Our Big Ol' Honkin' Lil' Trip

It may seem crazy but we're gonna do it anyway!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

It's Been Two Years

Two years ago, at this time, we were on the road and (mostly) lovin' it.

We're getting the itch to do it again.

We'll keep you posted.

Over and Out - Lil' Mama

Monday, April 17, 2006

We're Home!!!

We made it home!

We dropped by my parents' house (since they are only a couple of blocks away) for a little while. Then we got home.

What a surprise to see what our dear friends did to welcome us home! (I'll try to post the pictures of it later - we've got to scrounge up some food.) Our dear friends decorated our door, "broke" into our house to place "Welcome Home" balloons and streamers as well as milk, eggs, and bananas! Thanks Dings!

My goal is set up a link to another blahg site where some of our pics will be posted (I just never got around to it during the trip) of our trip.

Thanks so much for following us along our trip... we might just do it again.

Over and Out - Lil' Mama

On Our Last Leg

NOTE: We AGAIN did not have internet access last night so here's the post from this morning... finally.

Written Monday, April 17, 2006 @ 8:27am

If things go as planned we should be home by this evening! We have mixed emotions. On one hand we are excited to be getting home. On the other hand we are sad that our Big Ol’ Honkin’ Lil Trip is coming to an end. We’ve, for the most part, have really enjoyed our time travelling. We’ve also enjoyed all of us being in the same room. We’re actually sad that we’ll all be in separate bedrooms (well actually the big kids will be in their own rooms the babies will still be in our room).

Maybe we’ll get to go on a Lil’ Honkin’ Trip (coming soon to a blahg near you) sometime... we’ll see. Big Daddy really wants to get up to Oregon and Washington. We just haven’t gotten to look into elevation and see if that’s even an option. He he. Here we are not even finished with this trip and we’re scheming about our next trip.

Oh that’s right I didn’t do a blahg entry for yesterday. We were about an hour away from Sun Valley, CA when we stopped on Saturday night. Since we were so close to Grace Community Church (comparatively speaking) we decided to celebrate Resurrection Sunday under the preaching of John MacArthur. I personally did not get to hear much of his teaching (not surprising since Lil’ Sis needed her nap) but Big Daddy enjoyed it. “The Death Conquerer” was the title of his sermon. One main point that Pastor MacArthur brought up several times was that “the truth are in the details...” Christ was in control even to His death. His life was not taken from Him, He laid it down.

It’s been a very long time since we’ve been in a larger church setting so to hear the choir sing and congregation sing was, what I think to be, just a taste of what it will be like to be in heaven (with all of the singing - that’s one thing I miss about not being in a larger church setting - the majestic sounding singing). Afterwards we went up to quickly say “hi” to the MacMan (our term of endearment that I’m not sure he would like or not) and have the kids see the man they listen to on the radio (“Grace To You”). Another thing Big Daddy HAD to do was to visit BOTH bookstores (we’re good-book-buying-addicts).

We made it Gorman, CA and stayed at Pyramid Lake RV Resort. We settled in around 4:30pm which allowed Big Daddy and the rest of the kids (he he) to go play on the playground while I took a little snooze before preparing dinner. It was VERY cold last night! Since we’ve been back in CA it’s been chilly. Mentally, I’m much more prepared for that rather than the heat in Texas (the humidity and heat were getting to me probably only because I just wasn’t mentally prepared for it, I think if I’d been mentally “there” for the heat it wouldn’t have been so bad to me). It’s almost 9am and it’s still VERY cold in here (of course not as cold as other parts of the country...). We’re hoping to be heading out in a little while.


This is going to be interesting once we get home to see if we get sick with “colds” again. Lil’ Sis has not been sick with a “cold” since we left (and she’d been sick pretty much all the time - as well as me). The bizarre thing is that Big Sis, Lil’ Sis and I started coughing and getting “cold- like” symptoms as soon as got back into CA... are we allergic to our “homeland” or is it just the temperature changes? We’ll see.

Thanks for checking in.

Over and Out - Lil’ Mama

California Here We Are!

Written Saturday, April 15, 2006 @ 9:43pm (Pacific Daylight Time)

California here we come... right back where we started from... almost! Yeha! We’re back in CA again. Today was a really long day. We left the beautiful campground in Casa Grande (we had considered staying an extra night there so that we could just sit back and enjoy the sunshine and hang out and play but we need to be back home in a few days and we don’t want to not give us enough time in case something comes up).

