Sick, Sick, HOORAY!

The Splash Parks finally opened over Memorial Day weekend. Our initial plan was to go Saturday morning, the day they opened, but Megan was sick. My poor kids. I don't know how they can both get sick within a week of each other and not have the same thing? I took Emmy to the doc last Monday because she had a really high fever over the weekend and it lasted about 3 days without any other real symptoms. She finally got stuffy and coughy by Monday and doc decided it was Croup and prescribed an oral steroid treatment. The Croupy cough never really happened, thank GOD, but she did have some wheezing when she cried. Believe me, not feeling well and taking those steroids, she cried more than her fair share. Em was finally getting better and James was off Friday so we decided to spend the day working in the yard. We pulled out plants and planted new ones. We mowed and mulched. We got sunburned. Saturday morning Megan appeared to be a little sunburned, and she was feeling a little droopy, so we decided to not slap sunscreen on and spend more time in the sun. YAY for Mother of the Year! Instead, I took my sickies to the mall to play there. :) Actually, I had to buy contacts at JCPenney (discount) and was so excited that they opened at 9am with door busters for their Memorial Day sale. I would be able to pop in and out and be home by 10!! Right. If only JCPenney Optical had the same hours as the store. So the girls started screaming about 3 minutes after walking in the store. Em pulled a whole stack of shirts off a table. Megan was whining to get out of the stroller. I was ready to leave and come back later (alone) for my contacts so I yanked the stroller and bumped a table with my ankle, knocking the signs off the top in the process. I decided to make my purchase before leaving (I found some really cute dresses for the girls that - gasp - need ironed after I washed them). The associate who helped me was nice even though the girls were both whining. That's when I noticed I had blood running down my foot from running into the table. I swear ... my 10 minute trip to JCPenney was a nightmare!!! I got to the car and bandaged my ankle and decided I really didn't want to have to come back out to the mall to buy my contacts since the sale ended the next day. SO ... that's how we ended up playing at the mall play area on Saturday morning. I apologize to you other mothers who took your kids there early Saturday and now have more snot running through your house than you ever imagined. They caught it from my kids. Yeah, now get over it. Megan really got bad as the day wore on. That night she coughed so much we were up there with her a couple times. Sunday, she pretty much stayed on the sofa watching TV and drinking juice all day. Monday, we braved an outing to Target and that's when I noticed Megan's rash. James had gotten her dressed that morning and didn't think anything of it. She happened to raise her arms and WOW was that rash red. So we hurried out of Target and I took Megan down to the after hours doc. We had never been, and they were nice enough, but I hope we never have to go back. The nurse that did the strep test wasn't pleasant and told Megan her mouth probably hurt after the test because she didn't stick out her tongue. She's 2!! I know she looks 4 but she's 2!! grrr! Apparently Megan has Fifth Disease. Ever heard of it? Nah, didn't think so. The doc is saying "blah blah blah fifth disease" and I'm thinking, "disease? You better start explaining this quickly!" Basically, it a virus with cold-like symptoms and a rash. Once the rash shows up she's no longer contagious so don't you guys go judging me for taking her out and about now. The rash doesn't seem to bother her and it could hang around for a few weeks to a month. Poor kid. She had a really sore throat and her nose was so stuffy she couldn't breathe. She was barely eating and cried when she coughed. I cried to see her so miserable. Which brings me to another point I have to bitch about. The doc said, "you know she can have some Delsym to help with the cough." and I didn't know this. I didn't ask her about dosage or anything and just made the decision to stop at CVS and pick some up. Well, the package says not to even use it if the kid is under 4 and for ages 4-6 you should consult a doc. So I didn't buy it, loaded my sick kid back into the car, and went home. Why the HELL do docs tell you to use medicines that say DO NOT USE? They just expect me to not worry about the ages on the bottle? There's a reason my 2 year old shouldn't be using cough syrup and I certainly wasn't going to take the word of some 12 year old doc working on Memorial Day.

Back to the HOORAY part ... we finally made it to the splash park today. This is a new one and it's pretty neat but there was very little shade and you had to sit in the dirt to enjoy it. I'm not sure how much fun Megan had but Emmers loved it. Megan stood by my side almost the whole time. I don't know if that was because she's still feeling droopy or if the number of people there bothered her (it was very crowded) or if she simply doesn't like the water spraying in her face. Emily would get sprayed and run toward me like she was going to cry but then give me the goofiest grin!! I can't wait to go back soon.

The girls are all greased up and ready to go.

They thought we were just going out back!

They stuck close together in the beginning.

Apparently I didn't have to worry about Em getting thirsty.

Yes, the water is clean. It's the same water we get in our faucets.

Megan had to come back and make sure I was still there.
... and she had to dump water on my feet!

I hope she doesn't grow out of this suit this year!

She didn't keep the hat on the whole time.

She was better about it than usual though.

Snack time!