Hands, Feet, Mouths & Whales

We did it! We finally got to see some whales! Word on the street was that the weather was going to suck over the weekend, so I didn’t have the highest hopes, but the weather turned out to be beautiful!

Saturday morning, we woke up early and made our way to the Aloha Tower in Honolulu for the Star of Honolulu Whale Watching Cruise. Our cruise included breakfast, so we were able to make ourselves plates not too long after boarding. There wasn’t a huge breakfast selection, but it was decent enough; eggs, rice, sausage, fruit, muffins, and rolls. After our meal, we made our way up to the top of the deck in hopes of having the best views.

For a moment, I was starting to get bored and disappointed because we had been cruising around for what seemed like forever without spotting anything. And then we saw one! There was a little blow hole action (does that sound dirty..?) followed by a little bit of fin out of the water. I was expecting and hoping to see  Free Willy jumping out of the water, but there was none of that. We trolled a little while longer before seeing a whale again briefly.

The third encounter had two whales! I should have switched to a better camera lens, but John was able to snap both of their tails with the kit lens. We managed to stay along side those two for a tiny bit, before having to head back. I really wish we could have seen more, but it was a fantastic experience, nonetheless.

And then there was hand, foot, and mouth disease. Well, actually, HFMD happened before all the whale watching. It actually started on Thursday. I got a call to pick up Veronica from school, because she had a fever. Almost at the same time as the call, Juli woke up from her nap feeling unusually warm. On the way to get V, I dropped of lunch for John at the MP station, where he noticed Juli had spots on her leg.

Back at home, everyone got a round of Tylenol, and the fevers quickly vanished. By the next morning, V was fine, but the few spots on Juli had taken over her body. Her diaper area was especially bad, so I decided to take her into the acute care clinic on post. As were sitting and waiting, I began feeling rather crummy myself. The nurse practitioner came in, confirmed HFMD and sent us to the pharmacy for more Tylenol and Motrin, since there is really no treatment for the virus.

As the day progressed, I felt worse and worse. The no one would nap and all I wanted to do was lay in bed. And I did. John came home early to make dinner and feed me pills. The pills only helped for a little bit before they stopped working. At one point my temperature got up to 104. I suspect it’s because I was under a blanket, but who knows. I didn’t want to deal with loading three kids in the car to go to the hospital or risk driving there myself, so more pills and sleep!

Luckily, by morning I was better and was able to see what we saw of the whales. #priorities

At the moment, my disease still seems to be worsening. My feet feel like constant pins and needles, my hand similar, and my throat burns. I’m hoping to get over this quickly and never have to deal with it again. They say many adult are immune due to prior exposure, but considering I had never even heard of of HFMD until coming to Hawaii, I’m not surprised that I’m not immune.

I’ll spare you those pictures. You’re welcome.