Well, with the wedding over, there was only one thing left to do. Make the 11+ hour drive home to California. Ugh. We had resigned ourselves that it had to happen, no matter how exhausted we were. We had been gone for over 2 weeks, and Danny really needed to be back to work on Monday morning.
Thank you, Sophie, for taking one for the team! We think the Lord might have known better, so he gave us a little speedbump to slow us down. Sometimes I think Sophie was born as our little speedbump! She keeps us from getting ahead of ourselves.
It seemed like our sick little girl might be okay when we put her to bed on Saturday night after I got home from the reception. Her fever was down, and she hadn't thrown up anymore. But she woke up at about 2 in the morning and her fever was over 103 again. She was really starting to worry us at this point. This was officially the sickest any of our kids had ever been! I ended up sitting in Great Grandma's shower with Sophie for about 20 minutes hoping the water would help bring her fever down to a manageable level. Between that, and the ibuprofen, her fever went down and we felt like it was safe to let her fall back asleep. As we all fell back asleep, we were wondering about this drive we were supposed to do...
Morning came, and with it Sophie's fever spiked again. We called our pediatrician, and considered taking her to Urgent Care. She was complaining that her neck and throat hurt, so I was thinking it might be strep. But Dr. Edralin gave us the all-clear to drive, so we didn't feel it necessary to take her to Urgent Care. The more and more we thought about it, however, the less and less comfortable we felt about driving home that day. So we decided to take a literal "day of rest" on Sunday, make sure we got ready to leave and to bed early, and attempt the drive early Monday morning. Claire was pretty disappointed that we weren't going to go home to California and see Jack.
NOT! :) As the morning turned into afternoon, Sophie seemed to be doing better. She took another nap, only this time when she woke up her fever was much more manageable. We decided to go have a quick dinner at my Mom's, and say goodbye before we left. Danny had to leave so quickly the night before that he just made a quick round of goodbyes before the reception started. And I tried to say goodbye while the reception was underway. We didn't want to leave on that note.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner with Grandma Candy, Uncle Matt and Aunt Jenny, and of course Isabelle and Eli. As soon as the kids had eaten, Isabelle decided it was time for an adventure! She led the way, of course. But hey, it's hard not to lead when you have such willing followers. ;)
Well, maybe only one real follower. :) The little kids started to rethink the game, and decided to go back to where it was a little safer.
Oh well!
There was plenty of things Isabelle could think of for the two of them to do. That girl has no shortage of imagination! And if the little kids weren't going to play, then why not raise the stakes a bit? It's funny. Claire is the most reserved and cautious girl. Unless Isabelle's involved. Then all of a sudden, our girl has some nerve! I think it's a good thing. Claire needs to take some risks sometimes. And I was right next to her-taking pictures. :)
Phew! She made it! Isabelle always knew she could do it. Claire had to stop and say a little prayer of gratitude that she didn't fall to her death! Or at least a broken arm...
Where Claire seems to avoid anything risky, Sophie can catch its scent and find it anywhere! Fever or no fever, she was going to give this daring feat a try. And without any help from anyone...even you, Isabelle. :)
Sophie made it safely to the table with the other girls, and they were all happy to be together for this extra day.
We were all grateful for this extra day. Danny and I felt like we had the chance to rest up, and the kids needed a more relaxed day before our trip home. But the time always comes when we have to say goodbye. We got back to Grandma and Papa's, loaded the car, and got to bed early. After about 11 1/2 hours in the car on Monday, we made it safely home. Jack was so excited to see us again! And we were so happy to be home. As hard as it is to leave family, especially when we've stayed so long and made so many wonderful memories, it is always good to be home.
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