Outings

On Sunday we had a family outing to go to the movie theater to see Shrek III . It was 6 blocks away, a 20-minute walk with his power chair, bumpy at times on rough sidewalks and ramps. It was the first time Dan was in another indoor setting with his ventilator. There are a few things that must accompany Dan on such outings: ventilator, extra battery, "Ambu bag", trach kit, deep suction tube, portable suction machine, wash cloths, water, and other personal care items. We fit these into 2 backpacks. No
alarms went off or other mishaps, so we claimed success.
PS-- the movie was funny like the other 2.


After the movie we went to a park and talked - a lot about how the wedding will be for Dan - and just enjoyed the beautiful lake-front setting. We then went back to RIC for pizza. (Chicago deep dish pizza !!!) To prepare for getting to the wedding, we decided to plan an event for each of the next 2 weeks where Dan would have to be in a vehicle.



Since we woke up to such a gorgeous day, we quickly planned to take advantage of the day by making arrangements to go to Lincoln Park Zoo, about 2 miles away. We called for a handicap -accessible taxi where Dan barely fit, but after taking the leg rests off his chair, we made it in. (We now know we'll need to get a drop-floor type vehicle.) Dan said it was pretty neat to be in a car once again. The zoo was packed because of Memorial Day, but the weather, sights and sounds AND the soft pretzel were worth it!! It amazes us that Dan is so willing to be in public when he knows people stare, and we are getting okay with that too. His sweet countenance continues to be a blessing.

So we already met our goal of getting out this week. Hmmm -- where to go next??

PS Continue to pray for sleepless nights. We don't know how he operates on 4-5 hours of sleep.