I Owe My Brother

Can you help me?

My brother is in the car right now headed to a plane to go back to New York City after taking a vacation to come visit the girls and me.

It was the worst visit ever.

First, he flew into Orlando because I told him I'd come pick him up and we'd spend the evening in the city before heading home. Then I realized I had a Civic and we wouldn't all fit. I could go with the girls without my husband, but we all had the stomach flu and I didn't want to drag them that far.

So, he has to rent a car and drive up here. Adding another 3 hours to his trip.

He gets here and the first night is nice.

The next day, the girls are monsters. And still sick. We do little things around the house, like flying kites on the pavement. I can't imagine it was a fun day for him.

The second day, the girls are better, but still iffy. We go to the library and the store, but they start breaking down. They're still acting out all over the place. So we don't go out anywhere else that day. I don't really hang out with my brother too much because I figure we'll have the next day and we'll bang it out of the park. I've been fighting this stomach bug, too, and I was finally feeling like, okay, I wasn't going to get it. I had been quite blah before that day.

The next day, I think we'll go downtown, get yogurt and coffee, shop at a farmer's market and hit the Natural History Museum. Finally, a good day.

Except my brother got so sick that he never got out of bed that day. That was yesterday.

He left this morning at 9:30 a.m. to drive back to Orlando, where he'll board a plane for New York after returning the car he didn't want to rent, thus wrapping up the worst vacation ever recorded in the history of vacations.

I'm sad that he's left. I'm sad that I didn't get to talk to him much. I'm sad we got him sick. I'm pretty bummed all around.

What can I do to make this up to him? I want to make things and send things and just generally say, I'm so sorry, thank you so much for coming, I wish we were better.