The Best Thanksgiving Ever!

Like most grandmothers, my mom enjoys spoiling her grandchildren. When it became apparent that all 16 of her grandchildren would be coming for Thanksgiving, she pulled out all the stops. To get things started, the pool was heated and a bounce house was rented. Then she ordered all kinds of crafts for the kids to do over the course of the weekend. She was intent on making this the best Thanksgiving ever for all of her grandkids and nothing could stop her - until she got a phone call.

The first call was from my sister. "Uhh, mom. I don't think we're going to make it. I have four sick kids at home" As a matter of fact, she had finally thrown in the towel after cleaning up the fourth bed that had been splattered with vomit. "But I think Kevan will still make it," she added reassuring Mom that her husband would represent the family.

As my wife and I were driving into town, we called ahead and let my mom know that my in-laws, who frequently join us for Thanksgiving, had also called in sick and would be sitting this one out. With the count now at 12 kids and 9 adults, it would still be a full house, but just not quite the same.

As it turned out, there was more than enough food to feed everyone for the entire weekend and a great meal was enjoyed by all who were there. The next morning, my sister's kids were feeling better, so they decided to come over and join the after party. As they were preparing to get in the car, my 5-year-old nephew, who missed the original dinner but was nonetheless excited about seeing his cousins, looked up at his mom and said, "This is the best Thanksgiving ever!" Not wanting to ruin his enthusiasm, she decided not to mention the fact that he had completely missed the entire day and was instead on his way over to Grandma and Grandpa's to eat leftover turkey.

Prior to joining us on Friday, my sister decided to call ahead and let us know that Kevan would be missing the planned guys day out since he was now stuck in bed with the flu. That's okay. We could still have fun without him.

The guys day out involved lunch on the beach that included raw fish and oysters. Me, being more of a connoisseur of fine ground beef than delicacies of the sea, tried to avoid the raw fish, but finally gave into the pressure against my better judgement. After a fine lunch with my dad and brothers, we returned to my parent's house just in time for me to start feeling queasy. By nightfall, I was sick and by midnight, I was rushing to the bathroom as two days worth of eating was working its way back up. By two o'clock that morning, my wife had joined me and we traded off the rest of night vomiting. We did stop the cycle on a few occasions as we cleaned up the vomit from our middle daughter and oldest son who didn't want to be left out. By morning, we were all exhausted. By the time we inventoried all the sickness, we found out that my mom had also joined the fun, followed by my niece.

A second niece added her name to the ranks on Saturday night as well as my dad who woke up Sunday morning feeling under the weather. Who knew that raw fish disease could spread so fast? Can't wait for next year.

PS: Just before leaving Mom and Dad's tonight, our 3-year-old threw up twice. Then he added six more to his total while we were in the car. The only good news about this is that the dog, who usually pukes in the car, held it all in!

PS 2: By the time the week ended, the final count stood at 20 kids and adults sickened by the bug. All but three threw up. Of those 17 who puked, the average number of heaves stood at 3. That means that there were approximately 51 sessions of vomiting that occurred as a result of one family weekend. If only there was a market for the stuff...