It was nice to see everyone even if just for a short time! We love you!