Two weeks ago, we headed to the beach for some much needed sunshine! Carl's parents stayed in Bonita Springs, FL for the month of February, so we flew down to visit, along with Carl's brother and his family. Ben had been counting down the weeks until his chance to fly in an airplane again. And knowing that he was going to be able to fly with Connor and Lucas made it exponentially more exciting!! He was able to step into the cockpit and meet the pilots on both planes, and on the return flight, Captain Ken even turned on all of the lights on the control panel for him!
We lucked out with perfect weather. We spent most of our time on the beach or by the pool! 
Ben serves up a delicious "ice cream sundae"
Connor was nice enough to help Ben dig out a washing machine, complete with an agitator (upside down bucket!). Ben's interest in laundry came back with a vengeance during our trip to Florida. He kept thinking that we were returning to our old house, which got him pretty excited about his old washing machine. Ben spent a good portion of our vacation doing laundry in the sand!
Ella's favorite beach activity was playing with a big bucket of water!
The water was pretty cold, but all of the kids went swimming - even Ella! 
Ella discovered how cold the water felt when it hit her chest
and promptly ran away from the next wave!
Ben and Lukie warmed up after a cold swim the first evening we were there!Our last evening of vacation was definitely unforgettable, but was not spent watching the gorgeous sunset as planned. I took Ella back down for one last trip to the beach around 5 pm and she started acting pretty odd shortly after we got down there. I started to worry and headed back with her and by the time we reached the condo she was in respiratory distress and was turning blue. When the ambulance arrived, her episode was over, but we still landed a trip to the ER via ambulance. Turns out she had a fever of 104 and experienced a febrile seizure (seizure caused by high fever). She had been pretty crabby that morning, but had no symptoms of being sick and I just figured she was overtired. She probably had had a fever all day, and we just didn't know it since we were outside. It took her a little while to return to her normal self that night and the video above is the first time that she spoke since having the seizure. We were concerned that she had not begun talking yet, so when she started singing with Carl, it was literally the sweetest thing we had ever heard! We certainly take our children's health for granted and we are so thankful that a very scary situation turned out so well!
4 comments:
So glad that Ella is ok after that terrible time. She is so cute - I loved hearing her sing to Carl. And, glad that Ben hasn't forgotten his love for laundry. Wish we could still take him on a "laundry date". Of course, you could come to Gainesville to visit friends and we would be more than willing babysitters.
On our next Chicago trip we'll definitely have to see you all. We sure do miss you.
lots of love and kisses, auntie marcia
I'm so happy that Ella is feeling better. Before you know, we will be seeing her on stage getting her award for "best female vocalist". I knew Ben would never give up the "wash". He justs needs his Gainesville Aunties to take him on a date. The offer is always open if you want to make some deposits. Can't wait to see you all the next time we are in Chi Town. Miss you all the time. Love, hugs and kisses. Auntie Myrna
Oh my! I can not imagine how that must have felt!! So happy Ella is ok, and hopefully your blood pressure has returned to normal. I would have been FREAKING out! The pictures on the beach look great!!!
Love, Kristin
It looks like you guys had a great time! It sends chills up my spine that you had to go through that with Ella. Poor girl-and momma!!!! Hope we can meet the kiddos one of these days:) Love and Miss Ya-Taige
Post a Comment