Punta Cana

We've been home for a week now, but I'm still savouring the memories of our trip to the Dominican. Two weeks, our whole family, on a tropical vacation. It was sooooo lovely...

We stayed at the Bahia Principe Esmerelda. The grounds were beautiful, the resort very nice. Good food, great shows. I can never get enough of palm trees, turquoise water and tropical flowers. The beaches in the Dominican are the nicest we've ever seen. Beautiful, clean white sand, crystal clear water. Sigh!

Marissa had lots of fun. Unfortunately the Kids Club wasn't what we had hoped for. It had so much potential, the list of activities through the week were awesome, but there was hardly ever any kids there. Marissa was disappointed, she really wanted to have friends to play with. She did meet two very sweet girls from Toronto the same age as her and Taylor but they only had a few days together before they headed home. Marissa still managed to enjoy herself though. She spent lots of time in the pool with Daddy. She loved hunting for coconuts and little geckos. It was the mission of choice anytime we were walking around the grounds! In fact she collected 29 baby coconuts that had fallen to the ground and was determined to bring them home. We prepared her for the fact that they would likely be taken away at the airport by security, but they didn't, so she was super excited to bring them home. The tops are now getting some mold on them, so I'm not sure how that's going to go over when I tell her it's time to throw them out!! There was a spectacular water park on the property that Marissa enjoyed lots of time at, with Kids Club a couple times, and us a couple of times. Bizarre rules wouldn't let parents on the water slides, so she had to do that by herself. She loved going to the show at night, the highlight being the Michael Jackson show which was fantastic! I now have myself a little Michael Jackson fan, so much in fact that she wants to have a Michael Jackson birthday party next month! There was also a nice little mini golf course that she played at a few times. One night she got to dress up as one of Snow White's seven dwarfs to be part of the evening kids show. She made a very cute little dwarf! I think the most fun I witnessed Marissa have was playing and jumping in the waves on the beach. It still puts a big smile on my face to remember the pure joy on her face out there.

We were so happy to have Taylor with us on our winter vacation this year. The last winter holiday she came with us was three years ago, just before she started the Ketogenic Diet. Once she was on that there was no way we could bring her because we needed access to a kitchen, grocery store and a scale to weigh by the gram all the ingredients to prepare her meals. When she stopped eating and got her feeding tube, the possibility of going away with her was there because we only needed to be able to prepare ketogenic formula every night, and we could do that without a kitchen. But she wasn't stable enough for us to be comfortable taking her to the Caribbean. She's been so stable for a while now that we decided this winter the time was right. Travel days were challenging with a wheelchair and all the extra stuff we need to bring for her, but it was soooo worth it. She did so well and handled the heat with no trouble. Taylor loves the pool, so it was a joy to see her in the water every day for two weeks. She was so happy. So many smiles on her face during her pool time. And she loved being in the section where the jets were and feeling them push her. Her swimava neck ring gives her complete freedom to move her body in any direction it wants, it must be such a great feeling for her, the only time she has that complete freedom.

We spent much of our time by the pool every day, and enjoyed our down time. We did however take one excursion. It was on that day that Taylor got her first kiss from a boy, a 5 year old dolphin named Alex. Such a special memory! It was at Dolphin Explorer in Punta Cana. We went on the Funtastic option, where everyone in the group got a dolphin kiss, a dance, and lots of slippery touches. It was in the ocean, and there was a platform that we all stood along. Marissa was unexpectedly spooked by the water and all the little fish swimming around us that she completely refused to participate and sat on the dock above us the whole time. I'm still sad that she missed the special opportunity, especially because of her love of dolphins, but she did manage to touch Alex once at the very end. And she did experience the welcome kiss that we each got from a sea lion!

One morning we had one of the resort photographers take some photos of us and he captured some really nice shots...

Francis and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary while we were away. The family we met from Toronto had hired a babysitter one night from the resort and told us how wonderful she was, so they introduced us to her (Yuleyda from Butler Services) and she met the girls, and we had her watch the girls on our anniversary so that we could go out for dinner just the two of us. We went to the restaurant Don Pablo over in the Ambar section of the resort which is adults only and had a lovely dinner. Was nice to get out for the evening alone. Yuleyda (pronounced "Joolayda") was a sweetheart, she spoke English very well and loved the girls.

