Last day of Down syndrome Camp

Tonight was our last night of camp, and it was a great week.  I remember how scared I was to go to my first event and our first Buddy Walk.  How would it be to see older children with Down syndrome?  Would I feel out of place?  Would we feel like we fit in?  Would we like it? 

I'll be perfectly honest and admit that seeing older children with Down syndrome was hard at first.  The week after the Buddy Walk last year was emotional for me, because I saw face to face how some things would be different.

Now, there is a sense of peace at the thought of our future.  Seeing this face..........................

........................makes it pretty easy.

I recently saw someone else write the question, "What is it like living with sunshine?".  And that about sums it up.  We live with sunshine.

It was Reptile Day.  We are far from being reptile people, especially me.  We once had a baby turtle, and I thought that the turtle would like to be out in the sunshine.  After the heat of the sun warmed up the water, we ended up with turtle soup.  Oops.  Sorry TuTu.

Nevertheless, the kids loved the reptiles.  After a dispute over the ownership of a tiny piece of molted skin that fell off one of the reptiles, we asked the reptile man if he could peel us another piece.  Thankfully, he so kindly agreed and all was well. 

Thanks for sharing some of your skin with us, Mr. Blue-Tongued, cousin of Komodo Dragon Reptile.

It's hard to believe that this boy was so fearless with the animals.  After all, he screams like a girl and runs if a house fly comes into the room. 

We not only had a week full of sunshine, but we were also surrounded by some pretty amazing people.  I have no doubt that we have begun extraordinary friendships through our local group.

Down syndrome camp

What do you do at Down syndrome Camp?  Well................

There are crafts.................

.............. such as this fabulous googly-eyed, yarn-haired, egg carton-eared box puppet.

Then, there is sitting in the grass while enjoying the bubble blower.

Meeting new friends.

I think she was telling her new friend all about herself.

How she likes french fries and playing with paper.  You know, all the things that a new friend needs to know.

Then, she throws in a little scream and holler to wrap up her conversation.

When little Nathan complimented her beautiful red dress, her gaze was shifted.

So she admired his handsome forehead.

She snacked on some grass.  It's a good source of fiber, ya know?

Since it was getting late, and she was getting tired, it was time to go home.

We'll see our friends again tomorrow.