This past weekend, the kids and I took a trip to see my sister, her husband, and my youngest nephew at their home outside of Savannah. It was a trip that I took with much hesitation. I've driven to Laura's place and back several times, at least twice with kids. It takes about 8 hours total if there's only a littel traffic in the major towns. Sometimes I do it in two days and spend one night at my parent's house. Once I flew from Nashville, with Emmeline when she was nine weeks old, but it's expensive and there's a layover and with three kids, it's that much more. Plus, Laura and Reid don't have a vehicle big enough to hold all of us once there. So if I was going, I was going to drive. I planned the trip. Then thought I wouldn't go. Then thought I'd wait until we got closer to see how everyone's behavior was. Then thought I'd just go for it. I really wanted to see Laura and Reid and Maddox and let the kids do the fun things we'd get to do while there. Laura had only seen Zola for a day or so before this trip, and Reid hadn't met her at all. So I decided to go for it.
Within a few days of the trip, I talked with my mom, and then she with me, and she said she'd come with me so I had someone else in the car. This turned out to be helpful in about a thousand ways. She stayed at a hotel near Laura's house so that she could sleep comfortably, but it also meant that she could take a child with her. So the older kids took turns going to the hotel with Grandma, riding the elevator, sleeping in the hotel room, and eating at the buffet breakfast. It was great that they got to not only see their aunt, uncle, and cousin but also make some special memories with Grandma. She got to hear the chatter one can only really enjoy when there's one kid at a time, and she even got to hear Emmeline's bedtime melodies, which I normally hear down the hall but was audience to in person when we stayed in Chicago.
The night before we were leaving on the trip, Emmeline sat at the dinner table and vomited everywhere. I almost stopped packing the car at that moment, but she'd seemed so perfectly fine up to that moment I hoped it was just a random incident. Wes said after the fact that she seemed like she chocked on some food and it hit her gag reflex. Whatever it was, she wasn't sick for the trip. Unfortunately, that wasn't true for all of us.
I'd decided beforehand to get up really early and drive to Atlanta before breakfast. I thought the kids would sleep, and then we could meet some new friends at a park near my parents' house, have breakfast, and wait out downtown Atlanta traffic. The plan worked pretty well, too. Oliver and Emmeline were interested in the dark, but after a little while, they fell back asleep. I'd moved Emmeline to the back seat and turned her around for the ride there. I wanted her to be able to sleep, and the carseat tips back better when installed rear-facing. Unfortunately, Oliver is in a booster seat, and there was no getting comfortable for him. He would fall asleep, and his head would bob around. He was clear uncomfortable and got grouchy, and I felt so bad. I couldn't show him how to use the neck pillow or how to stack some pillows on his side to prop onto. They all woke up just before getting to my mom's house in pretty good moods.
We met our new friends -- really a friend of a friend who I knew only online -- at a wonderful park near my parents' house. Sheila brought breakfast, and I pulled out some of the food I'd included in the extensive packing I'd done for the trip, too. The kids played beautifully together -- almost too well! Somehow -- well, we knew it was happening... -- all four older kids ended up in the lake, soaking wet in their pajamas and clothes. And Zola wound up with a scalp full of sand. I managed to clean up Ollie and Emme and get them in regular clothes to leave around 9am, and with mom in tow, we headed back out.
I don't remember the rest of the trip being too bad. Mom and I talked. She helped Oliver try to get comfortable to nap some. She gave Zola her pacifier and someone to talk to. She handed out electronics to entertain and generally played games with the kids. And I drove. And drove. And drove. We had lunch at Arby's and got to Pooler mid-afternoon. I was so happy to just be there and know our driving was half done!
Over the next few days, we had a lot of fun. I took the older kids to the pool several times. Emmeline got to use her new shark bite float. Oliver rode his two-wheeler around the very flat and safe neighborhood, and Emme even got out on her tricycle. Zola got several baths to remove sand from her hair. We crowded all eight people into our mini-van to drive various places, twice to the marina to go out on Reid's new boat (the highlight of the weekend). We had dinner at the Crab Shack out on the water, which went pretty well considering we had four young children with us. We did deal with an Emme accident at the table, but since our table was outside, we were able to more easily remedy the situation. On Saturday, we all went out to the beach on the boat and met a bunch of Laura and Reid's friends there. We had a great time. The older kids loved the water and swam without too much supervision (but life jackets), and the babies were happy at the surf. Zola would sit with me at the edge of the water and just laugh every time the water came up. She was covered in sand, all up through her diaper, but just as happy as could be. Unfortunately, a nasty storm cut our time out a little short and made for a harrowing boat ride back into the marina. I'll be honest, I cried a little. I had Emmeline on my lap, a towel over her head to protect her from the stinging rain, and while I knew my brother-in-law was perfectly capable, the scene was just too scary to bear without a few tears. Maybe it's my fear of dying in the ocean.
