Ontario Place June 22, 2007

Here we go! This is going to be mostly pictures. I will tell what is what but suffice it to say that Fergus and Quinn had the time of their lives at Ontario Place and the fact that they were able to share it with their best friend was the cherry on the top!

Quinn felt too small to go bumper boating with Fergus and Adam. He knew he was tall enough (he just BARELY squeaks in at 48") but he was not certain enough of himself to feel safe so while they bumper boated, he drove a little blue car.






Once they had finished driving and boating we went to see the IMAX presentation of "Mysteries of Egypt." What a cool movie and it was Fergus and Quinn's first experience seeing that kind of IMAX movie. They saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in IMAX last year but it wasn't filmed the same, nauseating way. What glorious landscapes through Egypt though.

We stopped for a quick slide before grabbing our lunch. After lunch we decided to spend some time in the water park. At almost any other time in the recent past we would have been able to be at the water park and be adequately heated by the sun when coming out of the water. Not so on this day. The first full day of summer and we managed to FREEZE out in the wind when coming out of the water. It reached a high of 22 degrees Celsius while we were at the park and the breeze was blowing off Lake Ontario into the water area. Brrrr . . .

Fergus, Quinn, Adam and Stephanie (Adam's mom) first went to the VERY top and shared a large tube down. Once they had done that once though, Steph and Adam had had enough. Despite Quinn's lips being the same shade of blue as his sun suit his brother managed to convince him to try it again so the two of them rode the tube ride again. I must say, Fergus made every effort to keep Quinn near him all day. Both Fergus and Adam are extremely welcoming of Quinn with most everything they do.

Once we were finished with the water, everyone got their dry stuff back on and the boys head off for some climbing. Before climbing we played 9 holes of mini-golf and we spent as much time in the bushes trying to find balls as we spent on the course. It was fun none-the-less. This climbing structure is WAY up. It is difficult to get a true sense of how high they were. Let's just say that I used the full zoom feature on my camera. From left they are: Fergus, Quinn and Adam.

We finally managed to get them down from up there and convinced them that it was time to head back to the car to go home. Steph and I were zonked.

As we were heading out of the park we saw a perfect picture spot with the city of Toronto and the CN Tower in the background and stopped one last time to take a photo of the boys posing with their best "bad boy" poses.

Another crazy busy week and then . . .

the weekend will arrive. I have been out doing water-related activities with the boys every day this week. We started by going to a new splash pad Monday and then swimming and yesterday we were able to combine swimming with visiting some friends we haven't seen for a while.
Today we are off to celebrate the end-of-year with our friends from Shady Grove. Shady Grove is the name of the Homeschool Enrichment Program that Fergus has been a part of for the last two years. This year we are finishing off by going to a conservation area and playing in the water and just hanging out. Hopefully the teachers will be there too. I must remember to take my camera.
Tomorrow Steph and I are taking Adam, Fergus and Quinn to Ontario Place for the day. My boys haven't ever been and have just come to the age where they are learning about amusement parks and such. I must remember to measure Quinn today as I suspect he will be tall enough for most but not all of the rides that Fergus is able to go on.
Saturday we are having our annual pot-luck BBQ with some of our friends (the same group we go camping with every summer and such) here at our place -- our home is small enough that outdoor, summer activities suit it best.
And then . . . wait for it . . . Jennifer arrives on Sunday. We had become spoiled with her more frequent visits in the past few months and so it feels as though the 5 weeks since her last visit has been excessively long. The boys feel the need to see her as do Doug and I.
My children are SO blessed. They have FANTASTIC relatives who love them unconditionally and give them undivided attention. I just think it is so fabulous that they get to see their Aunt Jen as often as they do considering that she lives several hundred kilometres away. I love that they can see their Noni and their Chris as often as they do. Like always though, I wish that we could all live a little closer to make it that much easier to see one another. And don't get me started on Nathan. I miss him like crazy and miss the relationship that he hasn't (YET) been able to forge with the boys. It will come. Eventually Nath won't be living in Taiwan and the boys will have more opportunities to see both him and Aunt Chantel. Aunt Chantel (Nathan's partner) is coming back to Canada for a week or two at the beginning of July. We are definitely planning to make time to see her while she is here.
That's the week in a nutshell. Hope yours is as beautiful as ours!

