The weather was beautiful this past weekend so we took advantage of the mild temps by taking the boys to ride their bikes. When you live in Texas and the scorching heat of summer is rapidly approaching, you take advantage of gorgeous weather because soon it will be too hot to even walk to the mailbox.
We took the boys up to a school parking lot so they would have plenty of room. Benjamin got his bike for Christmas and has only had a few opportunities to ride...so he needs open space to practice his newly learned bike riding skills. And Caleb drives like a maniac so open space is good for him too.
Benjamin did really well. He has gotten the hang of it for the most part.
Such an awesome cycle.
Caleb had to sit in time out for 5 minutes because he drove right into Benjamin...on purpose. He wasn't too happy about sitting on the curb, as you can tell from the grumpy look on his face.
While Bubba was sulking in time-out, Benjamin took the cycle for a spin. He loved it.
I even took Caleb's cycle for a quick ride. It is so much fun. Man, that cycle is fast and it really works the shoulders and arms. So fun.
The boys had a great time riding their bikes. It was lucky we took them out when we did because the next day Caleb had a sore throat and fever so we've been cooped up since.
It was a beautiful January day here in Texas, so we decided to let the boys ride their bikes. Benjamin got a bike for Christmas and other than pushing it around the house, he hasn't had an opportunity to really ride it. He was excited to take his bike out into the world but he confessed to me that he was worried it was going to get dirty (he is very protected of his stuff). Caleb has a wonderful hand cycle that he got through Athletes Helping Athletes, he's had for about a year and a half. Now that Benjamin has a bike, today was the first time the boys rode their bikes together.
Safety first folks, gotta get those helmets on.
Benjamin was so cute, he kept his eyes on his feet almost the entire time. He was really working hard to figure out those pedals.
Caleb WAY ahead of us. That hand cycle is crazy fast.
Considering it was his first time, Benjamin did pretty good. He was able to pedal on his own (slowly and only going straight). He'll be going as fast as his bubba in no time.
Caleb's a pro on his bike.
Benjamin picked out his helmet.
We are so thankful for this cycle. This would normally cost about $2500, so we are beyond grateful to Athletes Helping Athletes for providing one for Caleb. It is a wonderful thing to be able to ride a bike.
Texas was suddenly hit with the most gorgeous weather this weekend. We have barely endured the hottest, most miserable summer in the history of the universe, so to be able to open my windows this morning and feel a COOL breeze blow through my house was nothing short of amazing. We could not, and would not let this weather go to waste so we took the boys to the park.
Of course we had to take Caleb's hand cycle too! He has been begging to ride it all summer but it was truly just too hot, so it has been a few weeks since he has enjoyed his bike. Thankfully, Glenn strapped on his running shoes and jogged, ran, and sprinted around the park with Caleb. It was fun seeing everyone's reaction to Caleb's bike. He definitely got a few stares (which is typical) but I think people were staring because this cycle is just so COOL. His was THE coolest bike at the playground for sure!
While Daddy and Bubba were off cycling...Benjamin and I hit the playground!
He went down the slide about 1200 times (that is not an exaggeration).
Did a bit of swinging.
Stopped for a quick snack because all of this playing is hard work.
And then Bubba joined us on the playground.
We are very blessed to have an all-accessible playground in our area. Caleb is able to get to most every part of the playground equipment with his walker or wheelchair.
The boys had a great time at the park this morning.
Today we took Caleb (and Benjamin) to the Turning Point Extravaganza. It is an event held every summer and it features a variety of adaptive sports. I always like taking Caleb to these types of events because it really shows him all of the things that are possible for him. There are a ton of sports and activities that are available to him. And Caleb seems to really enjoy seeing other people that are using wheelchairs. Several times today he said "Look at all these people in wheelchairs!" He loved it.
He wanted to do hand cycling first. This cycle is different than the one Caleb just got through Athletes Helping Athletes. He drove this one around the parking lot a couple of times. I'll show you Caleb's new cycle at the end of this post (most of you have probably already seen it on Facebook).
After hand cycling, Caleb (and Benjamin) gave disc golf a try. Neither one of them did very well. Benjamin opted to just cheat and put his Frisbee directly into the goal.
Caleb nervously watching someone going down the zipline. We tried so hard to get Caleb to do the zipline because I think he would really like it but he wanted no part of it. We just couldn't convince him...maybe next year.
They had a large tank set up with a bunch of catfish in it. Caleb had a lot of fun fishing.
He loved catching fish, and he actually caught several. But I guess it isn't terribly hard to catch a fish when they are confined to a small area.
