The hardest part of having Dash in the NICU was juggling between my children. None of them probably cared, but the tremendous guilt I would feel when I was at one place but felt like I should also be somewhere else was trying! So on day 9 of going back and forth, I got home between feedings, and had a three hour break before I needed to be back. I usually spent this time reading to Scout and Navy, or feeding them and getting them to bed, or whatever else I could do in a short amount of time. But this time, I got home, said, “Come on guys…..let’s pack up a bag for each of you.” So we packed, and drove down to the Brockbank’s house…walked in to their family dinner, and I said, “SURPRISE!” They were all thrilled beyond belief, and I was so happy that I knew they were going to be the one place where they wouldn’t even think about me because they were having so much fun! And I was right — when I went to pick them up two days later, Scout hid so I wouldn’t take him back home!
Of course, Megan had every moment filled with fun for them.
Megan called to tell me that Icka slept in Chloe’s bed, and when Megan checked on them, Chloe had both arms reaching over to Icka. When they woke up, Chloe told Megan that Icka said she could only sleep if she cuddled her. And apparently Icka slept like a log.
Scout was lucky to sleep in Trey’s bed after Trey got up to get ready for school. Prior to this, he was in a sleeping bag on the floor.
The next morning, Jake spent some time showing off their bearded dragon to both kids. Icka is a total animal lover, and has never shied away from their lizard.
Bed-head Scout has only started holding him recently. But look how proud he is of his accomplishment!
One of the crafts they did was decorate bags with stickers, markers and colored pencils.
Then they took their bags and went shopping in Megan’s garage. All of her stuff from class parties and trips to local stores was out, and she let them have anything they wanted. So when the kids came home, they had a bag stuffed full of little goodies like bouncy balls, whoopie cushions, sticky hands, curly straws, laser pointers, candy, stickers, and a million more things. It was like they had returned from the most successful trip to Chuck E. Cheeses EVER!
And did I mention that there were reindeer noses in Megan’s garage?
Chloe talked Megan into getting her out of school early, and then they headed to the mall. Apparently, Megan owed Chloe a make up set. Why you ask? Because Icka ruined her last one when she snuck off and dug into it the last time we were at the Brockbanks. Whoops!
As the icing on top of everything, when they were leaving for their weekly Friday-night-eat-out-night, Megan let Scout pick where they would all eat for dinner. To everyone’s disgust, he picked Denny’s. I really can’t believe they went for it, and here they are — all eating at the most repulsive place on earth.
Round two of pancakes was Saturday morning, when Bryan made his famous Buckwheat pancakes. Scout gave Bryan the biggest compliment, and told him they were even BETTER than Denny’s!
Then it was off to swim. There was a little close call because somehow Icka completely forgot everything from her swimming lessons this summer!
Then they spent some time at the park. Jake is the BEST! I think so, but my kids know so!
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Where is Cade in all of this?
The one who said, “For how long”, when I surprised them with two visitors.
Playing Mario Cart.
Good thing he let Scout join in!
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Dear Brockbanks,
My kids had a blast. I know this because I asked them if they would rather go to your house or Disneyland, and they didn’t hesitate by yelling out, “OUR COUSINS HOUSE!” Thank you for making my last two days with Dash in the NICU much more relaxing and pleasant. Thanks for rearranging your lives to accommodate mine. No thanks for making me look like a pretty lame mom compared to Auggie!
Love,
Lindsey
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