Pictures to catch you up on what's been happening here:

On Saturday, my old college composition professor, Dr. Beall, stopped by for a short visit wheile he was in town for the annual new music festival. It was his first time seing Sam ex utero, and though Sam was initially clingy and shy, he eventually warmed right to him and even fussed a little when Dr. Beall had to go.

He didn't have long to fuss, though; on the heels of Dr. Beall's departure came my mother's arrival for my birthday weekend! My brother arrived the next morning, and we all had a blast. On Sunday, all of us went out to a pumpkin patch for hayrides, pumpkin picking, a costume contest, and treats.

  

  

  

One of the available activities was a large inflated dragon-shaped tunnel through which small children could crawl; it had a rope ladder to scale, a sliding board, and lots of obstacles. Sam made it through with the help of some eager young ladies who offered to take him with them. The funniest part came at the end, when the kids climbed out through what would have been the dragon's butt. It looked for all the world as though the dragon was eating and pooping kids.

The next day, we took Sam out to the metropark for some fun on the playground. He was happy to show off his skills to his favorite uncle.

  

  

  

And then, on my birthday, we took the two pumpkins we got at the patch and carved jack o'lanterns. Mine is the happier one on the left; Eric's is the grumpy one on the right.

    

What you not seeing here, though, and why this entry is probably rather incoherent and also rather terse, is that Sam and I are sick. On Thursday, I wrote in the weblog that Sam was puking; well, he stopped over the weekend, and I assumed everything was normal again, but Sunday night saw a return of the vomiting, along with a runny nose, vanished appetite, and a cranky attitude. We went to the doctor yesterday, and we got antibiotics for what's probably strep throat. Sam hates them. He hates everything right now, especially the fact that grandma had to go home a few hours ago.

I hate that, too. We both cried profusely, noses running in tandem, for I am sick, as well. My throat aches, my nose is stuffed, and my head feels like a balloon. I just want to rest, but lying down makes everything so much worse.

Yuck.

Anybody want to come over and take care of us?