We went to Phoenix to drop off some belongings to our friends who live there. We stopped by each of their places of employment for a few minutes and headed out. They invited us to stick around and to celebrate Resurrection Sunday with them tomorrow but we really need to get back home. We really appreciated their offer.

We made it into Pamona tonight. We’re so glad to finally make it to “camp”. We had another windy day to contest with but thankfully it died down after awhile. As we were headed towards LA we saw the sun beaming through the clouds. I got a really good picture of it that we’ll post at some point. We are so tired. The babies only had short naps late this morning so that in itself made today a little difficult. Everyone was finally in bed by 9:30pm tonight.

I am so wiped out that I can’t even think of what else to right.

We’re hoping to make it home by Monday night.

PS. We’re supposed to have internet access tonight but the front office failed to give us the special code and they are closed for Easter Sunday so I’m not sure when I’ll get to post this.

Over and Out - Lil’ Mama

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Here Comes thaaah Dust!

Written Saturday, April 15, 2006 @ 6:32 am

The babies have been awake since a little after 6am. It’s very bright outside (as if it should be 9 am instead of 6 am) and their bodies are still on “Texas Time” so they think it’s time to wake up. It’s almost comical to hear Lil’ Sis whining only to have Lil’ Bro “yell” at her (I think he wants her to quiet down). Almost comical, not quite though because I’d rather be sleeping! Big Daddy & I stayed up later than we had wanted to last night but we were enjoying sitting out in the almost vacant campground talking beneath the moonlight.

We are staying at “Buena Tierra Campground” in Casa Grande, AZ. It’s the same one we stayed at on our way back east. We are amazed at how few people are here. When were here last time there were a whole heap of people. I don’t remember seeing any sites available in the section we’re in right now from the last time we were here. Many of the sites looked pretty permanent. I suppose the “snowbirds” headed back home.

When we were looking for places to stay last night, before Tucson, we found that rates are lower in April than when we were coming through in early March. I guess it’s getting to be too hot for tourists?

We almost stayed on the east side of Tucson so that we could go to the Pima Air and Space Musuem” today. We almost had reservations made when we remembered that it’s too hot to leave our dog in the RV all day. We were disappointed but we’ll be alright.

Las Cruces has an amazing jagged mountain range. I’m not sure why they call them the “Organ Mountains” (apparently it’s supposed to be self explanitory - they look like the lines on a heart monitor going crazy but I don’t think that’s why it’s called that). It’s a disappointment to leave scenary like that to only have to see miles and miles and miles of dessert. There were plateaus and big ol’ honkin’ “piles of dirt” scattered throughout they way to keep things interesting. Though there was a section in AZ that had interesting looking boulders. It looked as though some piles of rocks (BIG OL’ HONKIN’ rocks) dumped on eachother while others looked as if they had been artistically and carefully place with big ones balancing on small ones. I don’t remember seeing those on the way out... where was I then?

Big Daddy and I had an extra hard time staying awake yesterday. Maybe that’s why we had to travel for miles in gusty winds. They certainly helped to keep us awake! Big Daddy got to the point where he had to grip the steering wheel really hard and keep it turned into the wind so we wouldn’t get blown off of the road! Numerous signs warned of dust storms and gusty winds for the miles ahead. After eating dinner at “Texas Roadhouse” (where you can throw peanut shells on the floor - but not food... talk about confusing for a toddler!) the winds got worse. We even saw a small tornado going away from us. It looked like a “dust devil” on steroids. I tried to get a picture of it but my camera wouldn’t work. What a disappointment.

We made it safely to our campground (Big Daddy was relieved! He counted down the miles until we were to our destination). After checking in we went over to the outlet mall nearby. I was able to get three pairs of overalls and two pairs of jeans (for the kids of course) for $46 at the OshGosh outlet. I check at the Liz Claiborne store and found some possibities for skirts for me but wasn’t satisifed with the “deals” they were offering. Also, I had a hard time mentally being in there. It was the Liz Claiborne store in San Marcos, TX at the outlets that I first started feeling VERY ill with the stomach flu and being at the one here in Casa Grande made me flash back to some extremely unpleasant memories.

