Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Phew..

Sorry we've been so out of touch- we did in fact survive the camping trip- although we were exhausted. We had a great time with our friends Sue & Tim and their kids Maggie & baby Graham on San Juan Island- only a bit of rain to keep us stuck inside the Koontz family's HUGE tent! Chris and I had a different strategy for sleeping: we brought two tents- one for Chris and Cooper, and one for Ian and I. That worked out great- everyone slept pretty darn well.

While we were there we met another family who have an adult brother, who's in his 50's, with Down syndrome. They were amazing with Cooper- playing with him, and singing songs, and generally acting as surrogate grandparents. For me, that's been one of the gifts that Cooper has brought to us- we've got this special little hook into so many people's lives. We hear all the stories about the generations of people that have come before Cooper, and we feel so lucky that he's had so many people fighting for his right to a high quality life.

One of my favorite adventures was to the outdoor sculpture garden by Roche Harbor with the Koontz fam. In particular, I loved watching Coop and Maggie tear through the meadows, running from one sculpture to another. Last year, when we were there, he was still bear crawling, so my early morning trip to the garden entailed carrying him in the backpack. I watch him go now, and am astounded at how far he's come since he started walking in January!!

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