The Ride Home

OK, so I take back any complaint I had in regards to the trip to Florida. I had no idea how bad travel life could be until the trip back. "Dear Lord, please forgive me for not appreciating the little things in life."
Of course, the sun had not shone as bright as it did the morning we left. It was such a nice morning the boys wanted to get a little more pool time in. Off we went, sans timepiece, to the pool. After what felt like an eternity, I went to the room to make sure Mike was still intact. Holy Crappie, it was 10:45, check out in 15 minutes and not one thing was packed! Where did the time go. It was suddenly a mad rush to get everything together. The clothes and other ancillary things were not hard to pack. It was the fridge stuff that was difficult. It is so hard for Mike and I to throw things away and we were strategically trying to preserve it all. The milk, cheese and sandwich meat.
We finally got it all together and as if on cue the boys came back up to room to help bring it down. Such big helpers they were. As we were loading things up, Michael complained of feeling sick. Seeing as he just went swimming, I figured he was just hungry. I gave him a fruit bar and a Capri Sun.
Off we go.......maybe about 45 minutes into the trip Michael says he feels sick. We pull over and he pukes his guts out!! Afterwards, he says he feels better and has something to drink. We then stop at McDonald's just north of Montgomery. As we are approaching the door, Michael pukes again in the parking lot for all of the patrons to see! Lovely...now he is starving and wants to eat. What am I supposed to do, tell him NO! So he pokes at his Happy Meal and drinks his Sprite.
About half way between Montgomery and Birmingham (traveling 80 mph) Michael reports needing to throw up again. I could not get stopped and pulled over in time.....you guessed it...all over the floorboard and all over the door. This happened in an attempt to open it while puking. Let me put it this way, I got to sop up vomit with a towel from my little storage area in the door. "Happy place, Happy place" Partially digested chicken nuggets and fries, anyone? I did not think so! Right before we crossed into Tennessee, Marshall had managed to lose both of his pacifiers. He was screaming bloody murder and I thought, "Hey, this won't last long. He will be asleep in to time." YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!!!! Almost an hour and a half later...still crying. Mike finally pulled over and said he is finding his paci come hell or high water! Found it, deposited it, and finished the drive. Nine and 1/2 hours later, we finally pulled into our driveway. The Holy Land!! Granted this is a drive that usually takes less than 8 hours. I do want pity, give me all you have!