Jackinator

Kahuna Laguna

Jack is immensely enjoying the water park.  This is our 3rd Thanksgiving weekend here but the 1st that Jack has been able to fully use the water park.  He made some friends and spent the afternoon water sliding to his heart's content!

Swimming with Pumpkins!

Jack and his friend Jordan, swimming with pumpkins at the South County Y!

  

Update

Not much to report, just normal childhood activity (hooray!)  Amanda, one of Jackinator's biggest fans (although she'll never admit that and will probably leave a comment to that effect) has been on my case to post, so here goes:

Jack is still taking a fun swim class through October at the South County Y.  This week, he brought his friend Matthew and they played a game where they fill up a clear water bottle and sink it somewhere in the pool.  Then each team needs to find the water bottle and get it to a certain designated area at the end of the pool without being tagged.  Lots of swimming without stress on his leg, but also lots of fun.  He got pretty tired of regular swim classes that we'd done for the past year and a half, so this is a nice change.  We're hoping more kids sign up for the next session; it was just Jack for this session so he got to bring a friend each week.  That's a big pool for just 2 kids!

On Friday was the school's Walk-a-thon.  They walked probably about a mile and Jack & his friend Isaac led the school!  They kept a fast pace so that no one would pass them - I even had to walk very fast to keep up!  Last year, he did the Walk-a-thon in a wheelchair.

On Friday night, he went to Field of Screams with Matthew.  They said it was awesome!  On Saturday, I took Amanda to a basketball tournament (they won both games; Amanda had 16 points in one of the games!) while Jack and Dad carved pumpkins, went bike riding and played some soccer. 

So, we've been 'living it up' just doing simple childhood things.  Life is good...

Gooseberry Beach

We had a great time at Gooseberry Beach with Grace and Ethan, and a bunch of other Forest Park families!  There was a big rock to climb on and a dock to swim out to.  A bit of seaweed in the water, but that didn't seem to bother Jack. 

 
       

Outer Banks

We are now in the Outer Banks with dad's family - 9 kids and 7 adults! We went hunting for ghost crabs by moonlight last night and are now on the beach. Jack is doing GREAT - able to run on the beach and boogie board. And just think, 3 months ago he couldn't even walk.

Lake Royale

We arrived in Lake Royale yesterday in just under 13 hours. The kids did great, only 2 small fights but I threatened salads for lunch and that kept them in line. It's beautiful here - the lake feels like bath water. It's hot, though - supposed to be 110 today!

Beach Boys (and girls)

We hit our town beach yesterday.  The bay is unbelievably warm, like bath water; even Amanda goes right in!  I guess several days of 100 degrees will do that.  Yesterday was much cooler - 85, not as humid and a nice breeze.  The kids each brought a friend and our new neighbors from across the street met us there.  They have a boy Jack's age and a girl going into 2nd grade.  We met them the day after Jack got out of his body cast.  Now that Jack can play out in the yard again, it's very nice having playmates right across the street (good timing on the move, Erin ;)

   

   

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone!  Last year at this time, Jack was in traction and we watched the fireworks on TV.  This year, we went to a pool party and were able to see a nice fireworks display from their yard.  Jack was able to run around and play pretty well.  We were there for about 7 hours and he said his leg felt good.  He even had to run away from a mis-thrown firework (ugh; small fireworks are now legal in RI).  There was a beautiful sunset, too:

 

Summer Pool Fun

Jack had fun swimming with Lia, his friend from school and one of Jackinator's top followers, at the pool club yesterday.  The weather has been perfect lately and Jack's leg continues to get stronger and stronger.  He had another golf lesson yesterday (they worked on the driving range) and we have a pool party at a friend's house to go to on the 4th of July.  A year ago, Jack was just lying around.  So glad this summer is different!

 

Zoo AND Beach

We went to the Zoo AND the ocean beach yesterday!  This has been the busiest week since Summer 2008 and there have been no leg complaints, other than Jack complaining about how we make him rest his leg.  I didn't even get a chance to post our Wednesday activities which were the town beach with friends Steph and Jeff and Jack's first golf lesson (which he enjoyed).

Zoo:  We met my college friend Amy and her 3 kids Hal, Julia and Robert at the Roger Williams Zoo.  Robert, who is 2, was attached to Amanda - very cute!  The hi-light of the zoo trip (for the kids) was getting soaked in the fountain and getting a Del's Lemonade.  The weather was perfect and it was nice catching up with Amy.  Jack was in and out of his wheelchair.  When he wheeled up to the first exhibit and jumped out of his chair to get a closer look, he turned around and said, "Whoa - that must look weird." 

Ocean beach:  After resting for an hour, we met Grace and Ethan at Sand Hill Cove.  The dads took a half day and came also.  This was our first time at the ocean since Summer 2008!  It was calm and the kids had fun trying to protect a sand castle from the incoming tide.  Afterward we went to a seafood takeout place, Aunt Carrie's (or as Jack calls it, Aunt Kerri's) for dinner and ice cream.  A perfect day.  Here's to many more this summer.