Barf bowls and Other Comforts

This week has been quite long for my 6 year old.  He came home from school on Monday with a fever and sore throat.  Within 2 hours (after a negative strep test) his sore throat progressed into one very upset tummy.  Bring out the barf bowl!  Fill it up, take it to the toilet bowl.  Time and time again.  In the middle of the night we were travelling to the toilet bowl for other outpourings.  Isn't that a nice description?  The poor guy had some horrible virus that had come to stay.  Wednesday we had to have IV fluids in order to re-hydrate him.  Thursday he continued to have no appetite until evening.  Finally, he was willing to eat some warm spaghetti with a dab of butter.  He had 3 bowls!!  plus a pedialyte popsicle and lots of gatorade.  I think he is on the road to recovery.

I was really quite proud of myself this time.  I don't do well with throw-up.  In fact, just hearing the word will send my adrenaline on a swift course through my body.  I get sweaty palms and worry, worry, worry about whether or not it will hit the family.  BUT this time, I calmly took care of the poor fella.  You see MH wasn't home and he is usually the caretaker when t.u. comes to visit.  He will clean it up, kiss the kid, and do whatever else is needed.  I am, on the other hand, usually freaking out and having IBS symptoms.  Nerves, really.  You see, I think it is somewhat of a phobia stemming back a few years...

my sister puked on me when I was about 8.  We were sleeping (at least I was) when all of a sudden, well, you can imagine, I am sure.  I have been scarred since then, it is most certainly a throw-up phobia.

I really do run if I hear it or see it - and believe me - if it happens even remotely close to me - I will see it.  Then I think about it for the entire rest of the day.  I am just sure that I will catch it or that someone I am with will catch it.  This is absolutely unreasonable, I realize, but reason doesn't go with t.u.

I am thankful that God matched me up with a man who never barfs.  Yep, it's true... in the 18-1/2 years I have known him, he has only upchucked once.  The night before he had a bit of bad crawfish and it sent him over (to) the edge of the bowl.  I haven't eaten crawfish since!

A Wicked Birthday

Today is #4's birthday. He is 6 today. His birthday usually falls over Fall Break, so he gets to celebrate in various locations. Today he wanted to spend the morning at ESPNZone. The boys had a blast playing with their dad on the coolest games.

We had lunch at Pizzeria Uno where we enjoyed another meal of pizza, Chicago style.

After lunch we walked to the theater where we got to see "Wicked." We all had a great time. I think we will be singing the tunes all the way home.

We celebrated #4's birthday at The Cheesecake Factory. It was yummy!

Day 2 in The Windy City

Today we ventured out to see the Shedd Aquarium. It was as great as I remembered.  CH, Mom and I visited 3-1/2 years ago and I was impressed with the Dolphin show. Mondays and Tuesdays are free museum days in October. We paid $60 for the 6 of us and spent about 3 hours. It was well worth the money. Parking is $15 if you have your own car. We decided to drive since bus fare 2 ways would be more than the parking fee and taxi fare would be approximately $22. When you have a large family like we do, it is always a challenge to get around. We are glad to have our car. 
After the aquarium, we had lunch at Harry Caray’s. We decided to try the lunch menu, hoping the prices would be better. I don’t know that they were, although most of us chose sandwiches, which wouldn’t have happened at dinner. It certainly is the place to see for baseball enthusiasts. B and R and MH got to see Sammy Sosa’s bat from his 20 HR month and Mark Maguire’s signed jersey - right behind our table. They actually had Harry’s glasses in a case. The food was good, the pictures and memorablilia numerous, and the bill - well, does it really matter when you go for the first 2 reasons?

We walked through ESPNZone after lunch. I thought it was a store. It is a huge gameroom - a haven for 3 boys and a dad. I think they are headed back tomorrow sans girls for some bonding action. Then we traipsed up to the JohnHancock Building for a trip to the Observation Tower. It was really cool - although not for those afraid of heights. The elevator trip is 40 seconds up -  94 stories. The entire time I was up there, I felt like the building was swaying in the wind. It turned out to be a pretty day and you could see for miles. We loved it! After the ride back down, we made a few purchases at American Girl and had an afternoon "pick me up" at Ghirardelli. Michigan Avenue is the greatest. It was a fun few hours.

Embassy Suites really came through for us tonight. The walk back from Nordstrom’s was just enough time to discuss our options for dinner. #4 is absolutely exhausted and I have been eyeing MH all day to tell him 4 is going to bed EARLY. Tomorrow is his 6th birthday and we want him to be well-rested. We really weren’t too hungry and after a busy day, I really wanted to have a quick dinner. We walked into cocktail hour and there were hotdogs and popcorn! We hurried to the room to dump off the day’s purchases and down we went for a FREE dinner. Whoopee. Did I mention Free? Dessert was in our room - Hersheys nuggets and kisses from our Monday night excursion.

Tonight we are holed up in the room for a restful evening. I am sothankful for my 4 kids. They have been troopers today - walking all over without a complaint and excited about all there is to see in a new city.

I am so excited about tomorrow. We have one last surprise for them. It is going to be WICKED!!!