We are home!!!!

Well, we got home from California about 11 pm on Tuesday evening. All I can say is that it was a whilwind trip!!! Annika loved the plane ride. Of course for some reason that I can't understand she was disappointed because the plane didn't crash into the cars. Oh yes, I can tell she has big brothers who have to be teaching her something. I will try to give a quick overview of our trip but it will probably end up fairly long.

We arrived there late Sunday afternoon and it was just beautiful there. Flowers in bloom and the sun shining-believe me with the spring we have had in Minnesota that is a welcome relief. Anyway, after we settled into the hotel it was off to find somewhere to eat. We found a Chuckie Cheese and since Annika hasn't been to one and we had time to burn we headed in. She loved being in the show room and watching the characters and of course the games and rides were a huge hit. She had a blast but was looking forward to going swimming back at the hotel so we cut our time a little short there. Well, I didn't think that it would cool off so fast while we were in the restaurant and of course I thought we would get away without heading to the pool but no she insisted so we swam for about 5 minutes and she was shivering so we called it quits. It had been a long day so we headed to bed after a splash in a warm bathtub.

The next day we were off to Advanced Bionics and to participate in trials there. It was so great there to met the people who work with her implants and design the next up and coming products. I talked to several different engineers and gave our thoughts on all the new protypes they have but more importantly I was able to see how much they care about what we think and how much they put pride in their work since they make a product for children and specifically Annika. It is hard to explain until you experience this. We had a tour of the plant and we learned out the implants are made from the beginning to end. Annika tried to put all the pieces of the internal device together just like a puzzle. Dave, our tour guide, fell in love with her so she got her own ride via his arms across the whole plant. She was given one of the Clarion Cougars, who has gone everywhere since she recieved it and just was treated like the princess she believes she is.

At this time our previous director at NV arrrived and we were off to Magic Mountain-Six Flags. She had a blast on the rides and even got Etta and myself on rides with her-including the mini roller coaster!!! We spent a couple hours there which was just perfect in my eyes but Annika was not so thrilled that it was time to go home. The people who ran the rides got a real education on what is possible for a child who is deaf. One person told us that Annika was her "hero". They just enjoyed her because she just loves life and it just becomes contagious.

We went out for supper after Six Flags and Annika did not stop talking the whole time. At one point Etta looked at me and said "she doesn't stop talking does she?" And really the only time she is quiet is when she is sleeping or is upset about something (even then we usually have noise just not words). After this whole action packed day I was so ready to get back to the motel and get some rest. The ocean wasn't an option this day because it was overcast and about 60 degrees out so too cold to head out there.

On Tuesday morning we woke up to a nice day and sunshine so we decided we were going to head out to the beach before our flight left early afternoon. So we headed over to Ventura harbor. Annika loved the drive over as we watched the mountains go by and drove by orange groves and so many other things to look at that we don't see in Minnesota. I wish I would have had the time to stop and take pictures of it all because I would have come home with such a vocabulary book in just that one drive!!!

Well, the ocean wasn't as great of a time as we planned it to be. At first we were enjoying the view and playing in the sand. Well, I let her get too close to the surf (I didn't think it was too close but it was) and as I was trying to put the camera away a wave came up and knocked her flat on her back. Of course we were fully dressed and had the implants on. No I didn't put any protection around them because I didn't plan on her getting wet as it was still pretty cool by the ocean. The good news is that after spending a night in the dry and store they are just fine but we had some anxious moments as we left California. I now had a child who was cold, couldn't hear and wanted to get back to the car now!! I had to carry her, the shoes, and my bag across the dunes to get back to the car. I was worn out by the time we got back to the car and I still had to dry her off, get her changed and take care of the wet implants. It was time to go home!!!

The plane ride home was very uneventful but Annika was sad to leave California. She wanted to stay with Fisher in California but also missed Daddy so we shed a few tears as we were taking off from Burbank.

I will post pictures from the trip soon and also Annika has something new to show everyone so will do that later today. Now I have to go get her ready to head off to daycare.

Have a great day everyone!!!