If you haven’t figured it out, there are a lot of things we love to do, we love the beach, we love to camp and hike.  When Aaron and I were first married we talked about moving to Alaska for a year or moving to Hawaii for a year and we talked about how great those adventures and experiences would be for our family, when we had one.  Aaron and I had checked out Kauai and looked into moving there when Leah was almost one.  Shortly after Leah’s first birthday we realized that she was deaf.  We still pursued Hawaii and talked to Easter Seals about early intervention.  We would have to island hop for audiology exams, hearing aid issues etc.  We asked if there was a deaf community and were told, “Yes!!  There are about 14 people in the deaf community.”

Aaron and I shelved the idea, realizing some things may need to be put off so that Leah could have all she needed.  When Lucy came along it seemed like her physical limitations might also limit some of our family activities.  I hated the idea that there really is not enough accessibility in many places for her.  

At one point, I made a secret promise to myself on Lucy’s behalf.  I would never be the one to limit our activities because of her wheelchair.  

As Leah shared in her recent post, we kicked off Summer with a family (and extended family) trip to Cancun.  We left for Cancun the day after we got home from the Emmys in NYC.  Cancun was great! Lucy parasailed with Aaron.  We sat on the beach and played in the waves.  Aaron went scuba diving, Leah snorkeled.  Lucy does not like putting her face in the water and still struggles with controlling her breath so a snorkel for her could be disastrous.  I came across an ad for a glass-bottom boat ride and I thought it would be perfect for Lucy!  She could see the reef without getting her face wet!  I called for more info and it sounded good.  Very, very, very last, I told them I had an 8 year-old in a wheelchair.  I was placed on hold for awhile and they came back and told me it would not be possible for us to go.  The boat is not really a glass bottom boat, it is a submarine.  We would load from the dock onto a speed boat first, and it would take us out to the submarine waiting in the ocean.  We would have to transfer from the boat to the sub and then down a series of stairs to our seats below the surface.  When the tour was over we would transfer back to the boat and then from the boat to the dock.  

I hung up and thought about what they had said.  There was no room for a wheelchair and we could not transfer the wheelchair.  Could I do this myself?  Could I carry her?  Could I do it without Aaron?  It would be scheduled on Aaron’s scuba day, which I KNOW he would cancel for Lucy - I kept my concern to myself.  I tossed it around in my mind for hours.  If Lucy knew I was concerned, she would insist she did not want to go anyway.  Lucy is almost 50 pounds and I would be committing to carrying her for 5 hours and transferring her 4 times!  I decided that I could do it.  I called back and made our reservation, this time I didn’t say anything about a wheelchair.  

The night before our submarine trip I dreamt that we arrived for the adventure.  I was carrying Lucy on my hip.  The guide looked at me and said, “Are you crazy?  We have to walk 6 miles to the boat!”  In my dream I frantically asked others if I could borrow their stroller for the 6 mile trek.  I think that might qualify as a nightmare.

The day of the trip, my mom, my sister Emilie and her son Zak decided to come too.  The tour bus picked us up from the hotel.  Lucy thought it looked like an airplane inside.  When we arrived there was a long line.  Mom stood in line and I sat Lucy on the counter until we were up.  We made the first two transfers and the sub ride was a blast!  We saw sea turtles, schools of fish, coral reefs and so much more!  The ride ended just in time, as most everyone felt a little sea sick.  We transfered back to the boat without a hitch.

It may seem like a little thing, but secretly I was really proud of myself.  

I just HAD to share this article Leah wrote for The Sign Post - The Signing Time Monthly Newsletter.  (You can sign up for our newsletter on the Signing Time Home Page.) Not sure how I feel about her sharing our parasite experience in Mexico LOL but I just didn’t have the heart to go over her head and edit it out.  Don’t you just love the honesty of kids?

The Best Summer of My Life

by Leah Coleman

When school got out I felt like screaming! I had not felt like this in a long time, not since last summer. The older kids on my bus broke into a chorus of “Happy Birthday” like they did on every half day. ANNOYING. When I finally got off the bus I ran home, but I don’t remember what I did after that.

Let’s just fast forward to Cancun, Mexico! Everybody was packing for Cancun, a bunch of my cousins, my Grandma Linda, and Grandpa. Eighteen of us were going for a week! On the plane, Maddie (my cousin) and I were listening to my I-pod and signing along and I mean it, not singing, but we were signing along. It was so funny because we would sometimes mess up and break into a chorus of giggles. When we finally arrived it was hot and humid, we caught a bus to the hotel, on the way Alex and I were playing hand games. When we got to the hotel, we all checked in. Alex and I were chasing each other around the lobby until my mom stopped us. Can’t we kids have some fun?

