[Mini Vacation] Days 3, 4 and 5... and a trip to the ER

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Welcome back to Part 2 of our mini vacation! You'd think with the title 'Mini Vacation' that it would only take one post for me to share, but I am what you call an 'over picture taker' and couldn't narrow the pictures down so I thought it would be better to break it up into two posts so I didn't bombard you with photos. With that being said, don't think you are getting off picture easy today - this post is just as picture heavy as yesterday!

Day 3 was forecasted to be the best day weather-wise of the 3 whole days we had to explore and Day 4 was forecasted for rain so we opted to hike on Day 3 and go to the aquarium on Day 4. Day 3's weather was GORGEOUS and definitely did not disappoint. We went to Point Lobos State Park and hiked around and explored the area. Gorgeous is an understatement. I could definitely get used to that view all the time!

But, although the scenery was beautiful, I'd definitely say that hiking with a two year old is not high on my list of things to do again. Not only did we have to watch out for poison oak, but Mason basically hated walking and made Seth or I carry him. Not so easy when you are climbing a mountain. BUT I am so glad we did it. Because, seriously. Just look.



Around 11:30am we decided that we would try to go find some lunch. Mason was starting to get cranky and even the gold fish weren't working their normal magic on him so we headed into town and found a lovely little deli to have lunch at.

After lunch, we headed back to the condo, stopped for gas and a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up stuff for dinner (and a peach green tea lemonade #ofcourse) and then Mason fell asleep in the car.

I mean... those cheeks and those eye lashes!
all the heart eye emojis!

We got back, played, had dinner, took a bath, played some more, and then went to bed in anticipation of our Day 4 adventure at the aquarium.

It rained over night but the weather was surprisingly good in the morning. It was cold and windy but with no rain so we had no problem exploring the inside and outside exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium


We came home from the aquarium with a few hours to spare before dinner so we hung out and played and then went to this delicious Mexican restaurant called 'The Whole Enchilada' for dinner. Seriously, for being in the middle of nowhere, it was delicious.



And the just when you start thinking "wow, Mason is doing SUCH an awesome job sleeping on the big boy bed, maybe we should get him one of his own" is when something goes wrong.

But let's start from the beginning. On Day 1, we knew we were going to have Mason sleep on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. He is too big for the pack n play and he for sure knows how to climb out so this seemed like the better option. We had planned on getting a side rail for the bed when we stopped at Target but forgot and just hoped that he would be ok. And he was. For nights 1-3. We looked for anything that we thought might hurt him if he fell and we removed it - mainly the glass table covering on the table right next to where his head was. We thought we were good to go since the corners were rounded and was also slightly above head height if he were to fall.

Enter night 4. Mason went to bed at 8pm and I went to bed slightly later around 9pm. Everything we fine. We were both sleeping and Seth came to join us later around 10pm. Then all of a sudden, SCREAMING and CRYING. Seth jumped up immediately (he was on the side that Mason was on and I was against the wall) and I woke up and was slightly confused. Then all of a sudden Seth yells "LIZ GET UP". I knew something was wrong. I asked what happened and he said that Mason was bleeding. I can't even really remember what happened in those next seconds but I jumped up so quickly and I'm sure I must have slammed my leg on the bed because I have a huge bruise now but at the time, I don't remember doing it. Seth carried Mason into the bathroom and I started to freak out. Blood. So much blood. All I could think was "what happened to my baby?!?!?" Seth got a wash cloth and tried to stop the bleeding but there was so much blood that he said we needed to go to the emergency room. By this point, Mason is screaming and Grandma and Grandpa are awake. My Dad googles where the nearest hospital is, I put in my contacts, throw on a sweatshirt, feel like I am going to throw up and/or pass out, tell myself I need to pull it together, and we were off.

Thank GOODNESS the nearest hospital was only like 6 miles down the road and we got there relatively quickly. Mason was SO brave the whole time and was barely crying in the car. I kept holding his hand and telling him it was going to be ok, that he was so brave. We got to the ER and filled out some paperwork and checked in. The ER crowd was... interesting... but that's a whole other story for a different day. We got there around 11pm and got seen by a doctor around 11:30pm/11:40pm and then was done by like 12:15am. Mason was a rockstar the whole time and only cried when the doctor cleaned his cut to see if he needed stitches. THANKFULLY it was a small cut (maybe 1/2 a centimeter) and it clotted very quickly. They said he was ok, he didn't need stitches, and to watch him and make sure he didn't have a concussion (which he had no signs of having). They gave him some Motrin, told us to wake him up once in the night to make sure his pupils weren't dilated and he knew who we were and watch for any throwing up.

We got home and Seth and Mason were going to sleep on the floor but Mason didn't want to. He climbed back up on his big boy bed right away (so sweet - he loved that bed) so Seth scooted him over and slept there next to him to make sure he didn't fall again. We woke up at 4am to check him and then went back to sleep until he woke us up at 6:30am - totally back to himself and totally fine. 

So there you have it. Quite the way to end a vacation and scared the cr*p out of me and Seth, but thankfully my brave big boy was totally ok. We think that when he fell, he hit the bottom corner of the end table next to him (something we didn't even think to protect him from) and it cut his head. The edge was not rounded and was pretty pointy so that must have done it. The mama guilt set in HARD when I realized that we should have gone back and gotten him the side rail or put pillows around the bottom of the end table, but alas, you can't go back in time so we have learned for the future.


