Holiday Photos

OK, so I realized that I haven't put up any pictures from our festivities from the holidays (including Thanksgiving). Our camera has been acting up, so many of the pictures are not the greatest quality, and I missed out on some of the activities. Oh well. Maybe a new camera is in the cards for 2009 - we'll see.

There will be more pictures to come over the next few days.

We have had some wonderful times with family and friends and hope that some of these pictures convey how enjoyable these holidays have been.

Here are some pictures from Hannukah and Christmas (a.k.a. Hannumas)



Here are some photos from Thanksgiving:

Sleep Study = Purgatory

Friday night we had Caleb's first sleep study done. It was just to get some baseline info (data to compare to) for future reference as sleep apnea becomes a problem for kids with MD. He'll probably have this done about once a year...I am now shuddering at that thought.

So, we check in at Children's Hospital at 7:45 pm. Caleb fell asleep on the way there, so I thought, "Sweet! If the technicians are careful enough, he should just sleep right through it." Well, you've probably gathered that that did NOT happen. Things started off fine - we got some of the wires hooked up to him without so much as a stir. A few more, and he kind of opened his eyes, but quickly closed them again.

Then he opened his eyes one more time and the technician decides this is a great time to explain to Caleb what is going on. It goes something like this, "Caleb, my name is Neil, and I'm going to..." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" (That's Caleb screaming). Caleb then goes into hysterics, telling the 2 techs and me to, "STOP TOUCHING ME PLEASE! NO, I DON'T WANT THAT ON ME!" etc., etc.

They decide to clean the spots on his head and face where electrodes will be attached, and attach them after he's gone back to sleep. Well, he calmed down, but 2 hours later he was still awake. Neil then came in and said, "If we're going to do this tonight, we have to hook him up now, or we won't have enough time to get enough data." So I agreed that we've gotten this far, we might as well finish.

I tried to show Caleb that the tape that would be used wouldn't hurt, and told him, "They're just like stickers. See, mommy will put a sticker on her head." Well, it quickly went downhill from there. Caleb then started screaming, now in hysterics again, "NO STICKERS! I DON'T WANT ANY STICKERS!" Have you ever had that feeling that you've ruined your child for life? I think Caleb just might be terrified of stickers after this experience.

So we get everything hooked up, and he finally is so exhausted that he falls asleep around 11:15. I fell asleep around 12:30, but the tech came in at 1:30 to check on something, and that was it...I was up. So, on one hour of sleep, I was stuck in a small room, with my child hooked up to enough wires to look like he was in a Sci-Fi movie, with my cold and cough getting worse, and the air in the room was the driest air on the face of this Earth so the skin on my hands was cracking and I was sooooo parched! Oh, and did I mention that there was one bed for Caleb and a very uncomfortable pull-out hospital chair, which was so great for my back and neck.

I finally got back to sleep around 4 am. 4:45 rolls around, and my good friend Neil comes in and says, "Up and at 'em. The hospital needs the room at 5." Thanks, dude!

But wait, there's more...Caleb was in a very good mood after he got rid of all the wires. On the way home, Caleb tells me that he feels dizzy. He's got blood-sugar issues, and sometimes feels dizzy in the morning, but then takes a few sips of juice and is fine. So we stop at McDonald's and I got him some OJ, which he drank for the rest of the way home. We pull into the garage, and I started unbuckling his carseat. Without warning he throws up all over himself (and me). This was the icing on the cake...vomit icing!

He had the flu all day yesterday, but is fine today. He's keeping down food, and has a new found love for popsicles. I have since caught up on my sleep, and managed to fight off the flu. Jeff has been wonderfully supportive so we could both recover from this horrendous experience. Hopefully next time we will be able to better prepare Caleb for the sleep study and be able to talk him down from his hysterics. *Sigh*

Chocolate Chip Art

Since I've been up to my elbows in chocolate making truffles for family and friends, I thought this post was appropriate. A couple of nights ago I gave Caleb some chocolate chips for dessert. He scrunched them all together and exclaimed, "Look, mommy, I made a tree!" I walked over and this is what I saw.

He then continued to make different things out of the chocolate chips. This was a duck...

this was a horse, but I had to capture him in action because he kept eating the head.

He was quite proud of himself with this one, exclaiming, "I MADE A LLLLL!"

After he was quiet for a little while, I asked, "What did you make now?" He answered with glee, "I made DOTS!"

