Made it to MD

Nice to be greeted by several generations in Maryland where we will leave the girls for several days of spoiling by their Grandmother, Great Grandmother, and Great Aunt and Uncle. They're going to have a ball

Pit stop no3

Another Stop on Skyline Drive during a short cloud burst

Dancing in the rain

Ice cream sundaes

Pit stop No2

Shenandoah National Park

Lots of overlooks
Macsen wanted to run on this rock wall, back and forth

Started the trail in the backpack

Mid hike rest

Hiking part of the Appalachian trail - our little warrior wanted
to do it himself! 

Pit stop No1

Ruby Falls was so much fun. The girls absolutely loved the whole experience - the long elevator drop to the cavern, our sweet guide named Jarod that they filled in on every thought that ran through through their minds over the course of our 2.5 hrs, the formations, the other people in our group. Macsen was mostly tolerant though the constant stopping to hug the wall so returning tour groups could squeeze past on the tiny path got tiresome for him. He just wanted to run ahead, go up and down the stairs and the ramps and especially jump in the pool of water under the falls - all no no's unfortunately. It was a good way to recharge for then next leg of our road trip.

On our way - but

We are on our way to Pa for Macsens heart cath. We had to leave our cat and dog with some very sweet friends who offered to watch them for us. Our cat totally freaked so they had to bring her back to our house - they will check on her a few times per day but figure she's better off at home. Our dog, Bailey, who is 12 was fine for a few hours (he's been aging more rapidly the past several months) but he stopped being able to stand and they couldn't get him up. They brought him to the vet this morning and he has very extensive arthritis. He has lost bowel function and they are having to pick him up with a sling, syringe water into his mouth. Vet gave him steroids and said he wouldnt recommend putting him down just yet. We are so torn. To go through this with your own pet is one thing - putting someone else in the position where they have to take care of your incontinent/possibly dying dog is something else. Just can't believe this timing. Yesterday he was still running, pooping in the neighbors yard and pretending he couldn't hear us when we yelled "GET over here!" A big part of me feels we need to turn around and go home to figure out what we need to do with him. But that would mean canceling the cath, and having to try to reschedule everything. 

Here we go

We are headed back to Philly in a few weeks for another heart cath and MRI - about 6 months from his last ones. His PA cardiologist won't set a surgery date bc she isn't sure he is eligible for the surgery. Although his local cardiologist felt his heart function had improved based on his March echo his PA card said his function looked unchanged to her. Not good. Also found out if he is eligible we won't be able to have a June/July surgery bc his surgeon is booked until August. So we have no plan besides the scheduled cry/MRI and that drives me nuts. It seems like it would be easier to set a date we can plan towards and cancel it if his function isn't good enough vs scrambling to get a date when our surgeon is booking months in advance. But what do I know - I'm just a mom. 

We plan to take our time driving up - actually stop at a few of the cool places we drive by every other time we go up north  - ruby falls, look out mountain, luray caverns. We plan on living this summer - focusing on making great memories for the kids with lots of swimming. Macsens favorite thing to do.

He LOVES water - gets mad when I only let him take 2 baths a day. If he has his surgery at the beginning of the summer that would mean no swimming for the rest of the summer to keep his incision dry. 

He has grown 1/2 an inch! His legs have been hurting him at night so I measured him. His legs actually look longer.