National Down Syndrome Congress Convention 2010

Orlando, Florida

July 16, 17 and 18

I spent this past weekend driving back and forth to Orlando for the Down Syndrome Convention.  I just signed up for the preconference sessions and the Saturday and Sunday workshops.  I did not attend the banquets, dance and such.  There were so many knowledgeable people gathered in one space at one time that I was torn as to which workshops I would attend.  I wish I could have gone to more.  On Friday, I attended an all day session on speech that was taught by Dr. Libby Kumin.  Friday afternoon I attended a sharing session. They had if set up so that you could be in a room with moms that had kids your kids' age.  It was an opportunity to sit and chat with other moms that are going through some of the same things.  It was one of my favorite things at the conference.  Saturday I attended workshops on inclusion, speech, and teaching children with Ds to read.  My favorite workshop was the reading workshop.  I really bought into the speaker's idea of how to teach reading.....so much so that I bought the program.  I am excited to see how it works with Rachel.  I also picked up a few books and educational games at the exhibition.  

On Saturday, I was able to meet up with some fellow bloggers!  Aimee, from Aimee's Bowl Of Cherries;  Melanie, from The Baeten Family;  Kelli, from Living Life With Es; and I had lunch together.  Despite having to sit outside in the heat it was really neat to get to meet the other moms.  An added bonus was getting to meet Aimee's little girl, Piper.  She is simply adorable!!!  Believe it or not she is cuter in person than she is in pictures!!  I cannot believe none of us took any pictures.  I even had my camera with me just for that occasion and got so wrapped up in talking that I totally forgot about it.  Bummer.  Ladies I really enjoyed the get together.  Thank you, Kelli, for getting us together!     

There were some people at the Orlando conference that go to the conferences every year!  I am glad I went, but I am not sure that I would go again anytime soon.  Maybe as Rachel gets older.  There were lots of things for the older Ds population and their siblings to do that sounded like lots of fun.  It was really neat to be in a place where everyone knew where you were coming from.  I have never seen so many people with Down syndrome before.  It was wonderful to see the young adults being so independent.  It helps me keep in mind that anything is possible for Rachel.  I might have enjoyed seeing all the little ones even more.  There were soooo many little ones there and they were all just so cute!  The Down syndrome world was in Orlando this past weekend, and I am glad to have been able to be a part of it.   

Family Visit

My Dad came down from Alabama July 9th and stayed with us until the 15th.  During his visit, my sister drove over from Tampa with her two girls and spent the weekend with us too.  It was a nice visit.  As always, the cousins had a great time and were as silly as ever.  Sunday, we took the girls ice skating.  I decided it was time for Rachel to try it out, so she got on the ice for her first time.  The rink rents out walkers to the new skaters, and it worked quite well for Rachel.  She had a blast.  I figured she would be done after one lap around the rink, but she stayed on the ice for the whole hour and didn't want to get off went the free skate was over.  We will definitely have to take her back!  Leah and Amelia decided they need the walkers too, so we looked like a bunch of old ladies going around that rink. 

Hannah will be having a birthday on July 22nd, so we had an early celebration while the family was all together.  She will be 10!!  Another kiddo hits the double digits. 

                                                                            

One night we attempted to do a family Wii tournament.  Turns out only Rachel and the grownups were interested in playing.  I am embarrassed to say the the next day I was sore!  It is a lot of work to flap your arms to make the chicken fly......and the boxing was no piece of cake either.  Jane and I went head to head in the boxing ring, and worked out all those pent up frustrations from childhood.

The last night Daddy was here, everyone enjoyed hanging out with him on the couch, even Cookie.  Unfortunately, Rachel went to bed before I remembered to get a picture.

Just before Daddy left, I remembered to get a pic of me and my sister with him.  Too bad I did not plan it when we could have looked better.  I am not liking my new camera, either.  It is 14 mega pixels, yet most pictures come out fuzzy!  It does help conceal my wrinkles though!  Hmmmmmm, maybe fuzzy is not so bad after all!  Wonder why my side of the picture is more fuzzy than my sister's.  Wonder if there is some built in wrinkle detector on this new fangled camera!!   

Summer Haircuts

Last week the girls went in for haircuts.  All the long hair was just getting to be too much to mess with during the swimming season.  Not to mention, it had been a long time, and their hair was looking a little worse for wear.  Alliosn and Rachel got a couple of inches cut off, while Leah just got a trim.  She says she wants to grow hers out as long as Allison was.  We will see how she does with that.  Allison is a little upset with how short her bangs are, but she is loving the shorter hair and it looks so much healthier.  Rachel is loving the fact that it does not take so much work to get all the tangles out in the mornings.  

   

                         

                         

A Charmed Life

Cookie went up to Grandpa's with us for Father's Day.  It was his first trip with us and he did great.  He has a tendancy to mark his territory and he likes to chase cats, so he was not allowed to roam freely around the house.  He did enjoy hanging out on Grandpa's back porch with the family.  Check him out relaxing on the lounge chair! 

Cousins Are Cool Too!

We had a fun time last weekend.  The cousins came over to spend a few days with us.  Nothing is better than having the cousins visit.....at least according to Allison and Leah.  Rachel seems to like having them over too.  She doesn't really play with them when they are here, but she gets excited when we talk about them coming.  It is tiring having five little girls running around the house and always saying they are hungry, but it is nice not to have Allison and Leah complaining about being bored, so in a way it is a break for me too. 

The girls arrived Saturday evening, and they all got into the pool immediately.  They got out for a short time to eat dinner and then were back in until almost 10:00pm.  Rachel does not last that long, but she was in there with them for a while.  Sunday, we packed up and went to the beach.  I cannot believe we have been twice in one month!  We are practically beach bums now.......well, compared to our usual of two trips in a year.  The girls had a great time and I managed to get enough sunblock on them for a change.  When we got home the girls spent another evening in the pool.  Rachel was done with swimming after the beach and would not get into the pool. 

Monday we went to Funtown.  It is a local roller rink that has arcade games, laser tag, and of course, roller skating.  I actually got Rachel some skates for the first time, and let her give it a whorl.  In order for me to be out on the rink with her, I had to wear skates too.  How you are supposed to stay on your feet and hang on to a 6 year old that has no concept of how to skate is beyond me, but I gave and shot and we only went down a few times.  At least I manged to make all the falls happen in slow motion and no one got hurt.  We made it around the rink twice.  It felt like it took us an hour and half to do it, but it was probably more like 10- 15 minutes.  It nearly killed my legs, arms and back and I am still a little sore today.  When we got home the girls spent another

Tuesday, we just hung out around the house, and my sister arrived around 3:00pm to pick up her girls.  After three days, I think they were all glad to get a break from one another.  They would never admit that they have had enough of each other, but we had some pretty grouchy girls for most of Tuesday.  They will get a break from each other for about and week, then the cousins are back over for another weekend visit when my Dad comes down from Alabama for a few days.  We are all looking forward to that....no really, we are!