We received some wonderful news yesterday that the first ophthalmologist was premature in his hysteria over Traci's eyes. Traci has been worrying ever since this one particular test showed her optic nerves in a bad light (so to speak), even though all other tests were fine. So she finally went to a second ophthalmologist yesterday who did EVERY test in the book, and confirmed that it was indeed that one test that was wrong because it was getting distorted readings from Traci's eyes (because Traci is VERY near-sighted, which affects the machine's readings). Verdict is that Traci's eyes are perfectly fine!

Praise God!

Lessons learned:

1 - Just because somebody is "the glaucoma specialist" doesn't make them immune to mistakes. Or hysteria, for that matter.

2 - Trust your instincts. Traci knew in her well-trained head that this didn't make sense, but in her gut was (understandably) worried sick. And all for naught.

And as a fun aside (the song title is apropos):

Happy Birthday to YOU!!


Go wish her a happy birthday.

Then ask her how old she is.

She'll probably say, "Not as old as him!"

Two visits to the doctor in one week.....ugh.

Robbie got his last round of vaccinations Monday. I was the evil parent who held him down while the nurse did the dirty deed.

He's STILL mad at us.

Then, Kalli had a VERY unpleasant night Wednesday night, so we took her to the doctor on Thursday. Sure enough, ear infection, and it was a doozy, too. Thus saith the doc, "It's bulging."

Best part was she of course remembered this was the place that Bubba "got Band-Aids" earlier in the week, so she did the logical thing: panic. After she realized she wasn't getting any Band-Aids, she was fine, even announcing to everybody on the way out, "I like shots!"

So, shots are fine, just no Band-Aids.....

This is text from a real live email I received from one of our Engineering Team members about a specification document.

I guess he's saying that the spec is authoritative, except where it isn't.....

This is the first time since college that I've taken a whole 2 weeks off. A grand time was had by all, I think. We decided to pass on the Colorado trip and instead went to see family and do a little excursion into Oklahoma.

First up was Ft. Worth, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This is where they print paper currency. We got a tour of the "factory", learned about all the "counter-counterfeit" stuff that goes into bills, and got admonished to "stay with the group" as I instinctively tried to take a crying Kalli away (so as to not disturb the other guests). As you would expect, security is a little tight there. Then we enjoyed visiting with all of them and seeing her new house.

Next we headed to Sulphur Springs, with a couple of stops along the way. First we went to see the Reunion Tower, since we tried to take the kids up it last year, but it was closed for renovation. Guess what? IT'S STILL CLOSED!!! The restaurant is open (with Wolfgang Puck's name attached, no less), but we weren't there for $40 escargot (or any escargot, for that matter), we just wanted to go up to the observation deck. We've promised Robbie that we'll take him up there. Someday.

So, onward we went to the Lego Store in North Dallas. Here, they have a wall of a la carte Legos. You can grab a cup and fill it with whatever you want, like you were in a candy store.

Then we spent the night with my folks, picked up the canoe, and went to Beaver's Bend in Oklahoma. We were planning on camping, but that didn't work out, but we were very glad, because it rained the whole first day! Instead, we had a nice cabin to keep us dry, with a view of the river, and the peacefulness of God's natural wonders. The next day Mom and Dad came up, too. Then we got the canoe out, lugged it down the big hill to the river, and got admonished again, this time by the Park Ranger:

---------------------
Ranger: Ah ho you ane plane on launchin' dat bo!
Me: Beg pardon?
Ranger: Ah say, Ah ho you ane plane on launchin' dat bo! Ya cane lauch no bo down heya unner dem flood gaes!
Me: We can't put our canoe in the water here?
Ranger: Node!
Me: But we asked at the front desk, and they said we could.
Ranger: Really? Well, I guessa den is okay, den.

[picks up radio]

Ranger: Rainer Wun to home bade. Can ya lauch a bo' down heya unner de flood gaes? I have a gues' who say dey tode hem he could!
Home Base (in an absolutely authoritative voice): NO!

[puts down radio]

Ranger: Ahright den. Ya cane do it heya. I jus done wan y'all to git no ticket!
---------------------

In the old days there was no issue with canoeing below the flood gates. There's an alarm that goes off whenever they open them, and in the past you'd just get off the river if you heard the alarm. Looks like the lawyers got involved, and now you can't do it at all. Anyway, we lugged the canoe back up the hill, put it back on the truck, and drove up river to another spot, which turned out to be absolutely beautiful. We took turns going upriver, found a couple of small waterfalls hiding behind the Cypress trees, and otherwise enjoyed the peacefulness. We tried to get Robbie to ride with us, but the wobbliness on the bank spooked him too much.

Then we went back to Sulphur Springs, took the kids to the Fall Festival, and otherwise played with grandparents, till we went home Sunday afternoon.

That was just one week.

The next week we spent "at home," doing whatever we could think of:


--Took the canoe out again, this time getting Robbie and Kalli both in with us, and they had a ball
--Tried to play putt-putt golf, only to find that our local putt-putt place has closed, so...
--Went bowling instead
--Took Robbie to the observatory at Southwestern, where he got to look at the moon/planets/stars through their fancy telescopes
--Rode the Bertram Flyer train
--Went to children's improv theatre