The Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind in Colorado Springs hosts a family retreat weekend every summer for families with kids with hearing and vision losses. This year I decided to take Faith and Anthony (Fred stayed home as this was a tough week on him since he QUIT SMOKING!! :) They had so much fun and made so many new friends that we will definitely go back again next year. They have all kinds of things for the kids to do and the school staff is there to watch the kids while the parents meet in another building on campus to learn about resources and rights of their children in school. Faith wasn't quite ready to spend 2-3 hours at a time without me, but she became somewhat attached to Kristen, one of the teachers who would carry her around and eventually call me to come get her or bring her to me!
Below are some of their new friends. I especially liked that Anthony and other siblings got to be included in all the fun. We made special friends with one family, Micah (6) and Victoria (4) and their mom Tracy. Victoria is taller than her older brother Micah, but she loved being Faith's buddy and Faith loved seeing her when we would go to meals in the cafeteria and in the 4-6 year olds' play room (a big carpeted gym full of toys). After Faith struggled in the big kids area, I tried putting both Faith and Anthony in the infant-toddler area where she did much better and Anthony did great too! I heard he was a great helper to all the younger kids, but I think he missed getting to hang out with his other new friends, so I took him back there later.
On Saturday night we got a really special treat and got to meet Margie and Luke Adams, competitors on this year's Amazing Race show. If you watched the show, you know that Luke is in his mid twenties (turned 25 on Saturday in fact and we got to celebrate his birthday!) and is deaf and his mom Margie was his partner in the race. They are from Colorado Springs and Luke went to the CO School for the Deaf and Blind for high school. They were a really great team and made it all the way to the end of the race. We have watched this show for years and we were definitely pulling for them to win, so it was wonderful to get to meet them and hear them talk about being in the race. You can see how much Luke just adores his mom!
Faith's favorite teacher, Kristen
Faith's buddy, Victoria
Anthony's many new friends Max, Micah, Anthony and Max's older brother
Playing games in the Cafeteria - Victoria, Micah, Anthony and Max
Getting our picture with Luke and Margie
Good night!
Robin
3 comments:
I love the "best buddies" picture, with Faith laughing so hard! Really cute! So glad you got to attend this event.
And a big congatulations to you, Fred. Way to go!!! We're pulling for you in your goal to quit smoking. Leslie and I just celebrated our 3rd anniversary!
Love to all of you!
So gld that you had such a great week-end. The pictures show that Anthony and Faith really enjoyed themselves. And the pictures of Faith blowing bubbles are just priceless. Can't believe how big Anthony is getting. Love, Rossemarie and Bob
Thanks for the blogs and the pictures; it means a lot to me to know what's going on in your life and I don't make as much time to phone or write as I'd like. Looks like you had a good experience with Anthony, Faith, the other kids, and the other parents; I'm proud of how proactive you are in reaching out for support and information. You and Fred are great parents.
Love Leslie
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