Centerfield

It wasn't exactly center field, but actually somewhere around left center. The point is, I hit my first ever home run tonight in softball! I'm really not trying to be boastful, but because it might be the only one I ever hit, I want to make sure I remember when and where it happened! I don't have a memory for sporting events like my husband does!

The entire game was really just quite amazing. This was a team we lost to multiple times last year in our women's league! Granted, we've swapped out a few players since that season, but tonight we hit like champs, scoring 20 runs in one inning! My friend Robyn hit two home runs in the game and our friend Hope hit another. The other team's pitcher kind of struggled, and their infield wasn't so strong, but mostly we just hit a lot of line drives. My home run was actually a line drive that went over the left center fielder's head and rolled almost to the fence!

It felt so great to hit well after being 0-4 in our co-ed game yesterday. Yesterday afternoon I wasn't such a happy camper after getting the 3rd out of the last inning, especially since we only lost by two runs. It was a total bummer, so please indulge me as I celebrate this win a little more than I normally would! :)

Hound Dog

On Saturday, before picking up the nephews for a visit, I spent much of the day at the KC Pet Expo at the American Royal Center (the former Kemper Arena). Our shelter had a booth at the event, so some other volunteers and I took adoptable dogs over to meet the public. It was a huge event with tons of people and what seemed like hundreds of different vendors and organizations! There were rescue groups and shelters from all over the KC metro area, along with businesses selling all sorts of animal related products and services. There were groups demonstrating agility courses and frisbee catching, as well as displays with miniature horses, goats and llamas. It was pretty cool!

The best part about my day was the wonderful dog that I took along to the event! His name is Fresco, and he's a hound/boxer mix who has been at the shelter since late November. He came in as a 10-12 week old puppy, and then moved into the adoption area when he was 4-5 months old. He was one of those dogs who was so adorable when he was first available that I thought he would be snatched up immediately. For whatever reason, he hasn't had many potential adopters look at him, and I just can't figure out why! He is very unique looking and so amazingly cute, I don't know how anyone can resist that face!

Fresco was such a good boy all day and charmed just about every person he met at the event. People were immediately drawn to him, and when they would come over to visit he would sit at their feet and just soak up the attention. He would often put his paw up to shake hands or lean against their legs to snuggle. If they squatted down low enough, he would actually try and crawl into the laps of complete strangers. It was so adorable! I already liked Fresco a lot, but he was so endearing all day it just made me want to take him home. I'm almost hoping he doesn't get adopted so that we'll have an excuse to foster him! Don't tell Chad! :)

Munchkin Land

This weekend we had another fun visit with the munchkins from KC--our nephews Miles and Quinn. Chad's brother Mark and his wife had to chaperon the prom at Mark's school (Barstow), and since I was already going to be in KC on Saturday, I just went by and picked them up and brought them back to Lawrence with me.

The boys' visit consisted of many of the same activities of their last stay in Lawrence: playgrounds, bubbles, toys, drawing (you can see what a serious artist Miles is), piano playing, and reading stories. We actually went to a real "sit-down" restaurant for dinner and managed to make it through bath night without too much trauma. Since it was such a beautiful morning, we tossed the frisbee around before going to the playground, and best of all, we managed to make it through another stay without turning on the television or video games!

Each time the boys stay, they get a little more used to the routine and rules at Uncle Chad and Aunt Kim's, so maybe next visit we'll actually get up and around in time to take them to church!

We're Off To See The Wizard

Well actually, last night we were off to see Dorothy! Chad and I experienced something completely new and different as we went to see our first ever grade school theatrical production. Our friend Quillen starred as Dorothy (at least in the first half) in the annual Raintree Upper Elementary production of The Wizard of Oz. After a rainy day, the weather was lovely, which was very lucky since the play was in Raintree's outdoor amphitheater. There were some really cute performances, and Quillen had tons of lines to memorize, and she didn't forget a single one! We were very impressed at all the hard work she put into it!

Another exciting part of the evening was seeing Quillen's cousin Gibson, who we've only seen a couple of times since his brain surgery last fall. The last time we saw him he still needed some assistance walking, but last night, he was running around like a normal boy who's almost five! We took a trip to Sheridan's for some custard after the show, and Gibson was chasing his uncle Grant all over the place! It was so good to see him doing so well!

