Making the Best of It

It goes without saying that sometimes life does not follow your plans. We've all heard the joke . . .

Do you know how to make God laugh?
Tell Him your plans.

A Family Sick on Vacation

We always spend a week around the 4th of July at Lake Chelan with my family. We have done so for over 20 years now. This year, I was so excited and nostalgic about our trip that I ended up writing a poem on the drive there that I shared in this post.

The week leading up to our trip, I was pretty sick with a nasty cold. I had a nasty cough and went to the doctor to make sure that my crusty eyes were just a symptom of my cold and not bacterial pink eye (the really contagious kind). The doctor confirmed that my irritated eyes were just part of the cold virus and prescribed me an inhaler for my cough, as I can get asthmatic with a bad cough.

Well, a couple of days into our trip, Noah came down with the cold, a terrible cough and a fever. One by one, the little darlins dropped like flies, hacking away and miserable with fevers. Teresa caught it, but luckily never had a fever. Today, three weeks after getting sick, I still have a cough in the morning and at night and so do the kids.

While we were on vacation, we all slept in the same room, sounding like we belonged in a hospital room with all of our coughing. No one slept well the entire trip. A couple of nights, Noah and Veronica were moaning and talking in their sleep, as their fevers spiked to a little over 103 degrees. Veronica came and slept in our bed (something she hasn't done since she was about two weeks old!), cuddling with us, hugging us, and telling us that she loved us and that we are beautiful.

Even my five month old nephew, Connor, caught the bug and got sick. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have it as bad and his fever didn't last nearly as long. Noah had a fever each night for almost a week! We took him to the doctor the day we got home and found out he had viral bronchitis. However, the fever passed the next day, thank goodness.

The kids spent most of the week in our room, in bed, watching movies on Netflix. They wanted to go play and participate in the vacation fun and were so frustrated that they couldn't. We did all that we could to keep them happy. But it was disappointing for all of us.

Making the Best of It

I thought about going home. I asked a couple of people and they said we should stay, so we did. I'm sure that Jason and I had more fun than the kids, as we were able to participate with the group most of the time. But of course, there was a lot we had hoped to do that we couldn't.

It's frustrating when life throws you a curve ball. Of course, I realize this was a very small curve ball. But even still, it stunk.

I did my best to remain cheerful and enjoy the vacation. What else could I do? I finished reading a book and began a new one. I swam in the lake. I drank wine and margaritas. I went tubing behind my dad's boat with my sister-in-law. I water skied. I called Jenny and vented about my disappointment. Many of us had a water fight. I took a lot of medicine and so did the kids. I did all I could for my kids and gave them many popsicles in bed.

A new Chelan memory - popsicles in bed!

And on the last day of our trip, it seemed like everyone was mostly better (although Noah did get another fever that evening), so we tried to make the most of the day by going to the pool before breakfast, going to the beach and then out on the boat in the afternoon.

Hopefully, we won't be sick on another vacation in a really long time.

And when things don't go our way, hopefully we can keep our chins up and make the best of it.