A trip to Pioneer Village

This weekend was a beautiful one and we didn't want to waste it hanging around inside the house.  So we called up our friends and headed out for the Doors Open day.  Doors Open offers free admission and sometimes behind the scenes entrance to different places around town.

On Saturday we visited Fanshawe Pioneer Village, it is very accessible and lots of fun for the kids to explore.  I used it as a photo opportunity and had some fun in the sunshine taking random photos. 

I love all the old buildings, the weathered wood is so beautiful and rustic.  The kids loved checking out all the old machinery and school houses.

 

 

There was a wedding going on in the chapel of the village and they were brought to and from the church by horse and carriage.  It definitely added to the feeling of being in pioneer times.

 

All the kids had fun playing the old school games, Sophie thought the ring toss was great.

 

 

Just a few more weeks and everything will be ablaze in oranges, plums and reds.  It was a wonderful beginning to the fall colours that are on the way.  I hope we have many more days of this warm, beautiful autumn weather to come. 

I Run for my Nana

A couple of weeks ago was the Terry Fox Run held in many, many cities across Canada.  We joined when friends had asked Lucas and us to join them at the run, we knew it would be fun and was obviously a fundraiser for an important cause.  Lucas and his friend ran together and the rest of us basically stayed with whichever children we had to stay with at the speed they could go.  It was a beautiful morning and a big crowd was at the start line.

 

When I was a child, my mom, sister and I rode in the Ladies Great Ride for Cancer many times.  I can still remember doing it and it felt like a great accomplishment as a child to go as far as we did.  I hope that Lucas and Sophie feel like they can make a difference as well.

We decided to do the 5km run/walk/roll.  Lucas ran the whole thing, with his friend, just over 6 km in fact.  Jason and I walked and Sophie rolled the 5km.  We had done a 5km charity run for our church before but it had been a couple years so it was about time we got out to do something like this again.

I don't know where these boys get their energy.  They lapped us easily, not even breathing hard!

Sophie seemed to have a fun time people watching and being in the middle of the action.  Everyone there had smiles on their faces and were running for such an important reason.

 

Lucas and Sophie also joined in at their school Terry Fox run fundraiser last week.  I loved the race card that hung around Sophie's neck.  It counted off the 6 laps around the school that Sophie did but it also showed the real reason that it is so important to fight cancer and survive it.  Someone we love.   We all know someone who's life has been devastated by cancer.   

 

Terry Fox drove home the point that everyone can make a difference towards the fight against cancer no matter how big or how small your contribution.  He is such a strong role model for people with disabilities and for communities across Canada and inevitably the world.

"I want to try the impossible to show that it can be done."  Terry Fox

School days

The usual routine of starting back to school was a bit off this year.  Jason, Lucas and my mom were away for the first 2 weeks of September in Scotland so Lucas missed the first week and a half of school.  Sophie and I were here holding down the fort on our own.

I actually managed to get first day of school photos of Sophie amongst all the rush and anxiety that comes with that first day.  She was excited to see her school nurse that morning whom we hadn't seen all summer.   Sophie was pretty tired but once we were at school she seemed happy, I think it took her a little while to realize that school was back in session.

It was raining that morning so the whole school was in the gym and each child was called by name.  Sophie was pretty excited but I think a bit unsure in there because it was quite loud and overwhelming.  But she was very happy when she headed off to her new class with one of her best friends by her side the whole time.  Three of her very best friends are in her class - yay!

 

So far everything has gone fairly well.  We have one year under our belt of Sophie being in an inclusive classroom and that has helped immensely.  I have become a much stronger advocate for what Sophie needs in the last year and I feel more confident about knowing what is right for Sophie at school. There have been some issues and blips but generally I think we got through the first month fairly unscathed.  Sophie has the same wonderful EA from last year so that has also made a huge difference.  We just had our first team meeting and I think there were some good new ideas that came up and hopefully they will come to fruition.  We are going to start providing opportunities to Sophie to communicate expressively, not just answer to yes no choices.  That is very exciting and something that I have wanted to start doing with her AAC devices.

 

When Lucas arrived home in the second week of school he was very excited to see all his friends and get back into the swing of things.  Lucas loves school and this year he is in the itinerant gifted program.  Children in Ontario are identified as gifted in grade four and can then join the gifted program in grade five.  We are very excited for Lucas to have this extra opportunity for learning at a level more suited for him.  His teacher seems fantastic as does his gifted program teacher.

 

 

Lucas was very excited to show me the kilt that he bought in Scotland. The night he arrived home he let me know of his plan for the next day, to wear his kilt and have his hair all slicked back.  He definitely followed through and I hear the playground was all in a commotion when he arrived.  He sure does have an awesome sense of self and style!

 

Grade 2 and grade 5!!  Amazing!  I am excited to see where this year takes us.

Camp days

This was Sophie's first summer with a few weeks of camp.  We really weren't too sure how one of the camps would go because it is not for children with special needs.  It was simply a regular Y camp that is fully inclusive.  We didn't have many camp choices for Sophie and we have always had great success with the Y camps with Lucas so we figured we would go for it. 

Sophie had a one to one counsellor who was wonderful.  She had no previous experience with feeding tubes and pumps, seizures and the like, but she took on the challenge and was amazing.  The inclusion co-ordinator was on top of everything and I really felt that they were prepared for Sophie to be in the camp.  They did a home visit with us first and I spoke to them on the phone a number of times before her first day.   We were very sad that Sophie had to miss one of the two weeks because that was when she had pneumonia.  It was just plain bad luck but she at least had one full week of fun after.

Sophie made so many friends in this camp and every morning they would be waiting in the hall for her to wheel her in with her counsellor.  Each night Sophie had drawings and bracelets and other goodies that her new friends had made for her through the day.  Sophie had a wonderful time swimming, playing, doing sports, singing and just plain having fun.

Another camp that Sophie attended was a community living camp and again she seemed to have fun.  She was sick for part of the time so didn't get everything out of it that she may have otherwise but the leaders tried their best.

Sophie also did a week of half days at a camp called Gym and swim.  It is for children with physical disabilities and this was her third year of joining in at this camp.  It is a great week for her and her volunteer was fantastic.  She and many others volunteered their time to work one to one with the children participating in the camp.  We are so thankful to these students! 

 

Sophie had a blast playing baseball, soccer, basketball, gymnastics, swimming, doing crafts and singing songs and so much more.  So many people know that Sophie and kids just like her are capable of so much and camps like these give her the opportunity to have fun at summer camp like her brother and so many of her friends.