Dog Barf and Cousins

As I write, our dog is upstairs dry heaving. Not quite sure what's going on with him, but he doesn't look happy, the sound is making me nauseous, and I'm pretty sure I should be moving him outside and calling the vet rather than typing this. Have you ever heard a dog barf? The last time he did this was when we'd first moved here from Baltimore. He'd gotten into some chocolate bars we'd accidentally left out on the counter (and by some, I mean a pound and a half). Per our vet, I gave him some hydrogen peroxide and waited outside while he brought it all back up...or so I thought. Ten minutes after Luca came inside--Dave had walked in the door just in time for this--our entire kitchen floor, our chair--our dog--was covered in mucus-y chocolate vomit. Yeah, I know. I can still smell it, too. Our downstairs smelled like the Hershey's factory for days. At least he stayed in the kitchen, right?

As you might have guessed, this is totally not what I wanted to be telling you about today, but as we know by now, sometimes life makes us take detours. In this case, mine will most likely involve dog shampoo and some paper towels, here, pretty soon...

Yesterday my aunt and uncle invited the entire, massive, ever-expanding family to their house for their annual Mother's Day brouhaha. This was the first one without our grandmother there, or my aunt's father, so the vibe for the adults was a little on the subdued side (until my aunt's sister brought out her sangria. Then the situation improved slightly). For the kids, though? Well, it was just an excuse to run around like monkeys let loose from the zoo. I have 12 cousins (win one for the Irish Catholics!), so our girls have more playmates at these functions than you can fit on the average school bus. And it is awesome. 

I'd made the mistake of putting SK in a dress and cute sandals for our visit, and by 8 o'clock that night, she was covered in sweat, streaked with dirt, had two blisters (did I mention the sandals were new?), and was so tired she begged us to let her stay in her car seat once we got home (we had to wake her out of a solid sleep to get her into the house. Now, don't tsk at me--usually the kid's in bed by 7:15 on the dot). 

But she woke up today chattering (again, the monkey simile fits here) about how much she "looooves" her "coosins" and asking when she could play again. Dave and I each have a brother, but it doesn't look like they're going to be procreating anytime soon (any single ladies out there? I have my bro's full resume and list of credentials, if you're interested...), so a familypalooza like this is nothing short of awesomeness for our girls. Saoirse, I think, is happiest when she's around a cousin. The sangria was just the extra bonus for me. 

Yes, the dog is still hacking away up there. And yes, I'm going to to check on him right this instant. I'd better go grab the paper towels and bucket while I can. At least I hid the chocolate this time around.