We’ve had plans to go to a cabin in the snow with my parents for about a month now, since Thanksgiving. We try to go with them for 2-3 days every year as the kids really like the experience of playing in the snow.
Last year we went to a cabin owned by a colleague of my mom’s, but this year we rented something on VRBO (my parents’ treat). I’m not quite sure why my mom didn’t want to ask her colleague if we could use the cabin again, but we were all excited to find one that was closer and wouldn’t require a five hour drive. We were set to leave the Friday before New Years.
Last Wednesday my son started throwing up. He threw up most of the night (I had to change his bed and pajamas FIVE TIMES), but woke up feeling much improved. I assumed we’d be good to go. Thursday night my daughter started vomiting. Like her brother, it was really bad for about seven hours, and then the next morning (when we were supposed to leave) she seemed a lot better. Of course, by then I wasn’t feeling very well, but I never threw up, just had intense waves of nausea and some serious GI issues. I called my mom to give her an update and found out that she had been throwing up violently most of the night as well. Whatever we had made swift work of the family.
I could tell my husband wanted to just call it, but by Friday morning my son seemed so much better; I could tell this was an intense virus with a short half-life and I thought we could make the most of our time in the snow, even if we weren’t feeling 100%.
So we left at 1:45, only an hour later than originally planned. My husband drove, because I was still having intense waves of stomach unpleasantness that required I double up and breath heavily (not unlike contractions). Unfortunately everyone else in the Bay Area had our same idea and we hit insane traffic, which doubled our 2.5 hour drive.
We ended up having a really nice time in the snow. We went sledding, had snow ball fights and built a “snow cat” (an actual snow man seemed like too big a project). The only hiccup was that more poor dad got our stomach virus on New Year’s Eve. The poor thing rang in the new year being violently ill, which perhaps is the only proper way to start 2017.
Also, the cabin had no cellular service and no internet, so I spent the 2.5 days totally unplugged. While I felt a twinge at not being able to text Happy New Year! to a few people, in the end I was really thankful for the days away. Sometimes it’s nice to only pay attention to the life that’s right in front of you.
Sunday night it started to snow. There wasn’t a ton up there to begin with, so it was very exciting for the kids to wake up to a white landscape on their last morning. It continued coming down while we got in our last trips down the big sledding hill. My kids have never seen snow fall before! I was very pleased with our last hours in the mountains, even though putting on snow chains is not a task I adore.
Ultimately the weekend was a success, despite the stomach virus that leveled us all (except my husband, how did he avoid it?!) I rang in the new year listening to my dad be sick in the only bathroom at the cabin (I had to pee so bad) and trying to help my son get through the night (he had a hard time sleeping there–everything is hard for him these days).
Today my kids start school, but I have another week off. I may have been super annoyed that we were in session until the 22nd, but I’m SUPER STOKED to still be off now. I am also so relieved my kids are going back to school; they have struggled outside of their normal routines and I think we’ll all benefit from some familiar schedules this week.
How was your New Years?
We rang in the new year at 9pm watching the ball drop on the Spanish channel because the English ones were too uppity to show us it in east coast time. Then we did some poppers, (confetti things, not pills, haha!) and went to bed. It was glorious.
Glorious that you have children in school, husband at work! Now do some nice thing for you EACH day. (Lunch out with your husband might be one idea; depends on his ability to actually take lunch…. some times that can’t happen.) And do something tiny but special for your husband each day the children are at school as well so he sees he benefits as well, as this helps remove some of the sting of you having some extra time.
Sorry everyone was sick, glad the children saw snow falling, it is always so amazing to see and hear the silence in which it happens.
May your new year bring laughter and joys in great measure. Thank you for all your posting and sharing of your world, it normalizes, reminds, brings memories, sustains during hard times. THANK YOU ALL!