Just when I felt like I was getting the hang of this whole gluten free thing, we went on vacation. 7 days in a house with gluten plus two days spent traveling…..what could go wrong? 😀
I must say, I was most stressed out about the car ride. We didn’t pack food and planned on stopping for breakfast and lunch. Anyone with two young kids knows a 10 hour car ride that includes no stops could be torture. I downloaded the Find Me GF app on my phone and started searching for GF breakfast restaurants near where we would stop. Weirdly enough, Cracker Barrel popped up. I laughed hysterically thinking it must have been a misprint, but after further research I read their gluten free menu on their website. Now, you won’t find pancakes or biscuits, but there are several options and after talking to their trainer at the restaurant I felt more comfortable with their prep practices. Pierce ate yogurt and fruit. He does love it and it was the least likely thing to get cross contamination! For lunch we had Chic Fil A grilled nuggets and applesauce. Side note, don’t ever try to treat your older son to French fries while feeding your youngest applesauce. One will have a terrible breakdown in the restaurant ( and its probably not the kid you are thinking😀).
I won’t even begin to tell you how many traffic jams we sat in going to the beach. After 4 million hours in the car, we arrived and my mother had already gone to the grocery. As you know, my mom is a gluten free shopping ninja. She had tons of options for us and had even purchased Pierce’s own containers of jelly, butter and peanut butter. We enjoyed some fried shrimp on the trip, but used GF breading for Pierce’s and fried it in separate oil. He had his own GF bread and I purchased new plastic plates and cups for him (remember I am crazy and this is not necessary). We took a ton of precautions. But he still got an upset stomach one night.
My mom is probably reading this and freaking out! It is not anyone’s fault that he got sick and ultimately I blame myself for not being overly annoying about things. So apologies for anyone that watches Pierce from now on….I will probably be overly annoying. Want to know how he got sick? The chip bag. We had only gluten free chips in the house and although each of us would pour some on our plates at lunch, many times we would go back in the bag for more. Harmless right? Not if you are eating a sandwich made with gluten. I have told this story several times and people say “oh gosh he is that sensitive?”. Who knows. He is so young he can’t tell us when his stomach begins to hurt. He can only kick and scream and act super tired when it gets bad. It could have built up for a few days and then we noticed the reaction. I am mad at myself for not thinking about it. And it was such an easy fix….individual snack bags of chips! Once we did that, all was right with the world.
That one little hiccup didn’t ruin our fun. The boys had an amazing time. Pierce is obsessed with the ocean and the pool.
He has no fear. At all.
It is scary at times and he must get that gene from his father…..this girl is full of fear! My favorite memory was watching them play together. They are getting to the place where they laugh together, run together and act sneaky together. It warms my heart!
Adventures in Celiac 