Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

So...
The first couple of days of our vacation have been eventful enough that Ty now looks like a prize fighter.

(Why does this blog seem so Ty-centric? Because the kid is so exciting, that's why!)

Here's what happened:

On Sunday we went for a little hike with Brian's sister and some good friends of ours, the Hickens. Mark Hicken was the missionary that helped Brian's dad join the church when Brian was a kid. They are such a nice family with five wonderful kids. I'm glad we were with them when Ty got hurt, because I tend to panic when there is blood, and they have sustained so many injuries collectively that they were practically laughing when I suggested he might need stitches.









On the hike, the kids were climbing all over rocks while we had a nice wiener and marshmallow roast down below. The ratio of older kids to younger was perfect to give the parents (me) a little break. However, this is the order of events from my point of view.
1. Mark announces that he has to head back to the cars early. He realizes that the pack he is carrying has the first aid kit. "Maybe I should leave this with you guys just in case something happens." (direct quote.)
2. Morgan, the 11 year old, comes running around the corner yelling, "Ty is bleeding!" Right. No need to panic, because how many times a day do we hear that?
3. Jay, the 15 year old boy comes running right behind her with Ty in his arms and blood gushing out of his eye and covering his hands. Of course Ty is screaming "It hurts! It hurts!"
4. I grab Ty and with a little panic in my voice carry him over to Mark and say,"I think we need that first aid kit."



Here's what happened from Ty's point of view:



Many of the kids, including Ty, had crawled into a grain silo. They were all playing around, doing whatever it is kids do in an abandon grain silo (pictured above with three square holes in the side). At the time of the injury, Ty had crawled out of the silo when he realized, Hey! There are rocks flying out of that hole! I think I'll go in for a closer look.

Queue rock puncturing the corner of his eye.

When all was said and done, we got him cleaned up (the blood on his hands was scaring him more than anything, so 13 year old Michaela wiped him down.) The tender mercy of the situation, more for my piece of mind, was the presence of Betsy, Mark's sister, who is a nurse. I knew Ty was going to be okay once I realized that the wound was not in his eyeball and Betsy had secured the butterfly bandage on him and Ty declared, "I want to watch a movie in the car."




Okay. We're back to normal. Mom's just got a little more experience under her belt.

Have I mentioned I don't do well with my kids bleeding and getting injured?

We had a blast in Hurricane with John and Lisa and the kids! More to come later (I hope)!

Top O' the Mornin' To Ya'!

This is the lobby of the bank where Brian works. These pipers come every year and say they love the acoustics of the bank.

It's really hard for me to see bagpipers and not shout "WE HAVE A PIPER DOWN!" But it must be said with a thick Scottish brogue. (Can you imagine my excitement when one of my friends took up the bagpipes in high school! Playing the pipes really does make you light headed and she would be close to passing out quite a bit at first, which gave me ample opportunity to shout one of my favorite lines from "So I Married an Ax Murderer".)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


p.s. please don't comment on the fact that today is St. Patrick's Day, an IRISH holiday (of sorts) and I want to shout something with a Scottish brogue. I'm aware of the discrepancy... thank you...