Ear Checkups

     Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012, was our semi-annual appointment to check Nathan and Mackenzie's ear tubes.  We drove to Lancaster to see our ENT, Dr. Vadapalli, and so far so good!  Mackenzie has one tube that has come completely out of her ear drum but is still trapped in some wax in the ear canal.  We're putting mineral oil in that ear (her left ear) to soften the wax so the tube can get out.  I think we're both a little curious to see it when it does.  The good news is that even though the tube is out, her ear looks just fine.  So whether it was her adenoids or something she just needed to outgrow, it looks like her ears are completely recovered and she doesn't need the tubes anymore.  So now we just have to wait for the right tube to work its way out too.
     Nathan still has both tubes in his ears.  He hasn't had an ear infection since the tubes were put in a year and a half ago and I don't expect they'll start recurring once the tubes are out since he just needed to outgrow his problem.
     You don't make a trip to Lancaster without doing a little shopping.  After the doctor appointment, we went to Del Taco for a quick lunch (I know, I know, it broke the rule of not going some place that exists in Ridgecrest.  But I really didn't want to go to Hometown Buffet again and Mackenzie is very particular about what she likes to eat. Plus, we drove right past it and so it was easy!).  Since it was right there, we decided to go check out Toys R Us to see if there were any good dinosaur toys.  Especially "Dinosaur Train" toys, which is currently one of Nate's favorite TV shows.  We didn't find anything we wanted (well, I didn't, the kids wanted everything!) but we did find something special in the lobby.  Usually I say no whenever my kids ask to ride those silly rides.  And I did this time on the way in.  But I didn't really take a good look at them.  Coming out, I saw that the reason Nathan was especially interested in these rides was because one of them was a helicopter.  He LOVES helicopters and planes so I dug into my purse to see if I even had two quarters.  Luckily I did so he got his little wish and got to ride on a helicopter.  He loved it so much he is still talking about it!