Tonight we took off for the Parker Country Festival in downtown Parker. The kids were excited about the rides, the cotton candy, and just hanging out together as a family. We found a parking place close to the festival, and everyone piled out of the van. As I was grabbing jackets and closing the doors, I looked about 10 yards down the sidewalk as William “heely-ed” around the walk. In a matter of seconds, he was flipping to the ground, landing, for the third time, on his front left tooth.

Several years ago, he had an accident on the diving board while doing a backwards cannonball and knocked out one tooth, knocked the other tooth up in his gums (requiring a trip to the surgery center), and had to get stitches in his chin where the tooth busted through. For a couple of years, he had a big gap in his mouth, but he finally grew teeth in 1st grade.

Last Summer, we were all swimming in the backyard. No one was rough-housing, and we were all visiting as the children swam along the bottom of the pool in the shallow end. William came up screaming, as he had knocked off part of his front left tooth. The tooth was capped, but the dentist said that it would probably happen again. Once all of his top teeth are in, we can do some orthodontic work to keep his teeth from sticking straight out.

Poor William….once again, he’s knocked off the bottom part of the same tooth. He also skinned his upper lip and chin as well as his shoulder and knee. He was a trooper, though, and decided to try to walk around for a little even though he was wimpering, and the tissue held to his tooth was full of blood. We continued to walk toward the food tent.

A couple of blocks down, little Kitty started whining that her flip-flops were hurting her. Sure enough, she was developing a blister on the side of her foot from her shoe. We tracked down the medical tent and put some gauze and a band-aid on her foot and got some ice and gauze for William’s mouth. We walked a little further until William got sick and had to sit on the ground with his head between his legs. Rowland hung in there and got us all a little something to eat before we decided to call it a night and head for home.

On the way home, Rowland said, “You know, this always happens to us!” So true! I’d call it the Braswell Cloud, but I think that this time, it’s just having four children! The best laid plans…..