Bend - August 2014

Sometimes it seems like the only traveling we do is LPA related!

In late August we went to Bend, Oregon for the LPA District 11 fall regional.   The drive to Bend took about 7 hours.  The ride was beautiful and we were all looking forward to going to a new destination. 
 

We met some LPA friends that live in Bend for dinner that night.   We always enjoy seeing the Varcoe family.  We also met a new LPA family at dinner, the Charons.  All the kids seemed to have a good time while the adults chatted.  It is always fun to reconnect with families we have known for several years and meet new families.    

The regional was small, only about 50 attendees.  We have learned to enjoy both the small and large regionals.  The large ones give us the opportunity to see more people but the small ones give us the opportunity to spend more quality time with the people that are there. 

Jadon and Kalina enjoyed the kids’ room on Saturday.   There were lots of cool arts and crafts, perfect for Kalina.  There was also a special visitor – a great horned owl.  The kids loved seeing it and learning about it.  Becky Curran, an LPA motivational speaker, was the guest speaker in the afternoon.  Here talk offered a little something for everyone in the audience to take away.   We had a nice banquet and fun dance (more on that later). 

Jadon was probably the most excited about this event.  Two of his good LPA friends were at the regional and they were the only ones in attendance around their age.  That meant the three amigos had lots of quality time to spend with each other.   When they were all present, they were pretty much inseparable and crazy!  It was great seeing the three of them - Jadon, Matthew and Tanner, having so much fun.  It reminded us of why we go to LPA events. 

Kalina liked spending time with Emerson and Jayden.  Such sweet girls!   

We also met another LPA family.  Their little guy also has a trach.  He and Kalina made quite the pair on the dance floor!

We left Sunday and enjoyed a different and equally beautiful ride home.  We really do live in a beautiful part of the country and our road trips give us a chance to see some of this beauty.    

 

 

 

We made it!

 

Yummy dinner location.

 

Beautiful view!

 

Ready to start the day.

  

Great Horned Owl.

 

Fun learning about owls.

 

Spin art time!

 

Crown...

 

Mask...

 

Finished!

 

Face (arm) painting.

 

Kalina's new fried Jayden.

 

Jadon, Tanner and Matthew.

 

Kalina on the dance floor.

 

Someone was happy we were home.

 

Jadon also wrote about this event at school.  Here is what he had to say.

 

August 2014 - The Battle and Dance of Bend, OR.

By Jadon Fry

Homeroom: F-7  Mrs. Duncan-Sembroski

            "Hey Jadon!" Andy, the president of my Little People chapter called.

            "Yeah?" I called, driving towards her.

            "These rockets are extra. Do you want them?" she asked. I looked. She was holding four foam rockets. The tips reminded me of really hard footballs, and there was a foam tube attached to the ends of them.

            "Sure! Thanks." I said as two rockets were handed to me. "I hope Mom and Dad let me keep these." I thought to myself. I watched Andy give the other two rockets to two of my friends. They looked at me, then looked at each other, nodded, and ran over.

            "Jadon, can we please have your rockets?" they asked. I hesitated, knowing that I might not have the rockets again. "Mom and Dad probably won't let me keep these, anyway."

            "Fine, but I want them back." I told them.

            "OK!" they cried.

            That was a BIG mistake on my part.

            I watched as they ran around to get more people, Then, they met in the center of the big dance floor and sent three Little People to each side. So, there are the six Little People with four rockets. My friends, Matthew and Tanner, were talking together. They started talking about rules for something. I drove away on my scooter. I headed into the hallway for some quiet. Being around a hundred little people for two or three hours was a little tiring after a little while.

            After five minutes, my dad came out.

            "Jadon, you should go inside. Something happened that I think you might want to see."

            "What?" I asked, puzzled.

            "You'll see." Dad said. He headed inside. I decided to follow him.

            Little did I know that the word "quiet" was not going to be experienced for another hour and a half.

            While I had rested, a rocket battle has started. Little People were firing rockets everywhere. After five minutes, however, it was just my two best friends, Matthew and Tanner.

