More Adventures...and another Good Report!

We decided Saturday would be our history day.  We rode the T to the aquarium, and started walking the freedom trail.  We made our way into the North End, and after a detour for treats and gelato, we went to the Paul Revere Mall, and visited the Old North Church.  Boston is such an amazing city, with such a rich history, I am so happy we got to come here with our big kids.  It will be neat for them, when they learn the details of history in school, to remember being there where it actually happened. The Old North Church is a beautiful church, and the kids were very amused by the cubicle-type pews.

Asa was excited to find his name inside, as one of the former ministers was named Asa.  We don't run across his name very often, so it was a find!

The gardens outside were also beautiful, and Jacob was more taken with them than with the church. Though he was too busy running around to stop for a picture!

After that we continued our walk out of the North End, and across the bridge to follow the freedom trail to the U.S.S. Constitution.  We deliberately avoided this site on our previous trips, in hopes that we'd get to see it for the first time with Asa and Elena.  So glad we did, it was great all of us seeing this beautiful ship together for the first time.  It really was an amazing sight, that everyone enjoyed.

After exploring the Constitution, we continued following the trail to Bunker Hill.  What a tranquil, beautiful park within a charming neighborhood of historic homes.  It's hard to imagine all that happened there, as now what remains on the hill is a smaller version of the Washington Monument, and beautiful expanses of grass. Very peaceful.

We walked around the park a bit, but were soon ready for dinner.  We headed back to the North End for some Italian food, which was delicious by the way.  After that, we were all exhausted! By the time we made it back home, we had walked over 5 miles.  I am so proud of the kids! Asa and Elena were troopers, walking all that way without complaining!  They were awesome! We were beat though when we got back home, and passed out.  We got up Sunday morning and got ready and went downtown. We were trying to make it to church, but by the time we got there we were over 30 min late, having underestimated our subway commute time.  The church was beautiful though, I took some pictures, and we headed to the nearby Boston Public Garden. The park was beautiful as always, with flowers in full bloom.  And the swan pair were residing over a nest of 7 eggs, which the kids enjoyed seeing.

We rode the iconic swan boats, the kid's favorite thing so far, and I must say, one of mine as well. The Garden is probably my favorite place in Boston.  I could spend all day there, enjoying the oasis in the middle of the big city.

We came home a took a rest for a while, hit up our park and playground across the street for a bit, and called it a day.  Monday morning we headed out early for a 9am date for whale watching.  It took over an hour to get far enough out to the area where the whales feed, but it was a nice boat ride out of the city.  

Luke loved the wind in his cowlick hair.  He laughed hysterically as soon as the boat picked up speed.

We apparently really lucked out on our whale watch tour.  They said most of the time you have to wait and really watch for the whales.  But practically every direction you looked you could see humpback whales.  They were in a feeding frenzy, clustered in groups.  My pictures weren't great, as I took most of them at the beginning when the whales were farther out, not realizing how close they would get.

We saw 2 whale calves breach, which was an amazing sight.  The whales got really close to our boat as well, one of the calves especially.

It was a great trip, with non-stop sightings, well more than we hoped for.  Asa got a little green out there, but was still able to enjoy himself.  We got back just in time to grab a quick lunch and head across town to the hospital for our next appointment with Jacob's surgeon, and the leading expert in the treatment of BRBNS.  He was amazed at the progress Jacob has made under the treatment of the Interventional Radiologist.  He was expecting to need to talk to us about a potential future resection of the lesion on Jacob's back.  But he said with the way Jacob has responded to the sclerotherapy, he would be very surprised if his lesion grew uncontrollable enough to warrant such an intervention.  This was great news as we considered the need for surgical resection a drastic measure we very much wanted to avoid.  We also discussed with him the lesion that he removed in February is already growing back.  He decided that he wanted to go ahead with attempting to remove this one again, in hopes that attacking it while it is still small, will keep it gone this time.  If not, we will likely just leave it alone until it begins to bother him again.  So we will tack that mini procedure on with this anesthesia. All in all it was another great report for Jacob, that was a huge relief for me.  I was really upset at the prospect of surgical resection at this stage, and couldn't be happier about all our doctor said.  I know I need to stay calm and not worry so much until I hear from the actual doctors, but it's hard being so far away, and receiving bits of information trickling down.  I tend to worry first and ask questions later, which I need to try to reverse for my own sanity.  But thank you to all who shared this burden with me, and prayed specifically about it.  God is truly doing great things for my Jake.  I am enjoying each day's miracle, but am humbled to see some huge miracles taking place for him as well.  Please continue to pray for Jake and for all of us as we travel this journey with him.

