We decided to get away before the Songkran holiday, the last time we were in Pattaya we promised ourselves for our next return trip here, we would try to stay at Centara Grand, simply because of the huge water park, and family orientated hotel. 
For this trip (07-09.04.11) we have decided to take our house keeper (Pui) with us, Matt is getting to be a handful so an extra pair of hands means we can enjoy this short break just a little bit more :) The plan was simple, drive down on the Thursday and return on the Saturday, spend as much time as we could in the pool, eat some seafood and then come home... what could be simpler :) 
Life is never that simple, it all started so perfectly, Pui was here as early as usual, she helped to pack and in no time we were all in the car heading towards the deep blue sea. We arrived at the hotel around noon-ish, despite what the foursquare tipsters had posted, the checking in experience was faultless.
Usually Matt would have had a long nap in the car, but not this time, so after checking in and a quick lunch it was clear that he was tired, so we decided to go back to the hotel for a quick rest, he pretty much felt asleep as soon as his head touches the pillow, and here is where the fun begins (not).
The plan was as soon as he had woken up we were going to take him down to one of the gazillion pools downstairs. As soon as he had stirred Gio gave out a quiet, and much feared few words, 'I think he has a temperature', Gio is never, never wrong... :)
He woke up with a temperature and diarrhea, things suddenly looked rather gloomy, I was more concern with the temperature and there was no doubt that one was connected to the other. It was terrible seeing him playing and happy then suddenly he was curling over on the floor like a shrimp with both hands in a fist pushing on his stomach... like many parents, we felt awful and helpless...
Luckily the hospital was only a few minutes drive away, everyone was nice enough, but at home we were used to one of those thermometer that you stick in the ear (it takes about a sec to give the result), but here I had to hold a thermometer under Matt's arm for what felt like an eternity, Matt was having none of it and screamed like a busted exhaust the whole entire time. 
By the time it was over we came out with a bunch of medicine, including powdered antibiotic that could be mixed with milk, you should have seen my face, I was over the flipping moon, no more holding Matt down and physically force the med down him. Oh, how life could be so cruel, it all sounds too perfect just like a Ponzi Scheme, it was just too blooming good to be true. After mixing in the powered antibiotic (orange flavoured) and milk, I had a quick sip knowing how particular Matt could be... Gio read my face like a front page news, there was no way in ^%$$ he was going to take that, I can categorically say, it was worst than dog's poo biscuit.
So the first day was over, Matt was snoring away at around ten, so we had some time to relax. We managed to give him the med for his temperature, all the fingers were crossed for him to feel better in the morning. Well, the night was terrible, Matt woke up three times needing the loo, holding him steady on top of the loo and seeing his face in pain was not what I had expected for this short break.
The next morning looked a bit better, he was still suffering from the stomach cramp but his temperature was down (yippp ppppeeee), so we took a gamble and asked him if he wanted a swim, it was a pointless question really, the answer would always be 'yes'. Within a blink of an eye we were both playing in the pool, his stomach suddenly got better, hygiene was on the top of my mind with the swimming nappy and constantly being vigilant we ended up having a great time (including a quick dip in the sea).
After the pool we took Matt to the playpen, it was obvious that his stomach was still giving him some trouble, during his afternoon nap I was sent by my CEO (Gio) to the hospital, taking with me an extremely dirty nappy just to get it tested :) After around thirty minutes the preliminary results gave the Doc. no concern, so on this second visit I was given Matt’s usual antibiotic, oh what joy.
On the check out day, we woke up early trying to get back all the lost time… well, we tried our best ;) Got in another swimming session before heading home :)