We’re hoping to see our friends in Phoenix today (though only briefly since they have to work today) and then continue to head west. We’ve been talking about going through Joshua Tree National Park again but haven’t decided whether or not we’ll do it. Stay tuned to see what we decided to do!

Over and Out - Lil’ Mama

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Driving driving driving in thaaahhh heat

Written Thursday, April 13, 2006 @ 8:18pm (Mountain Daylight Time)

Here's a big ol' honkin' blahg post:

Yesterday we made it down to Fort Stockton and stayed at a KOA Kampround. They didn’t have internet connestion so we couldn’t blahg last night. We had some down home southern cookin’ for dinner at the “Road Runner Cafe” (at the campground) which looked more like a converted community rather than a restaurant. There was a young lady (I’m figuring late teens to very early twenties) running the whole show. There were about four tables full of people she was serving and cooking for (and doing dishes). The food wasn’t too bad. We left her a very big tip since she did such a great job doing everything by herself. We braved the elements after dinner and had the kids play at the play ground after dinner (the elements of: “it’s hot and that means critters are out... what lives in that hole...”).
The babies had a hard time sleeping last night. It took until almost 10pm for them to finally settle down. They had gotten used to Big Daddy & I leaving the RV to go in the house (we have a monitor with a camera we would have out in the RV with the kids - plus “Kujo” was always out in it with them, too - just in case you were wondering) so it wasn’t as dark or quiet as they were used to.

The Texas Branch called us today to let us know that one of our nieces completely came unglued after we left yesterday. She was sad to see us go. Today their 1 1/2 year old was grumpy and finally put on his shoes to go outside. He went running around the corner and grunted when he saw our RV was not there. He missed us (or maybe he missed Lil’ Bro)! So sweet. I guess they got kind of used to us RVin’ folks to be there in the mornings. The call made me want to just turn around and head on back to their house.

We gained an hour today since we’re now on Mountain Time. We’re glad for that. It gave us time to visit a wonderful museum in Las Cruces, NM. New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum had displays of old carriages and buggies as well as chuck wagons. We saw a two seater buggie that we called the “sports car”, a much bigger wagon that we called the “mini van”, the chuck wagon was called the “RV”. Given that they also cater to families with small children there was a little play room that had a big ol’ honkin’ fake cow, a teeter totter with saddles, swings, etc. We didn’t have time for such frivolity since we had already had the personalized golf cart tour of the ranch. There were different breeds of cattle. One being the Texas Longhorn... I can’t remember the other ones. Adorable calfs only a couple of weeks old were hanging out with the longhorned types. A big ol’ honkin’ black bull weiging in at about 3,000 pounds was neighbors with “Yankee Doodle Dandee” (born on the fourth of July 14 years ago) and “Big Red”. The name “Big Red” put a smile on our faces since it makes us think of our dear friends in New Jersey. When we visit them both families pile into a big red 15 passenger van to toodle around in.

We missed out on seeing the real live blacksmith shop and the dairy farm since our tour inside with “Slim Austin Green” went pretty long. This man who is almost 90 years old started talking to us. At first we didn’t realize this man was going to give us a tour of the exhibit on saddle making. We just thought the cane wieldin’ walker pushin’ gentlemen was just being friendly. We soon found out that the exhibit on saddle making displayed items from HIS workshop. He had donated items to the museum. He spent 62 years making saddles for the average citizen to movie stars (Robert Redford, John Wayne, etc) to US presidents (Franklin D. Roosevelt). He talked fondly of the time he was about the enter the army when a man approached him (I can’t remember the name but apparently we should have known who he was... someone big in rodeo type of stuff) to have a saddle made. The man waited five years for Mr. Slim to get out of the service. Mr. Slim made the saddle and the man won three big ol’ honkin’ prizes for his riding. Apparently, saddles made by this now elderly man are in other museums and have been auctioned (one recently was sold for $75,000). It’s always a pleasure to talk to folks who are in their 80’s because you can just see “history” in their eyes. It was a treat to listen to this man talk. He came from a time when there really were cowboys! Oh! Embarrassing moment must be reported here. As mentioned earlier this man carries a can (and has those cool walkers that can also be sat in)... our two old slammed his cane while pushing a stroller around wildly! Thankfully the man didn’t lose his balance! That would have been horrible.

