What a weekend!

This weekend was packed with things going on. Seriously packed full. We headed out early Saturday morning to drive for a while for a big surprise for the twins. You know it's going to be a good day when as your heading out of town, you get to see this on one side of the car...

and this on the other...

They had no idea where we were going or what was going on. We arrived at the Boone & Scenic Valley RR & Museum. A train pulled in and I told Parker to look at the engine to see what it was. It took about 5 seconds as the train pulled in..."IT'S THOMAS!!!!" and he let go of my finger and took off running. Payton and I had to catch up!

 We even got to ride on the Thomas! I was a little nervous that Parker wouldn't like the noise of the train, but he did great. Payton was the one that was nervous and sat on my lap for our little ride. Parker wanted the window seat and pointed out everything as we rode by.

Today we had plans of a whole different type. We met our friends from respite care for Mighty Mavs. Two hours of playing in the UNO Field house on campus, complete with swag bags for the kids of school gear and TCBY with all the toppings anyone could ask for. We played soccer, basketball, t-ball, bowling.
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Relay races with a UNO athlete escort. 

 Some of the basketball players lowered this hoop as far as it would go so all the little ones, and anyone in a chair could shoot easier. These two were in heaven. 

Perfectly happy rolling the ball back and forth. As she says "mom, I'm not so good at some of this stuff". 

Yep, on the move and a little blurry...

We got our shot in with Durango! It took some work, special maneuvering and the photographer had to move some of her stuff to make it work, but it worked! Yay!!!

They were in LOVE with playing soccer. They had the soccer players that were there pretty won over. 

One of the players asked if it was ok if they took a group picture with the duo. I said that was fine. Pretty soon I was holding 3 phones for pictures and the ones in the group who didn't have their phones were asking the others to send it to them. I love this picture. The players were great, relaxed, the kids went off and played without me having to be directly involved (which is beyond huge!) without any fear. So many reasons I will be forever grateful for this picture. And despite Payton's wrinkled nose, she was having a great time. 

Parker really wanted to dunk the basketball. One of the basketball players asked if it was ok to pick him up. When I said yes, I warned him about Parker's button, just so it didn't catch him off guard. Parker's such a runt and I knew the players giant hands would go all the way around his waist and I didn't want him caught off guard. After Parker's dunk, he pulled up his shirt and showed off his g-button. Parker told him "I have 2 buttons, see. It makes me special. Lots of my friends have things that make them special. What makes you special?" One of our friends from respite care was near by, and had to walk away so she didn't start crying. 

Thank you UNO, CRCC and everyone else that  made this event happen, giving all these kids a chance to play, and making sure they know what really makes someone special.