Where Are All These Hits Coming From?

For a couple of weeks now, I kept looking at the little "Who's Visiting?" map on the right-hand side and thinking it must be malfunctioning, or something. Caleb & Company suddenly went from about 5 visitors to 20+ a day, seemingly overnight. The hits were not only across the US, but international, as well. Suddenly cities from Canada, Australia, the UK, Sweden, Argentina, China, New Zealand and others were popping up.

I found out that we are coming up on Google for Ullrich searches! A Yahoo support group recently found our site and contacted me through the guestbook below. I'm very excited about this, since this was one of the reasons I started this blog - to make connections with others who have been affected by Ullrich.

So, WELCOME, newcomers. We hope you will continue to drop in :o)

Caleb's Latest Trick

Around the holidays, Caleb always seems to give us a gift in his own, unique way. On the morning of his very first Christmas, Caleb started kicking his right leg, showing us that he had use of his quads. It was the first time one of his muscles that had never seemed to work, just started working, giving us so much hope and a little belief in miracles.

This year Christmas came a little early. Caleb decided to surprise his Physical Therapist, Sarah, and me at his PT session yesterday. He managed to complete a feat of strength, Caleb-style. We've been working on this for months, and yesterday was the first time he did this independently. Luckily I had my camera there so you could all enjoy it, too.

The Photo Shoot From H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

My friend Kate, who is a fantastic photographer, and I have been trying to get together for MONTHS to get Caleb's 3-year pictures done. We just couldn't coordinate our schedules, and when we did, something would come up, like Caleb having an unsightly rash from head to toe. We finally pinned down a date, and just in time for holiday cards.

The plan was simple. Jeff, Caleb and I would go to Cousin Cammie's 2nd birthday party breakfast in the morning, then come home and have a photo session with Kate around 12:30. Simple, except for the fact that I didn't take into account the fact that Caleb would eat a sugary and carb-filled, late breakfast, messing up the timing of his meals and, more importantly, totally screw up his blood-sugar, rendering him a total crank-bucket!

Here he is in the beginning. He kept pointing at Kate and saying, "You don't take any pictures, of me. OK?!" You can see him crying in the background.

Such a happy family!

We decided to take a break, take a drive and let him sleep a little, then meet up at the beach. He started out in a better mood (after a few sips of juice to regulate his blood-sugar a little).

Caleb doing his silly face.

Although it was absolutely georgeous and the perfect time of day for pictures, it was cold! Note Jeff trying to keep warm.

Here's Caleb looking a little unsure as he stands by himself. Although he's not smiling, this is picture-perfect in so many ways.

Caleb had had just about enough at this point. Here we capture him being put in time out in his walker.

Here daddy's having the "Time Out" talk with him.

More T-Os

We were able to end on a fairly good note. But I'm not sure Kate will ever want to do a photo shoot with us again.

Although it was a rough photo shoot, Kate still managed to get some good shots.

Cute Story

A couple of weeks ago my friend Kate and I were talking about the blog that she wants to start up, but wants some tips on how to do it. I said I was more than happy to sit down and share the little bit that I know because, as I told her, "I NEED MORE BLOGGING FRIENDS!" Well, Caleb thought it was hillarious when I said this, probably because I said it so emphatically. So the whole way home, and most of that day he would blurt out, "I NEED MORE BLOGGING FRIENDS!" with a huge smile on his face. That was pretty much the end of it.

Yesterday when we took a trip to Costco. He was his typical social self, saying "Hi" to just about everyone we passed by. He likes to add, "My name is Caleb," to anyone who will listen long enough to him, and a few who aren't listening. Yesterday he decided to tell just about everyone in the store, "I NEED MORE BLOGGING FRIENDS!" None of them had a clue what he was talking about, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Happy Hannumas

I thought this was cute. Happy Hannumas, everyone! (Don't forget to pause the music on the right hand side to hear the video better).

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty!

This week was a crazy week between reports, losing reports on my computer (twice...don't ask), holiday parties, etc. So, I did not watch a moment of TV all week. In fact a plane crash happened in my own county and I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't hear about it until the next morning as I was listening to the radio on my way to work. So this afternoon, Caleb took a nap, which is very rare these days. I decided to catch up on a show or two that I had missed. I was watching "Chuck", which is one of my new favorite shows. Near the end of the show, Caleb woke up. When Jeff brought him down, Caleb looked at the TV and said, "Look, it's mommy. Hey, daddy, mommy's on a TV!" You guessed it, that hot blonde was on the screen when he said that.

