The Landrys: Stephen, Sarah, Charlotte, Eleanor and Lainey: June 2010

Friday, June 25, 2010

First Trip To Boston

Stephe and I took the girls on their first trip in to the big city today. It was a blast, too. We drove to Alewife and took the T to South Station. Charlotte was so excited on the train, all smiles. And Ellie didn't really know what was going on but was all smiles as well. I take out my camera to capture the moment only to find out the battery was dead. Unfortunately now we don't have one single picture to remember the day by. Well, we do have one picture that I'll have to scan in. I was suckered into buying the picture they took of our family as we walked in to the aquarium since I wanted at least one picture from today. Good thing for this little journal so I can at least write about today.

We had the double stroller which was awesome because we did a ton of walking. It was so nice to not have to worry about Charlotte's little legs not making it and one of us having either carry her or throw her on our shoulders. It was a little bit of a pain to maneuver around the aquarium since it was kind of crowded but well worth that little bit of aggrevation.

We walked and found 225 Franklin St - my new office with Merrill Lynch. After a quick tour of where I'll be working, we walked over to the New Englad Aquarium. I hadn't been since I was a kid and it was still as cool as I remembered it being... just a little smaller! Charlotte really took it all in, loved everything - the sealions, the penguins, the sharks, the seahorses and holding the starfish I think were probably the highlights for her. And Ellie, well, she's our timid little pumpkin. She happily rode in the stroller throughout but at one point, Stephe held her up to the window to see the giant fish tank. As soon as a shark swam by, she started crying. She was afraid of it! Poor kid, she got some cuddles and kisses then was happy to go back in her stroller. In fact, she fell asleep shortly afterwards.

From the Aquarium, we walked over to Faneuil Hall. Charlotte rode a carousel and watched some street performers while Ellie continued her nap. I gave Charlotte $1 to put in the case of a guy playing guitar who sounded great. When she dropped the money in, he asked what song she liked. She told him she really liked "the ABCD's" and he broke out singing it. So cute!!!

After Faneuil Hall, we walked back to South Station to catch the train home. On the walk back I was commenting to Stephe how easy it seemed to take both kids out for the day. It's hard to fully appreciate because we've been lucky enough to have two really good babies. But to go out for a long full day with a 3 year old and an 11 month old and not have one single melt down or behavior issue is pretty impressive! Even the baby didn't hold us back. The only thing that slowed us down, which I don't even think you can really call it that, is before we went into the aquarium, I wanted to feed Ellie a bottle. So I found a bench in the shade and fed her while Stephe took Charlotte to buy our tickets and show her the sea lions swimming outside. By the time they were ready to go in, Ellie was done eating. We are the luckiest parents to have 2 such sweet kids!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

First Ballet Recital

Dress rehearsal in the classroom

Hunter & Charlotte after their class

Charlotte & Mackenzie heading in to the dress rehearsal on the big stage - so excited!

Best Buds

Such a goofball!

The big day is finally here. Every day for the week leading up the recital, the first words out of Charlotte's mouth in the morning were "Is it my recital on the big stage today?"

During the finale of the second show, Charlotte tried to make a quick exit stage left but Miss Nancy grabbed her. She was upset because the music stopped. I felt so bad being in the audience not know what was wrong but it was adorable at the same time.

Miss Nancy asked Charlotte if she was going to come back to dance in the fall and you could just hear this little mousey squeek say yes. It was so quiet that Stephe didn't even hear her answer. A three year old in a ballet recital is definitely the cutest thing ever!!

Emma congratulating Charlotte after the first show

Proud Daddy

Maybe it's just me wanting to relive my dancing years but I can't wait to watch her grow as a dancer. I'm pretty sure we'll get to watch another three year old on the big stage in just a couple years. Ellie already dances whenever she hears music.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

2010 Relay For Life - Team BarbKats

Mom & Dad - start of the caregiver lap, very emotional

Krista and my Mom

Me, my sisters, my Mom and her sisters (and Ellie)

Some of the BarbKats

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer about 8 months ago. Talk about scary. The idea of my mom having to go through all that treatment made me, my sisters and especially my Dad, very sad. My mom handled everything like a champ though. I'm sure she was scared but she really handled the news better than any of us! I think her positive attitude and her desire to continue life as normal is really amazing. Not that I didn't already know it but this just reminded me, she's such a strong lady!! She went through a few months of chemotherapy, losing her hair on Christmas Eve, and never skipped a beat. She felt good enough to work all through it and managed to give us all a fantastic Christmas like nothing had changed. Not sure how she had the energy to shop - the living room was jam packed with presents, not to mention host Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner.

At the end of April, she had a mastectamy. It was a day surgery on a Friday. I was angry that they wouldn't even keep for one night to take care of her. I mean, I would consider what she had done major surgery! Now I see why... The following day I took Charlotte over to give her a card expecting to go up to her bed for a quick visit then head out. To my surprise, when we got to the house, she was sitting at the dining room table like nothing had happened. Not sure how you can lose a body part and not have any pain at all, but that was my mother's experience. She didn't even need a pain pill, she really had no pain at all!!

She'll be starting radiation soon and hopefully she'll continue with the good luck of feeling great throughout. It'll be everyday for six weeks. Sounds exhausting to me but knowing Mom, it'll be no big deal.

After her diagnosis, my sisters and I (feeling totally helpless) decided to form a Relay For Life team in Mom's honor. My mom's best friend Kathy Comee was diagnosed with breast cancer a month or 2 after my mom. Talk about a weird coincidence. Krista came up with our team name for my mom (Barbara) and Kathy - the BarbKats. Clever, right? :)

I had never participated in the event before and really had no idea what I had gotten myself into. Due to scheduling conflicts, I was the only one who could attend all the captain meetings. I sat through each of the meetings completely clueless. By the end, I guess I kind of had an idea of what we were doing but didn't really know what the relay would be like. I'm SO glad we did this. The survivors walk was completely emotional. Just seeing the the sea of purple survivors t-shirts walking the track... then seeing my Mom out there in the middle of them was touching. And then seeing all the young kids walking... I really don't think there was a dry eye at the place. It was really something to experience. The survivor lap is followed by the caregiver lap. My Dad, me and my sisters jumped in and walked with my Mom.

Here are some pictures from the relay. Everyone had a great time and our team did really well with the fundraising. Hopefully everyone will be back next year. It's because of the millions of women diagnosed before her and events like these that my Mom is able to have such a successful ending to her story.

Luminaria bags - in memory of my Grampy (died of colon cancer in 1982) and his brother my Uncle Bob