Two of my gardens

Yesterday I posted that I have a plethora of lettuce that needs eating. In this first picture you can see my vegetable patch (on a weird angle, I know. I was trying to get more of it in that way). You can see the sunflowers all over the place and the purple is the lettuce coming up wherever. Last fall when my MIL pulled the seeding lettuce from the garden she placed it in the compost. A *great* idea for lettuce that is *not* seeding. She did the same with the sunflower seeds the she swept off the floor of the shed. When I pulled compost out of the bin and worked it into the soil the seeds self-propagated and now I have sunflowers and lettuce EVERYWHERE.

The tall poles out of the ground are for my pole beans. I have a fabulous pairing of both purple string beans and a spicy, long, skinny green bean. They grow beautifully together. In the picture there are also some yellow wax bean plants, some carrots, spinach, beet root, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, marigolds and basil. Most of that stuff you won't be able to see for the lettuce and sunflowers.

I have also posted a pair of pictures that Quinn and I took this morning of one of our perennial beds. (Again, sorry for the odd angles.) I love my flowers as much as I love my veggies. We are to get some rain today too.

Our Father's Day

The post below this one is a (poor) copy of the page we put together for the door of Henry's room at the Long-Term Care Facility (LTCF). The other people in Henry's room both have pages of information about themselves on their door and it is kind of neat. Doug and Christena asked if I would do something for Henry and it was fun to spend the time on it. Now, the page I did has the images centred better and the layout more aesthetically pleasing but this works to give you the idea that we were striving for.

I like the idea of this information being shared. Indeed much of it is what Henry remembers more clearly than the stuff that happens from day to day. It also helps the nurses have something to talk to Henry about when they know what his past was like.

We had a great Father's Day with Doug yesterday. The boys and I had been to Sears earlier in the week and picked up the pop-up dining tent that Doug really wanted. That was his gift and yesterday morning Quinn, who has been aching for Father's Day to hurry up and arrive, jumped out of bed at the crack of 9:00 am and immediately wanted to know when we could give daddy his present. I reminded him that it was Father's Day and that it would be nice if he let daddy lie-in for a while before dumping a gift in his lap. Doug got up a few minutes later with Fergus following closely behind.

Doug was excited about the tent. The other thing he wanted for "his day" was to go swimming. We thought and thought about where we could go and relax and have fun and the best place that came to mind was my aunt and uncle's place in Varney (about 75 minutes from here). We packed everyone, including Christena, into the car and set off. We had made arrangements with my own dad to meet in Varney (after having invited ourselves to my aunt and uncle's I also invited my MIL and my own parents, aren't I kind??) so that I would have a chance to see him for Father's Day.

We enjoyed the afternoon laughing and splashing in the water, visiting with family, and playing around out in the summer sun. It was a great day. We finished it off with a BBQ dinner and salad (we are trying desperately to eat all of the lettuce we have in the garden but there is no way it will happen -- if you live nearby and want lettuce PLEASE come get some) and then Fergus and I went to softball practice while Daddy and Quinn fought with the new tent. It was standing and in one piece when we got home so it would appear that Doug won the tent war.

We are off to a different splash/spray pad park this afternoon with friends. We have decided to try a new one every week all summer to see which ones are the best. It promises to be a hot and hazy afternoon with a maximum UV rating so the boys will be slathered with 50 SPF sunscreen AND sunsuits while playing in the water. I, on the other hand, will hide in the pavillion and visit with my friend.

Have a wonderful week!

Henry's note on his door

I hope this works out like we have it on the sheet:

Henry Gardiner

Henry was born, July 12, 1929 and was raised in Provan Mill, a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. He was youngest son to John and Margaret Gardiner. His siblings included: Maizie, Jack, Robert, and Tillie. Maizie moved to Canada with her husband, David, and it was to them that Henry came when he migrated at age 29.

