I don't think you have to be near death to have your life flash before your eyes...it seems to be happening to me all the time now as normal!!

We are at the end of another October holidays, two weeks off school in the middle of October that I usually dread. This time, though, we had a blast and once again I'll be a little sad tomorrow when life goes back to normal and the boys go back to school.

The first week we went to Rachel House, a respite centre for families down in lovely Kinross. I took the kids myself so that Daddy could have some quiet time up here to concentrate on work. It was a lovely three days that we spent playing, eating, walking and meeting new friends. Here is one new friend that Caleb and Agnes met the first morning:

Yes, that IS a snake!! 

The second day the clown doctors came to visit, and spent about 20 minutes with each child singing to them and doing clown-y things. They were amazing, with red noses just like Mr Tumble as Caleb pointed out!

The clown doctors singing for Adam 

When we came back it was starting to get cold, so we pulled out the robes to try on. All three love their little warm robes, and they looked so cute too that I took this picture:

Then we introduced Agnes to lollipops, which she thoroughly appreciates, as you can tell!

This last week Adam spent two really good nights at Archway, a respite place here in Aberdeen. He enjoyed his time with his friends, and I took Caleb and Agnes to the cinema with some friends to see Madagascar 3. It was great, and so nice not to have to run out of the movie every 5 minutes chasing someone!!

When Adam came home we practiced for Halloween by trying on some old costumes. He liked this one best:

Then the last Friday of the holidays we actually had a little blizzard!! The snow fell all afternoon, and was just enough for a very dirty snowman that Caleb is making here:

It was also enough to freeze my clothes on the line! It had been blue sky and sunshine just an hour before, that's why I hung them out. Silly me!!

Well, that's a good two weeks. Now off to school, but more adventures await, of that I'm sure.

Kings and Queens for two days

Well, we officially had the whirlwind weekend of a lifetime!!

On Saturday the community centre behind our old flat where I worked for a few years had its 70th anniversary celebration, which included a visit from HRH the Earl of Wessex, otherwise known as Prince Edward (Prince Charles' little brother!) It was a rare treat to meet a member of the royal family and see the community where we spent so many good years brought together in celebration and joy.

Prince Edward, second from the right

But the real treat of the weekend was our trip to London to meet Mr Tumble! The Make-A-Wish foundation organised the whole thing for Adam, and it was as magical as they had promised it would be.

It started Sunday morning at 07:30 when we got into the taxi to go to the airport. The flight went really well, and the crew even gave Adam a little bear toy and a bag of sweets to share with his brother and sister. The sweets came in handy getting Agnes to sit still for a minute at a time! We landed in London and got into a car that took us to our hotel--the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel! It was amazing, beautiful and so posh--and what's more, they mixed up the rooms and gave our room to someone else, so then they put us in the Westminster Suite on the top floor!! We had so much space to spread out and so many TV's to enjoy watching! :)

Our free time was spent searching for food, wandering along the Thames, playing on playgrounds, riding in the London Eye, and taking pictures. Here are a couple from the first day:

 Adam on the "Big Wheel", aka the London Eye

 Adam and Agnes enjoying "Statue Man"

The family in front of the Houses of Parliament

Monday morning was an excited blur, eating a quick breakfast and then waiting for Adam's "special car" to arrive. When it did, it was the longest, most beautiful Chrysler stretch limousine I had ever seen (and the only one too)!!

Caleb was super excited too!!

So off we went in the limo, first through London and then out to Surrey, where we met up with some other families and finally, after more than a year of anticipation...Mr Tumble himself!!! The real Mr Tumble, who spent an hour with everyone singing songs, talking to everyone, doing some of the characters and then giving autographs and taking pictures. He was so sweet and personable, just like I imagined him to be. And the volunteers with Make-A-Wish were so wonderful, they really looked after everyone and made sure we were having a great time. I can't say enough good about the whole thing.

 "Hello, hello, how are you?"

 You can see from Adam's "wings" that he's transfixed, as is Agnes in front of him!

A short video of Mr Tumble doing his thing, and Caleb getting into the act too!!

Sadly our time with Mr Tumble ended all too quickly. We left and got back into our special car (which we casually referred to as "the Limo" all day as if that were our normal ride!!) and headed back into London. Our driver, Gideon, dropped us off at the Rainforest Cafe, where we had a fabulous lunch and watched all the exciting life-size animals move and roar. After the boys ate their weight in ice cream, we got back into "the Limo" and headed to the London Aquarium for our afternoon treat--seeing all the fish, sharks, eels, rays and penguins we could manage before our feet gave out!

Caleb got up close and personal with a crocodile!

After the usual dinner, bath and bed routine, we all slept like logs--worn out by the excitement of being VIP's for a day and meeting our very favourite Mr Tumble. Ah, sweet dreams for all!!

So that pretty much ended it...we had another stellar breakfast Tuesday morning, took a short walk, some photos and had another play on the playground before hopping into a car and heading back to the airport. And real life. It was all so wonderful to have that experience, all of which Adam thoroughly enjoyed. He loved the taxis, the food, the walking, the fish, the Eye, and most of all Mr Tumble. After all he's been through this last 18 months, to "give" him that trip was amazing, and to be given the ability to enjoy it with him without worrying about anything...well, that really was priceless.

Thanks again to the Make-A-Wish foundation, for helping us to forget for two days and feel like kings and queens. And for giving us one very happy boy.

P.S. Happy Birthday Adam!

You may remember that Adam's birthday was at the end of August, on the same day as his most recent lumbar puncture. Here are a couple more photos from that day, just for fun:

Oh mom, do you have to sit so close?! 

Sister and Auntie Meg know how to party!

Following Adam's grand old afternoon Oma from California arrived to help out and soon Opa followed. The reason? Mom and Dad's 15th Anniversary Grand Getaway to Greece!! Yes, we left it all behind for nearly a week to see the sun and ancient sights in Athens. We took too many pictures to post here, but I'll try to make an album and upload that soon.

Now, tomorrow we are off to LONDON to MEET MR TUMBLE!! This is it, the big day--the wish that Adam made to meet Mr Tumble, his favourite TV character! We meet him on Monday morning, so be thinking of us when you are off to work! I'll post pics straight away when I get back, I promise!!

I know that 7:30am will come early, so I'll sign off now. Sweet dreams (if I can get to sleep!!)