Catch Up

Whew! Its been a busy few weeks! Now to play a little catch up for my loyal fan(s)!!!

The day Alexis came to visit was the day John got sick... It seems that when Owen was visiting his fever was "hand foot and mouth disease" (HFMD) which is a very common childhood virus, but definitely not a fun one to get (is there a fun one?). It usually runs for about 48-72 hours with a fever and there are also spots like small blisters that form on the hands, feet, and inside the mouth (gee, I wonder how they named this one- I'm really funny tonight huh?) So anyways, I was here alone with John... He was in the highchair (not) eating dinner and I noticed spots like small bug bites all over the bottoms of his feet. I called QT to see what she though, and she said "that's funny, Owen has spots too" I called Jed and we talked about the symptoms for awhile, thinking maybe there was some kind of bug in the carpet in the bedroom where both boys slept on the floor. I continued with John's bedtime routine and Jed called me back with a diagnosis- HFMD, all the symptoms fit perfectly. I called Dr. Megdall (Our pediatrician growing up who is now retired and lives part time in Charlevoix) who confirmed the diagnosis. He offered to come up and check on John if we needed it, and I promised to keep him posted- what a great friend to take such good care of us even in retirement! John's fever spiked to 103.3 at 4:30 the next morning, it was a long few nights for the 2 of us, but we made it through. It took awhile for his personality to get back to normal, but I'm happy to report that he is back to being full of mischief!

The weekend after John was sick Mom, Mandy, Owen and Sybelle (read all about her on Owen's Blog- no need to repeat!) came up. On Sunday morning Mom took Sybelle to Interlochen where she will be attending music camp for 3 weeks- meanwhile Mandy and I packed up the boys and all of our gear and headed to Mackinac Island! It was quite a sight I'm sure, watching Mandy and I pushing the boys in strollers while loaded down with gear. We agreed that everyplace should be as efficient as Mackinac- You pull up to the ferry dock in the car, a young guy unloads everything and tags it while you leisurely make your way to the ferry- oh, and they valet the car. You ride the ferry over to the island and you don't have to worry about the bags at all until you get to the hotel. Once in the hotel you check in at the desk and give them the luggage tags from the ferry and go to your room, meanwhile a bellhop brings the bags straight to the room, its all really quite amazing!
We had an exciting dinner with the 2 boys- overtired and overstimulated (Again, Owen's Blog has some good pictures). John just about begged to go to bed that night, and I was happy to oblige!

The race was a fast one, Cross Check finished before midnight on Sunday- I don't think that has ever happened in the 20 years Dad has raced the Mac! So the Crew lunch was scheduled for Monday instead of the usual Tuesday- it was tons of fun! John and Owen got to have their first carriage ride, John stood facing forward the entire time, watching the horses and bikes all around, with the wind in his hair. At lunch he got to share the head seat at the table with PopPop- what an honor! He especially liked wearing Pop's hat and trying to grab at his beer- crazy little guy.... After another packed day he slept like a rock, the trick is to wear him out! We packed up to leave the next morning just after breakfast. It was the same bag scenario in reverse- wow! This time TQ got to be on the ferry with the boys, she was pretty sad that she had to miss it in the way over, and boy did they make up for it in entertainment! We sat at a 'booth' with a window and both boys had a great time waving and feeling the wind. Back at the dock we loaded up the van and set off for Cross Village, which is only about 20 minutes away- perfect! John fell asleep about 2 minutes before we got home and I managed to get him out of his car seat and in bed for a 2.5 hour nap- He was worn out! Jeff got back from Rhode Island the same day and our family was together again. John was so happy to see his Daddy, he gave Jeff a huge bear hug and followed him around the rest of the afternoon.

I still have more to catch up on, but I'll have to do that tomorrow.