Henry’s first job was making and selling umbrella handles around age 14. He went on to spend time in the British Armed Forces and was placed in various countries around the world, including time spent in Hong Kong and Sri Lanka. Upon returning from overseas he worked in various places of employment. While still in Scotland he worked in different vocations including time spent as a delivery truck driver. He was such a good driver that he took driving tests for a number of his friends, including one of his brothers!

He migrated to Canada in 1958 and began work at the Collingwood Shipyards in 1960. This was his place of employment until the Shipyards closed their doors and ceased operations in 1986. Henry worked with men like John LeGoaix and George Mittimier who became lifelong friends of Henry’s. In fact John LeGoiax stood as Best Man at Henry’s April 25, 1964 wedding to Christena Hoel of Stayner.

Henry met Christena through Herb Hudson, husband of Louise Hudson, Christena’s eldest sister. A year and five days after being wed in a small ceremony in Collingwood, Henry and Christena welcomed their first child, Jennifer Margaret Gardiner. Six years and three months later they had a son named, Douglas Henry Gardiner. Their family was complete with two beautiful children.

Henry and Christena lived a numerous residences over their years of residing in Collingwood. The found themselves at home on Pine Street, Fourth Street East, Spruce Street, Alice Street and Tenth Street in the growing town. They watched their children grow up and move out on their own.

Jennifer went to York University for a few years until she realised that what she was studying was not feeding her heart. She left York to pursue other interests and now resides in Calgary with her partner, Nino and is owner of her own successful company: Meet The CEO.

Douglas studied Photography at Fanshawe College and now owns DSF Imaging and put his digital imaging skills acquired at college to use for himself and his customers. He and his wife, Samantha, have two boys: Fergus (aged 9) and Quinn, (aged 6).

A lovely day in June

Wow! I hadn't realized that it had been a while since I last posted. In that time one of the things we have done is that we have watched Fergus' end of school year play. The two pictures I have attached are of Fergus drumming (the whole younger class was drumming while the older class danced - this picture is only of Fergus and his friend Ayla) and of Fergus as a streetkid in an abbreviated version of Oliver Twist. They did a GREAT job and it was really fun to watch them. Christena (my MIL) as well as my own parents made the trip to Eden Mills to see him perform with his peers.

That night, after racing from Eden Mills to Glen Williams, he got his first run ever in softball (he has only been playing for a few weeks). He hit himself to first base and then was hit and walked around to score a run. We were over the moon!! What a great day!!!

Friday we had a huge but FAST storm run through our neighbourhood. We were on our way to have dinner with friends in Burlington and saw the dark clouds. As we were getting into the Wagon Doug decided that the increase in wind was making him nervous about leaving the Rabbit under the tree in our front yard so he got out to move it. Since he was moving the car I decided to make sure things were tidy and tied down in the back garden. We told the boys to wait in the Wagon as we would be right back.

We went about our chores, Doug coming to help me once he had the Rabbit safely away from trees and no sooner had we finished when the big pellets of rain started hitting us and we ran for the Wagon. Once we got around the side of the house we were enveloped in a wall of wind and debris. We had dirt, grit, leaves, and bits of twigs all over us; in our hair, our mouths, on our clothes. The wind was so strong we followed our instincts which were to grab the boys from the car and take them into the house. We then watched the storm from the front porch. Within a few minutes we saw that about a third of the houses on our street had lost significant pieces (limbs, boughs, branches) from their trees. We never did end up with anything on either of our vehicles but I am still relieved that we took the boys inside.

And after all was said and done, I still needed to come home from dinner with friends and water my gardens because we didn't get enough rain to keep anything alive. All around town there were trees uprooted and power lines down.

Doug took Christena up to see Henry on Monday. He is doing well. His breathing is certainly much improved. They are very good to him there and allow him to function on his own schedule. That is to say that he is truly a "night owl" and daytimes are not when he is most active. Retrospectively I can see that that was a big part of the challenge Christena faced with him being at home. He wanted to be awake at night and she did not. He still isn't able to do things for himself at night any more than he can during the day, but that is why he kept waking her at night. His schedule was backwards.

He sleeps most of the day away with them only waking him for meals so that he doesn't go without. He is not conversant anymore although he will give one word answers to questions. As I have said before there is some grace in the fact that he is at least far enough into his disease that he doesn't seem to *see* the other individuals around him and how they are behaving. At least he isn't always pressing Doug and Christena to find out when they are going to take him home. He seems settled where he is.

