New Years Cottage Fun!

Every year we go to the cottage and have lots of cold-snow fun!

And this year was no different

Nick was enjoying the snow more than other years

And the dogs were in love!

In fact, they dogs spent most of their time outside. It didn't matter if it was snowing and they got covered in snow. They both loved the snow!

Of course the humans loved the snow as well.

The snow wasn't that great for sledding (the sleds wouldn't go down the hill) but it was good for making snowmen

We tried getting Nick's crutches in the snow, but he really just wanted to crawl, or be pulled in the sled

Katheryn and I made a snowman!

It was a bit windy on New Years night.
The snowman had a party and was doing the limbo!

Nick enjoys the snow, but loved the hot chocolate and cuddles when it was time to go in!

We had brought all of our skating stuff to go skating, but I was sick our whole time away and we didn't go.

All ready for winter!

A month ago when we got our first snow fall, I ordered a lap cover for Nick in his wheelchair.
The day of Nick's school trip in the forest (I don't have any pictures, but Nick said they had a special sled for him, and he fully participated and had lots and lots of fun), the cover came.

This is exactly what I ordered:
https://www.mobilitychoices.com/buy/mc000740/sheerlines-cuckoo-childrens-waterproof-wheelchair-fleece-leg-cover-royal-blue

It fits well on Nick's lap, and I fold the excess underneath his feet.
It is fleece lined, and keeps his legs warm and it is waterproof. So it does exactly what it is supposed to do.

It does have some room for improvement. The sides rub against the wheels of the chair. So I am always pushing it underneath his legs. There are velcro straps that attach in the back
 but I find the back part bulky. But it fits well over his winter jacket.
And it has to come on and off every time.
If there was a way for it to sit flat on the seat of the chair, and Velcro under the seat, and then come forward to be zippered over the lap I think it would work better.

The Woodpecker version is set up like that; instead of covering over the lap, it covers under the lap and zips at the front. Then you can just get in and out of it, instead of always taking it on and off. But it is also twice as expensive. And I worried Nick might get too hot, with the fleece covering his back.

We have gotten a lot more snow this year, and we are all excited for a white Christmas!
Katheryn loves climbing on all of the snow banks

Nick wanted to get out and place in the snow when he got home from school today. So put his snowpants on over his winter jacket and threw him in.

It was nice having all of the snow in December, when we still enjoy it. Instead of February when we are waiting for spring to come.

Its getting colder

It's getting colder and we had our first snow fall.

The dogs are loving it!

Out came all of our winter coats and hats
And our rosy cheeks and red noses

 Along with cold weather, we need to start coving up Nick's legs
I have a blanket that we have been using. But it isn't waterproof and really I wanted something like snowpants, but in a chair.

 

I found something that I liked, but everywhere I looked it cost so much for shipping and handling, or it wouldn't ship to Canada.
Originally I was going to buy from amazon.ca but for $45 and then another $15 S&H I thought I could probably sew what I wanted myself with an old pair of snowpants.

I kept finding the same picture over and over again of what I wanted (I think). In a violet colour (for some reason this is the stock picture). But it is available in a navy blue as well.
Everywhere I looked for different prices and S&H were the same thing. Hardly any variation, some were fleece lined, some were not. Some covered higher up and some didn't (this one only covers the lap). And they were all from the UK.
It is a brand called Sheerlines

Why Canada, with all of our snow, doesn't have any supplies of a leg cover for wheelchairs, I don't know. But they don't. Apparently this one variation is enough.

Finally after looking and looking, I found this website:

https://www.mobilitychoices.com/buy/mc001227/sheerlines-cuckoo-childrens-waterproof-wheelchair-fleece-leg-cover-violet

It is a company in the UK. And this fleece lined leg cover cost £21.53 (which is about $35 Canadian). And only $5 Canadian for shipping and handling.
They have the Cuckoo version which is the lap cover.
And the Wagtail version which covers up to the neck and has sleeves for the arm (this is  £41.68)
And a Woodpecker Warmer, which goes up the back of the chair, but zips at the front (this one cost £40.56, which is why I didn't get it)
And a Kittiwake version which is like a rain jacket for a wheelchair user
Here is a link to the Sheerlines children's products: http://www.sheerlines.co.uk/children-39-s-range/cat_5.html


I ordered the Cuckoo version (in blue) and I hope that it will work well.
I'm hoping that it will come before the next snowfall and I'm excited to have something!

Snow Weekend

We had a family weekend at the cottage with lots of snow!

Rory was in her prime

There was lots of sledding

And rolling, down the hill

And fun inside in the warmth when we all got too cold

It was perfect snow-fort snow. Which the kids thought was the coolest thing ever!

It was the perfect place for launching secret attacks!

And of course some night time fun as well

Winter and Recess

Winter started in full force when the kids returned from winter break. There was snow and ice and it was cold. Often Nick will come home and tell me about his recess and who he played with and what they did.

The first week of January he didn't have any stories. He just said he stayed inside.

  

Trying to ask Nick about why he didn't go out for recess he said he didn't know, and then it was that there was snow, or the gate wasn't plowed.

