Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Today is My Sunday

I'm gonna tell you what....it's been a great week.  I've felt great all week, and I have gotten so much done!  My classroom is all set to go!

Tomorrow is a chemo day, and I have been dreading it for over a week now.  Last time I had so much nausea and just thinking about chemo makes me a little nauseous right now.  I know that the majority of the nausea is truly just in my head.  Unfortunately, I don't know how to turn that part of my brain off--or even re-program it.

I have, however, tried to remind myself of all the silver linings of the situation in order to keep my positive outlook...  Here they are:

1.  I haven't had to shave ALL SUMMER.  It's a pretty awesome thing, actually.
2.  I am saving money on shampoo and conditioner!  I use baby wipes to clean my head...
3.  Doing my hair takes less than a second...
4.  Tomorrow is my last round of chemo with Adrimyacin and Cytoxan (the stuff that makes me nauseous).  The next four rounds use a drug that doesn't usually cause nausea.
5.  The nausea always goes away.  There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Ok...that's good.  I will update tomorrow maybe.  As always, thanks for reading.  Love you guys!

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Feeling Good!

So, this third round was tough.  Lots of nausea.  Lots. Of. Nausea.  On Monday, I had an appointment for my initial evaluation for the Strides to Strength program (I will explain in a moment...)  I woke up at 7 am and was starving...and nauseous--kind of like morning sickness.  I went downstairs and made some scrambled eggs and toasted a bagel.  It was delicious.  I felt marginally better.  I picked up a People Magazine that my Aunt Liz gave me and read all about the Kennedy's nanny and all the pictures she took of the family.  --and then I turned the page and started reading an article about a doctor who was falsely diagnosing people with cancer and administering chemotherapy...reading all the stories about chemo made my stomach start churning.  I made a run for the bathroom in the nick of time.

I was able to get myself back together and then went to my appointment.  The Strides to Strength program is for cardiac, pulmonary, and cancer patients.  It is a 3 month health and fitness program for anyone in any part of their recovery.  The classes are three days a week.  It's pretty awesome, actually.  Anyway, I had to go get evaluated--they checked my blood pressure and heart rate, and then had me walk for 6 minutes and then checked blood pressure and heart rate again.  I did pretty well, and I started the actual program on Wednesday.

On Wednesday I went in for my first class.  I worked one-on-one with "Brandon the Intern" who was probably 22 years old.  He just graduated from East Carolina.  I worked on three cardio machines while he monitored my heart rate.  He said I was a rock star.  I told him that it only seemed that way since I was the youngest patient in the gym by at least 25 years...

Today was the first day that I truly felt well all day.  We went to school while Emma was at gymnastics.  I worked in my room trying to get it set up.  Usually our first few days are full of professional development stuff, so usually Thursday and Friday are "work in your room" days...  Our teacher workday week will also be a chemo round, so I won't be at school at the end of the week.

Anyway, I'm so glad to be feeling better!  I'm gonna make the most of this week!!

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Back home in time for Round Three

We had such a fun time on vacation.  After each stop I was sad to go.  I was sad that we didn't have more time to spend.  Stupid cancer.  I guess I could (and should) look at it as at least I got to go.

So, we had to leave Michigan on Tuesday, and we arrived home around 1:30am.  The next morning, I sent Dane off with Emma to gymnastics, and I headed down to Charlotte for my echocardiogram.  Unfortunately, I sent Emma to gymnastics on the wrong day, and my echocardiogram was actually scheduled at the Huntersville hospital.  Grrr....  It all ended up ok--Emma got an extra day off to get ready for gymnastics, and I was able to get fit in at the Huntersville hospital.

Thursday I went in for my third round of chemo.  An old friend from my Lake Norman Charter days, and a fellow survivor, picked me up and took me there.  It was so good to catch up and also compare notes.  Afterwards we went out to lunch at Verde, which was quite nice, and then she took me home.

Once I got home, I honestly don't remember much...  I think I may have taken a nap.  Yep...Dane just confirmed it.  I came home and essentially passed out on the couch.  The chemo exhaustion hit me harder and faster this time.  I'm thinking that it was partially due to our crazy vacation the two weeks earlier...

I'm having some nausea again, which really sucks.  I hate that feeling.  Everyone hates that feeling.

