Maine was AWESOME!!!!!!!

On this trip I crossed three items off my Bucket List...
1.  Vacation in Maine
2.  Visit and play in Niagara Falls
3.  Eat at the Hard Rock Cafe (I'm a huge music buff)
Now I have to make a new list!  Here's some of the best memories of the trip...

                                                              Niagara Falls @ night

                                     The Falls during the day from the Maid of the Mist boat ride

                          Me and the Hubby IN the Falls @ Cave of the Winds on the Hurricane Deck

And Jenni, my sis in law, the reason for the trip!  She is part of Project Puffin (help save the puffins!) and does puffin tours with Hardy Boat Cruises.  We took her tour out of New Harbor, Me to see the puffins and my hubby got to drive the boat...

                                                 Me, the Hubby, Captian Russ and Jenni

                                   

                                                 All of us @ Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

                                                 This is my favorite pic from the whole trip!

The trip ended on a great note but unfortunately reality was waiting to slap me upside the head when I got home.  My youngest son who is 10yrs old had been having ankle pain and swelling before we left for the trip, so we had to wait to see the doc when we got home.  After looking at x-rays the doc sent us to an orthopedic specialist in Madison at the children's hospital.  They ran tests and did an MRI and sent us home to await results.  They called to tell us he has a benign bone tumor and a stress fracture due to the bone weakening from the tumor.  We now have to see another ortho specialist to figure out how to remove the tumor and strengthen the bone and not destroy the growth plate.  He is now in a removable "boot" to stabilize the bone and can't do much but watch tv and play video games which is very hard for him.  He's very active and is the dare devil in the family (always the first to jump out off the tree, off the roof ect...)  Any ideas to keep him busy?  Being a boy he's not much into crafts or coloring and is very grouchy since he can't burn off all the extra energy!

On the upside, I finished a quilt and have two more I will be working on.  One is to donate to help raise money for a family in our town.  Jody is a mom of two and is battling stage 4 brain cancer and she also fought with breast cancer a few years back.   On September 15 there will be a benefit and a silent auction and hopefully the quilt I donate will bring in a lot of money to help Jody and the family!