I don’t think I ever shared the minivan story.

We were out and about on Cape Cod– I think shopping– and I had to go to the bathroom. Dave dropped me off at some store (can’t remember what store) and stayed in the minivan with the girls. I ran in, ran out and hopped right into the minivan.

Except it wasn’t our minivan.

And the man in the driver’s seat was quite surprised.

He looked shocked, I must have looked shocked, and I said, “Oh hi! This is not my car!” and jumped right back out.

The man laughed. But not as hard as Dave who watched the whole thing. Our minivan was facing Mr. Surprised’s minivan.

The moral of the story is: 1) Toyotas are everywhere. 2) Our next car is going to be hot pink, not beige.

NY Grandma, this is confirmation that red was a great color choice for your new car!

For full disclosure, this picture was taken in the spring after the van had been washed. Our grass is not this green right now and our van has far more dirt character.

We woke bright and early on August 29, 2009 and finished packing up. We all went to pick up Carmen and to say goodbye to Connie. Thank you so, so much Connie! You made our trip so much easier. We were able to get sleep at night and enjoy our days.

Here is a picture of Connie, Carmen and Lauren

Dave snapped this picture a few minutes later. I love it.

The weather had been absolutely perfect all week (a little drizzly the day before but nothing bad). We started home on the right day: it rained from Cape Cod to Maryland! Despite the rain, we made it home in about 10 hours.

Thank you Make-A-Wish for Carmen’s wonderful trip. Thank you for giving Carmen the chance to feel the ocean breeze and to be outside. Thank you for giving us a time of relaxation and reconnecting as a family. Thank you for all that you do.

So, instead of Martha’s Vineyard, we decided to visit the Cape Cod Children’s Museum in Mashpee, MA. The museum is located in what looks like an old church: stained glass windows, balcony, vaulted ceiling, etc. The museum is small but a lot of fun.

Dave and Lauren had fun working on puzzles.

The museum had lots of pretend play areas: a music room, mail room, puppet show area, submarine and pizza parlor (Lauren’s favorite). Lauren loved waiting on our table and cooking our food. If we ever have a house with a play area, I would love to build something similar to the pizza parlor. It was so cute!

After an afternoon at the Children’s Museum, we went to Falmouth to drive along the shore and look at the water one last time. We stopped briefly at a local beach to take a few more pictures. It was drizzly and windy so Carmen and I stayed in the car while Dave and Lauren ran around.

On the way home, we stopped at JT’s again. This time we got calamari! We split the grilled salmon dinner again- yummy!

We spent the rest of the evening packing up for the next day and our long drive home.

For lunch, we drove to the next town over, Orleans, and ate at The Lobster Claw. The restaurant is decorated with shells and fishing nets covering the ceiling. Lauren looked up and said, “Ack! Spider webs!” (She keeps us entertained, that is for sure!) We tried to order calamari but they were out so Dave ate a club sandwich, I ate a grilled chicken sandwich and Lauren had mac and cheese. She said it was the best mac and cheese ever. (It was Kraft!)

Here is a picture of The Lobster Claw.

After lunch, we decided to do a little shopping. We had talked about buying souvenirs and Lauren was sure that the best souvenir would be a new Webkinz. If you aren’t familiar with Webkinz, they are stuffed animals that “come alive” online in Webkinz World. They come with a password and, after registering, kids get to feed them, create rooms for them, put them to bed, play games, etc. We drove around looking for a store that sells Webkinz. After visiting a few toy stores, we realized that finding Webkinz might not be as easy as we thought. I picked up a Kids on Cape Cod magazine and flipped through it. Lo and behold there was a whole page titled “Where to find Webkinz on Cape Cod”. Yes, they are that popular! There happened to be a Snow’s Home and Garden store near us that advertised Webkinz. And they had a section of 50% off Webkinz. Lauren chose a gray Kitty that she named Cutie and a Hummingbird that she named Hummus. Cutie and Hummus join Susan the Swan (a birthday present to Carmen from her night nurse, Salem) and Silky the Dog (Lauren’s from NY Grandma).

We drove back to Ocean Edge and took pictures on the front lawn.

The day flew by and soon it was time for dinner. We decided to try another take-out restaurant near Ocean Edge. We ordered from JT’s Seafood and it was so, so yummy! Dave and I split grilled salmon with a baked potato and sauteed yellow squash and zucchini. Lauren had chicken nuggets and fruit that we bought at the local tiny grocery store.

We took Carmen to Connie and went to bed early!

]]> http://www.beautifulcanvas.org/2009/09/make-a-wish-trip-day-4/feed/ 6 http://www.beautifulcanvas.org/2009/09/make-a-wish-trip-day-3/ http://www.beautifulcanvas.org/2009/09/make-a-wish-trip-day-3/#comments Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:09:10 +0000 Lana http://www.beautifulcanvas.org/?p=5084 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

***

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!

]]> http://www.beautifulcanvas.org/2009/09/make-a-wish-trip-day-2/feed/ 3 http://www.beautifulcanvas.org/2009/09/make-a-wish-trip-day-1/ http://www.beautifulcanvas.org/2009/09/make-a-wish-trip-day-1/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:54:45 +0000 Lana http://www.beautifulcanvas.org/?p=5026 Prayer request: Betty Short, one of the Beautiful Canvas community “members”, emailed us and asked for prayer for her son-in-law’s brother and his wife. They are expecting a new baby (will be born tomorrow!) and the baby has a cleft palette. The family is praying for total development, complete healing of any deformities or troubles, and sound body, soul and mind. Please keep this family in your prayers!

***

Monday, August 24, 2009 we got up early and packed our minivan. Since we were already in upstate New York at the NY Grandparents’ house, we had about 6 hours to drive to Cape Cod. Carmen had been sick with pneumonia for 4 days but seemed to be doing better. So, off we went!

We really should have taken a picture of the minivan! According to Lauren, it was packed to the tippy-top. I think we had about 10 bags of just Carmen’s stuff. Medicines, medical supplies, chux pads, diapers, formula, feeding pump, nebulizer equipment, oxygen tanks, the Vest, suction machine, a bath chair, pediatric stroller, etc. I told Dave that I think we need to buy an RV to transport Carmen’s stuff around. (Several of the families with children with Tay Sachs travel in RVs and I think that is such a good idea!)

We decided to stop near Boston and visit Uncle Steve, Aunt Sarah and Nathan. They live in an adorable log cabin that really made us want to get out of planned communities and find a house with character. It was a short visit but was really fun.

After a long day, we arrived at Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club in Brewster, MA. Connie, Carmen’s night nurse, was waiting at the hotel for us. Make-A-Wish flew her to Providence, RI and then provided a stretch limo for her two hour car ride! We were very happy to see Connie as we were very sleep-deprived from taking care of Carmen at night, especially since she had been so sick.

We went to bed early as we wanted to be well-rested for our week of adventures!

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

I’m sorry I can’t give more details now but will tell you how it goes after the interview!

Have a great day!