If you were to guess how long it had been since Kyle and I had gone overnight together without our kids, you might not expect to hear "4 years". Yikes!! We used to go on overnights or trips at least once or twice a year, thanks to generous grandparents and us being intentional. In fact, the last trip we had even planned was April 2020 for our 20th anniversary, which was simply lost in the sea of Covid cancellations. Covid explains a lot of the "not going anywhere" business, but then it more specifically was diabetes that kept one of us home at all times. It's just not something where you can just "leave instructions" because it is an ongoing evaluation of factors that determines how to care for Max.
So! For the two years since Max's diagnosis, one of us just needed to be there. It's a season, and one that felt eternal, but I had a couple people really praying for us in this area, that we could find a way back to getting away together. Max has been growing like crazy in the area of self management. His insulin pump helps SO much with this, but also middle school life helps too. There is a lot of practice for him making sure his blood sugar is safe in many situations at school - not too low before PE, dose correctly at lunch, not too low right before a test, giving extra insulin if he is running super high etc... He is motivated to keep his devices from blaring their alarms, so he keeps his eye on things and adjusts as needed. He is so amazing. And also because of my invested parents being willing to learn diabetes as much as they can, and Max's growth towards more independence, I knew it was time to rip off the bandaid and do something "scary" (scary for me... mainly just for me). So for Kyle's birthday, I arranged an overnight at one of our fave places, McMenamins Grand Lodge, coinciding with my parents coming for a visit. Also, Madeline deserves a major shoutout too. She was the "parent on call" overnight, willing to wake up to overnight alarms and make sure Max treated low blood sugars if they happened (he often doesn't hear the alarms himself). I think she was awake all night, just feeling worried she might not hear it. So as you can see... it's a team effort!
We had an amazing time, and really packed in a bunch of different things in our 24 hours away. Nothing like a season of going without to make you really appreciate the gifts again. Max did great (I only texted him 5 times)... My parents did great. The kids did great. It feels good to see how this is possible again!
Our fun overnight date consisted of visiting the Carlton bakery (a Corrigan family establishment), doing a little wine tasting, a movie in the hotel theater, listening to some live music, sleeping in, a hike next to Hagg Lake, and appliance shopping (gotta get the practical stuff done too!). We had a blast!
