No trips to the ER. No scary falls. No epic moments. Our week was--thankfully--mundane. So, enjoy these pics from playgrounds and such.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Busy, Busy!
We are wrapping up another busy holiday weekend!
On Saturday, after Ryleigh's music class, we headed north to get the oil changed in Berry (the Toyota), and then it was on to Indio to meet up with Jip's grandparents and his Mom. We took a swim in the warm salt water pool in Grandpa and Nana's community. Then Uncle Pablo and Aunt Debbie dropped by and we all went out for dinner.
After dinner, we headed to the hotel. As we were unloading Berry, I heard Jip say, "Oh My Gawd." I dropped my bags and came running. RJ had tripped over a parking curb. It would have been a pretty uneventful fall for an adult, as an adult would have been tall enough to have the knees fall on the ground between the parking curb and the actual curb. An adult's body would have landed on the curb and grass. But, it was a scarier fall for my RJ. He was just the right height that his head hit the curb on the other side of the parking curb. Jip said his head bounced off the ground. I scooped him up and cradled him. RJ cried hard about his elbow and his knee (of course it was the same knee that had the giant splinter). As I'm holding him, I had my lips on his forehead. Suddenly, I felt the shape of his forehead changing. Next to my lips, a giant goose egg formed. It was horrific looking. We were genuinely scared. RJ kept saying it didn't hurt that much. But, we called Jip's Aunt Debbie, who is a nurse and so great with our kids, and asked her to come by the hotel on their way out of town. Debbie took a look, gave us some instructions, made an ice pack out of a Walgreens bag, and gave RJ some comfort. Pablo joked around with RJ. RJ was going to be fine. But, just to be sure, we woke up RJ twice in the middle of the night to ask him how he felt and to make him drink some water to make sure he wasn't nauseated. By morning, the goose egg was nearly flat again. The elbow was pretty bruised. The knee had some road rash. But, overall, RJ was fine.
We got another swim in at Grandpa and Nana's after breakfast. Then, it was time for us and Jip's Mom to say "See ya later" to Grandpa and Nana. We grabbed a light lunch while the kids burned energy at the McDonald's playground. The kids napped fairly well in the car, though they were both itching to get home about 30 minutes before pulling into the driveway. Everyone slept hard last night. I wish I could say everyone slept in their own beds all night, but who am I kidding? That hasn't happened for a loooooooong time!!
If you've seen Blackfish, it is time for you to stop reading this post...
Today we headed out to SeaWorld. Ryleigh is free, RJ has a free annual pass just for being a preschooler in San Diego County, and Jip and I were free as part of a SeaWorld program to honor those serving in the military. So, five of us got to enjoy SeaWorld for the price of one ticket for Diana, parking, refreshments, and lunch. Not too shabby!
We were able to take in two shows: the orca show and the sea lion show. The orca show was nice, but the sea lion show was super fun because it definitely catered to the adults who know anything about CSI, Survivor, and Dancing with the Stars. We spent a little time in the Sesame Street part of the park--I think we could have spent all day there. But, we only had time for one ride for Ryleigh and me (yay for no height minimums!!). Here are a few pics from our day.
Ryleigh fell asleep in the stroller as we were walking out of the park. But, she awoke as Jip was putting her in her carseat and never napped again. I'm hoping that means an easy bedtime tonight!! RJ, on the other hand, had a great nap. SeaWorld was a lot to take in, and as usual for our family, we only got to do about half the park. I'm grateful for RJ's pass and we can get discounted passes for our next visit (military free admission is only once per year), so we'll try to do it again in the next few months. We'd love to take any of you who haven't seen Blackfish or any of you have and still want to go!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Beats and the Birthday Party That Wouldn't End
Friday night, we took the kids to their first concert. Well, it wasn't REALLY their first concert--they had been to a Christmas concert put on by the Navy Band while in Japan. But, Friday night involved a band with an album, songs on iTunes, and their own TV show: The Fresh Beat Band.
We started watching the FBB on Nick Jr. while in Japan. They have some catchy tunes and the show is corny in the same way the Monkees was. Then I read how great they were live. I knew that if we had the chance, we should see them live. And, they didn't disappoint. The kids knew almost all the songs (Mom and a Dad did, too.). The FBB members sang live. They played instruments live. They were the real deal--very different than the lip-synching Tiffany I saw for my first non-classical music concert.