Boston Round 3...and a good report so far!

Greetings from Boston! Sorry I am just now updating, but I am finding it harder than ever as my hands are full with my whole brood up here!  We flew up on Thursday, thanks to our friends at Miracle Flights for Kids.  We had a great flight, this time flying nonstop from Nashville.  

Asa and Elena were so excited, Elena having never flown before, and Asa practically so, as he doesn't remember the one time he flew as a baby.  Jacob was an "old pro," determined to show them how it's done. 

But by the time we took off, Jacob handled the flight in his usual fashion...

Luke slept most of it as well, and before we knew it, we were in Boston!  The kids were so excited to see the city, and I was anxious to see where we were staying.  As some of you know, we could not stay at the Yawkey Family Inn this time, as they can only have 4 people, and we have 6.  It was a challenge to find reasonable lodging.  I was delighted to arrive at our rental apartment.  We had the 2nd floor apartment of this charming row house.  It is an old house, with tons of character, but remodeled with modern finishes.

It also has a lovely yard/garden for the kids to play in...

And the best part of it, was the view! Right across the street form the harbor, with beautiful views of downtown Boston.  Here is the view from the master bedroom...

And at night...

In addition, 100 feet from our front porch is the East Boston Piers Park.  Huge expansive grassy field to play in, and 4 play structures, and a fountain to play in!  We immediately decided to give it a test run and burn off some energy.

Also, off the pier, they rent sailboats, which makes for a great view of the boats.

We got settled in Thursday night, and found a grocery store, and got some food.  Friday morning we woke up ready to explore.  First stop, the subway! Asa and Elena were so excited to ride the T.  

We rode first to Copley Square.  We decided to give the kids a little culture and visit Trinity Church, one of my favorite places in Boston.

They were somewhat impressed, but not as much as they were by the Tortoise and the Hare statue out front in the square!

It was a great outing though, and after a quick lunch, it was time to head to the hospital for Jacob's first appointment.  After a few mishaps, involving a wrong train, and a left backpack at a train station, we finally arrived at the hospital, only a few minutes late.

Our appointment was at the Vascular Anomalies Center with our Interventional Radiologist who has done all of Jacob's procedures on the vascular lesion in his back and chest.  There, he did an ultrasound on Jacob's back and was very pleased with what he saw.  He showed us comparison between the first treatment pictures and the current ones.  There is very little lesion left!  He found only a small sliver within Jacob's chest, and a few small areas on his back.  You can see the glue where the lesions previously were, but they have done exactly as he had hoped.  The channels he worked on closed, shutting off the blood flow to the lesions causing them to shrink and disappear.  This is so exciting for us, as we did not expect (nor did he), such a quick and total improvement.  He wants to move forward with this treatment to completely eradicate the lesions, but it will likely be the last he will need for hopefully a long time, if not ever.  He did say, and we need to remember, that because Jacob's are Blue Rubber Bleb Nevus lesions, they could come back, likely adjacent to the original site, but they may not.  If they do, hopefully it won't be for a long time.  But our doctor said he expects Jacob to do very well.  He is also expecting for this treatment to be the easiest one yet for Jacob.  Obviously, the larger the area being treated, the more difficult and painful it is for Jake.  Which is why the first one was so rough.  This time since the treatment area is so small, I am hoping it will be a relatively easy recovery for him.  Jacob was ready to leave the hospital after that good report!

After that good news, we headed back to our apartment for dinner.  After we ate, we headed back out to go to the Boston Children's Museum.  On Friday nights, admission is only $1, which we were happy to take advantage of.  It was a little more crowded, understandably, but we had a great time!

It was great fun, even the bathroom break, with its lovely display of animal poops!

We had a wonderful first day in Boston, and are looking forward to another great one today.  Thank you all so much for continuing to keep us in thought and prayer.  Already great things are happening for our Jake and I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here with the amazing people of Boston and Boston Children's Hospital.  Love to all of you from the Casteel's in Boston, and keep praying and believing in "Today's Miracle!"