Family Camp 2009

This weekend was the annual Spina Bifida Family Camp. This was our third year to go and I think it was the best so far. The older Caleb gets, the more he seems to enjoy it. There were a ton of families there, some familiar faces and some new faces as well. I love Family Camp, it is so great to be around people who know what having a child with Spina Bifida is like. I don't have to explain to them what Spina Bifida is because they already know. We share a vocabulary that other parents can't relate to (hydrocephalus, MRI, intermittent cathing, bowel management program, Chiari malformation, etc). Caleb fits right in, and he has an absolute blast. He was so confident and outgoing this weekend, I was so proud of him. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

We usually have a campfire our first night there but the weather kept us from building a fire outside so the volunteers built a fire in the fireplace in the dining hall. We sang songs and made smores.

This is Saturday morning as we are getting ready to go on the scavenger hunt. If I look tired, it's because I was, I think I got about 45 minutes of sleep Friday night. Benjamin did not sleep well at all and with all of us sleeping in the same room it made for a long night.

How cute is Benjamin in that hat? He was such a trooper this weekend. He was absolutely exhausted but that didn't keep him from smiling at everyone.

The camp makes a brick for every family that comes to camp, here is our brick from our first year at camp.

Caleb sticking out his tongue with the cow mural.

Caleb and Bryce doing a craft together.

Fishing on the dock...I wonder if they will catch anything?

Well lookie here, they caught a fish.

Caleb got his face painted at the carnival. It looks like an alligator trying to eat his eye ball.

Munching on a snow cone.

It was a great weekend, we are exhausted and I have about 10 loads of laundry to do!

Family Camp 2008

We went to Camp John Marc this weekend for the Spina Bifida Family Camp. We had a great time. We got to see familiar faces from last year as well as meet several new families. It is always such a treat to connect with other parents that have a child with SB, they understand immediately what challenges we face on a daily basis because they go through them too. We don't have to explain anything because we are all in the same boat. Caleb really enjoyed himself this weekend despite it being quite chilly and he had a little bit of a cold. We went on a scavenger hunt, made s'mores at the campfire, played games, and Caleb got his face painted. Caleb also got to touch a snake..well he was supposed to just touch the snake but he actually squeezed the poor thing (Glenn said the snakes eyes practically popped out). It was a fun-filled weekend and we were all pretty tired, Caleb fell asleep on the ride home.

Camp John Marc 2007

We just had a wonderful weekend at Camp John Marc. This is a camp for kids with special needs. This weekends camp was for families that have a child with Spina Bifida. There were about 16 families there, most of which were from North Texas. It was so great to see all of these different kids and their abilities. It was wonderful to meet so many other parents that understand what it is like to have a child with Spina Bifida and all the things that go with that diagnoses. The camp provided several activities for us to do. We had a campfire with s'mores the first night, Caleb was mostly interested in the graham cracker, he didn't quite know what to think about the marshmallow. Caleb got to pet a snake (yikes), a bird, and a bunny. He also made some slime with daddy. Saturday night was a carnival in the barn with all the families and their kids, that was the most fun. Caleb was in his mobile stander and I have to tell you that I have never seen that boy be so social. He was all over the place, playing with different people, giving other mom's hugs, and he followed this adorable little girl with curly blonde hair around (she did have a snow cone in her hand so we aren't sure if it was her or the snow cone Caleb was after). I was just so proud of him, he had such a blast that night. We went fishing this morning but didn't catch anything, Caleb enjoyed it when another dad caught a fish and let Caleb touch it. Anyway we had a great time, this camp is such a wonderful place and we are looking forward to going back next year.