Also, I thought that we were done with soccer when the world cup was over...  Apparently not.  What the heck is Concacaf Gold cup?

Love all of you guys.  Thanks for letting me vent.

Jen

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Downtown Ann Arbor and Dart for Art!

Today was another mellow day as Leah and Scott had to work and we had time to explore Ann Arbor on our own.
We began at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. In yet another stroke of genius, this museum was so interactive. It explained so much of the simple, everyday things we take for granted like a flushing toilet, magnets, light bulbs, etc. I am not sure who had more fun, the kids or my geeky science teacher of a wife. Either way, it was a great way to start a rainy morning.
After the museum we met Jen’s mom and her Aunt Liz downtown for lunch at the Mongolian BBQ. If you have never had the pleasure of eating at one of these joints it is a must do.

After lunch we had a few hours to kill and went window shopping in downtown Ann Arbor. The best way I can describe the eclectic nature of shopping Ann Arbor to my NC friends would be to think of a larger downtown Asheville; so many different types of stores and items from all different backgrounds and cultures. One of the cool features of downtown AA is that many of the older shops and buildings have fairy doors on their outer facade. They are each unique in their own way and people often leave various small items outside the doors for the fairies (pennies, stickers, etc). Jake was instantly obsessed with finding fairy doors at every shop we went to.
After shopping, we went to pick up Leah and headed back downtown for an event I had in mind since well before the trip. Ann Arbor has one of the nations #1 art fairs each summer (unfortunately it starts Wednesday) but one of the fundraisers is a one mile race called the Dash for the Arts. Although a mile sounds basic this is a very serious event that attracts racers from all over the Midwest. The event began with the men’s elite class which had about twenty runners. The men’s winner ran a 4:08 mile and the slowest of the 15 runners ran a 4:28. The men’s race was followed by the women’s elite class (10 runners). The top woman ran a 4:42 and the slowest was a 5:08. All of these runners were varsity collegiate athletes and some on pace for Olympics.

After watching such stunning performance, my goal was to not fall down at the start and take out the other 750 runners in the event. Prior to the race we gave Jake and Emma a challenge. If they broke 10:00 they got ten dollars, if the beat me they got 20. Jake took the second part of this challenge very seriously and shot out of the starting gate at a pace similar to the men’s elite class. Due to his small stature he was able to dart through the crowd much quicker than I was. Fortunately, I passed his wheezing ass around the ¼ mile mark and left him in my dust. By the half mile mark I was wheezing also, but happy that I was almost done. The finish line was amazing as the last quarter of a mile was lined with people screaming for everybody. I finished in 8:09, Emma had a late surge that put her past Jake at an 8:53, and Jake ran a 9:07 and learned a great lesson about pacing while running. The cool part was that every finisher got a hand-made ceramic medal from the arts council and a beer (+21).
Jake at the start of the race...
 

Jake at the end of the race...
After the race we had some dinner and played trivia before heading to the Townie Party in North University. If you don’t know what that means we are not allowed to tell you, you don’t belong.















The night ended with the ceremonial shaving of my head by Leah’s husband Scott. We had all decided that my scar had healed and would be fine, which it was. It is a strange sensation to have a completely bald head and I think it wigs Emma out.




Although we wish we could stay for many more days we head back to North Carolina tomorrow and wouldn’t trade a minute of this experience for all the money in the world.


Smitten with the Mitten (a.k.a. Michigan)

It is always so much fun to see how happy Jen is back home in Michigan; even if we never go in the winter and it is always 70-80 degrees when we are there. It is a true family town with a great spirit and energy.

After a late start and brunch at the Coney Island Hot Dog, we decided on a kayaking trip down the Huron River.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we rented four, two-man kayaks. Emma rode with Jen, Jake with me, Scott with Leah, and their kids in a fourth.  Everybody was gung ho from the start as they have built a new section around the old dam that is a cascades park. You use to have to get out and carry your boat around the dam, but now you get to shoot down nine different small rapids that take you around to the bottom. Jake and Emma thought this was the coolest thing they had ever seen and mom and dad were pretty impressed too. All in all, the trip took about 2 ½ and was simply beautiful. Even though the Huron runs right through the middle of Ann Arbor, you felt like you were in the mountain wilderness half the time.
   

