The rest of summer was spent just trying to recover and get caught up from all our trips. There were many late nights outside for the kids, soaking in those final night games. One night Maddix impressed me by hopping on his bike and rounding up a few friends to ride all the streets of our neighborhood and invite as many kids as they could find for night games.
And then like that the back to school nights came, father’s blessings were given, and the first day of school came for both the boys. They were truly missed, by the girls ha ha. But this was the first year I was actually like, “okay, it’s time for school to start.” The next week Addie had her back to school night and then her first day. She has been anticipating this day since January. The big school with the school bus… oh! However, when I went to pick her up she had her head hung and she was crying. Her heart was broke because we hadn’t been able to get the us figured out in time for her to be a bus friend home. When I picked her up, she was on fire! 102 fever, and as soon as we got home she began vomiting. And so she missed the next few days of school. And then Avery couldn’t start her first day of school because she picked up what Addie had and she was worse! She vomited her guts out for a full 14hrs; every 20mins… my heart broke for her. By the end of the school week, boys stayed home sick Thursday/Friday.
Labor Day: We had a quick reprieve from illness. We had our annual Ultimate frisbee get together and then hosted a bbq at our home after. It was so much fun. But by the evening Aaron and I were starting to feel crumby. We ended up laying on the couch reading Harry Potter for a couple of hours. By Tuesday morning Travis was also so sick; he tested positive for COVID. Then Aaron did. Addie tested positive the next day. And then myself. We were all soooo sooo sick!! By the end, as we were all bouncing back, Maddix got it! Ugh. So Avery missed yet another week of school. And then as Addie and Aaron headed back, Maddix was home. We kept Avery, just in case because she was the only one who hadn’t gotten it… and he missed yet ANOTHER week of school!! She finally got to go to school for her first day, three weeks into the semester.
After I dropped Avery at school, I messaged all my family to say I didn’t know what I was going to do with myself for two hours alone! They all cheered me on. But as I pulled into the garage and turned the engine off, Maddix’s school nurse called… sigh… he was still feeling sick and wasn’t going to make it through his first day back. So I went right over to pick him up; no alone time. Oh but the irony…
So next week is the week. The week they all go to school (supposedly!) and the anticipation is mounting! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my kids and having them around. But just a few hours a couple times a week to get projects done in silence sounds like a dream.
