Whew!

You know it's been a hell of a weekend when you leave the hospital on Sunday afternoon with your underwear in one of these.

And that's not even the half of it. This is just a quick "we're still alive!" at the end of the craziest couple of weeks that we can recall.

There were some high points. First, and most importantly, Seth won a silver medal at the Paralympic Nationals in Minneapolis on his first Father's Day (and Finley and I and his parents were there to see it!)

We actually had a wonderful weekend in Minneapolis (minus my solo flight out with Finley, who can no longer sit still on flights and instead behaves as if possessed.)

Finley got to go to her first Twins game.

Although she did fall asleep during the seventh-inning stretch.

She also developed a serious fondness for hotel living.

And made her first Cabela's trip.

(Not to mention wore out Grandma and Grandpa!)

I got smart on the trip back and bought her good behavior with Biscoffs (after Seth bought himself a Father's Day present- an exit row seat with no babies allowed!- and tried shamelessly to avoid looking gleeful about it.)

Jayne and Tony came back home with us, but our nice quiet week at home (with babysitting!) went haywire when my quick work trip to Fort Bragg to testify at a board turned into a four day nightmare locked up in a windowless room with no phone or computer access.

And then in the interim, Seth's grandfather died. I raced back from Bragg as soon as I could, but just missed Tony and Jayne, who had flown to Nebraska that day to help with arrangements. Finley was all out of whack after all the travel and lack of routine, so we had just decided that Seth would leave for the funeral the next day and I would keep her at home... when I started feeling sick.

And that's how we found ourselves throwing diapers in a bag two hours before Seth's flight left so he could take Finley on a surprise trip to Nebraska while I threw up in the hallway and made my way to the ER.

Of course they lost Seth's bags, so the two intrepid travelers survived- apparently- on no sleep, chocolate chip cookies and a borrowed diaper or two. In the meantime I required not one but two lumbar punctures to determine that I had aseptic meninigitis and required hospitalization (although not very good drugs) for the weekend.

Worst. Weekend. Ever.

But at least eventually I got to come home to this (in her new pink camo high chair, or course.)

So there you have it. We're alive, if barely, checking in briefly before the long weekend- which we plan to spend firmly in one place. Some weeks (months?) it takes a village, and I'm grateful for ours, especially my Paralympic medalist of a husband who just whisked Finley off to Nebraska on a moment's notice and held down the fort like a pro. I'm still in awe. (He, in turn, says there's no way he could've survived the whirlwind disaster of a trip without Jayne, which I believe. And both of us are insanely grateful for the fortuitous lawnmowing by Tony!)

Here's hoping for a quiet fourth. A couple of outtakes from the Minneapolis weekend, including Finley devouring avocados. She's become a total handful to eat with- she wants to try everything, and it's both adorable and a bit alarming (if you happen to be the one holding the food.)