That Time We Went to Georgia (And Florida) During a Hurricane! Pt. 5

Our last day in Florida I was so ready to be home! We woke up to a cockroach in our bathroom and bugs on the counter in the kitchen area (I've mentioned this hotel was awful right?). Since we didn't have time for an activity in the morning we were just going to sit in the hotel, but by 8:30/8:45 I decided it was time to start packing and get out ASAP. Cara totally lounged on the bed, eating animal crackers and watching cartoons. After a while we were all so warm I took her pajamas off and let her run around naked while I finished packing to help cool her down (this will come up later). We finished up around 10:30 - and with checkout at 11 I guess it was good I started earlier than I planned - got Cara dressed in her outfit (rather than footie pajamas since she was still warm) and got out of there. I'm glad the lady checking us out didn't ask how our stay was, it would've been hard to lie about that place!

Cara's makeshift "room" in this hotel

Luckily the drive to the airport was fairly quick, we just had to stop for gas for the rental car, but the check in and security line were HORRENDOUSLY slow! Maybe I was just antsy to get home, but it felt ridiculous! I decided we should get lunch at the airport to avoid being hungry (I get panic attacks when I think of needing food or water and not having any access to them). The only places to eat were Sbarro and Chili's (womp womp). The peeps at Chili's ignored me so I went to Sbarro to order a pizza and some breadsticks for the three of us to share (which some lady came up to me laughing and said that was such a pregnant order...I thought it was a normal combo, but just another reason I was antsy to be home - where no one makes comments to my face haha). I took Cara to get changed and noticed she was SUPER hot to the touch at this point, like almost burning me hot, and I started to get really worried. She also wouldn't eat any of my hot food so I stopped off at a market place to get some cantaloupe, orange juice, and a yogurt parfait for her, which she'd only eat tiny bites of each thing (but she did drink quite a bit of OJ so that made me feel a tiny bit better). I felt so bad for her, she obviously had some weird bug and I felt bad that we had to make her fly feeling so crappy. We got on the flight and her eyes started rolling back, which made me freak out since she normally doesn't go to sleep like that, but Larry was convinced she just needed a nap and was that tired. She slept a tiny bit on the plane from JAX to ATL, but the announcements kept waking her up so it wasn't a good sleep. When we got to ATL she was SO hot, hadn't eaten a lot, kept trying to fall asleep - it was just an awful combo of whatever she was fighting and I was doing my best not to panic and freak out more and just concentrate on keeping her cool, letting her eat whatever she would, and getting home (it's amazing how this mom instinct kicks in and you'll do ANYTHING to keep them from feeling bad, even if it means you're uncomfortable). We had a longer layover there and decided to let her walk around (with Larry) to get away from his body heat and then the craziest thing happened: my oldest friend in the entire world, Jasmine, happened to see Cara and, having recognized her from the pictures I've posted, talked to Larry about who she was and how she knew them. So he comes over to tell me she was over there and was coming by to say hi once her boyfriend got back. I said "screw that, I'll go to her" and went to say hi and we caught up (and of course had to take the selfie pics for proof haha). Like what are the odds? I haven't seen her since our wedding (5 years ago) and it was YEARS before that and then we run into each other at the airport?? And when I say oldest friend, I'm saying I have absolutely no recollection of when we met, we just have always been friends, since like the diaper days. We met at our daycare way back when and have just always been in contact. It was the best end to this friends trip I could have asked for!

By the time we got on the plane to get home I was officially on "keep Cara cooled down, that's the most important thing right now" mission. I couldn't take her temperature and her diapers were very dry, which felt like not good signs. I was looking up things on Google to see if I could find out what could be wrong with her, but nothing fit (which actually made me feel better because then I thought it has to be just a simple bug that needs to get through her system). The last flight we finally got some cool air blowing on us and we were able to get her comfortable enough to take a couple small naps and watch some movies on the screen, she was at least content. The landing into SLC was VERY bumpy and freaked me out a little (I'm not a nervous flyer, but I was nervous with Cara and wondering if we should've booked a different flight so the sudden drops after going through dark clouds REALLY shook me). I was SO happy when we finally landed, got to our bags, got to our car, and drove home. Cara fell asleep almost instantly (I think finally being back in her car seat on a quiet, long ride home was just what she needed). We stopped at the new MOD Pizza by our home for dinner (it was a little pricey, but overall tasty), which Cara still wouldn't eat much of, but she really wanted to walk around so we let her do that while we took turns eating. We went home, gave her some Tylenol (I was able to get her temperature when we got home and it was up to 99), some milk, a nice bath, and put her to bed.

I scheduled our dermatology appointments for 8 AM this morning so after she was down we decided to call it a night (traveling days can be SO exhausting). Waking up so early this morning wasn't as challenging as I thought and Cara seemed to be feeling a bit better so it was a good start to the day. She played and babbled a lot today, but wouldn't eat much still. Luckily I think having a real nap in her crib (rather than a stroller or car seat or airplane) really made a difference for her. We were going to let her play outside a little today, but when we went to get groceries for the week the air was SO bad we decided to just let her play with her regular toys inside. It helped that I needed to unpack and get things cleaned up inside anyways (which I've decided the 6 day trips are the best because packing and unpacking was SO easy).

At the Dermatologist - we looked so silly I HAD to get
A pic haha

Now that laundry is done, groceries are bought, and we're getting back into our normal routine I'm so happy to be home. The trip was such a fun one, it was so good to see old friends, make a new one, be in this mommy village with them, and just have fun! I feel bad that Cara got a little bug and isn't feeling the greatest (but to be fair she licked a lot of things she shouldn't have so it we're lucky it wasn't anything serious - her fever is now down to the low 98s so she's definitely on the mend), but to see all the kids together and get to introduce her to my friends was great! We got to try so many new things and I'm glad I got this opportunity for a last trip for this pregnancy and the year. And I'm so glad there wasn't any sign of a hurricane near us. Now my mission is to finish cleaning the house and get things ready for this little minion to make her appearance (10 more weeks now)!