Friday Fun Day

Emily worked extra hard to finish her last day strong! 

Everyone wore their Hope shirts to match Emily. 

She gave Rachel, Mel, and Abby funky socks and cute headbands as a parting gift so they all showed up in those. Em loved seeing them wearing their gifts!!

She graduated her session with a certificate, 2 new nail polishes, and glittery lip gloss! She immediately had to apply her new gloss.

Thank you Europeds!!

During the group pictures she was laying the love on Roberto pretty heavy ;)

And then we were off to the airport. Em & Jamie popped in some head phones and listened to music while we waited to board. What started off as silent listening quickly turned into a broadway musical singing and dancing in the terminal. 

We're comin home!

Crazy Crawlers

Emily & Jamie started off the day with a high energy dance party. At therapy we started with crawling. Mel outdid herself with today's tower. It was taller than all of us and even stood on its own for a substantial amount of time.

We had a student observing today so Emily enjoyed showing off for her. Rachel and Emily had matching yellow outfits today. She did cage work and got to have a dance party at the end. This is her absolute favorite activity in there!

Emily did ball work with Abby today. Rachel entertained her with some dancin skills!

Em ended the day with another walker date with Roberto. Probably the best part of her day. No matter how fun the girls are they just can't compete with Roberto!!

It is our last night in Michigan so we went out to the movies to enjoy one last night together :)

Walker dates & Wacky bball

Today Emily just wanted to spend some time with her therapist crew (so we are lacking on pictures.)

She ended the day with a walk around the hospital with her whole posse including Roberto.

After therapy Em was pretty wiped out so she took a nap. When she woke up we played basketball on our hotel court. She was enjoying telling us where to stand for our shots and laughed every time we missed. She even had us doing some backwards shots.

Towers, Trails, & Tiny puppies

Today during stretches we got a visit from Bentley again. She is working hard on tailor sitting. She is improving every day. Today after stretches Roberto came in for a visit and posed for some pics with Miss Emily. She was in heaven :)

She worked on crawling today and is extra motivated by Mel's towers. She gets to crawl up to them and knock them over. Mel is in competition with herself to see how tall of a tower she can successfully build. 

Em worked in the UGL cage again today. She enjoyed kicking the Jamie & Kinzi barbies off the table for motivation!

Aaaand then Jamie & Kinzi had a little dance party ;)

We have been working on weight shifting exercises to help improve crawling. Today she did this on the big green ball. She always tries to get out of work by giving hugs. Sometimes it works ;)

After therapy we went to Rochester Municipal Park which has now become "the duck park" to us. We got to watch the ducks swimming in the river. On our walk we met a 4 week old puppy and fell inlove!!!

Tailor sitting & Trick shots

Monday, Monday, back to therapy! Emily missed her girls over the weekend. She was pumped to get back to Europeds! She wore a new shirt today that she got over the weekend at the mall. She got so many compliments and she was beaming all day long and showing it off!!

Emily has been working on tailor sitting everyday. She is becoming more independent in getting into the position on her own.
 

Today she started filming her therapy home workout plan DVD. She is the star of her own show! As Emily grows and changes her physical goals change. Every year her therapist puts together either a booklet or a DVD including stretches and exercises to add into her at home workout regimen. This provides her PCAs and nurses with helpful information to keep her active and strong all year long!

After therapy we got a basketball from the front desk and played ball out on the hotel's court. She is getting really good at catching the ball! Some serious hand-eye coordination work!! Jamie & Kinzi are TERRIBLE shots so Em got a good laugh.

 

Furry Friends & Farm Animals

Today was Zoo day! We visited animals at the Detroit Zoo. We started off in the butterfly building. Jamie was freaked out every time they would fly close to her. Then we went into the bird building and saw some colorful birds. We took pictures of a beautiful bright red bird for Emily's friend, Camerynn. 

 

In the monkey area we saw a momma and her baby cuddling and walking around. Emily loved them and watched them for a while. 

 

We did the Polar Experience where we went into a tunnel under water and watched polar bears swimming around us. It was so cool!

 

While watching rhinos a peacock was showing off for some lady birds and fanning his feathers. He was posing and turning for everyone to get pictures.

 

In the barnyard area Emily snorted at pigs and yelled "Ooowww" at the cows. 
 

We ended our visit in the penguin exhibit. We watched them swim laps and saw the king penguins watching over the rest of the penguins with their chests puffed out.

We were all exhausted after our busy weekend and went to bed early!!

Make-up, Malls, & Museums

It's the weekend! Today Emily got ready like a typical teenager. She did her makeup in the mirror with the girls.

 

We started the day at the Great Lakes Crossing Outlet Mall. Emily enjoyed trying on hats and glasses and searching for outfits. She got some new lip gloss and has been reapplying constantly. She helped the girls pick out clothes and accessories.

 

This evening we visited the Cranbrook Institute of Science. We started on the lower level where there was a dinosaur display which included interactive exhibits. Emily enjoyed pushing buttons to hear dinosaur noises. She wheeled around to see all the fossil dinosaurs and compared her size with theirs.

On the main level she learned about the earth. We did some interactive water exhibits, velocity activities, and pushed the earth around the sun. There were ramps and elevators so she was able to experience everything the museum had to offer. 

 

Girl's Day & Go Karts

Today at therapy Em worked on crawling and peanut ball exercises. She is working to strengthen her arms and improve her weight shifting in order to improve crawling.

 

She did some work on the giant ball. She likes to give hugs to try to get out of work. Tricky little lady ;)

 

She worked in the UGL cage. Her Jamie Barbie and Kinzi Barbie got to go for a ride on her leg brace. We started singing Miley Cyrus "We came in like a wrecking ball..."

 

She finished her therapy session with a bike ride around the hospital.

 

After therapy today we went Go Karting! Emily rode doubles with Kinzi and helped steer the cart. We raced Jamie in the bat-mobile!

 

We finished off the night at the movies. It was a busy fun day!!