Look At Me!!!

No pictures today but maybe my words can create an image in your mind.

Michaela has her last soccer game today and she wanted her Uncle Jack and Grandma Boo to come. Her Uncle Jack, my brother, is 33 and has Down Syndrome. Even though he is 33 years old, mentally he is a lot younger and a great playmate for the kids. He plays basketball and softball for the Special Olympics every year. Sports are his favorite thing in the entire world! So of course he was very excited to be able to see his niece play soccer!

I picked him up from Grandma Boo's house after I got out of work so he could go to the game with us later. We then got Carrie and Lily from preschool and daycare. He is very proud of his nieces and enjoyed seeing where they spend their day.

After we picked up the girls we headed over to Huff Park because Uncle Jack has never been there before. I wasn't too sure how he would like the nature walk since he is not as excited to see bugs and snakes like our girls are! I told him we might see some snakes and he gave me a look that said, "We better not see any snakes!". Sure enough, along the very back trail at the park he spotted a very small Brown Snake right in front of him. It was just like the one we caught a couple of weeks ago only this one was a couple of inches longer.

If I had only had a camera! He wanted NOTHING to do with the snake! He stood about 10 feet away from it at all times while Carrie was trying to catch it! By the way Uncle Jack was talking I could tell he was excited yet a little uncomfortable with the whole situation. Soon enough Carrie had chased the snake off the trail and it burrowed under some leaves and disappeared.

Even though Jack didn't want to get too close to the snake he did enjoy seeing it. We then saw typical woodland creatures: a few squirrels, a Mourning Dove, a Blister Beetle (see earlier post for picture), a chipmunk, and a Robin. Jack was excited to see so many creatures!  He kept saying he was going to tell Michaela what we saw when she got home from school. 

After walking on the trails Carrie wanted to go swing. They have a baby/toddler swing and a "big kid" swing there. Carrie wanted to ride the toddler swing and Jack got on the other. I don't think he has been on a swing since we were kids ourselves! As he slowly kicked his legs back and forth he began swinging higher and higher. He had the time of his life! He was laughing and saying, "Look at me! I'm doing it!". It was so cute! I even called Grandma Boo (my mom) to tell her what we were doing. She couldn't believe that he was actually swinging!

During that brief moment watching him (at 33 years old) swing and feel so proud of himself made me think that we should all take the time to swing at the park. There's just something about it that makes everyone get a smile on their face and feel free.