Good morning!

Callum making a funny face (but still loving his bed!) and inside of the lodge, where we're having breakfast with all the other families! :)

We made it!

I've got sparse coverage so we'll see if this goes thru....

Our 3.5 hour drive really ended up being a 6 hour drive. We left later than I had hoped (partly because Callum was napping and we didn't want to wake him), traffic was a nightmare getting out of the South Bay (3 day weekend), and then we decided to stop and grab a bite for dinner since we weren't sure if we'd make it to camp in time for dinner. I'm glad we did, given how long it took!

We've finally settled into our cabin - Jon took Callum to the bathroom before we tuck him in (he has told us over and over he loves his cabin and his bed). ;-) Logan passed out about 10 minutes before we arrived so we just laid him down in one of the bottom bunks where he stayed, conked out.

We are all beat, but excited to check everything out tomorrow! :)

All packed up and on the road!

Had to take a quick snapshot of my new nails while packing up. ;-)

We're finally on the road! (Only an hour or so later than planned - ugh) As I was packing a few lanterns, I mentioned to Jon that our cabin doesn't have any electricity. He stopped dead in his tracks, "What type of place are we going to?!?" :)

(As it turns out, I misread the packet - our cabin will have electricity, just no heat - whoops! Haha)

We are a GO for Maintenance!

In order to start Maintenance next week (which will be a lumbar puncture and IV of two different chemo drugs PLUS the start of steroids again), Callum needed to make certain counts with his blood draw today. I'm happy to report his numbers looked great today and we are all set to start Maintenance next Wednesday!

Monday would have been his start date originally but 1) it's a holiday and 2) we'll be out of town wrapping up our Family Camp weekend!! (We leave tomorrow after school and I'm so excited). Carly thought it would be pretty busy at the clinic on Tuesday, so Wednesday it is! :)

Our other big news is that Jon's company just announced this week, that they are being purchased by Amazon! It's very exciting news and just the beginning of amazing stuff ahead for Jon and his team!! We are so incredibly proud of him and all that he has accomplished. :)

Other than that, nothing much else to report this week. We're finding a routine, slowly, day by day - most days when we pick up Logan from school they like to play out on the playground with a bunch of other friends. I'm not quite sure what they were making here but I had to tear them away after a long time - they were having too much fun but Mama was beat! ;-)

Go Niners!

I forgot to post about our awesome Sunday!  Jon was given some fantastic seats (in a suite within the Owner's Club!) for the Niners vs. Chargers game this past Sunday.  So, my parents graciously babysat the boys so that we could make the game!  We had two other friends, Jarrod (a huge Niners fan) and Eric (a lover of wine and food) with us as well.  :)

My phone died a few minutes after the start of the game, so I didn't get too many pics of the big day, but we had tons of fun.

This was the SECOND game (pre-season) ever, at the new Levi's Stadium, so there were a few kinks the staff were still working out.  Like, the fact that Will Call (where we needed to pick up our tickets) was NOWHERE NEAR any of the entrance lines to get in.  And, what made matters worse, was that the attendants you'd encounter every 20 feet gave you a different set of directions than the previous ones, on how to get there.  :(  We finally found a nice security guy willing to escort Jon through security and across (inside/past the security gates) to the Will Call area.  Phew!

That actually gave me time to wait in ANOTHER line to leave my purse in the bag check in - since apparently NFL has started implementing a NO BAG rule to all games!!  I had no idea (but let's be fair, the last football game I went to was probably when I was about 10, at Candlestick).... and since we had taken the light rail (public transit) to get to the stadium, I couldn't just run back to the car and leave my purse there.  :(

My three handsome dates for the day!

But, once we got in, and found the Owner's Club (and our suite), boy did we have an amazing time!!  Of course, who wouldn't?!?  We were set up with the first of the first class!  Several food stations, all filled with amazing (gourmet) all you can eat food.  Several bars, wherever you turned, with a number of wonderful beer and wine selections to your liking.  And desserts/coffee galore!  We all decided this is how everyone should enjoy a good football game.  HA!  ;-)

Here's a quick pic of the corridors (it was SO nice and fancy!!).  Suites are all lined up on the right, facing the field of course.

Looking the other way now, suites are on the left but you can see the food/wine station and eating areas on the right (of this pic).

Here's our awesome view.... (but we also noticed that it seems like every seat in the stadium has a nice view actually)

One of the highlights of the game wasn't actually the game itself - but something that happened to me!  We four were sitting together at a high table next to the glass railing, watching the game, when I saw an object - what I thought was a big bird - flying straight for me.  I ducked but still felt a light "landing" on my head.  I thought the bird had pooped on me - but NO, in fact, it was a GINORMOUS MOTH!!  Who decided to land on the side of my head (perched on my sunglasses?) to just HANG OUT.

He sat there for A. LONG. TIME.  Just enjoying the shade (I guess) and the chatter around - since everyone (not just of our party but of several parties around us) had to click pics of the big moth and debate on whether it was actually a moth or a butterfly (everyone finally decided on moth, what do you think?).  It wasn't until I asked Jon to shoo it away (I couldn't actually see it and didn't really want to FEEL it), that he left!!

So funny.

Jon may root for the Chargers, but Jarrod and I bleed red and gold  ;-) 

Other than that, we ate, drank and visited with Jon's vendors (who had comped us the tickets), and met up with a couple of other good friends who were in the area (one was in another suite, another who works for the Niners, came up to visit us for a bit).

