Sunday, March 27, 2016

Too Much Snow? Snow way!

We got some impressive "dumpage" (that's what my dad calls snow) in DC this winter. Well, not really impressive in inches, but enough at one time so that school got cancelled for a whole week. And THAT, my friends, IS impressive.



We had a blast building forts, sledding, creating snow creatures, making sledding tracks, and jumping off the roof. Yes, I said roof. For the record, the roof jumping was 100% my dad's idea. He'd borrowed the neighbor's 15 foot ladder to shovel 5' snow drifts off of our car port's flat roof. There was quite a bit of snow so by the time he'd shoveled it off, the snow mound below was enormous.

My dad and I'd done it several times when I hollered to my mom to come see what we were doing. She thought we were going to show her a giant snowman. She was a bit surprised to find me on the roof, running at full speed, jumping off, and squealing with glee. "Um, who's dump idea was this?" I believe was her exact comment. "Isn't it awesome mom? You've GOT to try it." She declined several times, but then peer pressure got the best of her. After she landed she said the same thing, "That was REALLY stupid." My dad proudly told her that he hadn't allowed my two year old brother jump off the roof. She was clearly unimpressed with his parental restraint. Either way, it was a blast. I highly recommend it. We also hosted a neighborhood snowball fight - check out the crowd that showed up (such a fun neighborhood!)

From our snow we headed west to some real serious dumpage in Utah. We spent ten days skiing, playing with family and friends, and enjoying tons of snow adventures. We went out to the lake house for a few days - the lake house in the winter? you ask - yes, the lake house.
The lake freezes so we can ice skate and it's an endless playground; check out my cousin Mallory and me being pulled on sleds behind the Rhino (safety first! not really, but always fun!). Gates and my grandpa were a bit smarter and just watched as we whizzed by.

This year was Gates' first year snow skiing. He's a stud and figured it out right away. His commitment to the sport overtook his brain a few times and twice - TWICE - he fell asleep on the slopes. Once my mom was alone with him and he just slumped over in the snow - face first and never woke up. So she had to pick him up in her arms with his skis attached to his feet, and ski to the bottom of the hill to get him off the mountain. Lucky for her there was a kind stranger who helped detach HER skis when she got to the lodge with her arms full of Gates.

One thing is for sure, our family loves snow.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Eyeball


(Spring may be here, but there are a few winter highlights we need to share before we can officially change seasons on our blog. So hang tight as we wrap up winter in the next few posts.)

Bodie and I were playing at our next door neighbors house one afternoon when my mom's phone rang. "Bodie got hurt. My husband is walking him home now. I'm really sorry." My mom walked outside to see us walking across the street and asked Bodie if he was okay. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, and walked inside. My mom hung out to chat with the neighbor.

He explained that we were playing outside in the snow and that his three year old daughter picked up a metal shovel and raised it into the air, but it was too heavy so she dropped it and the shovel's blade hit Bodie in the eye...specifically the shovel hit his eyeball. A direct hit to his eyeball. Not a single mark to his face or eyelid, just the eyeball. Seriously, what are the chances of this?!?!?!

My mom went inside to check on Bodie. He was low-key, as usual, and said he was fine. It was almost 5pm and he seemed good, so we had dinner and then headed to bed. Before you decide my parents are WAY too hands off, let me just say that my mom and dad did discuss the injury, but based on Bodie's calm behavior and that he was sleeping well, their level of concern diminished.

Bodie woke up the next morning, walked out of his room, and asked for all of the lights to be turned off. THIS was all my mom needed. She had him get dressed and they headed straight to the ophthalmologist - no appointment and no plan to leave until Bodie was seen by a doctor.

It was a Friday and there were no pediatric ophthalmologists in the office. "No problem," my mom said, "Any eyeball doctor would be great, we'll wait." Even though they thought she was crazy, they agreed to look at Bodie's eye.

The first doctor began to examine his eye and said, "Are you sure you're okay?" Bodie calmly replied yes. The doctor looked again. "Are you SURE?" She then looked at my mom, "His cornea has a large cut to the center of his eye. Grown men come in with this injury and are screaming in pain. Is he really okay? I want to get another doctor to look at this. I'll be right back." And she left the room.

The second doctor came in and looked at his eye through the machines,  scooted back, and looked with concern at Bodie, "How do you feel? Are you okay?" Bodie shrugged and said, "Fine. The light just bugs my eye." Then the doctor looked at my mom and said, "In 20 years I've never seen someone with this injury so calm. It is excruciating. Our focus is always on managing the pain with this injury. Based on his demeanor, I'm not exactly sure what to do next."

So they gave him antibiotics that he had to put in his eye every hour for several days, booked five follow-up eye appointments over the next six weeks, and sent him on his way. And that was it. His eye healed perfectly and he even wro
te a short story about it at school...