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You know, the more things change, the more they seemingly stay the same!
Nick seldom does anything easy, or halfway. He recently discovered a creative way to end up in the ER... FOR 8 FREAKING HOURS NO LESS!
No, I'm not particularly bitter, but I miss the old insurance from Memphis! So, here's the skinny...
At Caroline's SVPS Carnival (see related post), Nick strained his right groin muscle, maybe by making those sno-cones. We still don't really know how. Anyway, we were on the navy base shopping with Grammy the next day, and I started hurting in the middle of the thigh, in addition to the groin. Didn't think much of it, except that it was weird and that I must have been compensating. I helped coach Nicholas' baseball game the next day, and attended a wedding of former band members that afternoon. At this point, walking was difficult, and my knee was very painful and tender to the touch.
Fast forward to reading in bed that night...Karen looked over and spotted a long red streak from Nick's upper thigh past his knee, and she could hardly look at his knee without him wiggling in pain. Off we go to the ER for a doppler ultrasound, to make sure I didn't have a clot in my leg. It was 2:15 AM...
Becca (heroine for the day, again) came over to the house to sit with the kids, while Karen and I went to the ER. I finally got to leave at about 10:45 later that morning,
having received 2 bags of Vancamyacin, and an 8-day course of Clindamyacin (pardon the spellings). But how did I get such a rip-roaring infection in a leg with no scratches, cuts, or any other signs? Stay tuned...
Becca had taken the kids to her parent's house in Millington for the day. Needless to say, they were in great hands - here's a slideshow with their fun & games at Becca's parents' house...
After a follow-up appointment with my doctor this week, I learned that when I strained my groin it bled, and that blood gradually trickled down inside my leg and pooled at the knee. At that point, it became infected.
Yep...nothing halfway...
What a year it has been for Caroline!
This May, she starred in the SVPS Program, graduated from Sycamore View Preschool, and wowed everyone in her 2nd dance recital (see separate post & slideshow).
Her SVPS program was a huge hit - her class, the "Froggy Fours" performed a stirring rendition of Yellow Submarine, complete with choreography and singing! Karen's bunch, the "Stars", shook it like a duck in their performance of Let's Get Quackin'. What a hoot!
Here's a slideshow of the Froggy Fours before their performance...
To cap off a CRAZY week in our house, Caroline & Mom enjoyed a last-day-of-school Carnival - a SVPS tradition!
Rain forced this year's Carnival indoors, but the kids still bounced to their hearts content, and still enjoyed Sno-Cones from their "Sno-Cone Man"...yes, Nick!
Enjoy this capsule of the SVPS 2008 Carnival, and some snapshots of Caroline's last hour of Preschool!
Caroline enjoyed her second dance recital of her budding young ballet career, and even Grammy got to come - all the way from Georgia!
She performed a stellar program of ballet, jazz, tap, and gymnastics, and thoroughly wowed the crowd - we shot some great video of her, and snapped these precious photos...
Ladies and Gentlemen, performing her 2008 program of ballet, jazz, tap, and gymnastics, I proudly present....Caroline!
Today the Holland family had a real treat - the Al Chymia Circus was in town, and we had a free day with fun money in our budget. Sooo, off we went to the circus!
There were lions & tigers, trapeze artists, clowns, jugglers, and MONKEYS & AFGHAN HOUNDS! I don't recall those two being among the usual circus fare, but they were highly entertaining!
Here is our close up of a circus butterfly and a ferocious tiger!
This is a shot of one of the trapeze artists on their dismount - none of these are in terrific focus, but this is a neat one...
No circus would be complete without an ELEPHANT ride!
This slide show includes tigers, afghan hounds & monkeys (as promised)...Unfortunately, I didn't get a shot of the elephants doing their tricks (awesome) and the hula-hoop artists. Two of them hula-hooped with so many at one time that they looked like human slinkys!
After 23 years, Memphis returned to the FINAL FOUR - mecca in college basketball!
The Mighty Sound of the South was primed and ready for our big splash in the final four, and made the most of our stay!
We first stopped in to one of Nick's favorite Tex-Mex restaurants on the PLANET...
La Fogata...
We had a VERY busy schedule in San Antonio, but began our trip with our first free day...here are some images from one of the most beautiful cities I know...Here's the famous River Walk - 
And of course, the Alamo!
I passed the time by feeding the pigeons in front of the Alamo, and actually had several land on my arm and eat potato chips out of my hand. That was awesome!
Our first official function for the Final Four was a TV shoot on the CBS "Early Show" Friday morning (and boy was it EARLY)! Later that day, we competed in the annual Final Four BATTLE OF THE BANDS. The winning band director received (and had to wear) the trophy - a GIANT sombrero. Guess who won, and see if you can spot me!
Finally came Saturday and our national semifinal game, against our tournament nemesis UCLA...finally we vanquished that bunch, and we celebrated our day off at Six Flag Fiesta Texas, and more fun on Monday.Our favorite event was the Final Four River Rally, which had both bands in the championship and spirit squads load up on barges and float along the river walk, cheering on our schools. What a hoot!
We were mere seconds away from a national title, but fell short against a furious comeback by Kansas, which tied the game with a three pointer with 2 seconds, and then blasted us in overtime. We had to only make 2 of 5 free throws down the stretch to ice the game, but could only manage 1, which opened the door for Kansas. Hat's off to the Jayhawks...they love the Lord, and 2nd place isn't all that bad!
I am DEFINITELY exhausted, and incredibly happy to be home from March Madness. It certainly was some of the most fun I've ever had, but was also very difficult to do without my precious family. It's good to be home!
Hopefully we'll get 'em NEXT YEAR!