This weekend is Father's Day and I hope Doug gets to go up to Mount Forest to see his own dad on Saturday so that Fergus and Quinn can have their dad on Sunday. I have managed to have the day off so I can be around too.

Fergus, Quinn and I went shopping for Doug's gift on Monday while he and Christena were in Mount Forest. We wrapped it as soon as we got home and hid it from view. Quinn is so excited about the fact that the gift is here, in the house, and ready for Doug to receive that he can hardly stand it. He is counting down the days to Father's Day and is checking regularly to make sure the gift is where I put it. It is very sweet. A cute reaction for a gift he is giving that he didn't actually donate any funds to. Ah well, the innocence of youth!

Have a glorious weekend!

Summer fun!

I have a couple of pictures to throw up here because I think they are cute. Yesterday was a warm day and it was also the first day that was warm enough to visit the local splash pad. My boys (and Adam, who is my spare child most of the time) were the eldest by far.

A splash pad, for those who are not aware of these locales, is a flat, open water park. There are jets that shoot water up out of the ground, into the air, and the children run around and get soaked. They are a fairly new phenomena around these parts so the trees are not very mature and there is little shade to speak of. This particular location also seems to get a lot of wind because it is out in the open, and so it has to be fairly warm for the children to use it without freezing. The water is clean (which is good and bad -- I can't get past the HUGE waste of water) but because it is clean it is like ICE shooting out of the floor.

As I was saying, the trees are young. This summer they put a couple of new trees in and new trees require a lot of water. My boys like to take pails to the splash pad so they can collect the water and dump it on one another. Yes, I know, it's a painfully mean game to play but they seem to love having their heads ache from the cold water coursing over their skulls. When one of the local Parks and Recreation workers saw them collecting the water he came over to ask if the boys were with me. When I indicated that they were indeed mine, unless they'd done something wrong of course, he asked if I thought they would be willing to water the two new trees around the parkette. The boys were delighted.

I guess all of the running around and playing was enough to wear poor Quinnie out because he couldn't make it all the way through my reading of Chapter 8 in Harry Potter last night. Reading Harry Potter is a new thing for our family. I wanted to wait to read them myself until the boys were old enough to hear it. We started just after Easter and are halfway through book number three. It is all Fergus wants me to do with him these days -- well, that and play tennis on the Wii, which I do fairly well I might add. Hopefully we are able to read them fast enough to get to the last book shortly after it is released this summer.

Henry is okay

Very briefly for those who are checking in to find out how Henry is making out, he is doing fairly well. It seems they caught the pneumonia at the beginning this time (an advantage of having him in a place with 24 hour nursing staff to assess his well being) and the antibiotics have stopped it's progression. He is now complaining more constantly about pain in his back. The pain is behind the spot on the lungs where the cancer is. We don't know if this is related or not. It would seem sensible to us but we are not oncologists.

Christena's sister, Marianne, lives in Mount Forest and she was kind enough to stop by to see him last evening on her way home from work. She felt Henry was fairly engaging and seemed to know that he should know her from somewhere. This felt fairly positive to us.

Anyway, that's what is new. I'll write more when there is more to tell.
Take care

Wii did it!!!

Well, since Christmas Fergus and Quinn have been patiently (or sort of) waiting until such a time would arrive when they would have enough money to purchase a Wii. For those who are not familiar with this item, it is a video game system of the latest variety. It is interactive in so far as you swing the controller and move your body to engage the game. In the two images attached Fergus and Quinn/Daddy and Quinn are boxing against one another. It is entertaining to watch. I haven't actually tried to play it yet.

The system arrived this morning. With Quinn's birthday money added to the cache of Fergus' Wii funds, we had enough to buy the system. Last weekend when we were in Future Shop to see if they had any Wii in stock they told us they didn't BUT would likely have more on Friday next. They also said to call on Thursday to see if more were coming in. When Doug called last night he was told there were more coming and he set his alarm to get up early and go stand in line. Because we didn't know what kind of a line up there would be we chose not to tell the boys about the Wii coming and instead Doug took the money they had set aside to purchase it. They were fairly excited when he got home with this treat!!

