Simone's Exciting Story about being hit by a Car

My kids ride their bikes to school when the weather is nice.  We live only 1/3 of a mile from the school and they can usually ride their bikes there faster than we can drive them because of traffic.

Anyway, I also threaten my kids that I will take away their bike, scooter, longboard, etc. if they don't wear helmets.  Its so easy to wear a helmet. 

So last week, Simone set off and was going pretty fast down the little asphalt trail/sidewalk that leads to their school.  There is only one road to cross the whole way and they have a crossing guard.  So I wasn't worried.  

But there is a spot on the sidewalk that has some big bushes.  You can see in the photo below where she was hit.  She was coming down the little hill, and some people were pulling into their driveway and couldn't see Simone because of all the big bushes that are along that section of the sidewalk.

So after they hit her, she jumps up right away and asks, "Can I call my mom?"  they said they thought she was so tough that she jumped right up after being hit by a car.  They assure her that they will be calling her mom and they take her into their house to call and get her hands cleaned up.  She is pretty scraped and has some road rash and her wrist is swollen.  Then she says, "Do you have any essential oils?"  Lol.  I love that part.  She sure loves her oils.  They understood when Jared came and they saw his license plate.

When they called me to tell me she'd been hit, they were so calm, I knew she must be alright.  So then instead of relaying that information in a calm way to Jared, I yelled up the stairs without thinking, "Simone's been hit by a car!"  He was downstairs so fast and so frightened.  I had to hurry and explain that she was fine.  A little scraped up but just fine.

The people felt so bad and they were so nice.  Simone and I went to our Ortho doctor that has helped us in recent years with her broken arm.  I wanted them to x-ray her just in case her wrist had any issues.  It was swollen and hurt quite a bit.  But not as bad as when she broke her arm.  So I didn't think the ER was really necessary.

Our drive was a tiny bit emotional for her.  She had been so tough.  That is totally Simone.  She doesn't like people to see her cry.  When she broke her arm, her first instinct was to go in her room and lock us out!  Lol.  But during our drive she asked me about lacrosse.  She was crying thinking about not being able to play her favorite sport.  I said that I didn't think it was a bad break, but if it was broken, we'd sign her up for track and she'd have a great track season.  She cheered up a little at that thought.  But she was still shaken by what might have happened if she hadn't been wearing her helmet.  Her helmet was pretty scraped up!

The PA wasn't the one we've seen in the past, and he wasn't all that attentive.  But he said there could be a hairline fracture.  We sent the x-ray to Matt and he said it looked like a small incomplete fracture.  I thought it did too.  

When we were done she really wanted to go to school!  It was kind of exciting to get to tell everyone that she was hit by a car. That evening I was up at the hospital with my Dad, Diane and Angela.  And Simone was Facetiming me to tell me all about school.  She was chattering away and thought it was so hilarious that some of the boys didn't think she really got hit by a car.  She's such a cutie.

So my siblings and I were texting quite a bit throughout the dayIn the meantime, we heard the news that Dad was going into surgery.  It was an emotional day., and at one point I texted them to let them know that I was at the hospital with Simone because she'd been hit by a car.  But no one responded.  I thought that was kinda funny but figured our text thread was moving pretty fast, they probably just didn't have time to read each and every one.  But still, usually at least one of the five of us responds.  So then later as we are making plans to leave, I mention again that we are coming now that I just finished up at the hospital with Simone.  And everyone responds in the way my sisters usually do, wanting to know the story, is she okay, etc.  So that night we realized that my first text just never got delivered to any of them even though it showed on my phone as sent.  We all had a big laugh about that because it was pretty funny to read the texts on my phone.  Everyone just carrying on like nothing had happened.  I love my sisters!

The people who hit Simone brought her over a care package.  They brought a bear that she named "Mercedes" after the car that hit her.  Haha.  I laughed about that.  She was also really worried that she had dented their car.  I assured her that it was fine and they weren't worried about that.  

She still has a little anxiety about riding her bike to school.  But the area where it happened has been trimmed way back so I think the visibility for both is a lot better.  But for now she's going to walk.  

We are so glad Simone is okay!  Moral of the story kids: WEAR YOUR HELMET

Thankful: Dad's Surgery

The day we got home from our big trip, I had a strong feeling I needed to call my dad and arrange to get together.  Sometimes taking a step back from your life by going out of town helps you see the big picture and I think that was what this might have been.  Realizing that my time with him is limited and I really need to see him more.

Just so happened that the girls had a lacrosse game just a block from his house.  So we invited him to come to their game.

He mentioned that it was harder for him to get around, but he thought he could make it.

