Weekend Mayhem

I just got back from the most depressing vacation I've ever taken.  The last time I blogged was Thursday just before lunch.  My cold hadn't really developed yet and I was fairly optimistic.  Well Thursday night was the worst night I've had in a very long time.  Despite taking medicine my head hurt so bad and my nose was producing so much snot that I thought I was going to die.  I didn't fall asleep until after 2am when I went downstairs and slept on the couch to try and elevate myself.  Friday morning was the worst morning I'd had in a long time.  I felt awful and we almost decided not to go on vacation this weekend.  It was the worst cold I have had in a very long time.  Getting everything packed and getting the family into the car was quite a feat in and of itself. I guess the good thing is that because I was feeling so bad Matt just decided to eat out a bunch and I didn't have to make food.  I was supposed to pack a lunch for the family but that didn't happen.  Friday afternoon we stayed at Mt. Princeton Resort playing in the hot springs.  When we arrived it was pouring rain.  We waited in the car for about 20 minutes and then met up with my inlaws.  We were able to play in the pools for about 30 minutes when another storm hit and we had to get out.  We waited around for about 45 minutes to an hour before we could get back in.  That was the last storm thank goodness and the kids had a great time playing in the pools.  Matt and I tried to escape for a little bit to the adult pools which were across the river, but we were only gone for about five minutes when we heard Lily screaming her head off.  And we could hear her across a raging river!  (Remember the two downpours?  Yeah, the river was raging and very loud and we could hear her over the river in the secluded adults only area).  Fortunately nothing was wrong and the reason why she was screeching was because I had left.  Well that put an end to anymore trying to escape the kids. 

That evening at the cabin the adults stayed up to watch The Shining.  It was pretty much perfect since the movie takes place in a hotel in the mountains of Colorado and we were in a Cabin in the mountains of Colorado, and the party that takes place in the hotel with all the ghosts in the picture takes place on July 4th and we were watching it on July 3rd.  I was the only one who had seen the whole movie before and I felt so sick so I didn't watch it.  I really wanted to stay up, but come 9:40 at night I thought my eyes were about to fall out and my head fall off.  So I went to my room and put my headphones in to listen to soothing music and fell asleep.  Everyone was talking about the movie the rest of the weekend though.  Good thing I had already seen it or I would have really felt left out. 

We spent a few hours at the pools the next morning and Chloe just wanted to be held in the pool.  She practically fell asleep.  My morning was spent taking kids to and from the pool to the car to get a snack and some water and holding Chloe while she slept in the pool.  Around noon we left the hot springs and moved on towards Gunnison.  This was the best part of the whole trip.  The kids fell asleep in the car and when we arrived at Gunnison we stopped at a nice restaurant and had lunch (again I was supposed to pack a lunch but well, I wasn't feeling good, so that is two meals I got to eat out instead of make!)  It was designed like a hunting lodge with animals on the walls and the kids loved looking at the animals and pointing them out.  By this time though it was very obvious that Chloe was sick.  I probably gave her whatever I had.  She had a fever and wasn't eating anything.  Poor girl.  Despite that we had an amazing lunch and I had a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich for the first time in my life.  It was really good, I enjoyed it.  As we drove on to the ranch I bemoaned the fact that I didn't get to go swim in the lake like I was supposed to.  The weather was so nice and the water was perfect!  Oh well.  That night we had hamburgers.  It was the meal I was supposed to be in charge of  but I didn't do too much meal prep and the burgers didn't turn out too great.  When I say I didn't do much meal prep I mean our meal was hamburgers and I made the mac and cheese for those who didn't want hamburgers.  I felt so pathetic... Well mostly I felt sick and tired.  I didn't go on the bike ride that afternoon like I was supposed to, too sick. 

