Since January, we have been planning a week-long trip to Milwaukee to visit everyone. All the Stroble kids were coming home to Milwaukee for a semi-family reunion. Susie had a wedding she was standing up in and we had been planning to go in April, but just delayed it until June so we could all come at once. Steve and Karyl came from California, and Mom and Jen also came from SC. Everyone else arrived before us, either on May 30th or 31st. We left late the evening of June 3rd so the kids wouldn't miss as much school, even though it was the end of the year. As it was, they ended up missing the last two days of school, including Taryn missing her Kindergarten promotion ceremony (poor girl - she said her friend Lily was crying the last day she was there).
Anywho...we left around 10pm on the 3rd and about 2/3 of the way through the flight, Rob brought Taryn back to me from their seats 10 rows ahead and said she needed to use the bathroom. As I was helping her, I just happened to brush my hand across her forehead and discovered she was burning up with a fever, which apparently had just appeared after we boarded the plane. By the time we landed late in Milwaukee (around 11:45pm their time), we had to get our luggage and rental car and make a quick run to the 24-hour Walgreen's to buy ibuprofen before heading to our hotel. It was close to 1am before we got to bed that night. The next morning she began to vomit and her fever was once again very high.
To make a long story short regarding her illness, she ran a high fever (103 and above) for about five days and we had to keep her medicated with ibuprofen and Tylenol on a regular basis to keep it down. She vomited when her fever got too high, and I spent about three hours with her at St. Luke's ER in the wee hours of Thursday morning. She managed to muster enough energy to smile during our family pictures later that morning and we trudged back to our hotel. She did not eat much the entire trip and I am convinced she lost weight.
Moving on....the weather in Wisconsin did not cooperate on our trip either. We had tornado warnings two nights in a row and on Saturday night, we spent the evening at my brother Paul's house because he had a basement and the weather was ominous. Upon attempting to return to our hotel, we found the road to our hotel closed due to flooding. After trying to divert to Mom's hotel on several different roads, all of which were also flooded and/or closed, we managed to find the freeway open and hopped that up to the next exit to their hotel. We got the last open room and paid an additional $100 to stay there. Two hours later, upon getting a call from our original hotel that the road was now accessible from one direction, we packed the sleepy kids back up and went back to the Holiday Inn. We figured we'd rather be flooded in to the hotel where all our stuff was then stuck somewhere with no change of clothes or food.
It rained again the next day and we had to cut dinner at Dad's short because we were worried about getting flooded out again. All told, parts of Milwaukee got over 9 inches of rain in two days and I'm sure all of you have heard on the news about flooding in the Midwest by now.
To cap off our wild and crazy week, I managed to lose the portable DVD player at the Milwaukee Airport upon our departure. The one bright spot? I called the airport when I got back home and a Delta gate agent had found the case and turned it in. US Airways sent it to me FedEx and we got it back today.
We are all supremely exhausted and won't be planning any vacation for a long time after this debacle. Next time, everyone can come South!
Here's a few pictures from our trip:
This picture is for all my SC friends so they can see what green grass really looks like! LOL!
Ian and his cousin Jack.
Taryn and Logan. I think my kids were more excited about getting to play with the dog than anything else.
Cousin Jack, Harrison, Ian and Taryn all playing with dominoes at Grandpa Stroble's house.
Cousin Jack, Harrison and Taryn making a mess with water and rocks in the fountain.
Harrison at the Brewer game on June 4th. I'm not sure how much he enjoyed it, but he did like the fireworks after a Homerun. He behaved really well.
The ominous sky seen from the Walgreen's parking lot on Sunday night as the next wave of storms rolled in.
Taryn at dinner Wednesday night. She didn't get to go to the Brewer game that day, but mustered up the energy to come to dinner. She didn't eat much but got to open early birthday presents.
Ian and Taryn and their great-grandma Stroble.
Uncooperative Harrison with great-grandma Stroble and big, fat me. Nothing like seeing a picture of yourself to realize how much weight you need to lose.
.jpg)
This picture is for all my SC friends so they can see what green grass really looks like! LOL!
Ian and his cousin Jack. 
Taryn and Logan. I think my kids were more excited about getting to play with the dog than anything else. 
Cousin Jack, Harrison, Ian and Taryn all playing with dominoes at Grandpa Stroble's house. 
Cousin Jack, Harrison and Taryn making a mess with water and rocks in the fountain.
Harrison at the Brewer game on June 4th. I'm not sure how much he enjoyed it, but he did like the fireworks after a Homerun. He behaved really well.
The ominous sky seen from the Walgreen's parking lot on Sunday night as the next wave of storms rolled in.
Taryn at dinner Wednesday night. She didn't get to go to the Brewer game that day, but mustered up the energy to come to dinner. She didn't eat much but got to open early birthday presents.
Ian and Taryn and their great-grandma Stroble. 
Uncooperative Harrison with great-grandma Stroble and big, fat me. Nothing like seeing a picture of yourself to realize how much weight you need to lose.
