Probably the worst vacation in history

Now that we've been home for a week I suppose it's time to tell ya'll about the LONGEST 3 day "vacation" every. A week and a half ago we drove up to Michigan for Kenny's first birthday party. We left Thursday (the 16th) around 1 and didn't get there until 9 or 9:30. We had to make several stops (including IKEA) so the boys could get out and run around. Eli was particularly upset about being in the car and screamed for the last hour or so of the drive. That night he woke up around 2am coughing with a fever of 102 (We actually had just taken Eli to the allergist that week and he was put on singulair, nasonex, a steroid for his cough from a cold he was recovering from, and an inhaler for asthma.). Aaron, with eyes half open and unable to focus, drove to the the nearest 24-hour store to get some children's acetaminophen.

The next morning the fever was gone, and Eli was acting completely normal. We decided to stick with the plan and took the kids to the Detroit Zoo. It was fun but the boys weren't very happy. Noah was particularly whiny and wanted to be pushed around in the stroller. We new something was definitely wrong when we went out to eat afterwards and Noah refused to eat and asked for a nap. That's when he had diarrhea. After getting back to my dad's house, Eli started with the diarrhea also. By that evening they were relatively happy and playing so we grabbed a bite to eat at a family diner.

We woke up the next morning to Eli having one more really bad diarrhea diaper but that was the end of it. Aaron and I both went and had massages before heading out to Kenny's party. We were at the party from 3 until about 8 I think. Around 7 the boys were exhausted and extremely crabby. We plopped them in front of the TV to watch The Lion King and that's when Eli started feeling really hot and started shaking with the chills. His cough had been getting worse and worse all day. We stopped by the pharmacy to get a thermometer and his temperature was something like 103.2. We decided it would be best to take him to the ER since he had diarrhea the night before and such a high recurring fever. We knew it was likely he was dehydrated which is really bad for his kidneys, and I highly suspected he had pneumonia.

Aaron dropped me and Eli off at Troy Beaumont and he went to my dad's to put Noah and Sarah to bed. We were quickly seen and they weren't too concerned about him being dehydrated but wanted a chest x-ray. Sure enough he had pneumonia. They were reluctant to give him an IV for fluids but I asked for it so he would feel better sooner. Unfortunately we had a crappy nurse who tried twice to get an IV but blew both veins. We were sent home with some antibiotics without ever getting any fluids.

Needless to say, we decided to cut our vacation short since Eli had pneumonia, my dad was feeling like crap from some mysterious Korean flu, and several other people were complaining of intestinal issues. Before coming home we bought the boys some new car seats from Costco (we paid less than what is suggested on the Graco website) since they were complaining of being uncomfortable on the drive up to Michigan. They also could never sleep for long in their old seats because their heads just flop forward since there is nothing on the side for their heads to lean against and zero recline. The ride home was pretty painless. The boys were really well behaved and didn't whine much, which made us feel like our new purchase was worth it. I have never been so happy to get home from a vacation, if you can even call it that!

**For an update, Eli is doing much better. We went to the doctor on Monday and his doctor switched his antibiotic. Around Wednesday he was back to his normal self. At one point I looked at Aaron and said, "I'm so glad Eli is back!"