Day 1,936 - And Introducing, Ethan the Magician!

It’s here. The time has finally come. It’s the kids’ first full week of summer vacation at home. It’s not their first full week off of school though. That came last week when Bethany and I spent four days on Prince Edward Island, Canada while Ellie and Ethan spent the week in Nebraska. With it being the first full week of summer break at home, there’s definitely an adjustment process as we all learn how to handle not having a rigid schedule again. There’s also an adjustment period while we all learn how to hang out together and not drive each other nuts (That’s a work in progress).

During the mornings, we haven’t really had any problems filling the time since Ellie and Ethan both take part in a Vacation Bible School from 8:30 until 12:30. The afternoons are wide open though leaving us lots of time for adventures. On Monday, it was as simple as walking to the grocery store to buy stuff for dinner and then heading to the park for some play time. Yesterday though, was something else altogether as we made a fairly special trip to the library.

Our library is great about scheduling engaging events for kids throughout the whole year. One of those events would be Blake Bailey’s Comedy and Variety Show which we attended yesterday. While I’d had the event on our calendar for quite a while, I really didn’t think we’d be able to go yesterday when I backed out of the driveway to the sound of tornado sirens in the distance. Like any reasonable person would, I immediately pulled the car back into the garage and explained what was happening to two very disappointed kids in the backseat. Lucky for us, the storms cleared within 15 minutes and we were on our way.

This radar right here is why I didn't believe we would actually make it to the library.

When we got to the library, we checked in and headed into the community room where we took our seats on the floor in front of a large blue backdrop. We didn’t have to wait long though for Blake to make his appearance as he began to entertain us using a combination of magic, juggling, and puppetry. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy myself, especially during his routine with “Sealo the Sea Lion puppet.” Ethan was definitely enjoying himself which was obvious from his cackles of delight in response to everything that was unfolding. Ellie, for her part, was a little more reserved but was still obviously enjoying herself too.

Near the end of his show, Blake asked the audience for a volunteer to help him with his next tricks. I was honestly a little surprised to see Ethan’s hand shoot up in the air as he’s usually a little shy about things like that. I was even more surprised when Blake picked him to make his way up front. For the next ten minutes, Ellie and I sat happily watching Ethan play a part in the show’s closing act.

Ethan kicked off his time on stage by spelling his name for Blake so that he could write it on the back of a black and white poster that would be important later on. Then, Blake asked Ethan to hold a magic wand which broke as soon as he touched it to Ethan’s confusion. By the time they were done, Ethan had seen three different magic wands go completely limp in his hand. No worries though as he eventually helped Blake pull a six-foot wand out of a small paper bag. Not going to lie, the smile on Ethan’s face as he held a six-foot magic wand was epic. Then, he cast a magic spell on an empty paint can, causing it to expel yards and yards of multi-colored fabric. At this point, Ethan’s mischievous side was on full display as he excitedly continued wiggling his “magical fingers” while Blake flailed around wildly trying to collect the yards of fabric. Finally, the two of them successfully took the “paint” and magically changed the poster from black-and-white to full color.

After this, Ethan was gifted the newly colored poster, a magic wand of his very own, and a big red clown nose. It was pretty awesome to see the joy and pride on his face as he sat there holding his newfound gifts. While we’ve certainly attended many library events before, I would have to say that this was definitely a first to have an experience like this. All things told, it really wasn’t a bad way to spend a rainy Tuesday afternoon.

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,924 - The One Where Ellie Got Her Face Cut Open

This may not come as a huge surprise to people who know my family, but my kids are getting older. Ellie’s going to be nine years old in just under two months and Ethan celebrated his sixth birthday back in February. A part of kids aging is that they become a little more independent and generally don’t want to show their parents that they still need them. For the most part, Ellie and Ethan have both embraced finding those opportunities to prove their independence. However, today was one of those rare days when Ellie actually showed just how much she still needed the support of a parent, even if said parent was me!

