Road-Trip Adventures

This past weekend has been full of drama! Our good friend Jon got married in Calgary on Friday and Erik and I decided to make a road-trip out of it. After a few hours of sleep we got up very early on Thursday morning to start the drive. Little did we know the adventures that awaited us…

We pulled into Salmon Arm at about 5 am and Erik woke me up from my sleep saying that he needed me to drive for a little while. I felt exhausted and had a stomach ache but I said I could try driving if we stopped for some coffee first. Erik waited in the van with the kids while I went into Tim Horton’s. The cashier was taking her time chatting with the customers in front of me and as I was waiting I started feeling more and more sick and shaky. I have fainted 3 other times in my life and I recognized the feeling. It was just then that I ordered my drink and then told the girl that I needed to go sit down. I put my head down on the table and was feeling really awful. When she brought me my coffee I asked her if she could get my husband from the van. Erik left the kids and came right in and I asked if he could take me to the bathroom. As soon as I got in there I totally passed out. I remember a few people coming in and out. Erik had to go check on the kids and then a couple of girls from Tim Horton’s offered to bring them in and feed them timbits which was helpful. Erik ended up calling the ambulance and by the time the paramedics arrived I was feeling a bit better. The girl who first helped me was in the bathroom when they came and she gave them the low-down on what happened. Even in my state I couldn’t help but find it humorous that she included my drink order (half coffee, half french vanilla) in relaying her story to the paramedics :) They put me on a stretcher, loaded me into the ambulance and we made a short drive to the hospital. My blood pressure was extremely low and I felt really shivery but they gave me the most wonderful warm blanket when we got to the hospital. In the end they concluded that it was the combination of lack of sleep, lack of food and my low blood pressure that caused the fainting. I was also coming down with a head cold and I remembered later that at least one other time that I've fainted I've been sick. Even now I'm still fighting this cold and have a foggy, light-headed feeling. Do any of you medical people out there think there could be a connection?

So, anyway, after the three-hour trip interruption I assured Erik we could continue on to Calgary. By the afternoon the whole episode seemed like a distant memory and if it wasn't for the hospital bracelet I still had on I might've thought I dreamt the whole thing :) We headed straight for the church to be part of the rehearsal since Micah was supposed to be the ringbearer. He met his flowergirl counterpart and did his job great! Erik and I took the kids to our hotel afterwards and spent the evening enjoying the waterslide. Micah has become so brave in the water. With his water wings on he was totally comfortable going down the slide alone. He would bob under the water as he came down, but would pop right up with a smile and doggy paddle to the stairs to do it all over again! It was fun to watch.

Once again, the laptop was a road-trip life-saver:

The hotel ran out of playpens, so this was our make-shift bed for Keziah:

The next day went quite smoothly until about 2 hours before the wedding ceremony was about to start. I was doing my hair in our hotel bathroom when I heard Micah start screaming. I raced out to see that he had dove off a chair and cracked his head on the edge of the bedside table. It looked pretty deep and I was sure he would need stitches. I found Erik out in the hall and he offered to take Micah to a clinic. Thankfully there was one nearby. They didn't stitch him since Micah was far too hysterical, so they steri-stripped the cut. So, unfortunately Micah was quite bandaged up for the ceremony but he still performed great!

Flowergirl & ringbearer:

Practicing (I couldn't get a picture of the real thing):

Having a little conversation about the flowers:

Micah and the lovely ladies:

Standing with Uncle Doug for the first part of the ceremony:



Comparing flowers with Jon:

Family pictures:

During the wedding it had started snowing like crazy. We had arranged for our friends Dan & Karen to watch the kids that evening while we went to the reception, but we had to drive 30 minutes to High River to drop them off. The drive out was OK but we were worried about what the roads would be like later that evening when we needed to pick them up. During the reception, Karen called and advised us not to try driving yet that night. She assured me that the kids were doing great and were all asleep. That put my mind at ease and Erik and I were able to enjoy the evening without feeling rushed or stressed about a wintery drive.

Jon & Dayna at the reception:

Waiting for the first dance:

The next morning the roads were still quite snowy and icy, but our van handled it well and we were glad to see the kids again. Micah and Tyler had a blast together and I think Keziah felt right at home as well :) I told Karen she must have a pretty good touch since both kids did so well.

Micah showed me the bunk beds that he got to share with Tyler:

Micah & Tyler:

Keziah & Graham:

Karen & I:


We had planned on leaving Calgary that day but it was still storming and some sections of the roads were closed. So we took up some other friends, Craig & Janelle, on their offer to host us for the night. Their boy and girl are around the same ages as our own and the kids had a blast playing together. Erik & I really appreciated re-connecting with them too since we hadn't been in touch with them much since we moved away from Calgary about 5 years ago. We had such a good time that I forgot to take any pictures :( Oh well.

We left Calgary Sunday morning expecting the worst for roads, but we were pleasantly surprised to have a very uneventful trip home after all the drama of the weekend. We arrived to sunny skies, 9 degrees and green grass. It's good to be home :)