Ft Myers Vacation: Crazy Day 1

our vacation to Ft Myers, FL was a blast. but day 1 was insane. it was like something out of National Lampoons. but, i am so thankful that my children did SO awesome with all the traveling that day. seriously, i couldn't have paid them to act any better. it was just the schedule & unfortunate trip to the ER that made the day so insane.

our day 1 in a nutshell:

-wake up at 5 am. get kids dressed & ready to go. check our flight status, plane delayed over an hour. kids could have slept an hour longer.

- great first flight. kids did awesome on the plane.

- miss our connection in ATL. kids must nap in the airport on the floor. it worked for about 15 minutes.

- great 2nd flight. kids were champs on the plane.

-make it to Ft Myers & get a taxi. end up with craziest driver ever. what should have only taken 15 minutes to get to the condo, turned into an hour long ride. this guy had NO clue where he was going. but, we got our ride for free. definite blessing.

-unload luggage in the condo. making a grocery list so we can head to Publix. its about 6:45 pm & the kids have not had dinner. Jack crashes into the glass top dining room table & gets a deep cut in the corner of his left eye

-frantically call around to find a hospital. kids screaming. they are in tshirts & diapers. throw them in the car & drive like mad to find some help for Jack

-find an Urgent Care Center, 1 mile from our condo. we pull up 10 minutes before they close. Jack gets examined & the DR tells us he can't do the stitches there b/c Jack needs to be restrained & he has no way to do that. he refers us to the hospital, 15 minutes away. talk about a MAD daddy, Ben was so furious they wouldn't help us.

-find Naples Hospital. walk right into the ER & are immediately taken back to get stitches. Praise the Lord!!! Ben took Jovie to get some dinner b/c she was so hungry. i stayed with Jack.

-sweet pediatrician examines Jack & explains the process of stitches. they restrain Jack, lay him back, give him a shot of Lidocaine & then do the stitches. i have NEVER heard my son scream so loud or seen him get so upset. i tried so hard to be strong, but tears fell from my face as they helped him. it was awful. i would have given my right leg to switch places with him.

-stitches done. calm boy. i get our instructions for taking care of his eye, grab the medicine, thank the staff & leave the ER. Ben picked us up & we headed back to the condo.

-its now 9 pm & our kids are officially exhausted. we fix up their beds (both sleeping in our room) and lay them down. they conked right out.

-we scarf down some Wendy's & thank the Lord that Jack's injury wasn't any worse. we relaxed on the couch & then went to bed.

all in all, i am thankful for how the Lord protected us that day. thankful that we ended up in an ER with supportive, sweet staff. thankful that my children handled the day SO well. and thankful just to finally be in FL. but it was definitely a wild day. we were most thankful that it was over! ha!

-did i mention that part of the instructions for Jack's eye was that it could have NO contact with water. that's right. no swimming. the main activity that we had planned for our week. one of Jack's favorite things to do. but we had to refrain for 3-5 days until he got his stitches out. but, we made do. bathing him was tricky. but we managed to find things to do that did not involve water those first several days.

our first day, in pictures:

sweet babies waiting to board the plane. i am SO glad we traveled with the umbrella strollers this trip. so much easier to maneuver through the airports & fold down at the gates!

it may not be easy to tell but we reclined their strollers back on my legs so they could sleep. it actually worked well for awhile!

then i got out the diaper changing pad & laid it on the ground. Jovie did great on it for awhile too. you gotta do what you gotta do! ha!

our hospital bracelet.

all stitched up & ready to go. sweet boy was pretty clingy to me after that. can't blame him.

even with stitches, he is the cutest little boy i know. love him.

a close up of his boo boo. we were really surprised how quickly & how well it healed up. he will probably have a scar there by no big deal. so thankful it wasn't any worse.

crazy first day. best vacation ever. more to come.