After the cascades, we had to put in a little more work, but nothing to over the top. I must say that I had to work a little harder because my boat captain (Jake) decided we were not allowed to lose to anyone at any point. I do not know where he gets this type of attitude from; it must be his mother.

  

   
Emma reminds me of Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.
  

The night ended with some soccer, some wigs, and a wonderful grilled chicken dinner on the back porch in temperatures that I will be begging for by the end of our first weekend back. Despite all of the events, sights, and adventures we have had these last ten days, sometimes just getting the time to catch up with old friends while listening to music and drinking a cold beer can be the best of the best.






PS- Anyone looking to unload a two man kayak, we are now in the market for one to use on the lake!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Relaxing travel day- Oh wait, look, Lake Ontario and Niagara Falls!


It was time to head back to the States today. We got off to a slow start with a late breakfast, but I think the real issue was that nobody wanted to leave. All of the kids exchanged emails and promised to be pen pals (Okay,  parents thought of Pen Pals and the kids told us, “Wouldn’t it be easier to Skype). It was a hard morning for Jen as she had to say goodbye to Delphine and Corinne, not really knowing when we will see them again. I know I am game for Ottawa whenever and may even be willing to hit up France in the future.

Once we got on the road, it was beginning to look like a long haul. I had become grumpy at this point because I had not collected the required  Canadian souvenirs and we were crossing the border that night. My only real gripe about Canada would have to be the fact that you could not even tell they had just hosted the biggest women’s soccer tournament in the world one week before. Not one sign, poster, t-shirt, hat, etc. We never did find anything, but Canadian crap was abound later in the day.

Around lunch, we stopped at a neat little dock side restaurant on Lake Ontario. Although a minor, one hour stop, this was a big deal for the Perry clan. After lunch we walked down to the lake and the kids went swimming in the bare ass cold water. This means that we now have pictures of all four of us swimming our standing in each of the five Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Superior and Erie). Not many southerners can say that- and yes Jen, you are a southern girl now.




After our swim, it was back on the road to travel through the barren stretches of Canada until we reached Niagara Falls. As most of you probably know, Niagara Falls is in both Canada and the United States. One side of the Falls is a beautiful National Park, the other is something similar to the main strip at Myrtle Beach. I beat you can’t guess which is which. Wrong! The Canadian side is the tourist trap and that was awesome because I needed some maple leaves and moose gear.

We began our tour walking down the main strip looking at the Falls and watching all of the tourist. We decided that since we didn’t know when we would ever return, the boat ride into the Falls was a must. This seemed like a great idea until after we purchased the tickets and Jake began to say he was scared and didn’t want to go.  After a little coaxing and his safety poncho, he agreed to go if we stayed on the bottom level of the boat. I am so glad he agreed as this was one of the true Wonders of the World as far as I am concerned. As we travels within a couple hundred feet of the base of the Falls, we were hammered with what felt like a hurricane force rain storm. Fortunately, when we looked over at Jake he was grinning ear to ear and was already asking if we could go again. Although photography was tough we got a few good shots, including a full rainbow in front of the Falls.








On a side note, any lunatic that would go over those things in a barrel or tight rope across the top has a death wish. Having seen them in person now, I can’t even imagine that idea coming into someone’s head unless they were actually hoping to die.

Much to Jen’s chagrin, she knew it was finally time to load up on cheap Canadian souvenirs for the kids (okay- and me!). As we approached the first store, Jake had to pee. I told the ladies to go in and we would find a restaurant. In a stroke of pure luck, the first restaurant we reached was the Niagara Falls Brewery (No, I am not lying). As Jake went to the bathroom, I inquired about purchasing a pint glass. The guy said they were $12 (Canadian), but if you bought a beer they were half off.  Learning that a beer was only six bucks, I quickly did my math and figured out I could get a glass for $12 or a beer and a glass for $12. As one to never pass up a bargain, I am sure you can figure out my choice. After my quick, refreshing drink, Jake and I rejoined the girls and completed our shopping tour.

The last  haul of the night took us through the boarder check in Detroit and in to Ann Arbor and Jen’s best friend Leah’s house around 1:15 am. Exhausted, all we wanted to do was sleep. Naturally, that means we drank beer until 3:30 then fell asleep.


Now what to do in Jen’s old stomping grounds!

A morning off followed by taxidermy and an evening chasing a previously unknown Canadian NASCAR prospect!.

