Never a dull moment !!!

Well today we wound up in the hospital. No major emergency, but a pain in the butt- no pun intended. Mason had not gone to the bathroom in five days. Despite some major help in the fiber department and some assistance- we still had not luck. He was pretty uncomfortable and we had to rule out a blockage. So we went the ER here and got it taken care of. We won't go into gory details, but we were not fully successful despite major interventions. But hopefully he is bit more comfortable.

On a wonderful note- Make -A -Wish arranged for us to stay through Sunday so Mason could enjoy himself, since he had not been feeling well. Mom has to leave on Friday to go to the ASCO conference- a major cancer conference for work, that also could get some insights for Mason on Saturday. A big thank you to Make a Wish and Give Kids the World for being so generous and helping Mason get a chance to enjoy his trip unplugged. :-)

Some more pictures

A few pictures from the trip so far

Having a great time

We are having a great time on the trip. A huge stretch limo picked us up early Saturday morning and brought us to the airport. It was a ten person stretch limo with snacks and drinks. A great start at 5:30 am!

The flight was fine as we all tried to sleep. The Give Kids the World volunteers met us at the airport. Mateo talked their ear off as they were from England and discussed soccer while we got our bags. We made it to the hotel. It is a lovely villa townhouse.

The boys tested out the pool, loved playing mini golf and enjoyed the ice cream parlor that is open 12 hours a day.

Today we went to Disney Animal Kingdom. Mateo went on his first big roller coaster ride- the Everest Expedition. We saw a 3-D movie of a Bug's Life which Mason loved but Mateo thought was scary- Go figure. We played some games in Dinoland and Danielle went on another roller coaster with Mateo.

This afternoon we drove to Clearwater to visit Jeff and Jennifer Muller- friends of Kirk's from Peace Corps. They have three girls and a pool. We spent most of the afternoon in the pool and plan on a beach visit in the AM.

We'll post pics tomm. A great start to a great week ahead of us.

Getting ready for Disney

Make a Wish has been really generous in sending us to Disney World next week. Please support them whenever you can. They do an amazing job. They came last weekend and threw a little pre-trip party for us and gave us all of our trip details. It should be an awesome time. Special thanks to Amy and Connie- Make a Wish volunteers for helping us and getting Mason's wish fufilled. He is dancing around the house when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is on, which is great to see after the last couple of weeks. We leave on Saturday for a week.

Still recuperating

Mason is still trying to recuperate. After the Queen visit we had a chicken pox scare and a night in the ER and hospital. He is pretty wiped out. They say this is a normal part of the recovery period but it is very strange to see him so tapped out. So send some energy and healing vibes our way. His spirit could use a lift.

Mason and Mateo meet the Queen of England

Mason and Mateo were given a wonderful opportunity to see all the hoopla with the Queen's visit to Children's Hospital. Despite the long wait, the boys were very patient. They insisted on wearing their English soccer league outfits, even though Francisca and I would have loved for them to dress up a bit more. In the picture, Mason is showing her his Arsenal shirt to which she commented was"quite smart." The boys enjoyed eating and making the cookies with Skittles and icing. They also got to meet Mayor Fenty, DC's mayor who has 7 year old girls who play soccer too. Soccer really is a universal language.

Race for Brain Tumors on Sunday May 6

Mateo hitching a ride with Mason

We did the 5K Race to Cure Brain Tumors last Sunday. It was a beautiful morning- sunny and breezy. Our neighbors and some of Kirk's fraternity brothers from the Baltimore area were part of our team. Mason started the race with the other survivors and ran the last .1 miles across the finish line. It was hard to not cry watching his determination to run and win. Mateo hitched a ride in the baby jogger the first two miles and ran the last mile with Francisca. We went out to eat with our team afterwards. Thanks to everyone who came out early on a Sunday morning to support us and run in honor of Mason.

Kirk with his fraternity brothers

Medical Update

Mason is doing okay. His stomach has been giving him some trouble. He has been pretty tired. These are all things they expect after radiation. We just have to be innovative to keep him hydrated and fed. He has lost four pounds- so he is a bit skinny. They put him on Zantac to calm down the acid in his stomach. We'll keep him on small meals so they stay down and hopefully he'll bounce back soon.

A visit from Francisca's sister

Felicia and the boys at the Air and Space Musuem

Francisca's sister Felicia came last week on a special visit. Her employers in Ecuador came home on home leave and were very generous and kind enough to send Felicia to come and visit us for 5 days. The boys had a great time showing her around DC and taking her to their many sports practices and games. She loved the openess of US living- no walls and how green it all was. Francisca got to stay up every night and talk with her. We also got to celebrate Feleicia's birthday-the boys love birthdays! It was a good morale boost for all.