Back to school - 6th grade

Michael starts back to school in a couple of days. I think he's getting excited about it…as far as we can tell anyway. A few days ago, I saw one of the buses pass by our house timing the new routes. Michael saw it too and scooted so fast to the front door just as the bus turned down another street. He was so upset that the bus left without him. He started banging on the window and throwing a fit…like, "hey, you forgot me!" Poor kiddo. I hope he's that happy to see the bus when it's here to really pick him up (he wasn't).

I am so fortunate that Grandma Carole does the school clothes shopping for Michael, because you all know that I am NOT a shopper (thank you, thank you Carole). She usually buys a few outfits for each grandkid starting back to school, but this year we told her Michael only needed 1-2 pairs of jeans and a pair of athletic pants…he was good with everything else.

And this is what ended up in her shopping bag (because she's magic and finds the most amazing deals):

Michael is so lucky she doesn't listen to me (hahaha)!!!  :) Because of her, Michael is going to be sporting some serious style this school year. Gma has great skills in putting together adorable outfits. 

Would the outfits still be called "adorable" if they're for a 12 year old boy? Wait…would I even use the word "outfit"? Gary said girls have "outfits"…I guess boys have "a set of clothes that happen to match". Either way, Michael's definitely gonna be one hip little dude.

Michael's Zoo Birthday

We have a wonderful aunt, well, we have LOTS of wonderful aunts…AND uncles, but we have one aunt that works for the Columbus Zoo (Hi Suzi!!). She has always been gracious enough to invite us to her office occasionally so we can do Behind the Scenes stuff with their promotional animals…you know the ones - the animals that tour with Jack Hannah and make the rounds on the various TV shows like GMA and David Letterman.

She even hosted my bridal shower, and a few years, later my baby shower, at the zoo with adorable animals for everyone to see and hold…yeah, she rocks like that. Anyway, I asked her if we could do something with the animals for Michael's birthday at his school. I chose to have it at his school for a few reasons, with the main one being so I don't have to clean the house (hahaha!!). But also because most of his classmates are all special needs and our house (even with Michael having special needs) is not handicapped accessible. Plus, I don't think we'd have enough room for 20+ kids and their parents and the animals.

Shannon with a baby kangaroo and Whitney with a fennec fox (M just wanted to hug Whitney!)

Michael's BFF (Keith) was able to attend as a special guest…he got to hold the baby kangaroo!

Shannon with an armadillo and baby lynx

What I didn't realize was all the extra steps it took to have it at the school (asking permission from the administration, the superintendent, and signed permission slips from all the parents), but it all worked out great in the end.

Aunt Suzi ended up not being able to attend, but she sent two of the most wonderful and caring gals to do the presentations. Shannon and Whitney were fabulous! They were amazing with the kids and there were lots of smiles on their faces. The girls were so good and patient with how they interacted with the kids and answered all of their questions. If you ever get an opportunity or chance to book the zoo's program, I highly recommend it!

After the party at school, we celebrated at home with Grandma Kita. We had cake with a Buzz Lightyear candle (from Gma Carole) and lots of hugs and kisses.  :)

Me, Michael & Michael squeezing Gary's neck (hahaha); Michael and Grandma Kita

Skiing 2012

Although the calendar says it's winter, we've been very fortunate to be having a mild one this year. Luckily (for Michael), there is snow at Mad River Mountain where Michael participates in adaptive skiing.

He LOVES it! He signs "please more go bye" almost every time he swooshes past us. At times, we noticed that he's leaning forward in the sit-ski trying to make it go faster, the speed demon.

Here's video of how they get him on the lift. They leave him strapped into the sit-ski and then lift him onto the seat and attach the tether and lock him onto the back of the lift.

We signed Michael up for Friday and Saturday sessions, so even Grandma Kita was able to see him ski this year (and we got to watch her race)!

This year, the volunteers advanced him to an even bigger hill and he is enjoying it immensely! We can hear him on the lift making excited noises and sometimes hear him coming down the hill.

