Boo at the Zoo

October 24, 2009

Boo at the Zoo

Tonight was "Boo at the Zoo" at the National Zoo. We thought this would be a great even for the kids, since walking up steps to doors is getting more difficult for Waverly. What a great event! They had a ton of sponsors handing out not just candy, but lots of delicious and healthy snacks. Plus, we got to see all of the animals. The highlight must have been the front row viewing of the Pandas. And, of course, the costumes.

Below are 3 photos: the first shows Wavey reaching for Oliver's Goofy hat, the second shows her yanking it and Oliver crying, and the third shows them a few extra feet apart.

Below is a family photo...unfortunately we were unable to get the kids to look at the camera.

Comments

Anonymous said…

Lovely! It's nice to see a picture of you all together.

October 25, 2009 at 9:49 PM

Penny said…

I love the pics Shannon! The three of Waverly attacking Oliver made me laugh out loud, poor little guy! Glad you had a good time.

October 26, 2009 at 12:17 PM

Cari said…

I love Waverly in the last picture!

October 28, 2009 at 2:44 PM

Jenkins said…

How much fun!
And those pictures are great!

October 28, 2009 at 3:36 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.