First...
We had our local monthly meeting for the Snohomish County Mother's Network, every first Saturday of the month and I wait for that day as if I was pregnant and it was my due date. A support group made up of mothers of special needs children, all abilities, all challenges, all diagnoses, all ages. This group I have been a part of since its conception 4 years ago. I have been to other support groups but none are like this one.
This one is very intimate, very private. We cry some, but we laugh more. At alot of support groups all you hear is crying, it's great to get it all out but you can only take so much sorrow, this is one thing that I feel makes me keep coming back to the Mother's Network because we do have fun, we do laugh, we do craft nights and mom's nights out, we also see each other at family and kid activities its more then just a monthly support group. In fact we are playing Bunko Friday night! We talk about our kids with special needs, we talk about our husbands, we talk about work, we talk about anything and that is unique. It is actually being fully supported, in the ups and the downs of life as it relates to our child with special needs and as it doesn't too!
While a majority of the group is children with Autism since well let's face it, it is very common. But we have other diagnoses and welcome any mother of any special needs child we even have a few that their "child" is over 18.. they can be 30 and you are still very much welcome in our group which is also a rarity in a support group! What we say stays there, no one judges us, we share things that we share with no one else but that group. We all get out what we need to, making everyone cry but at the same time we also have great senses of humor and get jokes that no one else but our group would think was funny and we laugh too. I cried, I laughed, I cried, and I laughed some more. Therapy at it's best.
Childcare is provided which makes it accessible to most mothers if they chose to seek out support. This is the main reason I wrote that letter to the "big dogs" a few days ago.. because this program and many others that are through the ARC are at a huge risk for budget cuts. Senate, House and Governor have all planned to take away the funding for a wide range of all the activities I speak of under their budget plans this year. It isn't final however until it is voted on and agreed on.. hence the reason for the letter I wrote.
THEN..
me and 3 of my other rock star moms took our 7 kids to Burger King (we were missing 1 kid too) to let them play in the play area and get a quick bite to eat.
THEN...
A local storage facility owner/manager not quite sure which.. (heard through the grapevine) has a grandson with special needs and decided to put on an egg hunt specifically for those with special needs only and their family members.
Intriguing..
You mean my daughter won't get one egg when another larger, faster.. not distracted by Easter "grass" kid gets 20 eggs? People won't look at me like why on earth is that adult helping a 7 year old get eggs? She's cheating! Adults can't help! Or if by any sort of luck it is agreed upon that she should in fact be in a younger age bracket because of her ABILITIES.. that another parent won't say why is that big kid in with the little kids.. she's cheating! sigh.
Say What?? Who's smart idea was this?
Oh yeah it was theirs. right.. got that? K good.. because you might want to send a proposal to your local storage facilities for next year.
So they had near the entrance 3 large storage "garages" open. One had an Easter bunny for a photo. They snapped the pic (as did most everyone with their own cameras.. which you cannot do at the Mall Bunny!) Then they very smartly got your address and email address so they could send you the picture.. hey you marketing reps .. if you are proposing this to a storage facility next year.. and they are not biting.. point out this is a great benefit! Getting addresses for mailing lists etc.
The next garage had regular white plastic bags and stickers! Decorate your bag with stickers anyway u want and then you get to proceed inside to find eggs!
Inside we go with a "helper".. and a list.
The list had numbers on it.. of storage units, big ones, small ones, tiny ones, medium ones. You found the storage units on the list and opened them and there was a basket of eggs in the back, each kid went in got one egg and came back out.. onto the next unit. 15 units later every kid has 15 eggs!
It was fair for everyone, but still a fun "hunt" finding which units, and the kids of course all wanted to be the one to open them up and lead the way in!
Alana did great, she went in every unit grabbed one egg. Brought it to me, then proceeded to go back in the unit.. but not for another egg. Just because she wanted to go in again lol. Not once did she try to grab more then one egg. She listened VERY well.
We did crack a joke that if our kids go to any storage facilities in the future they are going to be opening units looking for eggs.. ha ha
Donni didn't really participate because he has huge stranger anxiety lately and if you put him down he screams and doesn't move. Even at the park he stays in his stroller mostly or the swing or else he is NOT HAPPY. But Kaila got him an egg at each unit for him to enjoy at home.
It was/is a great idea and rumor has it, it will be an annual event. YEAH! Now onto picture overload...
The sun was in her eyes but it's still a cute pic!
My favorite pic of the day! She loves any full costumed thing.. as long as there is no face.. like Santa Claus.
Making her bag
Oh a pink egg! Left to right Alex, Kaila, Alana and Timmy
yellow!
Oh a tiny unit! Left to right: Jackson, Alex, Timmy, Alana and Kaila
orange!
In this picture is Hazel, her dad and Kaila. 
In this picture is Rebecca and Caitlyn, Hazel & dad and Alana.
On the way out she had to say hi to the bunny again!THEN...
I went to work.. how anti climatic right.
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