When my husband and I take the kids away on vacation, I always look for three things…two for the kids (a children’s museum and a zoo) and one for me (the local food)! (My husband isn’t left out though…he already has in mind what he wants to do.)
From last Thursday until this morning, my family has been in Greensboro, NC for a family wedding. Beforehand, we had a plan. Thursday, we would just relax and go out to eat. Friday, we’d go to the zoo and out to eat. Saturday, we’d go to the children’s museum and the wedding later in the day. Sunday, we’d go to church and a family brunch and then go home. Of course, things didn’t go as planned.
(Sean in motion — running in the airport)
I knew that we were in trouble when my husband started shaking uncontrollably on the plane. He had a serious case of the chills (which later turned into a fever) and I was at a lost when we reached Greensboro. Fortunately, we were traveling with a family member who was being picked up, because my husband was in no shape to drive the rental car that we had waiting for us at the NC airport. Thank God for family! An uncle drove us in the rental car to our hotel. (In my mind: “This is why I should have taken driving lessons at the beginning of the summer instead of waiting until the end.”) Before we could leave though, I needed to put the two car seats in the rental car. My husband and I looked at each other and laughed…I have never installed a car seat! Fortunately, the rental ones had clear instructions and were nothing like our permanent ones. I did it (one anyway)! (In my mind: “I have got to learn to do the things that I always take for granted my husband will do!”)
So, we get to the hotel and are pretty much stuck there until Friday. After rest and medicine, my husband felt a bit better. Instead of going to the North Carolina Zoo, we went to a smaller nearby museum/zoo, The Natural Science Center of Greensboro. It worked out great though…sometimes smaller is best. Michael was especially excited to see the tigers up close.
(Our favorite part of the center – the tiger)
We decided to skip the Greensboro Children’s Museum on Saturday so that my husband could be well rested for the wedding. (On a sidenote, you can go to many children’s museums – like this one- for free if you have an ACR membership from another children’s museum such as CMOM.) For lunch, we went to this popular place called Smokey Bones. They had the best pulled pork barbecue that I’ve ever tasted. I felt so badly for my husband, because his taste buds were “off”. He couldn’t enjoy the flavor of anything. Oh…that pork along with mashed potatoes and gravy…I was in foodie heaven! My husband and I joked that I would be a “Big Mama” if we were ever to move to North Carolina. (I also had a great chicken fried steak the night before. Those North Carolina cooks are amazing!)
(To cut back on unnecessary calories, I didn’t eat the bread…)
The wedding (the reason that we went to NC in the first place) was very beautiful. It was formal though and I was horrified when Sean started trying to “sing along” with the opera singer performing “The Lord’s Prayer”. We got him out of there and quick! Michael loved meeting extended family at the wedding and reception. He took his Dad’s hand and said, “Let’s go. I want to meet EVERYBODY”. (He almost did!)
(No pictures please!)
By Sunday, we were ready to go home. My husband had almost fully recuperated. We went to church and then to brunch at a family member’s home. We were expecting to leave from there for our 4ish flight home. Wrong again! At around 2pm, my husband gets a message from Delta…all of the flights to LaGuardia for the rest of the day had been canceled. We had been switched to a 6am flight on Monday. Since the delay was due to weather conditions, we were on our own…no assistance from Delta. It all worked out though. Everyone else but the NYC crew had already left, so we all just stayed over my husband’s aunt’s house. Then, one more “hitch in the giddy up” – both of my sons got sick with fevers. Michael vomited (thankfully, not on anything!) and both he and Sean were knocked out! It all worked out though. We all got up around 3am to catch our flight and (yay!) safely made it back home this morning. It’s good to be back home!
(My guys…Reggie, Michael & Sean)