Well that day he woke up and couldn't walk.  His leg was dragging.  Bekah talked to him that afternoon and said he was slurring his speech.  He obviously wasn't able to come to the game, so we went to his house afterward to visit.  It was so very sobering for all of us to see him in a totally different state than what we were used to.  He just was so tired.  We talked about our trip and he looked at pictures and smiled.  But he seemed in and out.  Not all there.  

We were reassured knowing that he had an appointment in the morning.  In hindsight, we should have been more alarmed.  It is hard with cancer.  We know he has a brain tumor and is on an experimental drug.  So those extra variables seemed to be playing a role in how he was feeling.

The next morning, Angela went with him to his appointment.  About the same time, Simone got hit by a car.  Yikes!  

Simone was just fine and I'll tell that story in a separate post because its scary, but also pretty funny.

But the bad news was dad had a CT scan and it showed old blood and new blood had pooled between his skull and his brain and was putting pressure on his brain.  But his platelets were low and they would have to do emergency surgery to remove the pressure.  Worst of all, they said that his chances of surviving the surgery were 50%.  That was super hard to hear.  They gave him a platelet infusion/transfusion not sure what it is called to keep his platelets up.

So it was an emotional day.  We did a lot of praying.  I took Simone to the hospital, then back to school, then up to the hospital to be there when dad woke up from surgery.

Angela and Diane had to make a lot of hard serious decisions.  It was fun to see them though and part of it was a relief.  Knowing that his sudden loss of movement and his confusion was caused by something fixable was heartening.  

Surgery went well and he came out of everything just fine.  We waited in the hall while his anesthesia wore off.  It was good to be there with Diane and Angela.  When we were able to go in to talk to him, it was pretty sad.  He couldn't remember anything from the previous day.  And it was probably quite scary to wake up in a hospital and not know what had happened or why he was there.  He looked concerned while we were explaining why he was there.

Rachel, Matt, Rebekah and baby Kate flew out and were up with him the next couple days.  It was nice to have some medical professionals helping out!  Having a big family has some serious perks.  It was fun to see everyone and to go out together.  Michelle is in the middle of buying a house!  Super exciting.  

It was Soren's Birthday party on Saturday and Easter on Sunday.  So a super fun, but very busy weekend!  We felt so relieved that dad came out of surgery okay and that things went well.  I'm not ready to say goodbye yet.  Also so relieved that Simone was wearing her helmet, and her getting hit by a car could be a funny story and not tragic.

Home

Why is it so hard to think of a title sometimes?  Anyway, we are home from our dream trip to Europe.  It was so fun to see France and Italy with my kids!  I love the history.  We all learned so much and it was so fun to see places that are so old!

I'm going to start posting details of each day and what we did.  And also how we did it.  I believe this trip cost us less than Hawaii and I'm pretty sure we could have saved even more money if we'd known a few things before we went.

The best part was there was minimal fighting and lots of staying up late and hanging out together.  I was looking at pictures and now have such a longing to do it all again!  I was worried that we would be tired from all of the shlepping around and it wouldn't be fun.  But it was very fun.  I am proud of my big kids for being genuinely interested in the history of the places we went.  And the little kids, well they entertained themselves feeding rats (lol), spinning in circles, creating secret handshakes, etc.

Hardest part about travel is coming home to the real world.   I love my real world.  But its also so nice sometimes to not have so many demands on your time when on vacation.

I really want to go back to see more of everything.  There are so many places I haven't been and that I would love to see.  The kids all agreed they would like to see Greece.  I am really anxious to visit more of France and Italy, particularly the countryside.  Provence and Tuscany.   I'd really like to visit Germany and Prague also.

Someday!

Spring Break 2017: Paris

When I look at my photos from spring break it almost makes me a little sad!  I loved this trip so much.  It was such a dream come true.

Paris Highlights:

*All the kids loving on Soren.
*Playing cards in Miles's hotel room on the last night in Paris.  All five squished into one little area and everyone just laughing.
*Watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle each night
*Great lunch at Le Vente D'Armor and the nice server there
*Realizing kids can entertain themselves anywhere.  Spinning around, playing games, feeding birds, feeding rats, etc.
*Playground at Luxembourg Gardens
*Meals: talking, laughing, trying new foods

Spring Break 2017: Rome

Rome I think was the kids' favorite!  Its really different than Paris.  We loved the nightlife.  There are flights right now out of LAX for only $440 roundtrip on Norwegian nonstop.  Makes me want to hop on a plane and head back to Rome!

