A Wonderful Surprise in Philly!

Right after school started back in July my dad and stepmom, JoAnne, had come down to visit us. While having lunch during their visit we were discussing their upcoming trip to DisneyWorld, TN to see my sister, and CT to see my dad's sisters. During our talk we discovered that they were planning on being in CT during the same time that we were scheduled for our next visit to Philly for a doctor's appointment. Since CT is only a four hour drive from Philly we thought it would be great to meet up and hang out. Since Morgan's memory is getting so good and she has hit that age where she is excited about things and won't sleep when she knows something fun is due to happen I decided not to tell Morgan that we would be meeting up with her Nanny and Pa when we were in Philly.

So, for the last couple of weeks I had been dying not to tell Morgan. I was so excited to see her face when she would see her Nanny and Pa at the airport in Philly and hear what other big surprise they had in store for her.

Saturday morning Morgan and I finished our last minute packing and then headed with David to the airport. On the way to the airport I joked with David about who I might run into this time at the airport. Through all our travels in the last year we have ran into many people we know unexpectedly. Once, on the way home from TN while on a layover in Vegas Morgan and I ran into a teacher I work with. We ended up on the same flight home. Then, during a layover in Chicago we ran into the parent of one of the Cienega basketball players and again were on the same flight home. Last time we flew we ran into a family from Sycamore and flew to PHX on the same flight, so I had told David I was sure I would run into some one yet again.

After David helped us get our bags inside and checked (we were going for two days this time so we had more stuff) we said goodbye and headed through security. Not long after Morgan and I were staring out the window at our plane when I felt a tap on my shoulder and then a huge hug. I turned around to find a former Sycamore family standing there. Their youngest (who will remain nameless since I didn't get permission to blog about her) was getting ready to fly solo to meet up with her grandparents for a trip to Europe (so jealous). Anyways, it turned out she was on the same flight as Morgan and I and since she was flying alone I offered to save her a seat with Morgan and me so she wouldn't have to sit with strangers. Morgan loved having a friend to fly with.

Morgan had to copy her new friend and put on my jacket and hood.

After our long travel day Morgan and I were exhausted. She was on the verge of falling asleep when we landed in Philly, but I wouldn't let her. I kept telling her she had a huge surprise waiting and she would have to keep her eyes open. As soon as we walked past the security area in Philly we turned a corner and there waiting were her Nanny and Pa. I wish I had a picture of her face! Morgan was so excited, but also very confused. It took her a second to connect that it was Nanny and Pa and that they were in Philly. Morgan immediately caught a second wind and managed to stay awake chatting with her Nanny and Pa the whole way to our hotel. In fact, she was devastated when at 11:00 they said good night and left our room for theirs. She didn't cry long though as I quickly explained that her Nanny and Pa had another huge surprise for her in the morning (of course the lack of a nap and the fact that it was 8:00 our time helped too).

In the morning we woke up nice and early to get ready and were on the road by 8:30 ( of course that was 5:30am our time). Morgan's Nanny and Pa were surprising her with a day at Sesame Place and we were starting the day off with breakfast with Elmo and friends. We told her on the way there what we were doing, but I don't think she understood. However, once we entered the parking lot and she saw the big sign for Sesame Place and Elmo's face every where I think it started to click.

Morgan had a great time at breakfast. She didn't eat much since she was so distracted by all the characters, but she had a blast!

Morgan and Elmo! She was so excited that again this time Elmo held her!

During breakfast Ernie, Bert, and Zoe cruised the room and sat down to eat with the kids. Morgan was in heaven.

This was Morgan's reaction to every character. Her arms open wide for a hug and wanting them to pick her up. She LOVES characters!

Saying hi to Zoe!

After breakfast we hit the park for some fun. I was excited for Morgan to ride some rides this year since she would be able to do it cast free!! The first ride we hit was the same as last year, the carousel. Morgan asked for her Nanny to ride with her and choose the purple horse.

