Camp Shriver

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I really like living in a smaller town!

Our daughter gets to benefit from a fantastic scholarship program only available to students coming from cities of 30,000 or less people. The sense of community is very strong here. You meet people you know every time you go shopping. And you only sit in traffic when it's Graffiti night, or the train is taking too long (they are working on a fix for that..)

Another way cool thing is we tend to get opportunities like Camp Shriver. Roseburg was one of the six original sites to host a Special Olympics camp for kids with developmental disabilities three years ago. It started with a $10,000 donation from the Kennedy Foundation (JFK's sister Eunice Shriver started Special Olympics in her backyard long ago). It continues through community support along with the Kennedy Foundation funding. It's at our YMCA, and Connor is LOVING it.

This is his first year (which is fine - he tends to wander, and he's old enough now to better stick with the group). I don't know how long he will continue to be able to attend -- but we'll have him go as long as he can. As you can see by the photo below, he's pretty athletic. He loves the outdoors, and anything he can do that involves running, jumping, climbing, or swimming, that's what he wants to do.

The first day at the camp was really last Friday, when Lee took him to get assessed for the various sports. He had to have a simple health exam done (thanks Sue!!) and they checked his vision and hearing as well - hearing is great, but he'll probably need glasses soon & join the rest of the family :/

Lately he's been growing out of shoes pretty fast. I had just gotten him some Vans-type shoes at the end of the school year, and those were already too small a month later. We'd been having him wear the rubber clogs, because they're loose and comfortable. But those aren't the best thing for playing basketball & kickball. I'd been looking around town with him, but shoe shopping is not a favorite activity. Monday night we took him shopping again - determined to find something. Fred Meyer was having a clearance sale - I seriously have a problem with $50 shoes that my kid will outgrow in 3 months!! I think Connor tried on 6 or 7 sets and practised running in the store before we found this pair. Connor's seen commercials for Sketchers, and that's what we started with, but they didn't fit him right - these are Shaq's, but Connor calls them Sketchers Shaqs. Hey - it works for him :)

He loves his new shoes because they help him run & jump better :)