A few weeks ago, we headed to Eau Claire for the weekend to visit and to celebrate Annalyse's sister, Jenna's wedding. We left right after lunch on Friday, and little buddy was absolutely exhausted after a busy morning at school. He napped a good share of the way. The wedding was nice, but long for the little ones and even with leaving early, it was still almost 10 before we got them tucked into bed at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
The next morning was pretty cold and rainy, but Grandpa Jim braved the elements to take the kids to pick out a few pumpkins for their front porch. Mom and I stayed back and attempted a few new recipes for Grandma Edie to try, since she is on a soft food diet. When the kids went down for their naps, Mom, Dad, Luke, and I headed down to Durand to pay a visit to the grandparents. We stopped to see Grandpa Ralph first. He wasn't having quite as good of a day as the last time I saw him, but was still joking around and had some good one-liners. We knew he wasn't feeling like himself when he turned down a game of cards. After Dad helped him get cleaned up, he was ready to lay down for a while, so we weren't able to stay real long. It was good to see him holding his own though.
The visit I wasn't really prepared for was our trip to Grandma Edie's house. When I had visited the week before, she was very sick, but for the most part she still looked and acted like the same plucky Grandma. This time was quite a shock as she had gotten so weak from not eating, that she was barely able to get to the front door with a walker. It was very hard to see her struggling like that. We had some sweet and tender moments together when she held my hand and we talked about our Europe trip last summer and how crazy things are now and how we wish things were different. The doctors have been all over the board and have really not given us much detail on what to expect and what the treatment plan will be. For now, it's just one day at a time.
We left the kids at home because they were both fighting colds and we didn't want to pass on any germs, but I think Nolan was picking up on the emotional atmosphere and was having a really hard time with us being gone for the afternoon. When we got back, Nolan really enjoyed the time with Luke and Annalyse and Mom and Dad before it was time for bed. It felt good to be all together.
The next morning we did some fun things outside with the kids. We rode horse - which both of my kids love and excitedly request. And Nolan got to drive Grandpa's new tractor and even operate the scoop. He thought it was so cool and "super easy."
This visit was certainly more exhausting than usual and by Sunday afternoon I was absolutely drained. I think the intensity of the emotions around me was really weighing on me. It's hard to see people that I love struggling - both the sick and the caregivers! But, the best part of our trip was getting to be together and make more precious memories with our family.
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