Rainy Family Day

The University presented a Family Day during the Film Festival. There were lots of events in which to participate, but the day was very rainy and it was crowded inside the building.

I wanted to take the kids especially for the instrument Petting Zoo--where kids could get up close and personal with different instruments and students that play them. Vivian tried almost every one, and got a sound out of everything she attempted except the trumpet. Elena didn't have as much luck; her mouth muscles and breath support are not as strong. She still enjoyed trying, and especially liked the cello.

Testing the Cello

Playing the Trombone!

Playing in the rain

A blog reader recently commented on what we do in rain, given Elena only has one pair of shoes, really. I found a pair of "overshoes" on amazon.com and they work beautifully in rain! There are several styles available, but the sizing is questionable. Elena wears a size 2.5 New Balance shoe, and the size overshoe we bought is a size "S/M". The overshoes are not high quality, and they are hard to get on/off but they do work well for our purposes. This has been the first time E could really stomp/splash in a puddle!

Her umbrella hat continues to be of good use also. The attachments on the head band are a little uncomfortable, so I think I"ll be making some changes by sewing on a sweatband of sorts.

Rain Ensemble

Another change of note: look at her crutch tips. These are called Flexy Foot crutch tips, and they are awesome! For some reason, Elena has been wearing through her regular crutch tips--about 3 pair per month. She's been growing, and I hadn't realized this wear and tear with her last pair of crutches, but it is what it is. These Flexy Foot crutch tips have lasted over a month, are still in great shape, and have helped ease her fatigue while getting around on crutches. They are expensive; I bought them for $35.00 per tip (they do have replaceable end caps, which I haven't had to buy yet) but right now, I think it's worth the cost.

Pre-Thanksgiving Round-Up

Life has been good here. Girls are busy with school (Elena is working hard, and getting great grades!) and Vivian has her own activities--gymnastics and violin. I knew she was getting weary of "going to all Elena's appointments", so I've managed to carve out some time by picking the kids up from school and by fitting in a few activities for Viv during E's therapy time. It's a constant but rewarding juggle.

Here is what we've been up to in the last month!

Graves Mountain Lodge

We met up with Grandma and Grandpa at Graves Mountain. It's a beautiful place, nestled in a beautiful valley that's absolutely breathtaking during Fall Foliage season. We missed the dazzling colors by a week--but it was still fun.

With Grandma at the booths

Dad and his girls

Models after chase in the grass

Hay Maze was great fun!

The best parts were the apples and the Hay Maze--it was the first maze the kids have been in that we didn't have to be with them. Most parents (not me) could see over the bales well and find their kids if they were gone for too long. The maze was challenging, the kids loved it, and they both eventually escaped!


Vivian's 7th Birthday

Vivian chose "Interstellar Cinderella" as her birthday party theme this year. It's a space-age, tinkering, empowered-girl spin on a Cinderella story. Her friends had lots of dress up options--princess, fairy, with some space-steampunk accessories to jazz things up. (I spent a lot of time making the Space Goggles...a lot of time.) They were tasked to work together to make a robot, then program the robot (Jason in the designed robot "suit") to rescue cupcakes abducted by rogue space aliens in their spacecraft (cardboard spaceship outside). Then it was fort-making, running around playtime. Elena did a fantastic job as a guide--she really helped the younger kids work collectively without giving them too much instruction--a very mature role that she did very well.

Assembling the Dad-Bot

Spaceship on the move!

Vivian enjoyed her party. Her big present, now that she is SEVEN, was she got her ears pierced! She loves them. She did have to get one ear re-peirced, as she ripped out an earring (just ripped the post off, did not rip her earlobe) while taking off a bike helmet. The other big deal about being seven is she has a mouthful of loose teeth...I expect most of them to be out by the end of the year!

Halloween

Viv's party was actually celebrated on Halloween, so it ended up being a pretty busy day. After the party we put together the kids' costumes. Vivian wanted to be "regular" Cinderella (using a dress-up we had) and Elena originally wanted to be Inspector Gadget, but I didn't have the time to put that together. Instead, she chose a minion--which was great, b/c we put a pair of Space Goggles to good use!

E as Minion

Bubble Adventure

I had an idea of making huge bubbles for a long while now, but haven't been able to walk well enough to try it. Now that I can, we set out on a Big Bubble Experiment before the weather turned really cold. We set out at a nearby park, mixed our ingredients, and voila!

Photo credit: Elena

Photo credit: Vivian

It was a little too windy for making huge bubbles--they could have been the size of cars, but I couldn't close the bubble in time. My arms/hands were exhausted after making bubbles for over an hour (the wands are huge poles)...I'll have to make some changes next time to try to conserve energy and lighten the weight. The kid not chasing bubbles was the photographer--Elena really enjoyed it!