Sunday was a lot quieter. We went to church, and that was my first indication that all were not well. I left Zola in child care, fully expecting her to cry when I left, but instead she just sat there. When we went to get her, after a long church service, she dead asleep in the middle of the floor, where she had reportedly been since I dropped her off. I fed her lunch, and she was ready to nap again. A nap that went on and on into the afternoon. When I got her up mid-afternoon, she had a 103 fever and was clearly lethargic. I dosed her with meds to bring down the fever, and we just all took turns holding her. She was so sad! That night, Laura did a movie night for the kids. She had little cups of M&Ms, a popcorn box, and they watch most of Underdog. Everyone slept well the whole trip, which made for a much more enjoyable visit. I put Zola to sleep in a playpen downstairs, and one big kid to sleep in my bed, then transferred -- Oliver to the other side of the bed, Emmeline to a little bed on the floor for fear of her rolling off of the fairly high bed.
Yesterday morning Zola was unchanged. She still had a very high fever and just seemed unwell. We made the decision to leave a day early so that I could take her to the doctor today if she wasn't better. I did most, but not all, of the driving on the way back. My mom drove through downtown Atlanta. We were ahead of go-home traffic, but it was still really busy, and I knew I still had 3+ more hours to go. Once at their house, my mom kept Zola at home to sit and play while my dad and I took the big kids to a pool to work out some energy. We were there 45 minutes, but it was enough to wear them out a little. Zola slept almost the whole way home still, and the kids did pretty well.
I'm glad to be home, though the doctors don't really know what's wrong with Zola. I wouldn't worry as much except she had some other kind of virus a week before we left. They think this is different, so it's probably okay, but always scary when a kid is sick for so long. But mostly I'm glad we went. The kids keep talking about the beach, the boat ride, and the fun they had. We don't get to see family all the time with the distance between us, but I love the memories they're making when we're able to get together!
Within a few days of the trip, I talked with my mom, and then she with me, and she said she'd come with me so I had someone else in the car. This turned out to be helpful in about a thousand ways. She stayed at a hotel near Laura's house so that she could sleep comfortably, but it also meant that she could take a child with her. So the older kids took turns going to the hotel with Grandma, riding the elevator, sleeping in the hotel room, and eating at the buffet breakfast. It was great that they got to not only see their aunt, uncle, and cousin but also make some special memories with Grandma. She got to hear the chatter one can only really enjoy when there's one kid at a time, and she even got to hear Emmeline's bedtime melodies, which I normally hear down the hall but was audience to in person when we stayed in Chicago.
The night before we were leaving on the trip, Emmeline sat at the dinner table and vomited everywhere. I almost stopped packing the car at that moment, but she'd seemed so perfectly fine up to that moment I hoped it was just a random incident. Wes said after the fact that she seemed like she chocked on some food and it hit her gag reflex. Whatever it was, she wasn't sick for the trip. Unfortunately, that wasn't true for all of us.
I'd decided beforehand to get up really early and drive to Atlanta before breakfast. I thought the kids would sleep, and then we could meet some new friends at a park near my parents' house, have breakfast, and wait out downtown Atlanta traffic. The plan worked pretty well, too. Oliver and Emmeline were interested in the dark, but after a little while, they fell back asleep. I'd moved Emmeline to the back seat and turned her around for the ride there. I wanted her to be able to sleep, and the carseat tips back better when installed rear-facing. Unfortunately, Oliver is in a booster seat, and there was no getting comfortable for him. He would fall asleep, and his head would bob around. He was clear uncomfortable and got grouchy, and I felt so bad. I couldn't show him how to use the neck pillow or how to stack some pillows on his side to prop onto. They all woke up just before getting to my mom's house in pretty good moods.