Despite the trip to the ER to end our vacation, we did have a great time and can't wait to go on another vacation with Grandma and Grandpa again... hopefully soon!




18 comments:

  1. We seriously have so many similarities in our mini vacations! Trains, aquariums, and head injuries! Noah's didn't require a trip to the ER thankfully. That's great though that Mason didn't need stitches. And Noah wanted to be carried a lot at the aquarium so I can only imagine on a hike! They are getting to heavy for all that... I made Chris carry him lol :).

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  2. oh well holy geez, what a way to end a vacation and be woken up in the middle of the night. Screaming babe with blood all over? Let me opt out of that one. But apart from that....Aria would dig the jellies at the aquarium! She is loving jellies at the moment. Funny that he didn't want to walk on a hike. I think Aria would be the opposite...all walk no desire to stay nearby. Until she got tired then she'd only want mom to carry her, always fun for the back.

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  3. Oh my goodness friend. I have totally been there. Emily slipped in a bath tub at Disney world and ended up bumping her chin, cutting her upper gums with her razor sharp baby teeth.... SO MUCH BLOOD. Plus we had no car. It was terrifying. (She ended up being just fine)

    So glad that everything worked out and he didn't need stitches. You took some fabulous pictures too.

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  4. Your vacation was straight up gorgeous!!!

    Except that trip to the ER. Poor mason! I'm so proud of him for handling it like a champ (you too! I would have been a hot mess!). And he climbed right back into that bed? So resilient!! What an ending to vacation.

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  5. Wow, what a trip! Good times... and terrifying times. I'm so glad he is okay...

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  6. Oh good grief... look how gorgeous those views are! I would hike all day, every day if I could have that view! I miss hiking!! Mia always loved it (but she was used to it since we did it all the time, plus we didn't have to watch out for poison oak. PLUS I put her on a leash, ha ha ha!)

    Oh sweet Mason. That is SO terrifying for you and Seth! You guys handled it perfectly, like the amazing parents you are! I've heard head wounds are sooooo much blood :( I'm glad Mason wasn't hurt too badly! What a way to end your trip :(

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  7. Oh friend, I am an over picture taker too. Sometimes it’s overwhelming! Ha. And we’ve so been there…hiking with a two year old! Mason wanted someone to carry him the whole time. And we went in blind to a hiking trail because there were 2 things we wanted to see. Had no clue it was up & down hill for miles. We were plum wore out afterwards. An adventure, for sure! Love that sign with the beach names on it. My mom’s side of the family are all Gibson’s. Ahhh, I am so sorry you guys had to go through that! It’s so hard to see your little one get hurt when you try your hardest to protect them! I’m so glad he’s okay and the cut didn’t need stitches. What a big boy he was!

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  8. I bet that was so scary! Glad Mason is okay! I'm currently working on my on "vacation injury" post. How random!!

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  9. Ahhh hearing ER made me freak! Glad he was ok and didn't need stitches!

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  10. Yikes! Glad Mason is okay! Poor Brantley had stitches in his forehead twice by the time he was 26 months old. These boys!!! Next time, take a pool noodle. You can slip it under the fitted sheet and it helps prevent them from falling out. Cheaper and easier than those bed rails!

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  11. Poor Mason! Talk about a damper on your vacation, ERs are awful. Glad he's ok. You got to see some wonderful places! The MB Aquarium is by far out favorite place! Still a little bummed they took out the Seahorse exhibit, but what can you do? Also The Whole Enchilada has been featured on Food Network ;)

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  12. Oh no! I bet that was so scary for your little guy! I'm glad he's doing ok and that he didn't need stitches.

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  13. Don't give up on hiking with a toddler completely! Maybe if you ease into it with shorter hikes. We started slow with Liam and now he will do 2-3 mile hikes with us! One thing that has tremendously helped is that we don't use a stroller anywhere so Liam is always used to walking. And yay for no stitches! That must have been scary!

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  14. YIKES!!! So glad to hear everything ended up ok with Mason. SO SCARY!
    Aside from the ER detour - wow. I'm dying to get to Point Lobos! It's so pretty!!! Those views are freaking amazing. And that aquarium looks like so much fun!!

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  15. Oh gosh- I can't imagine what you guys were thinking when you woke up! So so glad he was ok though and it wasn't something worse. Aside from that, that aquarium looks awesome! And those views!

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  16. Hiking with a toddler totally sounds like a ton of work but you guys are troopers for doing it! Plus man those views!! So sorry about him falling out of bed -- poor kiddo! Glad he recovered quick and wasn't afraid of his bed!! And way to be super quick ER! That's impressive! Well not tha tyou had to go but that the staff moved so quickly.

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  17. What a beautiful trip! Sorry you had to visit the ER during the trip, but glad your little guy was okay. That's so scary when you are in an unfamiliar place and accidents happen.

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  18. Oh wow! I would have been so out of it and scared with that happening in the middle of the night! So glad he is okay! The park looked beautiful though! And that aquarium looks so fun! Thanks for sharing at Tues Talk

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