For more information about Gibson's surgery, you can check my blog on the subject from last September, or you can check out Gibson's Caring Bridge site, where his mom keeps his family and friends updated on his progress!

From Black Dog to Dancing Queen

Last weekend while I was taking pictures at the Lawrence Humane Society, I was also enjoying the company of a great assistant volunteer photographer who came along to help me! Our friends Heather and Grant had a wedding to go to on Saturday, so we made plans to spent part of the weekend with their daughter Quillen, who decided she wanted to come to the shelter with me. Quillen has always been very good with animals, but she is especially soft-hearted and caring when it comes to dogs. We took many puppies out to play and met some wonderful new furry faces at the shelter. My favorite was Ace, a Coonhound who was a little sheepish but very sweet. Quillen's favorite was a little black Lab puppy named Emily, who was extremely calm for a puppy her age!

After Quillen's first LHS volunteer experience, she and Chad played some cards, and then we headed out to Village West for a little shopping! Quillen and I each got a new Life is Good t-shirt, while Chad got some cool new walkie-talkies, and Quillen picked out a very funny stuffed animal frog!

We decided to eat at The Legends in Village West, but as usual, the wait at every restaurant was super long. After checking out the T-Rex Cafe and deciding we didn't have that much patience, we settled on the Saddle Ranch Chop House right across the way. While it was mildly entertaining to watch people fall off of the mechanical bull, the wait was too long, the food was marginal and the atmosphere was annoyingly LOUD! We certainly wouldn't recommend the place!

Upon our arrival back in Lawrence, Quillen quickly changed into her new t-shirt and modeled some of our purchases before we headed to the basement for a few rounds of Dance Dance Revolution on the Xbox. After getting pooped out from dancing, we watched a few funny animal videos on YouTube, one of our favorites being Zoe the dancing parrot. By the time we headed off to bed, we'd had a very full and fun day!

Quillen is always great to have as a houseguest, and one of the many amazing qualities about her is that in her entire life, she's hardly ever complained about her bedtime! In fact, she's always the first to tell you when she's tired and ready for bed. Even when she was a tiny little preschooler, she would often tell her parents when she was ready to call it a night, which always amazed me!

Quillen is a very mature and well-behaved kid who is always great fun to be around! We keep telling her parents we're going to keep taking advantage of these years that she still wants to hang out with us, because after she heads off to junior high next year, we're guessing it's not going to be so cool to hang out with Kim and Chad!

Hallelujah!

I really couldn't be more elated, excited and emotional as I write today's post! As you can probably guess, we got wonderful news today from Hope's oncologist! The margins of Hope's tumor came back FREE AND CLEAR of any cancer!!! Praise God!!

This is such a huge blessing and such an amazing miracle, considering that the oncologist originally told us that a tumor the size of Hope's was basically inoperable. She told us that even if the bulk of the tumor was removed, what was left would likely grow back and make her quality of life unbearable, or she would be left with a improperly functioning urinary tract that would make her life unbearable. Neither of those things have happened, and we believe it's because we said TONS of prayers for Hope and had TONS of people praying right along with us. God is awesome and we are so thankful! :)

The last couple of weeks have been such an emotional roller coaster for us. Five weeks ago we were dealing with the shock of her cancer diagnosis. A few days later, we were overwhelmed to find out that even with extensive treatment, her chances for a full recovery weren't as good as we had imagined. Just over four weeks ago, we were elated that her tumor was shrinking rapidly. Less than two weeks later, our tension started to grow as Hope's tumor began to do the same. By the time last Sunday rolled around, I was pretty much a basket case, as Hope's tumor reached its largest size, and we recalled the oncologist's original poor prognosis. Then last week, we were slightly encouraged by the surgeon's more positive outlook, but highly stressed as we awaited the pathology report. All I can say is that today when Chad called and said "they got it," I literally wept for joy. In my entire life, I can't remember ever sobbing because I was so happy and relieved!

