Valentine fail

Before I recount our wonderful weekend in Nashville visiting my uncle, aunt and grandma... I have to share this horror story of the Wallheimer family Valentine's Eve/Day. (*Note, this is a somewhat disgusting story. Fair warning for those without small children or with a weak stomach.)

On our way back from Tennessee, we decided to stop in southern Indiana to break up the drive and have some fun. I took Monday off as one of my unpaid furlough days from work, and Brian used a vacation day so we could extend the weekend.
We had planned on finding a cheap hotel. But an online deal popped up last week for this beautiful bed & breakfast near the Hoosier National Forest, right outside of Louisville. It was going to be the same price as the hotel we were looking at, so we decided to go that route instead. My thinking was that instead of all going to bed at 7 p.m. when Ellie was ready to sleep, Brian and I could set up her monitor and go down to the living room at the bottom of the stairs and enjoy a glass of wine and some relaxation. I had no grand ideas of a romantic getaway with our 18-month-old in tow... but I thought we could get a little time together while she snoozed.

I could not have been more wrong.

Ellie was a little out of sorts for much of Sunday. We thought she was just sick of traveling and tried to make some extra stops along our trip, getting her out of the car and enjoying the spring-like weather. (It was 50 degrees!! Felt like the tropics to us!) At dinner we were concerned when she wouldn't eat any of her usual favorites. We ordered corn, broccoli, pasta and mashed potatoes. But she didn't want any of it. At bedtime she would only eat a couple bites of her yogurt. Still, we know there are nights where she's just not that hungry.

So we tried to lay her down in the pack-and-play we'd set up. She slept in it for 12 hours straight the night before at my uncle's house... but she absolutely refused to lay down in it here and screamed every time we tried. This was a major problem since the walls were thin, the halls were echo-y and we assumed other guests were trying to enjoy a Valentine's getaway. After two hours of reading stories, rocking Ellie and failing at laying her down... we finally gave up around 9:30 p.m. and all crawled into the queen size bed.

For some reason Ellie wanted to lay with her head facing toward the foot of the bed, but we didn't care at that point as long as she slept. I heard her whimper and cry a little every hour or so, but she kept falling back asleep. At 2 a.m. when she stirred, Brian decided to try and move her to her own bed where she would likely sleep better. She promptly puked all over his shoulder and chest.

I got her in the tub where she threw up a few more times. Then we washed her off and cuddled her back to sleep with us in bed. Then around 6 a.m. Brian smelled something bad... Hoping that Ellie had just had gas, and since she wasn't stirring at all, we let her sleep. About an hour later the smell was worse and when I went to investigate... we discovered Ellie had had diarrhea through her diaper, through the jammies... sheet... and mattress pad. Oh boy. Back to the tub we went.

After her third bath in 12 hours, Ellie seemed to be in better spirits. We slunk downstairs for breakfast and tried not to make eye contact with any of the other guests. There were two tables set up for breakfast and shockingly nobody sat with the three of us. I told Brian later, "If I wasn't so cheap, I would have insisted we just leave before breakfast."

After breakfast we were still intent on trying to salvage the visit. We put on some running clothes and pulled the baby jogger out of the car. Since we were staying in such a scenic part of the state, we wanted to explore a little. We didn't take into account, however, the 30 mph winds that morning... which made the 48 degree temps feel like 35 and made the stroller near impossible to push. After battling up a few of the incredibly steep hills surrounding the inn, we switched from running to walking and stuck it out for a few more minutes.

Finally we showered, packed our things and slunk out of the inn (after Brian mentioned the bedding issue to staff). I'm pretty sure we can never go back.

In retrospect I feel dumb that we tried to take a toddler to an inn like this... especially on Valentine's weekend. But Ellie is usually such a good and consistent sleeper. This was such an anomaly... a horrible, horrible fluke of travel angst and illness. Live and learn, I guess. But if any Leavenworth Inn guests are reading this — we're sorry.

Good news (for us) is that Ellie got her appetite back by last night. She slept like an angel back in her own bed. And Brian and I enjoyed that Valentine's Day wine and relaxation together back in our own living room.