I thought since I was in the middle of going through vacation pictures it would be a good time to post. We just got back from our "summer" vacation. When we found out there was a good chance Landen would be having surgery and out for a little while we decided it was time to take a family trip now instead of later. We don't know when or if we will have a chance to do this again.
Right now Landen is healthy and happy but we don't know how long it will be this way. Brayden is at a great age for making memories. So we decided to make this a vacation to remember for all of us. We have made trips before but only for medical conferences and such so this was our first real family vacation where we had nowhere we had to be and could completely relax. We decided to go to California because it is relatively close and from there ideas started to come. We settled on Legoland in Carlsbad and found a great deal that allowed us to have fun in the park and spend time at the beach. It was the perfect time to go when all the other kids are at school and the park was nice and quite.
We had so much fun! Even Landen had fun riding the rides. It was nice since the rides are a little lower key that Landen rode almost every ride with me. He even rode Brayden's favorite dragon roller coaster and loved it. They were very helpful accommodating him on every ride which made stress free for all of us.We were able to keep him in his chair up until the moment we boarded a ride and take him right off. Brayden of course enjoyed all of it! From the moment we boarded our plane in Salt Lake all he wanted to talk about was Legoland. He LOVED the rides and the Legos and the food and the entertainment. He was such a ball of fun and excitement the whole time.
In the end I think Landen enjoyed the hot tub at the hotel and the beach the most. He liked crawling through the sand and feeling it on his fingers. He rubbed it in his face and ate it when I turned my back on him. I don't know how none of it ended up in his eyes! He liked exploring and feeling the cold wet sand and going back to the dry soft warm sand. He loved hearing the sounds of the waves and the wind. Oh the ocean breeze... if Landen could live in a wind tunnel he would be forever happy. He loves the cold wind. Sensory wise it must be amazing for him it gets him excited and he waves his hands, sticks out his tongue and laughs. Brayden loved the beach as well chasing waves and seagulls. He was a little to fearless playing in the ocean with daddy but he had so much fun. We had perfect weather and made so many memories.
After a few days in Carlsbad we went to Long Beach and meet up with Grandma and Grandpa Sinex.
Then we all boarded a ship for a four day cruse. We were able to find an amazing deal that made it possible to all go together. What a great thing for our kids to be able to spend time with their grandma and grandpa. Brayden was just buzzing with excitement. We kept it nice and relaxing. My favorite part of the cruise was snuggling with Landen while watching Brayden play in the swimming pool. Landen didn't enjoy the pools very much they were too cold for him. Even the hot tub was too cold. But he did love the LOUD music and snuggling on a deck chair. At first we tried to avoid loud music thinking with his CI he wouldn't enjoy that at all but it turns out we were wrong. He loved the loud music. He would wave his arms and laugh and bounce along. He also enjoyed crawling on the less crowded pool deck while Brayden played on the slides. He liked the breezes of course as we sailed along. It was definitely a memorable trip.
Its hard to explain what this trip meant to me. There is such a short time that we have Landen and he is healthy enough to do something like this with us and enjoy it. It really was one of the first times in a long time that I was able to put aside all the doctors, all the therapy, all the stress that comes with having a sick child and solely focus on nothing but making him happy. I didn't take a single phone call or email from his school or doctors office. What ever they needed would just have to wait until we got home. Its easy for us to
not do things like this when we think of all the extra work. We have a wheel chair and walker a special car seat he needs even on the plane. It took two bags to get all of his medical supplies to California. Just think about it his formula which comes in 8oz containers four a day for 10 days plus extra in case of emergency I ended up packing 52 formulas the bag was so heavy. Its these things that make us hesitate when deciding to do things. No camping trip or getaway is ever just easy. But despite that we did it and it was worth it! It was so worth it for 10 days he was just Landen and we were just a family out to have fun.
We didn't worry about what was coming or where we needed to be. We didn't rush to appointments or worry about therapy. We just had fun! It was so easy to be in the moment and not have the nagging voices and tears I shed for my little boy. I held him in my arms and snuggled him close on that deck chair and didn't even bother to whisper my constant "please don't leave me" prayer. I loved it. I soaked it all in both Landen and Brayden. Two happy little brothers having fun together with their family. Brayden taking care of his "little Big brother" pushing his chair and making him laugh. How amazing was that? How normal was that? Even with the two bags of medical supplies ;)