After the carousel we headed over to watch the Elmo show live. Morgan loved the show and wanted to stand and dance the whole time. Every time I tried to sit her down she would immediately push her self off the seat and stand up (with my help) again. She had a blast dancing to the music. I think the shows were her favorite part of the day.

Morgan with her Pa and Nanny

Morgan and Nanny heading for the Flying Fish ride.

It is so hard to capture a picture of Morgan on the rides. She is so small that in most of the pictures it looks like Nanny was riding by herself.

Morgan went on her first roller coaster ride. I took her for the first one and screamed in her ear the entire time. It looked slow, but boy does it surprise you! By the time the ride came to an end Morgan finally spoke and said "WEEE!" When we got off and saw her Pa she put her hands out for him to take her and then she said "Pa, again please." My dad is not one for roller coasters, but he would do anything for Morgan so he gladly took her on it again.

It of course started to lightly rain while we were there (not sure what the weather has against me and this place, it rained almost the entire time last year when we were there). Oh well, at least that $10 poncho we bought last year got some use again this year.

I'm not sure who enjoyed the last song of this show more, Morgan or me. If you can't already tell from Elmo's black and red jacket the monsters closed this show dancing to Thriller. It was great, they even did all the classic dance moves from the video.

We ended our day with the Rock and Roll Parade. As you can see from Morgan's face she was truly enjoying it. She had an amazing day at Sesame Place. The best part of all was having her Nanny and Pa there to enjoy it with her.

Within minutes of hitting her carseat Morgan was out. She was so exhausted from her day!

The next day we were up bright and early again. Morgan had her appointment at Shriner's at 8:30. We arrived at the hospital a few minutes before 8 to check in.

Morgan playing in the waiting room while we waited to be checked in.

After checking in we headed up stairs to the clinic. Shortly after we were taken back to be seen.

While waiting to be seen Morgan had fun playing with Nanny and Pa! We were first seen by an intern who came in to do all the usual range of motion measurements. Morgan's feet continue to look good and have nice ROM. He then measured her knees, but Morgan of course put up a fight which means we didn't get as much range as she really has. I am not sure what his initial measurements were, but Dr. Van Bosse measured again when he came in and got 100 degrees in the right knee and 90 in the left. This was great news as it means she is maintaining the bend we want with only bracing at night! We then discussed Morgan's back brace. I was hoping to either do away with it or at least cut down significantly on how much she wears it, but that did not happen. Dr. Van Bosse is concerned that if we don't get her back straight now that she will be looking at back surgery in a few years. He did agree with me though that the brace was not fitting properly and decided to get her measured for a new back brace. I was also hoping for new KAFOs (knee braces) but he said he thought we could get 6 more months out of them. So, he put in orders for us to head over to orthotics to get measured for a new back brace and have both the current back brace and KAFOs adjusted.

Again, we were seen quickly in orthotics. They came in and took her KAFO's immediately to begin the adjustments while they looked at her current brace to see how to adjust it and measured her for the new back brace. By this time it was about 10:00 and things seemed to be moving smoothly. I was pretty excited because if we got out early enough we were going to venture downtown to the Reading Terminal Market to have the world's best sandwich (Dinics) for lunch. Wishful thinking! Things quickly went from running smoothly to being a mess. After about an hours wait for the KAFOs to be adjusted they brought them back and they were horrible!!! I could not even come close to getting them on Morgan without completely pinching her. She screamed bloody murder. It was awful.

Passing the time while we wait for her braces.

After messing with them again (for what was like another hour) they brought them back and still they were no better. The orthotist finally agreed that they were not right and went to find Dr. Van Bosse. He came in and tried as well to get them on. With no luck he decided that he must have asked them to raise the braces too much (he had said 1.25 inches) and decided that he better actually measure to see how much to adjust them. After measuring it was decided that it may be best just to have them raised .75 inches. So again, they took the braces to fix them. Thankfully this time they told us that they knew it would be a while and suggested that we go get lunch and come back in about an hour. The good thing that came out of this was that Dr. Van Bosse now agreed with me that she did in fact need new KAFOs.

