Today we went to the Toronto Zoo! Through Sick Kids Child Life Program, the Zoo graciously had us as their guests (free of charge) and we went and enjoyed a day with the kids and the animals. It was good and we had a great time and it was nice to get away and spend some time as a family.
And we saw the Pandas! Well, actually we saw one of the Pandas that are currently on loan to the Zoo from China. The other one was sleeping inside and we didn’t want to line up to see him or her, I can’t remember which Panda this was… but it was pretty cute!
I think our favouite was the Polar bears though… it was cool seeing them swim underwater and eat their vegetables…
Now I’ll be honest, going to the zoo wasn’t exactly all roses and peaches and cream. Jason and I have been realizing that our regular lives include more than the average amount of stress (really?) and so when we add extra stress (like taking four kids to a Zoo) I feel like I don’t have much reserve to deal with stressful situations… like when we lost Will today. Well technically Will lost us, he kept walking after we saw the penguins and thought we were behind him, except when he looked behind we weren’t there. Thankfully the other kids and I stayed put and Jason went after him and found a rather upset Will fairly quickly, praise God, but I felt the panic rising up in me much quicker than it would have before.
So it was really nice that when we found ourselves all getting tired and cranky and hot, we could go cool off at the splash pad. The kids loved it and had a great time.
We were definitly blessed to be able to get away today and make some memories!!!
And then I had time before dinner to go to the hospital and see our own little elephant…. sweet little Ava on her CPAP…
The camera flash startled her here… sweet little miss. It’s a little hard that Ava needs to be on CPAP so much, they have pretty much said she needs to be on it at all times, except for a few quick breaks here and there. But thankfully for most of that time is she asleep, and when she is awake it doesn’t bother her too much and I can still hold her interact with her with it on.
When I did take the CPAP mask off her tonight, she was so smiley and happy…
But she just can’t be off it for long. Tonight she only lasted about 30 minutes off before it was obvious that she was working too hard. But last night in the short time she was off, I was able to feed her pears and she was drinking milk from her sippy cup! We just have to enjoy the good times we do have with her now, even though it is hard not to mourn the time that we are missing out on. But we will take whatever good God gives.
So all in all, it was a good day, making the most of the situation we are in.
Thanks again for your prayers and your encouragement… we appreciate it so much!
