Pick Your Plague

Just for kicks, let's count how many outfits I had on yesterday:

1) Nice dress for breakfast at the hotel club room;
2) Desert hiking clothes, which Zach then threw up on, leading to
3) Desert hiking clothes #2; which I was wearing when Zach fell in a mud puddle and then wanted to be carried, so I changed into;
4) Swimsuit and cover-up for swimming at the hotel pool, and then as we got ready to check out I changed into;
5) Long pants, sweat jacket and boots for lunch and drive up the mountain; changing when we got there into
6) Extra sweat jacket, snow boots, and snow gloves for impromptu snowball fight at the top of the mountain; and then back into
7) Regular boots and one sweat jacket for the drive home to the beach, after which Zach threw up on me again so I changed into
8) Pajamas and a sweatshirt, which Zach threw up on again, so I finally changed into
9) One last set of pajamas.

Still with me? It seems that our house has been visited upon by several plagues. The first plague of Lice was discussed earlier and I don't think there's much more to say about that. Throughout the week we battled Excessive Mucus and Diarrhea. Yesterday we were up against Vomiting and Car Stuck On Check Engine Light. Have I missed any? Can someone let me know what might come next so I can be prepared for, say, a whole lotta frogs?

(Plague-related aside: When Dave first met me he was absolutely horrified to learn that my parents lived on Locust Street. He had no idea it was also the name of a tree.)

Just to be clear: Yes, I love the fact that we were able to take a (free - woo-hoo, Hyatt points!) trip to the desert mid-week in February. I love the fact that we can hike in the desert and then head straight up the mountain and play in the snow two hours later. I love being with Dave and the boys. I just wish the whole trip had been a little less vomit-y.

While we were sitting at the restaurant on Wednesday night I started getting a little weepy and nostalgic about times past in Palm Springs....when days would be spent blissing out at the pool, getting spa treatments, checking out new restaurants, or shopping for hours at the outlets; and nighttime would mean a trip to the casino or just hanging out in the hot tub and staring up at the stars.

These days we find ourselves on a quest to discover a whole new current of desert life. We'll choose a hotel based not on whether we can walk to the downtown restaurants, but on what kind of water slide they have. We've been scouting out the local miniature golf courses. We have to go to restaurants with kids' menus, or at least restaurants where it's acceptable to bring your toys and books along. There's no outlet shopping, for now, and no casino time, but there's really no point at the moment because it's not much fun without any money to spend. But even despite all of this, I can't imagine going to the desert without the boys - I'd miss them too much, and besides, I'd have nothing to complain about.

I continue to be astonished about how much Zach remembers from the last time we were in the desert (nine months ago). As soon as we got to down to the pools he made a beeline across the pool complex to get to the "hot" pool. He and I are alike in that we love love love sitting around in hot hot hot water. Also as soon as we parked at the Mexican restaurant he announced, "This restaurant has candy in front!" and went straight for the candy bowl in the lobby (and visited it again numerous times throughout the meal).

Now here's something even more curious (although perhaps only interesting to me): He slept for most of the drive up the mountain. When he woke up, we told him that we were going to stop at a little town and then go play in the snow. He thought about this and then said, "I'd like to get a nice donut with blue frosting and sprinkles." Huh!?!? Then I remembered that before we went up to the snowy mountain last February (a whole year ago), we stopped at a little donut shop and he got a donut with blue frosting and sprinkles. It's amazing what memories make lasting imprints on a mind.

Luke has had a banner week for his week off. He went to a day camp on Monday (theme day: puppy party) and he had such a great time he begged begged begged to go back on Tuesday. So we sent him off in the morning before we left for the desert. I wasn't thrilled about spending the extra money, but I was happy to see him happy about anything that did not involve new Lego sets. (Activities included watching The Clone Wars, playing Wii bowling, doing spin art, playing with the aforementioned puppies, being entertained by a magician -- in other words, just a typical day at Joe's house.)

I don't think I can match that level of excitement today, but the boys and I are just going to chill out while Dave goes for his run, maybe go on a post-rain worm hunt, and do the last round of lice shampoo. And while I'm at it, I think I'd better check to see if anyone has developed any boils.