Summer Break Week 5

Monday was a hard day. We had a slow morning and then took Reuben to his PEMF appointment. I told Becky we would try a local vegan-friendly restaurant while Reuben relaxed in the zero gravity chair at his doctors. It didn't work. We both got vegan smoothies but for some reason Becky got a severe stomach ache and then almost threw up so we had to leave. It was so disappointing. I did not have a reaction there but for Becky she did. We did get different smoothies...the restaurant used to be totally vegan but now they have milk and other alpha gal products so, there goes the one place I thought we could eat. Becky cried a lot. She really wanted somewhere we could go and get a treat once in a while. 

Becky has the stomach pain/throw up quickly/ diarrhea alpha gal problem while I have the anaphylaxis alpha gal allergy. Becky only throws up if she has a lot of alpha gal--for example, eating a hamburger. I don't know what was in the smoothie but whatever it was was a lot of alpha gal. 

The smoothie we ordered was totally vegan. We won't be back. 

For dinner we had another problem--I made spaghetti with ground turkey. Only for both Becky and I to have a reaction. Apparently ground turkey isn't only ground turkey. All the options I saw have either natural flavors (contain alpha gal) or rosemary extract which is processed, once again, with bone char and contains alpha gal. The world is laughing at me.

If I want to have ground turkey I will have to get a turkey and grind it myself. I am not adding anything to my plate of this nature as I grieve a miscarriage and battle a debilitating tick disease, among other issues...

This made the second meal of the day that gave Becky a severe stomach ache and even though I knew it was a mistake seeing her cry in pain and frustration made me so sad. She and I are trying so hard and here we are not able to eat anything...or so I felt. 

We also went to a laundromat for the first time in like, 10 years and let me tell you it was gross, dirty, and $4 a load to wash my whites. But our washer was broken and I needed to do at least one load. It took 22 minutes to cycle and we took it home to dry. Esther had to use the toilet while we were there and the sink didn't even work, there was no soap in the bathroom and the door didn't close. I was expecting, at the very least, a laundromat to be hygienic. I don't want to ever go back.

We did meet some very nice grandmas that smiled at Esther a lot as she ran laps around the washing machines and had the time of her life with the 25 cent bouncy ball I bought her from the very decrepit coin machine. I wish I had taken pictures, it was straight out of the 1990s...

We ended the day with a nice swim at our local pool. It was a good day, stomach pain aside. 

Tuesday Charlotte came--she was with friends Monday. Charlotte is the lovely 10 year old I am nannying this summer and this week has been a treat with her. Last week she was shy and unsure but this week I think she is learning we are fun, safe and it's fine to just be herself around us.

Tuesday we went to the creek after Reuben's piano lesson. We walked all the way to a little bridge and set up hammocks and just had a relaxing refreshing time by the stream. It was nice and cool in the shade, until the toddler fell into the water and cried. I need to remember to pack her extra clothes! What kind of mom am I? This is not my first rodeo. 

We will definitely be back to that spot though. 

We started a new free read this week too--we are reading Lad, A Dog. It is wonderful. Everyone is loving it.

Wednesday we went early to walk at Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's house. You can walk around the grounds but not near the house without a ticket. It was hot but fun. We sat for awhile by a stream and the kids splashed until we found ticks and hightailed it out of there, stopping on the way to climb a tree.

Esther wanted to be carried the whole time and I was quite sweaty by the time we made it back to the car. By the time we made it home I was hot and sticky--we have no air conditioning in our car! It was a very warm day...and only going to get hotter! The highs for the next three days were in the mid-90s. 

After lunch of turkey sandwiches, my mom came over to watch Becky, Reuben and Esther and I took Charlotte to her house for a little over an hour so she could rest in her room. This also gave grandma a quiet two hours to do Barton Reading with Becky and Reuben and Esther ended up taking a nap. 

I was just checking the weather for next week and its going to be nice and cool--by nice and cool I mean in the low to mid 80s--this week has been crazy with numbers like 95f and 97f. This mama has been hot and I'm ready for some cooler weather. Next week we can have lots of outside creek time and not have to worry about the UV index.

Thursday Reuben had another appointment and Charlotte, Becky, Esther and I went to goodwill to comb through everyone's trash, I mean treasures. I ended up finding a really cute baking dish and a water bottle waist-belt type of pack for Reuben to use when hiking (he loved it!). I also found some shirts and clothes and a bag for Esther, and Charlotte found a backpack, two shirts and a pair of pants. Esther and Becky also found two baby-dolls they loved. In all we spent $54 and it was perfection. Sometimes you come to goodwill and find nothing and it's annoying combing through everyone's greasy cast-offs, but sometimes you come and find just what you need and it's wonderful. Esther has been hauling the backpack and the doll around everywhere. 

Thursday is also Becky's piano day and since the high was 95f, that was all we did. We stayed home the rest of the time and read Lad, A Dog, played video games, ate ice cream and other silly games. It was a blast. 

Friday we went early to Claytor Lake Nature Center. The high on Friday was 97f and so we went from 9-11 and left when it hit 90f, because that was hot enough. We did nature drawing by the stream, played in the nature zone kid playground and did multiple tick checks. Charlotte also found a beautiful book about wolves in the little free library and she was over the moon about it. I got the sweetest picture of her explaining the wolves to Esther and it melted my heart and I sent it to her family. 

Becky also found a baby frog. She also found a lot of tadpoles that she really wanted to bring home but we didn't. We don't have a place for them, or I would have let her. Becky is the kind of girl that wants to collect pets wherever we go.

We came home in the heat and had snack lunch (hummus and toast and leftover turkey, sourdough crackers I made...mostly various things in the fridge) and met up with Brian who went to the gym this morning, as it was his day off. We had rest time with video games through the heat and read another chapter of Lad and I took a nap on the couch while Brian worked on fun projects in the shed. 

Friday was hard for me because right before we left for Claytor I noticed I was bleeding again. Didn't I just have a miscarriage a little over a week ago? I literally stopped bleeding Monday, June 1 after bleeding (sometimes very heavily) for 11 days. I don't know why this is happening and it's been quietly freaking me out all afternoon. I keep praying I'm okay and wondering what I need to do next and also trying to be normal so I don't worry my kids but also I need space but oh, that's impossible right now with four children and a husband home. 

I would like to be normal, please.

Here is to some normal I am hoping....next week. 

Here are to some meals that hopefully don't hurt my daughter's stomach. 

Here is to Reuben learning to breathe through his nose! 

I'm ready to see God's miracles.