After the exhaustion of Parc  Omega, we decided to give the kids a morning off. What this really means is they still got up at 9:00 am and swam in the pool until we left at 3:00. It was a great time for Jen and Gail  to relax on the porch and catch up with Delphine and Corinne. I myself decided to go on a run. Knowing little about the area I set out on a leisurely loop around the neighborhood. 6 ½ miles later and a desperate emergency stop at the marina (like an oasis in the desert) I returned and took Jen to lunch at The Royal Oak in Ottawa.

Around 3:00 we all loaded up and headed into Ottawa proper to go to the Canadian Museum of Nature. Once again we were not disappointed. Every museum we have visited on this trip has been an intense and educational experience for both the adults and the kids. The highlight of the Museum of Nature had to be an unexpected touring collection- Animals Inside Out. For those of you who have seen the Body Worlds tour, you will know where this is going, all else, stick with me it is a little graphic.


After a brief discussion we decided it was a good learning experience for the kids and bought everyone a ticket to Animals Inside Out. This is an exhibit where animals, all donated after death, have been dissected in various states and displayed. What makes this possible is a process called plasticizing, where they fill all the cells with silicone. Some displays where just the skeleton, some just muscles, some just nerves and some the entire animal. Although not a science geek, I have to say this was one of the coolest museum exhibits I have ever seen. You really had to think in order to process that you were looking at what was once a living thing. The children were amazed and enjoyed the interactive skeletal displays and answering the study guide questions they gave us at the entrance. It truly covered from sharks, to mice, cats, horses, giraffes, camels and many others. My favorite two, although gross, involved a horse head split in three and a full camel whose neck and head were in three slices at three different angles. As I type this, I am aware how horrifying it sounds, but it was truly mesmerizing to view.

  

  


After we had our fill of animal carcasses, we continued through the rest of the museum looking at the dioramic displays of insects, birds, mammals, geology and dinosaurs.  This museum rivaled anything we have been to in New York, D.C., or otherwise in the interactive educations components for the children. We had four hours in the museum and were running through at the end in order to see everything. In hindsight, it was probably a full day trip, but you can’t do everything. Jen mentioned several times that one trip to each floor would cover one of her curriculum standards entirely.

With the museum taking until 20:00 (look I am European now) we were going to be hard pressed to get dinner and make our final stop at the Parliament by 10:00. However, one must eat when the Europeans want  to try Burgers and Fries. In lieu of a true experience and stopping at McDonald’s we went to a highly recommended burger bar called “The Works.” The problem with “The Works” was they offered 50 different burgers, 100 different ways and did not have a menu in French nor did we have a waitress who was fluent. I would equate the experience of our friends to that of going to The Cheesecake Factory and being given a menu in Mandarin. It took quite a while to get through the ordering process and although the food was delicious(especially my poutine- fires, cheese curds and gravy), we had to be in front of Parliament for the light show by 10:00. As Corinne and I were the assigned drivers, we ran the five blocks back to the museum to get the cars. This is when  my night got exciting.

To explain more, we were trying to get to the Canadian Parliament to see the laser light show performed on the building façade. Corinne is extremely proud of Canada and the life she has there, despite being born in France- come hell or high water we were making that show.  As we left the parking deck Corinne took off with me in tow. We zipped down the road, did an illegal U-turn in a gas station, and picked our compatriots up in front of the restaurant at 9:53. With a ten minute ride through downtown ahead of us we weren’t going to make it- or so I thought. Mind you I have no idea where I am our how to get where we are going so my only hope is to latch on and follow Corinne at all cost. After weaving through traffic, Corrine hit several “orange” lights that were more red when I went through. When I commented later, she said she didn’t expect me to follow so well. We agreed later that we could become a spy team in a movie with that kind of skill. At 10:02 we unloaded our crew in front of Parliament and went to find parking spaces. Corinne pointed me to a space and I parked, jumped out, and she drove me back around to the show.

The show itself was amazingly well done and covered the entire surface of the Parliament building. It covered the history of Canada as a nation and it’s involvement both at home and internationally. I fortunately made the last ten minutes of the show and was blown away by the technical effects and the massive crowd gathered to watch. As the final scenes passed and everyone sang “Oh Canada” I felt the
overwhelming urge to find a hockey stick, some maple syrup and a Tim Hortons. Unfortunately, Corrine found a parking space and joined us after the show was over.

