At the Abbey

At the Abbey

Here is a photo of Waverly & I taken this morning at Westminster Abbey. It was beautiful and I wish that I would have had more time....less screamy kids.....in order to enjoy it more. Waverly loved the acoustics in the cloister.

We had a lovely lunch at Giraffe - one of our first meals out. $68 for 3 sandwiches & chips & drinks. WOW! It was delicious though and actually a good deal on London terms. It started to pour at the end of our meal. Did I mention that we were eating outside?

I think I finally need to invest in a rain jacket.

Comments

Mike and Sarah said…

Hey Shannon... Ellen sent me a link to your blog, so I've been reading. I have enjoyed reading about your London experiences. My oldest son, Micah, has also struggled with some developmental delays. I'm not sure how similar they are to Waverly's. He had some speech, social and fine motor delays, but has responded very well to therapy. I hope you guys are experiencing the same with Waverly.

June 23, 2007 at 11:02 PM

Anonymous said…

Shannon, this is Deb Austin! HI! I love reading your blog! Click on my name to see ours. I'm a horrible blogger but REALLY trying to do better. You can read about Jaxson's delays, victories, cheesiness (like he had a chance!), and much more. We are so excited to be reconnected with you! Much love!

June 24, 2007 at 7:20 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.