Not for the faint-hearted (really, beware!)

It's really all my fault. Bruce and I admitted, out loud, that we were planning to attend the temple this afternoon. It's been a long time. In our defense, we had to do so because we needed to get someone to watch the kids.

In case you were wondering, no, we didn't make it there.

Bruce had to do some training in Provo for work today, so we loaded up the whole family and pulled out of here at about 7:45. A few minutes late, but not bad considering Sammy's tantrum (didn't want to miss kindergarten). Eerily, there were no major traffic problems. I just thought we were lucky. But by the time we were in Bountiful, we had to stop for a potty break. Still, we made good time to Provo, and that's where things began to go sour. Bruce stopped at a store, and Riley had to go for potty break #2--his face was pale, which was a sure sign of gastrointestinal distress. Then, we barely made it to Bruce's destination in time to rush white-faced Riley inside for potty break #3. Then on to my friend Emily's house, with a detour for potty break #4, and another dash inside her house for potty break #5. Poor Riley.

He felt better for awhile, so we had a great time visiting Emily and her kids. Then we met my friend Megan for lunch. Our mildly bad day started its crash landing here. Riley filled up on chips and chocolate milk. Meanwhile, Zeke sat happily banging on the floor-to-ceiling window while we ate. Too bad none of us noticed the hornet crawling on the glass, trying to figure out how to get outside. Oh, wait, Zeke noticed it. We think he tried to grab it (none of us saw this happen) and it stung him on the thumb. Thats right, my poor baby boy! He went berserk. I calmly gave him Tylenol and a binky while requesting that Bruce KILL THE EVIL INSECT!!! He finally fell asleep. Poor Megan, between that and our other energetic kids, she may never go out in public with us again. Thanks for putting up with us!

Riley turned pale again on the way home. Luckily, it was right by Ikea, and I had wanted to stop there anyway. (Potty break #6) Yeah, we made it to the (very lovely) family bathroom just in time. Then he got sick all over his pants. The shoes survived. It took us a long time to clean up, but he felt GREAT by the time we were done, and he got to walk out in shirt, shoes, and a too-small diaper borrowed from Zeke. Meanwhile, I finally got to the Christmas section to buy the Scandinavian straw tree ornaments I've been trying to get for the past four years. Wouldn't you know, for some unknown reason, this year they decided to dye the straw ORANGE and RED!! What were they thinking? Seriously, I know they're Swedish, but these are BEYOND UGLY!!! What was wrong with the old traditional ornaments? They sell out every year in just a few days--PEOPLE LIKED THEM. This was the final STRAW for me. I bought them anyway because I was desperate, but now I have to return them because they're even uglier now than in the store.

I'm done complaining. We stopped to visit my midwife's new birth center and it was beautiful--and Riley got to have potty break #7. The rest of the ride home was uneventful, except for Sammy needing a potty break (#8) when we were 5 minutes away from our house. We made him wait. At home, I promptly called the hair salon and scheduled an appointment for an escape, I mean, haircut tomorrow.

By the way, everyone was really cheerful today. At least we received that blessing, so other than being a little tired (and having some laundry to do) we are none the worse for the wear today. Zeke's thumb is still swollen but he's not in pain. Riley feels great. Sammy has gotten some extra attention for putting up with everyone else's craziness so well. Now if only the football game turns out the right way tonight...