So...I have been meaning to blog about this since we got back a week ago, but life is so unbelievably busy right now! Christmas is a busy season anyway, but add it to how far behind our lives were as a result of Bodie's repeat hospitalizations and Fontan recovery, and all of the sudden I find myself unbelievably, hopelessly behind. At this point, it's not so much things are slipping through the cracks as it is massive sinkholes are opening up and swallowing portions of my life up. Yep, we're still waiting for life to get back to "normal" after this summer.
But I digress. The point of this entry wasn't to complain about the fact that I'm overextended at the moment. It was to talk about the incredible trip the kiddos and I took the week before Thanksgiving. I flew by myself, with the kiddos, to Florida for a week. By myself. Did I mention I went by myself? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know - lots of parents fly alone with their kids. But they don't have a Bodie. Enough said.
The trip was awesome. The kids loved flying.
Bodie especially loved pushing his own suitcase.
Which was super cool, considering he had neither the strength nor the stamina to do so. So we spent the better part of our airport time with him lagging behind Sierra and I, pushing his suitcase about 10 feet, watching it fall over, screaming that he couldn't do it, but refusing to allow Sierra or I to help him and slowly pushing it back upright again. And repeating the process. Over and over again. Fun times.
But the vacation itself was awesome. How could it not be? These were our digs.
Amazeballs, right?
We flew out there for my cousin Chrissy's wedding. Which was awesome. Except for the part where Bodie was being Bodie and not coming like was told and the bride went to grab him and chase him into the elevator with us. He got caught underfoot, causing her to fall and hit her nose on the elevator frame. Hard. Lots of blood. Lots of bruising. Lots of ice required. Did I mention this was after the rehearsal dinner? As in the night before her wedding? Nice job, Bodie. Thankfully, Chrissy had an incredible make-up artist and you couldn't even tell, but we were so worried!!!
Bodie thought Chrissy's accident looked so cool, he decided to attempt a similar feat. Lollygagging coming off the same elevator the following afternoon, Sierra gave him a helpful assistance push, which caused him to promptly fall over. Onto his forehead. Onto the concrete.
Less than 24 hours after the bride's fall. True story. Have I mentioned our family has a strong klutz gene? (a week and a half later, by the way, it's still bruised and swollen).
But other than those incidents, the trip was super. In addition to spending LOTS of time with our cousins, Nicole and Michael...
Sierra
loved Nicole and got to do lots of girl bonding with her...
While the boys did...boy stuff.
Silly, mischievous boys.
We also got to spend some time with our old friends the Mariniello's
which was amazing, since the last time we saw them (when they moved out of LA), our kiddos looked like this.
The girls were in Heaven together (and I kinda was, too - I adore Hollie)!
We got to spend lots of time with relatives as well.
Sierra bonded with my Aunt Donna, which I totally understand. I've always thought Aunt Donna was pretty special myself.
And Bodie bonded with my cousin Doug.
Maybe it was the hammock.
Maybe it was the plethora of animals Doug owns. :-)
We finished off the vacation with a trip to Sea World with awesome heart friends, the Sawyers. Sierra and Ellie were fast friends. Oh, those girls LOVED each other. It was so adorable to see them together!
And Bodie was pretty smitten with everything about Sea World. Super cute!
Bodie and Evan, both with HLHS and having had their Fontans this past summer, showing off their amazing warrior marks!
(and, for the record, we didn't make them take their shirts off just for the pic. Bodie, in true Bodie fashion, got a couple of drops of water on his shirt while petting the manta rays, so flipped out and tore it off, insisting on putting a dry shirt on - so Natasha and I took advantage and snapped a cool scar pic.)
All in all, it was a fantastic trip and I am SO glad we made our reservations months ago without even knowing whether Bodie would be well enough to go. What a blessing and answer to pray that he absolutely was!
When we finally made it home, the kiddos were so excited to see daddy!
And, speaking of this popular guy, we're gearing up for his hip replacement surgery next Wednesday. I'll post more details when we have them, but in the meantime, please be in prayer for a successful surgery with minimal pain and anxiety for daddy. Thank you!