Beach Break

In the midst of Stephen's ear ordeal, Emme got sick with a virus and then gave it to Bella.  Bella was pretty sick for several days, much more so than Emme, and the string of illness left us unable to get out and do much for 5 days straight.  So we all started getting a serious case of cabin fever.  To remedy it, we headed to the beach for an afternoon and evening.  It did the trick perfectly!

One Blip on the Trip

If you were ever wondering what an ear cartilage infection looks like, here you go.  Every vacation has some blip (and some vacations have many blips).  The only real one we encountered this year was a weird one.  We are still not entirely sure how it happened, but Stephen developed an infection in the ear cartilage on the top of his left ear.  The most common cause of such an infection is a piercing in that area.  (It was hard to convince my Grandma that Stephen had not pierced his ear.  She was skeptical!!)  Since that was not the origin here (it could have been a bite, an abrasion, an ear trauma like wrestlers or boxers get according to the doctor), we are left with little certainty as to how it happened.  But regardless of its origin, the treatment for it ended up being much more involved than you would think.  Take a look:

Ouch!  This is a few days into our trip.  The pain and swelling started around the first day, and it was minor in the beginning but then got increasingly worse.  Stephen texted a doctor friend of his and got some antibiotics ordered, which we were able to pick up and start when we got to El Paso.

The antibiotics helped with the redness and some of the pain, but fluid remained in the top part of the ear, which produced pressure and soreness.

This is his other ear to compare.  There isn't a lot of space for expansion in the top part of the ear -- hence the pressure and pain.


Because the ear wasn't healed by the time we got home, we made an appointment with an ENT for Monday afternoon.  When the ENT saw Stephen, he told him that he had to have an emergency draining and packing procedure and that infections like this can actually kill the cartilage and severely deform the ear if not treated properly.  The doctor said it was good that Stephen got on the antibiotics but that a procedure was immediately necessary.  The last patient the doctor had treated for this was in the hospital for 6 weeks on IV antibiotics and had to have three reconstructive surgeries on her ear!!  This is what Stephen looked like after the first procedure...

He had to keep the head wrap on for 6 days.  It drove him crazy! He couldn't do much of anything while it was on, and he is not good at taking it easy for long stretches.

The procedure had to be repeated twice, and then he actually had to have surgery on his ear at the hospital the next week because it wasn't fully healing. The infection was gone, but the fluid buildup and irregular shape wasn't.  They had to insert a drain and suture packing into his ear.  And he has had to take strong antibiotics for several days.

 His poor ear!  So for over two weeks he has had some form of head wrap or bulky bandage on and has been in pain.  The stares and comments he has gotten have been persistent and sometimes funny.  When he was finally able to go back into the office for work, one lady went up to him and said, "Excuse me, sir, but you have something on your ear," and she started to reach up to remove the gauze, as if it was there by accident!  When she realized it was a medical wrap, she became embarrassed and apologized.  Stephen just laughed.  He has had to tell the story of what happened to nearly every one he comes into contact with.  He is now just saying he was attacked by a Grizzly on vacation.  Or a shark. Something cooler than the real thing.

One of his friends said, when Stephen had the head wrap on, that he looked like the guy from the Backstreet Boys who wore a white knitted head wrap -- AJ McClean.  We thought that was pretty funny!

With the number of piercings and tattoos he has, AJ has probably had an ear cartilage infection too. :)  "Tell me why, ain't nothin but a heartache..."

We are just hoping that the surgery was successful and that we can get rid of this vacation souvenir for good!  We find out in a couple days when he goes back in.

Summer Vacation 2012 -- Part 3

After the JW resort in San Antonio, we made our way to several stops in New Mexico -- Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, and Roswell  -- where we visited with family and saw some cool national geological phenomena.  Then we made our way to our final destination, El Paso, where we spent the Fourth of July with family and got to meet Kumen and Holly's brand new baby boy -- little Mac Rey Call, whom they adopted just a week earlier! We had a great trip!!

White Sands National Park.  Miles and Miles of powder white sand dunes.  It's like a scene out of Star Wars.

We didn't stay too long, though, because it was hot -- not the sand but the air.

The day before, we spent a few hours at Carlsbad Caverns.

I had gone there as a kid, but I forgot how amazing the formations are!

It is 750 feet below the surface and very....well...cavernous.

Ranger Harrison.

Ranger Emme

Everywhere you go, there are incredible structures and formations.  It's very surreal.

This one was hanging overhead.

The kids really enjoyed it, but toward the end of the hour long tour of what is known as the "big room", they started to get a little antsy.  Also, it was pretty cool down there, so the kids and I had jackets on.

Sometimes it seemed like the rock formations could spring to life.  I definitely recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area.

Ranger Sophie

Ranger Bella

We got to see my Grandma and Grandpa Call in Roswell and spend an afternoon with them.

Some of the great grand kids gathered together at G&G Call's.

The kids hung on their great grandpa and liked playing with his dog, Lucky.  Lucky got a little too friendly with Emme at one point and she ended up a little scratched and scared.  But all in all, it was a pleasant visit.

Then we went to El Paso for the main attraction of the trip -- Little Mac!  We are so happy for Kumen and Holly!

We took the kids to the high school I graduated from -- Coronado -- in El Paso and ran around the track there.  It brought back some great memories.  El Paso holds a special place for me.

Stephen ended up really liking El Paso too.  It has a good vibe there.

We did plenty of eating on this trip...yummy bbq and...

yummy Mexican.

We stuck our hand through the border fence, which made the nearby border patrol drive their vehicle toward us, which caused Bella to panic a bit.  When the fuzz realized we were just doing it for a photo, they turned around.

We saw a great fireworks display while sitting on the softball field next to the church I went to when I lived in El Paso.

The El Paso country club shoots off the display, and it is very close to the church, so we got a front row view.

Though it was time to come back home, a part of me wishes we could have stayed in El Paso a bit longer.

Summer Vacation 2012 -- Part 2

There were so many cool activities at the Marriott resort in addition to the water park.  From movies by the pools at dusk to planet gazing through high powered telescopes to animal shows, our days and evenings there were full of fun!

The good life.  One night, while Harrison and Stephen were laying poolside and watching the dusk-time movie, Harrison raised his cup of water in the air and said "cheers" as he tapped the cup against Stephen's cup of water.  He must have seen it on TV.  It was too funny!

This girl is growing up.  Can't believe she will be in YW in 18 months!

Looking at the the planet Saturn.  It was really cool to see the rings around it!

Stephen got barked at by the guides because his iPhone caused too big of a flash during the pictures.  Apparently, it can be quite dangerous to take a flash picture while someone is looking through a high powered telescope.  It can damage their cornea.  Fortunately, no corneas were damaged on this trip.

The kids decorated rubber ducks for the duck race in the lazy river.

Then they cheered their ducks on.

And waited for them at the finish line.

Harrison won . . . the slow poke duck award!  His duck was the last place finisher in the entire field.  Emme was pretty upset that Harrison "won."  He got several prizes for having the slowest duck!  Sophie, being the awesome big sister that she is, created a "cutest duck" award for Emme back in the hotel room and that pacified her.

Room service is always a hit with kids.

Especially when it is yummy chocolate chip pancakes that taste like cookies!

And then there were S'mores by the fire every night.

Doodle blowing the hot marshmallows to cool them down.

Gummy worm hunting was tasty and fun!

And the Zoomation animal show was captivating.

And a little creepy...

It was off to New Mexico the next day!