We started watching the FBB on Nick Jr. while in Japan. They have some catchy tunes and the show is corny in the same way the Monkees was. Then I read how great they were live. I knew that if we had the chance, we should see them live. And, they didn't disappoint. The kids knew almost all the songs (Mom and a Dad did, too.). The FBB members sang live. They played instruments live. They were the real deal--very different than the lip-synching Tiffany I saw for my first non-classical music concert.
On Saturday, RJ and Ryleigh attended a birthday party for one of RJ's classmates. The party was supposed to go from 2-5. I thought that was a generous amount of time and surely it wouldn't last that long...
It was a Star Wars-themed party, so a couple adults made light sabers out of plumber's insulation and duct tape. Imagine 30+ kids running around with foam tubes, hitting each other because they can. Then add in a bouncy castle. It was like an MMA fight in there sometimes. Then, imagine that going on for 2.5 hours, with a 30-minute pause for some chips and apple juice. As the sun is clearly going down, the organized part of the party finally begins. The kids (not Ryleigh) did a "Jedi Academy." 30 minutes after that, the birthday boy's father dons a Jedi robe and teaches the kids some Jedi moves. The kids then chase each other around the backyard while they set up the piñata. Now, the desert chill is setting in, so I ran to the car to get jackets for the kids. I didn't think to bring one for myself. Who would have thought we'd still be there after dark?!? When the piñata was finally ready, it took a few minutes to get everyone lined up. The kids (not Ryleigh) took a bunch of whacks at the soccer ball painted to look like the Death Star. Then, after all that, we FINALLY sang Happy Birthday and had cake. We were invited to stay for popcorn and a Star Wars movie or two. Um, no thanks. It was just before 6. I was freezing. And I had had it. I was just spent. I wanted to get home, order some pizza, and relax. I sprinted out of there. I tried to thank the hosts, but they were always occupied, so, we just left with our goodie bags. I had to laugh--as we were loading up, another family from preschool was loading up in the vehicle in front of me. The kids asked why they had to leave. The Dad answered: "our time is up." That was a polite way of putting it. I called Jip on my way home (Jip had driven his Mom, who flew in Friday, to her parents in Indio) and declared that I deserved a medal for the 4-hour birthday party. After I hung up the phone, RJ asked me why I deserved a medal. I told him that the afternoon was hard for me. But, I was glad he had a good time. He was content with that answer.
Here are a few pics from the party that wouldn't end.
It was a Star Wars-themed party, so a couple adults made light sabers out of plumber's insulation and duct tape. Imagine 30+ kids running around with foam tubes, hitting each other because they can. Then add in a bouncy castle. It was like an MMA fight in there sometimes. Then, imagine that going on for 2.5 hours, with a 30-minute pause for some chips and apple juice. As the sun is clearly going down, the organized part of the party finally begins. The kids (not Ryleigh) did a "Jedi Academy." 30 minutes after that, the birthday boy's father dons a Jedi robe and teaches the kids some Jedi moves. The kids then chase each other around the backyard while they set up the piñata. Now, the desert chill is setting in, so I ran to the car to get jackets for the kids. I didn't think to bring one for myself. Who would have thought we'd still be there after dark?!? When the piñata was finally ready, it took a few minutes to get everyone lined up. The kids (not Ryleigh) took a bunch of whacks at the soccer ball painted to look like the Death Star. Then, after all that, we FINALLY sang Happy Birthday and had cake. We were invited to stay for popcorn and a Star Wars movie or two. Um, no thanks. It was just before 6. I was freezing. And I had had it. I was just spent. I wanted to get home, order some pizza, and relax. I sprinted out of there. I tried to thank the hosts, but they were always occupied, so, we just left with our goodie bags. I had to laugh--as we were loading up, another family from preschool was loading up in the vehicle in front of me. The kids asked why they had to leave. The Dad answered: "our time is up." That was a polite way of putting it. I called Jip on my way home (Jip had driven his Mom, who flew in Friday, to her parents in Indio) and declared that I deserved a medal for the 4-hour birthday party. After I hung up the phone, RJ asked me why I deserved a medal. I told him that the afternoon was hard for me. But, I was glad he had a good time. He was content with that answer.
Here are a few pics from the party that wouldn't end.
I hope our week ahead won't be like the party. I hope it is the opposite and the week flies by!