While I know that cancer diagnosis and treatment is generally a series of ups and downs, I can't help but think that this wouldn't have been nearly as difficult if Hope's oncologist hadn't been quite as negative at the onset. I understand that she doesn't want to give people false hope, but I also wish she would have left us with a little more hope than she did. Maybe she truly believed that Hope's tumor couldn't be removed successfully, but the skeptic in me wonders if she wasn't just making her own involvement with chemotherapy more justifiable. Obviously, shrinking the tumor with chemo before surgery would have been ideal, but clearly, it wasn't the only solution. I just wish that she would have at least consulted with the surgeon before giving us her prognosis, so that we would have known there was still a chance that surgery could work even if the chemo didn't. I shed so many tears thinking that all hope (and Hope) was lost because the tumor wasn't small enough, devastated by the thought that she wouldn't survive. We could have avoided a lot of unnecessary heartache had we known there was still hope for Hope!

I would probably give the oncologist the benefit of the doubt if it wasn't for the fact that she has recommended that we continue chemo for Hope even though there is no sign of cancer left in her body. Her thought is that there is a slim possibility that there could be microscopic cancerous cells that could have migrated into other nearby tissue, and that maybe a few more rounds of chemo would take care of them. This seems like a questionable strategy for several reasons, but mostly because the chemo didn't seem to killing Hope's cancer cells in the first place! Chad and I have yet to discuss this option or meet with the oncologist in person, so we may still consider it, but at this point it doesn't seem like a very logical choice.

All oncological drama aside, we could not be more thankful for Hope's miraculous recovery, nor could we be more thankful for all of the prayers and support during the last few weeks from our family and friends. Thank you all so much! We will definitely rejoice in this day for many months to come!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!! Today Chad's Grandma Decker is turning 85 years old! She is a wonderful woman who is generous, loving, and also very witty! She has been dedicated to her church and volunteer work for decades, constantly putting the needs of others ahead of her own. She is talented in all kinds of needlepoint and sewing, and she's also a crafty card player who talks smack on anyone who gets in the way of her win! Grandma is great fun to be around, and for the last 10 years or so we've had the pleasure of hosting her as our guest for 4th of July, a tradition which will hopefully continue for many more years!

We love you, Grandma! Happy Birthday!

Slip Sliding Away

I know my blog has been pretty heavy on the dog stories lately, but I just had to share this video my friend Lindsay sent me today. It made me laugh so hard!



I think this proves that dogs do have problem solving skills! It's an ingenious way to get your back scratched! :)

Home Sweet Home

Our sweet girl Hope came home from the hospital today, greeted with much love from her little big brother! Clearly Celtic was very happy to see her, although I'll admit that this is something he does on a daily basis!

She is doing really well--a little too well, in fact, as we're supposed to keep her from running, jumping and being active for the next two weeks until her stitches come out! That's going to be a big job, since today she already wanted to run when she got outside and jump onto the bed when she was inside. I can only imagine how energetic she's going to be by the end of next week!

Although she has a lot of swelling and a strangely deformed posterior, she doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain. This is likely due to the continuous feed of pain meds she's getting right now through a fentanyl patch. Apparently fentanyl a pretty heavy-duty narcotic--Wikipedia claims that it's 80 times more potent than morphine! I think that must be why Hope feels so darn good!

Much to Hope's dismay, while she's home alone she'll have to wear a new cone collar, which is unfortunately much bigger than the one she's been getting used to this last week. I hate to do it to her, but we just can't risk her licking at her incision or the fentanyl patch, which could be toxic. I'm sure Celtic will love seeing his sister as a conehead, as he was forced to endure the same humiliation back in February after his own surgery.

While the next couple of weeks may prove to be a bit of a challenge, we are definitely pleased with her progress in day 1 of the recovery!

One Day More

Hope finally went into surgery this morning at about 10:30. The vet called at about 11:40 to tell us she was all finished, and to let us know that Hope had done just fine. Dr. Layton felt like she'd gotten a good sized margin around the tumor, and we'll find out sometime next week if those margins are clear or not. Although I'm still quite anxious and tense about the results, right now I'm just thankful that this leg of the journey is complete.

Unfortunately, Hope was still too doped up to come home this evening, so she'll spend one more night at the hospital. While we're all missing her terribly, we trust that it was best for her based on our past experience with her and anesthesia. She's a pretty crazy drunk! Tonight they're going to monitor her closely and also keep her I.V. going so that she has a little nourishment and hydration. The last couple of weeks of chemo she'd been pretty dehydrated, and since she hasn't eaten since Monday night we were a little worried about her strength. We a glad they're keeping her an extra night.

