Our latest adventure ...

This past Wednesday, we headed north of the border to Canada.

We took the ferry from Cape Vincent to Wolfe Island where we caught a second ferry that took us over to Kingston, Ontario and our destination - Fort Henry.

Fort Henry is a fortress built on the shores of Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. That part of Canada was a British colony and there was some fear that the Americans would try to attack.

The fort actually fell into serious disrepair until the 1930's when a major restoration project began and turned it into a premier historical site in our area. We thought Michael is at a great age to understand and enjoy the sights and sounds of the fort - and we were right.

During the afternoon, we toured the fort and watched several presentations.

Michael thought the funniest part of the tour was ...

... the toilets. Yes- that is one in the picture above. There were five in a row and I can tell this was the women and children's privy because there are actually seats over the boxes. The contents of these boxes flowed into a ditch underneath that was "flushed" with collected rain water once a week. We were really glad they haven't been used in many years.


There were lots of guns and canons being used by the Fort Henry Guard - which is composed mostly of college students. And since it is time to head back to college, this week was actually the last Sunset Ceremony of the year and I'm glad we didn't miss it.

After demonstrating their military precision on the parade grounds ...

... it was time to defend Old Fort Henry in a mock battle. Michael was mesmerized during the whole spectacle. And afterwards, there was a pretty awesome fireworks show. It was a great afternoon and Michael was asleep before we made it out of the parking lot. I'm glad you came along on our little adventure and until next time - please keep Michael in your thoughts and prayers.

It's that time again ...

It's hard to believe that the summer is almost over. I guess that is a sign of how much we have enjoyed it. It also means that it is time for Michael's quarterly MRI.

Jeff & Michael made the trip to Rochester yesterday for the actual test. It didn't go as smooth as it usually does. There was a different anesthesiologist and he chose to use a different anesthesia which can have a nasty side effect. And, as luck would have it, Michael experienced it. It is called Delusional Emergence and according to Jeff it is terrible to see. As Michael was coming out of the anesthesia, he starting suffering severe terror and paranoia. I also found during my research of this drug that many sufferers claim that at the time of the delusions they think they are in extreme pain and don't realize until afterwards that the pain was not real.

Jeff said one of the recovery room nurses came out to the waiting room to get him saying they needed someone strong to hold Michael down - he thought she was kidding. When he got to the recovery room, Michael was screaming at the top of his lungs and fighting the nurses. Apparently this went on for a while until Michael fell back asleep for a short time. He remembers the incident but doesn't seem traumatized by it. He told me that he was screaming really loud and that he hurt. When I asked him where he hurt, he said he didn't know. Trust me - Jeff and I will make sure they don't give our little buddy that drug again.

Today was a much better day. The three of us made the trip back to Rochester to see Dr. Korones and received very good news. It appears the tumor may have shrunk a little more. At the very least, it certainly didn't grow. Now we wait another 3 months until the next MRI. In the meantime, we are enjoying life to the fullest.

I didn't notice until tonight how long it had been since I posted. A lot has happened...

... there was Kindergarten graduation ...

... six weeks of playing t-ball ...

... and Buster has definitely kept us busy.

We've done lots of fun things like spending the day at a local water park ...

... and a week in Cape Cod.

That was the best! I promise I won't wait so long to post again and I will share some more of our summer with you in the near future. Until then - please keep Michael in your thoughts and prayers, JoAnne.