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Weekend Fun
Ryleigh continues to enjoy her music class at Gymboree. This week, the focus was on Asian music. I try to be enthusiastic about it, but the plinky-plinky sound is not for me. I didn't like it while in Japan, either.
But, last week and the week before were classes with Queen as the focus. You may think 70s/80s rock band and wee ones don't go together, but they do. And they go together quite well. Their can't-help-but-to-sing-along anthems have great rhythms and lend themselves to letting loose. Case in point: Ryleigh getting down with any instrument she can during the class's free play time. We Will Rock You and We Are the champions are great backdrops for xylophones, shakers, cymbals, and more.
But, last week and the week before were classes with Queen as the focus. You may think 70s/80s rock band and wee ones don't go together, but they do. And they go together quite well. Their can't-help-but-to-sing-along anthems have great rhythms and lend themselves to letting loose. Case in point: Ryleigh getting down with any instrument she can during the class's free play time. We Will Rock You and We Are the champions are great backdrops for xylophones, shakers, cymbals, and more.
While we were in class this week, Jip and RJ took a class of their own at Home Depot. Together they built a pinewood derby-type car from a kit. RJ spent most of his time painting it every color under the sun. The finished project looked more like a demolition derby car than a NASCAR racer, but he had fun, and that's what matters!
RJ raced a few times with a ramp the Home Depot guys brought out. He had a ball!
Finally, Jip took this little gem of a video Friday evening. Ry is dancing to the music of the magnetic barn and then doing her best accompaniment.
Weekends are definitely entertaining for us (when we aren't stuck at the ER)!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
The tale of the Super Splinter
Yesterday, Saturday, was a nice 70 degree day with some sunshine, outdoor play, shopping, and a trip to the ER!
We started our adventure by going to Rohr Park near our house during the late morning. It's a very nice park with a running trail, outdoor fields, plenty of grassy areas, a couple playgrounds, and an outdoor rail system for some small trains (think amusement park size where 8-10 kids ride on it). One of the playgrounds has equipment with wood beams and boards as the primary material where the kids run and play supported by a large metal framework. Most of the boards are 2X4 size or larger. One pair of beams (these are probably 3X4 and about 12 feet long) is in an area where the kids have to walk along the long narrow beams to get to the other side.
After we'd been there for about 15 or 20 minutes, RJ was playing with another boy and running all over the play set. Ryleigh, who, by the way, had on a skirt and was crawling around the set with bare knees, was doing her typical own thing and playing on another section of the play set. While crossing the narrow beam, RJ slipped, caught himself, and stood back up. He quickly started pulling up his pant leg. With her Mommy senses in high gear, Amy immediately detected that something was wrong and asked RJ what was going on. This is where I entered the picture because I had been in a position with my back turned to RJ playing with Ryleigh. I ran over to RJ and saw that he had a splinter about 1/4 inch long sticking out of an area above his right knee. I snagged the splinter and slowly pulled out what I thought was a short splinter. A little bit came back out. Not knowing there was more there, I pulled him off the play set and went over to a bench. You'd have thought, at this point, that somebody had lost a leg based on how loudly RJ was crying. We had one of the other small kids playing on the playground come over and ask us if RJ was going to be okay. While on the bench, I looked again at the area where the splinter had been and felt it with my finger. A) RJ screamed when I did that, and B) I could feel there was still something under his skin. Uh oh.
We decided to leave the park and on the way to the vehicle, debated on how we were going to get this splinter out. We decided to let RJ calm down, finish running some errands, get some lunch, and then try to dig out the splinter. Lunch at Applebee's was good, the errands in Mission Valley were successful, and the kids fell asleep in the vehicle while running around. We got home mid-afternoon and once settled back inside, made our attempt at splinter removal. RJ had been wincing and complaining about the pain all during lunch and the errands. Knowing our son, we weren't sure how much of the "Ouch-ing" was drama and how much was legit.
RJ flipped out any time that one of us got near to his "wound" so my efforts to use a small needle and tweezers to retrieve the remainder of the splinter were completely futile. Several attempts later, Amy and I conceded that a trip to see a medical professional was warranted.
Amy called Tricare and got authorization for us to go to a local Urgent Care Clinic while RJ and I packed a bag with snacks, water, juice, the iPad (I'm sooooo thankful I grabbed this!) and some headphones. At about 4:30 p.m. we took off on our adventure, and what an adventure it turned out to be!
