Rough Start to Vacay

At this point we're starting to question whether we are supposed to go on this vacation... Friday began with another nasty snow storm. My mom called in the late afternoon to let me know she was on the road headed to help with the kids so I could pack for Florida. While I really wanted to see her and would love the extra set of hands, I told her it probably wasn't a good idea. The roads were terrible. M-40, a main highway near us had been shut down for several hours due to a multiple car pile up. She promised me it would be fine and she'd see us in a little bit.

The drift outside our garage Friday night

A few hours later she was at a gas station 10 minutes from our house. Jason told her to stay put. He would come get her up in the farm pick up with the plow and they would get her van later. She was a bit skeptical that all this was necessary. 20 minutes later I got a call from my aggravated hubby saying he was stuck in the middle of the road less than a mile from our house. My mom ended up having to check into a hotel in town for the night. So frustrating for everyone. In the mean time, Emma spiked a fever and started throwing up. Not the time for the flu!

The drift outside our garage Saturday morning

The next morning the plow made two passes past our house. I figured if she got on the road soon she would not have any trouble. However she needed to stop at Meijer to purchase a phone charger first. A dead cell and awful roads are a bad combo. An hour later I get a phone call from my neighbors phone- my mom is less than a mile away and can not get any further. She was near tears and so was I at this point. It had been a long night with a sick kiddo. I called Jason and again asked for his assistance. My awesome hubby drove to my mom's van, helped her dig it out and plowed ahead of her to our house.

Using a loader tractor to dig us out

Once they got her van up our drive and she thawed out inside, mom took over kid duty and I got to work packing. Next thing I know Jason texted me to say he now has the flu and is headed home to go to bed. Seriously??? I called the airline at that point to ask if there was anything we could do about changing out flight. After 48 minutes on hold I was told I can change our return flight, but since our departure was less than 24 hours away the only thing we could do was forfeit our tickets. Meanwhile the snow outside continued to come down while the wind was blowing furiously.

Are much debate, we decided we better hit the road for Lansing if we had any hope of making our flight the next day. Suddenly I had a much earlier deadline than anticipated and my packing became haphazard. We needed to leave our house by 5:00 because the county plows are pulled off the road after that point for the day. If you know me, you know I like things neat and orderly- ridiculously organized. I was unable to do things in my normal fashion and things just started getting tossed in the suitcases. I figured I could reevaluate once we got to my dad's later.

We loaded up the vans and drove a caravan to M-40 with my father-in-law in the lead with the plow. Once we got on the freeway the driving was a little less intense. After we got about 45 minutes from home it was pretty smooth sailing. Amazing the impact Lake Michigan can have on the weather! We arrived at my dad's house about 7:00 and Jason headed to bed for the night. I put the kids down shortly after, repacked our suitcases and took a shower before laying down for the night.

At 4:00 am, my fears became reality. I have the stomach flu too. Based on Emma and Jason's bout with it, it didn't seem to last more than 24 hours, but I'm not looking forward to the flight ahead of us. Praying we make it to Florida without any more excitement! I'm sick, exhausted and anxious about this trip, but so ready for a little family vacation. We haven't taken a big trip since Emma was three when we drove to South Carolina- we are long overdue!