Traveling with Spot and Gimp

Traveling with Spot and Gimp We had planned this wonderful vacation – an African Safari. The boys were old enough to enjoy it and since we were living in Europe it was less travel then if we started from the States. But – life happened Suddenly, Mike’s youngest sister announced she was getting married. Not only did we not have enough leave built up for 2 big trips, we didn’t have the money for 2 big trips. So the plans for the Safari were put on hold, luckily we didn’t have any money down on anything yet. A few days before we were scheduled to leave, I got a call from the Youth Center where the boys went before and after school. I wasn’t break dancing. Honest Mom, it just that 3rd flip I landed wrong. We adjusted our plans to include one child on crutches. The night before we left, I gave Nathan a bath. That looks like. It can’t be. BUT… No, it’s not possible. He’s not complaining. He’s not scratching. It can’t be. BUT…. It looks so much like it. But I KNOW he’s already had it. I made sure of that when Brigham and all the neighborhood children came down with it a few years ago. But it so looks like it…. The next morning, bright and early, we headed to Luxembourg to board an Icelandic Air flight to Iceland then onto DC. Brigham, ever thinking ahead, decided that it was “OK” to be on crutches, because the stewardess and others would be super nice to him. Somehow though, it didn’t occur to him that the stewardess would be watching him run across the tarmack to reach the rolling staircase to board the plane, his crutches under his arm, only using them when he reached the staircase to get on the plane. And while the stewardess was charmed by him, he didn’t get lots of extra snacks and other goodies like he thought he’s be able to get from her. Little Nathan, cheerful and happy, didn’t seem ill, but where he’d had a few spots the night before, he kept breaking out all the way across the Atlantic and definitely had a lot of spots now. Arriving in DC, my parents (who we weren’t expecting) and my sister, Lida, and her 3 kids (who we were expecting), picked us up from the airport. The next day, I took Nathan to Walter Reed, where they confirmed that a person can get chickenpox twice, especially if the first case is a mild one. At least this case seemed to be mild as well and he remained chipper and happy. Arriving back at Lida’s, I found the house in an uproar. Her husband, Ron’s father had just died and they needed to get to Arkansas quickly. While I was out, they had been calling airlines and the price of last minute tickets for a family of 5 was astronomical, not to mention difficult to get 5 tickets on the same flight. Mike and I looked at each other, than quickly offered up our tickets to St Louis. From there, Lida and her family could easily pick up a rental car and drive the rest of the distance arriving in time for the funeral. They only had to purchase one child’s ticket, which while the airlines have special fares for funerals, cost as much as the other 4 tickets put together. We had time built into our schedule for visiting with family before the wedding, which could now be used for the drive to St Louis. My parents quickly volunteered to drive us in their large full size van, altering their plans for the few days, while keeping us from needing to get a rental car. It gave us lots of time sitting in the van to talk to my parents and catch up on things that had been going on in the states while we were overseas. On the plus side, it also gave us several more days for Nathan’s spots to start fading and his contagion level to go down before we met up with the rest of the family and old friends. We got to St Louis, in time to meet up with Mike’s folks for the long drive to Iowa for the wedding. It was not Mary’s dream wedding – Mary’s fiance’s mother wasn’t able to come to St Louis for a wedding, so the wedding went to her. The reception was at the local VFW post, with the mother’s trying our best to keep our kids away from the regular inebriated customers at the bar. Back “home” to St Louis, where Mike’s folks dropped us at my paren’ts home. The next day, we headed out with my parents to Lida’s. Barely able to catch our breaths, we caught our flight out to Luxembourg the next day. It wasn’t the dream vacation we had planned, but it was family. And that’s what family does. We adjust, we alter our plans, we support each other, and we make it work for everyone. Mike still talks about someday going on an African Safari. We’ll see. I’m not holding my breath.