A Visit To Bear Creek Lake

Just like the flowers in my garden, I believe my children need lots of sun and fresh air to be their best. Making that happen gets a little tough on these shorter Fall and Winter days. The sun is almost ready to set by the time they get home from school each afternoon!

So, on the weekends, I try to plan activities that will get everyone outside. As long as the sun is shining, even if it is cold, we try to do something that keeps us outside for several hours each weekend day. This past weekend, we visited one of our favorite places, Bear Creek Lake State Park.

The Park is only about an hour from our home, and this time of year, it's not the least bit crowded. Here are some pictures from yesterday's outing:













What do you do to make sure your children get enough outside time in the Winter?

An After-Easter Egg Hunt

VAAPVI, the Virginia Association for Parents of the Visually Impaired had planned a beeping Easter Egg hunt for the weekend before Easter. Unfortunately, we had a week and a half of monster storms, and the egg hunt had to be postponed.

It was held this past weekend, and the weather was beautiful! The beeping eggs were made by our city's police bomb squad, and then they were 'hidden' all over the football at the University of Richmond. They even made vibrating eggs for Ashley to find!

Everyone had a blast - well, except Ashley, when the Easter Bunny tried to make nice with her :)

Under The Big Top

We ended up Spring Break with a trip to see the circus. Ringling Brothers was in town and had set up in our city's coliseum. The kids and I had been in previous years, and had a pretty positive experience, from an accessibility standpoint. Unfortunately, this year was a little different.

Parking was good. There was plenty of handicapped parking right across the street from the coliseum. Unfortunately, the curb cuts on either side of the street did not match up. We had to go from the corner of one street, walk through traffic, and then head to the other end of the block to find the other curb curt. Fortunately, there were police officers close by who helped us navigate the traffic.

We had great seats, and I do appreciate the coliseum staff making those seats available for us. Unfortunately, getting to the seats was quite a production, and whenever anyone needed to visit the restroom, the production continued. Plus, the only bathroom available for us was one men's restroom. Let me just say, I'm glad I'm not a boy. It was filthy and roach infested.

The staff on hand to help us were absolutely wonderful though. They are what made the experience a positive one, and had it not been for them, I'm not sure we would have stayed. But stay we did, and here's a sampling of what we saw:

Love Joey's!

Our plans for a Christmas break spent in the Outer Banks of North Carolina didn't work out, but we did have a wonderful time exploring our home city. We went to the zoo, played games at Dave and Busters, made glass creations at a place called All Fired Up, and ate at an awesome hot dog joint.

Joey's Hot Dogs used to exist in the corner of an Exxon gas station about a mile from our house. I had heard about how good they were, but eating at a gas station just held no appeal for me. But a few months ago, Joey graduated to a real section of a strip shopping center, and we had been wanting to try it.

We actually went on New Years Day. There were no crowds when we arrived, but people did start flowing in before we left. The hot dogs were every bit as good as I had been told, but the experience was even better.

Joey's is a small place crammed with tables and chairs. Chip told me before we went in that we would have a tough time moving two wheelchairs about. It was almost as if he was warning me so I wouldn't get upset once we did go in (what? who me?)

But I was very pleasantly surprised. The owner (Joey?) and his helper were wonderful. They helped us moved some tables, asked what we wanted (instead of having us go to counter like everyone else), brought our drinks to us, and the absolute most important thing? They didn't stare!!

The whole experience was a perfect example of accommodations being made, not singling out my family, or acting exasperated that we required some changes. I felt like we were a normal family, out for a normal lunch, and that we were welcomed by the establishment. Go figure.

So Joey, we loved your hot dogs and your apple pie a la mode, but we love you and your business even more. We will be back!!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Remember earlier this month I posted a picture of our Christmas card preparation? Ronnie was chosen as this year's victim poster kid. So here is the finished product that adorned our Christmas cards! Absolutely one of the best "presents" I have ever received!



Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday full of joy, smiles, warmth, and hope for the future.

Happy holidays, my friends!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

To take everyone's mind off Ronnie's upcoming surgery, I decided to play hooky from work and take the boys to a local baseball game.

The temperatures were sweltering, and the accommodations at the ball park for people with disabilities were dismal, but we all refused to let that diminish our fun. We stocked up on water and sunscreen, and had a blast watching the Richmond Flying Squirrels (really, that is the team name) win over the Trenton Thunder.

Afterwards we went to Dave and Busters, and all three boys said they had a great day!

Celebrating the Red, Pink and Blue

Due to a little laundry snafu, our tie-dye red, white and blue shirts turned red, pink and blue! But we didn't let that put a damper on our celebrating!



The weather was sweltering and I had to get creative to keep the kids standing still for pictures. A flower from my garden did the trick....at least until Ashley ate it!







In the picture below you can see Ashley's little hand reaching to snag the flower from Chip!



Then the flower became a snack....



Our celebrations continued with a fabulous dinner on the grill (cooked by Chip), a selection of summer fruits and vegetables, a patriotic dessert of frosted Rice Krispie treats (again cooked by Chip), and finally, fireworks on TV!

A very good day! Happy Birthday, America!

Baltimore - Day 3

As day three of our long weekend dawned, we all slowly got up and enjoyed the free breakfast at the Homewood Suites hotel in which we spent the night. All you can eat, free breakfasts is great when you are traveling with three teenage boys!

We were all pretty worn out but decided to stop by Ikea on the way home. We had never been to Ikea, but I have heard so many good things that I was anxious to check it out. It didn’t disappoint!

I found about a 100 things that I loved, but only a few that I decided to buy. I did see some chairs that I like, but I will need to take the van back up there to get them. One of my favorite areas was their little food section. Lots of Swedish delicacies were available, and we stocked up on cookies, blueberry jam and pear soda.

After Ikea, we opted for lunch at Famous Dave’s Barbecue. The food was great but the facilities were not. The tables were so close together that it was almost impossible to get Ronnie’s wheelchair to our table. He finally decided to transfer to a regular chair and asked the waiter to store his wheelchair somewhere out of the way. That worked and we all enjoyed our last meal of the mini-vacation.



I enjoyed the trip tremendously but getting home was wonderful also. I was seriously in need of some Ashley-time, and although the hotel beds were great, they just couldn’t compare to my own bed.

Bedtime came early as did time to go to work the next morning. I am now looking forward to this coming long holiday weekend and a little more rest at home!

Baltimore - Day 2

Day two in Baltimore saw us checking out of the marvelous Hilton Hotel after one of the best buffet breakfasts I’ve ever seen (I don’t think I have ever had a better croissant in my life!) Oh, how I didn’t want to leave the air conditioning for the 100 + degrees of heat, but we did and headed to Camden yards for a tour. For a mere $9 per person, we and approximately 10 other people were lead through the bowels of the stadium, stopping to ooh and ahh over the press box, the party rooms, and the private boxes.







The boys got to sit in the dugout. We learned all the ins and outs of the stadium design. We heard how delicate the turf is and how water will seep right through it, thus keeping the need to cover the field during rain showers to a minimum. We saw the double decker warm up areas (I know there is a more technical name for this, but I forget what it is), and saw the turf farm area, a place where replacement grass grows to fix divots in the field.





We learned that ALL the seats in the stadium are power washed TWICE after each game. Do you know why? Because of all the peanut shells. Peanut shells, we were told, are the hardest things to clean up. It made me a little guilty about eating peanuts at the game later that day.

We saw the television studios and the miles and miles of HD cables. We learned that only special mud from a secret place in Georgia is used to rough up the baseballs, and we saw the World Series trophies that the Orioles had won.





The list just goes on and on, and now you may understand why $9 per person seems like a great deal, at least to people who are baseball-obsessed like my family.

