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Post Spring Break/Easter Update
By Margot | April 13, 2009
We had a very nice Easter and a great trip to Palm Springs last week.  The boys swam and swam and swam and played golf in Palm Springs. And now thanks to a round on a very short course with Luke and Ron, there is a new sports obsession in our house. Since we’ve come back from Palm Springs we hear from Sam and Andy, “Can we go golfing?” repeated over and over. We went to a course down in Old Town on Friday afternoon with Mimi and Uncle Matt who was in town and they had a great time. They even watched most of the Masters (which Neil taped) last night. It was fun to have all of the kids to entertain each other on vacation. They had a wonderful time with each other, though all together they were quite a crew (eight kids, 8 and under). As we were waiting for dinner one night, Meredith said, “Isn’t there a China shop we can run through around here?” On the drive out Sam piped up from the back seat and said, “Hey Mom and Dad, that where I threw up on our last trip to Palm Springs, ” as he pointed to a spot on the side of the road where we had to pull off on the way back from our last trip. Other families may have different types of mile markers but we have throw up mile markers. It was very crowded in Palm Springs, lots of kids in the pool, hot tub and slide. It was quite an experience to hop into the hot tub crowded with kids with Sam. Every single kid eye went to his lack of hair and they stared at him as if he had a third arm. Once I started talking to all of them and introducing them to Sam and Andy, they seemed to lighten up and most were very nice. There was one kid in line for the slide though that kept saying, “Hey bald kid!” I said, “His name is Sam.” He looked at me and said, “Yeah, well he’s bald.”  I bit my tongue with what I really wanted to answer and repeated, “His name is Sam and this is his brother Andrew.” He answered, “yeah well you should get him some hair.”  I flat out didn’t have an answer for him because I was trying to stop myself from wringing his little neck. Neil ran into him later in line and he said, “Are you his Dad? You should get him some hair.” Neil grabbed him by the arm and said, “You should get yourself some manners.” He apologized profusely after that and we didn’t have any more run ins with him. There were a couple of teenagers there that were really nice to the boys and let them play volleyball with them and talked to Sam about skateboarding, he and Andy had brought their skateboards and skated around the perimeter of the pool. We came home Thursday night and read the sad news about Erin which hit like a body blow. She was so special – one of those kids that just grabbed hold of your heart.
The boys had lot of fun with Uncle Matt, who was in town for business for a night and a day Friday and Saturday. The boys colored Easter eggs with him and it was a messy endeavor. Andy kept spilling the bowls of colors all over the place and as you can see from the picture of him pointing yesterday, we are still trying to scrub the food coloring off of his hands, elbows and other body parts. Yesterday they woke up to their Easter Egg treasure hunt which is the cutest thing. They get so excited running from clue to clue and then finally getting to their baskets. The Easter Bunny set quite a precedent for herself the year she set that up because it is expected every year now. The boys were thrilled with their bakugans and snorkeling stuff for the pool and Charlie got some new Tonka buddies.  Charlie was quiet upstairs for a while yesterday morning and Neil and I came upstairs to find him sitting on the floor methodically take the foil off of each chocolate egg and shoving it in his mouth. The carpet was littered with foil and Charlie was concentrating on his task. The boys put on their own “handsome shirts for Easter dinner. I didn’t have the heart to be ridiculous mother and tell them that the striped shirts and plaid shorts didn’t actually match too well. We had a nice Easter dinner at Colleen’s house and then the boys came home and did some more Easter Egg hunts with Mimi. Then they watched the end of the Masters and fell into bed.
Sam and Andy are at school today and Charlie had swimming lessons (apparently he regressed in Palm Springs). It’s Sam’s first day with his new glasses at school so we’ll see how it goes. He picked the most expensive Nike frames but I figured he can get whatever he wants (at least this first time) since he now has glasses, hearing aids and no hair. The frames are very stylish – the kid has taste. His VMA/HVA was basically stable last week and, ta da, he finally hit 60 pounds. He was so excited because he officially does not need a booster seat anymore. We are mapping out all sorts of treatment options.
 More soon.
MargotÂ
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Topics: Progress Reports | 9 Comments »
April 13th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Margot you are far better than me. I would have dunked that kid in the water. Glad to hear the boys had a good Easter though.
April 13th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Margot you are far better than me. I would have dunked that kid in the water. Glad to hear the boys had a good Easter though.
Forgot to write great post! Looking forward to seeing the next one!
April 13th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Margot,
It amazes me you were able to hold your tongue…once we were in Disney and had a pass for Nate who at the time had hair but could barely walk without pain. We got on Splash Mountain through the exit and a lady says very loudly. “I wonder how we can get one of those?” Shelby promptly looks at her and yells “you just have to have a kid with cancer dummy!!” Needless to say I smiled nodded and gave my daughter the biggest hug. People just don’t know.
So happy to hear you had a great Easter and that your vacation was good. I’m sure Sam looks great in his new glasses…how could he not 🙂 As always praying here in Washington.
With Hope
Abra
April 14th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I wouldnt have wanted to be that little boy with Neil! Was there actual steam coming out of Neil’s ears?
Lets see a picture of the new glasses. Glasses are smooth and handsome! 🙂
April 14th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
You must have taken a lesson from Gandhi with your patience and ability to hold your tongue and anger. I don’t think I could have done it!
Love the photos and all the smiles. Charlie looks so much older with his haircut! Such a little man!
April 14th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
OMG! You guys are saints! I can’t believe the nerve of that kid. I think I would have had to cannon ball that brat into the pool.
I am so happy that you had a wonderful spring break. I love all of the new pictures.
Love,
Mrs. Heather
April 17th, 2009 at 5:51 am
I am so glad that Neil told him to get some manners. That was the perfect thing to say. That rude behavior gets taught to kids by how the parents act. Bald is beautiful. Sam is beautiful.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Margot and Neil, I would like to help with the summer fundraiser- when are you thinking about doing one? I know Max is doing one in August- so maybe July? I would like to help organize it. Email me. Angela (Madison’s Mom)
April 24th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Wow, do kids really say stuff like, in front of and TO adults?? Was this kid’s parents around?
Seriously, if my kid EVER said something cruel like that, I would want to know so I could tear him a new one. That kind of behavior needs to be nipped fast, and I can assure you my kid would be very, very, very sorry.