Hope will likely have a good deal of pain and swelling for the next couple of weeks until her stitches come out, but we are praying that there are no serious complications. She may have a little difficulty going potty at first, but hopefully the incision will heal complete with no long term damage. And of course, we're still praying that the tissue around her tumor is free and clear of cancer! Thanks for continuing to pray with us! We have been so very thankful for all the love and support from everyone during this ordeal. We are definitely blessed with wonderful friends and wonderful families!

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

This morning we took Hope to her hospital (the Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center) and met with the surgeon, Dr. Layton. She was a very kind woman with a good bedside manner, and she seemed very experienced and knowledgeable. Her competency and confidence were encouraging, so we left the hospital feeling a tad bit better about the surgery than we did on the way there.

The hard part today was all the waiting. Dr. Layton had another surgery to perform prior to Hope's, and she wasn't sure how long it would take. We knew going in that Hope might get bumped to tomorrow's schedule, but we were crossing our fingers that Dr. Layton could operate today so that Hope could come home tomorrow. Unfortunately, I finally talked to the folks at VSEC late this afternoon, and Dr. Layton had just gotten out of her first surgery. Our poor munchkin will have to stay a sad and lonely (and sedation-free) night away from her family!

We're hoping that Dr. Layton can get to Hope's surgery tomorrow morning, so that we can go pick her up in the early evening. If they don't get to her until the afternoon, there's a possibility that we won't get to see her until Thursday! The wait is killing me!

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

If you're one of the few people who read my blog regularly, you might have noticed that I've been absent for a few days. Honestly, I just couldn't bring myself to write anything because I don't have anything happy to report. The last several days have been horribly depressing for us, as we've seen no positive change in the size of Hope's tumor. It continues to grow despite the higher dose of Prednisone.

Although we're trying to remain positive about the outcome of Hope's surgery on Tuesday, we're also trying to be realistic about the chances of it being successful. While the bulk of her tumor could still be removed, the odds are good that much of the cancer will remain. Since chemo and Prednisone are clearly not working to fight the malignancy, her options for post-surgical treatment seem to be slim. We've contacted a holistic veterinarian here in Lawrence who has had some luck treating mast cell tumors with non-traditional medicine, so we plan to meet with her later in the week to talk about our options. Unfortunately, at this point, it's looking like it would take a miracle to save her. While we know that God is entirely capable of answering our prayers with that miracle, we also know that saving Hope might not be part of His ultimate plan.

I'm having a really hard time coming to grips with the thought of losing her. I've been an emotional wreck the last couple of days, devastated with the knowledge that in the next few months we may be faced with the horrible decision of when to put her down. I'm still baffled by the amazing odds against one family losing two dogs to cancer in such a short period, especially after learning that only 1% of mast cell tumors occur in the difficult-to-treat location where Hope's has developed. It just doesn't even seem possible.

I know it's difficult for many people to understand how heartbreaking this is for us. While a lot of people treat their dogs as part of the family, we honestly treat our dogs as if they're our children. Most people who know us well are aware of this, but at church this morning it became very clear that not everyone is sensitive to this fact. When a friend asked about how Hope's chemo was going and we solemnly told her things were not looking too promising, she replied jokingly, "Well at least if you need to get a new dog you know a good place to go get one." Needless to say, the mere thought of replacing Hope in such a flippant manner brought me to tears. I know our friend didn't mean to be insensitive, but I wasn't able to stop crying for almost 20 minutes. Hope means the world to us, and it breaks my heart to think about having to let her go. :(

Not As Good News

If you talked to either of us at all this week, you probably know that we weren't expecting very good news at Hope's chemotherapy treatment this morning. After a positive report from the vet last Wednesday, we continued to monitor the size of Hope's tumor on a daily basis, so we immediately became aware when it started growing again following her last visit. The change was fairly significant, and apparently it had started to irritate her once more. We can only assume that she must have been itching it yesterday afternoon, as there was a dramatic change in size in about a four hour period.

Unfortunately, this morning the tumor was nearly the size it had been when Hope started chemotherapy four weeks ago. This means the vet is again terming her cancer "progressive disease," whereas the last two weeks she considered it to be in partial remission. While this is obviously solemn news, the vet's intention is not to give up on Hope, but rather to accelerate the surgery timetable. We will meet with the surgeon on Tuesday of next week, and hopefully then she'll be able to remove the tumor without disrupting Hope's urinary tract.