First, a little background. A couple of months ago, Bethany and I were certain that Ellie had her very first pimple on her face. As a result, the only thing we knew to do was to pop it and get that nasty pus out. As you can probably guess, Ellie was less than ecstatic about that. We anticipated that the zit would heal fairly quickly. However, it didn’t. Instead, it lingered until we finally scheduled a visit to the pediatrician on a day off school where he diagnosed it as a pimple that had gotten infected. As a result, he prescribed her an antibiotic to take for a week with the caveat that we see a pediatric dermatologist if it didn’t improve in a week. Fast forward a week and it didn’t improve. Therefore, our doctor referred us to a pediatric dermatologist where Ellie was diagnosed with a small cyst that would have to be cut out and cleaned in a future appointment. That appointment just happened to be today.

Since the appointment wasn’t until after 11:00 this morning, Bethany and I decided to go ahead and send Ellie to school for the morning with me picking her up around 10:30 to make our way down to the Plaza. As we rode along, I could tell Ellie was nervous, both from her fidgetiness and because she kept asking more and more questions. Soon enough though, we arrived and checked in for our appointment. As we waited in an otherwise empty waiting area, Ellie killed some time playing on a large floor-based video game while I enjoyed watching Lucky Dog.

Finally, the time came for us to be called back. As the two of us sat in the exam room together, Ellie began hysterically crying and shaking due to the fear she was feeling. I took her in my arms and held her close as we started praying for the procedure that would be coming. Then, once we were done praying, I pulled up Encanto on our iPad for Ellie to watch for a few minutes while we waited for the doctor.

Before we knew it, Ellie’s dermatologist entered the room and had Ellie relocate to an exam table. Knowing that she was scared, they actually pulled the table away from the wall and moved a chair to where Ellie could look directly at me and I could hold her hand during the procedure. If I’m being honest, the first part of the procedure was probably the worst as Ellie received at least seven deadening shots in her face. With each one, I was told to gently punch her in the shoulder as the needle went in her delicate face to distract her from what was happening.

Finally, with her face sufficiently deadened, the dermatologist began carefully cutting away the cyst. As this point, I definitely felt tears welling up in my eyes as I watched my brave daughter laying on the table with one eye taped close and an abundance of gauze covering her face. Unfortunately, the only thing I could do was helplessly sit there holding an iPad aloft so she could watch her movie with her one uncovered eye while letting her squeeze my free hand.

Every so often, I would get brave enough to take a peek at the doctor’s ongoing work. Those peeks never lasted too long as I would inevitably get a little freaked out at the sight and would return my gaze to Ellie’s lone, uncovered eye or her hand as it squeezed mine. Finally, after about 30 minutes, the delicate procedure was done and Ellie had received a brand-new stitch along with two bandages covering the wound.

Brave girl with a big bandage!

With that, we left the office and hopped in the car to head home. Not knowing how Ellie would feel, Bethany and I had made it clear that it would be up to her whether she returned to school for the day or not. While I honestly hoped she would stay home, I was ultimately leaving it up to her. As we drove, she proceeded to carefully consider both sides of any potential decision before ultimately deciding she wanted to go back to school.

When we got to school, we went inside to sign Ellie back in to school. Before I left though, I made sure that she knew if her face began hurting or she just really needed to come home, I would come right back and get her. With that, she gave me a big hug and bravely headed to class while I exited the school.

If I’m being honest, today was definitely a wide-ranging set of emotions. For one thing, I absolutely hated seeing my daughter in pain. I liked the fact that I could support her through it and be there to help her in any way I could. Lastly, though, I felt immensely proud of her bravery for wanting to head back to school rather than taking the day to hide at home.

All of that being said, I don’t think it’s out of line for me to say that I hope we never have to experience anything of this ilk again anytime soon. We’ll see what happens though!

#DaddyWrite

Day 1,884 - Taking a Trip Through The Rabbit Hole

Have I mentioned how much I appreciate my wife lately? No, well that’s totally understandable seeing as how I haven’t blogged since September. For the record, I had plenty I could have written about but I just didn’t fully know what I wanted to do with my blog moving forward. Between working on our deck, substitute teaching, and a stint in physical therapy, it was kind of a busy fall. After meticulously checking a calendar though, I’m 99% certain that I am on Day 1,884 of being a stay-at-home dad (not counting days I actually subbed).

