Bumble Bee Ranch

We have been in a group called HOPE KIDS since Tyler was really little. They even have a Utah Chapter that our cousin Kayden, and Noah are a part of. In Arizona all of the activities are a lot further away than we are use to, but we try to make a few of them.

A few weeks ago we went to the large party at Bumble Bee Ranch.  Where we were welcomed with amazing volunteers and food and lots of fun things to do.

Bumble Bee Ranch is pretty far from our house and took about an hour and a half to get there. And trust me, my children do not travel well. The last ten minutes of the drive were on unpaved roads and that helped with the fun bumping of the ride. But we were happy to get there.

The morning of the event a huge crash shut down the freeway on both sides of the freeway so we even had to find the alternate route to get there. We were rebels!

We got the list of things to do for the day when we checked in and headed over to eat before we got going on events. Some of the things on the events had a long wait and the boys weren't interested so we got their list and decided on what we would do.

Ty wanted to ride the "Bucking Bronco" so we waited our turn on that first. He loved it. Dallas had gone to get sunscreen so that my vampire white children wouldn't get a burn, even with the overcast day! While he was gone we got on but didn't ride. But as he walked up we started riding our Bronco.

Tyler was so excited and loved it. LOVED it. He kept wanting to go higher but they were a bit worried   that he wouldn't be strong enough to hold on much higher. But we tried it a few times. He was so funny. He told them he was flying and he was higher than the birds. He loved it and the volunteers were so good to him.

 Dallas wasn't so sure that Tyler would like it but he did. He loves things like that. Which is a weird, far cry from what he use to be like a few years ago. He is such a brave kid. The most talked about thing that Tyler wanted to do was ride a horse. The first time Tyler rode a horse was with his Grandpa at Wheeler Farm. I always thought that all my kids would be riding their first horse with their Grandpa, but that wasn't in the cards for Grayson.
         
Far off in the field  was the biggest little boy in the world. My little baby was riding a horse. His dad was with him for the first of the ride and we swapped so I could get some pictures of Grayson.
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Grayson is a pretty solemn kid. He has a great personality but sometimes drawing him out of his shell takes a little bit of work. This horse had him smiling and he was so incredibly sweet with the horse. He kept petting her and saying that she was pretty! He was so, so happy!

He is so in love with doing something like this. He enjoys it so much and it helps me see into this little difficult child. We are definitely looking at ways to keep this kid drawn out like this.








Next up Tyler was determined to climb the rock climbing wall. He of course, knew that he was full capable of climbing clear to the top with no help so off he went. With some minor adaptations he was able to get up as high as I could keep his feet on the handles but he loved jumping down the wall.

I have always wanted him to try, even going into it we knew he would "fail" by most standards. But a little bit up the wall was enough of a win for him and for us.
(Some day I will be super skinny for all the lifting I do for both of my skinny toots. My arms should be like NOT flabby!)
 
Grayson again, loved this so much. He loved being up in the air and as high as he could be. He was not able to climb it all on his own but he also had a good time. This little boy could live outside in the dirt and the gunk and the fun things with horses all day!

Bumble Bee Ranch was a great successful trip. We probably couldn't go much further than that with the boys for a while. Grayson is the WORST rider. We will be looking at medical flights only for a while.

The past almost year, that I have been working with the Mesa United Way has been so good for me, but being with these little munchkins on the weekends has been far more rewarding or as rewarding as helping those in need. I feel like my need for these 2 has been growing with no way to satisfy it. This for sure helped that out.

We had plans the next weekend to do Sky kids, but I got the super flu that as been hanging around our area and hope to be back on their flight schedule in November.

Easter is coming up and as a social media outlet I wanted to just add a quick note of testimony at the bottom of my blog.  The #becauseofHim movement has me realizing just how important family is. Creating this little family of mine and embracing the joys and lows is part of the plan for us. Infertility was not what I had planned and it robbed me of what I thought my family would be. It has even torn apart my extended family. But this is my family and I want them to have the warm, loving and caring things that I can provide them with. Families, They are forever! 

The Doc Mobile

One of the benefits of living in a "large metropolitan" is the events that come to you. We are always a stop on major tours and concerts and events. While watching Disney Junior with Ty, a commercial came on about the Doc Mobile touring America.