Our adventure didn’t stop after we left the museum. We stopped to fill up on gas only to find that one of our gas caps (we have two gas tanks) was either left at our last gas stop way far back in TX or someone stole it. Now I know some people are also into some sort of conspiracy theory type of thinking... I think the cap just never got put back on. So now we can our own version of “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”... “We Left Our Gas Cap Somewhere in Big Ol’ Honkin’ Texas”. After the discovery we went on a hunt for a new gas cap. We located one (a nice shiny silver colored one) as well as some much needed light bulbs (our “porch light” works again! Yeah! Oh the little things in life.).

We had some more down home cooking tonight at “Cracker Barrell”. We’re trying to go to as many of them as we can before getting home since there aren’t any in CA. For those who have never been, it’s a country store type of restaurant that is very accomodating to families. We had an interesting experience there tonight. First off, our server was quite amused by our lil’ family’s eating abilities. Her eyes grew wide when I asked for a side salad to go along with the meal which already had vegetables. She then got a good chuckle when she came back about 10 minutes after serving us our meal only to find that our 10 1/2 year old had cleaned his man sized plate of meat loaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn (Big Sis had a tiny bit of his portion) and was ready to have it cleared from the table. Secondly, I noticed more people than usual staring at us tonight. Thankfully the kids behaved themselves (until after dinner while we were walking through the store in which case the two middle kids were completely out of control running and touching and squeeling... Big Daddy got them out of there pretty fast... we don’t have the money to take care of the “you brake it you buy it” motto!). We were just finishing up dinner when one of our family watchers came up to the table. She leaned over to me asking, “ Are ALL of these children yours?” “Yes they are!” I answered emphatically. “Did you adopt them?” she asked. “Some of them.” I replied. She then slipped me a twenty dollar bill and said “Bless you!” I looked down in shock. I thanked her bewildered. It was one of those situations where you know it would be rude not to accept. I thanked her again and waved “goodnight” as we got up to leave. Was a surprise.

We’ve settle in for the night. It’s hotter in the RV than outside but it’s bedtime so I guess we’ll deal with it. The AC worked for thet ime we ran it tonight (it’s not hot enough to tax it) and that helped to cool us off. Today got pretty hot in here while driving but we managed. I’m glad we’re travelling at this time of year rather than in a month or two, that would be unbearable.

I think that covers it for this chapter (that’s what seems like doesn’t it? You’ve read a big ol’ honkin’ blahg entry. If you read this all of it, without skipping anything, pat yourself on the back and leave a comment... maybe you’ll get a postcard! he he).

I’m going to head to bed soon and let Big Daddy use the computer.

Thanks for checking in!

Over and Out - Lil’ Mama

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Ready for Take Off

We'll be out of here within a half an hour. Only 45 minutes later than we had anticipated. Not too bad for people who are always late!

Blahg you later.

Over and Out - Lil' Mama

Headed West - On the Road Again Part 2

Written Wednesday, April 12, 2006 @8:25am (Central Daylight Time)

Today we plan to head west. We’re hoping to depart by 10:30am (in about an hour and a half). I’m not sure we’ll make it by then given that half of the crew in here is still asleep. Big Bro’s big bro is leaving for a meeting in about a half an hour so we need to get out there to say “ta ta”.

Last night we stayed up really late trying to savor the last bit of time with them. We had a wonderful time of prayer just before going to bed.

I’m glad they are coming out to California next month so we don’t have to be too sad to leave. I can’t believe we’ve been here for 3 1/2 weeks. We’ve been through all sorts of weather (very cold, very hot, very humid, thunderstorms, and winds), dealt with a week of illness, went to church gatherings and different fellowship times, celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary (and 12 year anniversary of engagement), a nieces’ birthday, went on a lil’ road trip to Houston... a lot happened in the past 3 1/2 weeks. The Texas Branch has been so gracious in letting us stay so long. I’m grateful we were able to get an extension of our time away since we were sick and banned for a week. The kids all really enjoyed their time as well. We’re thankful for the memories made.

Though we are sad to be leaving (since we’re not sure when we’ll be back this way) we are excited about our next adventure as we head west.

On the road again!

Over and Out - Lil’ Mama

Monday, April 10, 2006

What eez it mahn?

It was the oil filter!

No we did not need to be towed (though up until this morning when Big Daddy proved his manhood by locating the problem we thought we might very well have to be towed back to the Texas Branch's home - so we could stay in a house rather than a motel with dog and kids)! Thank you, Lord!