We are so glad to have this wonderful program (minus the freezing cold part-brrr!) so close to our house. Last weekend, they had an extra lift ticket because a student didn't show up. So they gave the ticket to us and Gary skied for the first time ever. Of course, I didn't have my camera to capture it all (dang it!)...but he did amazing and even came down the hill with Michael once.  :)

Florida, Pre-Day 1

Florida, Day 1 Pre-Day 1

Well, let me back up a day to Wednesday, the day before vacation. It started off full of hope and excitement, but ended up pretty crappy...literally. Gary and I dropped off Arty to be kenneled on the way to drop off Gary at the airport for his flight to Florida. He was going to drive down with his dad and the boat, but his dad left a week early and Gary couldn’t leave with him because of work. So Gary bought a one way ticket to FL for later in the week (he’ll help drive on the way back).  Anyway, I drop off Gary at the airport and start to head back so that I’m home before the boy gets off the bus (it’s almost an hour drive from the airport to our house).  About 15-20 minutes into my drive, I get a phone call from Gary...his flight is delayed by an hour. Oh geez, had we known, we could’ve stopped and had a nice leisurely lunch together (a rarity, for sure). Nothing we can do about it now. Sigh. I make it home in time to mow, get the boy off the bus and continue mowing while he plays in his rock pit (that makes for a happy boy). During that time, I get another call from Gary...his flight is delayed even longer by 3 hours. So instead of arriving in Florida at 3:30, he’s now landing at 6:15pm. That makes for a long day of travel considering I dropped him off at noon. I always try to look at the positives and while this sure sucked for Gary, it could’ve been worse if Michael were with him or if it happened to Carole and I the very next day.

Gary’s bad luck mojo left him after he landed and it came to visit me that evening. After dinner, it was time for the Michael’s bath. He always plays with his water toys after getting shampooed and soapy. That’s the stage he was in, the playing part, when I received a text from Gary asking me to find something off of the desk. Michael is usually fine in the tub for me to be able to do quick tasks, like make his bed which is right across the hall from the bathroom, with me popping my head back in to make sure he’s fine (yes he’s 11, but he has special needs and the fear of him having a seizure and drowning make me a bit protective). So I figure I have enough time to run down 7 steps, check the desk and then make it back to the bathroom without anything happening. 

Well, let this be a warning to all parents to never leave your child unattended. 

Apparently, it was enough time for Michael to drop a deuce....in the tub. No, no, no! This isn’t happening. This was not part of my completely planned out scheduled evening that included something along the lines of getting the boy to bed on time, painting my toes and maybe having a glass of wine. Crap, in the literal sense, has ruined our evening. I say “our” evening because I had to give the boy a shower in the other bathroom to clean him up before I could even tackle his bathtub. He HATES taking a shower and it was torture for both of us. Poor kiddo. 

You know I usually include a picture with each blog post, but I didn’t think you’d want to see a tub full of poop.  You’re welcome.

The only bright side to all of this, was that we were headed to warm and sunny Florida the very next day. Oh yeah, did I mention that the weather we were having in Ohio was 50 degrees and rain for almost the entire 2 weeks leading up to our vacation? And that the weather in Ohio was going to be upper 70s and mid-80s and beautifully sunny the ENTIRE time we were gone? Oh, and the weather forecast for Florida, the Sunshine State, was possible rain, rain, and thunderstorms for every. single. day. of our vacation. 

It made me almost not want to leave. Almost.

1st day of school (2011-2012, 5th grade!)

The boy has been back to school for almost 4 weeks now. We've adjusted to the earlier hours...well, mostly adjusted...6am comes awful quick when you've had a summer of 9am's (and even a few 10am's).  Michael is in 5th grade, which is a new building in our district. We were concerned with how he would adjust to all of the changes and our concerns were unwarranted because he is doing fabulous!!

First day of school:  cold and tired in the morning.  Happy in the afternoon.   :)

He seems to really enjoy the new routine, teachers, school and his new classmates. The first 2 days were filled with such sad tears, but by the 3rd day the tears had tapered off and he only cried during Art (which broke my little artist heart...and Gary laughed at the school note because he said art class would make him cry too).

Unbelievably, he's even met one of his IEP goals already (hold a container with one hand while putting an object in the container with the other hand)! This is a big relief considering last year we were thinking of pulling him out of school and we were researching what options he had (let me tell you, there weren't many).

I am beyond thrilled (and relieved) that the school year is starting off so well for him and it's just what he needs (and us too)!  Yea!

father's day 2011

We went to Gary's parent's house to celebrate Father's Day.  Gary and his dad spent the morning golfing...which isn't really a special Father's Day treat, because that's what he does every weekend (as well as Monday and Wednesday evenings and sometimes Friday afternoons).

