Our Trip to Morgan's Wonderland

Our family traveled to San Antonio, Texas a few weekends ago to stay with my uncle and aunt and visit the amazing Morgan's Wonderland. It was the absolute best.

While staying at my relatives house we quickly realized what will be recommended to Santa Clause as Clara's Christmas gift. . . a hammock. That girl would. not. get. out. Give her a hammock all day every day. It was the cutest thing to witness. She would walk outside and stand by the hammock, patiently, until someone would lift her up and plop her in. Several times she grabbed a hand and pulled a few of us over to the hammock as her way to say, "Swing with me."

We also learned that Camille's favorite part was throwing corn and waiting for the deer to come feast. As cute as this was, we will not be informing Santa Clause of her heart's desire, a deer for the backyard.

Little Miss also enjoyed filling empty baggies with acorns. Kept her busy for one solid hour Saturday morning.

Clara convinced not only daddy, but sister to join in . . .

We spent all day Saturday at Morgan's Wonderland. For those not familiar, Morgan's Wonderland is an adventure park designed specifically for persons with special needs. I teared up not once, not twice, but three times while we were there. Is your family member in a wheelchair? No problem. Wheelchairs could be loaded on any and every ride, swing, or activity.

My new favorite photo of the girls . . .

Riding the ferris wheel . . .

Checking out the swings . . . 

Clara loved the interactive musical stations . . .

Camille was over the moon excited to ride the train, and I think Clara enjoyed it as well!

There is an indoor portion of the park, "Sensory Village," which has all types of sensory activities. You can't tell from this picture, but Clara was giggling hysterically at the flying butterflies!

We basically had to pry Clara off of the carousel . . . :)

Driving cars around the track . . .

The park had an interactive water station which both girls enjoyed. Clara tried to climb in several times. :)

After three hours at the adventure park, we walked down to the water park portion of Morgan's Wonderland. The water park is a fairly new addition and so fun! Think 5-6 huge splash pads.

If your child is in a wheelchair you simply trade it out for one that can get completely wet. Watching kids experience the joy of something as simple as fully participating in water activities was beyond magical. Breathtaking.

A blessing I didn't expect going into the weekend, was how the day at the park would impact Camille. It was so good for her to see other families, a lot like us, which was reassuring for her little heart that there are other kids like her that have siblings like Clara. While she might feel alone on the day-to-day, there are in fact many families like ours, little girls who have a sister who doesn't quite interact like her friend's sisters and who doesn't quite talk back to her like her friend's sisters. We talked through this a bit and it was so good for her three-year-old soul.

At one point in our day, as we waited our turn in line, a little boy ran up to me from his parents and pulled on my shirt. The mom quickly prompted his hand away and apologized. Approximately half a second into her apology I simply told her, "I get it. I SO get it. Please, there is no need to apologize." She replied with, "You're right. Not having to explain your child's behavior or apologizing for it is the coolest part of the trip for us. We come every year. Parents just get it." Amen and amen.

What a blessing for me to experience. Parents who are living it so they get it. Parents who don't get out of sorts when my daughter twiddles their purse strap or starts chewing on their belongings. Parents who understand why you literally cannot let go of your child's hand if they are not contained in a stroller. Parents who don't judge when you have to give your child the iPad for the 20th time so she will eat lunch, sit still, remain calm, etc. What a gift!

Clara conked out after an hour at the water park. Brandon had to basically force me to sit and hold her for two hours. Or not. Give me all the cuddles.

I held my special girl watching many other special children (and adults!) enjoy and play and laugh and hug. Some talking, some not. Some walking, some not. Some with legs and arms, some without. It was beautiful to witness and I am a better person for those two hours. . . thanking God for the very good gift that is Clara and this journey, this hard but amazingly precious journey He has called us to.

Regardless of whether you have a child with special needs or not*, I highly recommend visiting Morgan's Wonderland if you are ever in the San Antonio area. I promise you will leave with a smile and a wider and deeper view of God's good gifts that come in many different shapes, forms, personalities, and abilities.

The treats aren't half bad either . . .  :)

*Anyone can visit the park, not just special needs families! Special needs children/adults get in for free. Typical children and adults are charged for admission.  My guess is that a typical child up to age ten would enjoy the park. 

Finding The Light In Hurricane Harvey

At this point, Hurricane Harvey needs no introduction. The past ten day or so are now a total blur. Endless hours indoors (I didn't leave my house from Friday until Tuesday morning when the storm hit) and eyes continually glued to the news, days just begin to run together. As a means of documentation, a few pictures from our experience with Hurricane Harvey. 

Thursday, August 24th

Here we are Thursday evening walking home from a neighbor's house. At this point I had prepped us for a "storm," and by that I mean I bought an extra case of water and packaged snacks and knew we most likely would lose power for a few hours, maybe a few days. I had no idea what was ahead. I don't think anyone did. A few school districts had canceled school Friday and Monday, so I began to question if I should chance it with Clara as her school wasn't yet canceled. My biggest fear was driving in heavy rain Friday afternoon for pick-up. 

Friday, August 25th

Brandon went to work Friday but cautioned me to keep Clara home from school just to play it safe. (Her school ended up having early release at noon so that both students and employees could get home before the rain picked up.) Nothing extraordinary seemed to happen that evening weather wise, so we tucked the kids in bed and eventually called it a night ourselves (after prepping flashlights of course). We slept on and off despite heavy rain, wind, and continual flash-flood and tornado alerts on our phone, but were up for the day rather early. How the girls slept all night I will never know! 

