Our Weekend Adventure

The boys surprised me by planning a weekend get-away to Jupiter, Florida. Its just an hour and a half south of us, but it felt like a world away. We went to the Jupiter Beach Resort and stayed in a room with a beautiful view of the ocean.

The boys felt the best way to start off the vacation was with a tickle fight. Jack really got into the action.


We hit the best local hot spot called the Food Shack. It was one of those places that looks like a hole in the wall, but turns out to be terrific. The hostess was sitting outside on a life guard stand and people lined benches out in front. We waited about 20 minutes before we were brought inside to the tiny island styled restaurant.

You can see some of the bamoo curtains hanging in the background here. There were great colorful decorations that kept Jack entertained. The food won raves from food critics around the country. Reviews on the walls were from the Wall Street Journal, New York Time and even Zagats, which gave the Food Shack an "exceptional" rating.



Here's a picture of Jack at the morning breakfast in the hotel. He practiced the "ahh" so much for the doctor that he has taken to doing in more often. I snapped this shot and I think it gives a good picture of how much of his palate is still open. The darker area is the soft palate which has yet to be closed.

Victory on the rocks at "Blowing Rock" on Jupiter Island.

Jack enjoyed all of his time in the sand. He has come so far from his first experience with it when he couldn't understand how it felt in his hands. He's a regular beach bum now with his dad.

I snapped a picture of Hunter snoozing in the hammocks along the beach. He liked to test his freedom by venturing out onto the hammocks while we were down at the beach.

I broke away from my boys a few times to sneak into the spa at the hotel. Craig arranged for me to have amazing treatments including my first "sugar" scrub, an aroma therapy massage, a pedicure and a facial.


Jack loves to play peek-a-boo. It goes like this..."where is Jack?"

"There he is."

These rocks are formations of lime stone worn away by time. They have small holes in them which channel water straight up in geysers. It was so impressive.


I love this picture. Its my favorite from the weekend. The boys really bonded during our trip. With Hunter home from school for the summer, I am hoping they will get to spend more time playing and getting to know each other.


We found our way to a little shopping because Craig needed to relax too. We walked around an outdoor mall near Palm Beach Gradens mall.


We found a Playmobil Fun Park in West Palm Beach for the boys to imagine they were all sorts of things from knights to...

princes...
and members of the royal family.

Hunter was thrown in the dungeon,

while Jack rode horse back.

It was a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Graduation Weekend

We had a very busy weekend with Madison's graduation. The boys got dressed up in their fancy shirts from their cousins Brant and Jace, who share the same age spread. We had a nice dinner to celebrate Madison.


The graduation went very smoothly. Hunter and Jack were such troopers sitting in the bleachers for the graduation. There were some rowdy boys around us that Jack gave disapproving looks to during the ceremony. It reminded me of something in a report from China where it said that he looked at crying babies with a look that said naughty babies. I thought that was some transference at the time, but I saw that look during the graduation at the air horn honking teenagers.

Hunter carried this camera around so diligently. Once a man stopped him to ask what lens it was and what speed he was shooting...I could only laugh.

Got Liquids?

We are down to only a few days left in Jack's liquid diet. He's been so good with this difficult diet. He's become a fan of milkshakes and smoothies, but his favorite has been blended soups. We started to realize that Jack prefers salter foods to sweets. He got pretty tired of the PediaSure and yogurts. On Mother's Day, he had his first very well blenderized minestrone soup. Since then he has enjoyed soups and PediaSure everyday. On Tuesday, Jack and his daddy will travel back to Boston for a follow-up.

I think he's ready for his milk moustache ad campaign shot.

Chillin' in the Cozy Coupe

Could you imagine a more relaxed little boy only a few short days after surgery? Jack is chillin' in the front yard in his little car, the "cozy coupe". Here is he minding his own business, lounge lizard style, when...

...all of a sudden up pops Hunter to play. Jack tried evasive manuveurs, but since the car is on the grass, its not going anywhere. But, before Jack and even get away, Hunter "vanishes"...Where could he have gone?

