Inauspicious start?

Monday we left for our trip to San Antonio. Things didn't start out too well.

David was very, very ill. Poor guy. After dawdling around in the morning, we did what any family with a hotel reservation waiting would do: packed the car, buckled in a 104-degree kid, and pressed ahead. (This is what any family would do, right? Right??)

We knew we would have to scale back a lot (if not all) of our plans. The only thing we knew is that the next few days would be spent in San Antonio. And hopefully we would see more than the hotel room. We sadly canceled plans with several families we'd hoped to see (BOO HOO) and hoped for the best.

A sick David, when not sleeping, entertained himself with Waldo and Wubbzy on the drive down.

Besides a sick child, our trip began with a long list of forgotten items. I am a good packer because I am a good planner. I can get a little obsessive about it (which has its own downfalls), but we generally have just what we need for a good balance of fun, adventure, comfort, and convenience. This trip I totally FAILED. (I must be getting out of practice.)

First we stopped at a Walgreens for sunscreen, swimmer diapers, children's ibuprofen, a medicine dropper, and black ponytail bands.

A couple of hours later we stopped at Target for toys. (We did not bring one single little tiny thing for David and Mary to play with in the hotel room. Nary a crayon, Matchbox car, or crappy Happy Meal prize. What did we think they were going do all sick and stuck in a single room for three days?) David got a little Matchbox set, Mary got some play keys, and Mom got Coke Zero.

Then we bought an Icee for David. And a pretzel for Mary.

Then we bought Mary stretch pants since her poop had exploded into the pair she was wearing, and I realized I hadn't packed any spare clothes.

Then we went through the check out again. This time for wipes. (Who forgets wipes??)

By then we had never been more ready to leave a Target. We piled back into the car. Only to discover we had NO BINKIES. Different people (like our dentist or the lady at the Exxon who lectures me regularly) would have used this as a wonderful opportunity to wean Mary from the love of her life. But we are not different people. We are us. So we made one final (finally!) purchase: a package of Avent pacifiers.

Yes, FIVE separate transactions at the same Target within fifteen minutes. And that's after our emergency stop at Walgreens.

Disorganized? Yes.

But happy? Yes.

That whole "together as a family" thing goes a long way, organized or not.