President's Day Weekend In The Desert

Over the 3-day Presidents Weekend, we all took a journey to Grandma V's house in Palm Desert. By "we all" I mean my mom, dad, Aunt Traci, Uncle Ken, David, Grey, and Lucy (the dog). My dad had some "golf business" to do in Palm Springs on Friday, but once that was done it was all down to "busy business" for me. I had a blast playing with my cousins and just hanging out in my Grandma's backyard. When I say hanging out, I really mean running around and not stopping for much of anything, but you get my drift. Since Grandma lives on the 18th hole of the golf course, the golfers are no where to be seen for the first few hours of the day which means the hole is ours for running down hills, hiding in the bushes, and even playing a little football with the big kids. The weather was in the mid 80's each day. On our way out of town, we went to the Living Desert, which is Palm Springs' version of the Wild Animal Park/Zoo. It was so cool. I saw all kinds of animals and they have a massive train through miniature cities to view. Did I mention that I love trains? I played with my cousins at the outdoor play area. At one point, my parents couldn't see me, but realized I was okay in the maze of tunnels I was crawling through because I kept yelling "Dart!" (my word for dark). I was wiped out after our adventure, and fell asleep within 3 minutes of leaving the place and stayed asleep for the whole trip back to my house.

More Than Just a Bad Hair Day

So January and the beginning of February was kind of rough for me. Would you believe that I got 3 separate stomach viruses (vomiting, diarrhea, and fever included) in a matter of 5-6 weeks? My mom was about to have a heart attack! The third bug was a doozey. Man, I was down for the count for 5 full days. I spent the entire time on the couch or in my mom's arms. I ate nothing to speak of and I couldn't hold my own weight when my mom or dad tried to put me on the floor. I learned that I really like my "purple juice" (Pedialite), which I call "purpa ju."I really took a liking to my dad's old lion blanket. Do any of you have that 2-sided blanket which has a brown lion on one side and a beige one on the other? Old school! I would roar to let my parents know I needed my blanket to snuggle up in the couch. After my 3rd stomach bug, I was fine for 3 days or so. Then one morning I threw up, again, 4 times in one hour! My parents were sure I had some horrible disease. What kid throws up so much in 6 weeks?! Thankfully, I was fine after that. It didn't progress into anything worse than a green and runny cold and cough. At the end of day five, I was finally back to playing again. Whew!All these bugs really messed with my social life, especially my quality time with my buddy Rory. This is Rory and me with my mommy on our first play date after 2 whole weeks of being separated.

I just hope all these viruses strengthen my imune system so that I grow to be a strong and healthy young man.