The doctor at the urgent care clinic looked at RJ's knee, confirmed that there was definitely something still in there that needed to be removed, but was hesitant to try anything because RJ absolutely freaked out anytime that someone's hands got within a few feet of his knee. He was apologetic, but recommended that we go on to the ER at Balboa Naval Hospital, or to the ER at the Children's Hospital in San Diego.
After a quick consultation with Amy, we loaded back up in the car and headed off to Balboa Hospital--less hassle to go there than to get the proper authorizations to go to the Children's Hospital. We walked through the door of the ER at Balboa at about 5:30 p.m. Vitals were taken by around 6 p.m. About 6:30 RJ had a few goldfish for snacks (this would later come back to bite us), and around 7:30 p.m. we were called back into the ER. The nurses and docs that came in were greeted by tears, screams, and "I want to go home!" RJ was NOT a model patient during our early hours in the ER.
The doctors tried to numb the local area to allow for splinter extraction, but RJ was just too freaked out to let them touch on it, let alone stay still enough for a scalpel to be anywhere near his knee. The decision was made to sedate him, but alas, the earliest we could do that was 10:30 p.m. since RJ had eaten the goldfish crackers at 6:30. Another delay due to only one CRNA on staff pushed us to 11:30. The efforts started in earnest at about 11:45.
While all this was transpiring, RJ transformed into a much better patient. He had "stickers" on his chest for monitoring and starting about 11:30, he had oxygen in his nose. He didn't complain very much and he laid flat on his back the whole time. Thankfully, the iPad was with us so he watched segments of several movies and some Looney Tunes. On an interesting note, while the oxygen was in his nose (a canula) he made a statement like, "Now, I'm like that Grandma." I asked him who he was talking about and he stated that it was like "the Grandma in the snowy mountains." Who he was referring to was MY grandmother who passed away in early 2011. The last time he saw her, he was about 1 1/2 years old -- over three years ago. Somehow, he had this memory of her stashed away in the back corners of his brain.
Finally, at around midnight, RJ was given the shot to start his "dreamy sleep" so the splinter could be removed. It was very hard for me to watch him start to fade out and go to sleep. His last words to me before going out were "Dad, my eyes are getting dizzy." Once he was out, the docs started working to get the splinter out. I'm actually kind of glad that RJ was out because they had a hard time locating the splinter and getting a good grip on it. Two small incisions were required to extract the splinter. In the end, it turned out to be about a 1/2 inch long sliver of wood (see photo below). RJ ended up with a bandage and no stitches.
For the next 1 1/2 hours, RJ very, very slowly came to. He took longer than the average kid, according to the nurses, and even after we left, he was still super loopy and dizzy. He talked a little about what he was dreaming about and it appears that his dreams were heavily influenced by Wall-E, the Pixar film. He talked about "after we land" and having blue and red people carried around on floating things.
We finally got back to the home ranch just after 2 a.m. What a day!
We started our adventure by going to Rohr Park near our house during the late morning. It's a very nice park with a running trail, outdoor fields, plenty of grassy areas, a couple playgrounds, and an outdoor rail system for some small trains (think amusement park size where 8-10 kids ride on it). One of the playgrounds has equipment with wood beams and boards as the primary material where the kids run and play supported by a large metal framework. Most of the boards are 2X4 size or larger. One pair of beams (these are probably 3X4 and about 12 feet long) is in an area where the kids have to walk along the long narrow beams to get to the other side.
After we'd been there for about 15 or 20 minutes, RJ was playing with another boy and running all over the play set. Ryleigh, who, by the way, had on a skirt and was crawling around the set with bare knees, was doing her typical own thing and playing on another section of the play set. While crossing the narrow beam, RJ slipped, caught himself, and stood back up. He quickly started pulling up his pant leg. With her Mommy senses in high gear, Amy immediately detected that something was wrong and asked RJ what was going on. This is where I entered the picture because I had been in a position with my back turned to RJ playing with Ryleigh. I ran over to RJ and saw that he had a splinter about 1/4 inch long sticking out of an area above his right knee. I snagged the splinter and slowly pulled out what I thought was a short splinter. A little bit came back out. Not knowing there was more there, I pulled him off the play set and went over to a bench. You'd have thought, at this point, that somebody had lost a leg based on how loudly RJ was crying. We had one of the other small kids playing on the playground come over and ask us if RJ was going to be okay. While on the bench, I looked again at the area where the splinter had been and felt it with my finger. A) RJ screamed when I did that, and B) I could feel there was still something under his skin. Uh oh.
