Field Day and Horses

I know I say it all the time, but we are so thankful for the kids' schools and teachers.  Ian's class does amazing stuff all year long that give him fantastic opportunities.  In May, he was able to participate in Field Day with all the area schools and his class also did several days of horseback riding. 

Here is part of his class as at the opening ceremony for Field Day:

Let the games begin!  Everyone had a balloon to release.

Watching the balloons fly!

Ian participated in the Bike Race.  Do you think he enjoyed it? (That is his para, Miss Becky, who is a huge help and support for him!)

 Go Ian, Go!!!

It's been 2 years since Ian has been on a horse and he's gotten so much stronger in that time! 

Of course, he LOVED riding horses......but, there isn't much that Ian doesn't love.  :-)

He even got to go on a trail ride, instead of staying in the arena.

We are blessed to have people in Ian's life (besides family) that want to see him reach his potential and love him in the process! 

Camp WACK - Year 2

On Tuesday, Ian had the opportunity to attend Camp WACK again this year.  I'm sure I said the same thing last year but it is certainly worth repeating.  What an awesome activity for kids with disabilities who will never be able to ski like the rest of us.  Ian eats it up!  The folks who founded and run the camp are amazing and the number of volunteers that it takes is phenomenal.  There are people who donate their boats, time and gas, people who give up vacation days to help get these kids in and out of the water, fitted for life jackets and skis, ride jet skis alongside, take pictures, man the activities, etc. Organizations donate lunch and make it possible to have many other fun activities while the participants wait or for siblings.  I could go on and on but the pictures tell it all.....

Here is the ham bone getting ready for take off

Telling the boat driver to "go!" 

Not a great picture, but it shows how they rig these things up for kids like Ian and the jet ski that isn't far away in case he tips over

Coming into the dock after his first "run"

 After they pulled him out of the water

Everyone receives a "medal" which was a sheriff necklace this year (western theme.)

Because Ian has grown so much and is so long, they had trouble getting him to stay in the chair when they took off.  He kept popping out (which he loved, by the way, while mom was having a coronary!)  They worked and worked until they had him safely in the seat (notice all the extra padding to keep him in.)  The staff goes above and beyond to make sure that the kids have a fun and safe day of "skiing."  We are just humbled that so many people go to so much trouble for Ian and the others to have FUN!!!  Thank you CAMP WACK!  You're all AWESOME!!!!

July "4th" MM-DD Reunion (on July 7th)

Last weekend, we headed to Falls of Rough, KY for the annual Mom-mom and Dad-dad reunion.  It was great to see part of the family and especially the little girls.  Olivia and Brenna loved being on the boat together, sharing.....

 goldfish and....

 kisses!

Two handsome men

 Brenna helping Dad-dad drive the boat

 Beautiful Olivia

 Adorable Brenna

 She would have stayed in the lake all day long!

 And yet another handsome face!

 Felicia getting some kisses from Momma

Mom-mom entertaining Felicia....or is it the other way around? 

Felicia and her daddy

 

 Brenna zooming cars to Uncle Ian

 Olivia waiting for a movie to begin

 The kids got really tired of watching tennis so Dad-dad set them up with a small dvd player to watch Shrek.

Cute cousins!

Home-made ice cream is a staple at these events and this year was no exception.  7 freezers of the best ice cream you've ever tasted awaited - peach, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, banana and I don't even know what else.  So many flavors and not enough time to eat them all but we gave it our best shot!

Thank you, Mom-mom and Dad-dad for a fun weekend!!

Summer Vacation

The day after school was out, we packed up and headed to Memphis to visit Olivia and her parents.  We had a blast and even though it was in the upper 90's, we braved the heat and had Olivia show us her zoo.  Memphis has a great zoo and we love going there!

Here she is introducing her favorite donkey:

 Love those curls!

 Ian and Dad at the farm

 Beautiful Girl

 Lindsay and Troy are blessed with some amazing neighbors who were so kind to let us enjoy their pool every day that we were there.  Thank you so much, Henry and Patsy!!!

I'm sure Olivia is telling Lucas what to do:

 No one loves the water more than Ian.  He loves to be thrown but with his added height, it's getting more and more difficult to launch him very far, so Tom decided to see if he wanted to go off the diving board.  Dumb question.  Of course he wanted to....as many times as Dad could lug him out of the water and onto and off of the board.  He LOVED it!!!

 Another amazing Memphis attraction is the Botanic Gardens.  I've only seen a smidgon of the gardens but they have several acres dedicated to children, called My Big Back Yard and it's awesome!  This is Lucas on the bridge from the tree house to the slide.

 One of my favorites is these boards that fit together like lincoln logs.

 An outdoor marimba

 Giant worm tunnels

 Several adorable themed play houses.  Olivia loved the doors.

 Chimes to bang on

 Who is that cool dude in the boat?

 Olivia wading in the "river"

 Jeremy also in the river

 Lucas' feeding fish and geese

 Another day in the pool....

 Olivia never goes to the pool without hairbows that match her swim suits!

Thank you Lindsay, Troy and Olivia for letting us crash and for spending time with us!