Bocce

Jaylin has been playing Special Olympic Bocce for a couple months now. He really has started to get into it and seems to enjoy it. Tonight was the last practice. At the end of practice they had a little pizza party. The coaches gave each player a team picture and a keychain. It was such a nice gesture. He will definately be doing it again next year. Special Olympics has been such a great experience for Jaylin.

Buddy Walk

Today we participated in the Buddy Walk which raises money for Downs Syndrome. I have wanted to do this for the last couple of years but never looked into it and we miss it. So this year I made sure to register us. Aimee and Alex came along with us. As we were pulling up Johnny, Jaylin's friend, was playing the bagpipes. He is an amazing player. As you are walking in there is a huge balloon arch that looks like a rainbow. We had to go to the registration table to pick up our shirts. Afterwards, we walked around for a little bit and were excited to see Mr. Johnson (one of Jaylin's old principals) was there. Jaylin played a couple of games. He won a Buddy Walk water bottle that he plans on bringing to school tomorrow. At 1030 the walk started, I was amazed at how many people were there and how organized it was. When we finished the walk, we ate lunch and brought some sounvenirs (Jaylin got a little bag and I got a magnet for my car). We took some great pictures that I will post soon. We had a great time, can't wait to do it again next year.

Zoo Camp

Jaylin went to zoo camp the last week in August which was sponsored by Familycapped. They did tours of the zoo, animal demos, and crafts. He really enjoyed himself. His favorite part was petting the elephants (his favorite animal). I was impressed with how willing he was to touch the animals and how involved he was with every activity. He use to have a huge fear of touching animals. A lot of his friends from Special Olympics, bowling, and baseball were there so he enjoyed hanging out with them, especially his friend Johnny who he talks about all the time now. The staff there was great and he can't wait to do it next year.

Baseball Banquet

On August 24th Jaylin finished off his baseball season with a Challenger Family Day at Cicero Sports Center. There were lots of fun activities to do. Jaylin got Elmo painted on his face, had a balloon elephant made, played games, and dunked the director of the league in the dunk tank (I was impressed that he was able to do it without help). Normally the families are crowded into the Moose Lounge on Milton Ave and are limited to only having two people per child come. This day was great because we had lots of room and no limit on how many people could come.

Soccer

Jaylin has been doing Special Olympic Soccer Skills for the last couple of months. The team had a tournament in Rochester today. He had to do three different skills: dribble the soccer ball from one point to the next, kick 5 balls into a goal (he made 4 outta 5), and do this little square course were you have to run kick the ball in between cones, go to the next and do the same. Jaylin tried his best and did a great job. After lunch he was starting to melt but he got control of himself (earning his last sticker to go out to eat at Applebees helped a lot). At the end of the day he came home with a 4th place ribbon. Not bad for only playing soccer for a couple months. I was extremely proud of his performance on and off the field. The event was nice. They took a picture of each child, printed it out, and framed it which I thought was wonderful. Jaylin was very proud to show it off to his grandma and my stepdad when they got home tonight. It was a long day but we enjoyed ourselves especially spending time with our Special Olympic family. After we came home and relaxed for a bit we went to dinner at Applebee's with Aimee and Alex.

1st day of school

Today was Jaylin's 1st day of junior high school. I can't believe he is in 8th grade. He was very content with going today because he knew Miss W would be there which made me content too. I received a good report on his day so lets cross our fingers that this transition will go smoothly. What I find interesting is that Jaylin is in the grade and school that I was when I was pregnant for him so its like he is kinda going back there for the second time. Its given me a chance to look back and reflect on how far we have both come in the last 13 years. I am so proud of where Jaylin is at. We were told that he wasn't going to do some many things and he has accomplished so much in the last couple of years. We are going to keep doing what we are doing and grow stronger and stronger.

Fair

Today was the last day of the Fair and my mom's cheer team was performing. So we went. We went the 2nd day with our friends Chris and Kathleen for a couple hours just to basically walked around, have lunch, and Jaylin and Kathleen rode 3 rides. Jaylin went with Katlyn (his Res Hab provider) this past Thursday. They did the unlimited ride stamp and had lunch. He was looking forward to it all week. Well, funds on my end are limited so I knew we weren't going to get to do much today. We had 8 tickets (thanks to Chris) from the first time we went and I bought Jaylin 12 more tickets. Which got him 5 rides (well 4 rides cuz he rode the swings twice). So we did that first. His favorite ride is the swings (so you can understand why he chose to ride them twice). I love watching him on the swings. He is so carefree and happy. I think he just enjoys the feeling he gets to be in the air like that much different from swinging on swings in a park. He also the ride that brings you up in the air then drops down (don't know the name of it). We went to this little amusement park called Fun Spot when we were in Florida and he rode the same ride there and fell in love. Again the excitement on his face is priceless. Next was the Himalayas, swings again, and ended with the pirate ship. I am so thankful that I have a son that respects and understands when we are done we are done. I told him right before he went on the pirate ship that was the last ride. He got off and was fine with it no temper tantrums, no whining, no nothing. I was very proud of him and grateful that he understands that Mommy is not rich. Next we stopped at Scotty's and had our picture taken. We have been having a picture of the two of us taken there every year since Jaylin was 3 or 4. They are cheap, friendly, and do a great job. We always get a keychain for me and a picture for Jaylin which ends up on his desk at school. Its funny because I have 3 keychain pictures on my key ring (a pic of us from 2002, 2006, and now this year). They normally stay on my keychain until it breaks and then I put them in a photo album. Its funny to me that the one from 2002 is still on their six years later and the ones after it have not lasted. At this point Jaylin was "so hungry" one of his favorite sayings so we sat and had lunch. After lunch we got to visit with people from my mom's gym that we havent seen in awhile then watch the team perform, and made our way home. It was a great, relaxing day.