New Year's Eve 2011

Instead of going to bed at 9 o'clock like a couple of old farts we decided to go up to the cabin and spend New Years weekend with our friends. Given that this is Gavin's first New Year it should be somewhat special right?

When we got there it was still a little nippy out so the kids took off in their jackets to walk the dogs.

By the afternoon they were climbing trees, riding bikes, raking leaves into huge piles and running through them, shoveling rocks to make a pathway with some pavers, and having a grand ol' time.

Nick can ride now without training wheels. Way to go!

Ava will be an expert tree trimmer one day!

And here's the happy family BEFORE the chaos starts.

So New Years Eve day Rachael and I take off to go have some girls time without the kids and we head out to lunch leaving the kids and the men with chores. We were gone a few hours and when we got back everything was done. It was awesome. Everyone followed directions, they ate some popcorn for being so great, and then it was getting dark so they all came inside.

This is when Olivia tells me she has a headache. Of course we don't have any pain reliever up in the middle of nowhere so I check her head and there's the fever. Again. We cannot seem to catch a break this winter with the stupid colds. So I have her lay down for awhile until dinner. As we are sitting around marveling over how good the Honey Baked Ham is... Olivia coughs. You know the cough that is usually followed with vomit. So we whisk her away from the table and put her to be with a washcloth apologizing to her for such a miserable New Years Eve. The hours roll on and now it's around 9Pm and the other two kids are getting cranky. Nick ends up in timeout so I put Ava to bed which leads to Nick going to bed too. I check on Olivia and her fever has broken and she is now sleeping. Yea let the good times roll right? No.

Midnight hits and we all celebrate and then a few minutes later Ava comes running out of the room and throws up. Can't take my kids anywhere the little pukers. She proceeds to barf until 2AM. So not only did Dave and I get any action on New Years Eve but we also slept in separate rooms so that he could hold the bowl while Ava threw up while I stayed with the baby in the other room to keep him from getting sick.

So the next day we head home, all kids feeling better, and once home everything that day and night go back to normal. Then the next night the kids go to bed and Olivia comes running out and throws up. Really? Have we not had enough vomit for 2012? Apparently not. I guess this is how we will be spending the next year... Yea, I say most sarcastically.