Go Take a Hike!

Caleb is beyond ready for his cancer to TAKE A HIKE.  He’s agitated and frustrated and just wants to be a kid again.  It’s almost like he knows he’s in the home stretch. After 9 months of treatment, it’s like being in the 9^th inning… bases are loaded… but he just can’t get to home base.  

He’s ready to go into public NOW.  He wants to be able to ride his bike more without having to stop to rest along the way. 

The great thing about Cal though - he's all smiles when he is on that bicycle.  So funny in his little military bike helmet, topped with artillery.  ha ha.

Caleb is ready to go into the wilderness & enjoy a real hike, that doesn’t include riding on his Mom’s back most of the way.  "You’re getting close, little man, just hold on a little longer", we encourage him.  It seems tougher now that his big brother is out of school, & he sees every day how much energy he's "supposed to have".  He's doing relatively well though, just suffering from a case of cabin fever and “tired legs”.  We’re really working those little muscles and trying to help build his strength back up.

That means fun visits and hiking in area parks, to work on his endurance.  Since his cancer can't take a hike just yet, we're enjoying the great outdoors this summer & enjoying what hiking we can. 

 The boys love Armand Bayou Nature Center in Pasadena.  Fun baby alligators, raccoons, squirrels, & exotic birds to look for!  We even got feet away from a deer, a rare find on a hot summer afternoon.

We also enjoyed a family hike this week at Brazos Bend State Park.  It's breathtaking to watch the sunset & witness hundreds of fireflies lighting up the sky.  Caleb wants to catch them all and keep them forever.  (If only it was that easy.)

 We have done our very best to keep electronics at bay this summer.  

That means a lot more reading and fun games.

Caleb enjoyed Father’s Day with his sweet Daddy

The boys also got to see their Granddad, "Daddy Don".

  They’ll get to see their other grandparents next weekend and are excited about that! It will be good for family to see the great surprise that Caleb’s hair is finally starting to grow back.  

Look at that sweet peach fuzz.  He’s wearing his hat less these days.  It’s so very soft, like velvet.

I adore kissing the top of that little head.  We’re happy his hair is coming back now, so that it will have time to get thicker before school starts.  He’s incredibly self-conscious about it.  It may come and go over the next three years of chemo, but we’re celebrating this milestone, for sure.  It will just add another element of normalcy for him.  Thanks for your continued prayers.  We have one more week to decide which road to lead Caleb down for his next three years of treatment.   We feel confident in our decision at this point. 

Just a quick note of “housekeeping”.  Google changed their blogs a few months ago, and we have never been able to recover the mode of it sending e-mail updates to everyone.  This is a huge inconvenience that no one can seem to figure out on this particular blog.  All of the settings are in place to send out e-mails, informing you that we’ve updated the blog, but they’re not going out to anyone.  If you have an idea about how to fix this, we sure would appreciate it.  When Caleb’s next phase of chemo starts, there probably won’t be as many updates, so it will be super convenient for this option to be available.  THANK YOU & God bless.