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Aug 8, 2011 10:08:40 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Aug 8, 2011 10:08:40 GMT -5
Short opdate..iPad touch screen is hard...We had a great time. Great hotel but hard to find friends. Em got her annual proposal from Chris Devlin LOL. Lots more to tell when I get home. Hate having to say goo bye to Em
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Aug 8, 2011 12:17:41 GMT -5
Post by Michelle Mc on Aug 8, 2011 12:17:41 GMT -5
I agree the hotel was gorgeous. I checked out the big Bulletin Board there in central area. It had a one or two notes pinned on it ... A real sign of the times huh? everyone is connected by text etc! But the place is huge, I didn't see a single familiar face all weekend! For a split second, I thought I saw you Jackie, I started to jump up to give you a hug and saw from the nametag.. It wasn't you! Casey was a reluctant participant the entire 3 days, much to my disappointment. But miracles don't always happen overnight, and I know he is surely processing what he took in. Somewhere down the road, the lesson will sink in, that he could be having a good time. Too many other thoughts to add right now. We have a a little time for sightseeing!
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Aug 8, 2011 22:26:41 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Aug 8, 2011 22:26:41 GMT -5
Michelle..I too looked for faces. Saw Sharon only in passing. Seems like our time was chopped up. Bad confession. I only went to Joan Medlen's worksop...registration for me just an expensive nametag. I spent much of the time with old friend Eileen Devlin mom to Chris. But loved how My daughter Katie and my 12 yr old grandaughter and 16 yr old grandson got caught up in the spirit of it all. ;D
I even got outside my comfort zone and donned a swimsuit and did the Lazy River ;D
Emily loved it all. Unfortunately her pirate song Cd malfunctioned,,,but they substituted another and she improvised nicely. We took her home tonight along with two new pairs of comfy $$$$ shoes. More later when I am back at my PC.
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Aug 10, 2011 5:34:24 GMT -5
Post by laurasmom on Aug 10, 2011 5:34:24 GMT -5
We stayed an extra couple of days, well worth it. The hotel was amazing, the pool and lazy river were so much fun. Enjoyed the conference. Laura had a great time. She had made a decision not to do the talent show, then of course was disappointed at talent show time when she couldn't get up on stage. She developed a little crush on Brad Hennefer. I enjoyed the conference as well, but as Jackie said, it was hard to find everyone. If we go next year to DC, I will plan ahead on that note. Sharon
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Aug 10, 2011 7:37:31 GMT -5
Post by Emilysmom on Aug 10, 2011 7:37:31 GMT -5
Sharon.........I remember Brad Henefer from the last conference we attended (maybe Kansas City?), and he was a handsome guy! ! Laura has good taste!
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Aug 10, 2011 9:22:25 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Aug 10, 2011 9:22:25 GMT -5
Flew home last night and landed in a turbulent dust storm I always forget the endurance required for a conference if you are staying in the hotel...the mile long walks on carpet covered concrete...but this one was much better than most. I arrived in Austin last Tuesday and Katie and I picked up Em and tried to help her with her packing...we sorta made of mess of it cuz it was so hot that day and we just wanted to go somewhere cooler. Then the next day we had her hair cut and the feathers put in..and did some power shopping. Wed night we proudly attended the Dog Days of Summer Art show at Arc of the Arts. Emily had some nice work displayed there. Friday AM Katie, Em, and 12 yr old Hayden drove the 60 miles to San Antonio and easily checked in. I have a good friend Eileen who takes her son Chris (he is in his 40s) every year so we met up with them and ate outside by the pool. This is when Chris made his annual proposal to Emily in front of all of us...LOL. Em said..."this makes me blush" but never said yes or no. They live in N.J. so it would be a NO. Emily loved the whole weekend. She gave me some good feedback from her workshops which included Zumba, finance, and self advocacy. Apparently the finance session included lots of good safety info on check cards and credit cards and PIN numbers. The dances of course were the highlight. As usual she seems to