Visiting Pap Pap

Late last week my Pap Pap had fallen ill and went into the hospital. The poor guy had 3 clogged arteries, one at 100%, one at 85% and one at 65%. Because of his weak kidneys, his age and black lung (my Pap was a very proud coal miner) they decided to go forward with stints rather then open heart surgery. On Sunday we decided to piggy back on Dad's already planned but convenient business trip and share a hotel with him so we could visit Pap Pap in the hospital. Hubby switched his hotel from a swanky downtown Hilton to a family friendly Residence Inn outside of town. After talking with my friend Kamber, who was 5 days overdue with her 2nd child and I was on call to watch her first child, we made some back up plans and off we went....like a herd of turtles as our Daddy says!

Last time we stayed at a hotel, it was due to being snowbound on I-81N in the lovely town of Scranton, PA. It was February and we were on our way to see hubby's parents, Nicki and Jim, and of course to watch a Syracuse Game at the Dome. We made a big deal out of staying in the hotel, so it would be a fun memory for princess. We hoped it would erase from her memory the previous 12 long hours we spent in the car. Dinner at Friendly's, ice cream on the bed, staying up late - loads of excitement. So since then, princess always mentions how much she LOVES staying in hotels. In fact this past year, she asked Santa if she could stay at a hotel with him. Interesting....not sure where to go with that, but luckily we knew (wink wink) the Santa so he understood. So on Sunday when we mentioned we were going to a hotel, you would have thought we were going to Disneyworld. I heard more WOOO HOOO's out of that little lady then a pack of of hyenas in the wild. Hubby and I laughed, can you imagine the day when we actually do take her to Disneyworld? We think she might just fall on her knees weeping with excitement on Main street when she sees Cinderella's castle!

The kids and I went to visit Pap Pap the next day while Dad proceeded with his work trip. We got to spend time with Pappy, Grammy, Aunt Suzie and Cousin Jennifer. Lots of time in the waiting room but we had fun entertaining the kids.

All said and done, Pap Pap had 12 stints and an angioplasty balloon done over the course of 2 days. Now have I told you my Pap is 87 years old? What a trooper! He's also quite a jokester, so as my Gram enters the recovery area, his first words are "Look Jean - I made it"! We knew he was feeling well at that point! Recovery is doing well and we hope he's able to return home by the weekend.

After our hospital visit, we went back to the hotel to have dinner. Did I mention how much I like Residence Inns? 2 bedrooms a living room and a kitchen - and very affordable! So I made some dinner for the kids, I was tired of eating out at this point without hubby - too much work. I realized in our quick packing frenzy, I had forgotten a booster seat for little man. He mostly needs something to just hold him still, so I devised my own with an extra fitted bedsheet - is this legal?

To keep with tradition - the first night we had popcorn on the bed and the second night the princess was introduced to Ben and Jerry's. The two of us shared some chocolate chip cookie dough on the bed. We have now renamed this ice cream to "Treasure Hunt". Wonderful memories! And I stayed up watching too much TLC until Daddy came home. Good family times!

Pap Pap, you're in our prayers for a quick, painless and healthy recovery!!