A great week

(Remember to click on the photos to see them larger.)

Last week was so great that I don't want to miss blogging about it. B is finally getting some of his energy back after finishing chemo a few weeks ago, and is jumping right back into life.

Sunday we went to Mixville Park for some fishing and other fun. Luna got her first slide experience, and everyone (except the sane one - me) actually dipped their feet in the water (OK, B kept his boots on).

Monday was errands day, but on Tuesday afternoon, after my bowling league, we headed to Coco Key Water Resort to take advantage of free admission for the 3rd time. We invited our friend R again, and had a great time. He didn't even seem to mind when he got a giant rip in his bathing suit; he just threw his underwear on underneath and was good to go. Good lesson for my boys.

Wednesday E had his guitar lesson, and afterward we let Luna play with his guitar teacher's dog, who is a boxer the same exact age. Both of the puppies had an awesome time playing, but our guitar teacher is a pretty overprotective parent, and we only had 15 minutes or so. Luna had so much fun! This week I'll have to take pictures, since she was invited back again.

Thursday the boys decided to join B and I for our trip into Manhattan. B had good news from his oncologist: his Mediport will be removed on December 11th!

After his appointment we headed over to the Intrepid which has reopened after renovations. We actually took a cab to get there across town, which the boys thought was lots of fun.

First we looked at the Growler, which is the submarine they have there. I think that was all of our favorite. It was super cramped in there, but luckily B never hit his head once!

The Intrepid itself was pretty cool, but not as much to see as I really expected. Considering that the thing held 3,000 men, we didn't really see very much. I would've like to see the mess hall that holds all those men, but my feeling is that they ripped it out for the museum area. It was cool to see the kitchen (galley) though, and some of the bunks, which were really close together, and certainly the anchor room with the giant chains. The planes on top were cool too. I do have to say though, that their short film about the history of the ship was not worth building that whole theater for. We wished we hadn't wasted time on that.

Even the train ride home was lots of fun. We got some food in Grand Central and got on a train that wasn't the next to leave, so that we'd be sure to get seats together, and ate our dinner on the train. The boys thought that was really cool. And they decided that next time they'd get Chicken Tikka Masala too.

We are so blessed that my dad was able to watch Luna for the day, and we stopped by on our way home from the train station to pick her up. Boy was she happy to see us!

Friday was the last day of Great Hollow classes. I got to see where the boys have been spending their Fridays the last couple of months, and was glad to have the opportunity to hear what they've been doing all that time, since when I'd ask them I'd get mostly "we played deer and coyote". Something I was not thrilled to hear since I couldn't see spending a small fortune for them to play tag in the woods.

I learned that they transplanted some endangered plants, and that they can identify several plants in the woods now. They both really want to return to the classes in the spring, but I really have to think about whether it's worth that much money. And the hour drive each way.

Well the week just kept getting better, as Saturday found us at the Lego Kidfest at the CT Convention Center. It truly was awesome to see all the giant statues made with Legos. But I have to admit the place was packed. I'm so glad we had gotten our tickets in advance (a fellow homeschooler got a group discount) so that we didn't have to wait on those enormous lines.

We saw a presentation given by two of the giant statue designers/builders. We got to see the software they use to determine how to make the statues (which, by the way, are all hollow). We also saw adult Lego clubs’ huge displays of cities and other amazing things of their own designs. R was pretty inspired and is thinking he might need a new set now. E mostly enjoyed seeing all the giant statues.

I am really glad we went. It was very inspiring. I don't think they anticipated the turnout though (by 12:30 pm they called it “sold out” and turned away hundreds of people on line). And all the aisles were really filled with commercial vendors having nothing to do with Legos. So although we will unlikely return if they do it again, we are really glad we went.

The week ended on an unusual note. Both boys went to the Yale Pediatric Sleep Disorder Center to be tested. E did great and fell asleep despite all the wires, but poor R was miserable and got only one REM session the whole night. I don't think that was enough for them to tell me if his deep sleeping is the concern I think it is (since he could not fall into one). I actually hope they call us back to do it again, but I'm not confident that's how it will work out. We'll have the results of that in a couple of weeks. And in the meantime, B has finally made an appointment for himself to be tested.

On the way home from the hospital we stopped at McDonald's for some milk shakes, which have become our after-hospital tradition (yeah, we've been there for stitches). Milk shakes at 7 am. That made their day.

So that was our awesome week. Definitely one I wanted to get down, so I remember it.