We made it through . . .

• . . . a minor league baseball game and fireworks show with a 5-year old and a 3-year old, neither of which are really that big of baseball fans. Arrive at home, oh just after midnight.
• . . . three hours in the ER
• . . . four stitches
• . . . second late night in a row (first being aforementioned game). Arrive at home, oh just after midnight, AGAIN.
• . . . about 4 nights of seemingly excruciating toothaches which equals very limited sleep
• . . . two trips to the dentist on consecutive days to Kennewick (only about an hour drive at $4.26/gallon).
• . . . one tooth extraction, followed by insertion of spacer and a crown of some sort to hold the spacer in place.
• . . . one whole month without going to the grocery store (except for bananas and ice cream, which really doesn't count). Bread & milk also do not count, since those items can't last a month.
• . . . the first month of summer vacation and both boys are still alive and well!

So, I suppose I should explain. We attended a minor league baseball game in the Tri-cities. It was opening night and it was fabulous. Gunnar was all excited and he wore his little league t-shirt and hat and brought his glove. It wasn't quite as exciting for him as he though it would be. We got seats (free) in the first row behind the home team dug out, so that was pretty cool. A Company perk! There was a pretty cool fireworks show afterwards. The boys loved that. Paden watched Ben 10 videos from YouTube on Neil's phone and he was happy as a clam for the whole game. So, we ended up not having time to hit Sonic before the game and so we went afterwards. The boys drank most of their drinks before they fell asleep. Late night, but good night.

Next night, Paden, Gunnar and I went to the river to play. As we were leaving, we were almost the truck, where Paden tripped on his towel, fell onto a big shale boulder and split his forehead open right above his eyebrow. So, I call Neil freaking out! It was not bleeding much, actually. But, it was split pretty far and it was all glossy looking and I thought for a couple of seconds that there was a piece of glass in there. There's broken glass there near where he fell. Anyway, so I scoop Paden up and run through the thick sand (that's hard to run in!) back down to the river where I proceed to tell Paden to close his eyes because I am going to dunk his head under to get the sand out. He was already wet, so it didn't really matter. Neil arrived with warm cleaner water and a washcloth or two. There still wasn't very much blood, none to speak of really. But we got loaded up and headed into the ER to get stitches. Once Paden calmed down enough, he was excellently behaved. He was really cute. We check in with Triage and he's telling the nurse how he fell. I don't recall if that was point where he told everyone that I should have been carrying him so he didn't fall, but he did say that some time. So, we go to admissions to get the billing stuff taken care of and get Paden admitted to the ER. He gets a braclet with his name on it and he tells the lady "thanks", then he says to me, "that was sweet of her to give me this bracelet." He was being so cute. So, then we go wait to get into the ER. Then we go into a room and wait. It was a long wait that night! Paden was so good while they were stitching him. He was trying to talk the doctor. I had to finally tell him that they were busy concentrating and couldn't talk to him; Paden was getting a little irritated that they weren't listening to him. Once they were done, he says in his cute little exhausted voice, "thanks . . . thanks, guys." So, we get out of the ER about 11:30pm and again get home just after midnight. I am not sure how many of you would really appreaciate seeing a picture of a gaping gash in my son's head, so I will spare you this! All I can say is that's gonna leave a mark! A good scar!

Only a few short hours after we got home and got to sleep, Gunnar wakes us all up with his wailing. He was experiencing quite the toothache. Grrrreat! Not much sleeping going on that night. So, we called a dentist the next day (which is Tuesday I think). Can't get him in for ONE week and one day. Yeah, so not going to work, but I make the appt any way, just in case nothing better comes along. Call another dentist (pediatric) in Kennewick, but call after 4pm - closed at 4pm. There's those jokes about "banker's hours" - I think the joke should be about "dentist's hours", really! Another night of waking up wailing every couple of hours. Tylenol seems to help a little. The next morning, I call the dentist back and surprising get him an appt for later that afternoon. So, we take him up there to get the bad news. I feel so terrible as a parent to let him have gone so long and his tooth was bad!! That seems like an understatement. So, they have to pull the tooth and put a spacer so that the molar doesn't come over and block the permanent tooth to come. Yeah, not so good. They explain the treatment plans before we heard what the problem was. Then they come to explain the problem and we are supposed to choose for his procedure. They really pushed the sedation. So, we had to pay up front $205 for the sedation. Neil took Gunnar back the next day and just had a terrible time with the sedation. In the end the dentist agreed that it was not a good idea to sedate him. Seems like most kids get sedated and they probably do that out of experience; there are probably many a kid who freaks out at the dentist. Well, Gunnar freaked out with all the devices attached to him because of the sedation and he DID NOT like how it made him feel. But, they got in there and got the work done. We had told Gunnar that if he was good, he could get a new toy. Neil tried to get him to wait when he was feeling better to go to Wal*Mart, but Gunnar insisted to go then. So, they went. Gunnar was still a little out of it. He took a long nap on the way home and when he got home. So, when he woke up he saw his new toy and asked Neil where he got it. He remembers looking at it the day before but that we didn't buy it the day before. He DID NOT remember buying it following his dental experience. He still doesn't really remember. So, he was out of it!

We were able to sleep finally - back to somewhat normal at least. The boys did climb in bed for a night or two - not sure why exactly! But, now it's Monday night and Gunnar has made it back in his bed all night and Paden is back to normal - comes in 2 or 3 am to sleep with mama.

This is an extremely long post already, but I do have to mention that we went to the park tonight for Music in the Parks. Tonight was a steel drum band. It was awesome! It's a band of kids; they are so extremely talented! Check out their website here - Bram Bratá. We bought their newest CD for $10. I really enjoyed it. The town has quite a bit of activities this summer, so we are trying to enjoy most of them.

Ok, so it's late - the end.