I spent some time back and forth with his teacher about why he wasn't going outside for recess. I was upset that he might be excluded from normal school activities like recess.

 There were a number of different reasons. First is the time of getting him ready to go outside takes longer than the other kids and it cuts into school time. Second is that they are worried about him falling on the ice. Third is that he gets cold easily

After discussing I understand. I don't want him missing classroom time to get ready, on top of his cath time. So he will be going outside with has classmates at lunchtime recess and for the short recesses he will stay inside and get to pick a friend to play with him.

I did say that if they are worried about the ice and his walker, then he can go outside with his wheelchair. As well instead of getting his snow pants on, he could cover himself with a blanket and sit in his wheelchair.

We will see what we end up with. But I want to hear more stories about his friends.

Accessiblity and snow

This winter has been cold and we've gotten a lot of snow in the last couple of months.

This isn't anything unique to Nickolas or our family. But it is newer for us (I wrote about it last year as well)

The snow and the cold brings up some issues for Nickolas and his ability to move around outside.

It means loading everyone into the van for even little trips. Some days it is because it is minus a million degrees.

But then it is also for reasons like this:

Everyone knows they are supposed to shovel their driveway. Not everyone does.

But I can actually push Nick pretty well through slush and moderately unshovelled driveways.

Except for someone who doesn't actually have any idea about mobility challenges. Just knows they need to shovel the sidewalk. Don't acutally shovel the end of the sidewalk so that there is street access.

It was left like this for over a week. I did contact the city, and the next day it was shovelled.

Of course with snow and parking lots.

Because why do you need to park in these spots? They need to put the snow somewhere?!

I can't wait for the snow to melt

Snow Fall

The kids were very excited to enjoy the first snowfall of the season

 

Nothing like Buffalo, but enough to cover the ground in white and catch some flakes on the tongue.

 

Sammie loved it!

 

 

The kids were eager to be put to work. Katheryn really wanted to shovel the driveway

 

And Nick wanted to help too

About 2 minutes after these photos were taken Katheryn and Nick were done with working and wanted to throw some snow balls!

Getting around in snowy Canada

We live in Canada.
It snows.

This year may have given us more snow than we've had in a long time, but snow is expected in the winter.

 

The snow might look really nice and it might be nice to have a snowy winter, but three month snow and snow and snow and get a little tired. If you also add a child who doesn't like the cold and uses a wheelchair and a walker that is difficult navigate in the snow... Then it takes a lot of fun of the winter the end up staying home a lot more than you thought that you would.
Nick doesn't like sitting on the snow or staying still, he gets cold

The picture of Nick inside breaks my  heart a little... But he wanted to go inside, he DOES NOT like the cold. He just wanted his sister to come inside as well.

Even if it hasn't snowed for a couple of days, and thinking of going for a walk outside (even to get to a destination and not drive). This is what you find

Not in front of all the houses, but in front of enough of them. So to walk to the bus-stop (at the top of our street) or go and pick up out mail with Nick, means that we would walk on the road, or drive. Or in the case of going on a short trip with the daycare group - calling a cab (Thanks Jen).
Playing in our backyard? Snow is too deep for any kind of wheels, he can walk with us holding him, or crawl through the snow, or be pulled in a sled.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining. I am.
I really don't mind the snow and the cold. But if I'm working on Nick being independent in whatever form he wants, then the snow does not make it easy.
This is how Nick spends most of his time playing in the snow with us. Sitting down (no wonder he gets cold)

But all the snow comes with accessibility issues.
Parking spots with snow in them (or snow covering the accessible spot so you can't get a chair beside the door), ramps covered in snow or entrances to the ramp not shoveled. Even without snow, there is still ice to worry about. Either the ice that will make Nick slip, or I will slip carrying Nick (always a possibility because I am a klutz).

A lot of our activities have been planned and driven to. We drive to daycare and back every day this winter, even if it is one street over.

There was a quote I heard (that I can't find anywhere) about a father who said he looked out his window every morning to see if his daughter (in a wheelchair) could go outside or not.

It kind of feels like I'm using the snow as an excuse. There are winter things Nick can do. I only need to watch the Paralympics for inspiration. I just need to put the extra effort into finding what works for him.
I'm not really sure what the purpose of this blog post is. Complain about all the snow? Wish for spring and summer? It's March, the snow has to melt sometime right?

Brr It's cold outside!

One of the great things about spending a couple of days at the cottage, is the snow

Katheryn has been dying to go outside and play in the snow!

So we all bundled ourselves up, got out the sleds and were all excited to go!

Even Nick wanted to go and play in the snow

For about 5 minutes

We had the sled all ready for the kids to go in.

But the snow didn't let anything slide on it.

So there was snow-trekking

And snow throwing

And burying mommy

Katheryn didn't mind the cold at all

But pretty soon this face was coming out (this picture is from new years)

He didn't want to go out on the sled, or play in the snow

So we went in for some promised hot chocolate!

And Nick watched the rest of the play from here

And was happy about it

Believe it or not, this -19C day was the warmest of the week!
On our day we went home, this is what we had in the morning!