Day 1448 - Stranded in Santa Clara

This weekend, Lisa took Friday off so we could drive up to Santa Clara for two parties:  Lisa's sister's surprise birthday party and a baby shower for Lisa's nephew's wife.  It's always nice to get together for family celebrations, and I've always firmly believed that family should always come first.  But now that we have four year old twins, my new belief is that family comes second when dealing with six and a half hour car trips over a three day weekend.

Friday was actually pretty good.  Traffic was minimal, and the kids were well-behaved due to a mixture of a dvd player, iPad games, and three Benedryls.  We all had a good night sleep and were ready for Saturday's big event:  Auntie Susan's (Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse) surprise 60th birthday party.  And before you give yourself a headache, there is about a twenty year difference between Auntie Susan's and Lisa's birthday; Lisa is almost 80.

On Saturday, Emma complained of a slight headache.  Ever since she turned three, these long car trips have occasionally caused her to get headaches.  Probably a mixture of motion sickness and being in the car for too long.  So for the last few trips, we have taken more stops.  When we went up this past summer and made three stops, Emma didn't complain of a headache at all.  But as this day went on, she turned into a grumpy grump.

Sadly, Emma really didn't feel good when we were at the surprise party for Auntie Susan (PICNU).  Lisa and I quickly ate up our dinner and left without even having any dessert.  Emma was slightly flushed, so I bought some children's Tylenol in hopes that this would make her feel better.

When Emma woke up on Sunday, it was like she was a new person again.  Gone was the grumpy Emma, and happy, cheerful, occasionally defiant and prissy Emma was back!  Since Lisa had to return to work on Monday, we began to pack up our bags and decided we would take additional stops to make sure Emma could stretch her legs.

But just around noon, guess who started to complain of a headache?  Andrew!  One moment, he was in the backyard attempting to shoot a small soccer ball into a regulation basketball hoop, and the next, he was inside lying in bed complaining of a headache.  WIMP!

So what was suppose to be a weekend of celebration became a weekend of toddler invalids.  The current plan is to return to Los Angeles tomorrow as long as neither of the kids feel sick.  If Lisa feels sick, we'll still drive home.  If I feel sick, there's no way in hell I'm letting Lisa driving all the way back by herself.  She not only tailgates big rigs, she tries to drive on top of them.  Wish us luck!