the family browne.: the 60th begins (easter 2012).

for easter this year, my aunt and uncle graciously offered their incredible condo in destin to my parents, for them to kick off my dad's 60th birthday (which is actually june 16). they stayed for a week, and invited justin, emme, and me to join for as long as we could/wanted. like idiots, we only booked the trip from saturday morning (fly out) to tuesday afternoon (fly back), but it was a great trip even though it was much too short.
saturday, mom and dad picked us up from the airport. emme was a champ on both legs of the flight, even though she'd been running fever since the night before. she actually woke up in the middle of the night friday night (before our pre-5a.m. wake up time) and puked in our bed and then just laid on me on the couch for the rest of the night. it was not the most restful night we've had. anyway...we found a spot to eat a quick lunch, then got to the condo and got somewhat unpacked and situated. emme took a brief nap and we walked outside and attempted a little beach action, but it was a bit chilly for the wee one to get in the water (or the big ones, either). saturday evening, my aunt and uncle came over, along with some close long-time friends of my parents. my mom had brought gumbo she made (always a treat), and my grandma had made and sent potato salad (she is the master of all things potato salad), so we feasted, toasted, and watched the sunset over the beach from the back porch. when i finally got emme down, my parents and justin and i got to watch the pink moon rise over the gulf - an incredible sight for sure.
sunday morning was easter, but when we woke up, emme's fever was over 103 or so already (it's been a while so i can't remember the precise temp). we decided to give her some ibuprofen and leave her at the condo with dad, hoping she would feel better. jj, kk, and i met up with the powell's for church - a lovely service - and i got to cuddle a little bit with sweet baby luke, my cousin robert and his wife alex's son. after church, we went back to the condo and picked up emme and jb and headed to my aunt and uncle's house for easter brunch. my aunt had prepared a spectacular feast and it was such a treat to get to spend that time with family we rarely see.
the rest of sunday was beach time and relaxation, but emme's fever never really broke. i got her down at a reasonable time, again hoping that her fever would break and she would feel much better in the morning. i was pretty confident it was something viral, since she'd just gotten her ear tubes a couple weeks before. well, i've already written the story of her waking up in the middle of the night shivering, purple lips, and fever near 106. i'm fairly certain i'm still recovering from the PTSD from that event. yeesh.
monday brought a sleep-deprived morning trip to the pediatrician, but we spent the rest of the day on the beach. emme even took a 2.5 hour nap on me under the umbrella by the water. by mid-day monday, miraculously (or because of the rocephin shot at the hospital), ek was basically fever free. tuesday was morning beach time before we had to pack up and head back to the airport.
we really loved every minute of this trip, despite the drama of the ER visit. i look forward to our next vacation being hospital free....and hope to head back to florida annually.

these are the pics i have - i think there are about 2,000 more on jb's go pro, but we will settle for iphone and canon pics.