Changes in Latitudes, Attitudes and Temperatures!

I know, I know. No house tour yet. Stay tuned. We're working on it!

Henry and I flew down to Florida to participate in a Light the Night Walk for the son of my very good friend. As we prepared to leave for Florida, Paul's prognosis has changed from "in remission" to out of remission with fears that the Leukemia has spread to his central nervous system (this has been found to not be the case-thank God) to Paul needing a bone marrow transplant. The day before we left for the walk Paul was in remission and the family (Paul's mom, Emily, dad, Dave and younger brother, Ethan) was going to join "Team Super Paul" at the walk. The last minute developments forced Paul to stay in the hospital and his parents to prepare to leave for Boston. They are currently trying to match Paul to a bone marrow donor.

Most of you who read Henry's blog are parents. I cannot imagine how Emily or Dave feel right now. I know that several times in the course of the two years that Paul has been diagnosed, I have lost my breath. Despite the roller-coaster, Emily has kept us all informed through Paul's Caring Bridge Journal. She has also kept her compassion as well as humor. I have known her family for over 30 years. She has a large family. They were all at the walk and they did not disappoint with their optimism and positive energy.

Here we are at the airport. This is Henry's 8th flight. He knows the deal. Run around and go berserk just before the flight. Be the last to board. The other good thing about being the last to board is that they gate-check the bag (no lugging back through plane, no $25 fee. Tee-hee)

Because of Henry's frequent-flyer status, they decided to just let him fly the plane.

Last minute safety check..." I think I turn this do-hickey..."

...aaaannnd, we're off!

" No, me, I wanna' do it myself!"


"How was that for a smooth landing?"
Okay, he didn't really fly the plane, but, because we are always the last to get off the plane(imagine: "Henry, where's Thomas? Where's your cup? Henry, crawl under the seat and get Percy. Now where's your other shoe?!!"), Henry is able to run, I mean RUN down the aisle. This time he did just that yelling, "Pilot! Pilot! Pilot!", then tore open the cock-pit door. Can you just imagine if he did this DURING the flight? "Hello Mr. Carter, this is the FBI. We have your wife and son..."

Because my child has decided to be allergic to dogs and my mother has dogs times three, we are relegated to a hotel when we visit Florida. Like how I blame the 20 month-old? So paying for a hotel when my mother lives less than a mile away.
Can anyone say, cha-ching?
Actually, not too bad. I would say that visiting Florida in October during a recession is
the way to go.
Hotel=big success with the kid. Not exactly as entertaining as three Labradors but,
Henry loved the huge skateboard.


And, the huge bed.
Dumping his water on the huge bed, more fun (yet another reason why this child does not know juice).

Running and jumping on huge bed=non-stop fun.

Loved the huge tub. Not so much, however, when I turned on the jacuzzi jets.
"All done", he says.

Best of all, reading on Nonnie's lap. Nonnie doesn't even mind reading "MUD" 27 times.

What a sport!

Big turtle at the pool.

Hi there.

Here we are at the Light the Night Walk.

Team Super Paul!

After the walk Henry acquainted himself with another friend's children. What a flirt. I wish I could have gotten a picture. Henry and Eva (left) were dancing and hugging. So cute.

Not a great picture. Here they are dancing.

The next day, we met our friend, Sally at the beach on the inlet. The best part about the inlet is watching the fish chases. Can't really see very well in this picture but there are about 500 tiny bait fish jumping onto the rocks as they are being chased by larger fish. Then, seagulls were diving for the bait fish on the rocks! The food chain in action!

Caught a fish!Another day in paradise.

Since it was about 95 degrees, we opted for some indoor activities. Here we are at The River Walk in Jupiter. This is Henry checking out a starfish.
Got to touch a sea cucumber. Ewwww!

"Tiny fish"

North Palm Beach was having Fire Safety Day. I think it was in case you burst into flames walking along the street. Did I mention how hot it was there? Actually, it was pretty neat. Here they had a house/maze that the kids had to "stop-drop-and roll" as if they were escaping from a burning house.

Here's the fireman to the rescue!

Made it through!

Henry got to spray the water hose. He even bounced around the bouncy house/sauna in the background.

Driving a fire engine is a snap compared to a plane!

We arrived home on Sunday just in time for Fall. We love all the trees on our property, however, raking is going to be interesting. Look at the leaves are already starting to pile up on the deck. Can't wait until Henry has full use of his thumbs.

"Look Henry, it's a rake! How fun! Let's play with it over here!!"

To really get into this Fall thing, we had to go to the farm!

Luckily some of Henry's favorite people (and mine) came with us.

What's a farm without a tractor?

And a wooden train. Don't you think that this would be a snap for Billy to build? I am still trying to convince him.

Caitlin and Henry.

Slides...

slides...

slides...

slides...

and more slides! And yes, this slide was super fast and more than a little scary.

Hayride!

Haunted Forest. Henry did not love this part as he had a death-grip on Karen. "All done", Henry says.

I think the best part for Henry was hangin' with his buddy, Carson!

I had a great time hanging out with my buddy too! No we did not get lost!