Zoo Ramblings

Last week Emma had a few days off from school and we had ourself a great old time!  Our activities included a trip to the zoo with some great friends, a visit to Julia's classroom to share our Irish heritage, an Irish dance show at the local school and some swimming.  And all that was before the weekend happened!  

We were lucky to have some friends join us at the zoo and the weather was unseasonably beautiful.  Emma was so happy to see her friends and I was glad to have a companion that chatted back with me since Emma generally ignores all my chatter when we are in public places and there are lots of children to watch.  It is really nice to socialize with another family who is so very similar to us - a family that is out and about living our lives in our community with our children that happen to have special needs.  It felt really good to meander around the zoo at a relaxing pace without feeling like I was holding up anyone else because a trip to the zoo with our little ones is a little less hectic than when Julia and her friends are with me!  A huge bonus on this trip to the zoo is Emma seemed interested in the animals when I pointed them out to her.  They held her interest for a few minutes, anyway, and I consider that huge progress.  This was especially true for the big cats and monkeys that were full of activity and pretty interesting to watch.

Emma was so happy to see her friends!  We definitely think the girls recognize each other and are happy to hang out together.  At one point when we sat them next to each other it almost looked like Emma was reaching her hand out to hold hands.  I think it is just as important for our children to have friends in a similar situation to them as it is for us parents.  

We had so much fun I was sad to see Emma go back to school today.  But I needn't worry because the one thing I've learned about Emma's preschool schedule is that there is a LOT of time off.  The next few weeks will be so very busy with Julia's spring break of 2 weeks followed by Emma's spring break of 2 weeks.  Yes, just to keep our life interesting their spring breaks do not overlap at all.  I'm sure we'll be able to find some time for them to take off during each other's breaks because life is too short to not spend at least a couple of days during break with your sister!