Now that we don't live that far away, it's not that big of a deal to pop over and hang out. Before dinner, Andi went for a swim in her pool with Ginga. She had a ball splashing a bit, but mainly just wanted to walk around the inside perimeter of the "pool" (an in-ground hot tub!) After swimming, Andi just helped herself to Poppa's phone, so she could entertain herself.
We went to the club for dinner, where Andi was the premiere table to stop by and say Hi!
She kept calling for her new friends, "Mister Wayne" and "Miss Terry". The next day, Andi decided she didn't want to sit in her high chair, but at the table like a big girl! Sadly, she didn't eat much.
The next morning, the 4th of July, we went to a place called Yellow River Game Ranch. It's a place where you can go meet and feed wildlife. There were peacocks, goats, deer, sheep, donkey's, black bears, eager squirrels, pigs, and Beau -- the groundhog who successfully picks Superbowl winners. Andi loved it. Her walking wasn't that good due to the terrain, but she'd pull our hand and say, 'let's go this way!' And she was very vocal saying hi to all the animals. We hand fed deer, goats, donkey's. We dropped peanuts down the tube for the black bears. We also dropped an apple over the fence for the biggest pig we'd ever seen. It was super cool and the temperature was perfect.
After seeing all the animals, we went to the neighborhood pool, where Andi wanted to sit in the lounge chair by herself and work on her tan. We met a neighbor at the pool who teaches swimming lessons. She was smitten with Andi the moment we walked in. We got to talking with her, and within minutes I told her Andi had CHARGE Syndrome. She said, 'oh yeah, I know what that is, my nephew has it.' She worked with Andi a bit in the pool and told us of another program we should contact. One thing is for sure here, they really have A LOT of options for kids with special needs.
After dinner, we headed over to one of the local parks here. They had a bunch of bouncy houses (although we did not join in that fun!), food trucks galore, music, and a gazillion people. We set up our blanket by the music stage. In true Andi form, she instantly started making friends. Waving to people, smiling, and saying "hi!" She ended up ditching us and hanging out with her new friends -- all of which work at a private special needs school in Roswell. No joke. This place offers 1 on 1 teacher/student work, so the advancement is huge. Unfortunately, I'm guessing the tuition is probably huge as well. *insert pouty face here.* But, if nothing else, Andi's favorite new friend said she'd be happy to babysit if she's available.
Andi was pretty exhausted by the time fireworks happened. But she managed to stay awake and watch them as we 'ooh'd and aah'd' with each burst of color.
It was yet another night where we walked back to our car just thrilled with the fact that we not only relocated here, but exactly where we landed. We have just be very lucky with the people surrounding us. The opportunities of services and support here have been immense. Andi is our networking guru. People are drawn to her. She's our Julie McCoy -- our social director.
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