Labor Day Weekend

We had an eventful Labor Day Weekend. You may remember that I was frantically planning and cleaning and getting excited for the visit from our Phoenix friends. By their arrival on Friday I was ready. We had hit a small snag when we realized on Thursday that Sam has an eye infection in both eyes, but we went to the doctor and got some medicine for it and hoped for the best that no one would catch it.
On Friday afternoon we picked up our friends at the airport and took them to our house. We settled in and then headed for the Waterloo Icehouse for happy hour food and fun with about 15 or so of my closest friends. While there, I was happily feeding Sam some chunky orchard fruit when he turned to me and projectile vomited. I was concerned, but assumed that maybe the antibiotic for his eye was bothering his stomach. I cleaned up as best I could and continued to enjoy the party. Pretty soon he did it again and then again and we packed up and headed out of there. We cleaned up the kids and called it an early night.
Saturday we drove down to my parents house in San Marcos. It was opening day of dove hunting season and to some people, (not to me) that's a big deal. The ranch was spotted with men dressed in camo sitting in clumps under the trees. But the Tomblins will use any excuse for a party and so we were looking forward to it. We swam and played with my nephew Kade and niece Lilianna. Tiffany and Keith had just bought a Wii and so Justin and Michael spent quite a while trying it out. In the afternoon we decided to drive through Wimberley and the hill country and then stop at the Salt Lick on our way home. On the way there, Sam threw up again, but we sopped it up and continued our journey. The BBQ was delicious and we went home full and happy with a peach cobbler to go.
That night though we seriously regretted eating at all. Sam's vomiting plague had hit the house full force. First Kalli succumbed. Then Shana and then me. Michael and Justin just mopped it up and cleaned our sheets and washed their hands a lot. The next day all plans were scrapped including our planned night on the town and we laid around and watched TV and moaned and tried to stay out of the bathroom. Davis soon joined us in our vomiting misery.
Monday we felt slightly better, but Michael finally fell ill. The rest of crew gingerly stepped out of the house and headed for Zilker park to ride the train. The kids loved the train and the weather was perfect. We fed the birds and enjoyed being outside. We all went home to nap and in the afternoon headed to Ruta Maya. We grabbed a coffee there and met up with Katie and Soren. We had plans to go walk up and down Congress with the strollers, but the rain started to pour down and we retreated back to the house. That night Michael was still indisposed so he stayed home with the kids and Justin and Shana and I headed for the Alamo Drafthouse. While in line we met up with Skip and Sarah and so we all got to see the movie together. We saw Superbad and really enjoyed it. It was strange though in that I seemed to think of the lead characters as though they were my children instead of my contemporaries. I'm getting old!
Tuesday we all felt better, but still shaky. We did a driving tour of downtown Austin and had lunch at the Hula Hut. In the afternoon it poured down rain again so we went to the mall. We let the kids play in the Pottery Barn and we just relaxed. That night we had a sitter and we went out to eat at Enoteca. The food was delicious and we finally felt well enough to enjoy it. Our lone plague survivor Justin was feeling just a bit off, but he was still able to enjoy himself.
Wednesday morning we went to the Austin Zoo which was really, really fun. The weather was beautiful and cool and the animals were active. Kalli and Davis loved feeding the animals and we all had a great time. Then it was time for saying goodbye. Michael drove the gang to the airport and then we put the kids down for nap. Michael and I spent the afternoon cloroxing and cleaning the house trying to get rid of any remaining plague germs.
All in all it was a nice time with a really nasty sickness in the middle. It was wonderful to get to spend all that time with my friend Shana. They are all such fun people and good friends and I am so sad that we live far apart. If you hear about any fantastic well paid design jobs here in Austin let me know so I can send it to Justin and try to lure them into moving here.
And that's that. In one and half more days it's the weekend again! How did that happen?