Fredericksburg Trip

The week before Memorial Day, my Dad was scheduled to have major back/spine surgery.  He's been dealing with a few issues for about a year and after various doctor visits and tests, it was determined that he needed to have surgery.

I obviously really wanted to be there for the operation itself, but we also wanted to be around to help Dad and Kristin post-surgery for a few days. After the operation, Dad would have lots of restrictions and limitations. They live on some land and have a swimming pool, vegetable garden, plants/flowers and chickens - plus there are always things to do in and around the house.

We made our way to Fredericksburg the day before the surgery.  I surprised Parker with a new set of books with a CD to listen and follow along with in the car. He really enjoyed it!

After we got there, unloaded and settled in, the first order of business for Parker was to swim.  He hadn't been swimming since he wrapped up swimming lessons so he was a wee bit eager to dive in!

We had a snack supper that evening before the surgery the next morning.  A few of my family members that live in the area came over to eat and see Dad.  Parker was so excited to see his cousin Helana. They are 10 months apart and have the best time together.  After we ate, we went to put the chickens up for the night and they wanted to spread out some corn for the deer.  While they were doing that the donkeys and goat behind their land came up for their own snack.

Dad's surgery was a success and we are so grateful!! I'll spare all of the details, but it was a pretty intense four hour surgery. The hospital where he had the surgery was about an hour and a half away from their house.  I was at the hospital the entire surgery day, it was a very long day, but I stayed at their house for the next two days while he was in the hospital recovering so that I could do some things for them at home.  Kristin stayed at the hospital with him and he got to come home two days after surgery.  While they were gone I cleaned, bought groceries, watered plants and kept up with various duties around their house.  We also took care of the pool, chickens, trash, housework, errands etc - we stayed busy, but it was fun to help out!

One of the nights they were gone, we had a movie night.  Parker really enjoyed it - especially with popcorn...one of his favorite foods!

 He also had a lot of fun spending time outside.

Looking good after surgery...He handled it all so well and like a champ - as always!  He has good days and bad, but he's three weeks removed from surgery and recovering well.  There is still discomfort and limitations, but it will take some time to completely heal and get back to normal.

 Did I mention Parker was excited to swim while we were there?  I think he went swimming every day and sometimes more than once in a day.

Fredericksburg has a super fun pizza place called Mr. Gatti's that Parker loves.  They have a yummy pizza buffet and salad bar and some fun games to play for prizes.  Parker wanted to make sure we went while we were in town.  He also wanted Helana to come along.  We went the night before her last day of school.  She just finished 1st grade and will head to 2nd in August.   

After pizza, we went out for ice cream downtown and then ran around the downtown square area where they have a little playground and lots of things to explore.

These sweet cousins sure got in a lot of good playing time together.  I love their little friendship! 

While we were in town, Mamaw and Gramps came up for a day to go to lunch and do a little shopping with us.  It was so nice of them to make the drive to spend some time with us.  It was SO hot, but we made the most of it and had a good time.  We ate lunch at one of our favorite German restaurants and then hit up some of our favorite stores.  We took these outside of Der Kuchen Laden - the best little kitchen store.

 

The perks of helping take care of chickens is coming home with some fresh eggs. 

It was a full and busy time helping out, but we made time for fun as well.  And again, so thankful that Dad's surgery went so well and he's on the mend! 

Until we meet again...

Riley