The only down side of the night, although it fits with Perry road trip tradition was the $100 parking ticket that was waiting on my car when we returned.  Fortunately, we all said “Oh, well” and split the ticket amongst us in true Canadian hospitality.


Back to the hood ol’ US of A tomorrow.

Wapati (Canadian for Big Ass Deer)

Okay, so it is hard to write a blog about what you did each day when you do not stop moving until midnight and then hit the ground running as soon as you get up. We apologize to those who were living vicariously through the blog. Even though I am going to update each of the five missing days as we drive back, I will be writing everything in the present tense as if it occurred that day. I am an English teacher, so that is okay.

Today we left Ottawa in the morning for a town called Montebello and a place called Parc Omega.  I was a little suspect on this venture because our host had explained it to Jen and she told me it sounded like the Lazy 5 Ranch. For all my Charlotte area peeps, I am not knocking the Lazy 5, but when you have traveled to another country you want to experience new things. Well, all I can say is that we did. Parc Omega is similar to the Lazy 5 Ranch in the way that Barry Bonds in Pittsburgh is similar to Barry Bonds in San Francisco. Parc Omega looks like it ate the Lazy 5 Ranch with a high level does of steroids for the other six courses of its fine dining meal.

Corinne rushed us into the park just in time to catch the tail end of the educational program at noon with a promise that we could see the whole thing at 2:00 (great story about that later). From there we wandered to the wolf and black bear enclosures for a quick lesson on the importance of these animals and an opportunity to feed each, from a distance. It was amazing to watch the animals interact with the trainers and for the kids to get an opportunity to throw carrots and bread at the bears. What made it even more fun was that both enclosures had babies in the enclosure with them who were adorable.

 


That took us to the 2:00 show and the beginning of the up close and personal fun. During the show they brought out several animals and occasional needed participants to interact with them. Amandine was chosen first from the group to race against the young warthog in the field. Things started out well and good until Pumba (that was the Warthog) decided to undercut Amandine and knock her over. Although Amandine was fine, Pumba  proceeded to run out of the arena and into the parking lot to look for snacks.


Emma was up next and was asked to stand on a bench enclosure in the middle of the field and to look up in the trees searching for an animal. Fortunately, after a few sentences and Emma just staring at her, the trainer realized Emma knew no French and switched to English.  As we had caught the tail end of the last show, Emma thought she was looking for the falcon. When she could find nothing, the trainer said to chant her name and she would come. This got Emma and the entire crowd shouting for “Stinky” to come join us and looking in the trees. This is when the trainer reached under the enclosure, grabbed the skunk and set it next to Emma. The pictures do not do justice to her reaction when she looked down, but she did pet it. As a “reward” she was allowed to choose one person from the audience for the skunk to spray. Fortunately, Jake must have made her mad that morning and I was spared as he was chosen.  For those of you that know Jake, he can be shy and I expected him to bail. However, he got up and joined. I don’t know if he was frozen in fear or just so stupid that he was going to stand there and let the skunk spray him but he stood the whole count to three as she lifted the skunk’s tail. Fortunately,  Stinky no longer had those parts and everyone laughed. I wish she had hidden a water gun in her pocket and squirted him, but alas she did not.













Mind you, all of this has occurred before we actually enter the official part of the park that is so popular. From here it did take on Lazy 5 feel as we purchased our many bags of carrots and started to drive through the trail. Everything changed when we got about 100 yards inside the fence line and a enormous animal was standing in front of the van staring me down. Based on his size and 10 point horns, it might have been a fair fight, but once we rolled down the windows and stuck out a carrot he came around.  It was fun to discover that no matter what language you speak, when a giant horned mammal sticks his head through your window and drools on you, we all make the same noise. This experience went on for many miles with Wapitis, Caribou, Warthogs, etc- all with young in tow.  On a side note, Jen refused to interact with the animals and sat firmly in the way back of the van with Gail. They enjoyed the show, but were not willing to play the game.
      

Around 4:00 we stopped for lunch at the swinging ropes bridges in the woods. Who would have guessed that while you were eating deer would come right up to the table and join you. They were so friendly and would even pose for a picture if you moved slowly enough and kept carrots nearby.