That evening was July 4th so we headed to a little town called Lake City to watch the fireworks.  Our whole vacation must have been cursed because it started to downpour right as they started setting off the fireworks.  It was a great show and we were really close so the fireworks were huge but the rain really put a damper on the whole thing.  I had to take Chloe back to the car because the rain got to be too much for her.  We were using the kids blankets as umbrellas.  More good news is that the kids fell asleep in the car on the way back so we didn't have to struggle putting them to bed that night, and I slept pretty well that night. 

Sunday morning dawned and I got up with the kids as usual and a nasty cough set in.  Fortunately everyone FINALLY decided to pitch in and help out with the kids that day and I ended up taking three much needed naps. (Seriously there were two grandparents, two aunts, and of course one husband, and no one helped with the kids until the third day).  My cough was really bad.  I was coughing for hours straight, coughing up all sorts of phlegm.  It was so miserable.  I was really sleep deprived from not sleeping well the past several nights and then all the activity we were doing due to being on vacation (even though I missed my swim and bike).  It was just as well I slept through most of the day because it rained all day.  Massive downpour.  It was kind of neat to watch the rain.  Sunday night I ate way too many desserts and it was the only part of the vacation I felt I ate too much and I should have eaten differently. 

Monday I felt the best I had but at 2:30am I had a coughing fit that lasted over an hour.  I had to leave the room where my family was sleeping because I couldn't stop coughing and I didn't want to wake anyone up.  We were able to walk around a little bit and ride the ATVs I took this picture of the kids playing in the stream from all the rain yesterday

Chloe was still pretty cranky since she was still not feeling too good, and of course I'm not all the way better either, although I feel much better than I have all weekend.  Right before we left I had a talk with my Father In Law who basically told me I wasn't ready for a triathlon because I missed too much training.  We were supposed to go swimming again today but Matt and I decided I should stay out of the cold water and just rest and make sure I get better and I don't get more sick.  It's been a bad spring for training.  It has rained more in Colorado this year than it has in decades and that has caused the kids to be sicker (colder weather), and a lot of training sessions to be canceled due to weather or being sick.  Well that sure took a huge chunk out of my self esteem.  Here is someone who has been a regular cheerleader for me for my fitness and he tells me point blank that I can't do it, I'm not ready.  Even if he is right (which he probably is, I really have missed a lot of training sessions and I haven't gotten in half of the outside training sessions I had hoped to get in) no one likes to hear that.  So we are going to take our two registrations and combine them into a relay.  I will do the swim (since I have a wetsuit, I might as well use it) my father in law will do the bike (he is the best at the bike and the trail is pretty technical) and one of my father in laws friends is going to do the run (he is apparently a really fast runner).  Which makes me the weak link of the relay team again.  And it means I have to make swimming in the pool a priority for the next three weeks which sucks, but I will just have to deal with it.  I really love swimming outdoors in the lake.  Swimming laps is just plain boring.

We left around noon to come home and drove straight home.  The good news is that both the kids fell asleep in the car so the trip home was pretty quiet, although I got really car sick (I had been getting car sick really easily all weekend).  It was a four hour drive home and since there was nothing to make at home besides spaghetti I got to eat out again!  Haha!  Another meal I weaseled out of making.  We came home, unpacked, showered, and now the kids are watching a movie before bed. 

I guess the good thing about not doing the whole triathlon is that I don't have to worry about training much for it.  Just the swimming.  So I can focus more on weight loss instead of training.  Also I can lay off the running and let the blisters on my feet heal.  I want to keep up my running a little though because I will be running in the triathlon relay I'm doing in  August.  (That one my father in law will swim, my husband bike, and that leaves me to do the run- again the weakest link.  My husband is a strong biker and my father in law is a pretty good swimmer *sigh* at least I'm out there doing something). 

So now the question is what do I do now?  I'm thinking of doing a combo turbo fire/Zumba/Swim routine.  Plus I still want to go mountain biking with Matt every so often.  I just hope that I sleep well tonight and feel better in the morning.  Right now I'm pretty depressed.