A Grand Tour of The Entire Midwest, But Mostly Wisconsin (UPDATE 11/12--BONUS Texas TR NOW COMPLETE)

[Captain_Oblivious]

Pretty sure it started with "A.S."

That's how I remember it...

How was the voice pitch?

A little squeaky.

Shouldn't the question be "Why does anyone believe any of it?"

I've been asking that for years, and yet you guys keep reading this crap.

I'm sorry for your loss... of hearing.

Suffering as a parent gives you a great deal of respect for your own parents.

Nice! A gift!

I'll let Julie take care of it.

Rules are meant to be broken.

Until you're the one making the rules.

No.

Not from a distance.
This is relatively common:

While this is pretty much a given:

That's amazing!

Of course I've seen tons of polar bears,
but the only brown bears I've seen were at the dump.
Not sure if that qualifies.

Doesn't sound quite as exotic.

Try this on for size.
Drove about 650 miles to a hotel (about 11 hours). Next day drove 100 miles to the garden (couple hours), spent a few hours, had dinner, went back the 100 miles to the hotel. Next day drove the 650 miles home.

Just to see the garden.

Now this is a man who loves him some Japanese gardens. I hope it was worth the trip!

Doing things like that does make for a good story. I would do it for certain sporting events. Like if I got tickets to the Masters, or something.

So... did you get the roller skates?

I've been trying to get the items to re-create this:

Yeah it does.
I'm not going for breakfast, it'll be supper.
So if I'm near them both, I know which one to go to now.

Well then, you're welcome!

Of course, I as far as I know, The Machine Shed has good dinner food too.

My mom used to tell me as a kid that sharing a bed with me was like sleeping with an egg beater. I think I'm starting to understand what she meant.

We all have our quirks!

And here I thought you were there to make Dam jokes.

I'm just here to chew bubble gum and make dam jokes. And I'm all out of bubble gum.

It's harder to recover from these when there isn't a husband. When one of the wives claims to be wrong, you'd think that would end the fight, but no, it escalates things every further.

Oh, man. You have no idea how hard I laughed at this. With two wives, the easy scapegoat is removed from the equation. I feel like this should cause a rift in the space/time continuum or something!

But, but there's a ladder right there!

He does look rather proud of his proficiency!

He does have his talents.

Great picture! At least Drew is being quiet!

For once!

I think it would have been an awesome Christmas Card!

Well, we did sneak it in there.

You better not let Homeland Security get ahold of that information.

I'm sure they have a detailed file on us already.

I've put cheese in the middle of a burger before, but it never came out that cheesy. Looks good, but I'd have to order it without the ketchup. I'm one of those West Coasters who likes mayo or Thousand Island.

Julie seems to get the cheese right when she does it. I don't know what her secret is.

Salad dressing goes on salads!

Brings back memories for me 10 years ago this summer, we spent a week there.

I love Chicago! Such a neat city.

He looks so mature and contemplative.

I thought he looked hung over.

What was he thinking? That he could drink from his bellybutton?

I...I guess?

You guys are gluttons for punishment!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I may actually find time to post another one someday too.

We'll be here when you do!

Awesome! Glad to have provided the opportunity to save you some time.


Well, this was a dam good update!!!!

Thanks! I wanted to make sure I gave you plenty of dam descriptions.

He's got a good thing going. Set for life now in sole bed rights!

He's smarter than he looks.

You've got the finger lickin' good theme down pat.

Well, as long as they enjoyed their meals.

Nice work, boys!

The war effort will not forget them.

Score!!!! That is a VERY nice gift!

Wrong port!

This kid...

No. Just no. Poor Dave...

Nobody wants to be a soprano for life.

I see what you did there...censors....

But I didn't even talk about the dam bridge or the dam walls.

Too bad it was being demolished when you were there

Really? Gee, I can't say I have ever experienced something like this...

When you're wrong, you're wrong. And when you're right, you're wrong.

Well, I suppose they could have put some more branches over it to make it even more "helpful".

Hey, what's this sign say? Let me lean over and clear it off....

Very cool. I enjoyed Looney Tunes growing up (still do I guess). I remember one birthday (maybe my 8th?) my dad brought a movie projector back form his school (he was a teacher) and my parents had bought some Looney Tunes films, the little 8mm film reel, this was pre-VCR days. So I showed Looney Tunes films at my house for my birthday and I thought I was "Da Bomb!" or "the shizzle" or whatever the kids say these days to make themselves sound cool.