Saturday, August 26th

Saturday was mild, weather-wise, with not much happening during the day. We stayed home most of the day coloring, eating, and the like. Brandon planned ahead and ordered a huge coloring project for Camille (see below!), knowing we would be stuck inside for several days. Good call, B. Saturday evening the weather alerts came on strong and we took shelter several for tornado warnings times throughout the evening/night. 

Clara was so curious about Camille's coloring project. She would plop down as if she wanted to participate, but quickly changed her mind when I would prompt her with a marker. :)

Sunday, August 27th
After a crazy Saturday night, we stayed put Sunday even though the weather seemed to lighten up quite a bit. We spent the day coloring, making crosaints (hurricane won't stop my husband's kitchen skills), reading (me), watching shows, and the Oliver's stopped by at one point to say hello, which was a nice surprise!

Camille made sure I had a cuddle buddy :). . . 

These were not awful, incase you were wondering. . . 

Glimpse of the tornado activity around Houston . . . 

Monday, August 28th

At some point on Monday a voluntary evacuation was issued for our neighborhood. The city officials expected the Brazos River to crest at an all time high of 59 feet and they were predicting this to happen on Tuesday evening. While we did not expect to have water in our home should this happen, based on the elevation maps, we didn't think it wise to get stuck (for what some were predicting would be a minimum of 4-5 days) as it would be impossible to get in/out of our neighborhood if the river crested at that height. We watched the news continuously, weighing our options/pros/cons, and eventually went to bed to make a final call the next day, just in time for the weather to gear up again. 

Monday also included some bird house painting . . . 

And lots of cuddling . . .

And croissant eating . . .

This happened not too far from our neighborhood. And yes, it was/is legit. 

And just to give you an idea of the weather maps we were staring at for days on end . . .

Tuesday, August 29th - Friday, September 1st 

Tuesday morning we decided to pack our bags and evacuate to my parents house a few minutes up the road. While they were also issued a voluntary evacuation, we were much less likely to get stuck in their neighborhood should the river crest as expected, so we figured this a safer option than staying at home. My brother, sister-in-law and their kids and a sweet, older couple from church evacuated with us and it quickly became one big family hurricane party. To say that Camille was in cousin heaven would be an understatement. Also, by God's grace, we never lost power the entire hurricane experience, neither at our house or my parent's. 

Clara was up from 1:00-6:30am the first night at my parents house, so Wednesday morning I found Brandon and Clara in the media room, like this . . .

It continued to rain on and off those few days, but intense weather alerts seemed to die down (or maybe I had just silenced my phone at that point, I don't recall).

It was at this point that the heaviness of it all really began to set in for me. Lives lost, thousands and thousands of homes and neighborhoods partially or completely flooded. So many displaced. It was truly unbelievable and the sights on the news sometimes unbearable.

It appeared Houston was literally underwater.

Several times Brandon and I turned to each other to ask, "If that was us, waiting on our roof to be rescued, how in the world would we do that with Clara? How would we keep her on the roof? Camille would be scared but she would get it. HOW would we do that with Clara? How would we sleep with her at a shelter?" Cue the tears for all the parents of a child with special needs who were not tucking their child into their own bed at night.

That Thursday I finally left my parents house for the first time since arriving Tuesday. Stores were slowly opening up in their area, so we took the girls to grab a quick lunch, buy a few things at the grocery store, and drove through our old neighborhood (which had a mandatory evacuation).

On Friday morning, September 1st, the Brazos River crested (4 ft below the original prediction, see picture below) and thus, we were safe to head home.

I woke Saturday morning with that heaviness, again. Survivor's guilt is a real thing, y'all.

We never lost power.

Our house didn't take on water, at all.

Both the streets in front of our house and my parent's remained totally passable, the entire time this tragic event was unfolding.

I felt as if I was spared the horrible and instead gifted eight days with my people, while thousands were already knee deep in ripping up carpets and hardwoods, gutting kitchens, and creating mile long lists for insurance adjusters.

This is where the mom in me felt powerless and torn. I wanted to help (immediately), but I couldn't drop everything and volunteer for days on end. Because small children.

So I did the only thing I knew to do that Saturday morning . . . I told Camille we were going shopping for families in need and asked if she would like to invite a friend. Because while I couldn't gut a kitchen in that moment, I could shop. And that decison, while it feels small in the grand scheme of the need, is still doing something, it's still taking action.

So we did!

We picked up Camille's buddy, Zane, and headed to the store to shop for relief supplies. An hour I will never forget.

Clara was there, too! In her own cart. :)

Later that day I turned the corner and caught Clara playing with her shadow. The image spoke so clearly to me in that moment, a true gift, so I grabbed my phone to video. 

I posted the video on Instagram with the following . . . 

It's been an emotional week. To see your city underwater, homes destroyed, and children of all sizes being rescued by boat, well ... emotionally draining doesn't quite cut it. It's crazy to feel so grateful and heartbroken at the same time. Grateful that our house remained untouched by water, our family of four (and all of our extended family) is together and safe, and heartbroken that so many people are starting from the ground up. I love this image of Clara. I came down the hallway and found her playing with her shadow, with light peering through the window. She's my little reminder to always find the light. Regardless of what's going on around us, we can find the light. Light is always there, regardless of circumstance. The key is we do have to actively look for it and choose to embrace it and engage it, even in the unwelcome storms that come and go and come again. Love this girl (and all her life lessons) so much. #houstonstrong

I don't have experience with a flooded home, but I have faced my own unexpected storms, as many of you know. So this is where we are, where I am and where Houston is as a community . . . searching for the light in the aftermath of the storm. The rain has ceased but hearts still hurt.

We don't understand the "why," which is often the case with such tragedy, but we will keep focusing on the light, focus on being the light, and we will all emerge stronger than before.

#houstonstrong

#hurricaneharvey