What we do have going for us in the next six days is Prednisone. During the first week of Hope's treatment when her tumor responded favorably, she was taking high doses of this steriod. The treatment protocol is to start with higher doses of the drug and then reduce the dose during the next three weeks of treatment. Since the Prednisone was clearly playing a huge role in her improvement, this week she'll take the high dose again, and we're praying that her tumor will respond the same way it did the first time.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and concern for Hope. I'll let you know in a few days if we're seeing any improvement. Until then, I'll leave you with some adorable pictures (taken with my Palm) of her and Celtic on our way home from KC this morning.

Chemo poops her out!


Celtic pooped out too, but Hope made a good pillow...

...even when she was sleeping sitting up!


Thanks again for your prayers, everyone!

The Return of Matt & Erika

Okay, so maybe it wasn't a permanent return, but this weekend we were blessed with a visit from our friends Matt and Erika who moved to Hong Kong last fall. It was so wonderful to see them! It was exciting to have them back at church Sunday morning, and we had a great time visiting with them at our friend Pat's open house Sunday night. As a bonus, we were able to get almost our entire bible study group together for dinner last night, which was wonderful since we've totally missed their presence in our group since their departure!

There were only two bad things about Matt and Erika's visit: 1) we only got to hang out with them twice, and 2) seeing them in person makes us miss them even more when they leave again! Even so, we are so thankful that they flew a gajillion hours to come visit their friends and family! Thanks, guys! :)

For more pictures of the open house, click here!

Play Ball!!

Because I'm sure you're all dying to know, I just got back from my first softball games of the season, and our women's team is 2-0 for the first time in our 2 season history! Hooray!!! We all batted really well--our team had at least 3 home runs, 3 triples and 3 doubles, along with tons of base hits. We won the first game like 21-5 and the second about 14-5 (those are rough estimates, by the way). I was a little worried about playing again this season, partially because of my bulging disc and partially because I thought my skills were starting to diminish with my increasing age. However, I'm breathing a sigh of relief tonight because two of those triples were mine! :) I think I may have hit one triple all of last season, so I'm really excited, to say the least!

Starting the season off with a double header is always a challenge. Playing two games in a row (in the cold, no less) after not sprinting, throwing and batting for more than six months really exhausts the old muscles. I'll be lucky if I can walk tomorrow! As a precautionary measure, I'm going to go soak in a hot bath before bed!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone!
I hope you had a wonderful holiday with lots of food, family, friends, fellowship and fun!

All irreverence aside, I hope that everyone was able to put down the chocolate for a few minutes today to celebrate the wonderfully good news of the Resurrection!

The Engrish Language

If you're in need of a little online entertainment, I've got the perfect website for you. Honestly, I am such a fan of this site I can't believe I've never blogged about it before! The site is called Engrish.com, and it's definitely good for some laugh out loud hilarity!

What is Engrish, you ask? As defined by this website, Engrish is "the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design." Engrish can be found in other languages as well, but apparently the most creative and funny Engrish comes from the Japanese. The Engrish.com website has hundreds of examples from signs, posters, menus, clothing, candy wrappers, and instructions. Just go to the drop down menu labeled "Easy Engrish Access" to view pictures of Engrish examples in each of the different categories.

I hadn't visited the site for a while, but a couple of weeks ago we found an example of Engrish in our own home that reminded me of this entertaining spot on the Web. Chad was trying to adjust the time on my cheap digital watch from Target, which had somehow gotten stuck on military time. When he checked out the instructions, this is what he read:

12/24 HOURS REVERSAL OPTION

You have the possibility to change from 12 to 24 hour system, when adjusting the hours of the normal time (description please see above) one after the other the hours are displayed in the 12 hour system, then in the 24 hour system and then again the 12 hour system, i.e. please push S2 so many times, that the hour is displayed in the required system.

While not nearly as funny as most of the stuff on Engrish.com, Chad and I still got a big kick out of the very unhelpful instruction to push the button "so many times."

Our friends Matt and Erika, who recently moved to Hong Kong, are great suppliers of first hand examples of Engrish they've found in the Far East. In honor of their visit home to Kansas this week, I thought it was about time I blogged about the very funny phenomenon that is Engrish!

