Poof and Summer was Gone!

Taylor prepping for holidays

The summer went too fast. Taylor was busy with lots of visiting, shopping, journaling, and lots of silly! Taylor was with me just about everyday and we would wander around Sherwood Park. We ate at McDonald's a lot, some days Taylor would take pity on me and we would go to Fatburger.

Taylor's fry popsicle

We decided to all go on a big family vacation to the Oregon Coast. Taylor did not want to take a plane, so it was a driving holiday.

Onward we go!

Pitstop for some tasty donuts in Red Deer

Of course we needed to check out Dollarama!

Throwing stones in the lake

We started our vacation by heading down to Sandpoint, then to Spokane.

Swimming at the pool

We hit Silverwoods amusement park to break up the full days of travel. We had a blast, but forgot that Taylor can't walk the distances she used to be able to do. Mindy ended up finding a cart she could wheel her around in through the park. We went on lots of water rides, laughed our heads off as we all got soaked, it was a wonderful day.

Log Ride was the first stop!

We headed to the Coeur d'Alene Resort for dessert. We had been in Coeur d'Alene 3 years prior and had supper at the resort, but were too full for dessert. We had to go back as the desserts there looked so amazing.

We had to be really aware of Taylor's stamina and how much she could handle. We headed the following day to Portland, but first stopped at Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby. We scored some very cool stickers and tapes, etc. then we drove to Portland.

First stop was Voodoo Donuts, Powell's bookstore. Taylor started to show greater instability, and she tripped and scraped her knee. Landon piggy backed her and when we got to the bookstore Mindy took Taylor into the washroom to clean her wound, but we had no bandaids. A woman noticed and was kind and had a bandaid which she gave them. The kindness of strangers, always amazes me.

We then headed to the coast, Florence to go on the sand dunes. Mindy, Landon, Taylor and my kids went on the dune buggies. We have previously been to the sand dunes and mistakenly taken the scary dune buggy ride, so we opted for the more tame bus ride, but the wild ones chose to try it! They totally had a blast.

We then moved our way to Newport. 

I wanted a group photo with the lighthouse background, so we headed to the one nearby. We lucked out and saw seals sunbathing, a whale, as well as a giant rock full of birds having a party!

Next we went to the aquarium. So many cool fish! 

We had loads of laughs, and Taylor journaled like crazy. We parted in Seattle and the Thiessen's went to the hot springs. Taylor started exhibiting a digression in health near the end of their trip. Her appetite was going and she was feeling really dizzy and off balanced. She also had a headache, pain in her head.

Taylor on her return was super anxious. She was starting to talk about school and her fears about going back. She felt unsure that she should be going into grade 4 when she had missed learning the grade 3 material. Another anxiety was that she was going to be having her 10th birthday on September 10th...then there was the MRI scheduled for the 14th, the day before she would be having her party. 

Mindy and Landon have been trying there best to alleviate these fears and anxiety, so the MRI has been moved and it will be up to Taylor if she wants to have it. 

In the last two weeks we have had a heart breaking time as Taylor has now rapidly digressed. At first she needed a walker and to use the wheelchair for longer walks when going out. She was really, really off balanced and dizzy. 

This week Taylor has started losing more mobility. Her right arm is not working. Her right leg is frequently not working. She cannot walk more then a few steps while aided. She needs help in using the washroom and getting in and out of her wheel chair. You can see her face becoming more with the paralysis it had before. She is becoming more confused. 

As time goes I will try to update, but things are busy. I will likely be looking for help in the future days as things are becoming more difficult. Right now we are taking things one day at a time.