July 8 Vacation

(going for lunch)

(Ry with Spot, her new snow leopard)
(Jake with his "buddy," cousin Sheri)

Today is one of those days that you just have to laugh to keep from falling apart. It started off great. Jake was in a fabulous mood and the plan was to meet Aunt Connie, Sheri and Patti in Des Moines for shopping. We met at Patti's house the kids played and all was good. We met up with Connie and Sheri and had a fun lunch, complete with a vanilla shake. Jake's behavior was the best it had been all vacation and he loved Connie, Patti and Sheri. After lunch we headed to Jordan Creek mall for some shopping. Jake decided that Sheri was his buddy and would only walk with her or Aunt Connie. Anytime Rob or I came near him, he would start to meltdown, so Sheri and Connie took responsibility for the day. It was really fun. Luke was all smiles, Jake was content and Ry was doing her favorite activity, shopping (she got Spot from Build-a-Bear). It was too good to be true, and trouble was bound to happen.

(playing in the mall)

The kids were happily playing at the play area inside the mall and then I looked up at Jake. He had his hands down his pants and was pulling poop out and throwing it onto the ground. To add to the moment, Rob had just took Luke, diaper bag, and WIPES to the bathroom to change Luke, so I had nothing. I quickly grabbed Jake to get him to stop and got a shopping bag and scooped up the poop. Jake then, mad at me, wiped his hand on my shirt and arm and tried to hit and kick to get away. Sheri and Patti watched Ry and Luke and I dragged a mess to the bathroom. It was one of those horror moments you know happen, but pray never happens to you. Luckily, I had packed a change of clothes in the car so Rob went and got them, and I washed Jake and I down. You would think that after that life would be good again. What else could go wrong? You have to realize this is my life. We decided to leave the mall and go to Target before heading back to Pella. On the way to Target Luke coughed and threw up a little. Thinking it was just from the cough, I turned to climb in back with him. As I was climbing over the middle armrest, he decided to spew throw up and it hit my face and shirt. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, but I was pretty grossed out and stinky. This is the point I began to laugh. When we got to Target, we told Rob's aunt and cousins that our day needed to come to an end so that I could go home, get cleaned up , and figure out what was up with my boys. Rob's family must think we are "crazy" because I could not stop laughing. Really, this is really happening, this isn't one of those embarrassing dreams and I am going to wake up soon? Turns out, it all really happened. And, as if asthma in a humid environment and seizures is not enough it appears Lu caught some sort of stomach bug. He threw up again after getting back to Pella. The campout officially starts tomorrow, so we will see what happens next. The funny thing is, to look at the pictures Jake and Luke are both so happy. My boys really are fighters.