The case of strep and the cancelled playdate :(

I was so looking forward to today. My cousin Cindy and her children Jamie and Johnny were coming out to just hang out and swim. The girls were really excited, although they don't get to see them very much- we talk about them a lot. So after some coordinating between Cindy and I... we decided on today. It was decided that they would come early, so we would have the whole day. I spoke to Cindy last night on my way to work and everything was still on. The kink in the works came this morning when Rich said that Kathryn hadn't slept very well during the night. I knew she'd been sick sort of... you know- some sneezing, coughing and a runny nose- since the weekend. Rich and I both thought that she just had a cold. I had scheduled a well visit for Kathryn about 2 months ago for this morning. Not only was it time for her annual physical, but she need forms filled out for the school for 2nd grade. I got there on time, the girlies were pretty cooperative this morning, and they pretty much called us in right away. When the "nurse" asked if this was a well visit... I replied, "sort of" and went on to explain her cold like symptoms, her negative fever, her lack of a sore throat... etc. So the "nurse" said they will take a throat culture and see if it is strep. I was fine with that... although I was thoroughly convinced in my mind that she did not have strep. Katie is good, she is a very cooperative patient and submitted to the throat culture amidst a bunch of gagging. We waited in the exam room for a while... for the doctor to come in. The girls keep busy by jumping on the patient table and then jumping off- about 30 times!! It was then time to start singing, followed up by a game of Katie says and Allie says. They love the challenge of trying to get Mommy to mess up. A few rounds of the game goes by, and in comes the doctor. I think we have had her before, but she was not our regular. She looks at Kathryn's chart quickly and informs me that her strep culture was positive! I was shocked. I believe that this is only the 2 time Kate has had strep. She did luckily continue with the physical, and filled out the paperwork for the school. She asked Kathryn what kind of antibiotic she wanted... whether or not she wanted liquid or pills. Surprisingly she requested pills. I was a bit nervous, but allowed her to make her own choice. After getting in my car, I called Cindy first... and told her about Kathryn's diagnosis. She was not surprised... we were both disappointed that we had to cancel. I made my way over to Target to get the prescription filled. It was going to take 20 minutes, so the girls and I decided to wait. We walked around a little and picked up a few more school supplies. Katie was "starving" and it was lunch time... so after picking up the medicine, we stopped at the food court and shared a small pizza and breadsticks. The funny part came when I pulled out the pills to get Katie started on the meds. The pills are HUGE! I was secretly concerned about how she was going to take them, I am pretty confident that she thought she was signing up for chewables. All of our eyes bugged out at the size of the pill... I think I will take a pic so you can see. Well she tried to take it in the way I described- using her drink to wash it down. She failed miserably and started whining about how she can't do it... etc. So after going back and forth with her many times- stressing her NEED to take the pills, I finally resorted to bribery!! I promised her a pack of gum if she took the pills without a problem. She looked at me, smiled big, and put one half in her mouth and down it went, put the other half right in and there that one went. INCREDIBLE. So back on line for some sugarless gum we went. After Target we headed home, where I then remembered to cancel swimming lessons scheduled for today. :(