            Matthew and Tanner are also really aggressive, but in a nice way. Earlier that day, Matthew, Tanner and I were in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at. I forget how it happened, but we had a cushion/shoe-stealing battle. Matthew would run up to Tanner while he was sitting, grab his shoe off his foot, and run away. Tanner would then tackle Matthew in an attempt to get his shoe. Both lost many shoes, both got them back again, and both got tackled a lot.

I ran around with a pillow bigger than my head and started whacking the two and defending myself. It was really hard for Tanner (and Matthew) to leave because Tanner said, “OK Mom, one second.” Then, he walked over to Matthew to shake hands, then turned to leave, spun around, and whipped one of Matthew’s shoes in the air. Then, as he left, there was a Thunk. The shoe hit him in the head. He wobbled and fell, while the whole lobby laughed.

            In the midst of the chaos of throwing, ducking and dodging, Matthew saw me, picked up three rockets, stuck one in him armpit and one between his feet, then using his free hand and rocket, fired it at Tanner's knee, got the stored rockets, and ran over.

            "Jadon, can I get a ride?" he asked. I knew that his leg was sore. I didn't know why, but it had been the entire weekend. He also knew that I only give Little People rides.

            "Sure. Hop on." I said.

            Matthew's rocket had hit its target. Tanner's knee buckled, and he fell. While he was down and I was talking to Matthew, he looked up, grabbed a rocket, and fired a really poor shot at Matthew's head. It missed, and Matthew was able to get on.

            After he was on, I became a battle cart. Matthew is only one year older then I am, but can catch well. First, he decided to get rid of the rockets that he had gotten. He told me his plan. I got ready. Matthew stuck one behind his back but in arm's reach, then he did his plan.

            Matthew threw one rocket so fast, if it hit, I'll bet it would've put someone in the hospital. Unfortunately, he missed. The rocket flew over Tanner's right shoulder and fell. Tanner looked behind him at the rocket, then back at us.

            "HA-HA-HAAAA!" He screamed because Matthew had just fired a rocket at his chest. And he hit. Tanner froze, groaned, then, as if in slow motion, fell on his face. I laughed. Matthew (who's really good at getting on/off my scooter while moving), leapt off, and ran to tackle Tanner, who was on his feet. As Matthew charged Tanner like an angry bull, Tanner looked at me with pleading eyes. Matthew was almost on Tanner when Tanner rolled/skid on the floor. Matthew sooo overshot Tanner, (still looking like a bull) and Tanner ran over to me.

            "Jadon, how come I don't get a ride? I'm your friend, too."

            "Because Matthew asked first."

            "Oh. Jadon, can I PLEASE get a ride, now that I got Matthew off???" Tanner asked.

            "For a little while."

            Tanner grabbed two rockets, gave them to me, and clambered on the back of my scooter. I gave him back the rockets and drove towards poor Matthew, who had hit the wall, while looking shocked, confused, and hilarious as Tanner threw a rocket at his leg.

            "Ohhh!" Matthew groaned as he wobbled for what seemed like an hour before falling back. When he got up, he threw a rocket at my leg.

            "Ahh! Tanner, can I have a rocket?" I groaned. There was no reply, just a blue cylinder coming from behind. I snatched it, and charged Matthew. He was ready, however, and threw a rocket at Tanner.

            "HA-HA-WHAT-THE-HECK!" Matthew yelped. Thud. Tanner leapt off my scooter, and Matthew's rocket missed him by a foot. Tanner, laughing, threw a rocket at Matthew's stomach. Matthew hit the ground, but the rocket missed. Matthew had rolled to the side and was running towards me. I realized Matthew was trying to get on.

            "NOO!" Tanner boomed, throwing his rocket at Matthew's feet. They missed, and Matthew clambered on. Tanner looked furious, and looked for a rocket. There weren't any close. He tried to run for one, but was stopped by my rocket, tripping him. Tanner looked up, grabbed the rocket I had just used to trip him, and prepared to throw, his eyes full of anger. I saw him get ready.

            "DUCK!" I yelled. Matthew didn't need the warning repeated. The rocket shot towards Matthew, and I heard a big Thunk. I glanced behind me. The rocket had just missed Matthew's head and had crashed into the wall.