It's amazing how a child's innocence can boost your self-esteem with one sentence.

Dr. Gold

No, Caleb has not started wearing glasses. Apparently, since we have been seeing so many doctors lately (just when we were done with all of his, it was my turn), he is finding it fun these days to play doctor (get your minds out of the gutter...he actually likes to pretend he's a doctor). He listens to my heart with the "peliscope", takes my temperature under my armpit - you'll be glad to know it was 26-8 today :) he then takes my blood pressure with the "schwee-schwee" (the sound we make to pretend to pump the BP cuff). Then he gives me a shot, but first tells me there will be "just a little pinch."

For some reason, in his mind a doctor has to wear glasses. So when his pretend glasses kept falling off, I lent him mine.

Today I asked him if he was Dr. Caleb. He looked at me very seriously and said, "No, I'm Dr. Gold!" I guess I'm living with 2 Dr. Golds, now.

But, alas, all that doctoring is very tiring work. Even doctors must sleep sometimes.


Here is a photo of the original glasses. Not quite as functional, but still pretty cute.

My Own Personal Roller Coaster

Life is full of ups and downs and is often compared to a roller coaster. However, it is a rare occasion that a person literally gets to do loop-de-loops without being harnassed into an actual roller coaster. It's even more rare that a person gets to walk away from said loop-de-loops.

A few people have asked what it was like to roll in the car. It was pretty surreal. I saw the headlights at the last split second and had just enough time to think, "Oh, *expletive*!" As I was rolling, I was just very aware of the roll. It was almost like I was thinking, "Crap, that's the street outside my window. Now I'm upside down. At least I'm not staying that way - sideways again. Will this ever end? OK, I'm right side up again. Oh, hey, my rearview mirror just landed in my lap. What should I do with that? Now someone's at my window asking if I'm OK. I guess I should roll down my window to talk to him. Oh, the window won't work. I guess I could just open the door. I don't think I have any broken bones or anything. Holy Cow!"

As for how I'm doing now. Well, my back and neck are still pretty sore and I have a few other slight aches and pains. But I'm still feeling incredibly lucky! Especially that Caleb wasn't in the car. Below are some pictures of the results of my personal roller coaster. Thanks again for all your well-wishes and support!

Happy Holidays!

So with Jeff being brought up celebrating Hannukah and me with Christmas, the question is what do we celebrate in our house? Around here, we call it Hannumas (a.k.a. Christmakah). We decided not to choose one over the other, but rather to embrace both. We continue to celebrate both mostly out of cultural tradition, as our current beliefs are more Buddhist and Integral in nature. But the holiday season just brings such a wonderful and warm feeling of togetherness as a community, and creates such a great excuse to spend time with family.

Jeff does not have the desire to decorate for any holiday - he sees it as a bit of a waste of time and energy since we'll just have to take them down later. But years ago, I finally started putting up holiday lights in our home. This is one of my favorite aspects of the holidays. I just love the soft glow of the lights and the ambiance they create. Three years ago, Jeff finally realized how much joy decorating for the holidays brings to me, so he went out and bought me a fake tree (a real one would be impossible for him to justify, as they are so messy and a big hassle).

My compromise, in order to stay true to our Hannumas theme, is that the tree is decorated with silver and blue. We still don't have a tree topper - do you think they make a Star of David Christmas star? Some other decorations we have are a winter bear sitting next to a Hannukah bear. My personal favorite is our stuffed Santa holding a dreidel.

So the other question is, what do we say to other people when out and about during the holiday season? My father, being a person who likes to ruffle feathers, insists on wishing everyone a "Merry Christmas" because he refuses to give in to this PC world. "Happy Hannumas" would not only confuse people, but excludes other holidays such as Kwanza. "Happy Holidays" certainly encompasses everything, so we usually go with that, but I find it a bit generic.

So, this year I think we'll go with, "May you have a very happy holiday of your choosing!"

Tagoramma

Well, my sister tagged me again. She termed this one Mentisms (pl. n.): Musings of a person with questionable mental faculties. Ex: "Three Men and a Little Lady" was full of mentisms today.

So here they are...

