10-29-09

An EPIC trip down to Southern Utah to connect with the RIDE FOR ROGAN crew! Again, these dudes are gnarly!… and they have elected to ride their bikes cross country, from San Fran, CA to Ocean City, MD in order to raise awareness for Rogan's cancer & the costs of her ongoing treatments.

Special thanks to Grandma Bon for her hospitality. The boys were able to take an action packed day off… complete with a pancake breakfast, ATV session and Main Street shopping in Panguitch! Rogan was stoked and learned how to throw her first shaka. Here are the pics from their visit. (note our A+ site for the "man camp"… Ross had left me with a complex about "guy time" and I got overly excited, had too much fun and ended up burning my foot on a rock.)

I can't thank these men enough for what they are doing for us. I was able to ride a meager 10 miles with them on my track bike… but wished I could have continued on in support. I choke up each time I speak of them. Follow them on their voyage via Facebook or on the blog: RIDE FOR ROGAN .COM

Jerry (the one with a small tree in his hair in above slideshow) recently completed an incredible surf flick too! Get it here!

Thank you Danny, Jerry and Joe Ricciotti.

Here are the girls dancing to Jerry's movie. Coco's latest trademark, living room dancehall move is:

1. Grab on to something solid.

2. Sway hips violently until I fall down.

3. Repeat.

It was a whirlwind tour for us… hitting Bear Lake the day before… then down to Hatch. That was the first time we'd been that far from the Hospital and it secretly felt great. Nana Shany hooked it up well at Bear Lake and we wished we could have logged a week there. That place is epic… and reminds me of the Mediteranean from certain angles.

… plus, with pitstops like this one on the way there; it's kind of a no-brainer:

Nana Shany took ALL the cousins to the Pumpkin Patch. They loved it!

I think I mentioned this before, but, Rogan is a Make-A-Wish child… and we are leaning towards a Disney Land mission, but will probably wait until her central line is removed next year and she can swim. That thing is still working like a charm and we are working hard to make sure it stays that way, that Rogan avoids another surgery, and that she can graduate next year and be in the 20% of patients, whose original central line lasts the duration of treatment. I instantly tear up imagining what it will be like to duck under a warm ocean wave with her.

Fun little Make-A-Wish promo at our local Cold Stone. Rogan was intended to be a greeter, and / or ice cream scooper… but she had more fun climbing on the landscaping out front. Oh well.

Top secret, early skate park session:

All is well and she is charging along. She started another round of chemo yesterday and it involved a Lumbar Puncture. She ruled it. With the flu going around, they have limited patients to having only one parent present and no siblings. That was the 2nd clinic day and 1st lumbar puncture that I have missed. I was a mess all day… until she got home and I could hold her. I'm sneaking in next time.

We are bracing for winter / flu season and so far, so good. Hand sani, you are my friend. We logged many hours at the park… before the headlines broke about the flu. She was ripping around… climbing shear walls without a spotter, talking to random kids and getting lost in full make-believe zone. She would charge the slide and say "C'MON DADDY, C'MON… IS SUPA FUN!" She is amazing to us right now.

A BIG, public thank you, love & respect to Casey for killing it at life... and doing such a miraculous job of raising 2 wild girls and leading the family through the "crazy daily" of our entrepreneurial lifestyles. I love you and cannot credit you enough.

... and thank you all for following this and for all of your love and support. Go Rogan.

PS… Coco's officially hit the terrible 2's early… bypassing "drunken monkey" status, straight to "drunk, angry Pirate" status.