I don't think my kids really know much about Looney Tunes these days. Kid of sad....

I have no idea what "shizzle" is, but that sounds like the greatest birthday party ever!

But you lost some dad points there. Every dad has certain mandatory jobs: teaching kids how to properly throw a ball, change a tire, and the pull my finger trick. And one of those jobs is indoctrinating the kids to watch Looney Tunes! Get to work!

Well, it would seem they have a fall back plan if school doesn't work out.

That might save me some money, actually.

That looks awesome. I tried doing that once but all the cheese oozed out and made a mess. Clearly there is a trick to it.

Oozing, messy cheese is not necessarily a bad thing.

I foresee that he may also look like this after spending a long night in college one of these days.

That's very impressive. Good luck to the rest! (How is Alaska going?!)

Alaska is...in the future.

If it plays out according to plan, it should go like this:
2017: Deep South (47 states complete)
2018: Drew's first Disney World trip
2019: Pacific Northwest (49 states done)
2020: Sarah graduates high school, we celebrate by visiting Alaska.

It all sounds good on paper.

I'm up for it! I spent some time in Texas, so it would be interesting to see if we visited the same places.

I bet you didn't find the Prada store in the desert.

I don't know what this is like at all!

I see a lot of painful acknowledgment in the room.

Okay, I give up...what's a periodic sea lion?

One that puts on a show several times a day. Or one that studies radioactivity.

Ah yes, I've seen that show a couple of times. (You can tell there isn't much on tv when you watch the Juicy Lucy episode twice.)

I do see it come back every so often.

Wait, how far is it from Minneapolis to Midway airport??

Just one layover away!

I guess I'd better start uploading photos...

 

[glennbo123]

Just one layover away!

Ahhhh....I hadn't made that connection. Ba dum bum.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Ahhhh....I hadn't made that connection. Ba dum bum.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Soo...real life update here.

I don't usually talk much about my day-to-day life here on the boards. Mostly it's because I don't think you'll find it very interesting. Also, I work as a public employee, so it makes sense to keep things low profile.

I have shared over the past couple of TR's that my daughter has been undergoing treatment for scoliosis. She wore a brace for a couple of years in an attempt to try and keep the curvature in her spine from getting worse. When they took the brace away, her curve measured 48 degrees. After a year out of the brace, I was sure it would have gotten worse, but when they measured again last year it was still 48 degrees.

The magic number is 50 degrees--anything above that, and the studies show that it will likely progress at the rate of a degree a year, meaning future debilitating back issues and deformity. Not a good quality of life. So, if the curve goes over 50 degrees, the doctor usually recommends surgery.

Yesterday, we had our yearly checkup. Sarah's curve now measured 58 degrees. So...we are looking at major surgery for our daughter. It would involve a spinal fusion and the insertion of two titanium rods to help straighten the spine. I asked for adamantium rods as well as retractable claws like Wolverine, but the doctor obfuscated in his response by giving me a lot of medical mumbo-jumbo such as, "Adamantium doesn't exist" and "you're an idiot". So clearly he just doesn't know what he's talking about.

All kidding aside, this is major, major surgery and is not to be taken lightly. On the plus side, this hospital is one of the best children's hospitals in the country, and the doctor is a nationally recognized expert. So we are in very, very good hands, and we've talked to many families who have been through this procedure. It seems to have a very high rate of success, and if successful, she should be able to live a completely full life: pain free, no movement restrictions, able to play sports, ride roller coasters, have kids, etc. When you look at the long-term quality of life, the decision is a no-brainer in my opinion.

We anticipate this happening sometime in the fall. We'll let her play a field hockey season and then once that's over it will happen. She should be in excellent physical shape at that point, and with holiday breaks may not have to miss too much school. The school does a lot of its work online as well, so that should help. The recovery from surgery is intriguing--if all goes well, she should be home by day 3. Then she'd be home for about a month. By 6 months, she should be free from any restrictions. And then hopefully we'll just all be enjoying the new Sarah! She'll probably grow a couple of inches as a result, too!

So, this is obviously a big deal and will be weighing on our minds as we get closer. We feel really good about it. We trust the doctor completely, and feel like this is a good decision for her future. And honestly, I'm much happier knowing what's going to happen instead of waiting another year not knowing if the curve is going to get worse or not. We are a family of faith and we believe that prayer works. So, if you think of it, please lift up Sarah in your prayers. Thanks!