We decided to leave the park and on the way to the vehicle, debated on how we were going to get this splinter out. We decided to let RJ calm down, finish running some errands, get some lunch, and then try to dig out the splinter. Lunch at Applebee's was good, the errands in Mission Valley were successful, and the kids fell asleep in the vehicle while running around. We got home mid-afternoon and once settled back inside, made our attempt at splinter removal. RJ had been wincing and complaining about the pain all during lunch and the errands. Knowing our son, we weren't sure how much of the "Ouch-ing" was drama and how much was legit.
RJ flipped out any time that one of us got near to his "wound" so my efforts to use a small needle and tweezers to retrieve the remainder of the splinter were completely futile. Several attempts later, Amy and I conceded that a trip to see a medical professional was warranted.
Amy called Tricare and got authorization for us to go to a local Urgent Care Clinic while RJ and I packed a bag with snacks, water, juice, the iPad (I'm sooooo thankful I grabbed this!) and some headphones. At about 4:30 p.m. we took off on our adventure, and what an adventure it turned out to be!
The doctor at the urgent care clinic looked at RJ's knee, confirmed that there was definitely something still in there that needed to be removed, but was hesitant to try anything because RJ absolutely freaked out anytime that someone's hands got within a few feet of his knee. He was apologetic, but recommended that we go on to the ER at Balboa Naval Hospital, or to the ER at the Children's Hospital in San Diego.
After a quick consultation with Amy, we loaded back up in the car and headed off to Balboa Hospital--less hassle to go there than to get the proper authorizations to go to the Children's Hospital. We walked through the door of the ER at Balboa at about 5:30 p.m. Vitals were taken by around 6 p.m. About 6:30 RJ had a few goldfish for snacks (this would later come back to bite us), and around 7:30 p.m. we were called back into the ER. The nurses and docs that came in were greeted by tears, screams, and "I want to go home!" RJ was NOT a model patient during our early hours in the ER.
The doctors tried to numb the local area to allow for splinter extraction, but RJ was just too freaked out to let them touch on it, let alone stay still enough for a scalpel to be anywhere near his knee. The decision was made to sedate him, but alas, the earliest we could do that was 10:30 p.m. since RJ had eaten the goldfish crackers at 6:30. Another delay due to only one CRNA on staff pushed us to 11:30. The efforts started in earnest at about 11:45.
While all this was transpiring, RJ transformed into a much better patient. He had "stickers" on his chest for monitoring and starting about 11:30, he had oxygen in his nose. He didn't complain very much and he laid flat on his back the whole time. Thankfully, the iPad was with us so he watched segments of several movies and some Looney Tunes. On an interesting note, while the oxygen was in his nose (a canula) he made a statement like, "Now, I'm like that Grandma." I asked him who he was talking about and he stated that it was like "the Grandma in the snowy mountains." Who he was referring to was MY grandmother who passed away in early 2011. The last time he saw her, he was about 1 1/2 years old -- over three years ago. Somehow, he had this memory of her stashed away in the back corners of his brain.
Finally, at around midnight, RJ was given the shot to start his "dreamy sleep" so the splinter could be removed. It was very hard for me to watch him start to fade out and go to sleep. His last words to me before going out were "Dad, my eyes are getting dizzy." Once he was out, the docs started working to get the splinter out. I'm actually kind of glad that RJ was out because they had a hard time locating the splinter and getting a good grip on it. Two small incisions were required to extract the splinter. In the end, it turned out to be about a 1/2 inch long sliver of wood (see photo below). RJ ended up with a bandage and no stitches.
For the next 1 1/2 hours, RJ very, very slowly came to. He took longer than the average kid, according to the nurses, and even after we left, he was still super loopy and dizzy. He talked a little about what he was dreaming about and it appears that his dreams were heavily influenced by Wall-E, the Pixar film. He talked about "after we land" and having blue and red people carried around on floating things.
We finally got back to the home ranch just after 2 a.m. What a day!
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| Hanging out in the ER waiting room. |
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| The cause of our long ER adventure. |
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