I Am: what I am.
I Want: my family and friends to know how much I appreciate them, even if I don't always show it.
I Have: a beautiful boy and a wonderful husband.
I Miss: Jeff (he's out of town at a seminar).
I Fear: other cars crashing into me.
I Hear: The Office on the TV.
I Search: around the house for all the things that I randomly put down without thinking.
I Wonder: how Zicam works.
I Love: Caleb's smile - it can brighten up any room.
I Forgive: pretty easily.
I Ache: pretty much all over lately.
I Always: learn from my mistakes.
I Try: to be a better person than I was yesterday.
I Am Not: comfortable on this couch.
I Seem: Like I know what I'm doing.
I Know: a lot of stuff about speech, but not nearly enough.
I Believe: everything happens for a reason.
I Feel: pretty sore right now.
I Dance: just a little better than Elaine from Seinfeld.
I Dream: of Caleb being able to walk independently, and lifting his head up off the ground.
I Give: way too much energy to my job (I realize I don't get paid for the time I spend awake at night thinking about my kids).
I Listen: with the intent to understand.
I Sing: mostly with Caleb and in my car.
I Laugh: in many different ways. Jeff has classified them. He likes laugh 14-B the best.
I Can't: do anything athletically with any amount of grace.
I Write: on the blogosphere.
I Cry: not nearly as easily as I used to.
I Sleep: very lightly, and wake up way too often.
I Am not always: as confident as I may seem.
I See: my cats, Spaz and Freak, wrestling.
I Need: a new car since ours got totalled. Oh, I also need a massage, and a good night's sleep.
I Should: go to bed.
I Tag: Tanya (because she's the only other person I know besides my sister's family that blogs) and Alicia (in hopes that this will get her blogging again)

Being Silly with Daddy

Jeff often does silly things with Caleb, and this is "Daddy Time". Tonight Jeff was in charge of bath. They came downstairs and Caleb joyfully exclaimed, "Mommy, I'm so silly!" This is what they came up with...

I'm OK, but...

On Friday evening I was ready to go out for a girls' night with Cassie, Stormy and Tanya. We were going to go to dinner, then to see the 'Twilight' movie (we were all completely addicted to the book series). It ended up being the fasted evening out ever. I only got a half mile away.

I decided to take Jeff's Toyota Highlander, to leave him with the car seat in case he decided to take Caleb out anywhere. I was stopped at a stop light, then started to go when the light turned green. When I was almost all the way through the intersection, someone driving a Honda Civic ran the red light, hitting the rear passenger side of my car. My car ended up rolling one complete revolution, ending up back on its wheels.

My back, neck and some other joints are pretty sore, and I'm a little shaken up. Miraculously enough, I walked away from the accident without a single scratch or bruise on my body. I realize there is so much to be grateful for. The car may be totalled, but at least no people were. There were many kind bystanders that stopped to help. One of them was a gentleman who was on a motorcycle, and my car almost rolled over him - I know he's feeling pretty grateful right now, too.

The one thing I'm the most grateful for is that Caleb was not in the car. Not only did the car hit mine exactly where Caleb's car seat would have been, but the force of the impacts could have done some serious damage to his fragile little neck.

This experience has also been a great reminder of the incredible support we have from our family and friends. Everyone has been helping in whatever way they can.

Jeff has also been amazing throughout this. Not only has he been a very supportive husband, making sure I get the rest I need as well as emotional support, but I have also been fortunate to get around the clock supervision from Dr. Gold.

Thank you all for your well-wishes and prayers. I'll keep you posted if anything changes, or if we need anything. For now we're just taking it easy and trying to get back to life as usual.

How To Play With a Floppy Kid

Caleb is a very difficult kid to hold, and it takes a lot of practice to get used to how floppy his body is. Jeff and I are so used to how to hold him and pick him up that we almost don't know how to hold typical kids anymore - we always try to hold their head and stuff. However, once you get used to how he feels in your hands and get comfortable with it, he's not quite as fragile as he looks. Jeff and Caleb "wrestle" very regularly. This is a fun pastime for both of them. Check it out.

Although I love Caleb's Doctors, I'm sick of seeing them (no pun intended)!

Caleb has a wonderful team of doctors that oversee his health. His pediatrician has always been wonderful, creating a healthy balance of respecting our opinions as well-educated parents who are the experts on Caleb with her being the expert in the medical field. His neurologist is a very caring doctor, and without her we would probably still be without a diagnosis. There are other doctors that come and go, but overall we have been very blessed with the medical professionals that have worked with us to better Caleb's quality of life.

