Day 9.196: Exile #2's Sunday Column #115

Exile #2 writes...

I will let Exile #1 have the pleasure of talking about today tomorrow, and instead tell you the rest of the story about yesterday. Hope that's clear.

We successfully dropped Exile #3 off at the Portland Ballet Theater in time for her technical rehearsal yesterday. That left us with a couple of hours to kill before the show, so we headed to Deering Oaks park. It's a classic city park. Lots of old shady trees, a busy wading pool, a pond with ducks and a playground. We headed for the playground and Exile #4 and E5N1 set off to explore. 15 minutes or so later, E5N1 ran back with the ominous message, "[Exile #4] fell down on the concrete, she's bleeding."

Of course, attentive parents that we are, we immediately ran over sat right where we were and told E5N1 to help her up. He returned with a forlorn looking Exile #4 with an even more forlorn looking knee. We decided we needed a second opinion on this one, so headed to the nearby urgent care center. It was fairly quiet, so she was soon assessed and numbed up by the lovely staff, ready to see the doctor. At this point, however, we had to make a decision about the show. As I had missed a previous show, E5N1 and I made a dash to the theater on foot (literally, after we took a wrong turn), arriving with moments to spare.

The show was great, although I did see a slightly quizzical expression flit across Exile #3's face when she only saw two of us. Ever the professional, though, she didn't let it phase her and we were all able to catch up with each other at half time, when Exile #1 and Exile #4, newly stitched, arrived.

The wound - very newly stitched

They decided not to join the show at this point but returned for the later show after dropping us home. Exile #1 even summoned up the energy to take part in the half time parental dance-off. The day definitely did not go as planned, but all turned out well in the end.