Emma's (and Sera's) Accident

On Saturday both Emma and I had a near death experience. That afternoon, Dad and I had decided to take the younger kids out on the jet ski's. (I had even brought my camera in hopes that I could get some pictures and post them on the blog.) I was pushing off the dock with Emma in front of me and had just turned the ignition on when suddenly, Emma grabbed hold of the accelerator and floored it. It didn't take longer than ten seconds, but it sure felt like the longest ten seconds of my life. Before I realized what was happening, we were headed right for a tree. It was like I was paralyzed.. I didn't know what to do. All I could do was look straight ahead and watch the tree come closer and closer. We hit a cypress tree head on going close to 40 MPH. Miraculously, Emma and I were thrown off to the side of the jet ski and we landed on a bed of weeds. It all happened so fast and all I could think about was the fact that were laying in the weeds and that's where the snakes are!! Emma was screaming and there was blood all over her face. I grabbed her and myself and pulled us back onto the jet ski where I could survey the damage. One look into Emma's mouth and I knew we would be visiting the emergency room. There was a ton of blood, but I could already see that two of her front teeth were completely bent backwards.

Meanwhile, my dad was on the other jet ski and he didn't see anything happen. Ian saw us hit the tree and told Dad that we "crashed." I don't think he realized the severity of the situation until I had handed Emma over to him and he had brought her to the dock and saw what her teeth looked like. It sure wasn't pretty! While he took her back to the house, I was still on the jet ski, which was stuck in a bunch of weeds. As much as I hated it, I climbed down into the two foot deep mud (and probably stood right next to a bunch of snakes!!) and was able to pull the jet ski out and make it back to the dock.

Two hours later, two teeth out.. and twelve stitches later, all was fine. Emma was a champ through the whole thing. (We had called our dentist and arranged to meet them since this was kind of an emergency!) Emma sat on the table and didn't cry at all when they numbed her or pulled the teeth out. She ended up with stitches inside her gum, her upper lip and outside her mouth.

Once we were home, she was back to normal. She ran around the house with Esther like a nutcase! For dinner we had Chinese since it's her favorite and then we took a trip to Twistee Treat for the ice cream we promised her!

Looking back, it's a miracle that our accident wasn't any worse than it was. Hitting that tree head on and with the speed we were going, both Emma and I should have flown forward and hit the tree. It's amazing that we were almost *gently* thrown to the side instead of going forward.

I'm fine- I came away with a sore neck and back and a bunch of bruises.. but I'm lucky compared to poor Emma!

Of course we've learned our lesson. Emma knows that she's never allowed to touch the handlebars and it looks like she'll be riding on the back from now on! I don't think it will scare her from ever wanting to ride again though.

Saturday: Enjoying some ice cream at Twistee Treat.

Sunday Morning: Emma and her new Barbie doll

Sunday Morning: A closeup of the lip. (It was very swollen!)

Monday: Less swelling, more bruising.