They whole day has been about this gaming system. I suspect that it will be on the list of activities to do when it is raining outside this summer. The boys have been allowed to play most of today but know that tomorrow they are back to their one hour of screen time per day.

Anyway, thought you might like to see these pictures. The flash wasn't working so I have lightened them as best I can. Sorry about the image quality.

Take care

And Quinn turns 6, second.

Can it really be that six years ago this past Saturday I managed to birth another baby of my own (and Doug's too)?? The time goes by so fast. Yes, it is so and our own Quinnsterman (as my parents call him) has moved into his seventh year, having happily completed six (by the skin of his teeth a few times, I might add).

They day dawned sunny and bright so we found Grandma outside, working out and we interrupted to have some birthday gift time before the party started. The party didn't start until noon but there was some tidying to do first and food to prepare. All Quinn wanted was money from everyone to be able to add his money to Fergus' so they could collectively by a Nintendo Wii. The gift we gave him with the money was because giving money still feels weird to me -- even when it's all they really want.

The pictures are of Quinn opening the gift from Doug and I (he had already opened the money from Grandma and the Phlat Ball from Fergus) and of Quinn and his party cake.

We had a few of his friends here on Saturday and we let them beat on a Scooby-Doo pinata for a little while before they gave up and just pulled the ribbons hanging out the bottom. My brother emailed from Taiwan -- where he and his partner stay -- and asked how Quinn's birthday was. I wrote: "It was great. A party with a bunch of 4-6 year olds running around, eating chocolate and swinging a large wooden stick at a papier mache "Scooby Doo." You know . . . it was non-stop entertainment. Then we reeled them in to sit still in the theatre to watch Shrek the Third. [Quinn] said it was "the best day of [his] life!" So I take it that he had fun."

It was a great day! Doug joined us at the theatre for the movie and Fergus came home about ten minutes after we got back as he had been in Guelph at another birthday party for a couple of his friends. What a busy day. And that was just the start of our long weekend.

Last night (Sunday) we went to hang out with a bunch of our friends and sit around the campfire (well, a caged campfire as we were in town) sipping wine and visiting until the fireworks started. We could see the town fireworks display from their backyard. It was perfect!

I saw my parents and Uncle Des on Friday while Christena was visiting Henry and then saw my sister and Chris today. It has been a GREAT weekend all the way around. I hope yours was GREAT too!!

An update about Henry first . . .

as things have deteriorated with Henry's health. He
seems to have another case of pneumonia. We don't know how bad it is
at the moment but while Doug and Christena were visiting him today his
condition became steadily worse and when they left he was being given
a nebuliser treatment and a dose of antibiotics. This also likely
means that his Alzheimer's will advance too as that seems to be the
case for him (and anyone I suppose) who has Alzheimer's and ends up
with pneumonia. Unfortunately the pneumonia is normal as Alzheimer's
patients tend not to walk much. Even when they do, as my MIL swears
that Henry walks a lot, it isn't done as exercise, it is done as simple
movement and that's not enough to work his lungs. He mostly just shuffles along.

Anyway . . . any thoughts, vibes, prayers or otherwise would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Our weekend

Well, we were lucky enough to have Jennifer in Ontario again this week. She had to travel to New York for business and when that happens, she travels through Ontario to stay with us for a day or two at either end.

We were extra glad to have her here this time as this past Sunday (after she flew in from New York Sunday morning) Doug, Jennifer and Christena took Henry to a Long-Term Care Facility to have him admitted into permanent care. In the week prior he was spending time standing, unable to move, he had fallen in the bathroom having forgotten what to do when needing to toilet, and had become increasingly hostile and unwilling to take the medications necessary to keep him alive. It was time.

It was indeed that hardest thing Christena (or Doug or Jennifer) had ever had to do. Christena was talking last week about all of the things in her future that aren't going to be as she had planned. She was looking forward to retirement and taking walks with Henry, socializing more. She was looking forward to the two of them spending more time doing things with Fergus and Quinn. And to top it off, it was Mother's Day. Not how any of us wanted to spend Mother's Day.