Enjoying our drink of choice, "Bahama Mama"

You can check out a few more pics on my Instagram feed here. Feels like we're still slowly settling in back home. Taylor's back on her regular routine of therapy/school during the week. Marissa went back to school on Tuesday. The laundry is nearly done. But the vacation memories are still fresh. Feeling happy and very, very grateful.

Happy New Year!

It's 2013 everyone, and we're still here! I guess the Mayan's were wrong, thank goodness! It was a pretty low key New Year's Eve celebration at our house, but we like it that way just fine. Call it age, or having kids, whatever the reason, we're okay with it! I managed to tidy up that afternoon, it's amazing how new gifts and toys can spread themselves over the entire main floor in a couple of days. It looked like a bomb had gone off in my living room. I decided to set the table up all fancy in black and white, even though it was just the four of us. But it looked so pretty. And nothing like getting into the spirit and enjoying an evening like a cleaned up place and a fancy dining room.

We were unsure leading up to NYE what we were going to do for supper. We ended up deciding to order a Chinese feast, and it was delicious, even if all Marissa seemed interested in eating was the fortune cookies!

Marissa wanted to stay up til midnight to watch the ball drop on TV, so we just watched the Eastern broadcasts, and the magic happened at 10pm our time. And that was just about when she was expiring, so it was perfect timing. We made party hats and silly pipecleaner glasses. We had confetti poppers and noisemakers.

Poor Taylor had fallen asleep and when we honked the noisemakers her arms shot up in the air, eyes wide open, as if to say "holy crap what are you people trying to do to me?!!"

Since we're talking about Taylor, our little Supergirl is still on fire! For a while now she will maintain an independent sitting position for about 3 minutes. The morning of New Year's Eve she sat independently for 11 minutes. Yeah, you heard right, 11 minutes!!! I am fiercely proud of her. She loves to stand, with minimal but mandatory support at her waist. Yesterday Francis stood her up without her AFO's or shoes on, felt her relatively steady and let go. She held herself for 2 seconds. Un-freaking-believable!!! I think she's giving us a little preview of what she has in store for 2013.

On a more personal note, I've never been one for New Year's resolutions. Does anyone seriously make a resolution and keep it for a whole year? Certainly not me! But I got the best idea from my friend Janella. This past year she made 12 resolutions that she committed to over each of the 12 months. One committment a month. Bite sized. Doable in my book. So I decided to do the same. More to come on that...

Fall Family Day

It was a perfect fall day today: blue sky, warm sunshine, fallen leaves. So off we went to the Calgary Corn Maze for their Autumn Pumpkin Festival. We could tell as soon as we pulled into the parking area that half the city also thought it was a great idea! But we braved the crowd and soaked up the fun anyways!

We managed to prop Taylor up all by herself on some pumpkins and against a barrel. Then, we put a pumpkin on her lap while she was in her wheelchair and she just fixated on it!

This hay bail made the perfect backdrop!

What would a pumpkin festival be without some scarecrows?!

The girls both enjoyed the festivities, in their own different ways. Marissa enjoyed all the fun stuff there is to do there. Like the steep tunnel slide, the petting zoo, the playground, the jumping pillows, the cow train. And Taylor...well, she loves being out-and-about in her wheelchair, and she just took it all in. Such a different backdrop from her typical day, you could watch her eyes locking in on all the interesting things to see. Francis took her on the cow train in his arms and she lit right up with some sweet smiles. The corn maze was pretty much dried up. Marissa found a cob lying on the ground, shucked it and pretended to take a bite!

We had a great afternoon of family time. I'll end this post with a sweet shot of my favourite two little people. I braved a shot of Marissa holding her sister all by herself. She's holding onto Taylor for dear life!

