Champ and Champions

Where to begin, where to begin?  Has it really been more than a week since we were enjoying 30+C temperatures on the beach of Mazatlan?  Yup....and what a week it's been.  Last week found us jumping full speed back into this crazy life of ours, full of activities and meetings.  Suddenly it was Friday and Bean and I were whisking away on an airplane again for Victoria for this year's annual War Amps CHAMP seminar.  The weather was good for flying on Friday, so we arrived safely just after lunch, giving us lots of time to get our bearings and spend an hour in the hotel's pool before the rest of the Champs arrived.  Bean is making real progress with his swimming, especially with his life jacket on.  After 10 days in Mexico, he'll now swim around without an adult holding him and has finally succumb to lying in a back float!

It sounds like Schmoo had her own swimming success on the weekend too - jumping off the high diving board twice during a swim date on Saturday with her friend Z.  She spent most of the weekend in the company of others as Papa had a weekend long course to learn to be a soccer referee.  We were certainly grateful to our handful of friends who were happy to have Schmoo along for the day on Saturday and Sunday.  On Friday night, she scraped together her own money to buy herself a pepperoni pizza to share with her favourite babysitter!

The War Amps was another successful trip.  Bean found his friend C from last year, but his heart truly belonged to one of the Junior Counsellors, K.  They met at the first session on Saturday morning - Play and Learn - and he couldn't stay away from her after that.  He spent most of the day sitting in her lap and playing with her prosthetic arm.  She was so patient with him and they had a great time.  He came away saying he wants an arm, just like her.  We may even get a mid-year visit with them as her family lives in Revelstoke, which is on the way to Golden (where Uncle C lives), and guess what, her family owns the McDonalds....Bean's favorite place to eat!!  I gathered lots of information and have started asking questions about getting Bean his first functional prosthetic.  It sounds like it's time to get him started and right now he seems pretty keen.  In fact he wanted to head to Wal-Mart today to pick one up!!

Our trip home wasn't as smooth.  The weather in Cancel-gar was playing up and the early flight didn't make it in.  So we weren't overly hopeful about our luck later in the afternoon.  Luckily, the pilot found a break and we made it home safely.  Returning to a happy and tired Schmoo and Papa.

On the Champion front, I have returned home tonight from soccer a Champion.  It was the final game of the season for my women's indoor league and my team was in the Championship game.  It was a feisty one and one woman on the other team actually had to go to the hospital of stitches in her head after a bad collision with another person's knee.  We all soldiered on and our team came out victorious, with an 8-3 win!  I even scored a goal!!  It was a great game and all four teams finished off in good spirits.  We were rewarded with Championship sweatshirts...perfect for those cool nights around the campfire!

The next few days are busy, with month end on Wednesday and the end to another tenant relationship.  Needless to say, we anticipate an Easter weekend of house repairs and painting at our old house.  But, I think there might be an opportunity for a movie date and an Easter egg hunt too!!