BEST DAY EVER!!!!

So Saturday night, with a drive back to North Bay the next day looming ahead...3 of my children had rough nights, keeping mommy awake until 5:00 am.  I swear their little internal clocks know that mommy needs her sleep and yet choose to ignore this. Sunday monring I slept in, getting some much needed sleep for the drive, though that had us leaving later than I had hoped.  I drove with my parents to London, where we stopped for lunch together, then I went on my way home to North Bay. 

Everything was going along just fine until about Gravenhurst.  Just before Gravenhurst, a fellow driver, who must have missed the question on the driver's exam about what the lines in the middle of the road are for, started to cross the center line into my lane.   To avoid potential collision I moved over a touch, hitting a giant pothole.  I mean GIGANTIC pothole.  I swear the only reason  I didn't get swallowed by said pothole is because I bounced off the roof of the last car that hit said pothole and got swallowed whole.  This was quite a jolt, but everything seemed to be fine so I kept driving.  BIG, BIG Mistake!   15 minutes later, on the other side of Gravenhurst I blew a tire.  It is at this point, I should mention David is not with me!   He is in North Bay.  I gude the van to the side of the road.  Get out and check out the situation.  Yep...very flat tire.  I am now by myself, with 4 children, on the side of Highway 11 on a Sunday at dinner hour. 
I take a moment to decide what to do.  I think- surely I can change my tire.  I know how.  I start to go through the process in my head.  Where is the spare? Under our van held on by a wire.  Where are the tools?  In a compartment accessed through the trunk.  How do I lower the tire?  I don't know...  I look it up in the owner's manual.  Can't find how to lower tire, what I do find, however, are two instructions that concern me.  1. Only change tires on a flat surface.  I get out of the van.  I take a look at the ground...  I am on the side of the road, it is not a flat surface, in fact, it was a rather severe incline.
2.  Take all people out of the vehicle, as sudden movements by occupants can cause the van to roll off the jack.  Do I trust my 4 kids under the age of 8 to stay still while I deal with this?  Do I trust them to stay safely at the side of a major highway while I do this?  The answer to both of these questions is a resounding NO!!!!  Lauren hasn't had a still moment in her life, and Carter has climbed from his seat to the front seat 5 times since I pulled over.  There is no way this is going to end well, if I attempt the tire change myself.
So, I call David and ask him to call me a tow truck. 
The towing company calls me to find out exactly where I am on the highway.  I don't know.  I know that I am between Gravenhurst and Bracebridge, going northbound on Highway 11.  Other than that nothing.  Damn, why did listening to Meet the Robinson's playing on the DVD player have to be so intriguing.  Maybe I would have noticed the name of that last turn off!!!  The towing company chrages by the kilometre out on the highway.  I need to figure this out.  I don't want them to have to look for me.  Lucky for me, after 10 minutes of describing EVERYTHING in the surrounding area the lady on the phone figures out exactly where I am. 
It is at this point Carter tells me he has to pee.  I pull him out of the van, let him do his thing on the side of the road, then strap him back in.  He then throws up, all over.  Nice.  I clean him up as best I can and get him strapped back in. 
I then get into the van to wait patiently for the tow truck. 
Lauren, this whole time, has been giving me a commentary about what is happening in the van, on the highway and in the movie she is watching.  She is also throwing out some very useful advice on how I can deal with the situation- like 'mommy, maybe you should get the tire fixed'.  I can't handle it any more (I know, mother of the year will not be mine again this year) so I tell her to please be quiet and just watch the movie. 
The tow truck arrives.  Lauren announces she has to pee.  I tell her she has to hold it.
I have to unload the back of my van so the guy can get to the tools to lower my spare.  Forgive me, maybe they are unique to each vehicle, but I thought to myself...isn't this why I called you?  Don't you have the tools for this???  Anyway, with my luggage strewn on the side of the highway, he begins the process.  The guy lowers the wire, but no spare comes down- the spare is stuck.  He crawls under my van and has to work on it for 10 minutes to get it loose.  Finally.  He gets the jack, and tools he needs from his truck, at least he brought something!  Then he starts working on removing the tire.    Apparently the lugs were too tight and he has trouble getting them off.  I will admit, all this makes me feel better about not attempting it myself, because up to this point I was feeling like kind of whimp for not changing my own tire.  He gets it done. 
Just as I am re-packing the van, Julie tells me she has to go to the bathroom.  I tell her to hold it.  She says she can't.  I say, please- just 10 minutes and we will be at a bathroom.  She says ok.  She lied.  She is also sick and has diarhea.  So now, I am at the side of highway 11, by myself with a spare tire on, a kid who has vommitted and a kid who had diarhea.  This is when Maya starts crying. 
I paste a smile on, pay the tow truck driver, and go on my way. 
We stop in Huntsville to pick up supper, they got my order wrong.  Why was I not surprised...