Double Feature

Just what the doctor ordered-- well, at least in my dreams....

a nice, quiet get-a-way from all the stress and pressure

that has taken over our lives the past few weeks!

We all headed up to the Bodily's cabin (with our dear friends

the Moomey's) for the weekend.

We ate way too much and relaxed while the girls

tore up the beach and the lake.

Kean, who can't get near the lake water, kept all of us

entertained getting Pete, the dog to play fetch.

 We figured all that getting up and down on the bench to throw

the ball was the best therapy for those skinny little ankles.

Plus, it was pretty darn entertaining!

I was so relaxed, I hardly took any pictures-- except

for the traditional whipped cream mouth squirts!

This is all Elly's doing!

 Honestly, I don't think my girls know that canned whipped

cream is supposed to go on food and not straight to the mouth!

 And clearly, it is never too early to start the whipped cream

etiquette training!

I expect Kean will be as addicted to this little ritual as the girls.

The Great Escape

Ahhh, to get out of town and away from the craziness.

Just after lunch we (along with the Moomey's) drove up

to Grandpa Bodily's cabin just up from Lake Cascade.

 This was the view from his deck.  Lovely.  Absolutely lovely.

 Little Kean seemed happy to have a change of scenery.

I think he gets as cooped up as I do!

 The girls made themselves right at home, finding games to play...

 and horsing around.

 After dinner we all took the short walk down to the lake.

 Uh, yeah, kids, water-- they were in it in nothing flat.

 The girls played and played and built sand castles

(well, more like forts).

Poor Kean isn't allowed to touch the water-- but he

seemed mostly content to watch the girls and like his mom--

enjoy every second of being out of the house!!!

Camporama

Rough day for the little guy.

We had physical therapy at the park-

and it was a bust.  We cut it short.

 Then, his favorite therapist, Momma Gump came...

 and he could barely muster up a few smiles for her...

she left after 15 minutes.

It was not a banner day.

 There must have been something in the water.

Kean had a bad day and so did "Motorcycle Jeff"...

but nothing a little Harley ride couldn't fix... right?

 Notice the Go-Pro camera on Jeff's helmet?  The movie making

continues...

 The girls are sure having a good night.

The Moomey's grand kids are in town and Byron promised them

a camp-out on the back lawn.

 Jack will take the little tent.

Four girls will cram into the yellow one--

All I can say is I'm thankful I'll be sleeping in my own bed tonight.

 They had a special visitor crash their party tonight-- 

one of our favorite college kids-- Rachel Alderman.

Poor thing got mauled by a pack or rabid girls!

 Somehow, I do think she will survive!

Dressed To Kill

Our entire family has been invited up to Sun Valley in the near future

to attend a family cancer camp.

Kean gets to break out of house arrest and go!!!!

We don't know what to expect other than it will likely be cold.

Kean's leather motorcycle jacket just won't cut it-- and my plans

to run out and shop for a ski jacket for him were thwarted today.

My dear friend Lori Swanson (who was our chairperson for Baldapalooza)

told me not to-- she'd track down something we could borrow.

Well just look at what showed up at our house-- a brand new jacket...

 ski bibs...

 boots and gloves for him to wear and to keep!

Not only is he gonna be the best dressed boy in the mountains--

but he's gonna be toasty warm.

Thank you Lori.

Love it and love you!

Exotic Camping

For years, we've had a Labor Day weekend tradition where we go camping

with our super close friends, Ron and Elly Moomey.

Kean's cancer put a crimp on that last year and this year.

So Elly had this grand idea to still get together (for dinner) and

have s'mores over a camp fire. 

 It was a perfect night.

They live out in the hills above Star

and between the smell of smoke from the fire, the taste of gooey

marshmallows, warm chocolate, crunchy crackers

and a few mosquitoes thrown in... 

 it was almost like camping

without all the prep work before or the laundry afterwards.

After s'mores, Ron chased Reese around on the scooters and

Kean and Bryon took turns zooming on a skateboard.

I'm certain Kean wore himself out with all the giggling and clapping.

He should sleep well tonight.

And he was almost dirty enough when we headed home

that you would've thought we actually did go camping!

Coo Coo Pachoo

Greer happily provided me with pictures from their great camping adventure over the weekend.

In our home, we call bed head hair-- "Coo Coo Pachoo" hair.

And clearly, if a brush was packed for the trip, no one bothered to use it (especially Byron).

 This picture I get...

well maybe, I'd personally take the wrappers off first.

 But this one defies explanation.

 Just as long as they had fun.

And it sure sounds like they did from all accounts.

Yes, our house is back to full decibels.

Kean was giggly all night.

Good thing.  He has a trip to the hospital tomorrow for Chemo.

And the girls have their day at school where they drop off supplies, meet their teachers etc.

Should be one heckova looonnnng day.

Eerie...

There's something going on in our house that we don't see very often.

And that's quiet, silence, peace... well, you get the idea.