 

[pooh'smate]

Praying for your daughter and her surgery.

 

[Pooh2]

Sending up prayers for your daughter for a speedy recovery!
My niece had this surgery 10 years ago. Def not an easy process but she is doing great, very active and runs marathons!

 

[cj9200]

Wow Mark,

How is she coping with the news?

I don't know if this is any comfort but the sister of a friend had Scoliosis and had the operation. She has been issue free since. That was over 30 years ago and we know medical advances have dramatically improved since then. Tough when your kid faces challenges like this.

Thoughts and prayers my friend.

 

[Flossbolna]

I will be thinking of Sarah! It sounds like you have a lot of reason to be optimistic and I hope all goes according to plan!

 

[glennbo123]

It sounds like absolutely the right decision. Will be praying for Sarah through surgery and rebound (sounds better than recovery).

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Praying for your daughter and her surgery.

Thank you! We really appreciate it.

Sending up prayers for your daughter for a speedy recovery!
My niece had this surgery 10 years ago. Def not an easy process but she is doing great, very active and runs marathons!

Thank you!

That's great to hear. We have talked to a lot of people who have had this surgery or have children who have been through it, and rarely do we hear of any issues. That's definitely helped us to be at peace with the decision.

Wow Mark,

How is she coping with the news?

She's doing really well so far. Sarah is a tough cookie, and I'm proud of her. She's the type of kid who broke a finger playing field hockey and then went back into the game. She's taking it like a champ. I'm sure we'll spoil her rotten through this. After the appointment, we took her to see Wonder Woman just to lift her spirits. And we've been saving a visit to Universal/Harry Potter as a reward for making it through surgery. She doesn't know that yet.

I think she'll probably be really nervous the closer we get to the surgery date. How could she not be? Julie and I will probably turn into wrecks as well. But for now, she's doing just fine.

I don't know if this is any comfort but the sister of a friend had Scoliosis and had the operation. She has been issue free since. That was over 30 years ago and we know medical advances have dramatically improved since then. Tough when your kid faces challenges like this.

Thoughts and prayers my friend.

That does help, definitely. The more success stories we hear about, the more confident we feel.

Thank you for keeping her in mind.

I will be thinking of Sarah! It sounds like you have a lot of reason to be optimistic and I hope all goes according to plan!

Thank you, Magdalene! I think we are in very good hands and have every reason to feel confident. Naturally, there will always be risks involved with surgery like this. So there will always be some nervousness until it's over and she's recovered. Thanks for keeping us in mind!

It sounds like absolutely the right decision. Will be praying for Sarah through surgery and rebound (sounds better than recovery).

Thanks, Glenn! Hopefully it will be a quick rebound! And thanks for your prayers.

 

[franandaj]

I saw this on FB, but that's why I like the DIS better, either you explained it more thoroughly or I just read better here. It's good that she is getting this taken care of now, and hopefully everything will go smoothly. I'm sure she will be thrilled with a trip to WWOHP, how nice of you to plan for this for her.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Chapter 22: This Time John Wayne Does Not Walk Off Into The Sunset With Grace Kelly.

That was Gary Cooper, a******

I’m not allowed to print the response to that line.

Ehhh…
Just a little redaction and it’s all good.

Anyway, it’s time to wrap up this TR with our final day in the Midwest. It began with yet another edition of Sleeping With A Toddler, in which Dave got perhaps the worst luck of them all.

Taking one for the team

After a hearty, relaxed Embassy Suites breakfast while we waited out rush hour

You chose free food over rush hour traffic?
I’m shocked.

we went downtown to the St. Anthony Falls area of the Mississippi River. This is a man-made dam the provided hydroelectric power to the city as well as a lock that allowed ships to traverse some rapids in the river. Now it’s a nice little dam riverfront park and was the temporary dam home of the Mississippi National River visitor center while their main building was under renovation.

And as with every opportunity to view a dam or anything related to a dam this particular dam was instrumental in providing the dad in this trip with multiple chances to tell some dam jokes and then to strategically pepper his prose with dam descriptions and frequent use of the ever important dam noun.
A very useful dam indeed…

And yes, we came here mostly to pick up another cheap National Park passport stamp.