            "Hey, Matthew. Think you can duck defend me a little as well??" I called back, as yet another rocket was launched and missed me by three inches.

            "I would, but I'm too busy a little too busy defending my-OUCH! TANNER!! THAT WAS A DIRECT HIT IN MY BELLY BUTTON!!" Matthew roared. Tanner looked all innocent but was trying super hard not to laugh, then turned, fled, and cracked up. Matthew leapt off, grabbed another rocket, jumped back on, and fired one single, excellent shot at Tanner's bum. It hit, and Matthew and I cracked up as Tanner did an awesome facedive.

            "Thanks Matthew. That was a good shot." I said.

            "Yeah, it was. Do you need have any rockets you need me to throw for you, or do you want-Duck." Whoosh. "Thanks, Matthew."

            "Here's a rocket. You might need it." Matthew said as a rocket slowly came towards the side of my head. I grabbed it. "HA-HAAA! YOU MISSED!" Matthew yelled at poor Tanner, looking upset and very sad.

            I saw Tanner pull back his hand to throw a rocket at Matthew's chest. I thought up a plan super quick.

            "Matthew, hold on tight when I tell you." I whispered, not waiting for an answer because Tanner was ready. Tanner threw the rocket. "Now."

             I did a quick 360, then, while Tanner stood there, shocked he had just missed, I fired my one shot at him. It hit Tanner in the chest. He pretended he was killed, wobbling around, then fell on his bum, then his back. He groaned and got to his feet. That he turned to find his parents, which was why he didn’t see Matthew fire another rocket, which made Tanner do another epic facedive.

            After Tanner got up and looked like he wanted to seriously kill Matthew, the DJ running the dance we took over and then turned into a battlefield said that the next song would be a "partner dance."

            "Jadon, I'll be right back. Stay in running distance." Matthew said. "Why?" I asked. I got my response a second later, when Matthew leapt off my scooter, walked over to Tanner and began to dance with him. I cracked up laughing. Seeing these two boys, my really good friends who shot rockets aimed to kill one second ago, now dancing, was just too funny!

            Of course, that lasted for 15 seconds. Then, Matthew gives Tanner his best innocent smile. I knew him well enough to know he was going to do a really funny prank, and Tanner was going to fall right into the trap.

            "Oh, Tanner?" Matthew asked in his high, innocent voice.

            "Yes, Matthew?" Tanner responds.

            "LOOK-IT'S-YOUR-MAMMA!" Matthew yelled and pointed. As Tanner spun to look for his mamma, Matthew grabbed a nearby rocket, and hit Tanner in the stomach. Then, I watched Matthew use the same rocket and smack Tanner in the head not hard, but with enough force to knock Tanner down on his bum. While Tanner was yelling in pain and his wanting for revenge, while holding his stomach and his head in pain, and Matthew and I are cracking up, Matthew runs over and hops back on. That meant I became a battle cart again.

            "Wow Matthew! I didn't know you could dance soooooo well!" I teased him as he got settled and armed. 

            "Jadon, do me a big favor. Shut up, drive, and WATCH OUT FOR THAT ROCKET!!!!" Thump. "OUCH!!”

            "Hmm. Tanner must be up, and he must be mad."

            "Jadon, are you SURE this is the FASTEST you can go??!! I just got hit again!!" Matthew roared in the back.

            "Yep. Tanner is really, really, REALLY mad." "I'm sure, Matthew."

            By the end of the night, all three of us had lots of bruises. My arms were almost numb, my belly felt like a few more hits and I would've barfed, and my legs felt ready to collapse. Matthew also couldn’t walk, he didn’t feel like barfing, though, but his hands were a lot more numb then mine. Tanner, however, was a different story. He was mumbling about needing to ask his parents for an ambulance when I left (I left first). We would be sore for a while, at least to the middle of the week.

            The next day, we left for home. On the way home, I kept thinking about how much fun I had and how to make the next LPA regional like that. I realized Tanner was the most aggressive I've seen him. I made a mental note to be armed the next time we meet.