Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A weekend McKay will not likely forget

Our Memorial Day weekend was definitely, shall we say, a memorable one.

It started off with a literal bang when McKay crashed his bike on the street Friday afternoon, leaving (in his words) "a three-foot trail of blood and skin behind him."

He was wearing his helmet, which left his head in tip-top shape. We can't say the same thing for his knees and elbows, however.

Saturday was spent at a water park that masquerades as our city pool. It really is fantastic. Sometime I need to take my camera along with me so you can see what I mean. Giant water slides, a lazy river, diving pool, and watery playground. All within two minutes of our front door.

I'm pretty sure if they had beds there, our family would permanently move in every summer.

Sunday, the boys joined scout troops from all over Missouri to place flags on every soldier's grave at Jefferson Barracks. It was a profoundly patriotic experience for them both, despite McKay and a little incident involving vomit.

The poor kid really hasn't felt good all weekend, but we dragged him there anyway. Mostly to appease his brother, who was in tears that anyone would miss an opportunity to pay their respects to the veterans.

Have I mentioned that Chase LOVES the veterans? So much so, that he tried to donate the entire contents of my checking account to the Marine Corp veterans taking donations outside our grocery store on Saturday.

I had to help Chase see that a few dollars was good enough, though I am fairly confident he was not convinced.




Monday was spent at the movie theater seeing Night at the Museum, part two. (Our take: Not as funny as the original, but still made us laugh. Especially the Darth Vader/Oscar the Grouch part).

Poor Mack sat feverish and clammy through the entire show. I was prepared though, and brought a giant Ziploc bag, you know, just in case.

Luckily, we didn't need it.

Monday morning brought more vomiting, fevers, and a sharp pain in McKay's right side. Thus, Monday afternoon and evening was spent most memorably at the E.R. getting a CT scan to rule out appendicitis.

Scans came back negative (thank goodness) and after many hours spent watching Sponge Bob from a scratchy hospital chair, we were sent home with anti-nausea medicine and paperwork on gastroenteritis (which is really just a fancy word for stomach virus).

Stay tuned tomorrow for the concert tickets winner and pictures of a pretty exciting annual event around here involving Chase, the Husband, and a barber.

Heaven help me.

23 comments:

Sunk Costs said...

Chase is the most tender-hearted child ever. I just want to squeeze him!

Poor McKay. Hope he's feeling better! Sounds like he took his spill and his illness like a champ.

Kayla said...

sounds like an eventful weekend! Hopefully Mckay is feeling better, that's no fun!

Lisa-Marie said...

Uh? Haven't you had issues that involved the hubby and the boys and a barber before? I'm anxious to see!

A memorable weekend for sure. Hope Mckay feels better and no one else gets the crud.

Annie said...

Oh, my. Poor McKay: a bike crash AND a stomach bug? Over a three day weekend?? He deserves a do-over for sure.

Love that water park and the memories of sitting next to you, analyzing every trashy People mag story.

Joy & Casey said...

Crazy-sucks for McKay! Your cemetery pics are amazing! I am embarassed to say we have NEVER spent Memorial Day in a cemetery-Lame-we are always coming home from camping. I need to get it together as a mom! You rock!

Becky said...

We have a water park like that around these parts too, only I have never been and this summer is definitely NOT my summer for a swim suit for sure.

That was some bike crash, what was he trying to do? Some fancy jumps??? And so sad that it had to be mixed in with throwing up. Bummer.

Hooray for the vets! Hooray for scouts willing to do their duty. He is a cute boy...

Good job for trying to make it a fun weekend for your kids despite the one that didn't feel great. We liked the movie too, but agree that it wasn't as funny as the first, ...maybe the 2nd time around?

Ilene said...

You brought a ziploc bag? You are so considerate.

Jenny said...

We saw NATMBOTS too - too long according to my almost 4 y.o. We loved the cameo by Darth Vader too. I hope Mack is feeling better.

Unknown said...

I can't wait to see the haircut pictures! I'm glad it's turned into an annual event! What a nice mom you are. :)

Hope McKay feels better soon. At least he's old enough to actually know how to vomit in a bag if needed! My kids freak out and push the bag away so that they can get it all over me instead.

Cindy said...

I love those photos of the tombstones. The sacrifices of those men and women -and their families- are amazing.
And the movie... we felt the same way. It wasn't as good as the first. I was hoping for a lot - as we very rarely (like the last movie we took all of the children to was CARS) take our children to the movies. Again I was reminded that our little family won't be completely ready to sit through a movie for a few more years.

Cindy said...

...And I hope McKay feels better soon!

Liz said...

Oh, poor McKay! What a neat experience for the scouts, though. I'm totally hoping/planning to come see that pool in person this summer.

the wrath of khandrea said...

so veterans make him puke?
skip is not going to be happy to hear this.

Diane said...

I always get a little choked up when I see all those flags placed on the graves of war vets. What a great thing to get to do!

Hope McKay gets feeling better quick! No fun to be sick, let alone on a holiday weekend!

Bridget said...

Chase is so sweet. Can't wait until he and Maren get married. Poor McKay. Hope he gets better soon.

Woman Interrupted said...

Sounds like a busy, but fun weekend (minus the hospital part!) Glad to hear it was nothing more serious.

Christie in Dallas, TX said...

I love that Chase has a soft heart for veterans -- that's so rare to find these days. Hope McKay makes a speedy recovery!

crystal said...

My heart warms that Chase loves the veterans. What a dear boy. Can I call him for Isabelle to marry? She's 8. It'll work.

Sorry about the futile hospital visit. Ack.

Jake said...

Love that Chase loves veterans. Is he getting the mohawk? Is Opa getting one too?

I think all men in our family need to go back to bikes with training wheels! Sam just got going on two wheels and did a major wipeout himself. Get better soon, Big Mack!

Terra said...

oh the stomach virus. I do hope it has cleared. I hate those bugs more than anything.

Those pictures of the memorial sites and the flags and your son are priceless.

TheCatLord said...

i hope mack is feeling better now, was it just a stomach virus?
love that chase. you are blessed to have such a loving boy.

Hollyween said...

We've had the stomach bug so much at our house that I started just expecting it every single night. I prepared with buckets and rags. It would leave! Thank goodness McKay is alright and it wasn't his appendix.

And, um... the verteran thing? Awesome! How did you get a kid to be excited about veterans? You're just THAT good of a mom, I guess.

Lauren in GA said...

I love that Chase loves the Veterans. Such a good boy.

Bless McKay's heart...and knees, elbows and nausea plagued tummy...he has incredible description skills, though...the whole, "3 foot trail of blood and skin behind him" was very impressive and made my body ache. (The true trademark of a great writer)