Back to "Normal"

We took a trip to Washington, D.C. for Dennis's marathon over the weekend, and drove home when Hurricane Sandy hit. It was an interesting trip, as it was a bit rushed (we were only there for a few days) and Nolan still wasn't quite "right" with the world. He was still on the anti-fungal ear drops and was extremely cranky. Toward the end of the trip, we had him wear his hearing aid again in the right ear. He was not pleased, as everything sounded extremely loud after a month of not wearing it.

With a 75dB loss in that ear, I can only imagine how uncomfortable the transition to hearing again was. He refused to wear his glasses while adjusting to wearing the right hearing aid again - a strange reaction, but so be it. He has now finished his ear drops and is wearing both hearing aids and his glasses again, so all is right with the world.

We forgot to bring the stroller to D.C., which was a huge mistake with the little guy. There is a lot of walking in the Capital, and it was all a bit too much for Nolan. The car was full with our suitcases and his medical equipment (the I.V. pole disassembles nicely for travel, but still - traveling with Nolan is an adventure).

We saw the White House, several monuments along the Mall, the Air and Space Museum, and the Natural History Museum while we were there. We want to return again in a non-marathon capacity to see more of the sights!

The marathon went well for Dennis and his dad, who ran the 26.2 miles in less than 4 1/2 hours. Dennis's aunt and uncle came to watch, and it was a very lucky thing because Aunt L. was an amazing help with Nolan. Also? She brought donuts. We love people who bring donuts.

The night before we left, we had a really fun visit with Marielle, who is absolutely magnificent. The kids had fun at the McDonald's next door to our hotel. McDonald's would be more awesome if they served some wine and fine cheese, but when in Crystal City during an approaching hurricane, you take what you can get.

The rain and wind started to intensify overnight, and we were up early on Monday to get out of the Capital and home before the hurricane made landfall. There was a lot of wind and rain as we drove, but it was (thankfully) uneventful. The hurricane didn't do much damage in our neck of the woods - a few downed trees and sporadic power outages, but absolutely nothing like the heartbreaking destruction of the East Coast.

The kids have started back to school and we are (thankfully) past the craziness that is Trick-or-Treating. Today I am thankful for the start of November, which is blissfully calm and free of sugar overloads!