Super Summer Recap

We have had a very busy summer.  It's been my first summer being home, and I have loved it.  These pictures are in semi-chronological order...except the Pony Show was in the Spring.  I was hoping to get permission to post a few cute closeup group shots, but I never had the chance to talk to all the kids' parents.  

Pony Show

(Did I already post this?) E and Viv were part of the Pony Show at Fairhunt Farm.  The girls were patient, but it was a very long wait; all the older riders went first, is that typical for a pony show?  Vivian was in the Lead Line/Hunter Pleasure category.  

Vivian riding

Blue Ribbon!

Elena was in the beginner Walk/Trot category.  She was excited, but not super excited to be on Teacup; she can be a feisty pony.  She had a leader and a side walker, both extremely helpful and kind girls.  

Smiling for the judges

Trot!

White Ribbon!

Blueberry Picking at Grelen

The family went picking at an absolutely gorgeous farm.  We harvested blueberries and black raspberries!  The farm is relatively small, and pretty accessible for Elena.

Vivian

Elena

What a view!

Maymont

We visited the Richmond Maymont Estate with some friends.  It is pretty expansive, so we brought Elena's wheelchair.  She used it about a third of the time--it was pretty hot and she was thankful for the ride (as was Vivian).

Some of the garden walkways are very steep and uneven

E at the Bear Pen

Simply Gorgeous

Fourth of July

We went for a walk the morning of the Fourth.

Fourth Cuties!

After resting, we went to the neighborhood pool party.  E and Viv had a great time swimming and playing with friends.  We stayed up for fireworks at a different friend's house.

Sparkler Girls

We got a double-dose of Fourth action the following day, where there was a weekend celebration in Crozet.  We hung out with our friends the Rs, enjoying dinner, a great parade, and community fireworks that were set off right outside their house.  Can't beat the view from their front porch!

E sparklers

Viv sparklers

Swimming at the Lake

We went to visit our friends the Andersons for a lake swim!  It was such a great time with good friends!  We did some kayaking too, but everyone preferred to swim b/c it was a hot day.

E gives Viv a ride

E and Avery

Snack Pile

Finally captured a Rainbow!

We make a pretty big seasonal "bucket list", and one of them was to see a rainbow.  Every time it rained during the day we would look for one, and we finally found one.

Rainbow Girls

Beautiful Afternoon

Overall we've spent our 'home' portion of summer swimming, exercising, stretching, playing with friends, and enjoying our community.  It's been fantastic!

Ice Skating

Yesterday we celebrated the holiday season with some ice skating with friends!

We were so excited!  Jason and I figured that it would be a lot like the time we took the girls last year--a lot of hand-holding, and two parents with sore backs.  We knew they would have buckets for kids at this rink.  Viv had never tried one, but Elena had.  It was terribly unsuccessful, b/c she was on her toes so much in her skates while leaning on a bucket that the skate's toe picks kept her from going anywhere.  Still, the kids had fun.

So we had high hopes this year.  They started to fade a bit when Elena got on the ice and had a terrible time with her footing--sliding everywhere (of course!  it's ice!) while her peers managed to stay upright (at least part of the time).  Elena had a very hard time being upright, no matter how many hands/arms/torso we held (it was a little better with one adult holding one hand on each side).  She started to get a little frustrated.

The Wall was tough

I put her on the buckets and pushed her around for a while.  In the beginning, every child was just focused on staying upright they couldn't notice what was going on around them.  Elena relaxed when she noticed she wasn't the only one having a difficult time skating.  I also had her see how other kids were using the buckets--their feet further away from the bucket, with their legs pretty straight and them bending at the waist to lean on the buckets.  E was ready to try again.

Try Again

Ride and Observe

Viv is enjoying herself

Dad Lets Go

And again and again and again.

YES YOU CAN

Bonus Vivian:  Viv tries to help her classmate T after he falls.  Precious!!!

Everyone LOVED skating--she got to enjoy time with her friends, neighbors, classmates--as did Vivian, who is apparently a natural on skates.  It was a great time, with wonderful people, to celebrate the season, and we're so happy we got the chance to enjoy skating with friends.

Halloween recap (overdue)

Well, I lost track of time and then had a hard time locating my camera--but here it is! Rather than influence the kids' costumes this year, I gave them "free choice". Vivian had a hard time deciding between Spider-Man and a Cheeseburger. Finally she chose Spider-man. As soon as Elena heard that, she decided to be Dr. Octopus (from the 1960s cartoons).

The Inspiration

The Duo

We had a busy Halloween day planned...we were going to a neighborhood party immediately when Jason and I got home from work. It was very cold, but we figured we'd be back home to layer clothing under costumes and then trick-or-treating.

 Well...SURPRISE! We found out on arrival that the party was outside. Still, the kids had a great time running around, getting excited about candy, and seeing neighborhood friends. Then, E and Viv decided to go trick or treating with some friends--starting from the party (at the neighborhood clubhouse). This meant that I left Jason with the car and walked home, since I figured he would do a loop with the kids and then drive back.

SURPRISE AGAIN. I was stunned as Jason kept texting me--the kids were going strong, Elena was doing all the walking, and she had decided to trick-or-treat all the way home. THIS IS A HUGE DEAL. Our neighborhood is extremely hilly, and does not have streetlights or sidewalks. It was cold, the kids were not dressed very warmly, and I'm not even sure Jason had a flashlight (because our original plan was to come home first). Last year, Elena went to maybe 12 houses. It was very cold last year also, and we had agreed she could stay out as long as she was not expecting to get carried. This year, she doubled that, at least. She probably walked about a mile (counting to and from houses along the street), was cold, and ended the night up our hilly street, including going up our front steps, by herself. I was AMAZED! She was happy, very proud of herself, as she and Vivian rung our doorbell to surprise me with their last Trick-or-Treat of the night!