Ty LOVES Doc Mcstuffins so we promptly went to the address that he just so happened to memorize, to check what city it was coming to. Sure enough, last stop on the list was Phoenix. The only down fall- I work every Saturday at Helen's Hope Chest.

I requested time off and we tried to not remind him that it was coming up, until we were sure that we were going. He has a problem if we tell him that he is doing something then we can't/don't do it.  We planned to get there early, had a back up plan, had a back up person to help and off we went.

The wait was pretty minimal but when we got to the front he went off to the "dance party" that was hosted by the local Radio Disney Station. He won a magnetic and love dancing. He was able to get into the Doc Mobile and he had a chance to fix up his Mickey Mouse. Grayson fixed up his dad. He wasn't overly interested in bringing a stuffed animal. And it was SO early he wasn't interested in anything other than the donut and milk offered to him.

It was such a good day. I loved watching them do the stuff they enjoy. It also makes me glad we live in a bigger city to get to enjoy stuff like this.

A few quick photos of the dance party and the set up they had for photos.

The line to actually meet Doc was about an hour wait. And despite MUCH cooler temps than we have had all summer it was getting to hot. They didn't have a cover for the people waiting so we didn't say anything to Ty about her coming and left. We were there for a little over and hour and he had a great time.

It was great to have a day off of work to see them and play with them. That afternoon we were join to attend a pumpkin patch with our local Hopekids chapter but Grayson was still asleep when the time came. So we  cancelled our reservation and hung out.

It was a good day for all.

Disney On Ice

A few weeks ago we were given Tickets to Disney On Ice: Let's Celebrate. It is Mickey Mouse celebrating all of the different times of the year. Sadly, my camera was out of batteries and I knew that it would, but couldn't find my extra spare. ( I have 3. But man I can't remember ANYTHING) Plus the morning did NOT go as planned.

Because of the drama of last night, Ty didn't wake up until what I *THOUGHT* was 8. As I ate breakfast and went upstairs to shower I realized that it was really 9:30 and it started at 10:30. Needless to say we were in a hurry.

The tickets were given to us by the Hope Kids program and the Feld Entertainment. The tickets are generally not visually impaired friendly. Most people can't afford front row seats on any of the venues but we have been lucky enough that the Energy Solutions exchanges our tickets for better visually impaired seating. It makes us glad that he JUST might be able to see everything. Or at least SOMETHING!

Ty REALLY likes Mickey and we told him last night we were going on a HUGE adventure in hopes to convince him he needs to sleep in his own bed. We reminded him this morning that we were going on a adventure. It didn't help him be good and behave but he wasn't HORRIBLE so we went anyway.

Right before we left I told him our Adventure was to go see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and the rest of the gang. He was very excited. We made it just in time. After our exchange of tickets we sat down and I ran to get a few things and just as I was leaving the show started. So I missed the FIRST sight of Mickey.

The Let's celebrate started with a "Unbirthday" and had Alice and all the wonderland people. Along with all of Mickey's friends.

The clean up of the party was done by Mickey mouse and the mops from the Sorcerer. The mops were very cute and they lit up. They did a great job!

Halloween was cute and had all the Villains of Disney. Jafar, the witch from Snow White. All of them. Ty has really liked Captain Hook. So of course when he saw Captain Hook he had a nice point and clap!

For Valentines they did have the Princesses but since Ty was only interested in Mickey that is what I got!

During the intermission I bought the most expensive bag of cotton candy EVER. It came with a hat and as soon as he had a new hat he was all done with his Mickey. We even went down one whole step and got super close the the Zamboni.

My camera didn't have batteries for the last half of the show but we really did have a good time. All the princesses were there, Tinkerbell came and so did the toys from Toy story. I was super thankful for all the accommodations. It has really made Tyler be able to see and enjoy so many more things

On the way home he told us that was the "Best adventure EVER." Pretty sure it is way better than small trips to the grocery store or play time at Burger King. I know his face was priceless!

Tyler went to the CIRCUS

*Oh MY GOODNESS!! This will totally have picture overload so I tried to limit them but Grandma would be mad if I didn't include SOME.*

On Tyler's birthday we were offered 2 tickets to the circus. I told Tyler we were going to go to the circus and he was so excited. We were waiting to see if we could get an extra ticket and were worried that D wasn't going to be able to go with us. LATE the night before the Circus we were offered one more ticket. We were so excited to go.