But the real treat was instead of grabbing a cold turkey sandwich or leftovers from the night before, we (meaning Carole did all the work, while I kept her company and we chatted away) prepared a feast of the boys' most favorite foods:  grilled chicken (for his dad) and ribs (G's favorite), homemade mac & cheese, grilled asparagus, baked potatoes, salad, homemade cherry pie (G's dad) and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.  BTW, we totally have to wear pants with elastic waistbands whenever Carole puts together one of her amazing feasts.  Just keepin' it real.

G's sister started to put the meat on the grill, but Gary took over from there because he IS the grillmaster.  He has a knack for knowing exactly when to take food off the grill precisely when it's done and not a second longer.  Juicy and moist.  Did I just use juicy and my husband in the same sentence? Is it getting warm in here?

Anyway, after filling our bellies and sitting around chatting, the games came out.  We are a game family. At every family get-together we play games... real sit-down-around-the-table games.  In fact, we host a family game night every Friday all summer long.  This time, a few games of Canasta were played (Carole, Tina and Gary), along with Sequence (Richard, Carole, Dillon, Ashley, Tina and myself) and Rocks (Michael).  We also watched Rory McElroy win the US Open too.  Michael loves to watch golf, so the big boys suffered through watching it with him.  Huge sacrifice on their part.  NOT.   :)

 Happy Father's Day to Gary, Richard and my dad....big hugs to you all!

medical stuff

Sorry to be so few and far between with posting updates around here.  We're dealing with a lot of medical issues for the boy and some tough decisions....like being able to (possibly) surgically remove the spot in Michael's brain that causes his awful seizures, but removing that part of his brain has a risk of potentially making him blind.  Oy vey...we also have a lot of hurry up and wait appointments as well to deal with his tethered spinal cord and decreased walking, knees continually dislocating when his legs are straightened and other possible surgeries to address those issues as well.  In addition to our daily routine of Conductive Education, speech therapy, independent life-skills (like self-feeding, dressing, bathing, etc.), and still trying to have fun and ENJOY life...which we are totally doing too.  Really!  :)

So while doing some research on the seizure surgery, I ran across this presentation that really caught our attention.  There are two topics that he touches on (one he barely discusses), but we were able to key in on right away.  The first is that seizures could be reduced/stopped non-surgically.  The second, is that those with learning disabilities can increase their learning....through neural prosthetics.  So cool.

Here is the cliff note version if you don't want to watch the video:


Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he's managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural prosthetics. At the MIT Media Lab, Ed Boyden leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which invents technologies to reveal how cognition and emotion arise from brain networks -- and to enable systematic repair of disorders such as epilepsy and PTSD.

http://www.ted.com/speakers/ed_boyden.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/ed_boyden.html

Impressive stuff to say the least.  Now...off to search the net for clinical studies for this new breakthrough.   :)

birthday boy

Eleven years ago today, the most beautiful little boy came into our lives and is bringing us complete joy and laughter, along with the biggest, sweetest hugs ever!

Because he still enjoys Toy Story, we went with TS for his birthday theme: plates, napkins, games to play and goodies for the kids. 

I even went so far as to make little alien cupcakes....which turned out laughably pathetic (not surprising since I have a 50% success rate on homemade birthday treats).  Not exactly what I was going for, but at least the kids seemed to like them.  Except Michael.  He liked the Buzz & Woody plates better.  :)  

My homemade alien cupcakes vs. disney family.go alien cupcakes...can you tell which is which??  hahaha!!

At his school party, we played Toy Story bingo and Michael won (legitimately too)!

Then Michael hung out with his dear friend Rebekah ("hey Michael's mom, take my picture").  At the end of the day, she helped him get his coat on, hood on and zipped up.  She even made sure he was buckled in his chair.  These two are so cute together....lots of hugging and we even caught them trying to kiss (Michael kisses with his forehead, so we figure it's all good, right?).

This was his last birthday party at school.  He is scheduled to move on to intermediate school (5th/6th grade school) next year.  I'm thinking they don't have a lot of moms and dads doing the school birthday thing at that age.  As if.  {insert preteen eye roll here}

swimming

Evidently, Michael's little aliens from Toy Story wanted to go swimming this morning.

So glad I cleaned the pool before it opened up for the season.