However, I am totally sick of seeing them right now! We had Caleb's 3-year check-up a few months ago - normal, no big deal. Then a couple of weeks ago was his bout with pneumonia, which took us to the pediatrician 3 days in a row.

On Wednesday we had his appointment at the muscle-disease clinic down at Children's Hospital. This is an appointment that happens every six months or so and it's a whole team of specialists that take a look at him, monitoring things like his scoliosis, respiration, etc., or answering (or taking their best educated guess) any new questions we have. Being that it's a whole team, this appointment typically lasts 2 hours, at least.

So we went to that appointment, got some answers, some more information, as well as more questions popping up. That night, Caleb started to get a rash. We called the Dr. and she said it's probably hives. We gave him some Benedryl and it was pretty much gone in the morning. By the time I got home from work, he had a rash all over his legs and feet, and it was starting to pop up on his abdomen and arms. So this brought us to the pediatrician once again. When we arrived, the Dr. (whom is not our regular pediatrician) said, "Weren't you guys just here the other day?"

The diagnosis: hives. Cause: an allergic reaction to something he stuck in his mouth (we're not sure what). Prognosis: the rash can last a week or so; we need to keep giving him Benedryl (so sleepy boy), and as the rash heals, it will leave little marks that look like bruises (I can hear CPS knocking at our door right now). Luckily the rash isn't itchy and there's no fever or anything.

Hopefully we can stay away from the Doc for a while. Although, I'm still waiting for him to be healthy enough to get a flu shot. Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!

How Much Can One Family Spill?

Now that Caleb is learning to drink from an open cup, spills are a somewhat regular part of life around here. But last weekend, spilling took on a new meaning.

On Friday, Jeff refilled our 5-gal. water dispenser with a couple of 2.5-gal. containers that had gotten punctures in them. He left a little (probably about a half gallon) in one of them and left it on the counter. About an hour later, we were watching TV and I said, "What is that noise?" Jeff went to investigate, and water had been slowly dripping and was all over the counter and floor.

Saturday, I was getting Caleb some lunch, which was noodles. I accidentally hit the container against the counter, spilling the entire contents onto the kitchen floor. After cleaning that up, I sat down to eat with Caleb. I then knocked over my full cup of water, splashing water all over Caleb, the table, and the floor.

That evening, we all went to the movies. When we came home, we found that Bumblebee (a.k.a. "Spaz") had been up on the kitchen table investigating. What she found was a half-full cup of water, and thus knocked it over.

Perhaps this has been some metaphor for our lives. Maybe some kind of flood is coming (please let it be a flood of money :), or maybe it signifies that we are in the midst of cleansing our lives. I'm not really sure. I do know that we have washed more towels in the last few days than I think we have all month. I'll keep you posted if I figure out what all this signifies.

Totally Recommend It!

This weekend we took Caleb to see Madagascar 2. We loved the first one, so we figured it would be a good one. This one was even better! We were all rolling throughout the movie (although the beginning is a little sad). The lemur king was my favorite.

I definitely recommend seeing this movie, even if you don't have kids.

Halloween Festivities

We had a wonderful Halloween this year. Caleb got to be one of his biggest heroes - Lightening McQueen!

On Thursday Caleb's school had a costume parade. I wasn't able to get very good pictures because he was crying the whole time - it was hot, noisy, and I think just generally overwhelming for his first day back after being out sick the whole week.
He enjoyed doing the arts and crafts much more.

Here's Caleb with his buddy Hunter.

Celebrations seem to be so much more fun these days because Caleb is so much more aware of what is going on. I was a little concerned that he would get scared by some of the costumes, etc. But we took quite a few walks in the neighborhood in the last couple of weeks to prepare him for some of the decorations. This seemed to do the trick, and he was able to just enjoy Trick-or-Treating with all the other kids.

Before going Trick-or-Treating, some friends/neighbors had us over for dinner. Here's Caleb playing with Jayson.

We're ready to race!

Here's Caleb posing with the creative geniuses behind his costume, Randall and Jessica. Thank you both for making such an amazing costume!

Caleb even got to play with cars on his car!

Papa Mickey came to help us go Trick-or-Treating. Check out how Caleb is holding on to his bucket of treats for dear life. Next year... a hook on the side for the bucket

Last weekend Jeff and I went to the adult costume party in the neighborhood. We were the Spartan cheerleaders! Yes, we even had a cheer worked out.