The next morning I woke up throwing up and sick, sick, sick. I spent the whole morning throwing up and was REALLY not sure if I could make it. I was so sad and upset. Come afternoon I was feeling MUCH better and Tyler couldn't stop talking about the circus. When he got off the bus he asked for the circus, when he went to bed the night before he asked about the circus.

We had no idea where we were sitting but were told it was "handicapped accessible." Normally that means that it is pretty easy to get to but not at the ES arena. So we arrived in time for the pre-show which gave Tyler a chance to be out on the floor with some performers up close so he could see.

While we were there Tyler and Dallas stayed and I needed to run and see if we could get our seats changed. The handicapped seats were very far away and he wouldn't be able to see. When I went down to the problem ticket counter and asked if they could change our seats. At first they said no because the tickets were comp'd by the show and not purchased by anyone. I thanked them and left.

We got some yummy dinner food from the concessions ( blah.. ) and of course popcorn. Ty ate the WHOLE thing. We sat down and got a tap on our shoulder from the problem ticket dude who asked us to follow him.

He offered us seats in the 4th row. It was seriously amazing being that close to all of the performers. I was VERY impressed. What made it even better was Tyler and his expression as they did their thing.

The Ringmaster was very good, but very loud. He rarely stood still for longer than three seconds.

As the circus started Ty shoveled in the popcorn. I am not sure if he was nervous or what. He ate almost the whole container of popcorn. He was VERY good through the whole thing.

This is the lady that twirls on a really high rope by her hair! so incredibly NUTS.

The crazy motorcycle riders.

Ty decided to sit with Dallas through the last part of the show. I think he is excited a little bit.

I love the Elephants. They are such HUGE cute animals. There is something majestic about them and I really liked them. At the end of the circus they brought out the newest member of the crew and it was a baby elephant. Ty pointed and said " Baby Elephant and his mommy."

And the end of the show! It really was the best show on earth. Ty loved it and he was awake and aware of everything around him. It was a show of wonder, awe and most of all SEEING!

We have just recently noticed that his vision is something that really does impact so many things. Something small, like sitting close to the circus, means SO much.

Special thanks to those who gave us the tickets to go. At the cost of the seats that we needed it would have cost us well over 300 bucks. We had the best time and Ty still talks about his trip to the circus.

*Click on the pictures if you want them to be bigger.*

Hope Play date

On Ty's birthday I sent his cute little butt off to school and ran to the grocery store. I wanted to get some new cupcakes to send to his class. When I got to school Ty was working with the Speech therapist. As soon as I walked in he as not willing to keep working. She asked a few questions about his vision and if he can see certain things. After a few pointers, we were ready for cupcakes.


Ty doesn't drink milk. Like at all. One day he just stopped. He use to drink carnation and milk. So I laughed when he wanted milk. Miss Holly said he never drinks it but he wants it. It was even chocolate milk and he was so happy to have it.
He went back and forth between me and his cupcake. He was so funny. Another little boy in the class ate his own cupcake then walked over by the leftover cupcakes and tried to lick them. He was SNEAKY!! Ty had a great time and was not unhappy when I left.

When he got home we had lunch and then got ready to go on an activity with the hope kids. It was our first activity and he had such a great time. So did his mom. It was nice to see him so happy.

We made I spy bottles with Rice. He really liked being able to fill the bottle with the rice. He wanted to do it all by himself.

He was not convinced that we should do a whole bunch of items into the bottle instead he loaded up on the first few items. He liked the jingle bells a lot and loaded up on those too.

Next stop was making his own play doh and he kept wanting to play in the ingredients.

We played a game with a water noodle and marbles. He needed some help so I wasn't able to get a picture. He was excited to play with his friend Ben. He would race Ben's marble and laugh and laugh.

We also did a parachute and tried to keep the balls on the parachute. He thought it was pretty funny to watch the balls fall off and hit people.

Last activity was playing with the balloons as basketballs. He loved it. They had lower kid baskets but he wanted the big ones. So after a few pictures I had to hold him up and let him shoot with the big one. He was super sweet to the kids who needed help. He helped get balloons for his friends in chairs and he had such a good time.