Catching Up

One of the things I have found surprising and great about Ashland are the many different activities they have for kids.  One such activity was a Food Safari at the food co-op.  Throughout the store they had unique and different foods for kids to try.  Lilly tried everything they offered, including seaweed (but didn't like it). At the end kids were given a goodie bag with a few small trinkets in it.  Greta wasn't as into trying the different foods, but did enjoy the pomegranate seeds - that took her nearly the entire trip around the store to eat.

The co-op snapped this photo of Lilly at the end

One Saturday morning, we had an empty laundry basket in the playroom, which of course had to become a toy.  Blankets were put in for pretend napping and then Greta used it for reading.

That weekend we also did another walk around the trails at the Great Lakes Visitor Center.  It was pretty chilly and windy, so it was a loop around and rush back to the car.  Also that weekend, a birthday party for Lilly's friend Magda.  It was pretty intense - lots of little kids.  The girls all played dress up, Greta stayed in my arms for a very long time before being willing to get down and start playing.  It was a bit overwhelming for all of us, but it was fun to see the girls playing and having such a great time.

The preschool has been studying bald eagles.  They've been working on building their own nest out of sticks on the playground and Lilly has a new fascinating fact about them each time we'd pick her up from daycare.  Her teacher, Lorrie, sent me this photo of her:

Then the end of that week, the plague hit Tree Top.  Thursday, Greta threw up at daycare - about the 12th kid to get sick that week.  Nick picked her up but by bedtime she seemed totally back to normal.  We tried our best to keep the girls separated, keeping illness away.  Thursday night daycare sent out a message - they were closing because four of the five teachers were sick.  I had already put in for a sub, so stayed home with the two girls instead of just one.

The favorite game that Friday was standing in the laundry hamper and me pulling them around in circles in the playroom.  Lilly pretended it was a boat and we were sailing all around the world.  We went to China and as we pulled away from port, Lilly was waving because "the China people were very friendly to us."  We did many laps and finally I had to pull the plug, much to their disappointment.

That evening we had a friend of ours, Ryan, from grad school come and visit us.  We figured it had been eight or so years since we had last seen him.  He now lives in Cordova, AK in a hut he made in the woods.  It was great to catch up and hear about his very different life from ours.  Saturday morning Nick and Ryan went to Ashwabay and did a cross country ski race.  Nick won his age group and won us an apple pie.  

While they did the ski race, I took the girls to the library for a Lego event.  They had Legos for kids to build with, play dough for pressing Legos into, paper Lego people to decorate, and a guess who many Legos are in the container contest.  Greta guessed two and Lilly guessed 15.  There were 34 in the container.

That evening we went to DaLous for dinner, which was delicious.  Nick was not feeling super great, but attributed it to pushing himself so hard on the race.  Greta was done and ready to leave the restaurant, so she and I went down the street to the IGA to get ice cream to go with the apple pie.  Greta needed to help me carry the basket of groceries, so it took us quite a bit of time to make our way through the store.  

Our belief that we made it through, avoiding the Tree Top plague turned out to be wrong.  Nick got sick, and then around 4 in the morning Lilly woke up complaining that her stomach hurt.  Not long after that, she threw up.  So Nick and Lilly spent Sunday totally crashed.  Our friend Ryan left mid-morning, we hoped he at least would escape the plague and it sounds like he did.  Lilly and Nick were two pathetic lumps on Sunday.  Poor Lilly had absolutely nothing to eat all day and threw up about 8-10 times.  Nick felt gross but was able to keep some saltines down.  

I set Lilly up on the couch with a sheet and some books, Greta needed the same.

So Nick and Lilly were pathetic lumps on the couches, watching a movie, reading books, and napping.

Greta and I decided we needed to get out of the sick house, so we went to the Great Lakes Visitor Center, this time to go inside instead of walking the trails.  It was fun to just follow her around and watch her explore.  They have a beaver pelt on the wall and Greta refuses to touch it, which I find very entertaining.  We did go out on the back deck and she pointed to the trail and said, "sled."

We then went to the grocery store and the video rental place to rent Finding Dory for Lilly.  When I was buckling Greta in her seat I asked if she wanted to go home and have macaroni and cheese she said, "with Lilly?".  I love how much she loves her big sister!  She was disappointed to learn that Lilly would not be eating lunch with her.

During Greta's nap, I watched Finding Dory with Lilly while Nick also slept.  As the afternoon progressed, Lilly appeared to be feeling a bit better, but midway through our second game of Frozen Spot It, she gave in and crashed on the couch.  Greta was my big help while Nick and Lilly slept and helped me make dinner and put the tea in the tea box.

Monday Nick stayed home with Lilly, canceling his classes.  When Greta and I got home, they showed us the giant Duplo tower they had built.

Lilly seemed pretty much back to normal at the end of the day, just still a bit tired.  Nick however was still not feeling too great and ended up with the flu, we suspect.  He pushed through on Wednesday but woke up in a cold sweat and with a high fever on Thursday, so cancelled his lab.  He went in to work on Friday but mainly to teach his lecture and call it a day.  Lilly and Nick seem back to normal, the rest of us have managed (knock on wood) to avoid whatever Nick had, but there is certainly illness floating around the area.