Has it been a year?

Wow... time flies when you're having fun. And even if you're not. Fast forward to another Valentine's day already behind us (this time Mommy BOUGHT Dr. Suess Valentines for the regular ed 6th graders... and only hand-painted those for the eight SpEd classroom students).

Most significant happening of late? Katera was invited to her FIRST EVER birthday party! Can you imagine how thrilled we were? Yes, it was a fellow South Ridge Elementary classmate... and yes, it just so happened to be Andrew, who is also *sort of* family, in that his older sister is married to Katera's older brother... but it still counts, right? It was a bowling and pizza party at Big Al's in Vancouver. Daddy took her, since Mom had a long standing doll-making playdate scheduled for the same day.

We were unsure what to expect from Katera. Would she care at ALL about the bowling? Would she look at the ball, or completely ignore the whole thing, overwhelmed by the noise and activity of a rowdy bowling alley?

Well.... no worries! She LOVED it! They had those adaptive ramps which were perfect for both Katera and Andrew.... all they had to do was have their dad's line things up, then push their ball down the ramp. Katera sent her ball down the lane (inflatable gutter bumpers in place) and just LAUGHED and LAUGHED as she watched it roll down to the pins and knock them down. She was so excited, she didn't want to wait her turn and would head over to try picking up another ball! Here's a shot of Andrew getting ready for a strike...

 

 All in all, great fun for all.... even the arcade had a number of activities that Andrew and Katera could both do. Her favorite was the Spin 'n Win ... and the Wheel of Fortune!

We'll be back, Big Al! We're thinking regular bowling dates from now on with the Griffins. Thank you, Andrew, for inviting Katera!