We met our new friends -- really a friend of a friend who I knew only online -- at a wonderful park near my parents' house. Sheila brought breakfast, and I pulled out some of the food I'd included in the extensive packing I'd done for the trip, too. The kids played beautifully together -- almost too well! Somehow -- well, we knew it was happening... -- all four older kids ended up in the lake, soaking wet in their pajamas and clothes. And Zola wound up with a scalp full of sand. I managed to clean up Ollie and Emme and get them in regular clothes to leave around 9am, and with mom in tow, we headed back out.
I don't remember the rest of the trip being too bad. Mom and I talked. She helped Oliver try to get comfortable to nap some. She gave Zola her pacifier and someone to talk to. She handed out electronics to entertain and generally played games with the kids. And I drove. And drove. And drove. We had lunch at Arby's and got to Pooler mid-afternoon. I was so happy to just be there and know our driving was half done!
Over the next few days, we had a lot of fun. I took the older kids to the pool several times. Emmeline got to use her new shark bite float. Oliver rode his two-wheeler around the very flat and safe neighborhood, and Emme even got out on her tricycle. Zola got several baths to remove sand from her hair. We crowded all eight people into our mini-van to drive various places, twice to the marina to go out on Reid's new boat (the highlight of the weekend). We had dinner at the Crab Shack out on the water, which went pretty well considering we had four young children with us. We did deal with an Emme accident at the table, but since our table was outside, we were able to more easily remedy the situation. On Saturday, we all went out to the beach on the boat and met a bunch of Laura and Reid's friends there. We had a great time. The older kids loved the water and swam without too much supervision (but life jackets), and the babies were happy at the surf. Zola would sit with me at the edge of the water and just laugh every time the water came up. She was covered in sand, all up through her diaper, but just as happy as could be. Unfortunately, a nasty storm cut our time out a little short and made for a harrowing boat ride back into the marina. I'll be honest, I cried a little. I had Emmeline on my lap, a towel over her head to protect her from the stinging rain, and while I knew my brother-in-law was perfectly capable, the scene was just too scary to bear without a few tears. Maybe it's my fear of dying in the ocean.
Sunday was a lot quieter. We went to church, and that was my first indication that all were not well. I left Zola in child care, fully expecting her to cry when I left, but instead she just sat there. When we went to get her, after a long church service, she dead asleep in the middle of the floor, where she had reportedly been since I dropped her off. I fed her lunch, and she was ready to nap again. A nap that went on and on into the afternoon. When I got her up mid-afternoon, she had a 103 fever and was clearly lethargic. I dosed her with meds to bring down the fever, and we just all took turns holding her. She was so sad! That night, Laura did a movie night for the kids. She had little cups of M&Ms, a popcorn box, and they watch most of Underdog. Everyone slept well the whole trip, which made for a much more enjoyable visit. I put Zola to sleep in a playpen downstairs, and one big kid to sleep in my bed, then transferred -- Oliver to the other side of the bed, Emmeline to a little bed on the floor for fear of her rolling off of the fairly high bed.
Yesterday morning Zola was unchanged. She still had a very high fever and just seemed unwell. We made the decision to leave a day early so that I could take her to the doctor today if she wasn't better. I did most, but not all, of the driving on the way back. My mom drove through downtown Atlanta. We were ahead of go-home traffic, but it was still really busy, and I knew I still had 3+ more hours to go. Once at their house, my mom kept Zola at home to sit and play while my dad and I took the big kids to a pool to work out some energy. We were there 45 minutes, but it was enough to wear them out a little. Zola slept almost the whole way home still, and the kids did pretty well.
I'm glad to be home, though the doctors don't really know what's wrong with Zola. I wouldn't worry as much except she had some other kind of virus a week before we left. They think this is different, so it's probably okay, but always scary when a kid is sick for so long. But mostly I'm glad we went. The kids keep talking about the beach, the boat ride, and the fun they had. We don't get to see family all the time with the distance between us, but I love the memories they're making when we're able to get together!
to Savannah to visit my sister and brother-in-law over fall break. I hadn't yet visited Laura in her new home, though I'd gotten to see it mid-build when I was in Savannah over 18 months ago, and I was in need of a few days away from school work. I had a four-day weekend, but it was a long trip
