Three things and more on Thursday:

Last Thursday my students went on a class trip to Medieval Times. We ate with our hands, saw a jousting match, crowned a princess, and learned how to become a knight. The kids had a great time and were well behaved. What more could a teacher ask for?

  Friday: We grilled out at my grandparents and said goodbye to my Uncle Robert who headed back to NJ for the summer. Piper had her first taste of Sunny’s baked beans and LOVED them. Not that I expected anything otherwise, our family has a soft spot for Sunny’s BBQ.

 Saturday: Mr. R. and I have been putting off our monthly BIG SHOP and by Saturday our fridge and pantry were almost bare. One cannot live off popcorn and canned black beans alone. As a family we headed to Costco and our poor scion was stuffed to the brim as we made the trek back to St. Augustine. The good news is NO ONE and that means you MR. R. cannot complain there is NOTHING for dinner.

 Sunday: Pip woke up late Saturday night with a fever. It broke when we gave her Tylenol, but she was incredibly fussy and uncomfortable all night. We figured it was teething, those darn teeth!, gave her ora-jel and headed back to bed. Mid Sunday we discovered that she had a large pimple on her bottom that was painful to the touch. She continued to run a low grade fever all day. And by Sunday night the pimple had burst and was starting to ooze. We called the after-hours number for her doctor and made an appointment for Monday morning.

 Monday: Pip and Mr. R. head to the doctor and I go to work. At 10:30 the school secretary come to my classroom and tells me PIP IS IN THE HOSPITAL!  It turns out the pimple was actually a boil containing a staph infection. It has infiltrated her subcutaneous tissues and was causing her fever. She was started on antibiotics immediately.  The boil was too large to drain all at once so every 6 hours the nurses/doctor would try to extract more of the pus.

 Tuesday: 24 hours in the hospital.

GOOD NEWS:  Pip’s fever has broken. And the boil has been reduced to the size of pencil point. She has had lots of visitors from church and the neighborhood. We really have an awesome adopted Florida family.

BAD NEWS: She is refusing to sleep or eat and is very irritable. She is being housed on the newborn floor and loves looking at the new babies in the nursery. We spend a lot of time roaming the halls and hanging out with the nurses.  Also, my grandfather has been admitted to the hospital with a terrible cough and low blood count. Six hours later my grandmother is also admitted to the hospital with a high fever and high white blood cell count.

 Wednesday: 48 hours in the hospital.

GOODNEWS: Pip’s white blood count came down and her infection is almost contained. She is no longer contagious and she was RELEASED from the hospital! We can finally get some much needed rest! My grandfather was released from the hospital as well and is hopefully on the mend.

BADNEWS: My grandmother was diagnosed with the flu and is under quarantine. Her fever is down, she is feeling better, but will not be coming home as soon as we had hoped.

 Thursday:  We are exhausted, but thankful to be home and getting back to normal. Three cheers that tomorrow is the weekend!