Not Really What We Wanted to Hear

BUT, not completely awful either.

Jenica got the "looks good" and "see you in six months" from her cardiologist. Then, it was on to Hematology. (I have to say, my trooper did fabulously this time around with the blood draw, the scariest part of the whole day). We meet with the head of Hematology and she explained that she believes Jenica may have what is known as von Willebrand disease, a blood disorder.

I've done some more research and found this site to be the most straightforward:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/vWD/vWD_WhatIs.html

The up-side is that there is no treatment needed, just being cautious with her (always wear that helmet!!) and she will need to wear a special medical ID bracelet. The down-side is that this just seems to be one more thing. Argh!

We will know more in a few days, when more tests come back. And really, I hope that's IT for tests on my big girl for quite a while...

More Milestones and Doctors Visits

She's got it! What a great birthday present for her mom -- seeing Jenica ride her bike without training wheels for the first time ever. Very neat indeed. She's so thrilled and proud -- I think that's what makes it so special. Funny, learning how to ride a bike is such a huge milestone in my mind. I remember it so clearly, maybe because it is one of my few memories of times my dad was around. He was actually the one to teach me. Such a great memory.

Then, today, Jenica conquered her fear of shots and sat for four of them, after chatting very amicably with her doctor. All good on the standard health and development charts. Now, tomorrow we face down Children's Hospital again, for a check in with BOTH cardiology AND Hematology. Oh Lord.

Honestly, I am ready for "normal, everyday" worries at this point. :)
Wish us luck!

Baker Lake Beauty

Seems like we've gotten out so much more this summer -- it's really amazing what a year will do in terms of what the kids (and I) can take.

We spent two nights and three gorgeous days here at Baker Lake.

Our trip, however, did not have an auspicious start: it began with our car much like you see below:

We were all packed and ready to hit the road when my car battery died. Oh, sure! Nothing like a another $100 expense where we really didn't need one, but hey. We were not going to be deterred. However, the new battery was apparently not all that happy.

Car died again at the campground, but with a jump and a drive home, seems to be fine now.

Good thing we had so much to eat and do!

Here's our first "other" expense. We arrived at our designated camping spot at Panorama Point only to be totally SWARMED by mosquitoes. Not sure what was up --seems very late in the year for them to be so aggressive. We were running around like idiots, and there was a fine whine rising from the girls (and the dog), when we decided to see what other options we had. Kim used some persuasion tactics ("hey, it's almost my birthday!) to convince Stefan that a cabin might be a good option. It was. :)

Jenica oversaw and helped with the building of the fire.

The views -- just amazing.

Jenica decided to take a few photos. This is really the best of the bunch. (Figured you all had seen enough of the tops of trees from the ground up).

There is a little beach area at this "resort" -- we spent a fair amount of time there, especially to catch the wonderful sunsets. I think Kerry was dancing here -- what better way to enjoy the beach?

Another perk of staying here: you can rent boats! We took a fabulous two hour tour of the lake and only saw a smidgen of what it has to offer. You'll notice -- the lake is empty. In the two hours we were out there, we only saw three other boats (and two kayaks). Perfect! (and another bonus to being able to go camping in the middle of the week, probably. Not sure what it looks like on a Saturday...)

Oh, so this is why it's called Baker Lake! ;) You have to get out in the lake and look back to see this beautiful view.

This really has been the summer of cabins and boats. Can't go wrong.

Except that boat rides (the sound of the motor?) put Kerry May to sleep. Oh well.

More wading for Stefan. Kim actually swam. Thank you, no there are no pictures.

Time for the marshmallow roast. It always seems like a good idea in theory, but as you can probably tell, the notion and the taste don't match up.

Kerry just rubbed hers on her face. Marshmallows are soft and perfect for that, so I am told.

Some fog and haze this morning, but it burned off. Made for some Irish-like scenery.

Bye bye Baker Lake. We'll be back for sure!

Sproat Lake: Simply Spectacular

A magical place indeed -- an island in the middle of Sproat Lake BC. The girls and I were lucky enough to spend two whole weeks here, "roughing it" with good friends. Stefan visited us too, on the weekends. Pure fun -- relaxing, playing, and reading. And PLENTY of heat. It got to 104 on one day at least. We were so lucky to have the lake.

I had the nearly impossible task of deciding which pictures to include to "tell the story" -- I apologize if it's too much, but there was so much! :)

Here's the long and the short of it:

Headed out! Gorgeous day. HUGE ferry. Loads of wind!

We arrived late Saturday night (there's a long story here which is sort of amusing), so we waited to unpack until Sunday AM. Here's Liam, digging into the sand toys Sunday.

First cabin pose! We're here!

First sunset. Wow. That's Mount Arrowsmith in the background.

Get your swimsuit on!

Night time is story time.

Day time is craft time.

And time for boat rides!

And trips into town for provisions.

Back to cabin for a swim, of course (it felt good to cool off).

I think Kerry lived in this suit the whole time we were there. My "California Girl" was happy with the "less clothes" atmosphere.

Here's the hike UP to the cabin. Can you believe we hauled ALL our stuff up this?

The cabin was not happy that I took it's picture with a towel in the window, but hey - I was too busy relaxing to get another shot later....

View from the patio.

More fun in the beautiful lake. Both Jenica and Roisin each really pushed themselves in the swimming department. I was impressed as Jenica told me point blank before we left that she was NOT going swimming. That lasted about five minutes after we arrived.

Cecile brought her kayak. Now that was a great idea.

View of island from kayak.

Our breakfast bunch.

One of the best things about staying in a cabin that has no electricity, and not a ton of space, is how creative the kids become with ordinary things. Here they are playing in their cave. Cute cute cute.

Liam's Thomas the Train bed provided tons of laughs too.

Not very many books to read but the ones we had the kids poured over, again and again.

Gypsy, our third "child", joined us on the weekends for some beach time.

How many times did we take this thing out? Stefan was out there any time he could sneak away.

More story time!

Did we have a great, awesome, fun fun fun time? You bet. Here we are, headed home, waiting for the ferry.

Bye bye Sproat Lake! Thank you for some great memories.