What Hurricane?

Our first vacation since diagnosis was almost interrupted by Hurricane Earl. Almost.

Although there was a lot of hype, Earl turned out to be a non-event in Ocean City. Yes, the wind picked up, the waves were big, and the beach was covered in sea foam. But other than that, it was just a normal day. People were out. The stores were open. There were even joggers heading up and down Coastal Highway.

But first, on Thursday, while everyone was scrambling around in preparation for Earl, this is what we were doing:

Carson and I started an open pit mine, which was an amazingly smooth operation...until the tide came in.

We had a great time horseback riding at a beautiful farm in Berlin, Md.

Francesca says horses are her new passion and she's ready to move. I don't think our neighbors would like it if we kept a pony in the backyard of our townhouse!

And if horses were not enough, Carson found a tractor to climb on. (Talk about a dream come true!) Sydney, our neighbor here at the Believe in Tomorrow house thinks it's cool, too.

On Friday we braved Earl's breeze and visited the Wheels of Yesterday Museum.

We checked out the wave action down at the beach. Some of the waves were coming up to the base of the dunes, which was a great deal farther than normal.

We headed down to the Boardwalk.

Francesca has always asked for a yellow Hummer. Down at the Boardwalk, I delivered!

See? I told you it was all about the food.

We continue to be amazed at the compassion of others. So many here have come together to make this a special time for Carson and the rest of our family. We are truly, truly thankful.

Paul.