Jon and I don't get to do "adult" things very often these days, but when we do, they are always really fun!  :)   Thanks to my parents and Jon's vendors for allowing us to enjoy the day!

It's a Piñata Party!

Just a few days before Callum's 4th birthday, we had our first fever scare and spent a few days at the hospital.  So, by the time we got home, none of us were really feeling energetic about doing much to celebrate the poor guy's birthday.  We had some of my family over to the house and had a cake and presents, but he was feeling really crummy and ended up crying during the Happy Birthday song, and refusing any cake.  I guess you couldn't really blame him, given everything he had been (and is still) going through.

But since then, he's never let me forget, that we did not have a proper birthday party for him - because he did not get a piñata!  :)   You see, to our boys, a birthday party isn't a birthday party, without a piñata.  In fact, when we've been to parties where there is no piñata, they question me afterward what the deal was.... and why didn't that poor poor kid get one for his birthday?!?  ;-)

So I figured, with the end of consolidation just a few days away - why not celebrate Callum finishing his big milestone, with a piñata?!?

I've been trying to down play how much special attention Callum receives (as much as is possible) because it does hurt Logan's feelings.  And, because he's smart and old enough to know and remember we actually DID have a cake/celebration for Callum's birthday, I didn't want this to seem like yet another case of special treatment just for little Callum.

So, we invited a few of our close friends (with kids who are friends of BOTH boys), and made it VERY clear (something I had to repeat ad nauseum all week by the way!), that this was not a birthday party (even though that's what Callum continued to call it), but a piñata party - and that we were celebrating both Callum's end of Consolidation treatment, and Logan's first week of the First Grade.  That seemed to make them both very happy and PHEW.  A big crisis was averted.  ;-)

I didn't want to make a huge event out of it, but obviously we needed to get the main centerpiece.  So, the boys, together, picked out this fun robot piñata.  

Last week, I met a lady named Bettina (a friend of a friend), who makes DELICIOUS GORGEOUS CUSTOM COOKIES.  Out of her home.  I casually asked her if she could make some robot cookies for me?  But of course!

I sent her a pic of the robot as inspiration and voila!  She produced these amazing little pieces of artwork.  I was in such awe, I told her I'd probably need to book her for every upcoming party for the next 10 years.  ;-)

Check out all the minute little detail she added to these!  She created them all on her own - just like that!  Amazing.  Seriously!  Callum was so in love with them, that he was really hesitant to put them out for the other kids to eat and enjoy.  I don't blame him - they were small pieces of art!

After the Moms hovered and admired Bettina's beautiful artwork, the cookies were devoured in minutes by the kids...

But, to be safe (and because Callum asked), I also set out cupcakes to enjoy too....  ;-)

The Cables family, the Jodoins, and the Hicksons all brought a dish or two to share with the group and suddenly we had plenty of food and drink and were all stuffing ourselves silly, while the kids ran around the house like crazy kids.  :)

I tried to take a few pics as the kids played together, but I didn't do a very good job - mostly getting the backs of heads in each shot!  LOL  But, trust me when I say we all had a grand time.  :)

 

The Dads hanging out in one room....

While the Moms were hanging out in another (next to the FOOD - yum!)  ;-)

At one point, the older boys were all grouped quietly together in Logan and Callum's room - which I thought meant trouble - but come to find out, they had pulled out some paper and colored pencils and were DRAWING of all things!  Ha!  :)

So the point of all this is.... we were having such a nice time visiting that we almost forgot about our piñata smashing!  Whoops!  Until good ol' Trent reminded me, "Bree, when can we hit the piñata?"  :)  
We rounded up the troops, lined up the kids (youngest first), to hit the poor piñata to pieces (and let me tell you, that poor thing kept breaking, or the twine would keep breaking, or something, before we got through all the kids!  So we had to keep re-tying and putting it back up for a few more swings)!

Not exactly sure why, but Callum asked to sit out and watch instead of hitting....

Because Callum ducked out (he's not the youngest, but we said he could go first), that meant Trent was the first to give our piñata a few solid hits.

Connor swinging like a champ!

There goes Amelia!

I'm afraid I didn't get any great pics of Logan hitting it! :(  But, you can see here he did manage to hit it at the top which caused the piñata to break (again)! :/

Baby #4, watching along with Mama ;-)

Molly giving it a few good whacks!

I really loved the expressions on all the kids' faces throughout - here are a few fun ones as they started to see a few candy pieces sprinkle out.  :)

 And finally, Robert, the oldest, is up to bat:

After all that excitement, baby Brady decided he wanted to give it a few tries too! :)

Callum continued to say he didn't want to hit it (as I'd offer him a chance between kids) - until the very end - when he told me he'd like to be the last to hit it.  Luckily, we had just a swing or two of life left before the entire piñata was ready to fall apart, so we rushed him up there and he smacked it around until all of the candy fell out.

Later, he ran up to proudly tell me, "Mom!  I DESTROYED it with the last hit!"

As always, it was a frenzy on the ground as the kids grabbed every piece of candy they could find.

Robert was wicked fast and filled up his bag TO THE BRIM in seconds flat!

Callum, on the other hand, was very decisive in his choosing - picking out every Nerds box he could find (and then later, when Robert dumped his bag out to review his loot, I hear Callum walked over and picked out the Nerds boxes in Robert's loot, to add to his own bag, before walking away!).

We were so happy to have our friends join us in a little fun and celebration today - thanks to everyone who made it!!  We are so grateful for the milestones we have hit so far, and optimistic on hitting all the rest!  :)