Sandy T. Sick At Sea

Since 2008, every few years, my extremely generous parents have taken all of the adult children and our families on a fun vacay. Our first trip was in 2008 to Cozumel, Mexico. We knew we were going somewhere, but my parents kept it a secret until Christmas day. My Mom blindfolded all of us and had us open up bags with letters and just by feeling the letters we had to try and figure out the location. My Mom is so fun and creative (check out her Thanksgiving table creations here). My niece Lani was the first to figure out that we were going to Cozumel. It was such a fun trip!

Cozumel 2008

Fast forward 5 years later, my parents took us to Maui. It was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on in my entire life! My son was 18 months old, at the time, and was a horrible sleeper. While we were in Hawaii, he napped for a few hours everyday and slept all through the night. It was the first time in 18 months that I had full nights of sleep and it was pure bliss.

Maui 2013

This year our parents took us to the Big Island of Hawaii and we stayed at the beautiful Fairmont Orchid. It was PERFECT!!! They have a little beach lagoon that my kids absolutely loved and two huge pools. It was so much fun watching them play and have fun with my family. My kids absolutely adore my family and are always so excited to see them. It’s so nice for my husband and I because my family takes over for us and we actually get to RELAX!!

Fairmont Orchid

Tate and Baylor playing at the beach lagoon.

The first day we got in late in the afternoon and had dinner on the beach and called it an early night. The next day, my Mom had planned for us to have family pictures taken on the beach and I was so excited. I absolutely LOVE having family pictures and was so excited that we would be able to capture this trip with all of us all together. Anyone who has taken family pictures (especially with young kids) knows that taking pictures can be very stressful and I ALWAYS get snappy while taking them. I swear it brings out the worst in me. We love wearing white in our pictures and the girls always have fun shopping for our outfits. I found that it looks the best, despite most of the photographers opinions. You can shop for my dress here.

My little family. Everyone calls us the “Woulfe Pack”.

This time things went smoothly and my kids did great. Our photographer was very nice and funny and made us feel comfortable. He did a great job with the pictures even though the wind that day was excessive. We took nearly 200 pictures and practically every single one looked like we were blowing away in a tsunami, no joke! Still, the pictures came out pretty and again, I love having them as memories.

The “whole gang”

The next day, we woke up and everyone was at breakfast but my Mom. My Dad said she was still asleep. We all thought that was odd because my Mom is an early riser. My Dad said he was going to let her sleep and checked on her during the breakfast; but came back saying she was still asleep. I started to really worry. My kids were dying to get to the beach. So, we went and waited to hear from my Mom, but heard nothing. The entire day went by and all we heard from my Dad was that she was still sleeping.

She was clearly sick, but I worried. Did I snap at her last night during pictures? (I’m serious, pictures bring out the worst in me!!). Was she mad at my Dad?? My Mom is the healthiest person I know and she NEVER gets sick. This was just strange! My Mom, sister and I had planned to meet that afternoon to pick out our family pictures. However, she didn’t show up. My Dad was there instead to tell us that my Mom wasn’t going to be able to make it and to pick out the pictures we wanted. It was supposed to be fun and it was. I couldn’t help but just be worried sick about my Mom. The whole day went by and we didn’t see her or hear from her.

The next three days it was the same story. We didn’t see or hear from my Mom and all we pretty much got out of my Dad was that she was sleeping. My brother, sister and I honestly were panicking. This was SO unlike our Mom to be sick, especially on our family vacation.

One night my sister finally barged in her hotel room and she came back saying she did not look good and was really sick. I felt awful for her. My Mom truly lives to see her family and we had been planning and looking forward to this vacation for a whole year! Every day my two year old daughter was asking, “Where’s Mommom?”

Finally on our second to last day, we had breakfast with my Dad and as we were leaving he told my husband he might need his help getting my Mom to go to the hospital. He told me that she took a shower that morning and was so weak that she couldn’t even dry herself off. I told my husband to go to their room immediately. When my husband got there she was being wheeled out on a wheel chair and he came back to the room saying she did not look good.

This honestly made my heart stop. Because my husband is the calmest guy in the world and is so low key about everything, seeing him look worried was terrifying. My Dad texted all of us and said he was taking her to the emergency room. We all sat there glued to our phones waiting to hear back from my Dad. He told us she was severely dehydrated and was being given an IV. I think we were all relieved she was finally getting help on our second to last day in Hawaii.

Someone in the ER has a sense of humor

A few hours after being at the beach we headed back up to the hotel and there was my Mom. It was the first time we had seen her in four days. My kids were ecstatic, we were all ecstatic! When something’s wrong with your Mom your whole world just doesn’t feel right. She told us that she was so sick and tired and weak but after half of an IV bag she felt back to normal. They ended up giving her two IV bags and sent her on her way.

My Mom took it easy for the rest of the day but on our last day she was up and ready to enjoy it. We spent the whole day at the beach and had a birthday party for my daughter Baylor, that night.

Baylor Jo’s 2nd birthday celebration.

All was right in the world again! Sadly, the next day we had to leave. But, thankfully, my Mom was okay. Scroll below to see our family pictures taken at our beautiful resort. I’ve also linked the outfits we wore for our family pictures.

Love,

Abby

My precious parents, Sandy T. and Jerry T.

My beautiful sister and her family that we call “The Family Of Fun”.

Shop for my sister’s jumpsuit here and my nieces dress here.

Me and “The Mama”

My hilarious brother that we call “The Jonny” with his nieces and nephew. He’s the best uncle ever.

Shop for Baylor’s dress here

 

Our “Kardashian” style picture.