end up with Tom from Minn. as a dance partner ...but she was playing the field earlier in the evening both evenings. Katie's hubby Tony and 16 yr old son Jordan drove down Sat afternoon. Tony just HAPPENED to have his golf clubs in his car...and for $50.00 got to play the normally $150.00 course. That night at the dance Jordan and Hayden both danced their feet off and got into the spirit of it all. I wish I had attended a few more workshops but social things got in my way...LOL. There weren't really any that I felt would make a difference for us where we are in life now. I went to the Friday session for parents whose kids were in independent living situations and still had the same feeling that the few that were in apartments were lonely there and that it required a lot of parental support to maintain them there. Lots of ideas but not much that sounded doable. . I had hoped that Joan Medlen would have more suggestions on wt. control but it was mostly about getting kids to eat and celiac. Eileen did say that Chris was also going to be in the Times Sq Video...one year Chris and Emily were back to back...I am sure that won't happen again...LOL. Wish we could go...but will just have gotten back from Vegas. If you have never been to one of these NDSC conf you should try to go. They are really stimulating and its fun to meet so many people walking in the same shoes. Next year it is in DC but not sure where.
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Aug 10, 2011 10:06:06 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Aug 10, 2011 10:06:06 GMT -5
Hope I can add this pic of Em and friend Chris at the talent show
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Aug 10, 2011 10:42:53 GMT -5
Post by kg91207 on Aug 10, 2011 10:42:53 GMT -5
I have to say as first time attendees, we had a BLAST!!!! We got to meet Lauren Potter. She was so bubbly and tickled Kaelyn. She let us take several pictures of her with Kaelyn. We also met Gordon Hartman, the guy who started Morgan's Wonderland. We took Kaelyn to Morgan's and LOVED it. She loved it too. We saw Jackie and Emily several times!! Woo hoo. We also met Patricia Moody, the "happy advocate" and talked at length with her father. Patricia has been the advocate board member for NDSC for the last 3 years. We also met a girl named Kara who lives in Elgin, TX. She was so funny! I just wanted to hang out with her all day. We saw her again on Sunday and got to say goodbye to her. Kaelyn was so tired by the time the dances came around that she had no interest in them. She did love Kid's Camp tho. and there are a couple of pictures of her on the NDSC FB page in their Kid's Camp album. We went to a session by Dr. Capone and it was so interesting. Our sharing session was led by Joanne Medlen and we really liked her too. We met a dad from Lubbock and saw him several times. He has a 20 month old. Aaron and I really came out of our social shells at this conference!!
You know how when you're out in public and see a person with DS and just want to hug them and/or take them home with you?? I told Aaron I didn't know how I was going to get this many people home in our truck!!!!
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Aug 10, 2011 14:00:36 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Aug 10, 2011 14:00:36 GMT -5
I forgot to add that after the conf we drove about 20 miles to New Braunfels to eat dinner with my nephew and family. To our surprise they had been babysitting with the kids of his building business partner and that happened to include their 2 yr old son with DS. Seems they too were at the conference and involved with the DSof San Antonio. So we had a fun dinner seeing Jeff's lovely new home in the country and visiting with the other family. Their son is adorable!!!! I told her about Uno.
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Aug 10, 2011 14:33:10 GMT -5
Post by kg91207 on Aug 10, 2011 14:33:10 GMT -5
Oh, Jackie, I think we need photographic evidence that you did the lazy river. I saw your drunk texting, so you may THINK you did the lazy river...hee hee!!!
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Aug 10, 2011 16:09:54 GMT -5
Post by Jackie on Aug 10, 2011 16:09:54 GMT -5
nowwww Brandi...I am terrible with touch screens....LOL... and lets hope NO ONE took my pic on the River.
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Aug 10, 2011 22:52:12 GMT -5
Post by Chris too on Aug 10, 2011 22:52:12 GMT -5
You people crack me up
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