He has been there for 2 days now and I have agreed to drive her to see him -- the closest available place for him was in Mount Forest, about a 1 hour drive from here -- this coming Friday afternoon. As soon as there is a bed in a facility closer to home, he will be moved. The idea is for him to be in a location that she can access by bus if we are not around to offer her a ride.

Stuart, would please make sure that Uncle Robert knows what is happening? I don't know if Jackie reads my blog or not but if you are in contact with him, Aunt Tillie or Uncle Jack, would you let them know what is happening here? Anyone who has more questions is more than welcome to call so I can further explain what has transpired to find us at this point.

Thank you to all for your words and thoughts of support and encouragement.

Our weekend

The weather has become consistently more sunny and agreeable. On Sunday I was able to couple the nice weather with some time off to be spent with my family. Since we don't often have this opportunity we took a little drive to Belfountain, a hamlet just north of where we stay. It is a lovely little place and we wandered around and took a few pictures (as you can clearly see).
http://www.belfountain.ca/

Fergus and Quinn both had a sleep over at Adam's house on Friday night. It was Quinn's first sleepover with a friend and his nervous parents had nothing to worry about. He managed to snuggle down and sleep soundly through the night. When I left for work Doug was wondering when they would be home. Turns out he had a large part of the day to himself as they stayed at Adam's and played outside until mid-afternoon.

After their play, daddy's day alone and my day of teaching we met at a local pub for dinner and some time to reconnect. We had plans to celebrate the Cinco de Mayo with friends in the evening but we wanted some down time first.

Saturday evening we went over to see friends (Karen and Larry) and were joined by another family (Janice and Dave) where we enjoyed an evening of hot tub, wine, fire, and card playing. The boys had friend, Liam, to play with and after running around in the back yard they settled to watch a movie downstairs. It was clear that Quinn was losing steam and the movie seemed like an easy way for him to wind down. By 11:00 Fergus was up to tell the adults that both Liam and Quinn were asleep on the floor and he sat to watch us play cards.

As I have said, Sunday dawned sunny and bright. I knew I wanted to spend some time in the garden but I needed time with Doug and the boys. How to decide?? We started with a big fry up for breakfast and Fergus went over to Adam's while I went to Kim's to receive some of the perennials she was willing to split for me. Fergus was only going to Adam's for a little while but long enough for me to get a trunk full of plants and come home to plant the most sensitive.

When we got home from Belfountain Doug made burgers for dinner while I continued planting. He is an AMAZING man. Not only did he feed us but he also tidied up and then came out to water the plants I had added to my gardens.

Some of you might be wondering how Henry is doing as this is often what I post about. He is okay. Not a lot has changed other than that we watch him slip into his disease a little more every day. For instance, he has forgotten now how to put his shoes on. (What??) He hasn't been able to dress himself for a couple of months but he was still able to put his shoes on. Over the past couple of days this has not been the case.

He no longer asks after his family the same way that he was a month or two ago. In fact, he almost never generates a conversation. He will sit for extended periods of time without saying anything and not appearing to see the people in front of him. His physical health seems to be okay though. While he wasn't able to climb the stairs between their home and ours only a few weeks ago, now he is up and down the stairs with ease. His depth perception has gone and we need to help him on the stairs so he doesn't lose his footing but he is able to do all the lifting without aide.

How is Christena doing as his primary caregiver? It is taking a huge toll on her to have to be in the role of caregiver instead of that of wife. He is not agreeable about most of the things she has to do for him so there are arguments over everything. He doesn't want medication, he doesn't want bathed, he doesn't want shaved, he doesn't want to drink the fluids necessary to stay hydrated. You can see these aren't little things and so the arguments go on most of the time. She is having to be home with him all of the time as he can't be left alone and that is exhausting.

Jennifer will be back tomorrow -- on her way through to New York -- to spend a couple of days. She will also be back on the weekend. It does help Doug and I when she is here so that there is not only someone else for mom to vent with but also so that there are another pair of eyes to watch Henry and allow mom to go out and clear her head.

Well, I think that's what is new here. Hope all of you are well. Please keep in touch!!

