Vacation to Lake Chelan

I've been feeling bad for neglecting Ainsley's blog. We went on vacation to Lake Chelan, WA for a few days and I came back with renewed interest in completing some projects around the house that have kept me busy.

But I wanted to share some of the highlights of the trip with you before it's ancient history.This vacation was great for Ainsley. And all of us, really. She has been making some good cognitive gains lately (which I'll write about another time) so it was great for her to spend so much time around her brother and sister. She is an observer and we found she really wanted to be with them and do what they were doing.

Look at her watching Evie to see what to do with the Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Evie just wanted her to stop messing stuff up.


She insisted on being put on the ground under the picnic table with the big kids who were trying to get away from the bugs and sun. I'm sure she was trying to figure out how she could hang upside down too.


Then she even put a french fry in her mouth while they ate lunch under the table.


As we played putt-putt golf on Father's Day she attempted to throw her green light-up ball in the hole. Not a bad way to participate for a kid that can't stand or walk. She was having fun and played several holes that way.


Ainsley "Helping" Evie unpack. Ha. Little mischief maker. She's always getting into stuff these days. Anything left on the floor is fair game.


Caught by the paparazzi at the poolside.

She was able to wear a cap over the trach for several hours and so she was able to play in the sand for the first time in her life. Not to say it wasn't a "challenge" to keep her from pulling off the cap and throwing it in the sand. It wasn't exactly relaxing for me. But hey you can't have it all.


Another first, she went into a real swimming pool, not once but several times. As you can see she didn't like it much at first. I'm sure she was thinking "Hey! This water is COLD!"


By the end of the trip she'd really become comfortable being in the water. I think she actually asked me (with body language since she can't speak) to dunk her under the water which of course I couldn't do. Even with the cap on there is too much risk of her getting water into her lungs because of the trach stoma. Can you see how relaxed she is and how she's actually kicking her feet in the water? So cool! (And the warm pool water of the indoor pool helped.) I think she's part fish because she really took to it. Ironic for a child that really shouldn't go into the water. When we got home I put her on the waitlist for swimming classes at Seattle Children's Hospital.

She even caught a nap on the sea-turtle in the lake (don't worry Daddy was right there). Talk about wonderful.


It was a great time. If Steve didn't have deadlines at work we'd have loved to stay longer. For the FULL slideshow click this link here.

Happy summer everyone!