After putting on his "allowed to get greasy and dirty" clothes Big Daddy found that the thingy-majig that holds the oil filter on came loose causing the oil filter to hit another thingy-majigger-thing causing a hole in the oil filter. Big Daddy tightened the oil filters holder-thingy-majig and used some funky silver tape stuff to try to cover the whole up enough for us to get to a Quick Lube type of place. He da man! What relief that it wasn't his fault that the engine ran out of oil!

We finished up our continental breakfast (and an episode of "Little House on the Prairie", that just happened to be playing - the one where Laura is all grown up and a teacher, the Olsens adopt a little stinker of a girl just like Nelly...) at the club house and went on a wild goose chase to try to find somewhere to get the oil filter changed. We finally found a place that charged us only $9.71 to change the filter, put two quarts of oil in, and waited around to make sure it didn't leak anymore.

We ate lunch at the same restaurant we ate dinner at last night (Cracker Barrel) before driving back the Texas Branch home today. We made it home by 6:30p, ate dinner, and had all the kids in bed by 9 something (better than last night).

We'll be heading out either tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday morning.

Oh! One other really cute and funny story. Our 3 year old niece excitedly stated, as we parked our RV in the driveway, "The cousins are here!" and asked when we got here. We were caravanning and had also stopped about 20 minutes prior for gas together (where she said hi to me) but I guess she didn't realize we come back here or something... it was just so cute.

Thanks for following us... "he's looking at me!"

Over and Out - Lil' Mama

Mission Accomplished

Written Monday, April 10, 2006 @ 2:47p (Central Daylight Time)

Yesterday was the twelve year anniversary of when Big Daddy asked me to marry him. I remembered it a few days ago and then at the end of the day yesterday. We were too busy wandering around “Space Center Houston” with our kiddos and the Texas Branch.

I almost did not go with them all since Lil’ Sis needed a nap by the time we were going to leave and I was exhausted. I had some time to rest a bit before the “shuttle” (ie: my brother-in-law) came back for the second group of people so we all ended up going after alll. I’m really glad I did. For one thing it was fun to make some special memories plus it was very interesting. I had no idea what to expect

The first thing we did was the 75 minute tram tour. Did you know that Space Center Houston is pretty much it’s own little town (like they have their own fire department)? We saw mission control. The very room that was used when the US sent our first missions. The very same room where people sat in shock as “Challenger” crew said “Houston we have a problem” followed by the devestating explosion. We sat in the observation room where family of crew members could come at anytime during a mission (this was also considered the “V.I.P. room” where our country’s presidents, and other diginitaries would sit to observe as well. One fun tidbit of trivia was that the woman sitting in the front row third seat in from the left was sitting in the same seat Queen Elizabeth sat in while visiting). Lil’ Bro was really enjoying the extra long hallway that had an extra long window allowing us to peek into the training room. Different parts of the space shuttle were replicated so they could practice in each different chamber. As part of the tour we saw a grow of oak trees in a small park-like setting. Each tree was planted for astronauts we have lost. It was a somber few minutes where within my little 15 month old decided it was finally time for a complete meltdown. So much for a moment of silence. Though, maybe it was her way of mourning the fallen. Somehow I don’t think anyone would have seen it that way. It was terribly embarrassing but I guess that what we get for taking a baby who hadn’t eaten lunch and didn’t get her nap on a 75 minute tour.

After the tour we walked through the “tourist trap exit” where pictures (mandatory to be taken but optional to be purchased) were waiting for us to say “Hey, it’s a souvenior, sure we’ll give you our first born”. We, thankfully, were able to negotiate with them and used a credit card instead of handing over Big Bro (he was very relieved).

We fed our brood before we explored anythiing else. There is plenty to do and see the problem is not having enough time. While Lil Sis napped in her stroller (and I got over my minor asthma attack) the rest of the clan watched a movie about the history of the major missions. A whole heep of us touched the moon, dude. Well, a rock from the moon anyhow. I thought about never washing my right index finger again, but then that would be gross so never mind. They had a mighty fine play structure that was about five stories high (it even had an elevator). We played with flight simulator games, walked through a sample of a space shuttle, saw capsules that astronauts came back to earth in (on loan from the Smithsonian Institute), etc.

