Thunderbolt

I've decided to embrace the beach as best as possible. For years I've been indifferent about going to the beach with the family. The sand. The waves. The undertow. The cold water. It just wasn't me. But this year is different. I'm going to take it all in. I'm going to relax in the sand. At some point I may actually go into the ocean (baby steps, people, baby steps) and I'm going to have fun, enjoy being with the kids, take in their laughter and joy. We went up to Carpinteria this morning and met some friends and their families. It was overcast, at first, but the clouds soon burned away. The day was fun, lazy and a superb get away.

This afternoon during the Dodgers broadcast, the great (understatement) Vin Scully took ten minutes to explain the significance of June 6, 1944, "D-Day." I don't know any sports broadcaster who takes time out of the game to give a history lesson, but Sculley is old school. The man has seen the worst in the country and he has certainly seen the best in all of his years as the God of play by play. He's as patriotic as he is poetic and listening to him is one of the best parts of living in Los Angeles. Anyway, the fact that he pointed out what today means and that when we talk about sacrifice in sports or when we call athletes "warriors," we should take a moment to think about what true sacrifice means and what a true warrior looks like. One need only watch the harrowing opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan to understand. Thanks, Vin! Okay, let's get back to the game.

Woke up this morning to the startling sound of Jacob throwing up. My stomach dropped when we saw blood mixed in with the phlegm he threw up. He threw up a couple more times, each with spots of blood in it. Julie took him to the doctor and they put him on antibiotics. Since then he didn't throw up again. I nearly lost it a couple of times while we got ready for Jules to take Jake to the doctor. Honestly, I expected him to have to go down to Children's and feared he'd be admitted. We've been blessed that he hasn't required hospitalization since he was a baby, but the possibility of that happening is always in the back of my mind somewhere. Julie continues to amaze me with her composure under duress. She seemed calm throughout everything, even when we were both placing our fingers in the phlegm/vomit trying to feel the texture of the red spots. We weren't 100% sure it was blood until then. Jake and I stayed home all day and missed a pool party with several of our f...