Whew....what we've been up to this winter

My poor, poor neglected little blog.  {sigh}  I don't mean to ignore you blog or my wonderful family and friends that read about our little life here.  I've just been busy.  Non-stop busy.  Like my head is going to explode with so much going on that it makes-me-want-to-shut-down kind of busy.  It also makes me want to throw away all the clutter, toys, filing/papers, excess clothes...everything, and start fresh. Spring kind of does that to me (you too?)....I always feel so restless and full of cabin fever when winter is almost over (or SHOULD be over!).


I'll do some more bullets to catch the blog up through winter:

• Skiing:  Michael + snow + speed + outside = LOVE.

(if you want, you can turn off the music at the very bottom)

• Painting:  in-laws basement (done).
• Painting:  our kitchen, living room, stairs/hall, and family room (starting in a week or two).
• Tiling: our new kitchen backsplash (working on it at this moment).
• Photography business:  blog, website, portfolio building, lots of schtuff going on in this area (on-going).
• Conductive Education:  special Hungarian therapy for Michael (on-going...except on hold now because of a knee injury).
• Playing:  Michael playing and enjoying his company.

• School:  Michael not doing well in school, plus lots of disappointing things in this area.
• Laundry:  my never-ending nemesis.
• Birthday:  planning a little Toy Story birthday party for Michael (in about 3 weeks).
• Doctors:  see below.  In addition, we're also taking Michael to a specialist at Cincinnati Children's for a 2nd opinion about his knee (it dislocates when his leg is straight) and spine (tethered spinal cord) and scoliosis and possible bone deformities throughout (also in 3 weeks).

Other news and goings on around here.
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Just after Valentine's Day, Michael had a seizure at 9pm while eating yogurt and it aspirated into his lungs. We called 911 and got him to the ER.  He was released from the hospital at midnight, only for Michael to have a 2nd seizure and stop breathing for 20-30 seconds around 3am (as you can imagine - it was THE scariest thing EVER and we've had some scary stuff here!). Called 911 again and the squad took us back to hospital, then Children's Hospital picked him up from Memorial Hospital and transported Michael to Children's in Columbus (Memorial Hosp is about 45 mins away from Children's). Children's admitted him while he fought aspiration pneumonia. He received antibiotics by IV and stayed in the hospital for 5 days.


He's finished with antibiotics and we did a follow up xray 2 weeks ago to make sure the aspiration pneumonia is gone (all CLEAR!). He's acting fine and we're starting to get back into our "normal" routine (whatever the heck that is!!).


He's definitely more resilient than us...that's for sure!  :)


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So 3 days after Michael is home from the hospital, I'm changing a poopy diaper and notice that part of his poop looked weird, so I took a closer look (eewww completely gross, I know).  But what the heck?  Is that... a worm?  OMG!  It's not a worm...it's....it's....a BABY WIPE!  Are you kidding me?!?  He pooped out a 5" long piece of baby wipe!  The previous night I had changed his diaper and he grabbed a wipe from the container.  Not a big deal....he's a "shredder", he likes to shred wipes, tissues, paper, whatever.  But lately, he has been chewing on his shirt collar and the corners of pillows.  He never, never, ever puts smaller things in his mouth...like food or toys.  So I totally didn't think about the baby wipe thing.  This so could've turned out awful:  like choking on it or having a bowel obstruction.  Guess he's in a chewy pre-toddler stage now.  We have been warned!


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Okay, I don't mean to carry on and on about poop, but 2 days after he turned into a wipe dispenser, I was on the phone with someone, maybe my dad, and I smell Michael "making me a present".  I tell my dad I have to hang up, that I have to change Michael's diaper.  I go downstairs to find that I don't have to change his diaper after all.  That's because Michael pulled down his pants AND his diaper before doing his business on the family room floor.    NOOooooo!!!!  Oh yes. he. did.


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bullets

What we've been doing lately, aside from slacking on this poor little 'ole blog, in bullet form:

I am in love with Michael's new kicks!

• Doctor's appointments for the boy - MRIs, x-rays, neurologists, orthotics, physical medicine, pediatrician, neurosurgeon, dentist....you name it, we've probably seen a doctor for it in the last 2 months.  And there's 4-5 more appointments to go before Thanksgiving.
• Insurance...and all the paperwork and headaches that go with them not paying what they should and trying to come up with the money for what they don't cover.
• School and all that goes with it.

We heard Michael sneak out of his room after bedtime and we found him reading a comic book (The Simpson) at the top of the stairs with his partner in crime.

