weekend away

 One of our major items on the agenda for last weekend was heading to the hospital to get long overdue routine medical work done for all of us. This type of trip usually involves crossing the border into Thailand, driving 3-4 hours to a good international hospital, staying the night there, then driving back the next day. We made a weekend of it and stayed at a fun place with water slides, ate lots of ice cream, and had pizza for dinner.
The kids love road tripping, and we do too. You can see Zach sitting there in his flowered chair (should probably work on switching that cover out) and mattresses for the kids' beds sticking up there in the back.

We spent one full day at the hospital, which was where Eva saw the dentist for the first time. Elijah freaked out, and we decided that he could wait until he was older. They all got balloons from the dentist, which really did help these guys look at the dentist in a different way. I was surprised how much that helped. Here the kids are waiting while dad takes his turn in the dentist chair. Eva got balloon flowers, Elijah a sword, and Zach a dog, which he promptly took apart. :)

 Eva was scared and already in tears before she even got into the dentist's chair. But then suddenly, she turned very brave and did a great job. You can see her smile in the above and below picture... it's her "I did it!" smile. :)

The next day, the kids got to swim. For Elijah, this lasted all of one hour before he was hit hard by the flu bug. He spent the day vomiting, feverish, and completely miserable.

Eva got a whole morning of swimming in, and then the flu bug hit her the next day. She was so sick, we delayed driving back home for one more day. 

Zach didn't catch the bug, at least not yet, but he enjoyed hanging out with the other two watching episodes of Curious George.

Nathan and I alternated staying with the kids and heading out to stock up on supplies. 

Here's one of Eva and Zach, just before her flu bug hit. Nathan was so proud of her at the dentist (after Elijah's big freak out) that he told her she could have a special reward. So when she saw this princess crown at the store, that was it!! She wore it the rest of the trip, whenever she was feeling good. Zach here is such a cutie. I told Eva to stand in front of this sheet, which is dividing off the kids sleeping area, so Zach had to run over to pose for the picture too.

We're back home now, both kids are over the flu, Zach never caught the bug, immunizations complete, full of pizza and ice cream, happy and healthy. On the way home, Eva says, "Mom, I'm so excited. Do you know why?" I asked her why, and she says, "I'm so excited to see Meo!" That's our helper, who's been with us since Eva was a baby. Nothing like returning from time swimming in the pools, eating ice cream, pizza, and special time with mom and dad, only to hear that your daughter is excited to be back in Laos. This is their home, and they love it. God is so good.