Beach Trip, Washington Style

Luke and Papa working on a project. The kids had a great time digging and chasing the waves. They didn't seem to mind that it was freezing cold.
Amy dipping her toes in the water. Brrr!

We went to Ocean Shores, Washington for a few days this week. The weather was a bit gloomy. The locals told us this wasn't the place to visit if we wanted to see the sun.

Really? That's funny. I wonder where all those beautiful pictures on the hotel's website came from? Oh, well. We did our best to have some fun, anyway. I think the mopeds were the highlight, followed closely by the toasty warm indoor swimming pool.

Making Progress

Luke went for his first post-op appointment today. I was a little anxious because he still doesn't look so great. The vision screening went well, although it is obvious that he can't see well out of that eye, yet. Every time the eye testing lady (don't know her real title, sorry) tried to block his strong eye, he pushed her away. She called that normal. The doctor was very kind and concerned about everybody, even wanted to know if Steve was okay. He gave Luke a thumbs up and said the eye looked as it should. We'll see. That's what he said the last time he operated, before we wandered down this long and twisty road of repeat surgery.

Just to Make Things Extra Fun...

...Luke decided to stick a little black plastic washer up his nose last night. Steve and I were just sitting down to a scrumptious dinner that a dear friend made for us. I'd been thinking about eating it all day. A little voice from the couch says, "there's something in my nose! There's something in my nose! It's a circle."
Are 'ya kiddin' me?
I didn't know whether to laugh or scream at him. I did neither. I actually crammed three more bites of pasta into my mouth and tried to formulate a complete thought. We were so tired from jumping through all the hoops of eye surgery and recovery. We called the eye surgeon and he recommended a trip to urgent care. I had visions of Luke sniffing it way into his sinus cavity and emergency surgery coming our way. Thankfully, the little washer slipped out of Luke's nostril after they sat at the urgent care for an hour.
Steve crawled into bed last night and said, "this is not a day I would care to live again."
Amen to that.

The Eye, Part Two

Luke had a follow-up eye surgery this morning. I think it went really well. I'm sure the picture isn't much to look at, but this is definitely a day for the scrapbook and the blog. He was such a good sport, so brave and calm. I think I was more anxious than he was. He decided to make it extra exciting, though...We were waiting in our little pre-op cubby and he left the room to look at something, then came back through the curtain. He was walking and looking over his shoulder and walked right into the counter at the nurse's station. Did I mention this very sharp counter has a corner that is right at eye level for a 4 year old boy? I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Thankfully, it poked him in the soft tissue right below his left eye. Although we signed up for surgery on both eyes, the doctor didn't operate on that eye at all. The nurse said it wouldn't make any difference, might just add to the swelling and discoloration. Good grief.
The surgery seems like it was a success. You never know with eyes because we have to wait for the swelling to go away and see if both eyes are aligned properly. I was extremely nervous this morning, but I really feel relieved and optimistic tonight. The recovery was rough, just because the local anesthesia prevented Luke from seeing anything out of that eye. He did get up and play this afternoon and said he wanted to go for a walk, so things must be clearing up for him. We'll go back to the doctor at the end of the week for a re-check. We are so appreciative of our friends and family, sending us encouraging words and lifting us up in prayer.

Wet and Wild Birthday

Andy wasn't too crazy about the water slide concept, but loved hanging on to the basketball, grinning at the camera and saying, "cheese!"
Luke enjoyed some pre-party sliding, before all of the other guests arrived. He didn't care that the water was ice cold. Andy kept slipping and falling down, Luke was so sweet to stop and help him stand up again. Occasionally he demonstrates some affection for his little brother.
Here is the birthday girl in all her glory. Man, she got some loot! What are these webkinz? Are they taking over the world? I was so glad Luke didn't catch on to that craze. He was so worn out from the water slide that I don't think he even noticed Allie's presents were opened. If there's one thing I don't need right now, it's little fury creatures that need to be maintained via the web. That would seriously cut into my blogging time...which we know is way more important.