SMA camp

Ok, so this uploading video thing is apparently way beyond my grasp. I can never do it! I even tried to learn how to upload something on YouTube and can't figure that out either. No Justin Beiber life for me .... geesh!!

What can I say about SMA family camp??? It was worth the 13 hour drive with 2 toddlers. It was nice that my mom and sister could experience it with us. We had more fun than we can express, in fact Evan thought we should still be at SMA camp for about two weeks later than it actually went on. Here is a quick synopsis of our experience at SMA family camp 2011.

All the kids in wheelchairs pulled around all the kids (and some of us grown up kids) on rolling boards behind their chairs. One time Evan purposely made a tight, fast spin, which sent me flying across the room. This, of course, made him (and all the other kids) laugh hysterically.

We roasted marshmallows, but did not make them "poop" (much to Evan's dismay) It was a propane fire and Evan was quite disappointed he wasn't aloud to burn anything he wanted to his hearts content.

We competed in the annual obstacle course. I am proud to say that after two years of practice I walked away with the first place prize in the mother category!!!!! Yes that is right ... I'm awesome!!!! Alycia took first place in the family category, and Mom did well, but I can't remember what place she brought home. Evan got third out of the junior boys and you should have seen how proud he was while accepting his award. (Mama was proud too)

The playground here is accessible!!!!!!!!!!!!! Need I say more?

The weather could have been better at the beginning of camp. If the weather was nice we ate outside. If it was crappy we ate inside. The weather was PERFECT the last two days of camp.


They held a movie night for everyone. We watched Tangled and ate a ton of popcorn! Landon kept telling Auntie Alycia to "ssshhhh!!!" while he spent the entire movie repeating what the characters were saying. It was rather humorous.

The last two days of camp a company called CRIS came to play. It is made up of volunteers, who travel around giving those who have disabilities the chance to do any kind of outdoor activity. The first day everyone got to go kayaking. I wish I had been thinking because it was pretty remarkable to see some of these older kids, who have SMA out on a boat. CRIS really knows what they are doing!!!!!

Landon fell asleep in the kayak!! (Maybe he did this because he was too busy every night keeping all of us awake)

Watching Landon eat cherries was a fun experience as well. The area that we were staying in looks like any given scene in Twilight (except when they are in Arizona and Florida). I felt like I should be looking around for Edward or Jacob. Anyway ..... back on topic ..... Landon would drip juice all down his front and his teeth would stain red, so he looked like this cute little baby vampire. (maybe it only makes me smile, but that's what counts right?)
We really want to be able to get a standing wheelchair for Evan. There are MANY reasons why (medically, emotionally) I won't get into that right now. One of the kids from BC (they can get partial funding for one ... we can't) has one and while she was sleeping her mom so kindly let Evan try it out. He was in HEAVEN!!! I can't even tell you how much he fell in love. He was upright and moving around like he sees so many others do. It was bliss to watch him experience that! It reminded me the first time he was in a chair and experienced independent mobility.

Next to the obstacle course our favorite event is the marshmallow war. Simple game.
1) Grab marshmallows
2) Attack people

What did my not even two years old Landon do? He spent the entire time picking up marshmallows off of the ground and giving them to the kids in wheelchairs! Make my heart melt. Landon might be a tornado, but he has such a beautiful soul!

The last day we went hiking with CRIS. Afterwards I asked Evan what he thought about hiking in the "trail blazer". He said it was "really good, and so comfortable".

And what was our last activity before we pulled out?? Evan got to go zip lining all by himself!!!! This is what I wanted to load a video of since I only have the video of it and no pictures. He LOVED it and I loved watching him have all of these experiences.
Once again SMA family camp delivered more than we could have asked for. I loved watching my children be kids, I loved watching Evan belong to this tight nit and very small community we are a part of. I loved bouncing ideas off of other parents. I LOVE Susi for organizing it every year. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it!!!!!