Memorial Day...Week

Upon returning from D.C. I luckily had four days to recover. We had planned to stay the week in D.C. but Em didn't come with the kids because our lodging had a baby, so we couldn't stay there. The good part was we had four days of leisure for vacation instead of a hectic four days of vacation. (D.C. is not conducive to small children anyhow.)

So here is the non-travelogue:

Monday-Recovered from D.C nightlife, inflated the bounce house, went on a mini bike ride around our neighborhood and did BBQ burgers and dogs. Max barfed in the am so we didn't do any major events.

Tuesday- We rode our bikes on the East Bay Bike Trail. No not Provo, no not San Francisco. This was the Narragansett Bay. It goes for about 14 miles from East Providence to Bristol RI. Knowing we are not quite Hard Core, we drove to Bristol and rode for 4 miles and returned to Bristol (a quant seaside town in southeast RI). It was a lot of fun and the boys did great biking! Em even did great with a wobbley Sam behind her on the "hitchhiker" bike.The evening ended with watching National Treasure II. Max woke up during it and stayed up to watch it with us, being a very big boy.

Wednesday- After Max came home from school, we went to Boston. Em was dropped off at the Museum of Fine arts by herself while I was left to navigate the streets of Boston to take the rest of us to the Boston Children's museum. Luckily I found it without traumatizing the boys by being TOO lost. (I also circumnaigated to find Em's favorite Thai chicken satay skewers and made up a pirate treasure hunt with mom as the treasure as we made our way back to Em's museum.

Thursday-We were going to bike on Block Island, but Max had sports day at school so we let him do that and then went to the local beach, where I had a dream come true. I feel asleep at the shores edge reading! Then upon Max's suggestion went to Chuck E Cheese's and then on to soccer practice.

Friday-Back to work. I like the 1 day work week. I could get used to it! Our friends, the Montoya's, came over for dinner before they move to AZ and are now spending the night. Their house is empty so they didn't feel like going home. Plus, we are well known for our breakfast delights.

Block Island has been postponed until next Friday. So stay tuned.

Also, I was just booked to do a Photo shoot this weekend for the Montoya's.

Me and My Llama

I was holding Boy #3 this morning and for some reason my favorite Sesame Street song came into my mind "Me and My Llama." Does anyone else remember this one!?




I just hope that the little girl goes to a different dentist then the llama.

The next one made me realize that I must really sound like an Idiot all day long!!!! * Someone tell the dentist to put on his gloves and sterilize his instruments!

You Can't Fly With The Eagles If You Hoot With The Owls

This is a saying my father Jim was wont to say. I believe it means that you shouldn't stay up late. Well I proved that saying false this weekend. I attended the annual American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry meeting. One would say that the purpose of set conference is to continue one's dental education as we are required to do by law, however you would be mistaken for assuming this. The real meaning/purpose is to party with a tax write off.

Although, that isn't really 100% true, it does feel more like a social event. There are a few good lectures to go to, but there are a lot of parties and then bars after the parties and after bar parties. I don't usually get a chance to hang out with my friends/coresidents a lot, so I took the chance to hang out with them a bit. I discovered that bars are too crowded and too loud. It was a lot of fun hangin' with my friends.

So Friday I flew down early in the morning to stand by my research poster, which was fun to explain my research project and then conclude "however, it isn't reliable enough to be used clinically." Then walked around the vendor floor looking for free tooth past, which I did find! Crest Pro Health, my favorite!!!! then I went off with my friend to see the Lincoln memorial Vietnam War Memorial and the Washington Monument. The Lincoln was amazing, with a special hollowed sense about it. The war memorial was special. Families had left letters to some of the soldiers, one of which was MIA. A brother was writing to let him know what was going on with their family. Very neat to be a part of.We then walked about six miles total that day to meet up at a bar with some other friends, then went to dinner by Chinatown and then to Rocket Bar, sounds cool huh. We got home about 3am and I woke up at about 6:30 and went back to the conference. I attended a lecture by one of the "Love and Logic" authors Foster Cline. He was a very entertaining and offered a lot of good stuff for both parenting as well as for behavior management for the dental office and how to handle the patients' parents.

