Lincoln's Heroes

It was a big day.  The Walk for Down Syndrome.  As it approached, I kept busy with preparations, gathering donations, planning our overnight stay with Adam and Heather, helping my mom design t-shirts.

So when the actual morning came, and we were pulling up to the Tempe Diablo Stadium, my emotions got the better of me.  I hadn't really been able to prepare for that.  I can't pinpoint what it was exactly that brought the tears on, but as we walked through the parking lot, I had so many things running through my mind.

"This is one of those moments."  One of my baby's "firsts" that doesn't have a convenient pre-made page in a baby book. 

Here it is, an induction party for another club that I hadn't planned on joining.

I'm now officially one of those moms.  A special-needs mom.

And no, none of these feelings were new.  They became a part of my life on April 15th.  But most of the time, they stay quietly in the background.  Life is consumed by the day-to-day, which is mostly unchanged, busy, and wonderful.  It just caught me off guard at this moment.

But it passed quickly.  The good stuff called.

The kids all looked adorable in the matching shirts my mom made.  Our friends were able to join us too, and Bree and Mason were thrilled to see their pals who recently moved to Mesa.

And the huge blow-up toys provided nonstop fun.

The kids tried their hand at some carnival games.

And won some fabulous prizes.

Then it was time for the "big walk"--and let me tell you, these guys know how to do it right.

Everybody lined up under the balloon arch to start walking.  Lincoln cracked his eyes open for a little while.  He sensed something momentous was about to happen.

And someone yelled "Ready, set, walk!" into the microphone.  And we started our leisurely stroll around the baseball field.

It was so leisurely, that volunteers handed out free Blue Bell ice cream as we passed by.

And things got a little sticky.

 But we made it through.

Look at that group of heroes.

Lincoln is one lucky kid.

The ginger Superman agrees.

Bree wheedled her way into the hearts of all the superheroes.

And Mason rode in the cute mini-UPS truck to round out the day.

One walk down, many more to go.  Bring it on.