My good friend and I took our children to the Bay Area Discovery Museum today. We've been taking our kids there for years and it still captivates their imagination. Plus, it was free admission day!

I snapped a few photos on our walk to the train tracks this morning.

Last night the kids and I attended the Carousel Fund's casino night.
http://www.carouselfund.org/about.html

The all-volunteer Carousel Fund holds its fundraising event annually for families in the Petaluma community battling to keep their children alive. They have made a huge difference in our lives and were critical support during the years Isabel was recieving chemotherapy treatment.

We didn't stay very long, just enough to say a few hellos. I wanted to bring my lovely, pink cheeked daughter to put a face on the kinds of children the fund helps.

The kids really liked the chocolate fountain and dipped everything they could in, pretzels, strawberries, marshmellows and mini rice crispie treats.

They had some very interesting items in the silent auction!

It was a nice time and showed me again what a caring community we live in.

We took an afternoon walk on the Golden Gate Bridge today.

It was easy to appreciate the size and height of it, once we started walking. I thought it was pretty scary to be 220 feet above the water.

We didn't walk all the way across it but rather meandered back about halfway there.

We stopped to eat our lunch and then headed across the way to the Marin Headlands.

Isabel collected a water sample for her second grade project.

It was a very sweet afternoon spent together and best of it, it was free!

We had a marvelous time at our good friends' incredible tenth anniversary party. The decorations were breath taking, the company was ideal and the entire night was filled with laughter.

Photo by Michelle Feileacan

Photo by Michelle Feileacan

Photo by Michelle Feileacan

Photo by Jean Robison

Isabel and Gabriel were thrilled to join us. The hosts had thought of everything. There was a jumpy house for the kids, two babysitters on hand, and an after dinner movie complete with a popcorn machine and custom popcorn topping table!

Alan and I were feeling the love.

Happy 10th Anniversary to Michelle and Nathan! We're blessed to be friends with such awe-inspiring people! Cheers!

A charming party on a picturesque night.

Last night Isabel had a fever. I was instantly terrified it was relapse, a sign that the leukemia was back. I couldn't sleep and couldn't reign in those poisonous thoughts. What if it were back in her bone marrow? In her central nervous system? I wanted other symptoms. I wanted a runny nose, something that has a clear indication that it was an illness that she would recover from. I'm forever traumatized by that high fever of hers that wouldn't go away and wouldn't go down 3 years ago. That fever was a telltale symptom of her leukemia.

It was the very first time since the winter of 2006 that we didn't have to take her in to the hospital or call the doctor with news of her fever. There would be nothing for them to do. She's off all chemotherapy and all medicines. She no longer has an internal chest port. Her counts two weeks ago were fine.

It all came down to me worrying and waiting, worrying and not sleeping. The entire night spent in concentrated worry. I finally fell asleep around 5:30 in the morning. That was rough. My emotions were out of control. I was just not used to dealing with a normal kid illness. One that doesn't require a middle of the night trip to the emergency room, or a call to the oncologist. I also knew that a fever could be a very real indication of a relapse. But it wasn't. It wasn't a relapse, it was a normal kid fever that slowly went away and was gone completely by the next night. Another off treatment milestone! Phew! I just hope the next fever is a little easier to cope with emotionally!
I was so thankful the children's elementary school agreed to notify me of any illnesses reported in the school, not just in Isabel's classroom. I knew there had been high fevers reported at her school last week. Just that tiny bit of information kept my hope and faith from crumbling during those panicky few hours in the middle of the night while I hovered over her, feeling her hot body, kissing her flushed cheeks.

I'm so thankful to have weathered that fever and come out the other side. Beyond thankful.

Isabel had class outside today!

Isabel's second/third grade class learned about the Coast Miwok village in Point Reyes. http://www.nps.gov/pore/historyculture/people_coastmiwok.htm

They explored the San Andreas Fault Zone on the Earthquake Trail.


It was a neat to give the kids a taste of how the Coast Miwok people lived. Isabel especially enjoyed learning about the kotcas and the sweatlodge.