Vacation

I'm not going to kid you and say this vacation has been the one everyone dreams about taking, but it was nice nonetheless.

Of course, our main goal for heading north was my grandfathers surgery. Bella and Brandon asked to go with us. At first I was hesitant, because what would we do if Pop died during surgery? They were so excited at the thought of possibly going to my parents, we decided to bring them along.

Wednesday we left around lunch and got to my parents house in time for supper. This doesn't sound nice, but everyone called that meal, "The Last Supper." Before you think we're morbid people, Pop came up with it. My mom has been making supper for my grandparents every night since he came home from his catherization. My dad's side of the family came to my parents and we dined on an awesome roast beef meal my mom made. She made it in the crock-pot which now makes me want to pull mine back out and start using it more.

Thursday, Pop headed to the hospital super early in the morning. We waited to leave the house til we had some word on Pop's condition. Once we heard he came out of his surgery wonderfully (3 blockages repaired) we headed out. My sister went with Brian, I, and the kids for lunch and then Claws N Paws, a local animal park. It really was a lot of fun. It was the perfect size, the perfect price and they had some really cool animals. Bella and Brandon loved feeding the goats, my sister was a fan of any cat type animal, the llama enjoyed whispering in my ear, and we all enjoyed the monkeys playing together and swinging around. We were supposed to go to a local parade/carnival, but it was raining and we all were a little worn out so we spent the night at my parents. I, however, ended up at the local ER for my poison ivy or whatever it is. It seemed like all of a sudden it worsened. Talk about different than what I'm used to, this place only had 8 rooms, 6 occupied by non-serious patients, and it still took 2 1/2 hours for me to be seen. I left there after midnight with a couple of prescriptions and a steroid shot in the ass.

Friday, we packaged everyone up and again went out for lunch. My mom and her friend had a stand at an arts and crafts show at a park 2 blocks from Pop's hospital. We were nice and fed mom and her friend, and that's where Miss Bella became famous. Right next to mom's spot was a face painter. Bella was getting her face painted when a newspaper photographer came over and started snapping away. He got her information from Brian and the next day we got an early phonecall from my Nana saying Bella was in the newspaper. She was excited, to say the least. She even went as far as to say she'd autograph newspapers. Ladyfest brings fun and resources for local women - News - The Times-Tribune

After leaving the festival, we went to the hospital to visit Pop. He looked great. I swear it was the first time in probably three years that he had good color in his cheeks. He said he felt great. I'm glad everything went well. By 5pm Friday, we were done. Nana and my uncle stopped by for a while and then it was bedtime for everyone.

Saturday we were trying to surprise the kids by stopping at an amusement park on the way back to MD. Of course, we sat in traffic for an hour so that plan got squashed. Luckily the kids didn't know about it, so there was no whining or anything. And they seemed just as excited about going to Cracker Barrel for lunch. The ride home was long, but I think all of us were happy to be back in town.

How did we spend the rest of our vacation night? Like anyone would. In Wal-Mart. We went there to get my Prednisone filled, which I had to wait 40 minutes for. A monstrous storm passed through so we weren't heading back outside. We stopped in the eye department just to be stupid and look at glasses and somehow we ended up each getting an eye exam. Gotta love Wal-Mart.

Today, we're being lazy bums. I'm still wondering when I'll stop this damn itching. But for now, I'll be grateful that I'm in my house and not in some firehouse like I should be if I wasn't on vacation.

This was my first "family" trip where the focus was 'what can we do with the kids?' and not Brian and I going out on a whim. I was a little upset that I didn't get to see my friends Laura and Karen while I was there, but its hard scheduling when there are kids involved. Brian said it best....it was a good family vacation because we never never got to relax. As long as the kids had a good time thats all that matters.