At least there wasn't nuclear war?

So a couple weekends ago we went to Family Camp with Eli's Boy Scout troop and it was way more fun than I had anticipated. Averson is a natural. We went on a hike and she found a deer leg. Rather than be traumatized, she BEGGED to take it home so she could research it. We compromised with poking it with sticks. I totally under-packed for poor Syd so she spent the weekend wearing my leftovers. The boys cooked all of our food and it was WAY better than you'd expect if all of your meals were cooked outdoors and by eleven year olds. I had a great time hanging out by the fire with the moms and even found a couple kindred, sarcastic spirits. We laughed about the fact that all of us were drinking out of the spigots after seeing the sign that pretty specifically recommended it against it. All of us agreed that we'd take our chances if it meant we might get to spend a couple days on the couch watching television, being taken care of, and maybe even lose a couple pounds before the holiday. Foreshadowing...

C woke up that night complaining about a backache, that by the next day had turned into a completely debilitating issue.  I woke up to a message from the dog sitter telling us that she'd been bitten breaking up a fight when she fed the dogs together (exactly what we asked her NOT to do, but I digress). This is where all hell started to break loose. 

C spent a week on bedrest after an exhausting trip to the ER on Monday evening that resulted in a diagnosis if "Idontknow," a prescription for Motrin, and instructions to stay off his feet. I took the week off from work to do kid/house/nurse duty. The dogs were placed on house arrest and the dog sitter cancelled for Thanksgiving. Do you know how hard it is to find a dog sitter for a holiday on short notice?

#hellbeasts

Thursday, Averson came down with another bout of zombie face. I had to cancel class since C couldn't watch her and I couldn't take her to my friend's house as we'd planned. Two potential dog sitters bailed on me. Saturday things started to look up. Monday I went back to work, followed it up with parent teacher conferences and Eli's Court of Honor, and a delicious taco dinner. 

So of course Monday night Syd woke my up by puking off the side of her bunk bed. C kept all three kids home on Tuesday since they're doing minimum days anyway and he couldn't leave the sickos home to take him. Thank goodness, because by noon I had an e-mail that simply said, "Eli's puking. This is not good." 

Because we all know how this works, I dropped a c note at Target stocking up on Lysol wipes, Sprite, and food we could throw at the kids when we inevitably fell. And then I came  home to well rested, non-vomiting children. C was shuffling around near-mobile. It was MAGICAL.

I keep humble bragging about how I held down the fort while everyone was out of sorts, but OMG am I happy to have people back. C is still shuffling, but way less (and I'm pretty sure he's not dying.) All of my children seem healthy, including zombie face. A friend offered out of the blue to watch the dogs.