Happy 40th anniversary grandma and grandpa E!

Hello friends and family,

We had a really fun trip to Branson, MO to celebrate grandma and grandpa's 40th anniversary last week. We stayed at a really nice resort with a pool right out our back door and boy did we need it. The temps were quite warm and when you factored in the heat index we were averaging about 104F every day. I had a great time with my cousins and we got to spend a lot of time together playing all sorts of fun games. We spent one day at Silver Dollar City and I think it was the steamiest day of the week (~110) it was a grand ol' time. Mom and dad got to ride a few roller coasters and water rides and I got to try a few rides myself one of which was a train ride. We took in a couple shows that I enjoyed very much. One was in a saloon and it kept my attention the whole time.

I had to be sure to keep my hat on in the hot sun of southern Missouri

Pool time for the family

There was a nice little man made creek that went through the resort and my dad had the idea of having a rubber duck race. So the kids had a race and then the adults had to race the ducks as well.

Here are my cousins cheering on their ducks

And the winner is... Marty! Second place was Ethan and I came in third. Good job everyone.

We drove to SDC with grandma, grandpa and Julie so we go a picture before we entered the park.

The saloon show.

My reaction to the saloon show.

Mom joined me for my first ride on the frogs. I was great with the going around but when they started to jump I got a little uneasy. I will stick to the butterfly ride where I have control of the slow up and down for now.

The whole family after a long day of fun at Silver Dollar City. Can you tell I was worn out just a bit?

On our way back home after the week was over we stopped in Kansas City to visit my Great grandma and grandpa Reeves' old house since we were staying in Topeka to break the trip up into two days. My dad had not seen his grandparents old house since his grandma passed away.

There is a nice lake and park right behind the house that my dad remembers playing at when he would visit. My dad enjoyed seeing the house and the park as it brought back a lot of good memories.

You can see the back of the house from the playground.

Yup, I said playground. While dad looked around I spent some time going up and down the slides.

Here is a picture of the lake. There is a drainage way on the far side of the pool that my great Aunt Francie may have some memories of. My dad did not want to tell me the story so that I wouldn't get any ideas.

God blessed us with a beautiful sunset for our stay in Topeka. Dad and i took in the sunset from our hotel room.

Thanks grandma and grandpa for the great vacation. We all had a really great time and it was great to see the family and hang out for a week.

Thanks for reading my blog everyone and I hope that your summer is going well.

Love,
Lydia

Step Up Walk 2010!

Hello everyone,



I am going to use my blog to plug the Step Up for Down Syndrome walk and invite you all to join or support my team, team Lil' Lydia.

The walk will be on Sunday September 26th at 9AM in City Park. This will be our third annual walk as a team and we are looking forward to another good turnout.

My team page for the walk can be found at: https://www.syssolutions.com/fr/MHDSA/2010StepUp/LilLydia

At this site you can register to walk with our team or support the team with a financial contribution if you are able to do so.

Thanks so much,
Lydia

Arc Picnic and other fun and games

Hey folks,
We've had a busy summer so far and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down for at least another month - but I'm ok with that, because that means I have lots of people to see and things to do!

Since my last update, we've been swimming, doing more hiking, going to museums and attending other special functions.

Unfortunately Mom and Dad are getting more forgetful about getting the camera along to each thing, but there are those rare occasions in which they remember.

Here are a few photos from when they remember:

Mom was just trying to catch me at my best here... My baby and I have crazy times together!

Here we go again!!

Here you go, Baby... I know you love your stroller.

Just yesterday we went to the Arc Picnic... they have a little get together every summer so that we can all socialize with the new friends we've come in contact with over the year. Arc is an organization that provides services to people with disabilities - we've met some really great people through them.
Here I am walking to my friend Ania who's going to help me pick out a stuffed animal.

Koen and his mom came to the picnic too... in this picture we were watching the magic show and playing with our balloon shapes.

Mom and I are just hangin' around and I was sportin' my new shoes with my orthodics.