After the tour, we had a few hours to kill, and did so by going to the Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. Rooms full of very old comic books – toys from the early 1900’s – TV shows like I Love Lucy and Howdy Doody – and of course, the newer things like Iron Man, Superman, and other super heroes. I love the museum – we had been there the year before also – but I always leave feeling a tad bit older because I recognize, and in some instances, even played with things similar to what is displayed in the their ‘old’ toy room.



After the museum, we stood in line waiting for the gates to Camden yard to open – just us and 40,000 of our closest friends. By the time we finally got to our seats, I think at least 15% of my body mass had melted from the heat. But not to worry, we quickly replenished with hots dogs, fries, ice cream, and lots and lots of beverages. We were also quite blessed to have our seats in the shade, even though shade when the temperature is 102 and the humidity is 98% doesn’t make a huge difference.

One really positive thing about Camden Yards is that they do not isolate people with disabilities. Our local baseball stadium, for example, has a disabled section. It is the only place wheelchairs can go. At Camden yards, the wheelchair seats are fully integrated with the regular seats. Kudos to the stadium designers for that!

The game was long but very good. The Nationals led for a while and then the Orioles made a comeback. There was enough action for fans of both teams. After the game, we made our way to the car and through the traffic and headed back to the Virginia side of the beltway battle.



Just as dark settled in, we checked into the Alexandria Homewood Suites, into a room that was the size of a small apartment, and just took it easy until bedtime. Day three had us heading home, but with a quick stop at Ikea first. More on that tomorrow….

Baltimore - Day 1

When we set off for Baltimore last week, I was curious to see what our travel experience was going to be like. Though we have traveled with Ashley and her wheelchair in the past, Ashley is capable of walking short distances. If we couldn’t find a curb cut, it wasn’t a big deal – Ashley could just stand up, step down the curb and then get back in her chair. But with Ronnie, there is no standing – it’s the chair all the time.

The first area we visited was Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The boys had their hearts set on having lunch at ESPN Zone, so you can imagine the disappointment when we arrived and discovered the restaurant was no longer there. We settled for Hard Rock Café.

The Hard Rock Café had little to offer a deaf teenager, but I think Ronnie was quite happy when he realized I was going to let him order an ice cream sundae for lunch! We finished lunch – I took the requisite tourist picture – and we headed out to the Inner Harbor.



The line at the aquarium was much too long to wait in considering the temperature was pushing 100 degrees, so we explored some shops and watched some high school dancers in the plaza. Locating the handicapped entrances to the buildings was a bit of a challenge, but once inside, we were always able to find an elevator.

We were even able to find Ronnie a pair of Converse shoes to use as pool shoes. Since he has no feeling in his legs, it’s very important to protect his feet when he swims. Otherwise they could get all scraped and cut without him even knowing it.



After lunch and a little exploring, we headed to our hotel to check in. It was a lovely Hilton right in the heart of Baltimore. It was contemporary and quite impressive, and the rooms that Chip had booked for us overlooked Camden Yards. But the most important thing about the rooms? The delicious air conditioning!!

After getting settled into the room, Corey and Ronnie decided to check out the pool. Imagine my surprise when I saw the lift at the end of the pool. Although we didn’t need it, I was impressed that the hotel folks had been aware and considerate enough to realize the need.



Here are a few pictures from the swimming experience:







After a good dinner in what we thought was a restaurant but what turned out to be more of a bar, we settled into the hotel rooms to await the start of the Baltimore Orioles/Washington Nationals baseball game. While we couldn’t see the whole field, we were able to watch the game simultaneously on TV.



I think the boys had a great time in their own room, and everyone was looking forward to actually going to the game the next day. More later…..

Long Weekend of Fun

The boys and I took a mini-vacation this past weekend. We left early Friday morning, and returned Sunday afternoon. In between those times were baseball, swimming, driving, eating, and lots and lots of fun.