The weather ended up actually being cool enough in Houston that we were able to leave our dog all day in the RV with windows open and a fan running. (Though not cool enough weather to keep away some pesky little bug that ate my ankles up and Big Sis’ sweet face!)

We ate a VERY late dinner last night, so late that our 3 year old niece fell asleep during dinner! The kids did amazingly well since we had such a long day and were eating dinner at 9 something at night. All the kids were finally in bed by a little after 10:30p.

Quick side note: The Texas Branch says “hi to everyone!”

Read our next blahg entry to find out if our RV needed to be towed to the nearest service station...

Over and Out - Lil’ Mama

Houston...We’re ready for take off

Written Saturday, April 8, 2006 @ 11:58pm (Central Daylight Time)

Note:We don’t have internet access at this RV Park so you’ll probably be reading this a couple of days after I write this.

Today we all hopped into our vehicles (yeah road trip with the Texas Branch) and headed down to Houston in hopes of going to the Space Center tomorrow. We weren’t able to get our air conditioning to work (even after Big Daddy replaced some capacitors). We think the compressor is going bad. The cost to replace it is not too far off of the cost of replacing the AC unit (by the time you pay for labor). We really need AC if we are going to leave our dog in the RV while we go to the Space Center, but we decided that if it’s too hot to leave her in here tomorrow I’ll just stay here while they go to the Space Center.

We’re really glad we didn’t pay the $600 (or more) to replace the AC since we might have another huge expense coming up. Just as we hit the toll road not too far from Houston our engine started making a rattling sound which got worse and worse. Finally we pulled over and Big Daddy checked the oil only to find that it had no oil. He had to put four quarts of oil in! Our lil’ home away from home has sprung an oil leak (a big ol’ honkin’ one). We’re hoping that if we stop every hour (or less) to add oil it will get us back to the Texas Branch’s house so that we can figure out what to do from there. If it needs to be worked on then we at least will have a place to stay. I’m glad this happened while we aren’t too far from their house instead of being stranded out in the middle of nowhere.

We haven’t done much this week except Big Daddy trying to figure out what’s wrong with AC and hanging out with the fam. Last night we had the opportunity to participate in the Friday Night Fellowship they have once a month (though Lil’’ Sis and I spent most of the time in the car - the gathering started at 7:30... I should have just stayed home with the babies so they could go to sleep instead of sitting in the car with crying miserable baby for a couple of hours).

If all goes well with getting our RV fixed we plan to head home by mid-week this coming week. We’ve got some appointments coming up that we need to keep... I just hope we don’t have to do a blazing fast trip back so that we can enjoy our road trip back. We’ll see.

Over and Out- Lil’ Mama

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Can't Think of a Title...

The last two evenings have been much cooler than a couple of days ago. The Lord has been merciful in giving us not blazing hot days (and not terribly humid) over the last two days since our air conditioning started conking out on us. Big Daddy finally got some parts today that we are hoping will fix the problem. The only time we've needed the AC is during nap time. Today we put the babies down while it was still cool enough while Big Daddy went down into San Antonio to get the parts. We had to "dump" and fill up today plus other errands (including a DQ stop) so we'll check the AC tomorrow when it's hot.

We are hoping to get to Houston and the space center before we have to leave next week. We can't go if the AC doesn't work since our dog couldn't be in the RV while we're away. Forgive me if I'm repeating things I've written before.

Last night I had the opportunity to be apart of the ladies' group that my sister-in-law is involved with (I missed the one a couple of weeks ago since we were dealing with the stomach flu). It was an encouraging and challenging time in way of how we ought be loving our children. Big Daddy got to attend the men's group on Sunday night with his brother. It's been neat to get to meet the friends the Texas Branch has and get an indepth peak into their life.

Lil Bro had a fever yesterday. He acted totally fine (he gets these random fevers from time to time) but had some, um, how do I say this so it's not gross... yucky diapers (there that wasn't too bad, now was it?). This morning the kid was dehydrated and lethargic but no fever. I tried a variety of ways to rehydrate him... finally using the "straw method" (giving him a straw in a cup)which worked well. Within a few minutes he was squealing and cheerfully jumping up and down. Later in the morning one of our nieces got sick to her stomach... but she seems fine now. We stayed out of the house just in case (not wanting to go there again!).

Other than that not terribly exciting, but I don't mind lack of excitement.

Over and Out - Lil' Mama