Blog meet-up
COLORADO SPRINGS -- From the motel, I called Kim around 4:00, looking to arrange a dinner spot.
Earlier in the day, things might have been complicated; 14-month-old Nathaniel had spiked with a 106 fever (something Kim and I both found suspect) the day before, and with the help of antibiotics, his temperature dropped back down to 99.
So I was told to meet them at 5:30 at the nearby Golden Corral -- David would be coming from work, Kim with the kids from the house. Since I was paying, all-you-can-eat buffet was definitely the way to go.
Ana remembered me from the last time I was there (2004), but all Ruthie knew of me was the Build-A-Bear I funded when her baby brother came home. She even brought "Ba'rina [ballerina] Bear" with her to the restaurant.
There were very few times I looked over at Ruthie and she didn't smile back. (A notable exception: When she fell out of her booster seat into the floor, but nothing a good cry couldn't fix.) Coasting through the terrible twos, Ruthie wouldn't stop mentioning to anyone listening that "I bup [burp]". Meanwhile, her brother couldn't help randomly breaking out into a sharp, parakeet-like chirp.
We then headed back to their place, where the kids played around in the floor for a bit. (And poor Ana. She was trying to teach her siblings Spanish -- they are Guatemalan-born -- but they kept coming back with "Hi" and *chirp*.)
Of all the stories thrown back and forth, the best may have been the time David accidentally ran a screw through his finger while reinstalling tile in the bathroom. When Ana was asked what happened to Daddy at church the next day, she responded honestly: "Daddy got screwed."
It was approaching 11:45 when Kim checked on Nathaniel. Unfortunately, his temperature had gone back up to about 102.8, so Kim made the decision to take Nat back to the ER. That made it an obvious, but disheartening, segue for me to leave. (An 8am flight means a 5:30 wake-up call.)
UPDATE: Nathaniel is doing well, but wouldn't you know -- now Ruth has a slight fever. As Kim would say, "Never a dull moment with kids."
Earlier in the day, things might have been complicated; 14-month-old Nathaniel had spiked with a 106 fever (something Kim and I both found suspect) the day before, and with the help of antibiotics, his temperature dropped back down to 99.
So I was told to meet them at 5:30 at the nearby Golden Corral -- David would be coming from work, Kim with the kids from the house. Since I was paying, all-you-can-eat buffet was definitely the way to go.
Ana remembered me from the last time I was there (2004), but all Ruthie knew of me was the Build-A-Bear I funded when her baby brother came home. She even brought "Ba'rina [ballerina] Bear" with her to the restaurant.
There were very few times I looked over at Ruthie and she didn't smile back. (A notable exception: When she fell out of her booster seat into the floor, but nothing a good cry couldn't fix.) Coasting through the terrible twos, Ruthie wouldn't stop mentioning to anyone listening that "I bup [burp]". Meanwhile, her brother couldn't help randomly breaking out into a sharp, parakeet-like chirp.
We then headed back to their place, where the kids played around in the floor for a bit. (And poor Ana. She was trying to teach her siblings Spanish -- they are Guatemalan-born -- but they kept coming back with "Hi" and *chirp*.)
Of all the stories thrown back and forth, the best may have been the time David accidentally ran a screw through his finger while reinstalling tile in the bathroom. When Ana was asked what happened to Daddy at church the next day, she responded honestly: "Daddy got screwed."
It was approaching 11:45 when Kim checked on Nathaniel. Unfortunately, his temperature had gone back up to about 102.8, so Kim made the decision to take Nat back to the ER. That made it an obvious, but disheartening, segue for me to leave. (An 8am flight means a 5:30 wake-up call.)
UPDATE: Nathaniel is doing well, but wouldn't you know -- now Ruth has a slight fever. As Kim would say, "Never a dull moment with kids."