Kayaking Weekend

Last weekend we went to visit our friends, the Andersons.  They invited us to go kayaking!  

Avery and Elena

I'll admit, I was very nervous.  Josephine wasn't worried; she said Avery took right to it, and she thought E would too.  While there are lots of similarities between Avery and Elena, sitting up straight with straight legs out in front--"long sit"--isn't something Elena does well.  I was concerned about 1) tipping out of the kayak--E can right herself in the water with a swim vest, but it might not be as automatic in cold lake water, 2) E's posture resulting in an unsuccessful kayak experience.  I still "engineer success" when I can for Elena, as I strongly believe it is one of the reasons she is excited to try new things.  

The car ride wasn't that bad; the girls read lots of books, and were ready to play with the Andersons when we got there.  All the kids played well together, ate some lunch, and then we went to a park--to "test out" the kayak.

The body of water was a small riverbed (creekbed?), and on that day, the water was maybe 1.5 feet deep.  Avery went first, while Elena and Vivian studied what she did.

The kayak had a "seat back" for back support.  Here is Elena, trying the kayak with a swim vest, her shoes/braces on, and the seat back.

Paddling isn't easy

With this combination, Elena was frustrated.  The seat back was in the way of her elbows when she tried to paddle, as was her swim vest.  Ditching the swim vest really wasn't an option, but we decided to try it in the creek b/c the danger was minimal, and we wanted to see what would happen with her paddling ability.

No vest, with seat back and shoes/braces

When we removed her vest, she still had issues with the seat back.  In this configuration, she couldn't manage to sit up and try paddling without resting against the back support.  So, we removed it--and her shoes/braces.

There she goes!

It's still a challenge for her to sit comfortably in the kayak while paddling--the tone in her legs makes it hard for them to be at rest--but this combination (no shoes/braces, no seat back) seemed to give her the best results.

Bonus Vivian!

Viv's a natural!

Then we were off to the Lake!

Viv and Brogan, buddies on the dock

The Kayak Team (one adult, one child) and the Paddleboat Team (one adult, up to 4 kids) ventured out onto the gorgeous lake.  Avery and Josephine went kayaking first, and I took the kids on the paddleboat while little Oliver stayed with Gabe on the dock.  E even helped propel the paddleboat!

One BIG feature of the Kayak Team was the tow line; the child kayak was tethered to the adult kayak by a thin cord.  This played a HUGE part in our success--the kids got to do the paddling, but ended up staying close to the parents and got the feel of moving around the lake.

Avery and Viv ready for paddleboating

E's ready to try it!

Gabe and Elena

What a view

Mom and Viv

Mom and Viv

Paddlin'

E and G circle the Paddleboat Crew--Ahoy!

Spectacular

It was a PERFECT day to be outside--and I'd have never have tried this on my own.  It was a fantastic experience for all of us--patient instruction, quiet water, beautiful weather, lovely scenery--an amazingly successful adventure!

After we finished up at the lake, we all stopped for dinner at a great local restaurant.  The kids get along  so beautifully...I wish we lived closer (it's a bit of a drive for a day trip).  

Thank you so much Andersons, we had such a great time!  

A DC Playdate

A few weeks back we made a whirlwind trip to DC to visit some friends.  Krista wrote me a message telling me she was closer to our area, and if I'd be interested in meeting her family--especially Hannah, one of her twin daughters who just happens to have CP.  We decided to meet at the Natural History Museum.

I decided to bring nothing but crutches for Elena.  Last time we were in DC we opted for E's wheelchair.  This time, we decided to drive into the city (not taking the Metro) and see how long the girls lasted.  Vivian was going without a nap, so we figured both kids would get tired before too long, and they would get back in the car and head home.

Another reason I wanted E to just try her crutches was to give some inspiration for Hannah; Krista said Hannah wasn't taking to hers too much, and maybe having Elena as an example might help.

It was really fun to meet up in the museum; here we were, some adults and a pile of kids (and E and Hannah take a lot of space).  It was just wonderful to be around other adults that "get it", in terms of mobility challenges and stuff like that.  Hannah, Isabelle, and Sammy are such wonderful company!  The kids took to each other right away--it was just adorable!

The kids' favorite place was the Discovery Room!

Skulls

Budding scientist?

Isabelle and my girls

Birdwatchers

Hannah and E

We ended up breaking for lunch in the lower level cafe.  That was really interesting--mainly b/c E and Hannah have some of the same table postures.  Sometimes I get annoyed at how Elena's hands seem to be in her food, or she's not paying attention to where her hands are, or she's slumping over the table.  I understand that Elena has a low-tone trunk (part of the classic spastic diplegia package), but it was very eye-opening to see Hannah at the table.  Both girls' forearms tend to be "heavy" and rest on the table in some way.  It was actually great--it helped me better understand how low muscle tone affects the usage of upper limbs.


After that we headed to the butterfly room!  All the kids *really* wanted a butterfly to land on them!

Fascinated kids!

They are both running out of steam...but still smiling

The butterflies loved Hannah!

Tired kids (Viv tried to nap on the floor right after this)

HUGE thanks to Krista and her family (including her mom) and to Jason (and the kids) for making this a huge success!