Pride

We are proud to be Canadian! And we sure showed it on Canada Day. We all wore red and white, put Canadian flag tattoos on our cheeks, I even made a Canada flag cake. We were patriotic indeed. Happy 144th Birthday Canada! Marissa was quite into the whole celebrating Canada thing, however she did have some trouble grasping what Canada is. We tried to explain that it's the country we live in, but the concept doesn't quite register yet. Too big I guess. One day she will understand the pride of being Canadian. How fortunate we are to live in this amazing country. How respected we are worldwide. The health care system that we consider second-to-none, after discovering over the past two years just how much is provided for our daughter with special needs. We are a peaceful country. Anyone can choose to pursue an education. There is so much good here that we take for granted day to day, but we are indeed very fortunate to call Canada our home.

Proud to be Canadian...proud of my cake :-)

Beautiful day with clear blue skies

Sweet smiles from my monkey

Sisterly love that makes me proud

As patriotic as we can possibly get!

Today was the 4th Annual Race For Pace. The third one that we've participated in. It was a gorgeous day, warm and beautiful blue skies. Perfect day for a lovely walk, joined by Mom & Bryan, Auntie Candace & Uncle Gary. We did the 5km walk together and raised money for Pacekids programs. To say thank you to all our friends and family who contributed to this incredibly worthy cause just doesn't seem enough. You have touched us with your generosity. Taylor was presented today as the TOP fundraiser for the event. As of today we have raised $4,420 for Pace! Several of Francis' co-workers contributed, and Penn West will be matching all of their donations, which will put Taylor's fundraising for the Race for Pace at over $6,300. THANK YOU everyone from the bottom of our hearts!!!!!!

Look at me, I stayed awake for the whole walk this year!

Taylor being recognized as the top fundraiser!

Taylor's walking buddies

Supergirl shone today xoxo

First thing tomorrow morning we head off to Beaver Lake for our annual family fishing week. Jaime & Justin can't make it this year as they're in the middle of their move to Calgary. We will miss them, and Marissa will sure miss playing with her cousin Mady all week, but they'll soon be living just a two minute drive away, so we can't be too sad! With an empty bed in the cabin, Mom & Bryan have invited my cousin Erika to join us for the week...YAY! Erika adds serious life to any party, so a good time is definitely going to be had! We may need to check in to AA though before the week is out :-)


We decided this year to have Taylor stay at the Rotary Flames House for the week. It was a tough decision, but we know that she is going to be very well cared for there by the nurses and doctors. She sadly just can't get the same enjoyment out of this Beaver Lake week that the rest of us do. There is no place for her to have her oh-so-favourite floor time, it's not at all wheelchair friendly, the playground doesn't have an appropriate swing. The list goes on. She will be so much more comfortable and happy at the Rotary House with swings, kushy mats to roll around on, cozy chairs, and a wonderful sensory room. We are going to miss her desperately, it was tearful for me leaving her today.


I discovered a book at Hallmark last week and simply HAD to get it for Taylor. It's a recordable book called All The Ways I Love You, and you record yourself reading the story. So that you can read to your loved one even when you can't be there. I was crying in the middle of Hallmark as I read it and thought about us recording the story so that Taylor could hear our voices every day while we're gone. It's amazing. Francis, Marissa and I recorded it together, taking turns on each page. I can't even begin to describe how I feel about this book, it is a beautiful thing.

We miss you already Taylor xoxox

W.E.M.

What does that stand for...West Edmonton Mall...and we took it by storm! Packed into two days as much fun as we possibly could. It's been over a week since we got back but it's taken me this much time to get through all the pictures. I must admit 492 photos in two-and-a-half days is a bit on the high side, but I am pleased to report that after editing I've whittled it down to a much more reasonable number...212. Reasonable for me anyways! Don't worry, I won't post them all, just some collages of my favourites that capture the memories we made there with Marissa. This weekend was for her. Fun time with Mommy and Daddy. Taylor needs so much of my time, we wanted a special weekend that was just for Marissa, to have Mommy & Daddy's dedicated time. So we took Taylor to Rotary Flames House where she was in very capable hands, and headed north with our big girl for some special Marissa time.

