Beach camping

    Well we arrived yesterday from four and a half days of beach camping in San Elijo, Ca. We had a wonderful time. On wednesday before we left we had a therapy session. Melissa re taped Amaya's knee so it would be on well during our time at the beach. At therapy Melissa stretched Amaya's knee. While she did that I asked when Amaya's knee would be able to fall to ninety degrees on its own, like the right one does. She said about a month or so after the fixator comes off. I was a bit surprised by that, I assumed that was something that would happen before then. Then Amaya rode the bike, climbed the ladder, did leg presses on the total body machine, and rode the bi-scooter. Amaya's knee was at 50 to start and then at 67 with a small scoot. She worked hard and was able to get her goal of 100 degrees. that last degree was the toughest, but she got it.

Here's Lidie at therapy last Wednesday. She's showing Melissa her "arm that got bit off by a shark." Ever since watching Soul Surfer the girls are into sharks, surfing, and amputated arms. 

In addition to all the other stuff we packed here's Amaya's fixator related bag. It has her soap to wash of her pin sites, towel to wrap on her ankle at night, the bar to lock in at night, plenty of gauze for four days plus extra for getting wet during the day, tape, hand sanitizor, scissors, etc. Since we had a lot to pack we  left the wheelchair and walker behind. 

On the drive down Amaya worked on a "to do list." It includes, getting in the water, playing polly pockets, take pictures, make a sand castle, boogie board, eat or drink, and play soul surfer. She is so funny! She not only did all the stuff on her list, but she did plenty more! She made friends, dug in the sand, touched a jelly fish, watched a show on sharks and octopuses, walked on the beach, was in a talent show,  jumped over waves, and much more!

The ranger station there had this cool wheelchair to borrow for free. It said its also good to use on snow. The ranger told us that its rarely used, maybe because no one knows about them. although Amaya could walk on the sand just fine, we used it one day when we went for a long beach on the sand and didn't want her to get too tired.  But after that she said she didn't need it, that she could walk just fine, or ride on dad's shoulders.

At the end of the walk she walked up tis set of stairs (105 steps!). She did it as part of her therapy. The next day she walked 150 steps, then again 105 the next day. She did an excellent job of walking, and climbing stairs. 

Here's another look at those stairs. 

Here's the girls jumping over waves! They loved the water and only got out when there were lots of jelly fish, or to eat, or play in the sand. 

Here's video of Amaya boogie boarding for the first time. She was still unsure about laying down, but by the end of the day she was riding like a champ! She was laying on her tummy, and steering the board. She had so much fun, but my phone ran out of batteries and I wasn't able to video tape her. 

Here's another look at her on the board.

Amaya started carrying her boogie board like a "real surfer." She really wants to try surfing, so perhaps next summer. 

Here she is playing in the sand. Her fixator got very sandy, but there was a disabled shower very close to our camp site. We were able tot wash most of the sand out every day. Some days she ended up taking two showers.

Here's what the jelly fish looked like. Someone said they were strawberry jellyfish, but were not sure. The girls were brave enough to touch them, unlike dad and I who preferred to just look. 

Here they are on a walk back from getting pizza across the street. As we walked back Lidie asked Amaya, "are you walking?" Amaya answered, "yeah. Are you ready for my fixator to come off?" Lidie said, "yeah" Then Amaya said, "well, then I have to walk to get my bone hard so this can come off." 

Amaya couldn't resist climbing up the fence to watch the sunset. 

Amaya lost her first tooth on Saturday! She was worried if the tooth fairy would find her on the beach, but she did. And even wrapped her money in seaweed.  Amaya left the tooth fairy a very cute note asking where she got her money, if she was a boy or girl, what she did with the teeth and if she could keep this tooth since it was her first one. The tooth fairy was nice enough to leave a note.

Here's the girls on our last day. They couldn't resist one last visit to the water and got soaked and sandy. So Amaya had to take a shower before we left.  

    On Saturday night we had a really hard time locking the bar in place. It took about twenty minutes of stretching, but Amaya was in tears the whole time. I could not only feel how tight the muscle was, but could see it bulge through her skin. Ugh, it was terrible. We haven't had a tough time locking it in since before we finished lengthening. We just kept stretching and eventually we got it in, but by then we were both in tears (it was just so sad to see her in so much pain and a bit frustrating).    
     I was so glad we got to get away. The girls had a great time. They loved boogie boarding, playing in the sand, hanging out with friends and family and meeting new friends. In a bathing suit you can't really hide a fixator, but Amaya did a great job of explaining to others what her fixator was, and how it worked. She did get lots of stares, but mostly people asked what happened. At one point two kids were ridding their bikes past her and were both so fixed on starring at her and didn't notice each other and then they crashed into each other. Amaya couldn't believe they didn't notice each other. At one point I looked up and saw her talking to five teenagers about the fixator. She answered all their questions, and shared what life was like with it on. Josh and I got to relax, I read a whole book, we listened to the waves, enjoyed the stars at night, enjoyed the sunsets and Josh got to go to a concert one night.  All in all it we had a great time.