Day 11

Another great day today. She gained a half pound and is up to 78.5 - we are aiming for 82. Peyton arrived at 9am and the day was filled with all of Mackenzie's favorite hospital things. Visitors, going to the roof, a pass, and mail. We went out and about with the girls between noon and 6pm IVs and treatments (they are nice enough to let her do her third treatment a little later when we go on a pass).

When we got back, there was a stack of mail - I love reading every single thing you all mail, e-mail, text, comment, etc. You all lift our spirits so much and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I have to admit one day last week I had a very down day because I started thinking about the "what if's" of this horrible disease. I sometimes wonder if our positive attitude sometimes takes away from how others might view the seriousness of cystic fibrosis, especially from the standpoint of what other families dealing with cf are going through or the work Mackenzie does to stay as healthy as she can. There are families that travel a very different cf road and some that travel a very similar one to ours but without the support we have that makes all the difference. Just being here at ACH where there are families that lose their children, that have to stay much longer than we do, and that are dealing with problems that are much worse than ours - I think more than anything I hope for each of them is that they could have the support system that we have, friends and family and other amazing cf families that say prayers, write letters, lend a shoulder and an ear and do all the things you all do for us. Please know it means everything to us and is a huge part of the reason why we remain positive, hopeful, and brave enough to fight and beat CF.

So, you want to see a few pictures from the day?

We went to the Museum of Discovery which was okay. I know they are soon adding on and I think they have a lot of room for improvement - just in comparison to some of the other museums we've been to that are similar. The girls did have fun and that is what matters!
After the museum we did a little repeat of some of the things we did when Mackenzie was on a pass in 2006 but this time Peyton got to participate. Trolley ride and Peabody Duck March...

Peyton wanted to go sit on (her words) the "freakishly large couch" at The Peabody...We had a few extra minutes before we had to head back and stopped at the Peabody Park at LR's Riverfront Park. It was AMAZING! I wish we had a park just like it. These pictures do not do it justice! Unfortunately we couldn't play in the water because of the PICC line but Mackenzie and Peyton still had a great time.

Here are some pictures from the LR Parks and Recreation website.

Now I have to run to hug on Peyton and Jason before they go sleep at Dana and Blu Coburn's for the night. Dana and Blu are friends of Jason's brother Lance and his wife Andrea and they are so generous to open their home to us so we don't have the hotel expense and so Peyton can be down with us for a few days!