So, we headed up stairs to the cafeteria and playroom for a break. It was now about 1:15 and all hope of my sandwich was gone. After our short break we headed back to orthotics to see if the braces were ready. When we got back in they had to mold Morgan for her new KAFOs and she had to pick out the colors she wanted for the back brace and KAFOs. With a little help from her mom, Morgan chose a light pink back brace. This will match with her princess AFOs she wears during the day and hopefully won't stand out too much under her clothes. For her new KAFO's that she will wear at night Morgan chose their newest butterfly design.

Morgan being molded for her KAFOs. They essentially put her in a thin cast and once it hardens they cut it off.

Morgan's new braces will be ready in 4 weeks, so we set her next appointment for November 4th. As we were preparing to leave one of the nice nurses came in and gave Morgan a goody bag full of three new toys. They are so good to her there, I think every time she has gone for an appointment she has left with a new toy.

By the time we were done it was about 3 o'clock. We had a 4:55 plane to catch home so we headed straight to the airport. Thankfully there was little traffic so we made it there quickly. By about 3:40 we were saying good bye to my dad and JoAnne and heading in to the airport. All trip I had been saying how nice the Philly airport has been and commenting on how quickly it moves, well, of course that would not be the case today with only an hour before my flight. I tried to check by bags at the curb and since my flight was not direct they wouldn't allow me to (apparently only direct flights can do that, who knew!). So, with the help of a skycap Morgan and I made our way inside to the SW line and what a line it was! Apparently a little rain really throws things off on the East coast. There were a ton of people in line and most of them had delayed or missed flights so they were taking forever at the counter trying to find alternative flights. After waiting for over half an hour we finally go to the counter to hear that our flight had also been delayed. Thankfully only by about 10 minutes. We quickly checked our bags and then headed for security. As usual security was easy. In Philly they have a great line for families and move you right through. We did our usual swabbing of Morgan's braces and were on our way. I quickly located our gate number and headed that way. Desperately needing to pee I didn't dare stop. It was well after 4:30 and I knew we would be boarding anytime. I still had to get the stroller tagged and request the preboarding (since Morgan can't walk and I have two carry on bags and a stroller to try to pop down it is easiest that way). So, we speed walk to our gate just to discover another huge line to get to the service counter. I hop in line as I see the clock ticking closer and closer to boarding and my bladder becoming fuller and fuller. The line took forever and as I am standing there anxiously waiting afraid I am going to miss my opportunity to preboard without the rush of people in front and behind me I begin to regret not taking that free drink coupon JoAnne offered me. It had been quite the day. Literally right after I got the stroller tagged and our pass they called for boarding to begin. As soon as we were on the plane I dropped our bags and made a dash for the bathroom before the crowd started to come on. (By the way, that is always a fun task: tiny bathroom, three year old who can't stand, you get the idea).

We finally got in the air about 20 minutes behind schedule, but they made up lots of time in the sky. We had a quick bite to eat in Chicago, had another 20 minute delay, and then a great flight home. Again they made up lots of time in the air and landed us 30 minutes early in Tucson. Morgan crashed about halfway through the flight home and as usual did not budge during landing, getting off the plane, into the stroller, into the carseat, and finally into bed.

That night and the next two to follow though were not as smooth. As usual Morgan needed time to adjust to the changes in her braces. We had three nights of very little sleep and lots of screaming pain, but we all made it through. She has been telling everyone who will listen about her Philly trip and how her Nanny and Pa surprised her. It was go nice to have them there to help me out and spend such quality time with Morgan. I just hope that when David takes her back in 4 weeks she doesn't expect to see them waiting in Philly again:)