We had a great meetup yesterday at the Magic House just outside of St. Louis. We had a small but super fun group of families to play and get to know each other. The Magic House was crowded but we were able to have all kinds of fun. I can’t say enough about how powerful it is to spend time with kids who have similar differences. As a parent, it’s just comforting to see other kids doing awesome. And our kids benefit from getting to know each other. Knowing you aren’t alone is awesome. Miss Jordan is so NOT surprised when she meets a person with a limb difference or sees a picture of another child like herself. She’s lucky.

She’s also so lucky to have such fun little friends. She and her brother enjoyed their time at the Magic House with the group!! Enjoy the pictures. (And those who attended, expect an email with a link to see many, many more!)

Jordan and I had a chance to go to a picnic with a whole bunch of limb different kids and their families this weekend. It was a lot like the impromptu gathering we had last year except this time it was a little further away from our house and we had even more families! It is SO awesome to meet and play with new kids and families.

Jordan got to spend time with a few friends who we talk about often, but don’t often enough. This picture is Jordan with a little friend who Jordan was thrilled to see and get her to giggle. She even shared her doll with her for a little while. It’s kind of funny, but Jordan is almost one of the older kids in the limb different crowd… Or at least she’s the oldest of the little kids!

The best part of our day beyond just the opportunity for all of us to spend time together was flying kites. One of the dads brought a TON of kites so the kids could enjoy the wind and a lot of space. It was so great to see each and every kid fly a kite – hands, no hand, legs, no legs… It didn’t matter. We were an awesome bunch.

Most of our group came together through two different groups: Sammy’s Friends and I-CAN (International Child Amputee Network). We’re so lucky to be connected this way… Without our wonderful kids we’d never have met!

We are so lucky to have good friends and have a chance to meet up with more wonderful families with limb different kids. We just had a Missouri meetup where families from our state (and one wonderful family from Illinois) met up at a home in mid-Missouri. It was so cool to spend time with everyone AND the kids put on quite a show as everyone played on a HUGE water slide. We had a blast.

The kids and I are headed to Camp No Limits tomorrow. I’m very excited. I would love to say that I plan to blog every day from the state park where we’re staying, but I’m just not sure how cell reception and web access works out there. So hopefully I’ll be able to share some updates from out there. If you’d like, I’d be happy to try to keep up with things from this twitter account. Worst case… I’ll at least be able to share a few photos from my phone!

Thanks to the Sammy’s Friends group that I help co-moderate, two other families met up with us at the St. Louis Zoo today. We got to meet two sweet little girls who Jordan proudly noticed: “She has an arm like me!” It was so cool.

We all walked around the zoo, talked about things any family would talk about and then we’d periodically talk about little arms, Shriners, prosthetics and things we were/are worried about for our kids. It was a wonderful first time meeting and I can’t wait for more to come.

I can’t tell you how awesome it feels when you get to hang out with families who you would have never had a chance to meet without the help of our kids. I honestly feel we are all blessed to have this special connection. I am honored and it is amazing to see the places Jordan has helped take me – physically and in spirit as I grow each day with the help of both of my kids.