There’s no place like…

San Diego! The beach, the palm trees, the weather!! What a beautiful place! We will always have a special spot in our hearts for San Diego!

But…

There is no place like home! We felt the anticipation building the closer we got to getting home and the first place that really showed up was in our sleep- or lack thereof. We each got about three hours of sleep before the alarm went off at 3:20 AM on Thursday morning. We had the best Uber driver who got us to the airport as comfortably as possible. He insisted upon helping with our luggage and I can still hear his voice saying, “Bye, Family!!” as he wished us well on our way. We were able to check our bags right there at the curb and we got through TSA pre-check in about 5 minutes. Thankfully, that left plenty of time for us to get Starbucks. 🤓

Finally, we boarded and began our taxi down to the runway. One of the flight attendants made an announcement reminding everyone  to remain seated with their seatbelts on, and if there was a medical emergency, to press the call button repeatedly. A very short time later, she repeated the announcement. Just after that, one of the other crew members walked down the aisle and the next announcement asked if there was a doctor, nurse or other medical professional on board to assist, as there really was a medical emergency. 

We taxied back to the gate, where paramedics met us and the young man was able to follow them off the plane. We heard something about a diabetic and pray that he’s okay! We waited for the bio hazard team to come clean up and for the plane to be refueled, and we were back on our way about an hour late. 

Which wasn’t good for our 40 minute layover. We touched down about 3 minutes before our 2:35 pm flight home was departing- so close, yet so far! The writing was on the wall and we knew we weren’t going to make it so we rebooked while we were still airborne and got on the next flight out. At 9:30 PM!

That gave us 7 hours to “enjoy” the 1.4 mile long Detroit concourse. We landed on one end and took our time making it to the complete opposite end for our departure. We tried to eat, but the stress of the day was making that hard. Instead of landing around 4:15, we got into Bradley at 11:30 and got home around 12:30. We left San Diego early morning on July 30 and got home July 31. 🫠

Liam was waiting up for us and when we woke up Aidan and Maura, Aidan wrapped himself tight around me and Maura launched herself into Ian’s arms, sobbing! The kids made the best welcome home posters and picked out some balloons to greet us. Molly got a Pup Cup after we picked her up from the kennel yesterday and she’s done such a great job around Ian! Home is definitely where the heart is! ❤️

Since we’ve gotten home, Ian’s been working on his vestibular therapy exercises. He’s also noticed that he is not tasting food the same way he used to, and it turns out that can be a complication from the procedure that doesn’t get as much attention as the facial paralysis. We are waiting to hear back from the team about this but based on what we’ve read it can take weeks, to months for it to come back- if it does. We would appreciate your continued prayers for Ian, as it would be great to have only one of his five senses with permanent damage as opposed to two. 🙏🏻

We are so grateful to be home, even after a day that tested us in many ways. San Diego gave us sunshine and got us to the other side of this, but nothing compares to walking through our own door and having Liam, Aidan, and Maura all there waiting for us. We know more than ever, there really is no place like home! 🏡