Father's Day Weekend

I had such plans and hopes.....they seemed sure to come through since so many of our plans lately have not...surely we were due for some flawless time. Alas, it was not to be.
Things started off well enough. Jayme got home and we hit the road for the 4 hour trip south. I had packed sandwiches and snacks enough that we would only need to stop for gas and a restroom break or two. Pattie fell asleep and stayed that way for the first 2 hours of the trip. The boys were minimally bothersome with the backseat wars they wage on trips and Jayme and I talked about future plans if we stay in the same town we live in now. Would we move to a bigger house? Would we convert the garage onto a bedroom for the boys? Things were going well and traffic was not a problem at all. We got to my folks' house around 9:30 pm and finally settled the kids in to bed around 11.
Pattie slept all night (!!!!!!!) and we spent a highly pleasant morning feeding the horses and visiting with Grannie and Pop. Jayme and I got dressed up and left for his brother's wedding shower around 10:45 am. We had a nice time at the shower, even though the only people we knew were the ones we were related to. Isn't that how it usually is though? After the shower we were going over to the couple's new house to see it and as we waited for them to arrive my phone rang. It was Grannie. I was expecting the call to be about Pattie having a major breakdown because I wasn't there so I was very surprised to hear her say the Raley was running a fever of 102 degrees. We headed back to the farm and I found my big, strong, healthy son on the couch all covered up with a blanket looking very uncomfortable. "Oh, well." I thought. "Sometimes he does this; spikes a fever and then is fine the next morning."
He was fine with us going over to Mimi's house without him though so we arranged to go back after dinner. Clay started not feeling too great himself so in the end Jayme, Pattie and I went over for a little while to visit with Mimi and when we got back, Clay was running a low grade fever himself.
The next morning was Father's Day and Clay was fine, but Raley was still running warm. We gave Jayme and Pop their presents and had a nice pancake breakfast. Jayme was very happy with his gifts, most of which were off the list he had given me. I did get him one thing that wasn't on the list and it was my favorite of his gifts. I just thought it was so cool I had to get it for him. We didn't really do much but lay around and visit. We spent a short time with my grandparents and for dinner I made Chicken Fried Steak. Pop surprised us all with his wonderfully delicious Coke Floats for dessert.
Monday morning we packed up everything, boys included and left for home about 10:30 am. We had planned to leave the boys there with Grannie and Pop for the week but it just wasn't going to work with Raley still running fever and feeling terrible. I took him to the doctor this morning and they tested him for Strep Throat but it was negative. The doctor said that they have seen quite a few kids recently with this high fever and no other symptoms. It just has to run its course unfortunately. In the meantime we are treating the fever consistently with a alternation of ibuprofen and Tylenol. I have never done this before because we are not afraid of fever around here and like to let them do their job usually. but after 3 days, it's taken a toll on Raley and he was becoming weak, lethargic, and wobbly. So for now he is taking something every 3 hours and in the morning we will see what his temp is. I sincerely hope that this goes away soon and that no one else has to go through it. We have plans this weekend and if they can be healthy, the boys will go to Grannie and Pop's next week. Then it's on to 4th of July at the lake!!