A Tale of Two Cities Vacation

"It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times." (from Charles Dicken's " Tale of Two Cities") My sister, Stacey, from Yorba Linda, CA is here for a visit. She tries her best to come three or four times a year and while she is here, it is much like a circus in an elevator. All 6 of us siblings (and spouses and children, etc) and our Dad gather to join in the festivities every day and night. There is little sleeping, but a lot of eating, racquetball, shopping, grooming & pampering, movies, old stories to retell and enough belly laughs to sustain us until the next trip.  In the process, new memories are made to retell another day. It ain't over yet, as Stacey doesn't fly out until Monday early.

After a fun-filled girls' day out today, we had a fish fry at my sister, Dawn's.  The cousins were running and squealing through the house when 3 year Juliett took a hard spill onto the tile floor and split her head open. ( They really know how to shut down a party.)  A scary amount of blood. Emergency Room. A miserable "all nighter" at the hospital, since it is not only summer, but also the start of the weekend, resulting in an increased number of patients. 

I remember a couple years ago when Jon took Brennan to the ER with a gash in his chin from a nasty fall in the bathtub.  After four hours into the late night, they gave up and went home, never having seen a doctor at all.  They cleaned the wound and put a butterfly closure on it. 

Do-it-yourself healthcare.  We're gonna be seeing a lot more of it.

Post Script:  Juliett finally had a half-dozen stitches after waiting from 9:30 pm until about 3:30 am.  She was extremely patient and brave in the ER with no sign of any residual problems. In fact, she was over tonight for a few minutes and enjoyed romping with her cousins again.