From lunch, we walked to the farm on the back of the park and the kids got to feed rabbits, goats, horses and a variety of other barn yard animals. This was a nice stop for the adults as we could watch from a distance and sit down.

    
  


After driving a couple of miles back towards the entrance through bison, musk ox, moose, and many more deer, we got to stop at the trout pond and feed the enormous trout- that is until Leopol fell in the lake. Fortunately, the Perry’s don’t keep a tidy van and we had a change of clothes for him. 

All in all we spent almost eight hours in the park and still actually felt like we were rushing to get out before they locked the gates at 8:00.  This is an experience the kids won’t soon forget and they haven’t stopped talking about yet. If you are ever in the Ontario province, this is a must do.


One more full day in Canada- what can we squeeze in.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Parlez Vous Francais?.......No (Day One in Ottawa)

The day began with five small children staring at each other, unable to communicate. It is what I assume it would be like if I took the cell phones and lap tops away from my high school students and left them in a room together. As the parents sat on the porch looking at the Ottawa River and drinking coffee we tried to figure out a way to help. We quickly came to this conclusion- "Screw it! They are kids, they will figure it out." We continued with our amazing breakfast of fruits, bread, Nutella, juice etc and slowly began to hear a few sounds and giggles from the other room. We were disappointed to learn that none of them had miraculously learned another language during breakfast, but through sign language and trial and error they were getting somewhere.


After a very slow start to the day after recovering from our drive, we decided to head in to Ottawa (about a 45 minute drive from Kanata- although Kanata is still considered Ottawa). This happens to be the capitol of Canada and is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. Between the river, the architecture, the nature and the hustle and bustle of  city, it was truly an experience.



We began our tour of the city at on the Quebec side at the Canadian National Museum of Civilization. The artwork, and craftsmanship of the early natives was spectacular. It was interesting to see the infusion of some Asian culture in the Northwest Territories near Alaska all the way through some of the more modern contributions of popular Canada. It was also interesting to read and learn about Terry Fox in a special section of the museum. Having already lost one leg to cancer, he set out to run across Canada in an effort to raise money for cancer research in Canada. Unfortunately, he made it roughly 3,300 mile (a marathon a day) before the cancer had returned and reached his lungs forcing him to stop somewhere around Winnipeg. He later passed away before he could continue his run, but his foundation is one of the largest fund raising organizations for cancer in Canada.

Once finished with the adult portion of the museum, we entered the Children's Museum. This was one of the most amazingly interactive venues we have taken the kids in our travels. As you enter, each child gets a passport and you go from country to country learning different things about their culture and collecting stamps in your passport. Whether making dolls and puppets in southeast Asia, riding the taxis and buses in Thailand, climbing through a Pharaoh's tomb, or performing live theater the kids were having a blast. 

After all the crazy museum hopping, we decided it was time for some lunch and headed across the bridge to the Ontario side of Ottawa. We stopped for lunch as a wonderful outdoor market that is apparently famous for having sold cookies to President Obama when he was visiting Parliament. They are quite proud of this fact as they sell "Obama Cookies" and have a shrine.

 From there, it was off for a walking tour around the Parliament and through the canal locks that connect the Ottawa River to...something. The Parliament buildings were some of the most beautiful examples of architecture we have seen on our trip. We will go back Friday evening as they do a laser light show on the history and culture of Canada against the building at night. Our host tells us it is truly amazing and we can't wait. The canal locks were very interesting to walk around and through, but very hard to explain to the kids. Unfortunately, no boats came through while we were waiting so we'll have to find a Youtube video to explain.








 We finally arrived back home around 9 pm for a late dinner and more fellowship with our friends. Everyone is doing well with a few minor exceptions; 1) We are getting closer to killing off Grammy with all of the walking and touring. We are not sure if she will make it to the drop off with Aunt Liz in Ann Arbor, but quite positive she will never go on vacation with us again. 2) For those of you who are familiar with our son Jake, his time in Canada has been troublesome due to the fact that our European/Canadian friends do not do chicken nuggets and french fries for every meal. Dinners of salmon, pureed carrots, salad, fresh cheeses, fruits and vegetables are beginning to take their toll. He may need a happy meal IV on the drive to Ann Arbor.

Tomorrow is a big day at the Parc Omega animal venue outside of Ottawa. Until the next update-   Au revior!