I thought I was pretty clever with this title. It sounds like “When Cruises Go Bad” (and someone falls off the ship and is lost forever at sea) or “When Prom Night Goes Wrong (cue the horror movie music). Really, our stay-cation wasn’t bad at all. But it was nothing like we’d planned.

God has a way of doing that to me. He looks at my plans and laughs. Kind of like this…

…

Between an overcrowded Hilton, insane traffic in and around Tampa Bay on a holiday week, a little boy with a fever pushing 104 for three days and RAIN… well… our plans just didn’t work out. Want to know how many of those things up there we did?

0.

Fair warning. Photo overload ahead.

I was really disappointed. Bryan and I both took the week off (unheard of around here). I had everything planned out. And life got in the way.

And all week long I kept thinking of that quote “life is what happens in the moments in between.” Gracious is that true.

On Wednesday as I laid on the couch with my not-so-cuddly little boy wrapped in my arms. I pulled him cheek to cheek and remembered how often I’d yearned for this moment again. He’s into everything these days and has no interest in snuggles. We get hugs and kisses from time to time, but he doesn’t like to be held, rocked or snuggled. But on Wednesday, all he wanted was his mama.

So we took a nap together on the couch.

And Brady had his first real popsicle in the bathtub.

And mama and daddy got a chance to show Brady what real love is. We bathed him at 4am and wiped his tears. We took him to the doctor and held him when he didn’t even want to open his eyes he was so sleepy and sick. We swam in the pool in the rain (pre-sickness) and ate lunch on the patio. We took pictures and read new books and learned to count to three (sort of).

We may not have gone to Busch Gardens or the aquarium or the zoo (or anywhere else for that matter) but we had a wonderful stay-cation. I’m so grateful for moments when I get to embrace my little family and fill them up. I’m so grateful that God forces me to slow the heck down and realize what’s most important.

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Fourth of July as well!!

xo,

Emily