But of course, dam park passport stamps are just as valid a collectable and non-dam park passport stamps (if not more so).

I’d say we were there maybe about 15 minutes or so. Long enough to get our stamp and enjoy the view.

Quality over quantity

At this point in the trip, we were all pretty tired and grumpy and I seem to remember having one of those stupid married couple fights over nothing

Nothing to see here folks!
You can go about your business.

we thought it would be a nice spot to let Drew run around and see the animals after having been cooped up in the van for most of the previous two weeks.

See…
You are pretty smart.
I knew the things that everyone else was saying were just idle talk.

The zoo turned out to be fairly large and a nice place to visit, especially for a place with free admission. Along with gorillas, lions, and wolves, they had a special arctic exhibit featuring sea lions and penguins.

Free is a very fine price.
And you constructed that sentence in such a way as to prevent the inevitable “oh my” responses.
Nicely done.

They even had a periodic sea lion show.

For now…

This guy had heard about our troubles flying out to Minneapolis and bet us he could beat us back to Baltimore. As you can see, he had a head start.

If you hurry, you may still have a chance to catch up

We thought this sign, posted on a rickety wire fence leaning at an angle 25 feet over the lion cage, was extraordinarily helpful:

It’s like the signage on electric fencing…
Not so much a warning as a challenge.


For some of us, that is…

It was somewhere around the lion that we pulled off our last DiS Meet of the vacation. We got together with Karin (@MNtwinsplus1mom ) and her three boys, Sam, Kevin and Benji.

Very cool.
You have met the nicest folks on you travels.


So far…

We found that, similar to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Como Park has an animatronic sleeping polar bear on display for visitors.

So do they have to pay royalties back to Imagineering?
Just one more profit center in the WED Company coffers.

After some quick sandwiches to use up the rest of our supplies, we went inside the conservatory. Karin was nice enough to take a photo of the family and got this one, which turned out to be one of the better family shots of the trip despite Drew picking his nose.

No…
That’s the bit that makes it a perfect family shot.

It was a hot summer day, and eventually we got tired of the non-air-conditioned conservatory building, so we took refuge in the conveniently air-conditioned gift shop for a bit before moving on.

And I wonder if they have to pay Disney royalties on that design feature as well?

Our next stop was in downtown St. Paul, where we found the Minnesota History Center. It just so happened to be a Tuesday afternoon, and it just so happened that the museum offered free admission on Tuesdays after 3:00 p.m. And wouldn’t you know it? It just so happened to be 3:00 p.m.

Almost as if you planed it out that way.

Now there was an additional benefit that I hadn’t quite planned out, but instead proved to be a happy accident: there was a special traveling exhibit showcasing the work of one of the great artists of our time. I know, Picasso has his fans. So does Salvador Dali. You might prefer the more traditional work of Norman Rockwell or the more out-there stylings of Andy Warhol. But for my money, one man’s creative genius surpasses them all. That man is the immortal Chuck Jones.

One of my heroes.
Between him and McKimson the world will always be graced by truly fine entertainment and comedic timing.

Seriously, try watching the Bugs/Daffy episode “Duck Amuck” while keeping a straight face. Impossible. It’s lunacy at its finest.

Dang!
The link doesn’t work for me.
Not a problem though…
I’ll just plug in my DVD collection of the complete works of WB animation when I get home and laugh at it then.

Be vewy quiet. I’m hunting wabbits.

“A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a”


(or however you’d go about correctly spelling that).

I had hoped this would be our Christmas card shot. And it did end up making it as part of a collage.

Because… anvils!

Here’s the whole crew with Karin and her boys. We were really having a lot of fun hanging out with them.

There’s the rest of that baseball team.
Time to go on the road.

They finally had to drag me away from the Looney Tunes clips

And I am certain this is not a metaphorical description of what actually occurred.

After donning the appropriate headgear, the kids went into a cave where they could load “dynamite” into strategically-placed holes in the rock, and then move back to push a “detonator” in the style of a Wile E. Coyote-style plunger, and then set off “explosions”.

Suuu-per… geeeeee-nius…

Museum security had to pull us away after several hours of simulated explosions and maniacal laughter.

And I am certain this is also not a metaphorical description…

It was here that Kevin and Benji proudly showed off the third-best museum exhibit of all time (second was the U-boat in Chicago’s Science & Industry Museum).

