Money for Nothin'

I'm pleased to use this space to announce the newest member of our family.


Earlier in the week we finalized the adoption of Riley's new best friend....
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.... a stuffed monkey named George.


He'd been sitting in a closet for a long time, but Riley found him last Sunday and they've become inseparable.







Well, mostly inseparable.

We were able to separablate them enough on Monday to pile in with Granny Lynn and Granddad for a trip over to Caroline's home turf, the BR Zoo.

Riley had great educational experiences.

He got to see a turtle and a duck fight for food. (a few seconds after this shot)





He was charged multiple times by a very angry elk.





and he got to watch monkeys pick bugs out of each others' crotches.




That's darn near the holy trinity of good family fun.

Since zoos aren't supposed to be educational, Riley passed up the lesson in diversity and inclusion that Paul and I pondered.

Next time you're by the flamingos in BR, notice that there is something different about one.



In fact, that different one is a duck. But he eats what flamingos eat, has a hint of pink coloring and generally conducts himself like a flamingo.
It's pretty interesting, and I'd love to know the origins of his inclusion in the group.*** (inclusion may not be the right word as Paul says he's usually relegated to the outer edge of the flock. Maybe tolerance is more fitting.)



Despite all of the potential excitement, things were kinda dull.
Riley was working well into nap time and Caroline was tranq'd out on a dose of Zyrtec.






They perked up enough for the playground,







and continued the good times at the petting zoo.









So that was a good day. Not everyday can be that way though.


Thursday morning we got a text from my mom saying that Riley had dropped a heavy toy on his right big toe. A few hours later he was still refusing to put weight on it, so we called the pediatrician.
We figured that it wasn't an ER situation because, typically, there's nothing you can do, even for a broken toe.

We're not going to be those parents that go to an ER every time the kid cries.

A short while later the nurse called me back and, much to my surprise, suggested that we go to the ER. Since our doc is pretty straight with us and knows that Joan and I are educated, informed and skeptical, I deferred to the expert's suggestion.

Riley and I headed over to the W&C ER where he was in high spirits until they(..... gasp....tragedy......horror.....) weighed him. All downhill from there.





We were quickly moved to a trauma suite and George came in very handy in comforting him.







After only a few minutes, a nurse practitioner showed up and said, unsurprisingly, "even if it's a broken toe, there's really nothing we can do." (insert remark involving excrement and Detective Holmes.)

So essentially we spent $400-$600 (presumably. no bill yet.) for them to tell us exactly what we knew, which was that there was nothing for them to do.


They took x-rays anyway and it's not broken, but I'm shocked that he didn't break anything else while trying to fight off of the x-ray table.

His mood was perkened (not a word, but should be) by some cookie cake at daddy's office.




By that evening he was running around and even kicking things. I guess all it takes is one nice car payment to cure a hurt toe.


Saturday was the second Cajuns home game, and even though less people showed up, it was a really big game from a football perspective as the visiting team is in a much better conference and is generally expected to easily dispose of lower tier teams like the Cajuns.

Before heading to the field though we stopped by the Northside, oops, I mean Upper Lafayette, Target because they are the only place that sells Tide Free in the one gallon,dispenser jugs. But we also discovered that their baskets are way nicer than the Southside Target baskets. I demand (for whatever that's worth) that we get the nice plastic baskets too.





We then grabbed some lunch from the new, super busy, Northside, I mean Upper Lafayette, Chick-Fil-A and headed out to a soggy Cajun Field.


Riley met a new friend, Bennett, and made his Mommy's day by having a splash fest in the standing water.








He didn't mind the mud or drizzle and had fun running around with Anna, who was much better outfitted for the conditions.






But no one was as classily equipped as Aiden when it came to keeping your hair dry.




Eventually, we headed in for the game which was worth every second. (especially since our seats were dry, unlike about 90% of the rest of the stadium.)

The Cajuns had a good lead until K-state jumped ahead by one point with just a few minutes to go.
The Cajuns had a good drive down the field but stalled at the 30 with just over 30 seconds left.
The tension in the air was palpable as they sent in a kicker who had never had a college field goal attempt, for a 48 yard shot. A snap of the scoreboard will let you know how he did.




Even with a moderate crowd turn out, it almost sounded like an LSU game when he made the kick.

Definitely one of the more exciting finishes I've ever seen to a game, and significant win for the Cajuns who are undoubtedly going to be beaten to a pulp next weekend in BR.


That does it for this week. Barring any unnecessary ER visits , next week's post will be skimpy.
I may actually have to think of something to say that is worth reading instead of the usual (in Paul's words) "white noise to break up the space between pictures."
I don't want to have to do that. Booooooooo!



*** Below is a clip of a Dave Chappelle standup routine that I can't help but think about everytime I see the fauxmingo duck poseur.

WARNING- BAD WORDS. NOT KID OR WORK FRIENDLY. PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK.