Fun stuff & freaky weather phenomenon

Mira has been squinting a lot lately. She assured me she just does it when she's concentrating, but given my vision and history I suspected she was starting to become nearsighted. She's never had an eye exam before, so Wednesday I took both kids to the optometrist. The doctor was really great with them. Mira was very nervous, in spite of Ryan's assurances, but the staff and doctor really made her feel comfortable. As it turned out, she really is just squinting when she concentrates, though, because she doesn't need glasses at all. Ryan is a little farsighted, but the doctor said he should grow out of it without any correction.

With both kids over their colds and me still feeling fine, we headed to Tyler on Thursday to visit Aunt Mid, Uncle Jim and Uncle Dot (and to deliver girl scout cookies). Unfortunately, Uncle Dot was sick, so we didn't get to see him. We had a nice little bonus in the form of my cousin's baby, Aspen, though, and my cousin Mary dropped by while we were there as well. Aspen has what may be the sweetest cheeks (other than my own children's, naturally) that I've ever seen. Mira started getting a pretty severe allergy attack about halfway to Tyler, and it was one of those that just doesn't let up no matter what. We ended up staying only an hour and a half or so (after driving 2+ hours to get there). She slept part of the way home, which gave her only temporary relief. She continued to sneeze and sniffle til we went to bed. The next day she was fine, and we hit the ground running again.

Today was the birthday party of Mira's best friend, Alexandra. She had a Harry Potter themed party at the ice skating rink at the Frisco mall. It was insanely crowded, but the kids had a great time. I felt bad for Ryan, because the party started in a little party room with pizza, ice cream, and cake. He didn't act like he minded, but the adults who were running the party (Alexandra's mom had a baby 3 days ago, so she left it in the hands of friends and relatives) kept asking him over and over if he was sure he didn't want pizza/cake/ice cream. He handled it with his usual grace and calmness, and I promised him dinner at his favorite Indian restaurant as a consolation. Mira ice skated for two hours straight, sometimes with me, sometimes with her girl scout leader Tiffany, and sometimes with just Alexandra. Ryan only lasted a few minutes, because big crowds really aren't his scene.



Oh! I almost forgot...upon leaving the mall we got caught in the worst dust storm I've ever seen. The sky was completely brown, even though there weren't any clouds whatsoever. I talked to Karnea, who lives 300 miles away, and she said they had been experiencing the same thing all day. Wow! It just boggles my mind.




Tuesday and Friday were spent playing with friends. One of these days we'll catch up on the piles of housework and schoolwork that await us...won't we?