well again

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Nothing makes me feel more like a mama than mothering my sick child.  Claire was coming off a week and a half (or so) of a funky cough and cold when towards the end of last week it changed to vomiting.  What?  Where did that come from?  For two nights she was up sick.  She is a stoic little vomiter, I'll give her that.  Seems she gets a stomach bug about once a year, so perhaps she's got a particularly sensitive little gut.  She's better now, so the days are returning to normal, which is nice.  It's always such a relief when sickness leaves the house after taking hold of it for a couple weeks~ almost as if we forget how it is when we are all well.  And then suddenly it all seems rosier than it did before because there is that great big happy sigh as things shift back over into wellness. Throw in a sunny weekend with highs in the mid 60s and overnight lows in the 30s, and it's just as fall should be.

We spent yesterday still laying low, hanging around the house and yard in pajamas and soaking up a little sunshine.  Claire ate bland and small as her belly got back to where it needed to be.  She went to bed after a few books and then stories with the lights off, with me laying next to her.  This morning we welcomed papa home and eased into the day with coffee and some breakfast-y grazing as we cleaned and organized the house together.  And worked through the backlog of laundry that comes with two nights of vomiting.  Music playing loudly, a happy child dancing around, clearly pleased to be feeling more herself again.

I baked bread and shortly after pulling the loaves out Mike declared it was time to go to a local brewery to try their new stout.  A bacon stout.  I imagine folks will either think that sounds horrific or delicious.  Perhaps also receiving mixed reviews is the choice of a brewery for a family outing.  But let me just say, these places around here are so family friendly during daytime hours and we each had a total of less than one beer.  And I am only counting the grownups, not including Claire to make the total spread out further.  Because I'm responsible like that.  But anyway, back to the bacon beer.  It is something they've made in a fairly small batch and they served it up in wine glasses for $6 a piece.  It was very smoky and very delicious.  We brought along a picnic and parked ourselves at one of the picnic tables just outside the bay door from the bar and there we sat and ate and talked for a while. A shared pumpkin ale followed, and then on the drive home we noticed two trains on the tracks, waiting to pass each other.  Mike pulled off into a little parking lot right by the tracks and we watched as the first train slowly pulled out.  We had plenty of time to explore along the tracks and place a few coins on the rails before the next one came.  Claire got waves from the engineers and after it had passed we found our pennies and Mike searched for old rusty bits of train whatnots that he hopes to turn into "art".  I only put that into quotations because it seems a stretch.  But I know it'll be cool, whatever it becomes.  I suggested he spray paint it all brightly and weld it into a pot rack.  All that stands in the way of that is learning how to weld.

Home for some raking and playing in the leaves, then a dinner mix of french toast and popcorn followed by puzzles and apples by the fire.  It is 10pm now, and my child is singing in the living room. It seems her weary and sickish days have come to an end and she just can't turn off for the night.  And papa already tried to read her off to sleep with a huge pile of books.  Off I go to try (again) to ease her into sleep.  And ignore that really it's 11pm, what with the return to standard time and all.

*linking up with amanda at the habit of being