Simi-related (but not really) side note…
One of the better museum experiences I’ve run across was at Nauticus up in Norfolk and involved having to design, build and test your own submersible on the fly and then use it to retrieve sunken artifacts from a sizable fresh water tank.



That was a lot of fun.
Actually there were a bunch of really cool interactive exhibits there aside from the historical stuff.
(and there’s another TR I should have finished.)

It was kind of scary how efficient they were at building bombs. Clearly, they had all practiced this somewhere before.

Have you inspected you home’s attic space recently?

Even better, we were able to find an authentic hand-painted Chuck Jones cel in the gift shop as a Christmas gift for Sarah, our budding Imagineer.

Now that’s just down right cool!

Our final stop of the vacation was for dinner at the 5-8 Club south of the city. This is one of the homes of the “Juicy Lucy”

‘Nuf said…
It’s on the list.

Drew demonstrated the effects of spending two weeks strapped into a car seat.

Or was this just a natural reaction to something that dad said?

We stopped for dinner at Mission BBQ, a military-themed joint I’d discovered while at a business conference in Annapolis, Maryland. It’s a chain, but it’s a very good chain.

So long as it’s a good chain.

Also, BBQ.

Which generally nullifies even the black mark denoted by the word “chain”.

….and Drew happened.

Cutting out the middle man, I see.

...are any of you interested in a TR for our spring break trip to Texas and New Mexico?

Is this even a question!!!!

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Soo...real life update here.

I don't usually talk much about my day-to-day life here on the boards. Mostly it's because I don't think you'll find it very interesting. Also, I work as a public employee, so it makes sense to keep things low profile.

I have shared over the past couple of TR's that my daughter has been undergoing treatment for scoliosis. She wore a brace for a couple of years in an attempt to try and keep the curvature in her spine from getting worse. When they took the brace away, her curve measured 48 degrees. After a year out of the brace, I was sure it would have gotten worse, but when they measured again last year it was still 48 degrees.

The magic number is 50 degrees--anything above that, and the studies show that it will likely progress at the rate of a degree a year, meaning future debilitating back issues and deformity. Not a good quality of life. So, if the curve goes over 50 degrees, the doctor usually recommends surgery.

Yesterday, we had our yearly checkup. Sarah's curve now measured 58 degrees. So...we are looking at major surgery for our daughter. It would involve a spinal fusion and the insertion of two titanium rods to help straighten the spine. I asked for adamantium rods as well as retractable claws like Wolverine, but the doctor obfuscated in his response by giving me a lot of medical mumbo-jumbo such as, "Adamantium doesn't exist" and "you're an idiot". So clearly he just doesn't know what he's talking about.

All kidding aside, this is major, major surgery and is not to be taken lightly. On the plus side, this hospital is one of the best children's hospitals in the country, and the doctor is a nationally recognized expert. So we are in very, very good hands, and we've talked to many families who have been through this procedure. It seems to have a very high rate of success, and if successful, she should be able to live a completely full life: pain free, no movement restrictions, able to play sports, ride roller coasters, have kids, etc. When you look at the long-term quality of life, the decision is a no-brainer in my opinion.

We anticipate this happening sometime in the fall. We'll let her play a field hockey season and then once that's over it will happen. She should be in excellent physical shape at that point, and with holiday breaks may not have to miss too much school. The school does a lot of its work online as well, so that should help. The recovery from surgery is intriguing--if all goes well, she should be home by day 3. Then she'd be home for about a month. By 6 months, she should be free from any restrictions. And then hopefully we'll just all be enjoying the new Sarah! She'll probably grow a couple of inches as a result, too!

So, this is obviously a big deal and will be weighing on our minds as we get closer. We feel really good about it. We trust the doctor completely, and feel like this is a good decision for her future. And honestly, I'm much happier knowing what's going to happen instead of waiting another year not knowing if the curve is going to get worse or not. We are a family of faith and we believe that prayer works. So, if you think of it, please lift up Sarah in your prayers. Thanks!

And of course our thoughts will be with all of you
(and especially with the doctors, may they be at their best)

Better to fix this now.
Being both young and strong I’m right certain that she’ll bounce back from this quickly.


