We spent 5 days in Key West, Florida . . . it was our 1st trip with diabetes and it was wonderful.
I spent days --- no, scratch that ---- I spent weeks worrying about traveling with Nate, his OmniPod, his DexCom, his insulin, syringes, test strips, Glucagon, and all of the medical supplies required to keep Nate safe, happy and healthy. So, our AWESOME OmniPod rep and our clinical specialist both walked me through traveling with D and totally put my mind at ease. Well, for the most part anyway. My sales rep gave me the best advice --- she said "have fun -- your going to be on vacation -- don't let diabetes ruin it for you". I took those words to heart.
We were there for my Jim's brother's wedding so everything was scheduled around wedding stuff and young peeps with no children. Which turned out to be just fine! Normally I would have totally freaked out about a rehearsal dinner being at 7:30, a wedding dinner at 8p and all kinds of crazy schedules.. Not this time - - - we just rolled with it and Nate rocked some good numbers, some high numbers and a few low numbers. Nothing we couldn't handle!! :)
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| The Lovely Couple |
The free part - - - well, I am happy to say that there are some benefits from my husband working out of state for the past 9-months. As some of you may know Jim has been working in DC for months!! He flies back and forth -- back and forth!! He is usually there for at least 2-weeks at a time. Anywho - - - he racked up a butt-load of frequent flier miles on AA (he's now a million miler on AA and that ROCKS!), he earned thousands and thousands of Marriott rewards which paid for a kick-ass suite in Key West and he appearantly got a little friendly with the Enterprise rent-a-car manager at the BWI airport because she hand wrote him a coupon for a HUGE discount on her business card for a mini-van (we weren't sure it would actually work) and it worked!!
With Jim being a million miler on AA we didn't have to pay for checked luggage which is a good things since we had 3 HUGE suitcases, 2 small suitcases and 3 car seats. Whhooooaaaa Nelly - that would have been spendy!! Ummm - yea you should have seen us trying to haul all of that from the Ft. Lauderdale airport luggage carousel to the Enterprise off-site location --- it was AWESOME!
The suite had a full kitchen so we were able to keep the insulin along with a few groceries in the fridge. The hotel provided a free breakfast buffet every morning --- I'm talking waffles, omelets, hash browns, bacon, sausage, cereals, and yogurts. Yea - Yea - Yea - - - we didn't really worry about cholesterol levels so much on this vacation either. :) We bought groceries at the local Publix and we were good to go! Hello my kids could survive on PB&J --- thank goodness!!
I hope no one tracks us down and interrogates us for what I am about to write - - - but here I go . . .
The security at DFW airport was RIDICULOUS! The line was LONG but luckily they have a Priority Access line in the A terminal and no one else was in it. So, we went to the front of the line, the lady checked our boarding passes and noticed we had 2 for Emma and none for Sophie - WTH? Anyway - that was a quick fix since I had printed them online too and had one in my blag for Sophie. I mentioned to her that our son was T1D and asked her if there was anything special we needed to do. She said no & hurried us on our way. So, we get to the actual security screening part and we look like a 3-ring circus --- we've got 3 kids removing shoes, I'm taking off my shoes and trying to put all of our stuff into those little gray bins and keep up with above-mentioned children that are trying to race through the metal detector. We literally just dumped all of our shoes and bags into the bins and breezed through the detector with no issues. No one set off the alarms so as we were waiting for our things to come off of the conveyor belt I was also waiting for them to start asking us some questions. There hadn't been anyone on the other side of the machines to tell about the medical bag so we just sent it through without any heads up.
Ummm - Yea - no one seemed to care or notice that we were traveling with not 1 but 2 bottles of water, 2 vials of insulin, 50 syringes, 5 juice boxes, an emergency Glucagon kit, 1 DexCom inserter and 2 OmniPods (<---- the last 3 of those have very LARGE needles) and a ton of other medical supplies. We also had Barbies, mermaids and a ton of Matchbox cars. :)
No one said a word. Seriously?!? It was super easy but a little scary --- I have no idea but I'm pretty sure someone somewhere could build a bomb with all of the crap we had in our bags!! I'm just sayin'. An insulin Barbie bomb - - - it's not unheard of - right? Am I allowed to say bomb on here?? Bomb Bomb Bomb!!
The kids were angels on the plane ride to FLL and they mostly slept on the 4-hour drive to Key West - - easy peasy!!
They were super excited to arrive at the hotel . . .
I was super excited to take a nap in here . . .
Yea - Yea - Yea - I know beautiful beach right outside. I'm a D Mama man - - - I never sleep. Beach or Bed -- Beach or Bed??? Bed won on day 1. We had tons of family there --- helllloooo grandma and grandpa + a ton of aunts and uncles. It was good!!!
