cousins!

"My cousins are coming today!" said Cameron first thing this morning. He's very excited because Auntie Donna is coming to visit with his cousins George and Michael. We have a fun weekend planned and Cameron thinks it is great that George and Michael will sleep in the room next to his room. Let the Elliott madness begin!

Counting our blessings

Last week I found out that a work colleague's 6 year old son Mattie, who both Cameron and Jamie were playing with just a couple of weeks ago, has been diagnosed with a cancerous bone tumor. The clinical diagnosis is osteosarcoma which apparently is very rare for a six year old. Mattie will have to have an aggressive course of chemotherapy over a period of 12 months as well as the surgical removal of the bone occupied by the tumor. Assuming the cancer has not spread then the prognosis is good but clearly the next few months are going to be challenging for Mattie and his parents Peter and Vicki.

Since hearing of this news I cannot help look at Cameron and Jamie and count our blessings. We have no idea what is around the next corner but today they are healthy and happy. And we love them more than it is possible to imagine and know that Mattie's story could so easily be Cameron's or Jamie's.

I ask that you all give a thought for Mattie, Peter and Vickie as in the absence of anything else I have to believe postive thoughts count. I have added their blog to ours (Mattie's blog) for anyone interested and we will continue to keep them in our thoughts.

sleep...

This is one for the record books - Cameron slept until 8.25am this morning when Jamie and I went in to wake him up! As many of you will know, Cameron and Jamie are normally 6am-ish wakers so this morning's long lie was amazing. Jamie didn't get up until 7.30am too. Cameron slept so long that I actually went in to check on him and yes...he was snoring... so I just left him to sleep. He's not taking naps every day and if he doesn't nap during the day it really catches up with him. My little boy is really growing up.

fountain fun

Look what Grant discovered in Reston Town Center! A new fountain that the kids can play in (not really allowed but who's going to stop them having all that fun!?) We went for a bike ride this morning and this was a great way to cool off afterwards. Here is Cameron about to sit on one part of the fountain.

And this is Jamie taking a rest from all the splashing.

And look! a photo of Miranda with the boys..who are all wet and tired after splashing in the fountain.

little fishes

Yesterday was so hot we went to the pool in the afternoon. Look at Cameron swim! He loves diving into the water to get diving sticks.

And Jamie is a little fish too. His favourite pool trick is jumping into the water from the side. He's also working on his diving skills. Our little fishes.

happy campers

In a moment of madness we bought a tent and Grant promised to take Cameron camping. The first test was to see if Cameron would actually sleep in the tent. So last night, after lots of excitement over torches and sleeping bags, Grant and Cameron went camping in our back garden. They had a great time! Cameron slept really well but Grant says that Cameron was snoring and kept him awake! The good news is that Cameron loves camping and I know his Uncle John in Canada will be happy about that - next year he wants to take us camping in the wilds of BC.

meadowlark

I probably blog about Meadowlark Botanical Gardens more than any other place. Grant calls it my "go-to" place when I don't have other plans with the boys. It is a beautiful garden and we always have adventures when we are there. Yesterday we had a great walk. We were chasing chipmunks and running from monsters. We also saw the huge turtles and catfish in the pond.

blonde hair

At least once a week, when I'm out with the boys, someone asks me "is their daddy blonde?" With the implication that it couldn't possibly have been me! Mostly I tell them, yes - Brad Pitt is a blonde. However, just for fun here is a photo of me and my brother, John, when we were in nursery school. This morning I've been showing Cameron photos of me when I was little and he said "where is Jamie in this picture?"...I don't think he quite gets it yet!

my superheroes

Anyone need to be rescued? Spiderman and Superman are at the ready!

garden surprises

We've had such a hot summer so far with lots of thunderstorms and heavy rain. It's been great for our garden. Grant and I are always struggling to keep our rather large garden looking tidy. We were both surprised with these beautiful lillies. They are my favourite flowers and because it was so dry outside I cut them and brought them into the house. I love the way these flowers smell. They remind me of Hong Kong because they were so popular there and I often had them in my apartment.