Meeting Cousin Michael

My cousin Michael brought my suitcase into the city after we were discharged from the hospital. I had left it with my Auntie Chris because I thought I would return to her house. Shriners has a policy of allowing only one parent to stay over night, but there is a "24-hour visitation" policy. I stayed with Jack the night of his surgery. I couldn't have imagined leaving him.

For the keen observer its quite clear from Jack's actions who must be taking the picture. If not...see the picture below of a much happier baby.

The rare shot of the camera man!

Taking Time to be Hateful

I know I make time in my life for many things - work, family, friends, etc. I don't have time to be hateful to others, however, it would seem some readers of this blog have found time to be critical and negative. Its easy to be hateful and judgemental when you can hide behind "anonymous" postings.

As a result, I will now only allow people who register to make comments.

Please click here to go to create an account.

This will take you to iGoogle where you will create a log in. Google accounts are free.

I appreciate everyone who has always been so supportive.

Pre-surgery Pictures

Here's my happy boy playing and having fun before the surgery. He woke up so playfully. He's all smiles with mom and dad.

Here I am sitting on the cot that Craig slept on the first night. Its the size of a toddler bed as you can see from this picture below. Jack takes up most of the bed. During the night, Craig pulled him into the bed so it was the two of them trying to fit.


Jack keeps himself busy with some Thomas trains. He's playing with them now on the hotel bed as I post this blog.

Here was the last time I saw Jack before he went into surgery. Shriners has a policy that only one parent can go into the operating room with the child while he goes under sedation. The anesthesiologist told us that Jack might cry and jerk about on the table as he went under. I really wasn't prepared to watch that happen, so Craig went in with him. Thankfully though, Craig said he was an angel and only made one short little cry.

Oops. I uploaded this one out of order. This was Craig geared up to go into the OR. In the back you see Jack's daytime nurse Kim.

Discharged!

This morning Dr. Lewis told us he was so impressed with Jack's recovery that we could go home anytime. This is a picture of us leaving the hospital. It turns out Jack has a bacteria in his nose that isn't harmful to him or others, but could cause an infection in the burn kids on the ICU floor. So on our way out we had to mask up. It was like being part of Michael Jackson's family.

So we are heading home tomorrow morning. It's such a testament to Jack's resilience and fighting spirit that we heading home. Even though yesterday was rough for Craig and I, we understand how well Jack did. Its hard to believe I am able to blog about a discharge within 24 hours of his surgery. We are just too luck.

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safely at hospital

We arrived safely to Shriners in Boston. Our flights were uneventful and Jack was great.

He was admitted into the pediatric ICU where he will get round the clock attention.

The surgery will be first thing in the morning and will last about 4 hours.

I will post some pictures later.

(SPECIAL MESSAGE TO THE HAWK: Jack is doing awesome. He misses you so much and so do we. Have fun with Grandma and Grandpa.)

Saying Good-bye

Hunter and Jack got snuggly tonight as we finished packing. Jack seems a bit hestitant with the suitcases out. He hasn't been eating great and is pretty clingy.

We head out early tomorrow morning for Boston. We should be at the hospital in the early afternoon. We expect to get a tour of the operating room and a walk through of the surgery. Jack will be admitted tomorrow afternoon in preparation for an early morning surgery on Wednesday.

I expect to continue to be able to post while we are at the hospital. Everyone's well wishes and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Boys Chillin'

The boys are relaxed as our surgery date approaches. We leave on Tuesday morning for Boston. Jack will be admitted into Boston's Shriner's Children's Hospital that afternoon. His surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning early. Right now I am trying to figure out what to pack. There is a yahoo group for parent's who've adopted children with cleft lip and palate. I hope they will give me good advice. So far, DVD player tops the list of items to bring. Jack loves the Thomas the Tank Engine videos in China, so we may bring those along as well. We've learned that he loves anything with car racing or martial arts. As much as I don't want to admit it, my little boy loves "The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift".

We will keep our friends and family posted through the blog. Thank you to everyone who has been so loving and supportive of us in the last few months. Everyday we say how blessed we are to have such amazing children, family and friends.