My Favorite

My personal favorite park was Sea World.  

It is the perfect balance of rides and shows. 

Plus, I love the animal interaction. 

We petted and fed the sting rays and the Dolphins. 

We saw the whale show too!

We rode rides too!

Sawyer loved all the rides.

(Yes, I rode rides but not spinning rides.  I also sat out on rides just so I could get a glimpse into their faces.  Priceless!)

I was telling Sawyer's oncologist about our trip.

I told her how much Sawyer loved the rides, especially roller coasters.

Her comment?

"Boy am I glad we gave him platelets before you left"

It seemed like each day produced an act of kindness.

This day, we received trays of shrimp to feed the sting rays.  It was not part of our 'package'.

They also gave us sting ray teeth.  We were given a little science lesson.

Apparently, sting rays shed their teeth frequently.

To the tune of maybe 10000 teeth in their lifetime.

Magic!

A child (in the US) will be diagnosed with a life threatening illness every 38 minutes.  We are one of those families who faced such a diagnosis.  We are one of those families fighting for our child's health.  It is an all encompassing battle.  You live it 24/7/365 until it consumes you.  It permeates every aspect of you life. 

This past week, we were given a break from this battle.  No, our child was not 'cured'.  For one week, we were given time to enjoy life with as few restrictions as possible.  Someone else took care of the details.  Someone else cooked and cleaned.  Someone else made sure we could enjoy a few hours of fun.  All we had to do was choose what we wanted to do and when we wanted to do it. 

It was MAGIC!

These are only a few of the pictures taken around the Give Kids the World village where we stayed.

Awesome place.

Awesome people.  (Mostly Volunteers)

Awesome experience.

More later.

Because He Is Worth It

He needs you

Check out this link.  The little guy needs you!

Thankful!

Is It Over Yet?

Historically, October has been our busiest month.

2014 is no exception.  

It has been a super busy.

Soccer.

Doctors,

Dentist.

School.

Scouts.

More Scouts.

More school.

Etc

etc

etc

We have had lots of fun

and hope to end with a bang

on Halloween!

We had a party at Camp Sunshine.

The kids loved dressing up.

We tried to watch our 2nd eclipse.

Front row seats!

We celebrated a birthday!

Judson made the cake.

Enjoying his 'new to him' birthday present,

Table and Chairs.

Picked green beans!

Still in the process of freezing them.

We had a fun hoedown experience.  

The kids reluctantly tried dancing.  At the end, I couldn't get them to leave the dance floor!

So much for which to be thankful.

We are enjoying each and every moment.

A Day In the Garden

We went with Judson's science class.

A most glorious day, as weather goes.

There were more but they were not easily corralled

Early Morning

We got up early to see the Lunar Eclipse

Luckily it was very easy to see, even in the burbs!

Soccer Time!

My little soccer player!  

He is getting so big!

He remained focused most of the game.

Although at one point, I had to laugh.

His opponent was pushing the ball right by him in the open field 

and Turner was looking over at the sidelines.

Totally oblivious.

For the most part, he was pretty into the game.

I love watching him play soccer.

He loves the social aspects and the running.

Ode to my Tween

My oldest is having a birthday.  I just wanted to give him a shout out.

Since day one, he has been an anomaly.   One of a kind.   In a good way.

I've heard it being defined as being a "crystal child".   Now, I'm not into hocus-pocus, pop-psychology.  However, if you google attributes of a "crystal child", you just might get a good picture of my guy. If you know him well, you will see that 90+% of those attributes listed, apply to him.

 Absolutely cannot tolerate what he perceives at injustice.  We never had to teach him tolerance for religion, race, etc.   It was just 'there'. 

Wisdom?  It's there too.  He told us once years ago, he tries not to turn down any opportunity because you never know when/if it might come around again.   That is why at the age of 8, he climbed Mt Laconte.  At the age of 10, he traveled to Ethiopia.  Today, he is on an archeological dig and white water rafting trip.

I was reading an autobiography he was writing for English.  Amazing, his understanding of who he is and what he hopes to do in life goes well beyond his years.

So, to my #1 son.  I applaud you.  I love you.  I admire you.  I hope someday to be as amazing as you.

Things That Make Me Smile

 Some of the pics are fuzzy but you cannot miss the smile on Ansley's face.

We decided the girl scout troop she was in was not a good fit for her/us.

We are dropping GS (or maybe just changing troops, not sure)

In the mean time, we have put her in the same home school co-op that Judson attends.

Those first 2 pics show the genuine happiness that she had her very first day of school.

The girls/kids were nice and accepting of her right off the bat.

(cannot say the same for the girls in her scout troop after all these years)

Evening walk.  Love it!

SuperMan

Sawyer in PT.  He thinks he is Peter Pan (The Robin Williams version)