Another restful plus was that we put Nate's crib in our room so we could leave his Beep-Beep (DexCom receiver) right on that table beside the bed. OMG - that totally rocks. I seriously have not slept that much in the past year!! It was amazing. Oh yea - the wedding and the beach were both awesome too. :)
I'll leave you with some pics of our vacation - - - I know - I know - other peoples vaca pics - - - BORING! It's ok - you don't have to look. :)
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| Nate loved playing in the sand |
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| 3 Joys |
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| Nate running away from the picture |
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| My little artist - Emma |
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| My future's so bright!! |
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| Nate loved the beach!! |
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| sand angel? |
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| The kids and their cousins |
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| Jim and Laura |
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| She has a killer smile - my little heartbreaker! |
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| Our little explorer |
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| Grandma with Nate |
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| 3 generations of Houston men |
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| 3 Little Houstons |
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| The Girls! |
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| The Family |
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| The Southern most point of the USA |
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| Cyborg Baby :() |
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| Such a fun day! |
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| I loved watching them play! |
For family members that actually made it down this far -- the rest of the pics are on my Phanfare site. Click Here
We did have to do a pod change at 30,000 feet on the way back and the FLL security was a little tougher to get through than the DFW but it was really a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.
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| My iTot |
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| The boy knows his way around my phone |
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| Priming Pod at 30,000 Feet! Yea Baby! |
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18 comments:
Loved all the pictures and I'm so happy you had a wonderful, relaxing time...totally deserved!!
I am SO SO SO SO happy you had a great vacation Laura!! It makes my heart so happy to think of you actually getting a good night sleep! I looked at ALL the pictures! Does that make me family?
Awesome pics!! Glad you had fun you definitely deserve it.
Btw J was dxed on vacation.soo 2 weeks after dx 4 of is on a plane from ny to vegas with all our crap. Yea it was nuts. So scared..
Kisses!
So glad your vaca went well! Looks like you all had a lot of fun! We took our boys to Cabo last year and going through security with all the D supplies sucked...they made Bryce stand aside in the little booth thing and get patted down because of his pump. We have since learned to disconnect him and put the pump through with the stuff. We carry juice boxes and yogurts and other stuff not typically allowed but we pull our D card and they don't take it away...guess having D helps out sometimes.
I love the photos...and I love that you said "bomb, bomb, bomb!!!"...Shit, I hope I don't get into trouble for that - LOL.
I am so glad security went well for you. Maybe the pod does not set off the metal detector...the PING DOES...EVERY.TIME! Oh well, we have uber-awesome "wanding stories".
Love to you and your gorgeous family Laura. Cheers to the Happy Couple.
So glad you had such a great vacation and a good night of sleep to boot. (That part made me smile.) Nate is getting so big! I enjoyed your pics, what a beautiful family!
Great pics Laura... sooooo jealous of your trip. Looks like you had a great time. Next time, take me. I can curl up and fit into most suitcases.
I'm just sayin'.
looks like you had an awesome trip!! Glad it worked out!
Im so excited you had such a great trip. Our trip to PA wasnt as bad as we thought it was goin gto be too!! I am only 3 hours from DC if hubby ever needs anything by the way
What a great trip! Glad you guys had a great time! :)
YAY!!!!!!!!!! Great pictures!!! GREAT vacation!!! I am so happy that all went so well! =)
I'm so glad you guys had a good vacation. You deserve it! It looks like such a dream and I'm glad D behaved itself.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!
SO AWESOME!!!!!!
I love that you guys were able to get away and make some memories :) YIPPEE!!!!!
Your family is BEAUTIFUL and I always love looking at pictures!
It's amazing that D only lurked in the background of a fantastic family vacation! Props to you for that. I'm glad it was a good one.
By the way, our little Robby calls his Dexcom his "beep beep" too. And seeing you cyborg baby with a pod and sensor on his little boy body just like my little man is quite remarkable. It would be fun to get these little guys together soon. I met Joanne last week- she's fantastic!
Hopefully when life settles down a bit we can all get together some time...aw, who am I kidding?!? We're heading straight into holiday season- it might be a while before life settles down!
Anyway, glad it was a good trip for your darling little crew!
What fun. Looks like the perfect vacation. Glad you could get away for a few days. I can tell from your voice that it did you some good. Love the pics!
You crack me up! An insulin Barbie bomb! Bomb, bomb, bomb! Too funny!
Loved seeing all your vacation photos. I'm glad you shared them with us. The kids just keep getting cuter and cuter. Your little Sophie DOES have a killer smile!
So happy you were able to get away for FREE, enjoy an escape, and roll with the schedule and diabetes. :-)
So glad you had a great time! I agree..bed trumps beach for this d mama too!!
the kids are the cutest..but I am sure you already know that!
Laura, Love all the beautiful pics! Im so happy to hear you had a well-deserved vacation and D didn't put a dent on such a joyful time. You're one amazing Mom. We're getting ready for our Thanksgiving trip to CA and the same concerns you had have gone thru my mind. Thanks for sharing your story. It makes me feel a lot better about traveling with D. Happy Thanksgiving!