• Conductive Education, a unique therapy-like program from Hungary that Michael has been participating in during the summer and after school.  We're thinking of signing him up for their 5-week/4 hours a day program starting in January...but have to figure out how to get him out of school without penalizing him.  We're also applying for a grant to help fund his therapy.  It's $1,200-$1,700 per session depending on the session type and the hours in that session...and our insurance company doesn't cover this program (nor does any other insurance company in the US).
• Continuing to have Michael self-feed...he's getting better at it, but we have to keep an eye on him because sometimes he'll feed the top of his head or the dog.
• I'm starting a photography business...so I'm testing the waters with my tippy toes by doing some portfolio building.  Getting my business plan and marketing and websites/social media up and running.
• I was able to attend one of my nephew's football games, finally (usually Gary goes to the games and I stay home with Michael, but the last game of the season was free and we thought we'd try it as a family).  Michael would have liked it more without the announcer (not sure what it is about the loudspeaker voices, but they really upset him).  He did great otherwise and loved to cheer and clap.  

That's our nephew with the fumble-recovering-game-winning play, in OT no less!!  Go Dillon!!

• Attempting to keep the house clean...or at least making sure we have food and clean underwear. 
• Michael's name/number came up for our state/county's waiver program that will help with medical bills, so we've started the application process...it takes about 3 months to complete and become officially approved.  We're just starting the 2nd month - hoping for a January start date.
• Volunteer work with the Care Train (an organization that raises money and provides toys and food vouchers for needy local families at Christmas).  I'm on the auction team, so I solicit businesses for donations of goods and services and money.  This year was a record breaker:  we raised over $150,000 for our community....we love our hometown (except for the cold weather!)
• Volunteer work with Brighter Beginnings, where Michael receives Conductive Education.  I helped redesign their website and they've asked me to join their Board of Directors.  It is my hope to help make a difference for Michael and all the kids.
• Halloween was a success for Michael.  He stayed out and watched the kids trick-or-treat for almost an hour - his longest yet.  He cheered for the Buzzes, Woodys, and princesses.  :)  He was dressed as an astronaut.

• Working on cleaning closets, going through clothes & toys, trying to get rid of stuff before we're trapped inside with tons of crap all winter long....and suffocating.
• In between all the craziness, we went to Florida for vacation.  It was nice and we had great weather.  Lots of time for Michael to play in the sand and the water.  It was relaxing, but it took a TON of work to make it happen, if that makes any sense.  You know I'll blog more about this later, with lots of pictures.

Yes, he buried himself in the sand...

...and he had a GREAT time doing it!

Hopefully, I'll be back sooner rather than later to share more stories.  

Michael's summer "school"

What we wanted Michael to learn over the summer:

• toilet training
• self-feeding
• more walking
• learning numbers through 100 (or even 150)
• time (like 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, etc.)

What Michael has actually learned:

• how to be a diaper houdini (he can take his diaper off, but still leave his shorts on)
• how to be "naked boy" (he can take off his diapers AND shorts AND shirt AND socks...and he can almost get his shoes and AFOs off)
• how to open up his bedroom door (to escape a 'time out' or when he doesn't want to go to sleep)
• how to open up the door to the garage and escape to outside (I was mowing the backyard, came down the side yard to the front and found M in the front yard about 15-20 scoots away from the street-yikes!!  He was quite proud and very happy with himself.)
• how to open the fridge and get his sippy cup
• how to open up the basement door, turn on the light, turn on the tv, and watch whatever HE wants to watch
• how to find the computer keyboards, no matter where we hide them, and run off with them (usually to the stairs)
• he knows his numbers 1-36 and the number 100 (because I sometimes tell him that he can be all done on the toilet when I finish counting to 100...so as soon as I start counting, he immediately points to 100 and signs "all done")
• he also knows the numbers 26 and 62 because one number is the weather channel and the other number is the golf channel
• he knows how to stay up late and loves to sleep in late (he's never been a morning person)
• he knows how to feed himself - but only the foods he likes (applesauce and any green veggie, but is expanding on this)
• he is getting better at feeding himself and is not as messy
• he is learning how to wipe his face with a napkin after eating
• he can drink from a 2-handled open cup (with gentle reminders to not let go until the cup is back on the table)
• he knows how to turn and direct his non-swivel wheeled walker on smooth surfaces when there are objects in the way (he pushes my hand off his walker and tells ME to go-hahaha!!)