For comparisons sake…
The time frames and prognoses you relate are spot on to what I encountered recently in a relatable instance.
I had to have five of the seven vertebra in my neck sawed in half and reassembled with titanium (adamantium and claws were not covered by my insurer). I was home on the third day afterward (but I’m also immensely stubborn and was bound and determined they weren’t keeping me in there). From there I was “technically” out of work for six weeks, but in truth was working about half of that time from my computer at home (because they don’t have a backup for my position). It’s now been a year and most things are normal now but again, I was not in particularly good physical shape and better than half a century old when the surgery became necessary so I’m confident that your tough young’en will recover more fully and considerably faster.

 

[QueenJen]

It began with yet another edition of Sleeping With A Toddler,

You are going to have the best photos for later in life - a slideshow at some milestone. Drew will be embarrassed while everyone else reflects on how sweet he looks.

stupid married couple fights over nothing

Well....this happens. Probably more often than any married couple cares to admit.

When you're wrong, you're wrong. And when you're right, you're wrong.

Smart man. I know for me, it helps me forget we even had a fight.

First mistake of the year.

Are you talking fiscal year beginning in July?

We thought this sign, posted on a rickety wire fence leaning at an angle 25 feet over the lion cage, was extraordinarily helpful:

The news stories I've heard are starting to make sense.

Karin was nice enough to take a photo of the family and got this one, which turned out to be one of the better family shots of the trip despite Drew picking his nose.

Oddly, I feel like we've seen this picture before....near the beginning of the TR. Great family photo. Drew isn't picking his nose, he's practicing his Dr. Evil impression (even if it isn't the correct finger).

Be vewy quiet. I’m hunting wabbits.

Sweet photo.

Drew demonstrated the effects of spending two weeks strapped into a car seat.

Or was this just a natural reaction to something that dad said?

He looks so mature and contemplative.

Agreed

over 3,600 miles.

New target to beat.

are any of you interested in a TR for our spring break trip to Texas and New Mexico?

THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS.

It all sounds good on paper.

Love seeing someone else planning that far out....helps me feel like I'm not crazy.

I bet you didn't find the Prada store in the desert.

Be sure to share all the details in the next TR - this is VERY important information to share with some of your readers. Pics of purchases are helpful too.

Soo...real life update here.

Sorry that you all are facing this. Happy to hear the optimism and sounds like things point to a successful outcome. I'll be thinking of Sarah and the whole family as you all will play an important role in the process and recovery. Great that you have something special planned for after the recovery.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I saw this on FB, but that's why I like the DIS better, either you explained it more thoroughly or I just read better here. It's good that she is getting this taken care of now, and hopefully everything will go smoothly. I'm sure she will be thrilled with a trip to WWOHP, how nice of you to plan for this for her.

Yeah, I explained more detail here. Facebook is more for surface-level, quick conversations, so we were just kind of putting the word out to our friends about her pending surgery.

It might take a while to get to WWOHP, but we'll probably spring that on her when we take her to the hospital. It will give her something to look forward to.

That was Gary Cooper, a******

+1

Ehhh…
Just a little redaction and it’s all good.

I see you took care of that.

Taking one for the team

Better him than me!

You chose free food over rush hour traffic?
I’m shocked.

Hope you were sitting down.

And as with every opportunity to view a dam or anything related to a dam this particular dam was instrumental in providing the dad in this trip with multiple chances to tell some dam jokes and then to strategically pepper his prose with dam descriptions and frequent use of the ever important dam noun.
A very useful dam indeed…

I'm shocked! Such a potty mouth.

But of course, dam park passport stamps are just as valid a collectable and non-dam park passport stamps (if not more so).

Dam right!

Quality over quantity

Uh...sure, let's go with that.

Nothing to see here folks!
You can go about your business.

It happens.

See…
You are pretty smart.
I knew the things that everyone else was saying were just idle talk.

I just hope they weren't talking about The Incident. They're supposed to be sworn to secrecy.

Free is a very fine price.
And you constructed that sentence in such a way as to prevent the inevitable “oh my” responses.
Nicely done.

I've said it before--you almost have to proofread these chapters before posting them to sabotage all the easy ways people can poke fun at you. Gotta make 'em work for their shots.

Of course, you can never catch everything.

If you hurry, you may still have a chance to catch up

No shot. He called us from the house.

It’s like the signage on electric fencing…
Not so much a warning as a challenge.


For some of us, that is…

Hold my beer!

Very cool.
You have met the nicest folks on you travels.


So far…

DIS folks are the best folks!

