With my parents back in town to help watch Westley, I was able to flex both my research and clinical arms at back-to-back conferences. I first drove to Pacific Grove for the inaugural Keystone Symposium for dry AMD. The cafeteria and dorm-style rooms at Asilomar gave off summer camp vibes, but at least let me take in the Pacific breeze and partake in some interactive scientific discussions. A brief eclair stop gave me time to charge my car for my drive home. I was off next to Alcon’s Podos Colloquium in Dallas, where I asked the driver to detour to Madea’s for pork neck bone before my talk on gene therapy, followed afterwards by dinner at Hotel Drover in the bustling Stockyards district.  After getting back, we took Westley and his friend Liam to watch their first movie in a theater. With a throwback hand-painted aesthetic and a heartwarming story, the Wild Robot made for good family entertainment, if not for the next few nights of fever and vomiting that kept Melody and Westley feeling miserable through the week. Stuck at home, we at least replayed enough of our Elden Ring base game to embark on Shadow of the Erdtree. Without a guidebook, we fumbled with NPC questlines and struggled with our new greatsword Milady before reverting to our trusty Moonveil. Westley was more interested in wielding his own swords, and took up fencing lessons at DFA. We learned the difference between epee, foil, and sabre, as we watched him engarde with older kids. This weekend, we drove to Martinez to check out the regional tournament to give him a taste of competitive sports. The road trip also gave us a chance to visit and take our niece out to a yummy but pricey dinner. With Halloween approaching, we decided to make our own costume, inspired by the upcmoming Astro Bot game that he’s been eyeing. The crafting project kept us plenty busy ahead of more work travel this month.