We're kinda bummed that we didn't get any photos of when my mom's cousin Greg and his family were out for a visit. We went to the Children's Museum in Denver and had a great time. After that adventure they came to our house and we got to play and have dinner (supper - if you live in the Midwest) all together. I had so much fun with my cousins, Allison, Jessica and baby Trevor - I wished they could stay a little longer.

We also took another hike last weekend - the wildflowers were beautiful and Mom was kicking herself that she left the camera at home. It was a very hot day for a hike and Boscoe thought he was going to keal over - he kept running from one shady spot to the next.

That's all for this update.
Til next time,
Lydia

4th of July hike, 2 year picts and more...

Hello friends and family,

Sorry I did no have a chance to blog this past week but there has been lots going on of course. We enjoyed a 4th of July celebration at Scott and Darci's house where there was good food and fireworks. I enjoyed the fireworks from inside the house through the window. Dad had Monday the 5th off so we went for a family hike up in the mountains. Turns out I really enjoy my hiking backpack and being out in nature. Mom and Dad think they will try to take me on a few more of these this summer and see if we are up for an overnight camping trip. We will see about that.

Entering the wilderness

Columbine flowers on a mountain meadow

Into the forest we go.

My friend Kristi took my second year photos before my birthday party last month. Here are a couple of my parents favorite pictures of the group. Kristi was also nice enough to take some candid pictures during my birthday. Enjoy!

Here is my buddy Eddie with his dad Dave. Where is his twin brother?

Here are the older kids at the kids table. You know this is where Boscoe will be hanging out.

Thanks for the help mom.

Hanging out with grandma and grandpa "T"

What a thoughtful card.

Yea! Thanks for the wonderful gifts everyone.

This is a nice card that my friend Lisa put together for me. She is indeed my fabulous girlfriend.

Have a wonderful week and I hope to have more fun and exciting things to share with you in the weeks to come.

Love,
Lydia

Summer vacation in Utah

Hello friends and family,

We had a very exciting trip to St. George, Utah and the surrounding sights last week to ring in the summer and boy did it feel like summer with temps in the high 90's to 108F. My aunt Julie came out from Iowa for the vacation and my friends Paul and Heather joined us for the first 3 days of our trip. Here are several pictures from our trip. Enjoy!

We arrived at our resort. Lots of room for me to spread my toys around but no stairs.

Looking out our back door to the pool. We spent a lot of time in there.

We took a day trip to Las Vegas. That town is very busy with so many things to see and do.

There's a reason why they call it the city of lights.

Pool time! Don't be fooled by this picture, I did not really spend much time in my floaty. I preferred to be held and bounced in the pool.
I also like to jump off the side of the pool, with a little help from mom or dad of course.

After some pool time we headed to a little higher ground in Zion National park for a day of hiking and seeing the canyon. What a wonderful place to spend time on my comfy ride. Thanks mom!

This is right beside the trail looking straight up. They call these these the hanging gardens since the vegetation grows right out of the rocks because of the water that seeps out of the rocks. In some places it is estimated that the water takes 1000 years to get from the top to the bottom. Dad had a hard time believing this little fact.

That ride is so comfy that I fell asleep on the walk up the trail.

We then went up another trail to the emerald pools. There were three and I am proud to say that we did them all. The trail got a little narrow in places.

The pools were emerald indeed.

Look at that color in the cliff wall. This wall must be at least 1,500 feet tall. Wow!
We also took a day trip up to Bryce Canyon. This was a little further than Zion but it was well worth the drive. This is called Inspiration Point. Appropriately named if you ask me.
Hold me tight dad.
What fun rock formations.
Desert moon on the rise. It was a lot more orange with the human eye.

We had such a good time in Southern Utah on our first vacation of the summer. Our next trip will be to Branson MO for grandma and grandpa E's 40th anniversary. I hope you all are having a fun summer and let me know what fun things your are doing.

Until later. Love,
Lydia