OEYEO 2015

I am not sure if you know, but we have been on an almost 5 year long EYE journey with Anderson. It  is called a "pediatric cataract." Oh, have you hear me talk about this? Maybe just once?

Seriously, the EYE has shaped our world far more than any other aspect of parenting. We were unprepared, scared, uninformed and, honestly, alone. The odds of having a baby with a pediatric cataract are 1 in 10,000. With the benefit of hindsight, a few years of parenting and many, many meetings at work, I realize how lucky we are that this is our statistic. But, when we were in the early stages of patching, "luck" was not something that we felt was in our lives. 

We are so fortunate because we have amazing and supportive grandparents very close by and just as supportive family a little farther away. We have friends and coworkers who would help us in any way. But, we didn't have anyone in the same boat as us. Patching a toddler is a nightmare-the HARDEST thing we have had to do as parents and, even though people meant well, nobody really understood. 

And then...this. 

#imoms

We became blogger friends and followed each other's lives, commenting in words what we wanted to say in hugs. After every doctor visit, patching struggle, new worry, surgery or frustration, we stuck together. We bonded over shared journeys and said to each other what we knew we needed to hear at similar times. And, it worked. Without their support through cyberspace, I honestly doubt how successful our journey would have been to this point. 

Now...4 years later, we actually managed to meet and hang out in person! We met in Columbus, Ohio, so Amanda coined our trip OEYEO, which might be the greatest name ever. 

Also, this was our THIRD attempt at meeting. We had to reschedule twice due to sicknesses. We were determined that the third time would be the charm and it was!

They were a little shy at first, but then quickly decided that this was a pretty fun group to be a part of-ikids & siblings. 

Also, they loved the hot tub. I mean, loved it to the point where we had to put time limits on them. 

LOOK AT OUR KIDS-just together. I cannot get over it. 

We quickly claimed "Our Corner" in the hotel and proceeded to terrify anyone who walked anywhere near us with plastic balls, balloons and lots of screaming. 

Amanda! 

I cannot even believe that I met her in person. Did you see the above comment from "Easton's Mom"? That was where it all began-4 years ago!

Amanda has such a giving heart, which has always been evident in her posts and comments and this trait was even more obvious when I got to actually hang out with her. 

She brought construction equipment for Max. If that is not some kind of genuine friendship, I don't know what is!

These boys had SO much fun together-playing with the rocket balloons that Amanda brought monopolized quite a bit of time. 

True to her giving nature, Amanda brought wine for the imom time. And, check out the bracelet on Laura-she gave us those, too! You can't see it closely, but they have the Eye of Horus on them, which wards off evil...like and news at eye doctor visits or broken glasses. 

We, of course, brought Noni with us for the fun! 

One of the best parts was the hotel because just the idea of a hotel is fun for kids. I have so many memories of random hotel trips with my family-the pool, jumping on the beds, getting ice from the ice machine. I have so many memories of getting ice. What on earth did we do with all of the ice?

From left-Easton, Julia, Azalea, Max, Anderson, Jed

I have literally watched these kids grow up on social media and I cannot believe that I got to spend time with them and see who absolutely amazing they are in real life!

Amanda, the giver, brought them each a goody bag with all kinds of fun treats! She found a "Ferg" book for Max! How amazing is that?

A lot of work from these 6 people over the last few years has definitely earned a trip! I kept reminding these ikids that all of their patch wearing is why we got to have so much fun. 

Max was there, just being calm. 

He also found a pinecone on an early morning walk. 

I was pretty impressed that he was able to do that, actually. 

Notice Easton & Azalea? They went on a short walk with us and I loved it because we just all trusted each other with our kids at various points. It was like we really were related. 

Sidenote-Amanda trusted us with her kids and we let one of them jump in a giant puddle, which required new shoes, so maybe she shouldn't have been quite so trusting!

Hotel time. 

We spent most of one day at a HUGE Science museum called COSI. 

At the "Eye Doctor" station! It was like the place was made for us!

You know Max is going to find a water area if there is one anywhere. 

SO grateful that Noni is willing to spend her weekends with us! 

Also, please notice the poster behind Anderson-it is all about eye protection! Everywhere we went, we kept seeing eye information & decided we should have been admitted free since we were clearly some form of mascot. 

You know that we made them pose by the giant eye. 

I am so proud of these kids because I know what their journeys have been like so far and I know how they are going continue to dominate! 

Julia! Anderson! Easton! All in the same picture!!

Laura explained to Anderson about the location of his cataract! 

Laura is so much fun to be around because she is so funny and has a great sense of humor. She went through such a rough time with Julia's eye and has handled everything with so much resilience. I think that is one of the reasons that I have loved getting to know both Laura & Amanda-through their lives, they always remind me to stay strong and it will be ok. 

 Jed & Anderson just living it up in a tornado!

Amanda brought all kinds of fun paint supplies to make tshirts-she is an art teacher in her real life!

More hotel fun...Max had the time of his life during the weekend. Truly, he loved everything about the hotel-the elevator, the stairs, the food, the pool, the playing, the big kids. He kept asking me "Mama, what is this place?" talking about the hotel. Such sweetness. 

Pizza dinner with the group! The grandmas were such an added bonus (necessity) on the trip. For they also now the intensity of an ijourney, always traveling right there next to us!

Max's face. I am telling you, he thought the trip was for him. 

More time in "Our Corner" where these kids acted like they've been bestie for life. 

We ate ice cream at this awesome place that had a huge indoor playground!

 It was genius and delicious. 

Also, Max was not originally at the table, but insisted on sitting with "the kids", so he had to move. 

I got zero good pics of the playground, but here is a little one of the seesaw. Again, thanks for Noni for being there!

#camopatchkids!

It was really sad when it was time to leave-we have to do this again!

Anderson found a pretty cool picture opportunity on the way home. 

I cannot wait until next year; I love these families!