• he knows how to put his socks on, if we get them started over his toes
• he took 10-15 independent steps over the summer (down from more than 50 steps over the last couple of years, but better than the 5 or so he has been doing---but we learned from a recent MRI why his walking has decreased--he has a tethered spinal cord which will probably be surgically "released" or untethered later this fall)
• he knows when he's doing a task that he doesn't want to do, that if he signals he has to go potty, he'll probably get out of the task (for a little while) to go "play" in the bathroom, because as soon as I sit him on the toilet, he tells me he's all done.....and when I don't take him to the bathroom he usually really has to go (we can't win here)
• he knows how to ask for a movie like Shrek or Toy Story and as soon as we turn our backs, he changes the tv to the golf channel or world series of poker....and when we come back into the room, he changes it back to the movie (pretty slick boy, but we're on to you)

So, he's really acquired a whole bunch of skills over the summer!  Not necessarily the ones we envisioned, but progress none the less.  Here's to a great school year! 

(waiting on the bus....and the only one excited to be up early is the dog)

I might get stuff accomplished during the day now!!  Off to attack my To Do list - go me!

snow skiing....in July

Yes.  I said snow in July.  You see, I'm still trying to catch up on blog posts and I have one more winter post to write about:  Michael snow skiing for the first time.  I'd like to think I saved this cold and snowy and bundled up post on purpose....to be written on a 95 degree hot and humid day in July to make us appreciate the differences between the two seasons.  But I didn't.  I just never got around to posting it.  We were just too darn busy and then days turned into weeks, which turned into months.  And now it's July and I couldn't not share a picture though...even if it is summer now.

I found this organization called TAASC (The Adaptive Adventure Sports Coalition) and they are a wonderful group of skilled volunteers that provide adaptive adventure sport and recreational opportunities for individuals with disabilities.  They teach people how to ski (snow and water), kayak, mountain bike, and play sled hockey...and a whole host of other adventurous things.

We have a lot of snow skiers in our family.  My sister, my b-i-l, G's brother, aunts and uncles and cousins....heck, even my mom did ski patrol for years and she's on a local race team where she consistently brings home 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place individual medals for super fast skiing, as well as skiing in France, Canada and all over the US.  Sooooo, we thought the boy should experience the slopes.

First thing was to get fitted in a bi-ski and get buckled in nice and tight.  Then off to the bunny hill to practice turning.  The volunteer (also named Gary) positioned me and G on either side of the slope and then had Michael practice leaning towards mom and dad to make those turns.  Another volunteer (Brandon) placed baby snowballs in Michael's lap and had M throw them to build up strength and accuracy in his arms, in addition to practicing left and right hand activities (this will help him later when they add the arm skis...which we didn't get to this year).

After a few trips down the bunny hill, Michael was getting a little bored.  Volunteer Gary asked if he could take him on a bigger hill and knowing that Michael loved all things fast, we said yes.

I was a little concerned how he was going to ride the ski lift while fitted in the bi-ski, but they slowed the lift down and they attached the bi-ski to the lift with a carabiner, as well as held on to Michael.  Whew, that was a little scary for me to watch.

The result of the big hill:  he LOVED it!  We could HEAR him "talking" coming down the hill and once he got to the bottom where we were, he signed "more" "go" and "bye" to us.  So funny!!

Michael enjoyed it so much that we took him back probably 5 more times.  I guess that means that Gary and I are going to have to learn how to ski now just to keep up with the boy!!!  So much for our plans to move to warmer climes.

spring break: a couple days in Michigan

We (G, me and M) were thinking of heading to Florida for Michael's spring break this year, but Gary had training at work that he couldn't miss.  I had a little bit of cabin fever, so I planned a little excursion to Michigan (the Northern Woods, as the locals call it) to visit my great aunt and uncle, Sarah Catherine and Charles (whom she fondly calls "Oppy").  I had not seen them in almost 20 years and they had only seen pictures of Michael.  I planned on taking the boy along thinking he might enjoy the trip, but I couldn't do the trip without help.  My dad has been doing lots of traveling, visiting friends and relatives that he was unable to see while caring for his wife Margi for almost 10 years.  So, I asked my dad to join us and he readily agreed!