We got third place in the costume contest - beat out by the tranny from Rocky Horror Picture show, and "Beerman" with his wife...Beer, of course!

Music to My Ears

Yesterday Jeff and I heard two words that were music to our ears - "Sounds clear." On Monday Caleb's pneumonia got worse, and he had junk throughout his lungs. He got an injection of a more aggressive antibiotic, which seemed to do the trick. He's still has some gunk in his lungs, but things are loosening up and he has some spots in his lungs that sound clear. He also continues to have a gnarly sounding cough, but it's productive.

Throughout all of this, Caleb has remained in good spirits, although somewhat ornery. Not sure if that's just him going stir crazy, or my lack of patience for the same reason. I've had my share of diarrhea, vomit (both side effects of an upset tummy from the antibiotics), snot and doctor's visits to last me a while...oh the joys of parenthood. Luckily no hospital visits this time around, and looks like he'll be better in time to go Trick-or-Treating for Halloween!

Below is a video of Caleb "running" in his walker, which is just one example of the many ways we have passed the time these last few days cooped up in the house.

Yet Another Cold!

Caleb has a cold...again. This time it's a little more concerning than annoying (although I'm still tired of the never-ending runny nose). He has a cough that began sounding a little "rattley" to us so we took him to the Doc today just to be on the safe side. A little bit got into his lungs, so he's on antibiotics now. Caleb is still in really good spirits and just as much of a ham as ever, so I know we caught it early. He does get tired a little more easily, and has even less of an appetite (which I'm desperately trying not to let stress me out). This is yet another reminder of how vigilant we need to be with his little body.

Caleb Utilizes All of His Resources

It has always amazed me how Caleb naturally utilizes the limited resources his body provides to their full potential. For instance, before he could hold his head up and look around freely, he would look with his eyes, making them rotate further than what is considered comfortable for the rest of the population.

Since his lower extremities are stronger than his upper body, he has always been quite resourceful with his feet and legs. For instance when he's in his black walker, if he drops something on the ground he will pick it up with his feet (given that it's not too heavy) and bring it up to his hands. When lying on the ground, he will sweep his leg and rake items towards him. Below is a video of how he makes his own little bookstand when lying on the floor. He has done this for over a year or so, but every time I see him do this, it's such a great reminder to utilize what we've been given, and to get creative with your resources.

The Man Cold

OK, this has nothing to do with Caleb, but I was rolling on the floor when I watched this one! Don't forget to pause the music to hear the video better.



And, of course, Jeff is nothing like this when he gets a cold ;)

Happy Birthday Grandma Lou Lou

Grandma Lou Lou decided to celebrate her 60th birthday at Boomers, playing with all her kids, grandkids, and some friends. It was such a great way to commemorate her silly, wacky, and fun-loving 60 years on this earth!


Caleb enjoyed playing some games.


Just before this picture was taken, the girl that was serving our group asked my mom how old she was because she wanted to know how many candles to put on the cake. My mom thought that the number 60 would be sufficient (like the "6" and the "0" candle). The girl looked at her with horror and wonder in her eyes and said, "60 individual candles?!" The compromise was 6 individual candles.

We all had fun playing with these pirate eye patches. Aaaaaargh!Not sure that they're supposed to be used while driving, Hayden.
The biggest hit of the day was the race cars.
Here comes Auntie Shana in her Pinto of a race-car...
And Jeff gets passed by Uncle Wayne and some kid we don't know...
Cousin Nathan with visions of driving the real thing in just 3 short years...

Grandma Lou Lou is approaching Auntie Shana from the inside...

and ends up taking the lead for the "victory" lap.

Although he couldn't ride, Caleb really enjoyed cheering on his family from the sidelines.On a sidenote, this is the NEW wheelchair! Sweet wheels, Bub! In the end, Shana's car was a dud, as she needed help even getting to the finish line. Not to mention, she was barely even tall enough to drive the car in the first place :)

My personal favorite was good ol' air hockey. It takes me back to my early college days.

Just check out the concentration.

Haha! Victory is mine!And the unsuspecting victim is Auntie Shana. Unfortunately I was no match for Grandma Lou Lou, who won the next round.

Thanks for a fun-filled day, Grandma. It was certainly a day to remember.