Good Time and Relaxing Time Don't Go Hand in Hand

Like many people with school age kids, we are in the middle of spring break! Boy do I miss getting a spring break from my teaching days. Elise finished up with school last week on Thursday and we took off early on Friday morning to spend the weekend in Omaha, Nebraska. As with most times we venture out we always have mixed feelings that settle somewhere between, "Why do we do this to ourselves" and "this is a good time." This weekend was no exception.

After we made it a whole 60 miles from our house we had to stop for the first bathroom break. While Kelly and Abby were inside, I decided it would be good if Elise and I stretched our legs. She took off walking down the sidewalk with me, got the end of the path and missed the slight step down sending her face first onto the concrete pavement. We aren't even an hour away from the house and haven't been out of the car 30 seconds! Already Elise is bleeding. This was the first time on the trip I asked myself, "Why do we do this to ourselves?"

The girls at the Omaha Zoo.

When we eventually arrived in Omaha we headed straight to the zoo. This was my first trip there and the first time there for our kids as well. It was a great weather day, sandwiched between some pretty chilly days, and made for a pretty enjoyable day to be outside. This was the first time I thought, "This is a good time." After walking all around the zoo, we finally made it back to the front gate to get a snack and something to drink. I'm not sure why they thought it was a good idea to only have one concessions area open on a day when thousands of people were enjoying the zoo as part of their spring break! We settled in to a nice quiet area inside to rest our feet and enjoy a little refreshment. Two minutes into our break, Elise had her first seizure. That one was followed by a couple of it's closest seizure friends and the ever present retching that comes with it. As always, "Why do we do this to ourselves." But, this too shall pass. As it did, we moved on to the final areas we wanted to see before calling it a day and heading to the hotel. When we got in the car, we were a little disappointed in the number of animals that were not out at this time of year, but managed to all say, "This was a pretty good time." Near the hotel we found a burger joint to enjoy a quick dinner before checking in to the hotel and experiencing the water park/pool. After a couple minutes of being seated at the restaurant, Elise has her first seizure, repeat everything I said above, and "Why do we do this to ourselves?" Once again, this passed as usual, we finished dinner in peace and we managed to escape the restaurant without needing a clean up on aisle seven.

Once we got checked in to the hotel we dressed for the pool and made our way down to the water park. This was certainly a "water park" in the loosest sense of the word, but it was just fine for our little people. They really enjoyed the slides and being able to touch the bottom at almost every area of the pool. "This was a pretty good time." That sentiment was followed pretty closely with, "Why do we do this to ourselves?" as we got the girls ready for bed, medicine for Elise, listened to Abby cry because she was exhausted from the day, and we settled in and turned all lights off before 9pm. Our room was pretty small and didn't allow any of us to take much of a break from each other. Fortunately, we were all exhausted and it served it's purpose without any problems. As Elise woke us up in the night and we struggled to get her back to sleep without waking Abby, we again asked, "Why do we do this to ourselves?"

Saturday came with similar ups and downs. We enjoyed a visit to the Omaha Children's Museum. If you have young kids, this is a must see in the Midwest. The museum could put even the most mild mannered of adult into sensory overload! There was a lot to take in. Sometimes "This is a good time" and "Why do we do this to ourselves" was used in back to back sentences! It was a very neat place, but also quite overwhelming and VERY busy. We finished the day with another trip to the burger joint with some friends we had not seen in quite a while. During dinner we watched the K-State vs. KU Big 12 Championship game. Needless to say, this was full of "why do we do this to ourselves" moments, but for a whole different reason. We finished our night with another trip to the water park and were again in bed about 9pm.

As we were driving back on Sunday, I was trying to decide what was so "fun" about all of this and exactly "why do we do this to ourselves". Sometimes the answers aren't all that clear, but we do it anyways. It is really important to us to lead as "normal" a life as possible given all of the challenges that Elise has. That usually means a few more stops along the way to wait out seizures, vomiting, or to clean up the various messes that have come from us pushing the limits. Sometimes we aren't able to stay somewhere near as long as we would have liked, or we don't get to see everything that we had hoped for, but we do what we can. Traveling with kids without extra health issues can be exhausting. Just loading the car to travel with a child with special needs is often more exhausting that I could even explain. But, we do it anyways. As they experience new things the smiles on their faces make it worth while. The laughter that comes from sliding into the water at the water park over and over again, not only makes it easier to go to sleep, but gives me something to smile about before closing my eyes as well.

As I looked in the mirror on Monday morning I could see big bags under my eyes. When I was sitting in the car with Kelly this afternoon I saw the exact same thing under her own eyes. Admittedly, we are/were both tired. Someday there will be plenty of rest for the weary, but for now there are great times to be had. This weekend was fun, and while we will continue to ask it, I'm pretty sure we know why we do this to ourselves. We'll never get another chance to make the same memories with our kids, so we take advantage of the opportunities while they exist. Maybe tomorrow will be a more restful day!