We drove the 7 hours on a rare, beautifully sunshiny Wednesday at the end of March.  We got to our hotel, East Bay Lodge on Houghton Lake, around 7pm, ordered a pizza from Buccilli's Pizza (voted people's choice awards for the last 6 years, and it was very GOOD), shopped for breakfast foods that the hotel owner said he'd cook up for us the next day (are you kidding me??  What kind of hotel offers that kind of service with such a LOW room rate [$34/night]?!).

The hotel itself was old and creaky, but it was also a very laid back, comfortable place...perfect for us.  The view was outstanding.

Michael did great during the 7-hour drive, but I was completely surprised that he didn't fall asleep until after midnight.  He was so excited and bouncing on the bed...lots of energy that was bottled up during the car ride.  Oy vey, was I tired the next morning.

We met with Sarah and Oppy in the morning (an hour late because of the sleep issue I just mentioned) and had a lovely visit.  Michael was getting a little fidgety (okay, he was VERY restless), so we left and took him on a hike at a nearby park called, Marguerite Gahagan Nature Preserve.  The parking lot to the preserve was completely empty except for the 4-5 used condoms by the trail entrance.  OMG--eeewww (we didn't have the heart/nerve to tell the Oppy's about it...but other than that, it was a lovely walk)!  We didn't stay there long; only to do a quick loop around the shortest trail.  We drove back to our hotel to eat a quick lunch and to change Michael.  He seemed to do much better once we were on the move again.

We went back to the Oppy's and they had a private dining room set up for dinner.  Their daughter-in-law, (Mary Jo) and her two kids (Rachael and Nathan) joined us for dinner.  Great conversation, lots of reminiscing, and we really enjoyed meeting them.

Lots of talking and storytelling going on...

Took pictures of pictures-which seemed so wrong, but I didn't have a scanner and wanted to capture them somehow.  

After dinner, Mary-Jo had us follow her to Higgins Lake so we could talk some more and Michael could get out and explore.  To heck with the swings at the sandy park, he headed straight to the water...of course.  I was a little worried about how cold the water would be because the last of the lake ice just melted the day before.  Luckily, with the sunshine and the shallow area of the lake we were at, it actually wasn't that bad.  He had a blast playing in the sand and splashing in the water, while us adults had a good time talking.

After we left Higgins Lake, we drove back to our hotel and I was able to capture the sunset on Houghton Lake.  The boys waited in the car patiently.

The boy went to sleep at a decent time the 2nd night, so I was able to relax a bit with my dad and get some shut-eye myself, but I woke up at 1:00 am to some guy chopping wood DIRECTLY outside my open window. Are you kidding me?!?!  Who does that??  Apparently, the owners and all their friends were getting ready for the dog trials/camping that started the next afternoon...but still...at 1:00am?!?!

I made breakfast in their kitchen (the hotel owners left and we were the only ones left at the place...that's how laid back it was), while my dad did his best to entertain Michael.  We then headed back to Sarah and Oppy's to visit one last time before hitting the road. (I wish I had set my f/stop correctly so we could all be in focus, but I'll blame it on being in a hurry and not paying attention.)

On the way home, we stopped by Frankenmuth ("Michigan's Little Bavaria").  I'd heard great things about this little town and couldn't wait to see what it looked like.  It's been described to me as visiting Germany without leaving the country.  Since I was born in Germany but left before I was a year old, I really wanted to check this place out.

My dad had talked and talked about this famous chicken that I just HAD to try.  Well, we get to the restaurant and my dad says he'd rather eat at McDonald's (like he requested for most of the trip - he really likes their coffee).

My guess is that the restaurant was so good because of the great memories he had with Margi (my step-mom) and he decided to keep those memories rather than make new ones.  And that's okay with me.  She was sick for almost half of their 23 year marriage, so he doesn't have a lot of happy memories at the end.....he can keep this good memory for himself.  Plus, it's sometimes a crap shoot eating out with Michael.

This sign says, "Saying hello brings happiness in", or something like that.

The drive back home was pleasant and uneventful, except for the blasted seizure Michael had at a rest stop in Bowling Green.  It was nice to spend some time with my dad and especially cool to watch my dad and Michael together.  My dad loves to make silly faces and crazy sounds...and Michael enjoys it to say the least!

Here is Michael waiting in anticipation for something crazy from grandpa Jimmy....he knows it's gonna be funny.

Michael really, really had fun with him...because my dad is quite a goofy character!  :)  And apparently, being goofy runs in the family.