We decided to take advantage of my time off work and take a road trip south to visit the fam! Little did we know that our trip would be so exciting...
First stop, Huntsville, Alabama.....home of the Redstone Arsenal, the US Space & Rocket Center....and cousin Jen!
Jen took us to this neat shopping area and awesome restaurant (The Smokehouse) on Friday night. Ryan had fun throwing pennies in the fountains and following the "track" made from the brick walkways.
On Saturday we went north about 45 min to Lynchburg, TN...home of the Jack Daniel's distilery. Downtown Lynchburg is very quaint and we had lunch at this very small restaurant that had a country music/train theme -- the BBQ Caboose Cafe.
After leaving Huntsville, we traveled south through Alabama and stopped in Montgomery to see some Hank Williams sites. We visited the Hank Williams Museum, the Hank & Audrey Williams Memorial in Oakwood Cemetary and this statue in the downtown area. Did you know that Williams was only 29 when he died? Imagine the fame he would have had if he had lived a bit longer and written a few more songs. After Montgomery, we continued south on our way to Orlando.
The next morning we continued on towards our next destination, Orlando. During the drive, I did not feel well and asked Jason to pull over several times. I had a terrible pain in my abdomen and it got progressively worse during the day. At 10 p.m. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I asked Jason to take me to the ER. The phone book showed that Celebration Hospital was the closest. (It's about 10 min from Disney)
They admitted me that night with gallstone pancreantitis. The treatment for pancreantitis?...no food or drink for several days, and lots of IV fluids. Once the pancreantitis was under control, the doctors recommended that I have my gall bladder removed so that I wouldn't be at risk for additional problems. When all was said and done, I spent 6 nights at the hospital, including the one in the ER.
Fortunately Cathy was able to fly down to help with the kiddos. She arrived the night after I was admitted and stayed the entire week. She flew home and took Ryan with her so that he wouldn't miss school.
And, Aunt Karin to the rescue! She watched the boys so that Jason could come and visit.
Ryan did come and visit a couple of times. He knew that I wasn't feeling well, but he was content to go and play with Dad and Grandma.
So, while I was recovering, Jason & Cathy took Ryan & Brandon to the Magic Kingdom. Ryan's most favorite attraction was the Monorail. Apparently he kept asking when they would ride it again (and why did we buy Disney tickets?....)
The Boys & Grandma with Pooh & Tiger!
Grandma & Ryan on the Dumbo ride!
Ryan & Grandma on the race cars
The Boys with Mickey & Minnie. Jason told me that Mickey gave Brandon a kiss.....awwww.
While I was still in the hospital, the crew went to stay with Aunt Karin. Ryan borrowed Chloe's pool. Karin has a normal sized pool, but apparently this crab pool was lots of fun too!
Ryan also liked Karin's body....I mean potty.
Aunt Karin wanted to keep Brandon, but we played rock/paper/scissors and I won! :-)
Once I was discharged, we stayed the night with Karin and then Jason, Brandon & I set-off for home. We stayed the night in Huntsville with Jen on the way home. Unfortunately we never made it to our 3rd stop - Fort Meyers. So we missed seeing Julie, Scott, Logan, Hunter, Jess & Chloe.
I'm not gonna lie...I missed the kids and I was very disappointed that I missed all the fun. Although it wasn't the best vacation ever, the boys did get to play a bit and we're all home safe and sound...that's the important thing.
