An Ian and Dad Saturday (Ian, Tom, Pictures, Graces and Mercies)

Today, Ian and I had pretty much an Ian and Dad day. I had the opportunity to all but spoil him (although, after our Make-a-Wish trip, that bar got significantly higher.)

Ian had his first dose of steroids last night, and the side effects are already kicking in. He was wide awake at 6:00 this morning. Thanks to a dose of melatonin, I had actually gotten some sleep last night, so I got up with him. While he watched a DVD, I checked email and kept refreshing CaringBridge, looking for new guestbook posts.

Later this morning, we hit Mall of America (after a 10:00 a.m. lunch at Subway). We got Deb's birthday present, then I gave him a choice of either playing mini-golf at MoA, or riding rides. Me being the soft touch that I am, "or" became "and", so we wound up riding a couple of rides anyway.

Ian's favorite ride at Mall of America is the Pepsi Ripsaw...

...his other favorite ride is Paul Bunyon's Log Ride.

A couple of shots from Moose Mountain Golf at Mall of America.

Ian doing what Ian does best: creating with LEGOs.

After a rest at home, Ian and I went to a HOPE Kids event, a video games night. It was hosted by a local home media shop, and it featured all the current systems and some really fun games. Ian paused from playing Wii long enough to try his hand at Dance Dance Revolution and Rock Band.






If you haven't read the latest CaringBridge post yet, and in case you are interested, Ian is being baptized tomorrow (11/16) at 1:30, at Berean Baptist Church. Afterwards, there will be a short reception in room 113 at the church.

If you are able to come, we would love to have you there to celebrate with us. This is something that Ian wanted and asked for without being prompted, and we're ecstatic that this could be arranged before we start any possible further treatments. I want to send a big "Thank You" to those friends who stretched to make this possible; you dear friends have no idea how much this means to us.