I plan on making most of my posts this week about the trip. Since this was the first time traveling with Ronnie, we had quite a few interesting experiences. I will share what worked and what didn't work. But most importantly, I have some great photos to share.

Here is the first of those. Friday night, we stayed in a hotel overlooking Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team. My son, Chip, was so very generous in getting both baseball tickets and great lodging for our trip. The hotel rooms in Baltimore couldn't have had a better view.

After the Orioles/Washington Nationals game Friday night, there was a fireworks show. Ronnie was able to 'hear' the fireworks by pressing the palms of his hands to the hotel room window!

Glowing Golf

It was another hot, sweltering Sunday afternoon. I really can't imagine what it will be like when August gets here. Fortunately, our city has a lot of indoor entertainment for days when you go outside and it seems your skin is melting. Today we went to Glow Golf!

Glow Golf was a perfect choice for everyone. The boys loved playing minature golf in the dark and seeing which articles of their clothing would glow. Ashley loved all the glowing lights - it was quite a sensory experience for her. Everyone got glow bracelets when we started, and Ronnie loved putting them all together into a necklace.

To make it even better, Glow Golf's admission price is lowered if anyone in your party has a disability. Instead of $8 per person for 3 games of 18 hole minigolf, the price was $6. The only other place I have ever been to that reduces or waives admission prices for people with disabilities is the Norfolk, Virginia Zoo.

The surprise winner of the day was Ronnie! Besides two hole-in-ones on the course, he was the only person who got his ball in at the "Prize Hole' at the end of the course, which scored him free admission anytime within the next 60 days. He was so proud of himself, and even wanted to watch golf on TV when he got home.

He just might have his sights set on being the next Tiger Woods (without the sex addiction, of course!)!

Just Who Are Dave and Buster?

One of my absolute least favorite places in the world is Chuckie Cheese. I did my parental duty when my children were younger and did take them there, but I never left without a pounding heachache and super over-stimulated children. I can't begin to tell you how happy I was when they got too old to go there.

Then along comes Dave and Busters. Friends told me it was like Chuckie Cheese for adults. If they were trying to sell me on the place, that certainly wasn't the way to do it.

But, it was a sweltering, hot morning and I wasn't in the mood for chores. So, I loaded up the kids and headed to Dave and Busters. We had decided to have lunch first and then hit the flashing lights and ticket-spewing machines.

The menu was pretty impressive, but I still wasn't convinced that the food wouldn't taste like the frozen pizzas at Chuckie Cheese. And our waitress didn't seem the least bit happy to (1) be working that day, and (2) have my 'unique' family at one of her tables. She was grumpy and refused to give me a kids menu for Ashley even after I explained that Ashley was still mastering the fine art of eating by mouth. And, she almost rolled her eyes when I asked for a cup with a top on it.

When our food arrived, the manager did also. He said he was checking on how things were. I told him that the food looked wonderful, but that I had my doubts that Ashley would eat the macaroni and cheese, because, God forbid, it had bacon in it. He told me if it didn't work to just let him know and they would do something else for her. Okay....things were looking up.

As we made our way through lunch (Ashley ate the soup that I had secreted away in my purse), the grumpy waitress got a little friendlier. She talked about her kids, refilled our drinks, and helped box our leftovers.

After lunch, it was time to hit the arcade. Arcade may not be the right word, but I don't know another word that fits. It truly is like Chuckie Cheese for older kids and adults. There was even a bar and the beer was flowing by noon. I'm not sure I would want to take my children there in the evening, but morning seemed fine and other parents had their children there also.

The kids LOVED it, including Ashley. The flashing, colorful lights kept her amused for over an hour. We eventually ran out of 'credits' (tokens in Chuckie Cheese speak), and headed home.

My expectations for the trip were not high, and the start to lunch wasn't great. But all in all, it was an enjoyable couple of hours, and the kids are already asking when we can go back!