Roller Coasters Everywhere

Wow, I don't even know where to begin...

I have been neglecting my blog lately because I have been a little overwhelmed with what to even write. Life has been a little overwhelming. Okay, a lot overwhelming. But, as all things that go up must come down, all things that are down also come up eventually, kind of like a roller coaster. So, I'll start with the bad, but end with the good. Isn't that how life goes?

Last Monday night I officially learned that we would have to find a new daycare for the kids. While I had been preparing myself for the chance that we would have to find something else, and had been looking around and checking into different options, I was hopeful that things would work out with our current sitter. But, no such luck, so we are still trying to iron out our exact plans. I think we have some good prospects, so I'm crossing my fingers (and losing some sleep) hoping that things all work out before I have to go to work on August 20th.

As I was laying awake in bed Monday night considering our options, I heard a horrible noise coming from Ella's room. I went in to find that she had thrown up, which she continued to do the entire night. I, literally, did not get one minute of sleep that night. I laid on her floor and jumped up every five minutes or so to help her as she threw up. It was awful. Poor thing was so sick and would wake up crying saying she was thirsty, so I'd give her a sip of water and she'd get sick a minute later. The kids had started swimming lessons that week, Noah is in level 1 and Ella is in the Mommy and Me class, so I called my mom to see if she could take Noah to his lessons. She did, and kept him the whole day, overnight, and took him to his lessons on Wednesday, too (Thanks Grandma Mary!!!!!!!). Poor Ella had to miss hers, which was too bad, because she LOVED them, and was the star pupil in her class of three, with another Ella who is 18 months and wanted to do what she wanted to do and not what the teacher wanted as most 18 month olds do, and a 3 year old boy who is terrified of the water (it was hard not to be the star pupil). But we were glad that Noah got to go to his lessons.

On Wednesday night, as I was again laying in bed stressing about daycare instead of sleeping, I heard another terrible noise coming from Noah's room. Yep. So, he was throwing up all day Thursday, Ella was still very sick and really listless and tired, and then, to top it all off, I got sick later in the morning. So, we spent the entire day with Ella and I laying on one couch covered with blankets and towels and Noah laying on the other couch, all three of us dozing on and off, watching movies and taking diarrhea and vomitting breaks. Lord have mercy.

Seth came home for lunch on Thursday and had a phone call from the dermatologist who had taken a biopsy of a mole on his cheek and was informed that the biopsy results came back and showed that the mole is cancerous. Basal Cell Carcinoma, which, I guess is very common, and very treatable. Still, a very scary phone call to receive. With all that had been going on that day, I'm afraid that I wasn't much help to Seth who, I'm sure, was pretty shook up with the news. The kids and I were having our own explosive issues at the time, so I couldn't quite take it all in at once. All in all, a terrible week.

But, as I said, what goes down will come up, and our week ended positively. I was a nervous wreck all week that someone would still be sick and we would have to cancel our trip to Adventureland that we have had planned with some friends of ours for quite some time. Luckily, everyone was recovered and we were able to go, and we had a great time.

Noah was tall enough this year to go on "real roller coasters" and was sooooooo excited. He started off with the Dragon, which goes upside down twice, and he seemed to like it. The ride goes so fast that I couldn't look at his face (actually, I couldn't see his face with the bars over our chest), but I imagine he looked petrified. Later in the day we went on the Tornado, which doesn't go upside down, but is pretty rickety and bumpy. I was able to see his face, and he looked like he was being tortured, poor thing! Afterwards, though, he claimed that he liked it. He is very brave. Ella had fun going on the rides that she was able to go on, and all the kids had a good time and were troopers- we were there for 9 hours! The weather was GORGEOUS!!!! We wore sweatshirts and jackets most of the day- unheard of for July in the midwest!

After Adventureland, we went out to dinner and then back to our hotel to swim in the pool. By the time the kids got in bed at 11:00, they literally were out before their heads hit the pillow. On Sunday we went to the Living History Farms which shows what farms were like in the 1700s, 1800s and 1900s. It was very interesting and interactive, and the kids loved it. Noah was really into it and had a lot of questions for the workers who were dressed like they were from that time period. His questions included: does that use electricity? (referring to the wood burning stove), is that real? ( referring to a hoe that a worker made), and is that a weapon? (again, referring to the hoe). We left at 4:30 and got home at 7:00 and are all utterly exhausted. It was such a fun week-end, though. I'm so glad we were all healthy and could enjoy our trip.

And so starts a new week. We have one last week of swimming lessons, hopefully Ella can go this week, and then next week Noah has a weeklong class at P.E 101, then we go to San Diego, and then Kindergarten starts!!!! This summer has flown by, as always...