Labor Day Weekend: A Festival of Fevers, Popsicles, and "Vacation"

Happy Fatherhood Friday everyone!

Although H1N1 is not transmissible over the net, a good way to bolster your immune system is to check out all of the great bloggers over at Dad-blogs.com.

So, we, uh, had an interesting Labor Day weekend.

Our original plans were to drive several hundred miles to my boyhood home to visit with my Dad-E and my grandparents (who are both in their UPPER-90's, and doing pretty well given their age).

And then the weekend before, Big Brother had a fever spike to 104. He was never swabbed with H1N1, but the pediatrician said they'd been seeing a lot of (relatively mild) flu, and that flu of some kind was the presumptive diagnosis.

And then the night before we were to leave, Mom-E started to feel sick. The next day, she had fever to 101.4 (which is always a little scary when you're 20-some weeks pregnant). I mean, it's not like you can just turn a fan on in there to cool off Bab-E. Although maybe he'll like hot tubs when he grows up? Can we bill him retroactively for a "spa" treatment in utero?

Of course, nix went our roadtrip. No reason for a sick, pregnant lady to travel by car feeling that miserable, nor reason to expose two nonagenerians to (presumed) flu.

I had her see the doctor about 5 minutes later. No H1N1 swab for her either, but they put her on Tamiflu as a precaution. Her fever went away pretty quickly.

And was promptly replaced with a throbbing sinus headache and congestion. Stop Tamiflu. Start Z-pack.

Mom-E, who normally explodes if she sits down for 5 minutes, pretty much spent 4 days in bed or on the couch in the family room.

I managed to put as many miles on the car going to and from the pharmacy as we would have if we made the trip.

Does anyone need some more Tylenol Multisymptom? If so, I can pick up more on lap 95.

Pitt stop coming up on lap 86 for more soup, ginger ale, and popsicles.

Yes, POPSICLES GLORIOUS POPSICLES!

I haven't had popsicles in years. And now I'm a major stockholder in Popsicle brand.

I forgot how much fun popsicles are for kids and adult kids alike.

Sooth your throat, sneak in some extra fluids, color your tongue, DON'T EAT IT OVER THE RUG, it's all good popsicles.

I found out I can get my kids to do pretty much anything with a popsicle as a reward.

And the popsicles are so technologically advanced now.

We enjoyed Ice Age "slow melt" popsicles. They really are slow melt. Rising 2 year-old approved. Though beware the slightly awkward gummy acorn at the top.


And the absolute best: Super Hero popsicles for your budding Iron Man, Spider Man, or Incredible Hulk.


And just as Mom-E started to turn the corner, of course Little Brother spikes a fever to 101 on Sunday. Poor guy was spewing more snot than an offshore oil rig.

I had taken Friday off as a vacation day, plus the long weekend, plus I took Tuesday off since Little Brother was still under the weather. Amazingly, I have been spared from illness thus far.

And while I could skulk and complain that I spent my mini-vacation taking care of a house full of sickos (all the while trying to keep it clean since we're on the market), I decided to make the best of it.

And prove that men can multitask (to a limited extent).

I earned some husband points from Mom-E for my attentiveness and "bedside manner" (aka frequent refills of ginger ale, water, gaterade, crackers, tylenol, and pleas of "boys Mom-E feels yuck-E and needs to rest.")

I didn't shave for some 5 days (which hasn't happened since college) in order to render myself unkissable by Mom-E and thus less likely to get sick.

During an extended nap for Mom-E and Little Brother, I took Big Brother out on a "date" to a movie and a couple of movie-side video games.

Little Brother was extra clingy, and I enjoyed carrying him around pretty much everywhere, night and day.

Except that time my bicep fell off.

And while I was disappointed about missing the trip to see family (which we'll try to reschedule soon), it was still strangely nice just to have some time off to spend with the boys and Mom-E.

No doubt we'll always remember the Labor Day weekend when everyone was sick.

Have a good and HEALTHY weekend,
Busy-Dad-E