Don't be alarmed by this picture.....

Bean is OK.  Poor guy gave all of us (me, Schmoo and himself) a big scare this afternoon on our hike up the local hiking trail.  One minute he was trotting along happily behind Schmoo and suddenly his foot hit the wrong rock and his forehead hit the next one.  Of course I didn't know he'd hit his head until I picked him up and he started screaming.  Luckily it wasn't a big cut, but enough to gush a bit of blood and leave both him and me covered in it.  Poor little Schmoo was pretty worried about him.  Luckily his gymnastics teacher was on the trail just behind us and she stayed to help me get him settled and bandaged up to head back down the hill to our car.

He was a trooper.  Walked all the way back down without hardly any fuss.  I think we were all just flustered by the blood.  I checked him out back at the car and decided to err on the side of caution and head to the the local hospital for a check.  We were in and out in less than an hour and it didn't need any stitches!  The nurse put some steri-stips on it and a fresh band-aid and sent us on our way with some stickers.  Washing off the blood made a big improvement on his appearance, but I expect he might get a couple of black eyes this week when the bruising sets in.

Other than today's excitement, it's been another whirlwind week.  Papa has been gone on a business trip since Thursday, returning home on Monday.  We've all missed him.  Both kids have asked for him a lot during this absence, but that could have a lot to do with a tired and frustrated mommy too.  The four of us (including Airlie) drove to Kelowna on Thursday after a long day of school and work for Bean's next prosthetic appointment.  We had a restless hotel night, mostly Airlie, and after Bean's 9am appointment, hit the road back home, returning just in time for Schmoo's skipping practice.

The skipping countdown is on now for this coming week's big provincial competition in Victoria.  Schmoo had an extra practice on Saturday morning and returned home with two of her teammates for some extra playtime.  We've got a couple more practices this week before we leave on Thursday and Schmoo's soccer practices start on Tuesday too.  We're both getting excited for the big trip.  It will be long and tiring, but I'm so proud of her.  It will be fun for Grandma Lady and Sam to see her big debut too!