Whoops, several months have slid by without an update of the blog, sorry about that. Jim and I have both been putting in extra hours at work and a few things fell by the wayside. We had a very busy summer, Paige is doing very well, she is now all settled in to her first grade class at Big Bend Elementary.
Back to the summer of 2011. We made our annual trip to the local county fair and we always manage to find ourselves in front of the pony ride tent where Paige begs and pleads to ride one of the ponies (for $5 a spin). You may or may not recall we have a horse, Zee. He doesn't have the Shetland pony cuteness factor going on, but us paying good money to have Paige ride a sleepy pot bellied Shetland Pony around a circle for 4 minutes when we pay to board our horse is sort of is like an Eskimo going to the local 7-11 to buy a bag of ice.
Most of the time we cave and she ends up riding a pony. This time we managed to convince her that the camel ride right next door would be more interesting, and she actually believed us. So here she is taking a spin on the camel.
After a bit of incredibly entertaining people watching we wandered over to the midway where Paige and Jim rode on this purple ride that spins your car in little circles as the entire ride goes in one big circle. That spells 'motion sickness' to me but Jim and Paige love it.
Paige left the fair with about ten times more energy she had when we arrived at the fair (it could have been that late night ice cream cone, who knows) but fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Jim's 24 hour shifts at the fire station means Paige and I spend several nights alone (just the two of us) every week, and this sometimes ends up becoming some sort of fashion show where Paige parades around the house in various ensembles. Here is a photo I took one night after she and I decided it would be a funny change to dress up the dogs. This is Paige sitting with Kelsey, who is wearing (top to bottom) a tiara, a wig, a pink feather boa and plastic dress up shoes (yes, one is actually on his front paw). He was a really good sport about this and just sat there hoping this would earn him a Snausage.
A few years ago the nice folks at the Herma Heart Center, where Paige goes for her bi-annual cardiac visits, told us about a wonderful summer camp in Minnesota for kids with heart disease, Camp Odayin. Funded by donations and run by volunteers, this camp is a wonderful place where kids with all sort of heart disease can go and be a 'normal' kid for one week each summer.
Kids that are 6 and 7 go to day camp (located at Dodge Nature Center in West St. Paul, MN). Kids 8 to 17 go to Camp Odayin's resident (aka sleep away) camp, located at Camp Knutson, several hours north of Minneapolis.
With a recommendation from her cardiologist, Paige went to her first year at Camp Odayin and she had a wonderful time (so much so that she continues to ask when we're going back to Minnesota).
Here she is with other campers at a campfire (these are all photos supplied by the camp).
Here she is playing with another camper. One of the incredible things about this camp is meeting up with other kids who have had open heart surgery, and for us its nice to meet other families who have been down the same medical road we have. The camp is a place where the kids don't have to be embarrassed about the scars on their chest when wearing a bathing suit since every camper (and many of the counselors) have scars on their chests, too.
This was pajama day and they got to meet a variety of exotic animals who live at the Dodge Nature Center where day camp is held.
Here are all the day campers and the counselors returning from one of their adventures.
On the last day of camp there was a talent show. Paige performed a dance routine in this pink kimono they had on hand, and is presenting one of the counselors with something (I'm not quite sure what).
A few weeks after returning home the training wheels came off the bike and she learned how to ride it by herself. Here is Jim in one of the early solo rides helping her get some momentum.
We did this in the grassy back yard since we figured falling down there would provide a bit of a softer landing than the driveway. And yes, she wears a helmet when riding on pavement.
A few weeks after the county fair comes the Wisconsin State Fair. More rides, more food, more entertainment and pretty fantastic people watching. No pony rides (or at least we didn't see any). What they do have is one of Paige's favorite things, the bungee/trampoline ride where the kids get to bounce up and down attached to bungee cords for a few minutes. Paige tried to do a flip with each bounce, and here she is mid-flip.
And they have a giant slide. Refreshing - no lights, no motors, just you and a burlap sack. Here are Paige and Jim zooming down the slide.
Every summer the Herma Heart Center hosts a picnic at the Milwaukee County Zoo for all the 'heart kids' and their families. There's lots of fun things to do include meeting up with The Famous Racing Sausages. If you're not from the Milwaukee area, these guys are local celebrities and have quite the following. They've been at the Herma Heart Center Picnic since we first went in 2002 and they do a little race for the kids.
In the photo below is (left to right): Bratwurst, Paige, Hot Dog, Polish Sausage and Chorizo. Italian Sausage was conspicuously missing.
All the kids were invited to decorate their own cookies, and there was a huge variety of frosting, icing and sprinkles available. Here is Paige beginning to create her masterpiece.
Whoever said 'less is more' clearly never decorated a cookie.
We still have more summer fun stuff to share (I really meant it when I said it was a busy summer), and will get that updated shortly.
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