Evan is getting a bike!!!

All of you who have read our blog know of the frustration and road blocks I have come across regarding my efforts in trying to get Evan an adaptive bicycle, you can read about it in May and June on this blog. Anyway, I belong to two support groups on Yahoo, one for CP moms and one for Polymicrogyria and there is another mom whose son has bilateral perisylvan polymicrogyria and spastic cerebral palsy as well. Her son is about a year younger than Evan but they are so similar in some ways.

Well, my friend happen to find a an Amtryke in her garage that her son is not able to use and he has gotten a new Freedom Concepts bike so he is not in need of a second bike. So she offered to sale it to us for Evan. My parents and Rudy's mom are going to purchase it for us and we should be getting it by Friday or next Monday. I am so excited and I am just so happy that there are such caring people in the world. And what would we do without the grandparents.

Anyway, my next post should be Evan on his new bike, but in the meantime here is a pic of what it looks like.

The Falls

These are the Falls at Burney Falls state park where we went camping. Isn't it beautiful, it was so pretty to see.

My hubby did a really good job of taking pics of the falls. We took a walk to the falls and took Evan with us but it was really hard because there are stairs and it is pretty steep. We did not bring his wheelchair on our camping trip because there was not enough room.


This deer was along the trail eating the whole time we were there, Evan kept busy watching it but then had to come down to the bottom of the falls to see us. It was so cool to see the deer up so close.


Here are the kids minus Evan because it would have been too hard and dangerous for him to be there. I had planned to get a family pic but we just never made it back to the falls, it was so hard to carry Evan back up the steps and I was no help due to my asthma.

Boating in Burney 2008

Check out this video I made of my dad and the grandkids on the boat. He let each of them have a turn driving the boat. Evan loved the boat and thought it was great. I was kind of scared because he was right up on the bow sitting with the other kids. Cynthia opted to stay at the beach this time and of course Sophia is a little young to be on the boat. But Nathan, Celeste, Gabriel, Mia and Evan were all there and had tons of fun driving the boat and we even stopped to dive off the boat and cool down.

Around the Campfire-Burney 2008

We spent our evenings around the campfire, talking and having smore's and wine or margaritas when the urge hit. Uncle Mike and aunt Colleen are in the picture above.

My Aunt Karen and Uncle Gary

Rudy and Cynthia

Evan is roasting marshmallow, he enjoyed eating the graham crackers and chocolate the most.

Gabriel and Celeste roasting marshmallows

Beach Bums at Burney Falls

Bathing beauties, my mom and sister at the beach

My mom and Auntie Karen at the beach.

Gabriel and Nathan building sand castles or I think this day it was a spa, they would dig a big whole and then fill it with water and sit in it.

Evan having fun digging in the sand

Cynthia swimming and spending a lot of time underwater.

Camping in Burney Falls, CA June 30 thru July 5th 2008

So after driving to Southern California, we spiced up life and on Monday June 30th drove about 4 1/2 hours north to Burney Falls State park to go camping. This is about an hour past Redding on Highway 5. We used to camp here when I was a kid all the time and it has been about 20 years since I have been. I have so many fond memories of camping as a kid so I was really excited to be able to bring my kids here. My parents, sister and her kids, brother, his fiance and baby, Auntie Karen and Uncle Gary(dad's brother), Uncle Mike and Auntie Colleen(mom's brother), cousin Joe and girlfriend Christina, and my auntie Karen's mom were all there as well.

The women and kids spent most of our days at the beach and the guys went fishing. Evan found this duck ring that someone left behind and he just loved it and became very attached. He never got in the water too much but played in the sand. He is spoiled and only likes warm water. I attribute this to warm water therapy since he was about 15 months old until he was 3yrs old.

Cynthia is always in the water, she has been this way since she was a kid and is 16 years old now and still loves the water just as much. We both got new swimsuits and got a lot of use out of them.

Evan and Mia are sunbathing.

Gabriel was having a lot of fun swimming and building sandcastles as well.

Family Reunion in LA June 28, 2008

We left Elk Grove at around 7am on Friday June 27, 2008 to drive to Los Angeles for a family reunion with Rudy's mom's side of the family. This pic is of my boys in the back of the van at the start of our journey. Gabe is reluctantly in a 5pt harness, he thinks this is a baby seat but I tell him it is the safest he can be. They are both wide awake. We drove for about 30 minutes stopped for breakfast and then drove about 3 hours and stopped at a travel center. This travel center is the same place that Gabriel fell and scraped his nose when we were driving to Disneyland in 2002 when he was about 18 months old.

Here is a pic of the kids on the same rocks that Gabriel jumped off of and scraped his nose when he was 18 months old. Funny how life changes so much in a span of 6 years.


Gabriel, Grandma and Cynthia at Lucille's BBQ restaruant. This is a yummy place to eat. We ate here on Friday night after arriving in LA, checking into our hotel and taking a little swim.

Just some of the 60-75 family members that showed up at the reunion. There is already talk of a reunion next year in Ensenada, Mexico where some of the family have homes on the beach. Sounds like a plan to me.

Cousin Marisa who was instrumental in putting this whole thing together. She had plenty of help but she certainly got the ball rolling. The reunion was at a park and we were in a covered, gated area with tons of shade, a lot of good mexican food and a bounce house for the kids. It was so much fun and we are really glad that we went.