We loaded the boys and our gear up and headed out about 4. Now, for some reason Cooper didn't take a nap that afternoon, so I figured he'd sleep all the way. Not the case….both boys were awake as we drove through Stephenville, Hico and Hamilton. And they were taking turns coughing the whole time…Dalton and I kept looking at each other with "What are we doing?" looks. Finally I got in the back with them to try and entertain. Everything was going ok until we heard a weird pshshshhhhhh sound, followed by a louder sound which meant only one thing. We had a flat tire.
Dalton pulled over and told us to watch the fastest manual tire change ever. I started to crack up because this was the last thing we needed, and yet it seemed so fitting. He changed the tire as cars whizzed past us, while the boys and I looked on. Then it was back on the road. Roughly 5 minutes later Cooper started coughing a lot and…you guessed it….threw up! Great. We pulled over once again and Dalton got him out of the seat and stripped him down. I threw him fresh clothes and we regrouped to head off again. At this point we were beginning to realize that it was probably not the best idea that we were going, but we weren't going to turn back now.
In Lampassas we stopped for gas and a burger. Cooper wanted a corn dog and Dalton joked that he hoped we wouldn't see it again. He shouldn't have said that. After leaving that town Cooper coughed and said "my corn dog!" and then fell to sleep, then coughed and said that again. I knew it was coming so I grabbed a paper bag that the burgers came in and put it under his chin. Just as we were pulling through another town, he threw up again, but I caught it all in the bag.
Dalton misunderstood me when I caught it in the bag; he took that to mean we didn't need to stop…he was wrong. After clearing that up with a firm "Pull over!" we ended up in a neighborhood parked in front of a house. I quickly held the full paper bag out my window while Dalton, once again, cleaned up Cooper. Then we face the dilemma of what to do with the bag. He started driving as I held it out the window and he told me to throw it in an upcoming trash dumpster….I chickened out because it was in front of a well lit house and the lid was closed. I'm embarrassed to say the bag wound up being dropped in a ditch as we pulled onto the main road. It was paper though…all biodegradable.
Finally both boys fell asleep and we finished the trip without incident. We pulled up to Garrett's house and unloaded the, now obviously sick, boys. Cooper perked up for a bit and then started to crash. They didn't go to sleep easily and wound up being awake when Papa and GG got there. Then Cooper went to sleep and Ace, the maniac, stayed awake until 1! Don't get me wrong, I tried to put him down several times, but it was one of those weird nights/situations. That night was rough…no other way to put it. Ace woke up several times screaming and didn't quiet easily, and Cooper slept horribly due to the, now higher, fever.
The next morning I kept going back and forth between feeling like the worst parent ever and thinking, oh well, it's a part of life better make the most of it. We got the boys ready and gave them some medicine and headed out to the farmer's market. We were almost there when Ace started coughing and then…threw up and projectile vomited onto Garrett and Dad in the front seat. I was in the back with Cooper, so I missed the event, but I saw the aftermath. It was everywhere! We pulled into a Walgreens and Mom went inside to get paper towels. Dalton cleaned up the boy (are you noticing that I've been in the right place each time so I didn't have to clean him up) and Garrett disgustedly removed his soaked pullover and wiped off his jeans. You have to understand that Garrett is grossed out by sonograms, even the least bit of spit up and diapers, so to have this happen was awful…but so funny. Thankfully he laughed too.
Then we loaded up and headed to Cabela's. Cooper was looking a little rough and we hoped he would sleep on the way…which he did. At Cabela's we saw the stuffed animals…so neat and looked at the fish. Then, had some lunch in the cafe. At that point both boys were past happy and healthy. Ace was wiping snot everywhere and coughing and spitting up. Cooper wouldn't eat anything or drink anything, which was not encouraging. After lunch Cooper practiced his shooting and then we made our way to the exit.
By the time we made it back to Garrett's Cooper was in rough shape. He got into bed and slept the rest of the afternoon, and I started to get worried about him. With the flu going around I was worried that he might have that. So after taking a poll of all present and calling urgent care to see how expensive that would be, we decided to take him in. So at 7 pm, Dalt, Garrett, Coop, Ace and I pulled into Urgent Care. We were the only ones there, so it didn't take long. The doctor diagnosed Cooper with the Croup (which I didn't realize was an actual illness) and after hearing Ace cough said he probably had the same thing. The Ace spit/threw up and we tried to listen to the Dr.'s instructions as we wiped up the floor. The nurse gave Cooper some nausea meds, which he promptly threw up, and we left with prescriptions in hand.
That night went much better and both boys slept relatively well. The next morning I really wanted to go to Garrett's church, so Mom and Dad offered to stay with the boys while we went. Church was great. It's a big church, so there were lots of people and pretty much a full band for worship. They sang my favorite songs and the message was good too. I left feeling a little jealous that Garrett has such a great, vibrant church home.
We went back to the house, picked up the boys and GG and Papa and headed to Gruene for lunch. We ate at the Gristmill, and our eyes were bigger than our stomachs when we ordered the large onion rings. They were delicious, but we didn't eat them all. After we ate we walked around Gruene a little bit and headed back to pack up.
On the way home we stopped by my friend's house for a quick visit. Of course it wouldn't have been a visit by us without messes. Ace spit up all over her kitchen floor, and Cooper had quite a bowl movement in the bathroom that required backup. Laughing through the embarrassment, we got ourselves together and headed out.
We'd almost made it to Hico when Ace started getting really upset. I tried to console him but no go. He wound up throwing up a little, so I took him out and stripped him. We stopped in Hico to reassess….and tensions were rising at this point. I took over driving and let Dalton take over with Ace. Unfortunately he let him cry a little too much and he threw up again. We limped into Stephenville and cleaned up the seat and the boy. Then we faced the seat forward and put on a movie, in hopes that we could make it home. It worked! Whew.
What an exhausting trip! Thankfully Cooper has recovered and Ace is on his way. Moral of the story? Not sure….even though it was probably not the wisest decision to go, I'm really glad that we did because we had such a great time, in spite of the sickness. Plus, it was nice having extra helpers around.
"The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health." Psalm 41:3
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