Byron took the girls for a camping weekend

while Kean and I stayed home.

I've had to work a little extra to keep him entertained.

And it is so nice.  He is feeling good and acting happy.

That is, probably until Monday when he gets nailed again with Chemo at the hospital.

I sometimes feel like we are hamsters in one of those spinning wheels. 

It's just a non-ending cycle of getting him feeling good just in time to start the process over again.

 Oh and what's that saying?  While the cat is away, the mice will play?

Since Byron and the girls were gone, Kean and I had a little dinner party at the house last night.

It was my dear friend, Susan Rhoggani's birthday and since I couldn't go out with Kean,

we opted to have "the girls" come here.

 Susan is getting ready for a trip to France, so we decided to have a French themed feast:

quiche, Salad Nicoise, cheeses, crunchy bread, grapes and a very large blackberry tart (pie).

We had such a lovely time staying up too late and talking.

(Kean didn't last very long).

Our Baldapalooza board also had a meeting today with the manager of

several of the musicians who will be playing at our music festival.

He just happened to be in town.

Talking with him got us all excited about the caliber and quality of the artists.

This is gonna be one fabulously fun night.

Oh, the tv ads should start next week.

Wanna sneak peak?



Eagle's Scout

Pill  Boy was back today.

Hopefully, just for the day.

And here I thought we had turned a corner.

But perhaps, just perhaps, (as my friend Teresa pointed out)

it could be that he is back on Steroids-- and that's

what is making him so grouchy.

 I hope this isn't offensive, but Byron has started joking

that he thinks our boy is Bi-Polar.

At dinner tonight he was crying, whining and refusing to eat much

The minute Byron mentioned it was time for a

motorcycle ride-- he turned on a dime and stopped crying immediately

If only he could ride and ride his days away-- this house arrest

thing would be much easier for him.

 Tonight Greer opted to sleep out in the playhouse by herself.

She's a brave one- that one.

She set up a little table with sunscreen (sunscreen?), lotions

and everything a girl might need in the middle of the night.

 And she even set up Reese's little tent as her "dressing room" downstairs.

Clearly the Boy Scouts don't have anything on her

when it comes to being prepared!

They're Baaaaccckkkk!

Guess who came back to us today... our three girls.

We picked them up across town, along with their larger

than before bags stuffed to the brim with dirty clothes, towels, shoes etc.

 We went out to dinner to celebrate Reese's birthday... and the girls finally

had to take turns telling me about all their adventures.

It was pretty entertaining to see them so excited to tell about cabin raids,

dancing, gymnastics, ice skating, art time, archery and on and on.

They all want to go back so that's a good sign.

My dear friend Colleen Riggs kept the Keanut man for us...

and the girls just squealed when they saw him.

 You can't help but wonder what he's thought of all the quiet

and now thinks of all the noise.

Modern Day Pony Express

Thank heavens for the Internet.

We got word.. well proof that at least two of our three girls are alive and well.

Camp Rainbow Gold posted a bunch of pictures on their face book page.

That's Reese second from the left -- with the rest of the kids from her cabin.

 And yes, that gadfly is Greer.

She looks like she is totally in her element.

Today's agenda called for a hike, ice skating and a big dance tonight.

Party Central!

 Kean's been partly grouchy for the day.

Please notice his hearing aid.

We're slowly making progress.

Today, especially during "speech time".

We're really working on the word "motorcycle"

(probably the most important word in the entire vocabulary-- according to him).

 He got so caught up in playing with his motorcycle...

 that he forgot to yank out his hearing aid for a while.

Like I said, progress.

 We got a good laugh tonight.

After dinner, he was whining and acting like he was miserable

until Byron asked if he wanted to go for a motorcycle ride.

I tell ya, you've never seen such a miraculous healing!

Bon Voyage

You cannot believe how quiet it is in our house!

First thing this morning, we drove the three girls across town

to the American Cancer Society parking lot.

They are heading up to Sun Valley for Siblings camp--

(a camp for sibs of kids with Cancer).

It was kind of interesting.  On top of some last minute paperwork,

we had to meet with some nurses to go over allergies etc., the girls then had to have their vitals checked,

their hair checked for lice and their feet checked for Athlete's Foot.

Thankfully, they all passed.

Then it was on to get their "mug" shots taken.

 They were all a little nervous to leave home...

 But even before the buses pulled into the parking lot,

the girls were already making friends.

  Months and months ago, a couple of Kean's doctors told us that we needed to send the girls.

From what we understand, Camp Rainbow Gold is supposed

to be Nirvana for kids.

 They are gone all week and it will be so strange not to have them

running the house at full volume.

It will be interesting to see how Keanut adjusts to the calm, quiet house.

p.s.  I've already adjusted.

p.p.s.  Reese will turn seven on Thursday-- at the camp. I hope she's okay

with having another "special" birthday.  If you remember, last year, we celebrated

her birthday in the hospital.