Our Summer: Florida and the Frost Family Reunion, pt. 1

We left Richmond at oh-dark-thirty in the morning of Vacation Day 6. We trot into the airport, see the ticketing line and realize we're running a wee bit late for check-in. So I print off our boarding passes and we check a bag and I think I confused the computer to the point that I got two full sets of boarding passes and Adam got one-half of his boarding passes. The TSA dude told us Adam couldn't go through security without that pass and told him he'd have to go back to ticketing. 


I couldn't help it. I just welled up in big dramatic tears, standing there with Hyrum blanketed in my arms, sweating with a light fever and topped with a ridiculous straw hat that couldn't be jammed in a suitcase for fear that it would never recover from the smashing. Adam turned on his heel and ran back to ticketing, all our carry-ons slapping against his body and I went and wandered through that security line, weeping like some soap opera star as everyone tried to pretend they weren't staring at me. I sat down at our gate, still streaming when Adam came running down the hallway at full tilt just in time to make the plane. 


We got into Florida and headed immediately for the nearest emergency room. Look, I'll just break it down for you here because I'm sure you're all dying to know THE MYSTERIOUS AILMENT. 


Day 6: I see my third doctor in three days. He steps into the room for 3 minutes, looks down my throat, and tells me it's strep. I tell him I've been getting worse and show him the sores on my mouth, tongue and gums (which are now so embarrassing that I haven't shown Adam). He tells me to see a dentist because "they don't cover that stuff in med school." Where are these people going to school?!
Day 7: We finally all convene, all the Frosts in one dead-end street of condos across the street from the ocean. I'm walking around, giving out hugs and kisses like Christmas candy and warning everyone I have strep. That day, I take 1500 mg of penicillin and wake up in the wee hours out-of-my-mind-hysterical over the pain. I spend a half hour sobbing on Adam, and then make him go wake up Joel and Paul to give me a blessing. After it's over, Joel mentions a bout of thrush with Ami and Dane and gentian violet and suddenly, it clicks. 


MY MYSTERIOUS AILMENT is THRUSH.


It's basically a yeast infection of the mouth that usually only babies get, but I was the lucky (read: only) adult who got it while my kid stayed perfectly healthy. So I call my OB at 7 a.m., who is the source of all goodness and medical wisdom and who also gets up at like 3 a.m. every day for fun and he gets on the phone with a local pharmacy to call me in an anti-fungal. 


I slowly start to mend. I'm drinking water again without pain on Day 8, ate some yogurt on Day 9, tried to eat a banana and OJ on Day 10 (poor life choice) and we went home on Day 11. I spent the majority of the reunion silently hovering at the outskirts of other people's conversations, mostly because I had a sore on the tip of my tongue and so couldn't pronounce consonants, and painting my mouth with gentian violet about five times a day. This meant that I spent what little pain-allowance I had explaining why my mouth was purple to all my nieces and nephews. It cleared up enough by the last day that I could keep the conversation flowing with liberal squirts of that cherry-abomination-flavored throat spray and I kept that on my hip like a gunslinger. 




Behold the purple smile!

I'm pretty sure I permanently dyed a few of my fillings purple as a result, which is kind of one giant poop sandwich. More importantly about this picture, we have Monique/Emery and Tess/BabyDot with me/Hyrum as the February Birthing Club. All three of these kiddies were born within 10 days of each other and it was really fun to see them all together and compare who had the most leg meat (Emery), most chill personality (BabyDot, fer sure) and who would be an NBA star (guess who?). 


Anyways, on to the fun stuff. There was plenty, plenty of fun stuff. I'll just post some pictures, mmmmkay?

We split our family between three condos, right across the street from the beach. We stayed with Paul and Tess and Co. and Joel/Dane. This is BabyDot (P&T's gallie) and Hyrum. They both started crying at the same second after this picture was taken. 

My mom with Hyrum at the beach. 

Steve and Dane. 

Jake and Erica. 

Tess and BabyDot and Hyrum. That psychadelic bench was right off the kitchen.

Naptime with Hyrum and Madeline (Nate and Biz's). 

Molly, Noelle, Addison. 

Addison right before she made a run for it. 

Makenna, who shoved her face in the camera and said, "Take a picture of MEEEEEE" so I did. 

Meghan and Emery. I like the contrast here. 

Steve and Hyrum. I have to say, there's something just immensely gratifying about seeing your siblings glom onto your children, tote them around and love them sheerly for their cuteness. Steve took to Hyrum immediately and always had a spare arm or empty lap for The Boy.

Steve and Hyrum again.

Lauren/Leslie and Carter/Smith and Gibber and Adi and Claire. 

Al and Emery, with Nate and a bit of Biz in the background. 

Gibber and Carter and Smith did a Rex Kwon Do skit for the first talent show night (I'm pretty sure there were like four of them). Gibber is Rex, Carter is Kip and Smith is Napoleon Dynamite.

Molly Molly Molly. 

Paul and Tess and girlies performed a rousing Vacation Bible School song.

Monique and Makenna doing a cowgirl dance routine.

Frost Family Dance Routine. (Once again, several of these through the talent show nights and they were excellent.)

Cousin Dance Partay!

Hink showing off the first round of his famous dance move, the one that ended with him standing akimbo, bent forwards and punching at the ground with both hands in time with the music. We laughed ourselves silly over it. 

Carter and Hyrum. Carter was on Hyrum-Watch most of the day and would come and find him wherever he was. Then he would goo in his face, touch his head, kiss him, call him "Baby Hi-Hi" or "Fathead" and run off to begin the cycle again probably 20 minutes later. This went on for six straight days and it made me laugh and touched my heart every time.

Jen and Hyrum. She got him to sleep several times when I could not. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Me hiding my "Muppet Smile", as Biz called it, behind my adorable little son. 

The Babies. I don't know why this picture makes me laugh every time, but it doth.


Stay tuned for more pictures.