Sunday, August 09, 2009

there is no place like home

we are home and home is good. we had a wonderful stay with tansy and co. our kids love their kids. in fact toly cried the last hour on the way home, he wanted to go back to tansy's. he wouldn't get out of the car for fifteen minutes demanding that this was the wrong place.

our trip went well. toly's test results have yet to reach my ears, most likely tuesday. he was diagnosed with epilepsy and has to go on anti seizure meds. scary warnings all over that stuff... the test went beautifully, better than imaginable. toly sat there while the technician attached all those electrodes to his head. then he fell right asleep as necessary for the test.

we did go to the zoo and it was great.


our first stop was to visit tansy at her farmers market before leaving her area.

toly might be a plumber someday.

kassi liked all the pretty flowers


we had excellent lemonade


finally we re-piled into the van and headed for the city.


very exciting business.

yes, this is tristan with his new haircut.

toly got so excited


a gentle learning moment.


rome was fascinated by it all.


the day before we left kassi got stung by a brown recluse spider. she got very sick and swelled up like a puffer fish. i was scared to death. we went to the emergency room with her. they couldn't do anything for her. luckily tansy came to the rescue with a poultice and she started on the mend immediately. she looks great here just a few days later.


here is the classic zoo photo. the day was very sunny and hot.


even the shade offered little reprieve.


the obligatory squint eyed camels in the back drop photo.


we were quite the troupe.


toly was nearly uncontainable, fences schmences i want a closer look.


the carousel was a big hit. i stood next to toly and made sure he didn't fall. a look of sweet bliss came over his face. he reached up and put his arm around my neck and said "I love you daddy." that is what makes it all worth while.


cute boy having the best time.


romneya marched around and had a blast.



it is hard to catch the while gang. this is the closest i came.


tristan enjoyed it too.


a much braver second round.


kassi frolicking while sitting.


look one hand.






another highlight was the cool-down fountain.


rome got into the act right away


loud screeches could be heard for miles.


romes little baby dance.




toly gradually warmed up to the idea.


all four of them


this straw came out of this cup daddy.


eaten by the wild hippo




caught in the giant spider web


the three of them running non-stop to the top of the slide


rome needed his shoes on those soft baby feet.


big strong six and 364/365ths year old boy.


running


monsanto's genetically engineered beetle. you'd better buy their pesticide or else.


too much fun was had by all. we stopped by meramac cave on the way home to cool off. the kids got down right chilly. the camera chip was in the laptop, sorry no photos.

monday will be the day of deep cleaning and dislodging any spiders from their habitat.

15 comments:

Beau said...

Welcome back- great pictures of the family. Imagine it must be a little scary to go through all the medical stuff, but hope it helps now. Especially like that plumber picture, and it looks like someone had a happy birthday :)

MamaHen said...

Great photos! Loved 'em! So glad Kassi is better after the spider bite; that would've scared the crap out of me too. Hate to hear Toly has epilepsy but glad ya'll were able get what sounds like topnotch testing and diagnosis in a great facility. Hope he does well with the treatment.

jenny said...

Sorry about the spider bite, scary! Loved the plumber butt!! That's a running joke in my family, too, when we see butt cracks on the kids. Looks like you all made what could have been a stressfull trip into something fun for the whole family. Thanks for sharing the lovely pics!

Welcome home!

Maple Lawn Farm said...

Wonderful pictures. They made me smile.

It's good you have some answers regarding Toly's health.

Robbyn said...

I love seeing the kids having so much fun! So glad the trip had its good moments :)

Anonymous said...

I had epileptic seizures as a kid and went through the same tests as Toly. I was given the meds and after taking the required dose over a period of time, I was cured and haven't had one since. I hope Toly's has a similar kind that can be cured with the medication.

Unfortunately one of the side effects was swelling of the gums and that did effect me and I had to have them burnt back in a painful process 20 years ago and still battle it to this day with lots of extra brushing. Still if given the option, I would have done it the same just so I don't have to worry about having a seizure.

-Regular reader wishing to remain anonymous

Angie said...

I was just thinking of you guys last night, so what a nice surprise to see you post today! I am glad you guys had fun! Happy belated birthday Tristan! I hope all is well with Toly.

warren said...

Well...I guess a diagnosis is better than a mystery. Glad you had fun and also made it back home. There is no place like home!

Julie said...

Beautiful family.

Isn't it crazy that you had to leave your farm and go to the city in order for Kassi to get bit by a spider?

Glad everyone is well.

Kristen said...

Hey Karl,

Have you considered puffing some diatomaceous earth (DE) around the house and in the corners of the floor? If you get the food-grade kind, it is safe to eat, so no worries about Toly or Rome. It is a great insect-killing method (for the spiders) that isn't scary. Look it up online (and make sure to get food grade, not the type used in pools).

Debra Dotter Blakley said...

So glad you're back home and know what is going on with Toly. It is better to know than to wonder. Sounds like you had a blast.

Esther said...

I'd love to know what Tansy put in the poultice. I recently had to put plantain on my daughter's bite, but don't know if it would work with a nasty recluse.

Pablo said...

Wow, that spider web was at the zoo when my kids were little!

MotherOfBlessings said...

I would also like to know what was in the poultice. Plantain would be my first guess.

Omelay said...

beau, with a reference photo like that he'll easily be accepted into the local pipe fitters union.

annie, brown recluse spider bites are scary stuff. she's fine now.

jenny, it was a successful trip thanks.

tammy, those pictures were only a glimpse of the fun that was had.

robbyn, many good moments, they'll get burned into their memories.

anon, i hope they are short lived. thanks for posting.

angie, warren, thanks it is better to know.

julie, things are getting better.

kristen, measures are being taken.. DE is a good idea.

deb, we did have a blast

esther, MOB,
it was activated charcoal and plantain.

pablo, thanks for the suggestion ever-so-long-ago

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