Well, the week started out well and went downhill from there pretty quickly.

On Friday (7/11) Leanne's parents arrived (Nana and Grandaddy.) While the boys were apprehensive at first, they warmed up pretty quickly. Because it was so hot, we went to the mall to walk around, let the boys play in the play area, ride the carousel, and most importantly (to Grayson) ride the elevator. I think we rode the elevator 4 times! Afterwards we went to Clydes for dinner and while the food was good, our children were not. They did not want to sit (and it wasn't a long meal - we had to promise the hostess that we'd eat in under an hour since they had reservations for a table of 6 in an hour. We did it!)

Saturday morning we all went to Gymboree and in the afternoon we played at home and then to downtown Silver Spring to let the boys play in the big fountain (that lasted .5 seconds - they weren't into it) and walk around. It was hot.

Sunday Nana and Grandaddy joined us on our usual Sunday morning of Panera/grocery store/playground and after a nap we went to the new Gaylord hotel at the National Harbor. (If you've been to the one in Nashville, don't go to this one - it is 1/10 the size and not nearly as impressive.) A lot of the National Harbor isn't open yet, so the stores that are there are pretty few and far between. Plus, it was hot. Really hot. The kids were asleep almost immediately once we got in the car.

On Monday morning is when things started to go down hill. At 7:20am, I got a call from Mia that she was sick. She didn't think she could come in and she (nor we) wanted to give it to the boys (or us.) Leanne was already at work (and had meetings she couldn't miss) and none of our back-up options were available - so I stayed home. Nana and Grandaddy went to DC and the boys and I had a really nice day (although I wasn't planning on using vacation time this way...) We took a long walk in the morning followed by playground time and by nap time they were exhausted and slept a wonderful 2.5 hours! Leanne and her parents came home early and so we all went to dinner.

Tuesday Mia was still sick and this time Leanne stayed home. From what it sounds like she had a good day with them (just another unplanned use of vacation time) and I was playing catch-up at work.

Wednesday Mia was STILL sick (this is the first time in nearly 2 years that Mia has been out sick more than a day, so we knew she was really sick - plus she sounded horrible on the phone.) None of our back-up options were available again so I stayed home. This time the day wasn't as great. We took another walk - but what typically took 45 minutes took 90. Carter shuffled along, wandered into the woods, neither would listen to directions, Grayson was hot and cranky, and I was wondering if we'd ever get home. We did and the kids took a decent nap while I recouped on the couch (I love a good daytime nap for myself!)

Thursday Mia was STILL out, but Traci was able to come and hang out with the kids all day. The kids had a blast playing with "Twati."

Friday Mia came back to work. She wasn't feeling 100%, but felt as though she could make it through the day - especially if they all took it easy and had a lazy day at home. I know she was hoping they would take a good nap! Well, at 9am, just as I walked into the hospital, I got a call from Mia. Grayson and Carter were playing in one of the living room chairs and a hug/wrestle move caused them Grayson to fall out of the chair onto the floor with Carter landing on top of him. Typically, this isn't concern for a call (they fall all the time) but this time he vomited 2 minutes after it happened (a sign of a head injury.) I happened to be going into a meeting with 2 doctors that I work with who said he was probably fine, but if he threw up again, he'd need to be seen. I called Mia back and relayed this information with a promise I'd call in a hour when the meeting was over. When I called back, he had thrown up again and Mia was packing a bag to bring him in. (One of the advantages of working in a pediatricians office/hospital (and our insurance letting him go to any physician.) Mia arrived with the monkeys an hour later and of course, Grayson seemed fine. They got us back immediately (gotta love being an employee) and said that due to the vomiting he had sustained a mild concussion. She said that she could order a CT Scan, if it would give me piece of mind, but she didn't think it was necessary. She had us go upstairs and eat lunch and then hang around the hospital for a bit to make sure he didn't get sick again (if he had, she was going to recommend the scan.) We did and he didn't and Mia was sent home with them. Poor Mia looked like she had been through the ringer. Her lazy day had turned into a hospital adventure. The kids slept for 20 minutes on the way home and refused to sleep when they got home so Mia didn't even get a nap.

That evening, we went to the pool with Suzanne and Rhyder and Grayson had a blast jumping off the side and going under. He'd jump and then turn himself around towards the wall to do it again. By bedtime we were both exhausted. But we did as we were told and woke him up every 3 hours throughout the night. In the end, Grayson was fine. And we are all looking forward to a less exciting week.