Highlights:
*Glowy Helicopters in the Pantheon Square at night
*Gelato everyday!
*Race up the Spanish Steps
*Coliseum
*The whole city looking like a movie set
*Pizza!
*History of the Vatican

Day 1
The evening we arrived from Paris we checked into our cute little airbnb next to the Pantheon.  The building we stayed in was 500 year old!  Crazy.  We loved the creative use of space and the swings, loft, etc.  The kids really enjoyed it and it was comfortable and in the heart of everything we wanted to be close to.  It was only $121/night.  What a steal.  The wifi didn't work, and neither did our hotspot.  But somehow we survived.

We set out on the night Rome Walk that everyone was doing.  I found it at Ricksteves.com.  It was so fun to see all the different squares and the nightlife in Rome.  We found our way fairly easily even though the streets here are crazy.  It looks like a movie set.  The highlights of the Rome Walk are: Campo De Fiori, Piazzo Navonna, Pantheon, Via Del Corso, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps.

We passed an really cool old archaeological site.  We didn't know what it was at first.  There were a bunch of 3 legged cats (or as Soren said, "3 catted legs") and we were all perplexed on why so many amputee cats would be in one place.  Well, we figured it out.  It was The Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary and apparently very popular on trip advisor.  I'm going to have to start planning animal sanctuaries into all our trips now.  It was pretty exciting for my animal loving kids.  Simone especially loves the Torre Argentina site.

Across the street from the Torre Argentina is Pizza Florida.  It was delicious and an easy quick stop for cheap pizza.  Loved the pizza here.

At the Spanish Steps we had a kids race up and Soren lost.  He was so unhappy.  It was actually pretty funny.  So all the kids wanted to do a repeat and Soren won, wink wink!  Boy he gloated about it too.  He was bragging and talking trash

Trevi Fountain  So incredible!

Pantheon--those columns are one solid piece of marble.

Best sandwiches right close to our place across the street from the Lindor Chocolate store.

You MUST get the glowy helicopter things.  Thanks Angela for the tip!

He lost the Spanish Steps Kids Race!  Don't feel too bad because the kids let him win after this and he gloated for awhile about it.  Lol.

Day 2
Coliseum.  We set out for the Coliseum in the morning.  We found an extremely long line awaiting us.  So instead we purchased a tour from one of the guys at the coliseum and just paid a little extra.  We liked skipping the long line and it was really nice to have a guided tour.
The Coliseum is pretty incredible!  After we went to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum.  I loved all three!  The coliseum is just incredible.  But the Roman Forum was gorgeous too with all the wisteria in bloom.

We headed to the Pantheon afterward.  We had dinner overlooking the Piazza Navonna at Terrazza Borromini.  The terrace was beautiful, the food was expensive and not great.

View from Dinner

Day 3
The Vatican
At the guided tour in the Coliseum and on the Palatine Hill we got a referral for the tour of the Vatican.  So we did that to also skip lines.  It was great.  Not too expensive, maybe $20 a person?  I can't remember exactly.  The kids loved the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica was very cool.  I think my favorite part were the beautiful columns as you exit the tours.  Wow.

Day 3
Shopping and then travel day to the Amalfi Coast.

Monet's version of the Celestial Kingdom

We went back to the Spanish Steps area and shopped with the girls.  It was fun! It was a nice location and there were a lot of fun shops there like Zara, Brandy Melville and the coolest sneaker store, Scout,  that was like heaven to Monet who really loves tennis shoes.  We were in love with Zara.  And it is 30% cheaper in Italy.  Makes me want to grab a cheap flight and do my school shopping in Rome!  Really cute leather shoes were only $20.  Which I think is pretty cheap for the quality they were.

After shopping in the morning we packed up our bags, grabbed an Uber and headed to the train station to try to figure out how to get to Naples, so we could hop on the Circumvesiana and then head over to Pompeii and end up in Sorrento for our next adventure.  We did not plan ahead or purchase advance tickets.  And it was a little tricky to figure out how to do the trains.  So we paid more than we would have.  Probably a hundred dollars apiece but that got us to Naples in 1 hr on the high speed train.  SO COOL.  And from there we hopped on the rickety Circumvesiana and continued to Pompeii.  All in all, I'm really glad we did it.  It is fun and empowering to figure out how to make it all work out.  And it ended up being perfect.

We didn't have a ton of time in Rome.  But I think it was enough time to see the main things and experience the city.  I get bored with tons of churches, lots of archeological sites, etc.  So after a couple days, I was ready for something new.  So Amalfi was perfect to break that up and get out of the city for a change of pace.

What I love about travel days: ADVENTURE!  Its kinda fun to not have it all mapped out ahead of time.  Its fun to have to figure things out as you go.  I love that my kids are also excited about this and are willing to go with the flow.  The diesel and smoke smell that is associated with bus stations, train stations, foreign travel and that anticipation actually smells good to me now because of the good memories that it is tied to.  Weird!