Cinco de... uh oh... are those hives???

Things started innocently enough this morning after Logan came to bed puking his brains out. At least he only horked once and then worked his fever off in bed with me. After lunch, I made my Birthday brownies, took a nap and prepared for a CUBAN FEAST!!! I can only convince my family to go there about once a year (my Birthday... how convenient.) But after seeing Lillie waste some ham croquettas, chicken and papas fritas, the Husband and I decided we have to go there more often. I think the little Honey Badger might have some latin roots somewhere in her lineage with the way she took to the place. It was a far enough drive that she passed out about halfway there. I was able to snap a picture right when her brother decided to pull a Mommy move and I caught him stroking the hair off her forehead. These kids... ugh... I couldn't survive a day without them.

 Sweet little Honey Badger.

Once my parents and Grandpa arrived, it was game time. IT WAS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG, Y'ALL. I love me some Cuban food. When I lived in Naples (Florida, not lucky enough to have lived in Italy), there was a fantastic "International" cafe that had a HUGE buffet serving nothing but the more locally international (does that make sense) cuisine. By this I mean, lots and LOTS of Cuban delicacies. I took the Husband there the weekend we got married and they give you this cafeteria style styrofoam plate and you can load it up as high as you want and they weighed it by the pound before you walked out the door. Once he'd all but licked his plate clean, he asked if we could come back for the next meal. So good. Devilishly good. If you're ever in Naples, Florida... go find the "World Cafe and Bakery." You won't regret it... well... your waistline might! So in full on tradition, we went to "Los Gordos" and it's as close as I can get to being back in Naples. Have I mentioned Mama needs a vacation?????!?!

 My family. Lillie has her head turned and Lo looks like he's about to cut someone. The Husband ducked the minute I clicked on instagram. Something about, "always for the blog..."

 

 Sweet plantains and jamon croquettas. These got passed around the table quite a bit throughout the meal.

 I made a meal out of black beans and rice, sweet plantains and ONE tamale. I had to swear to my family that I'd only eat one as they tamales there are so fantastic they had THREE left in the entire cafe by 4 p.m. and of COURSE there were three of us salivating over them from behind the plexiglass divider.

 The Husband's meal. A Media Noche sandwich with a tamale (a$$hole HAD to have one after seeing mine) and a small side of black beans and rice.

We stuffed ourselves sick, sat for a while admiring the pictures and the huge driftwood cigar hanging on a wall near our table and then let the kids run circles and race around the sidewalk in front of the cafe. Again, I could eat there for every meal. So very very good. Of course, we stopped to get frozen yogurt on the way home. OF COURSE. We were all so stuffed still we should have known better. Lillie ended up with hiccups and horked a little after running all over the place, yet again, in the heat after eating her orange/watermelon frozen yogurt. It was totally worth it.

 It's serious business when you have to remove all jewelery before digging in!

Let's talk about hives and spider bites again. While the kids were running amok on the sidewalk I noticed Lo scratching and wiggling like he had some itches he just couldn't satisfy. Once we got home, upon further inspection we discovered he had hives literally spreading up from his toes to his torso. After nearly 2 teaspoons of Benadryl later, I put Lillie to bed, called my Mom for backup and the Husband and I took Lo to the emergency room. Yay! We could no longer put off having him checked out. His body was very obviously telling us it couldn't fight the spider (?) bite on it's own. I question the whole spider thing now because nobody saw a spider bite him and he never called attention to being bit by ANYTHING on the upper inside of his arm. After we check into the waiting area, a nurse comes over, who shall be referred to as Nurse Shit for Brains. Nurse Shit for Brains wants to inspect Lo's "bite" and comes to the conclusion (all on his own, bless his heart!) that Lo more than likely has MRSA than a spider bite. All because the WOUND. WAS. NOT. WET. Ok, I'm sorry, but I created that child from scratch inside of me, I've raised him semi-successfully with the help of his Father for the past 4 years and 10 months... I'M PRETTY SURE I KNOW WHAT A BUG BITE LOOKS LIKE ON MY CHILD WHO IS ALLERGIC TO ALL THINGS BUG RELATED. Nurse Shit for Brains better be happy I was on my anxiety meds, because seriously... SERIOUSLY... MRSA? Shit. For. Brains. Once the REAL Doctor gets us back in a room and checks Lo out HE comes to the EDUCATED conclusion that Lo's obviously reacting to some sort of insect bite and he needs to be scheduled for allergy testing first thing Monday morning and sends us home with a healthy dose of prednisone. This is my happy face that we didn't have to hold our child down to have an IV placed or talked down from the ceiling should Nurse Shit for Brains have pulled a tetanus shot from his pocket. The boy fell asleep in the car on the way home from the Hospital, which is rare, even if it was 10 p.m. seeing as he NEVER EVER SLEEPS without having to be threatened. I mean... not so much threatened as bribed. Oy, that sounds worse. Let's just say there's a lot typically involved with the whole "putting Logan to sleep process." I'm just glad he's home safe and sound in his bed and as healthy as he's gonna be for a while.

His biggest worry was how girly his bear looked with a bow around it's neck. He couldn't be more "snips and snails, boy" if he tried. The bear is something they do for pediatrics patients at our hospital. A local church group sews them up and each child gets one. No two are alike, and Lillie has one from when she twisted her ankle up good last summer.

It was a great Birthday outside of the worry/anxiety involved with having to take one of my wee ones to the emergency room so late at night. I had good food with my family, a fun time watching the kids play and a FABULOUS nap. Here's to the first year of being 30! May my next 30th Birthday be just as exciting!