Michigan

At the beginning of June, the kids and I flew to Michigan to visit our friend Allison. This was my first time flying solo with both kids, Finn's first flight ever, and Fox's first flight since he was three. 

We had screens in our seats, but Mama forgot to bring headphones, so that was a big fail. I purchased headphone from the flight attendant, but they were too big for the boys' ears and not comfortable, so they could only watch, but not hear. Finn got a little antsy on the four hour flight, but overall it went great.

I was so excited for cooler temperatures and even more happy, when it was pouring rain when we arrived. The summers in Phoenix are brutal and we take any opportunity we get to escape the heat. 

We arrived just in time for a beautiful sunset on the lake and the boys played ball for a bit, while I just sat on the grass and smiled from ear to ear.

This is her backyard and I've always loved her property, it's so beautiful there.

The next day it was pouring rain again and Finn and I played in it for quite some time, he couldn't get enough. He still tells me that this was his favorite part about Michigan.

When I picked up the boys from Katie before the airport, Fox was sniffling a little bit. Over the next couple of days it got a lot worse, and he started to have a fever. I brought him to Urgent Care, where strep throat and Covid were ruled out, so they did a chest x-ray and diagnosed him with bronchitis. Since his heart rate was so high, and his oxygen levels were so low, they asked me to bring him to the Emergency Room for further observations. Luckily my friend was able to keep Finn, who didn't seem to miss us at all, based on the pictures she sent me.

Look at him feeding his baby, how cute is that!

I felt really guilty about leaving Finn with her all day, but I knew he was comfortable with her and had a lot more fun than sitting at the hospital.

The emergency room visit took another four hours. Fox was put on breathing treatments, steroids and eventually had to be put on a heart monitor and oxygen, because his levels just kept getting worse. It was probably one of the scariest parenting moments I have ever experienced, when all of the sudden the monitor started beeping and sounding an alarm, the nurses and doctors rushed in and they hooked him up. I know I'm very fortunate and feel very grateful that this experience was one of the scariest health moments for my kids, and that a lot of people go through much worse. 

Luckily his levels eventually started improving and we were discharged. 

We had a bunch of plans and reservations for the week, so we canceled it all and still had a blast playing in her backyard and enjoying the weather.

We went to this nearby rock park for a little bit when Fox felt better, but it was really hot out, so this outing was short lived.

This was one of my favorite moments right here. I took Finn to a little beach where they had sand toys and a tiny playground, and he absolutely loved it. 

He is such an outside kid and would play outdoors all day long if he could.

Fox improved greatly over the next few days, but we still took it easy and he only wanted to come out and play for a bit when the sun was setting.

Another one of Finn's favorites, the neighbor's swing.

I put a show on for him so I could go take a quick shower, and when I came back, I found him like this. Little dude still needs his naps, but never wants to take them.

Fox wanted to try the kayak by himself and he did so great. I was a little nervous about it, because he had never done it before, but he figured it out really quickly and loved it.

On our last night there, Allison had some of her family over for dinner and we ended the night with s'mores right before another storm rolled in.

We were all sad to leave, and even though we weren't able to do much on this trip, the boys kept asking me to stay longer and Fox asked over and over again if we can go to Michigan every two months. We can't wait to make this an annual thing and hopefully stay a little bit longer next year.