As masks have come off, “normal” sickness has picked up. Sure enough, we got the brunt of it on vacation in Palm Desert last week.
Somewhere between our house and Gigi’s condo in Palm Springs, likely at the airport, we picked up a stomach bug. You gave us the warning signs and complained about being really tired that first day of vacation. Then the stomach symptoms started and lasted about three days for you. Matteo got the worst of it. He was sick for about 12 hours and threw up a record-setting eight times. That’s what I call “puke and rally.” He hadn’t really thrown up since being a baby and he was a champ making it to the garbage bin every time.
Eventually the bug got to me but only really caused heavy fatigue. Being that we were on vacation, it’s hard to tell how sick I was or if I just really needed to sleep for a day. Through it all, your Mom evoked her super power of taking care of all of us while only getting a little sick for a day.
Our real vacation started day five of nine. We made it to the zoo a few times and of course spent days by the pool. We finally visited Palm Springs together, and your Mom and I snuck in one date night.
You made friends with two sisters visiting from British Columbia who were staying next door. The friend time really brought you back to life, and that was a good reminder that despite all the entertaining we try to do, kids need to hang around with kids to have the most fun. I played my “Dad card” and drew some attention back by offering to throw you and Matteo around the pool. Of course, my shoulders can only take about 10 reps for each of you, so I got back to parenting from the pool chair in little time.
We came back home healthy but tired. Every family seems to have a story about a sick vacation. I’m glad we got through ours and hope it doesn’t happen again anytime soon.
Love, Dad