So do they have to pay royalties back to Imagineering?
Just one more profit center in the WED Company coffers.

You would think Disney's lawyers would have gotten involved over such blatant plagiarism.

No…
That’s the bit that makes it a perfect family shot.

It adds character.

And I wonder if they have to pay Disney royalties on that design feature as well?

That one's been stolen the world over.

Almost as if you planed it out that way.

One of my heroes.
Between him and McKimson the world will always be graced by truly fine entertainment and comedic timing.

Simply the best!

Dang!
The link doesn’t work for me.
Not a problem though…
I’ll just plug in my DVD collection of the complete works of WB animation when I get home and laugh at it then.

We have that one on DVD as well!

“A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a”


(or however you’d go about correctly spelling that).

Close enough for me.

Because… anvils!

There’s the rest of that baseball team.
Time to go on the road.

We certainly are a productive bunch.

And I am certain this is not a metaphorical description of what actually occurred.

No, we're definitely in the literal realm here.

Suuu-per… geeeeee-nius…

Pyrotechnics make everything better!

And I am certain this is also not a metaphorical description…

Yep.

Simi-related (but not really) side note…
One of the better museum experiences I’ve run across was at Nauticus up in Norfolk and involved having to design, build and test your own submersible on the fly and then use it to retrieve sunken artifacts from a sizable fresh water tank.

That was a lot of fun.
Actually there were a bunch of really cool interactive exhibits there aside from the historical stuff.
(and there’s another TR I should have finished.)

That sounds really fun! I bet my kids would love that.

And yeah, finish the TR's!

Have you inspected you home’s attic space recently?

I'm too scared to go up there.

Now that’s just down right cool!

No-brainer to get that one.

‘Nuf said…
It’s on the list.

Mmmm...melty cheese...

Or was this just a natural reaction to something that dad said?

Very possible. If it was Julie, I'd be sure of it.

So long as it’s a good chain.

I'm not against chains. It's just that some are better than others.

Which generally nullifies even the black mark denoted by the word “chain”.

Mmmm...BBQ...

Cutting out the middle man, I see.

I guess? I really don't know sometimes.

Is this even a question!!!!

Please sign this waiver.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

And of course our thoughts will be with all of you
(and especially with the doctors, may they be at their best)

Better to fix this now.
Being both young and strong I’m right certain that she’ll bounce back from this quickly.

Yeah, that's the idea. She should be in great shape when she undergoes the procedure. Hope it will all work out.

For comparisons sake…
The time frames and prognoses you relate are spot on to what I encountered recently in a relatable instance.
I had to have five of the seven vertebra in my neck sawed in half and reassembled with titanium (adamantium and claws were not covered by my insurer). I was home on the third day afterward (but I’m also immensely stubborn and was bound and determined they weren’t keeping me in there). From there I was “technically” out of work for six weeks, but in truth was working about half of that time from my computer at home (because they don’t have a backup for my position). It’s now been a year and most things are normal now but again, I was not in particularly good physical shape and better than half a century old when the surgery became necessary so I’m confident that your tough young’en will recover more fully and considerably faster.

That's right! I remember when you had your fall. I'm thankful you've been able to recover. I'd hate to have surgery like that at my age.

You are going to have the best photos for later in life - a slideshow at some milestone. Drew will be embarrassed while everyone else reflects on how sweet he looks.

Oh, we're going to have a lot of fun rehearsal dinners!

Well....this happens. Probably more often than any married couple cares to admit.

Rubbish. I'm sure all the fights other married couples have are over huge, important issues.

Smart man. I know for me, it helps me forget we even had a fight.

Well, sure, if you get to win them all.

Happy wife, happy life.

Are you talking fiscal year beginning in July?

The news stories I've heard are starting to make sense.

We've got a real problem when today's news stories make sense.

Oddly, I feel like we've seen this picture before....near the beginning of the TR. Great family photo. Drew isn't picking his nose, he's practicing his Dr. Evil impression (even if it isn't the correct finger).

Ever get that feeling of deja vu?

Maybe Drew is more like Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

Sweet photo.

New target to beat.

We might top it this summer!

Love seeing someone else planning that far out....helps me feel like I'm not crazy.

Well, we needed to project ahead to see if we could get to all 50 states before Sarah left for college.

Be sure to share all the details in the next TR - this is VERY important information to share with some of your readers. Pics of purchases are helpful too.

