It is raining again but are we worried - No - we are off to Greece!!!

We have had a period of life as normal.  Anouk remains better than she was just before Easter but there are some signs that she has started to deteriorate again, she is a little more wobbly and her speech is rather slurred, however she remains herself, very happy, chatty and charming.  


We went to see our oncologist who was very pleasantly surprised to see Anouk walking through the door and looking so well, there is no doubt that the tumour is growing but slower than expected and so it is good news however we look at it.  Stergious thinks that a cyst that was in Anouk's tumour at the last scan has been absorbed or burst and given everything in her head a little more room, hence the improvement over Easter.  It has been so good for us to have some mental respite from this - whatever the reason for it may be and for this we are very grateful.   Anouk is having a scan this week to reassess things but we do not expect that this will change the way the tumour is managed.


We have decided to embrace the improvement and go on holiday and so are off to Greece for a week! We  are almost beside ourself with excitement and it is one of those holidays where you do not even have to think about where to have dinner as everything including sports and water sports is included - so I plan to arrive at the airport and disengage brain for a whole week... Yippeee


But there is yet more excitement - Anouk has decided that she wants to meet Disney's Sleeping Beauty and so a charity called "Rays of Sunshine" have offered to make her wish come true so we are off to London this week to have a tour of the city, a trip on the London eye, a tea party with some of Sleeping Beauty's friends and a night at a hotel... Anouk has been hilariously specific about what food she wants for the tea party and what games she wants to play and so a list has been sent outlining Anouk's specifications... she had a special delivery yesterday, a letter all the way from Disneyland written by Sleeping Beauty telling her all about what to expect from the wish and a dress for each of the girls - Anouk has not taken hers off since and so a dread to think what state it will be in by the time she actually meets the Princess!

Richard is back to work and is busy, it was time for him to go back and he is enjoying it.  He is also rehearsing with a band for our village carnival in the summer.  I have done a few days of teaching which is coming to an end but has been great for the grey cells. 

There have been a few parties and lovely family times.  

Neaves friends Flo and Willow had a joint birthday party and here is a picture of Anouk and the birthday girls

And Neave was busy painting nails and i went along too and.... gossiped with the other Mums.

Anouk is getting a weekly visit from Jaqui, her nurse or Helena, her carer at the local hospice which gives us time to spend with Neave, the idea was that Neave got a bit of special attention during this time but it rather back fired (as it tends to) this week when Anouk came home from her trip to her ballet class having had a drink in a cafe and having been brought a present... 


Neave has been struggling a bit, her Play Therapy has come to an end for the time being which seems appropriate but she seems a little wobbly and cross - we are hoping that time together over the next couple of weeks will help us all...


Fred and Sue are still here and Fred is planning industrial style renovations to the house, Granny Sue celebrates her (shhhh) 75th birthday next weekend. 

For those Ausys who are complaining about the weather in Melbourne - it is colder here, pissing down with rain and it is supposed to be late Spring! Neaves school brightened up an event that was supposed to be heralding the warmer weather by May Pole Dancing.

But it was cold

 Anouk and her friends today

And Anouk and I tonight

We had an amazing and incredibly emotional surprise about a fortnight ago.  Richard met an old friend from Aus in London and was given a parcel to be opened "when we were all together" - which we did, it contained bears for the girls, a crystal bracelet for Anouk (Thank You) and a DVD - which we sat down and watched - it started with some words from a lovely friend of ours (Di Pope) and then moved into the most beautiful version of Somewhere over a Rainbow sung by a group of about 40 friends of Richards from his days of working with a musical theatre group.  They got together for about 5 hours one weekend and led by Tony King and inspired by Di they made this amazing piece - and what can not be said in words was told so clearly by the amazing sound they made.  It was so special and we are so grateful that people have been so generous with their time and talent - Thank You - we were surprised, warmed and moved by your lovely gift..


Here is the link to the song on youtube:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f97DltkzlGA&feature=youtu.be