Henry is home again

While we were gone we were hoping that the hospital would keep Henry to be able to give Christena the break. She does not cope well when she can't have time to herself (not that I can blame her, I would be EXACTLY the same way, I am sure). No such luck. Henry did not have pneumonia again, the nebulizer was keeping his airways clear. This time he was severely dehydrated (the man doesn't drink anything other than tea and coffee which only serve to further dehydrate). They kept him in to rehydrate him.

We did learn that the cancer is continuing to advance. Christena really wants to investigate to find out how much it has changed but Henry was clear (at a time when he was able to be clear) that he did not want any further treatment. Because we are planning to treat the cancer, they are willing to spend the money on more testing. Quite frankly, I suspect the treatment would kill him faster than the disease anyway. He took a huge medical beating last time and he went in to that treatment otherwise healthy.

Anyway, Henry is home and life is back to what it was last week. Amazing how fast things return to normal.

The boys are happy we are home and loved the gifts we got them. Apparently they had a riot with Nani and Papa and now Quinn is happily riding a two-wheeler, thanks to some help from his big brother.
Have a great week.

The attractions we didn't go to

but that the boys would REALLY like us to go back and check out (with them in tow of course)

US

To prove we were there and didn't just buy a couple of postcards, we finally thought to have someone take our picture yesterday morning. This is just down from our hotel and the American Falls are in the background.

The weather was GORGEOUS and we had a great time walking and talking and holding hands! Doug did spend some time by himself taking pictures while I went and had a WONDERFUL massage!!! I would have loved to hang out with him, holding his lens cap but the massage table was calling me.

What a GREAT weekend!!!

To say thank you will never cover it all! We had such a wonderful time and so here are some pictures that we took while we were there. This won't be wordy, just pretty!

Picture #1: the view from our room
Picture #2: a view of our room
Picture #3: another view of our room

(PS - Yes, that's Doug's computer on in the one shot. He had a couple of hours work to do in order to be able to have the weekend off.)

Henry is back in hospital

We thought perhaps his pneumonia was back but apparently not. The nebulizing treatments he has been receiving have kept his lungs in better health. The doctor last night (when we took him in) thought that is was an advancement of the cancer. Unfortunately this also means an advancement of the Alzheimer's disease. They are keeping him for now and have mentioned perhaps putting him into palliative care. It is my understanding though, that palliative care does not have the facilities to house or accommodate his wandering tendencies, etc. due to the Alzheimer's. I do not know, at this time, how things will unfold.

I will not be home to post an update over the weekend (as you will know if you have read other blog entries) as this is OUR ROMANTIC WEEKEND AWAY!! I will post again Monday or so if there are any changes.

I am off to finish waxing my legs and maybe have a nap. It would be terrible to get to Niagara Falls only to sleep the weekend away from fatigue!

What world is this?

I posted to a group of AMAZING and wonderful on-line friends (whom I have been extremely close to since we "met" even though there are many of these incredible womyn that I have not actually MET IRL) about Kristin setting Doug and I up for the night in Niagara Falls. That, in an of itself continues to blow my mind!!

After posting about how blessed I felt these womyn took it upon themselves to further fill my cup to overflowing and pitched in to give us an extra night. Now Doug and I have two nights away in Niagara Falls while the boys get to spend the weekend with my parents.

I was stunned speechless . . . and you know me . . . that's no easy feat! Then I started to cry. (Again, no surprise there!)

For everyone who contributed, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. For those who have simply sent positive energy our way to allow us to have the stars line up in such a way that we can manage to swing time off together to make sure our marriage stays on track, THANK YOU! We have been feeling your love and support over the past several months and we want you to know that we know and that we appreciate it.

Sheraton On The Falls

The web address for the hotel we will be staying in is linked here: Sheraton
(I hope this works because I don't do it often enough to be confident.)

Anyway, we have been gifted with a room that has:

2 Queen Beds Traditional Non-smoking, City View, Sweet Sleeper Bed, Large Marble Bathroom, 330 Sqft Room With Cherrywood Furnishings, Oval Table With Chairs, Overlooks City Of Niagara And Famous Clifton Hill

Thank you again Kristin! This is the nicest thing EVER!!!!