Current mood:	tired
Current music:	Reconstructing Natalie (and Bringing Up Boys)
Entry tags:	family

Sick and Tired
I haven't had time to post in a while, things have been so crazy. For about a week I was getting things ready for three out-of-town shows, along with preparing host packets for anticipated catalog shows. (I've got 7 for this month!)

While we were out of town, the boys got sick. First Jacob started running a high fever. By the time we got home Sunday afternoon, his temp was up to 103.5. I took him to Care Now and they diagnosed him with strep throat. The next afternoon Caleb started feeling run-down. Late afternoons he would start dragging and would curl up on the couch under a blanket. He didn't eat much, but he wasn't running any fever. I kept thinking about taking him to the doctor to make sure he didn't have strep, too, but he always felt better in the mornings. Then he'd always go back to feeling puny in the afternoons. He woke up in the wee hours of the morning last Thursday because his ear was hurting. I took him in to the doctor, who said Caleb had "a whopper of an ear infection". He never even complained about it until that morning. He's finishing up his round of antibiotics.

On top of all that, I've got a cold now. Most nights I wake up several times, always with a stuffy nose. By the time I get back to sleep good again, it's almost time to get up. That's no fun... After several nights of sleeplessness, I'm tired. I actually slept better last night, so I'm hoping that trend will continue.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

I can't believe my baby is 4 years old now! The first thing he said when he woke up yesterday morning was, "I turned four!" (He had been counting down the days for about 2 1/2 weeks.) Everywhere we went, he said the same thing to everyone: "I turned four!" Of course, everyone congratulated him. I remember when Caleb turned four. He told everyone he met, too.

Tuesdays are usually busy days: twice a month for Bible study and once for our homeschool co-op. Since yesterday was the one Tuesday this month that we didn't have anything planned, I decided to surprise the boys with a trip to the zoo. I packed us a picnic lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, nacho flavored Doritos, a banana, string cheese, carrot sticks, granola bars, and water. Then I told the boys we were going to run an errand and go for a picnic since the weather was so nice. Caleb wanted to know where, but I told him he'd have to wait, that it was surprise. It's only 20 minutes to the zoo, but traffic on the interstate was congested; we were at a standstill a few times. I'm surprised Caleb didn't realize where we were going. He finally figured it out when we were across the street from the gigantic giraffe statue. They were really excited to be there.

Right off the bat, Caleb wanted to ride the carousel, but Jacob emphatically let me know he didn't want any part of it. Caleb climbed up on the tiger and held on for dear life. When the ride was over, we headed to "The Wilds of Africa" to see the new penguin exhibit. They weren't very active, so we didn't hang around. Next was the colorful mandrill, but he wasn't very active either. We were looking for something we could watch while we ate our lunch. On our way to the gorilla habitat, we ran into a neighbor/friend of mine from the SWIM Board who was there with her two younger children. We chatted and walked along together until the boys decided they couldn't wait for lunch any longer. We parted ways and settled in at the chimpanzee exhibit to eat. One chimp was sitting on a wooden structure in the middle of the "yard". We sat down on a bench and watched him do nothing while we ate. All of a sudden two other chimps ran across the grass, chasing each other and screeching. One of them ran all the way to the end where a big metal wall was and banged on it - LOUDLY. They retreated to their hidden corner as quickly as they had appeared. The chimp in the middle had discovered us and moved to a closer fallen tree trunk to watch us eat. I guess he was perturbed that we weren't sharing our food, because when I started getting our things together to leave, he threw a few small rocks at us. I heard them skittering across the concrete and turned to see who had done it, but no one else was around. I looked at the chimp and he was still sitting on his tree trunk, still watching. I turned back to finish packing our backpack when another few rocks clattered nearby. Jacob scolded the chimp: "Don't do that. That's not nice!" (PoMonkey, I guess it could have been worse, huh?!?)

We continued on our way for the next hour or so, watching for active animals. The elephants, the white-cheeked gibbons, and the flamingos were the only animals who were doing much. I was having a good time watching the gibbons, but the boys were getting tired and bored. They kept saying, "Mo-om, come on!"

Of course we had to stop by the boys' favorite part: the Underzone, part of the Children's Zoo. They have cutaways in the wall where you can watch all sorts of ground-dwellers. My favorites are the naked mole rats continuously scurrying back and forth through their maze of tunnels. There's also a kid-sized tunnel the boys like to go through. Halfway through are three window bubbles where kids can stand up and look into spoonbill and mongoose "rooms". I have to practically drag them out of there. Too bad the gibbons aren't in the same spot. Then we'd all be happy.

After 3 hours there, we finally made our way back to the van, but not before one last trip to the carousel. This time Jacob decided he'd ride, but only if I'd ride with him. He enjoyed riding the tiger, and Caleb had a blast riding in the spinning bird's nest. (It's a really cool carousel!)

I cooked Jacob one of his favorite meals for his birthday supper: spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread. I made cupcakes for dessert, but once Jacob unwrapped his "I Spy: Mystery" computer game, he decided he had had enough to eat. He stayed glued to the computer screen for the rest of the evening. Whenever family called to wish him a happy birthday, he quickly told them he had turned four, then turned his full attention back to his game.

Both boys were so tired from the day that they crashed pretty quickly after going to bed. I know all the activity of the day wore me out. I guess that's why I slept better last night. I guess that's also why I've been dragging all day today. Let's hope for another decent night's sleep.

Sweet dreams...