a recap

Today I'll give you a recap of the last several days of our Thanksgiving "celebration. "

Wednesday--Rachel and I left mid-morning to run last minute errands and then drive an hour north to pick up my husband from work. He doesn't usually work an hour away, but his company has an office up there and he sometimes has to go up to meet with his co-worker up there who does a similar job. He decided to go Wednesday to put him an hour closer to our destination. He got off at 11:30, so we met him up there and continued on our way to my parents' house. Rachel didn't sleep in the car as we had hoped. She almost always does, but this time she decided to tell us every two minutes that she wanted to "go Gwammaw's house." Over and over and over. If I had a dollar for every time she said it, I'd be a rich woman.

But we finally arrived and she was happy as a clam. Soon after we got here, my brother and his family arrived, and Rachel had a ball playing with her cousins for most of the afternoon. We put Rachel to bed a little bit early and she was more than happy to comply, because she got to sleep in her big girl bed.

Thursday morning we set out to see my husband's family. This year was a little different than usual because not everyone was there and they weren't going to be eating their thankgiving meal until later in the day (which is when my mom's dinner was going to be, too). So we didn't have two thanksgiving dinners like we normally do. Rachel fell asleep on the way out there, probably still tired from the previous day's no-nap. At naptime we drove back to my parents' house, but she didn't take a nap this time. I tried to put her to bed once we got back (she even said she wanted to go!), but she didn't sleep. She sang songs and talked to herself, but at least she was resting.

Thursday evening my brother and his family came back over (they stayed at my sister in law's parents' house), my grandpa came, and my aunt, uncle, and cousins came, who we usually only see at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We ate my mom's delicious Thanksgiving meal and I had my favorite yummy pie. Rachel started crying right before we ate because my husband was setting up the timer to take a family picture. She was "vewy, vewy hungwy" and wanted to eat RIGHT NOW, and when we told her she needed to wait for a minute she started to cry (she hardly ever cries, which is why it's notable that she did it then). So we let her start eating some turkey and drink her milk while he finished up the picture. We put her to bed early, since she hadn't had a nap, and the rest of us played a game, looked at Black Friday ads, and talked until well past our bedtimes.

Friday morning my husband braved the crowd and went Christmas shopping for my presents. He said it was fun, though I don't know any specifics about where he went. My mom and aunt went out for awhile, too. I enjoyed not going shopping and just hanging out with my family, though I was anxious all day, knowing Allecia was in labor, until I heard from her that everything was fine and Marin was born. I also had a frustrating time getting Rachel to nap. She wouldn't go to sleep and kept calling me. After an hour of listening to her alternating singing, calling me, and crying, she finally went to sleep. After she woke up, Rachel spent the afternoon with Alex, since his older two siblings went with their mom and other grandparents to a museum. Alex, who is almost four, loved being the older kid for a change and Rachel loved watching him, laughing at him, and following him around. They were laughing and chasing each other all over Grandma's house. My aunt and uncle left, my brother and his family went back to my sister-in-law's parents' house, and things got a little quieter.

That night I noticed a bag sitting in the TV room and asked my mom whose it was. She didn't know either, so we looked in it--it had a laptop in it, but we weren't sure whose it was. We thought it must've been my uncle's, so my mom called. Turned out it was my cousin's. They were staying at their other grandparents' house about an hour and a half away so we were going to meet them yesterday on our way back home and give him the laptop.

But then my husband woke up Saturday morning sicker than a dog. There would be no going back home. So I did some laundry and hunkered down for another day. Meanwhile, my brother was going to meet them with the laptop instead, because they were heading home. But about 20 minutes after they left, we got a call that my neice had just thrown up in the car so they were going to head back to my sister-in-law's parents' house and spend another night until they all got healthy.

It was a pretty unexciting day. My husband slept on and off on the couch all day long. My dad was in his bed most of the day, too, with a terrible cold. Rachel, my mom, and I hung out watching videos and coloring most of the day. My dad has named this, "The Thanksgiving from Hell."

We're all just waiting to see who else gets it. Hopefully no one, but with so many people sick, it's hard to say it won't happen.

EDIT: Now I'm not feeling well. Oh, brother. I was up getting packed up and ready to leave when I started feeling nauseous. I'm afraid to get in the car, so we may be here yet another day.

ANOTHER EDIT: Yep, I'm sick, too. We're still here. I've been in bed or on the couch most of the day. My husband is feeling a bit better, but still not himself. He'll have to take a sick day tomorrow and hopefully we can finally get back home (provided Rachel doesn't get it, too--oh, I sure hope not).