Hope-Ful News

I'll admit that the title of my post is rather cheesy, but how can you resist when your sick dog is so perfectly named!? :)

This morning, Chad took Hope to KC for her third chemotherapy treatment. Dr. Heeb will be on vacation tomorrow, so Hope's appointment came a day early. We were a little concerned before her visit, because in the last seven days, her tumor hasn't been shrinking much at all--at least not nearly as much as in the first week of treatment. Our fear was that the initial reduction in size was due to the anti-inflammatory properties of the Prednisone instead of the cancer-fighting chemotherapy.

The good news is, our fears were quelled by the vet this morning, who assured Chad that Hope's tumor was still responding favorably to treatment. In fact, she thought that the tumor was approaching an operable size, which is really great news! Surgery will still be difficult because of the location (which is very near her urinary tract), but at least now it's looking like it might be a possibility!

We are very thankful for this positive news, and for all of your continued prayers!

The Agony Of Defeat

Oh, the agony. Victory was so close at hand that I made the mistake of dreaming about what I was going to do with the $230 I was about to win from all of the "donations" to my NCAA Tourney office pool. After being the only person out of 67 entries who correctly predicted the Final Four, I was number 1. When I failed to pick Florida over UCLA, I still sat in second place, thinking that I was assured some sort of prize since the top three finishers would be rewarded. Then yesterday, I started looking over the standings a little more closely, and I realized that there were actually TWO people on the list who had picked the Gators to win who would pass me if Ohio State lost!

So last night I was way more interested in the game than I would have been otherwise, but the Buckeyes totally let me down. They couldn't defend Florida behind the arch, and the Gators were on fire, hitting 10 of 18 threes in the game. If OSU had tried pounding it inside more instead of trying to match three-pointers (of which they hit only 4 of 23), I think they would have had a chance. Instead, they lost by 9 points and cost me $230 dollars. My coworker who was in 11th place before the final game got 160 points for the win and came back to beat me by 20 points, leaving me with a fourth place finish. In this case, I think I would rather have been in the middle of the pack instead of so close the thrill of victory, only to be slapped with the agony of defeat. :(

In my non-work and non-money pool, our friends Amber and Jake (who happen to be married to each other) finished in the top two spots, respectively. Congratulations, Jamber!! Clearly, there are lots of basketball brains in their household to go along with all of the PhD brains we already knew about! :)

Busy Little Bodies

Over the weekend, Chad and I had a very busy 24 hours with our active nephews Miles and Quinn. They hadn't come to stay with us since last October, so they were definitely due for a visit to Uncle Chad and Aunt Kim's! They arrived at about 4:00 on Friday, at which time we took them to the new memorial playground at our church, which we hadn't yet had an excuse to visit. Despite the fact that it had been raining off and on for several days, the new playground has this awesome "mulch" made of shredded tires which lets the water drain through and keeps the ground completely mud free! It's really cool, and there's a lot of fun equipment as well.

After dinner and some bedtime stories for Quinton, we spent most of the rest of the evening reading Captain Underpants comics with Miles, which are really pretty entertaining.

Then next day we ate some breakfast, played with Quinn's new Thomas the Tank Engine set of Duplos, went to a different playground, came home and played with some toys where you create your own little creatures by putting random animal body parts together, went to McDonald's to eat (yuck!) so the boys could enjoy the playland there, drew pictures, played Battleship, went outside and blew bubbles, looked at online photo albums, played more with the Thomas train, read another edition of Captain Underpants, and finally loaded up their stuff to take them back to KC. Miles was tired enough to fall asleep on the car ride home, so hopefully that means he had a good time!

When our nephews visit, we try really hard to avoid ever turning on the television, much to Miles' dismay. We feel like any time they are mesmerized by the "idiot box" is time that they're not engaged with us, which kind of defeats the purpose of them visiting in the first place! While we try really hard to make their visits enjoyable, Miles really had his heart set on playing the XBox games and DVDs he'd brought, so he wasn't too happy with our "no TV" plan. It's hard to explain to some who's not quite 5 that we wanted him to enjoy time with US and not the TV!

We took some great pictures from one of the playgrounds so that we'd have some memories of our eventful weekend!