Benjamin enjoyed watching Bubba fish and he was even brave enough to touch one. I kinda thought the catfish tank was a bit mean, it didn't seem right that these poor catfish just kept getting caught and thrown back over and over again. But I'm a bit of a softy so I'm probably the only one that was bothered.
They had some RC cars too. Caleb chose the monster truck...of course.
Next was wheelchair tennis. I think this is so cool. Caleb had a lot of fun with this and the volunteers were so patient with him. I just love that all of these different sports are available.
Both boys were begging to ride the pontoon boat so we headed there next.
While we waited for the boat, Benjamin found some dirt to play in. Of course.
Okay these next pictures have me in tears because I am laughing so hard. I have never seen anything so funny.
"Um mom, I can't really breath in this life jacket."
"Um mom, now I'm falling over."
"Um mom, I appreciate you making the life jacket lose but I'm not sure this is any better."
And finally....drum roll please....Caleb got his hand cycle this week!!
It didn't quite fit him at first, it needed several adjustments in order to make it "fit" Caleb. Well I had no idea where to start so Justin offered to come over and help us fit the cycle for Caleb. Remember that Justin custom builds hand cycles and we had originally wanted him to make a cycle for Caleb but when we got the grant through Athletes Helping Athletes we couldn't use Justin anymore. Anyway, Justin was kind enough to offer to help us with Caleb's cycle. Great guy.
Once the cycle was adjusted we let Caleb take it for a test drive.
Caleb actually did very well. This hand cycle is so cool. Caleb got going fast enough that Glenn was having to run to keep up. I think it will take getting used to but Caleb will get the hang of this thing is no time.
I'm super excited about this opportunity for Caleb. He loves his new bike. What a blessing to him and to us. A couple of kids in the neighborhood saw Caleb on his bike and they were begging to try it! They said Caleb's bike was way cooler than theirs! Too funny.
Here is a short video of Caleb's first test drive.
You might remember a post I made a couple of weeks ago: "Wanted: A cycle for Caleb", where I shared how we were in the process of saving $2500 so that we could purchase a hand cycle for Caleb. I even shamelessly added a "chip-in" button to the site so that we could receive donations towards this purchase. I knew that it would take quite awhile to save up this kind of money but I knew we would get it done. A fellow SB mom, Jennifer (a.k.a. Charlie's mom) told me about a program called "Athletes Helping Athletes". She thought they might be able to help us get funding for a cycle. So, I did a bit of research. AHA is an amazing program that is run by RoadRunnerSports, and they specifically provide grants for hand cycles. So, I sent in an application. Crossed my fingers. And expected to hear something in about 3 months! And within daysI received a phone call letting me know that Caleb was getting a hand cycle! FREE!!! Hello!! Woo-Hoo!! AHA had 2 hand cycles that we could choose from and here is the one we chose for Caleb.
It's the Invacare Top End XLT JR. We chose this one because it most closely resembled the custom cycle we had originally wanted made specifically for Caleb. Because we were approved for a grant through AHA we can't have a cycle built for Caleb, we had to chose one of the Invacare bikes. But this one looks a lot like what we had planned on anyway so we are super excited. And the fact that all of this happened within days of me sending in the application is amazing! Caleb should be receiving his new cycle the first week of June. Just in time for summer vacation :)
I truly can't believe it. I never dreamed we would be able to give him such a wonderful gift so quickly. Some of you parents know how long it can take to get anything our kids need, it can take months to get a wheelchair or a walker, or save money for an important piece of equipment. So to have this cycle coming to us so quickly just blows my mind. Truly an answer to prayer.
I do want to thank those of you that donated on the "chip-in" site (everyone's money was refunded). I was touched by the handful of you that were so quick to give money towards a bike for Caleb. So a big thank you to:
Northside Christian Church in Oklahoma (this is also a thank you to Melissa Bell who told her church about Caleb and they raised $350!)
You guys are awesome!!
I highly recommend looking into AHA if you need a hand cycle for your kid. The process was so easy and so fast. This foundation LOVES giving these cycle to kids, they are passionate about it, and they move quickly.
Another resource is Challenged Athletes, they also provide grants. They only take applications once a year (I think starting in September). So check them out as well. I'm so thankful to Jennifer for telling me about these programs. I had no idea there was anything out there that would provide Caleb a hand cycle. Us parents need to share these valuable resources with each other so if there is some organization or foundation that has really helped you or your kid then leave a comment for others to read. I'll start a resource section on this blog to make all these great resources easy to find. So let me know if you know of any other great organizations!
And I will certainly be posting some pictures of Caleb on his new cycle as soon as we get it! I can't wait.
