Serious Injury List

We all know that traveling, especially on an airplane, is like putting yourself in the middle of a germ factory. I want to scream when I hear the words "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom." while we are mid-flight. Those bathrooms are so nasty I just want to let the kids pee in their pants instead of going in there. But on a nine hour journey heading east (two flights, total trip time is 9 hours if you are lucky), what can you do!

That being said, let me recount the numerous ailments and injuries we have sustained thus far, some I can blame on the germ factory, others just plain stupidity, and some can't be categorized. None of them are serious, thank goodness, just annoying.

The first full day here was a great day. Went out to lunch, got ice cream, had a nice dinner at home, and come six o'clock, Matt becomes the king of poop. Said king actually did not manage to make it all the way to the bowl during one episode, which was awesome. Blocked him up with some immodium and all was well.

Except when he woke up in the morning......with conjunctivitis. Kill me now. Eyes all stuck together, green goop everywhere - nasty. Luckily my sister had the drops so that regimen began right away.....but still, what a disgusting thing that is! What made it worse though, was that the next morning, Olivia had it! UGH!!!!!!!

But swimming seemed to help, at least to keep their eyes clean, so that was happening a lot. I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to join them one morning. Donned the suit, went out, was sitting on the edge tolerating the splashing and heckling by the kids trying to get me in, so in I went. I slid off the edge, dipped under the water, and smashed my right knee so incredibly hard on the bottom of the pool (much shallower than I thought it was!) that I literally came up to the surface crying. Yes, crying. It hurt so wicked, wicked bad, had a huge bloody cut on it, but the pain in my kneecap was incredible. Maybe I am being a tad dramatic here, but it really, really killed. I floated on a raft with an enormous ice pack on it for a while, but the pain, oh the pain....I still don't have full movement in it, and the cut will be around for a long time. Which is great since we are on vacation and there is nothing better than seeing a woman in shorts with a huge scab on her knee. Love that.

The last ailment to report is that Grace and my nephew have developed this red and painful rash on their sides and chest from sitting too long in a wet bathing suit. This rash requires the constant application of multiple creams all day long and has turned the counter at my sister's house into a virtual pharmacy.

So there you have it - the serious injury list. Let's hope there are no more additions.