When we walked into the hotel lobby, I guess it looked pretty grand to a 5-year-old, she gasped..."It's so beautiful". It was pretty cute. Our room was wonderful, it had a separate seating area so that we could hang out after Marissa went to sleep at night. The room was huge. And there was a fantastic jetted jacuzzi too! We got to the hotel around supper time, so we dropped off our bags, walked through the mall a bit and then found somewhere to eat. Ended up at Mr. Mikes. Marissa was a bit owly after being cooped up in the car for 3 hours, so dinner was challenging and we got outta there pretty quick. Back to the room, and Marissa wanted to have a bath in the huge tub. So we filled it up (which took an eternity) complete with bubbles and jets, and the girl had an absolute BALL!

It was a late night for the monkey, she crashed pretty quick and was up early the next morning. Eager to start the fun! So we all got ready, got our Starbucks, and headed off to play mini-golf!

She had a ball the first 7 holes. It was hilarious to watch her golf. As much as we tried to teach her how to hold the club and hit, she was more into whacking it around like she was playing hockey. By hole 8 she lost interest, so Daddy and I continued on our own and she ran around asking (many times) when we were going to be done! 'Cause she knew what was next, and it was certainly more appealing...

Does she look excited??!!!!

The waterpark was a huge hit, to say the least. Girl had a blast. Huge water-spraying-play-structure, waterslides, wave pool, hot tubs...it was all so much fun. She was on cloud nine! Even made a little friend when we were sitting in the hot tub. Her name was Missy. They would go off together holding hands to the orange waterslide, then they'd come back for a bit, then they'd run over to the play structure, and back again. Marissa kept forgetting her name, she'd say to me..."Mommy is it Sweetie or Darling?" I'd say, no it's Missy. Then they'd go off again and Marissa would come back and ask me if it was Honey or Sweetie. I'd tell her again it was Missy. "Oh yeah!" she'd exclaim. Funny girl. When it was time to go they gave each other a big hug. I sure hope she always makes friends that easily.

Before and after photo-editing. I was going for an artistic look with this one, I think it looks cool.

I think she looks like a model shooting a swim suit issue!

Marissa was done by about 4 in the afternoon, just as they were opening up more advanced slides. So her and I left Daddy there on his own for another hour to go play on the "big boy" slides. He had a blast. We met him at 5 and headed back to our room to drop off our swimming stuff and get ready for dinner. Marissa loves her dresses, so I let her get all gussied up, jewellery and all!

We went to Cactus Club and she was an absolute angel. We had a great time at dinner with our incredibly well behaved little darling. They didn't have a kids menu, so we ordered her a small caesar salad. She didn't want any chicken on it, just the salad...but with extra croutons 'cause they're her favourite. Snuck some of our yam fries too, and she was a happy camper. Then it was off to the movies. We went to see Hop, a new animated movie about the Easter Bunny.

It was adorable, and Marissa loved it...laughed out loud throughout the whole thing, so cute. That made it another late night, up way past her usual 7:30 bedtime. When the movie ended and the credits started to roll, Marissa squealed..."Yay, I get to go to bed now!" It was hilarious.

The next morning we all slept in a bit which was nice, then Marissa played in the tub while I got ready for the day. We checked out, put all our stuff in the van, then came back in to start our last day at the mall. First up...bowling at Ed's!

Bowling was a bit of a miss. Marissa wasn't up to par for this activity, and whined through most of it for her blankie, which was in the van. She perked up towards the end thankfully so that we could carry on with our last day of fun at WEM.

We grabbed a quick lunch at Wok Box (yummy by the way), before heading on to the next adventure...

Next to the Waterpark, Galaxyland was definitely the second highlight of the trip for Marissa. She had so much fun. And as for the rides, the faster they were, the better she like them! Just like her Mommy. I think we did the red roller coaster 7 times. She'd laugh and scream and throw her hands in the air. What a riot! I loved watching her on the mini race track too, because she actually drove the car all by herself...controlled the gas and everything...and she thought that was pretty cool.

Last up before we hit the road back home was a special treat at Marble Slab...

Yummalicious was the word she used! And she managed to eat the whole thing as the camera clicked away and I enjoyed my own delicious mound of chocolate-mixed-with-Skor concoction in a waffle cone. Yummalicious indeed!

The weekend was a success, mission accomplished! Great memories...a good time was had by all! Life is good :-)