Anyway, I appreciate my wife. Right now, I’m appreciating her for all of the little ways she plans fun activities for our family to take part in and also how she manages to make the lead-up to said activity special as well.

On this occasion, our family activity in question was a trip to The Rabbit Hole in North Kansas City. If you’re not already familiar with The Rabbit Hole, the best way to describe it is that it’s an interactive museum based around generations of children’s stories. Basically, you wander from exhibit to exhibit with each new journey putting you right inside the story. Pretty cool concept if I do say so.

Bethany had known for quite some time that she wanted to take advantage of our family’s day off on MLK Day and visit The Rabbit Hole. In fact, in order to make sure that we all really enjoyed the outing, she checked out every single book from the library that is highlighted throughout the experience. Each night for the past few weeks, we’ve read through a few books once the kids were ready for bed in an attempt to familiarize ourselves with the stories that we would be experiencing.

Yesterday after lunch, it was finally time for our visit to occur. Once we arrived and placed our coats in the holding area, we proceeded to wander down a stone staircase that looked like something out of a magical cave. Once we reached the base, we then entered a magical tunnel which led us into something resembling a rabbit’s burrow complete with low ceilings, low lights, and lots of knick-knacks that had clearly been gathered by the rabbit over the years. Then, we wandered out of the rabbit’s burrow and onto a swirling series of ramps which ultimately led us to the heart of the museum.

As we had been reading some of these stories for weeks, we were excited to see displays for “Stega Nona” and “Anatole” right off the bat. The kids were enamored as they watched the displays move right before them. After that, we wandered into an open area surrounded by tons more stories. Shel Silverstein’s famous “Where the Sidewalk Ends” led us onto an elevated platform where we slid down a giant foot. “Blueberries for Sal” placed us right inside the blue and white kitchen of Sal. “Curious George” featured an awesome moving display of George’s entire city for the kids to gaze at, complete with a fire escape that they could climb. “Caps for Sale” had us sitting underneath a tree next to a napping salesman as monkeys overhead excited chattered at us.

There were three displays that really seemed to resonate with the kids though. One was a fire house straight out of “The Fire Cat”. In said exhibit, the kids could climb up a ladder, through a tube, and drop down a fire pole to the ground below. If that wasn’t enough, Pickles the Fire Cat himself occasionally dropped down another fire pole for us to watch and enjoy.

The second display that the kids adored was the Great Green Room straight out of “Goodnight Moon”. As part of the ambience, we actually had to slip off our shoes before entering the dark and quiet carpeted room. If you timed your visit right, you could actually hear the crackling of the simulated fire burning. In that room, Ethan found himself enamored with an extra-large version of his cherished stuffed animal, Cat, that he sleeps with every night. It was honestly pretty special watching him happily carry it around the Great Green Room.

The other display that really needs to be mentioned revolves around one of the kids’ longtime favorite books, “Last Stop on Market Street”. In this story, CJ and his Nana leave Sunday church and hop on a bus to go serve at the local soup kitchen. This display actually had us inside a simulated bus complete with stops and jerks as the story played out on the bus windows in front of us. There were even statues of Nana and other bus patrons that helped bring the story to life. I even got the opportunity to play the bus driver, Mr. Dennis, and you’d better believe that I proudly slipped on the accompanying coat and hat.

After we finished our bus ride, we told the kids to pick a few of their favorite exhibits that they wanted to see again before we headed home. With that, Ellie and Ethan began weaving their way back through the rabbit’s burrow, the fire station, the Great Green Room, and a few others. Sometimes, it can be a little hard to tell how much Ellie and Ethan enjoyed an experience. However, the fact that Ellie absolutely was crestfallen to leave at the end of the afternoon meant that she had definitely enjoyed this experience. Fortunately, The Rabbit Hole has plans to continue to expand and add new exhibits all of the time so I’m sure there will be another visit in our future down the road.

#DaddyWrite

Obviously, I missed the memo that it was blue shirt day in House Holt.