August 26, 2009 started like the previous day with breakfast in bed! (I could get used to that!) Lauren went to camp and Dave and I started getting everything ready for a trip to the beach. We googled Cape Cod beaches and Nauset Beach came up as family-friendly with bathrooms (very important!), lifeguards, rental umbrellas and chairs, concession stands, etc.

We picked up Lauren from camp, ate a quick Subway lunch and drove to Nauset Beach. It was a lovely day and perfect beach weather. Really perfect.

Dave and Lauren built a sandcastle, Lauren collected seashells and played in the waves, and Carmen took a nice nap. I walked along the water with Lauren but my feet were freezing! Having grown up in Texas, I have only experienced warm Gulf of Mexico waters. This was NOT warm! Lauren, of course, had no problem jumping right into the ice-cold water. I kept trying to get her to walk along the sand instead. Finally, she said, “I am going to get daddy. Every time a wave comes, you yell ‘Run’!”

We stayed at the beach for the afternoon and really could have stayed for hours more but the sun was setting and it was time for dinner and bed.

Looking back, this was our favorite Make-A-Wish trip day. Carmen was so very comfortable. And she got to experience the ocean.

Asleep on the beach

Awake and listening to the sounds of the ocean

Me, hanging out on the beach

A few interesting pictures by Dave

Carmen update: Carmen woke up with another fever. Yesterday I took her to her pediatrician and he suggested we wait on another antibiotic since the last one irritated her stomach. Hopefully she will get through this quickly!

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August 25, 2009 started with room service. Lauren was so excited to eat breakfast in bed! She got a bagel with cream cheese, Dave got French toast and I got an omelet with tomatoes and cheese. After breakfast we picked up Carmen from Connie’s room across the hall and Dave took Lauren to Ocean EdgeVenture at 9:00, the resort’s day camp for kids.

Dave and I then had the morning to explore the grounds and relax. Ocean Edge Resort is a lovely property but we mistakenly thought we were staying on the beach. The resort does have a private swamp beach on the bay side of the cape but we soon realized we would be driving to a real beach with sand and waves!

The weather was perfect, mid-70s, and Carmen seemed to enjoy being outside. We don’t take her outside much so we were very happy to have perfect weather (and that perfect weather continued for the rest of the week!).

Here is a picture of Carmen enjoying the nice weather at Ocean Edge.

We picked up Lauren from camp at 1:30. She was so excited to tell us about her day: swimming, the playground, more swimming, arts and crafts, lunch, a new friend who gave her a bracelet, etc.

We stopped at Subway for sandwiches and then headed to Chatham, MA for the afternoon. Chatham is one of those cute little towns with lots of shops and touristy places. We walked around for awhile and got ice cream and some Cape Cod peppermint salt water taffy. I am normally a total chocolate kind of girl but I got strawberry ice cream and it was wonderful! (Strange pregnancy hormones!). Lauren got her usual, cookies ‘n cream, and Dave got chocolate peanut butter.

Here is a picture of Lauren and me, eating ice cream.

And here is a picture of the salt water taffy bins. The peppermint taffy was wonderful!

After ice cream, we stopped to rest. A bench would have sufficed but rocking chairs were even better!

On our way back to Ocean Edge, we passed Chatham Beach and decided to stop. Carmen was asleep so I stayed in the car while Dave took Lauren down to the water for a little while.

Dave got some great pictures! (The Canon 24-70 is a fabulous lens and we LOVED having it for our trip! Thanks again to Lens Rentals! Thanks to Stephanie who paid for the shipping! )

For dinner, we stopped at clam shack called Cobie’s. We didn’t get clams but enjoyed hamburgers and chicken nuggets.

We returned Carmen to Connie and then we all went to bed!

Carmen update: Carmen is doing better. She had low-grade fevers off and on for over a week. We had to stop giving her Cipro (an antibiotic) half way through the course because she had blood in her feeding tube. Carmen has chronic gastrointestinal problems and her pediatrician thinks the antibiotics pushed her over the edge. These gastrointestinal problems may end up being very significant if Carmen cannot tolerate antibiotics in the future. Carmen is allergic to many of the first-line antibiotics so she is already at a disadvantage in fighting her recurrent aspiration pneumonias. She is still coughing some but her breathing is back to normal and she hasn’t had a fever in a few days. Thank you for your prayers.

Please also keep my dad and my brother, Kevin, in your prayers. My dad has been in the hospital for awhile and we are praying that his doctors know how best to treat him. My brother Kevin totaled his car this past Saturday. He is OK but very shaken up.

For the next few days, we are going to post about Carmen’s Make-A-Wish trip to Cape Cod. We had a wonderful time and think the trip was perfect for Carmen.

A few days before we left for Carmen’s trip, the Make-A-Wish representatives came over to deliver our itinerary. They also brought cake, cookies, drinks and roses! Big thanks to Heather and Leonard who did a super job through this whole process!

Here is a picture of Dave, me, Carmen, Heather and Leonard