After the conference was over I went to the National Archives and saw the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. That was really cool. This was followed by some handmade noodles from China town and a Washington Nationals baseball game. Yes this was enough for me for the day, but it continued. We went down to the Georgetown waterfront where I splurged and got two ice waters at the bar. Then when that got a little too cold another bar was sought out since the "night is still young." Fortunately after some pizza it was decided to head back to my friend Jason's house so they could still hang out with the Mormon's. Thank goodness. So we got back and played Wii Mario Cart until about, oh, 4. And I was the first to turn into bed. Sunday I got to see my new nephew before heading tot he airport.

Well, I have now recovered and don't think I'll be staying up that late ever again. I did manage to hoot and fly, but I'm not sure I can do any long term flying with the eagles! My friends are also some of the greatest nicest, and kindest people with whom I've associated.

Dental Story

Once in a while I'll come home and tell Em one of the stories from work (with no private information in accordance with HIPPA, of course. I use code names such as E. Benes, or Elaine B.). For example, the story of the Dad who said: "Yeah, he eats lots of fruit. I give him skittles, fruit with a thin candy shell.

So the story of this week was the mom who reluctantly, yet proudly, told me that the five and a half year old girl had stopped using a bottle a whole 1.5 months ago!!! (She had cavities on about 15 of 20 teeth)*. Then mom brought up the problem of the child not drinking milk anymore because of the bottle having been taken by the Tooth Fairy! Now she'll only drink milk if its with her Cocoa Pebbles! "She's picky" mom adds.

I guess I'm not one to judge since my oldest child would only eat frozen chimichangas from Costco for a year, but then again I am the child's dentist so I can.

*Diagnosis: Severe Early Childhood Caries

The Next Morning

Please refer to www.actegratuit.blogspot.com for the background to this post. 

The next morning after Em fails to push me down the stairs for the second time in two days, she says:

"In the movies they make it look so easy

 to push someone down the stairs. It's a lot harder then it looks!" 

Spring Time

Sometimes I try to scare large flocks of birds, especially all the Canadian geese around here. I used to think they were cool, but they seem to be everywhere and that makes it a little less cool. This sentiment was reinforced when I visited my brother's home in Chicago, where some 100,000 petulant poopy Geese reside. They try to attack rather then flee and seem to forget to clean up their poop, which abounds everywhere.

So on a rainy day on the way home a few days ago, I was inclined to drive through a puddle and possible splash a small gaggle of geese. I stop at the last second as I saw that there were a few baby goslings with them. I began seeing them each morning on the way to work. It took me about a week to drive by them with my camera in the car.

It so sooo cute. It was a chilly morning and three of the four goslings were huddle together while the other was foraging.

Then last night as I went to get milk from the gas station, yes the gas station, (Its sad that the milk is cheaper then the gas, or is it. Maybe its just sad all together), I saw a two geese crossing the street with three babies. I watched them thinking one died, but then saw on the other side of the street the other family.

Now this family has a weird dynamic. The new family is typical, three kids a mom and a dad. The first family I saw has four kids, which is a lot but acceptable, but there are three parents. Two normal and one white goose that is always with the babies. I'm not sure if they have two dads and a mom or vice versa, or a grandma or if the two geese got divorced and one has visitation or if one is birth mother making an adoption transition. It seems weird to me. I want to know how this white goose fits in. Anyway, the baby geese are adorable.

Happy B-day

My most adorable wife again made a magnificent Birthday Cake for Boy #3. This years was a lion cake, because I have always thought he looked like a lion cub! Here's how it went down:

Part one: Hungry Cub

Part two: Never take food from a lion, no matter how small!