Fall Fun Turns Into a Lesson in Parenting

We kicked off the first weekend of fall with a trip to a local orchard to pick apples. Kennedy woke up early this morning yelling, "We go pick apples! We go pick apples!" Both of the girls were very excited and kept asking, "How much longer til we go apple picking?" I think I must have heard that question a good 67 times before we actually left the house today. I even had to set a timer so that Katelyn could watch the hours countdown throughout the morning.

We took Katelyn on her first apple picking adventure when she was just 6 months old. We went again the following summer too. Then, we hit a stumbling block. The orchard we had gone to the first time had closed and we didn't really like the 2nd orchard very much. We wanted to find a really good orchard. It took us until the summer of 2007 to find such an orchard. But there was a problem, all of the local orchards had lost their entire apple crop for the season due to an unusual April freeze. Luckily, all went well this season and we were back on track. This was Kennedy's very first time to go to the apple orchard. We did have a great time together. The weather was perfect, it actually felt like fall. Here are some pictures from our day.

Just to prove that I was actually there when we look back at these pictures years from now...

On the way back from the orchard, Kennedy said that her belly was hurting. Kevin and I thought that it was because she was hungry. She hadn't eaten anything in awhile. Although she really wanted to try an apple, I wouldn't let her because I wanted to wash them first. She kept complaining and said that her belly "reawwy" hurt. We still agreed that she was just hungry. Since we were all hungry and it was dinner time, we decided to stop at a restaurant for dinner. Once we were seated at the restaurant, Kennedy started holding her neck and said that her throat hurt. We told her to drink some chocolate milk (which would later turn out to be a big mistake). I was starting to get concerned because strep has been going around. She sat very quietly on Kevin's lap and wouldn't even let me hold her. Kevin decided to take her on a little walk while we were waiting for our food because he wanted to check the score of the Michigan football game. He came back to our table in a panic and said, "Joey, we have to leave RIGHT NOW!" I didn't even get a chance to ask why before Kennedy threw up ALL OVER KEVIN!..right there in the aisle of the dining room. What I didn't realize at the time was that she had already thrown up in the front lobby and that is why he was trying to get her out of the restaurant so quickly. Oh my goodness! We were just at the apple orchard an hour earlier laughing and having a great time. We never would have tried to go to a restaurant if we had thought that Kennedy was really sick. It never even entered my mind that she might throw up. I felt absolutely horrible for the other patrons at the restaurant. I couldn't imagine trying to eat a meal after seeing someone just throw up. The people were all so nice and told us not to worry about it. They were more concerned about Kennedy than anything else. They didn't even seem bothered and kept eating their food (I don't think I could have handled it quite so well). The restaurant employees were great too. They acted like it was no big deal, but it obviously was.

In our defense, throwing up is not something that we have much experience with in our family. I think that is why it never even crossed our minds, despite Kennedy's obvious clues. Kennedy had never thrown up before tonight. This was the very first time ever for her! Katelyn has only thrown up twice in her entire life. We have been very fortunate in that department.

One would think that Kevin and I would begin to listen to our children. For the record, let me recap all of the times in the past 6 months that our children have told us something that we basically dismissed...

1. Katelyn kept telling me that she had a loose tooth when she was approaching her 5th birthday. I totally blew her off and assured her that she was much too young to have a loose tooth, she was only 4 years old. I thought it was pure wishful thinking on her part. Sure enough, the dentist pointed out two loose teeth at her next cleaning, which was about a week after her 5th birthday. She even lost both of those bottom teeth shortly thereafter.


2. Kennedy's broken collarbone. You must remember the story, it was only 2 weeks ago. Well, she told me right away that "it" was broken. I thought she was referring to her arm. After checking her arm thoroughly and noticing that her shoulders seemed perfectly aligned, I assured her that her arm was not broken. Well, I never even considered the collarbone. 2 hours later we were headed to the hospital. As we all know, she had indeed broken her collarbone.


3. Now today! The poor kid told us that her belly "reawwy" hurt, to use Kennedy's own words. Once again, mommy and daddy thought that they knew best. And once again, we were WRONG!
   

On a better note, Katelyn said the funniest thing while we were driving home, as Kennedy was throwing up in the car. She said, "Poor Kennedy. First a broken collarbone, then the throw-ups, what next...Diarrhea? A Bad Hair Day?" I actually laughed out loud...the things that girl comes up with!

Katelyn and Kennedy, one of these days your mommy and daddy will actually take your word for what it is. Hopefully, we have learned our lesson.