In an unexpected and unwelcome turn of events, both Eden and Lily woke up in the middle of the night with the dreaded stomach bug. I had prayed all week that if one of the kids came down with it, it wouldn't be on HikeMS day. Unfortunately, neither one of them were able to go to the hike but fortunately, my mom and dad agreed to stay home with them so that Cory and I could go.
I noticed after we got to the hike that Parker wasn't eating any of his breakfast and when I asked him how he felt, he said his stomach was starting to hurt. I couldn't decide if he was really feeling bad or just having sympathy nausea, but I also couldn't take a chance of getting him up on the mountain and have him get sick. Luckily, my dad volunteered to come pick him up and take him home just in case. He was so disappointed that he didn't get to hike with the rest of us.
With all three of our kids and my parents out of the hike, our group had dwindled to nine hikers. We were disappointed but decided to make the most of it. Emily, Jon and the cousins all hiked the 6-mile trail and the Benkes, Cory and I hiked the 2-mile trail.
We felt so blessed that Ted and Maureen Benke joined us for the hike this year. Ted has been fighting MS for the past three years and has always been one of Cory's biggest supporters.
He was so helpful to Cory along the hike and stayed with him until the end. It took Cory almost three hours to finish his hike but I was so proud of him for pushing through and not giving up.
Emily and Jon decided to take all three of their kids on the 6-mile hike. They weren't sure how they would do on that long of a hike, but in the end (except for one tumble), Emily said all three kids did pretty well.
Snack break!
"I'm hiking for my Uncle Cory"
Tough guy!
The hike did not go as planned but we were flexible and made the most out of a bad situation. We look forward to this day all year long and I hate that our kids didn't get to experience the hike this year. I'm so thankful that my parents were willing to nurse Eden and Lily back to health so that I could be with Cory during the hike. It will definitely be a hike that we will never forget!
No comments:
Post a Comment