Special Olympics 2010

This year the national games are being held right here in the great state of Nebraska - mainly on the campus of UNL.  We didn't make it down to the games until today, but I am so glad we went.  We enjoyed taking in some soccer and volleyball games.  Cheering on the players as well as sharing high 5's as they came in and out of the games was fun.  Eisley went with us and of course everyone had to stop and say Hi to her.  Other than being hot out in the sun she did really well. 

Eisley cheering on Team NY - clappers are fun toys!

Checking out the game with Daddy.

Time to head inside for volleyball and cool off a bit too.

This guy in the middle looked like a mini-me for Uncle Mike - he was so cute!

A mom from Texas stopped to see Eisley and shared with us how wonderful it is to have a child with DS.  Her daughter, Jessie, is now 25 and doing quite well.  It was nice to hear more about the olympic games and how her other children got involved as well.  Some teams are unified and have a couple partners who help out - Jessie's older brothers play on the flag football team - they aren't there to score or be the star, but to keep the game moving in the right direction and be an internal coach of sorts.

We even got in on the overtime of the NE vs OK soccer game.  NE won scoring 2 goals!

Little E was hot and dripping with sweat, so time to find a place to cool off again.

The community did a great job welcoming the games to Nebraska.  For the 5,000 volunteers they needed to make the games a success, they had 11,000 people respond!  Lots of TD Ameritrade employees volunteered for the games so Sean was chatting with someone wherever we went.  I missed taking a picture of the giant slime green RV from TDA.   That was offered up as our cooling station, but we opted to head home to cool off and let Eisley loose for a bit.  As a "hey thanks guys" reward to us, she showed us how she can roll across the living room - belly to back to belly to back to belly.  Woo hoo!

We're headed back for the closing ceremonies tonight - should be a good one!