Sometimes, it's best to be out of town

Well homefries, I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

Did y'all check out our sweet digs (featured above?)  We know how to live!!  I wasn't sure it would float, but it did and we had a blast!

It was a great time bonding with Drama-o and Captain Jack.  We're all a little browner and a little more rested and totally not ready to deal with real life.  In a tribute to Hemingway (we were in Key West, after all) I'll let Drama share our little gem, The Pea Coat and the Sea.  

Speaking of real life, I am not at all sad to have missed out on home life for 6 days while I was gone.  See - 3.0 got some sort of creeping crud that eventually landed her in the pediatrician's office with a 104 fever.  The same day, 1.0 was complaining that her throat hurt, so at the last minute, she escorted Grandma and 3.0 to the doctor's office.  While there, the female doctor (who Mother-in-law was sure was a nurse because she is a woman) found some strep throat and a mystery infection hanging with my homeys.

Amoxicilin to the rescue!  Now, our grocery store gives out many prescriptions for free - and that is one of them.  No cost - no nothing but picking that stuff up and doling it out to your angels. Sadly, though, for free, they don't add the flavoring to that bad boy that makes kids not want to wretch it out.  Mother-in-law was wrestling trying to get the kiddos to swallow it. Stinks to be her!*  

So, Mother-in-law comes home from the "nurse" to find that the fridge had died and the freezer items had melted on the kitchen floor.  GOOD TIMES!  Luckily, our friends stowed the rest of our food for her and called the repair man. They had also picked up 3.0 from school when they called to say she had a fever and had to go home.  I love them!

I feel badly for Mother-in-law, but am not at all sad to have missed it.  Sounds to me like the PERFECT time to have been on vacation.  I came home to antibiotics-ed kids and a running fridge. 

I learned a couple of things from going away this time:

• dirty, ripped, random pea coats can be fun.
  
• kids can be sick and live without their moms.
  
• 70-year-old, leather-skinned women should not wear silver, lame bikinis. Ever.  Even with blood red lipstick.  Especially with blood red lipstick. The 5 carat diamond did not distract us enough, ya know?
  
• always show your babysitter where the thermometer is - because it's hard to explain its location over the phone bobbing in the ocean.
• no matter how much laundry you did pre-vacation, someone will still somehow find some amount of your underwear and will wash it. And will explain to you how to better get stains out.  Oh yes - feel my mortification with me, friends!  It was just utterly Fantastik. **
  

Perfect vacation - interesting home return - and now I'm ready and raring to go celebrate 2.0's birthday!  She's reached the ripe old age of seven!  Life is good...

*Update - I took the meds back to the pharmacist who laughed that my kids won't drink the stuff and added flavoring in about 45 seconds.  Ahh - a mother's touch!

**The stains were from red paint - and no, I didn't paint my walls in my panties!  The paint went through the shirt and onto the....wait - why am I explaining this again?  Apparently, I wasn't mortified enough first explanation through....