I'm afraid you might be somewhat disappointed with this.

Sorry that you all are facing this. Happy to hear the optimism and sounds like things point to a successful outcome. I'll be thinking of Sarah and the whole family as you all will play an important role in the process and recovery. Great that you have something special planned for after the recovery.

Thank you! Hopefully it will all go smoothly and I'll get to report next year on the planning for figuring out how to visit Harry Potter!

 

[Allison Joy]

Soo...real life update here.

I don't usually talk much about my day-to-day life here on the boards. Mostly it's because I don't think you'll find it very interesting. Also, I work as a public employee, so it makes sense to keep things low profile.

I have shared over the past couple of TR's that my daughter has been undergoing treatment for scoliosis. She wore a brace for a couple of years in an attempt to try and keep the curvature in her spine from getting worse. When they took the brace away, her curve measured 48 degrees. After a year out of the brace, I was sure it would have gotten worse, but when they measured again last year it was still 48 degrees.

The magic number is 50 degrees--anything above that, and the studies show that it will likely progress at the rate of a degree a year, meaning future debilitating back issues and deformity. Not a good quality of life. So, if the curve goes over 50 degrees, the doctor usually recommends surgery.

Yesterday, we had our yearly checkup. Sarah's curve now measured 58 degrees. So...we are looking at major surgery for our daughter. It would involve a spinal fusion and the insertion of two titanium rods to help straighten the spine. I asked for adamantium rods as well as retractable claws like Wolverine, but the doctor obfuscated in his response by giving me a lot of medical mumbo-jumbo such as, "Adamantium doesn't exist" and "you're an idiot". So clearly he just doesn't know what he's talking about.

All kidding aside, this is major, major surgery and is not to be taken lightly. On the plus side, this hospital is one of the best children's hospitals in the country, and the doctor is a nationally recognized expert. So we are in very, very good hands, and we've talked to many families who have been through this procedure. It seems to have a very high rate of success, and if successful, she should be able to live a completely full life: pain free, no movement restrictions, able to play sports, ride roller coasters, have kids, etc. When you look at the long-term quality of life, the decision is a no-brainer in my opinion.

We anticipate this happening sometime in the fall. We'll let her play a field hockey season and then once that's over it will happen. She should be in excellent physical shape at that point, and with holiday breaks may not have to miss too much school. The school does a lot of its work online as well, so that should help. The recovery from surgery is intriguing--if all goes well, she should be home by day 3. Then she'd be home for about a month. By 6 months, she should be free from any restrictions. And then hopefully we'll just all be enjoying the new Sarah! She'll probably grow a couple of inches as a result, too!

So, this is obviously a big deal and will be weighing on our minds as we get closer. We feel really good about it. We trust the doctor completely, and feel like this is a good decision for her future. And honestly, I'm much happier knowing what's going to happen instead of waiting another year not knowing if the curve is going to get worse or not. We are a family of faith and we believe that prayer works. So, if you think of it, please lift up Sarah in your prayers. Thanks!

Hey, I too know a thing or two about being a public/gov't worker!

Oh a much more serious note, I will absolutely be praying for Sarah and for your whole family. I had major hip surgery at age nine, for hip dysplasia, so I know a thing or two about orthopedic surgery on a personal level. The surgery itself and the recovery is never fun, but the outcomes are generally excellent. I was also fortunate to have my surgery at a top ranked children's hospital, by an expert in hip dysplasia, and so I know how much of a comfort that can be too. Would love to share my story further with you (or anyone else), if you'd care to read it.

 

[justafigment27]

I'm sorry to hear about Sarah's upcoming surgery, but can understand why you are feeling relieved to finally just have an answer and an action plan. It's such a scary/helpless feeling to have to watch our kids go though medical stuff.

Once again, thanks for giving us another informative and entertaining report! Looking forward to your Poor Man's pre-trip report for this summer (and any TX and NM stuff you care to add!).

 

[Cinderella's Fella]

So, this is obviously a big deal and will be weighing on our minds as we get closer. We feel really good about it. We trust the doctor completely, and feel like this is a good decision for her future. And honestly, I'm much happier knowing what's going to happen instead of waiting another year not knowing if the curve is going to get worse or not. We are a family of faith and we believe that prayer works. So, if you think of it, please lift up Sarah in your prayers. Thanks!

praying