We all swam every day. I got a bad sunburn. Alex and I played ping-pong, pool ball tag, and had a lot of fun.  My dad, my cousins, uncles and aunts and I went to a fun place called Xcaret. It was so fun!!!! We went swimming with dolphins, swam in an underground cave, my 5 year-old cousin Owen thought sharks were coming to get him so he screamed for the first part. We went to a butterfly cove and there were so many butterflies there. I went on a 60 foot long rope bridge, but this bridge was not an ordinary bridge there were only 2 ropes and 2 small logs. The logs were holding the ropes, one above the other. The bottom one was for your feet and the top one for your hands, and you climb along on it and scoot your way to the other side, but be aware cuz’ the water under you has alligators in it! Just kidding!! I tried it, but the first side was tricky and I fell in the water. I tried again on the other side and made it! My armpits were so tired and sore. The rest of the week was fun too.

Finally bye-bye Cancun, Mexico and hello Utah, U.S. When we got home, we realized a few of us might have gotten parasites. I was miserable. My mom and I went to the chiropractor, ate healthy food, yogurt, and medicine then we got better!

My family went to Park City, Utah for Lucy’s Fetal Surgery for Spina Bifida Reunion. Lucy had a special surgery when she was a tiny baby, still inside my mom! Each year we get together with other families who had the same surgery.

While we were in Park City, my mom and I started talking about getting a bunny for a pet and once we got home we did! But we got two!! Lucy owns Snowball, 11 month old, lop eared bunny and I own Wyatt, a 9 week old, baby lionhead bunny!!! For years I have asked for a pet and my mom says, “You can have any pet you want when you are 18 and move out!” I am glad I didn’t have to wait that long!

Then my family and I went to Flaming Gorge for 3 days and 2 nights. My deaf friend Skye and her family came too and brought a boat and tubes!! On the 2nd day Skye’s dad took us tubing and Skye and I both wanted the same side so when the time came and her dad untied the tube I jumped in a bit too early and fell off the tube into the water, but luckily I still got that side! Skye’s dad drove like crazy and flipped us over after a crazy ride!!! I was screaming like a girly girl!! But it was a blast!

What a summer! And it’s not even over yet!

Aaron and I are packing up as I type.  Those of you who watched the webcast know the Emmy went to Bindi.  It’s all good.  Aaron and I had a blast and it was an incredible experience.  

If you are ever in New York and need to get your hair done, go the The Red Door Salon  They were great!  The client right after me was also nominated for an Emmy.  She does lighting on Oprah’s show.  We ended up being seated close to the whole Oprah lighting team and cheered for them when they won.

We didn’t leave for the event until 5:15 and at that time it is tough to get a cab!  As we stood on the sidewalk, people passing by kept commenting on my dress.  I think I made the right choice.

I can’t really report on the food.  I didn’t eat  I had a coke and a water.

At the banquet.

In Rose Hall.

We came back to the hotel to a “flower fruit basket” from everyone at Signing Time, they know I am on a health kick AND love chocolate covered strawberries… the best of both worlds.  AND an adorable email message from Leah and Lucy.

“Mommy and Daddy, I am sorry about that… What were you thinking when Bindi won? I totally screamed NOOOOOOOOO.  I 100% hope you will get nominated next year. I realized that since you didn’t win doesn’t mean that you didn’t win in other people hearts and opinion. Anyway  you have already won my hearts first place, Daddy too.”

How sweet are they?  I just love my girls.

We went out for dinner at Blue Fin, Aaron asked if I wanted to change first and I said, “No, it’s New York.  We look fabulous!”

I know I have the best fans and friends in the world.  Yes, I would have signed my acceptance speech and other than thanking my family and production team I would have, and do, thank all of you for the honor of inviting Alex, Leah and me into your homes to teach your children.

Aaron and I arrived in NYC today around 3:00.  We have been having a blast!  When we got in the taxi at the airport I looked at Aaron and said, “I think this is the nicest taxi I have ever seen!”  He looked at me and said, “Ray, you’re not in Ghana!”  Oh yeah, those were the worst taxis I had ever seen and now I have come to expect that.  

We checked into our room, unpacked and found a place that would press Aaron’s shirt in time for the event tomorrow.  We grabbed a slice of white pizza, our favorite, and entered the lottery for Wicked tickets.  Each day they do a drawing for the 25 seats in the first row, these seats are sold at an serious discount, but they have to draw your name.  We both entered, neither one of us won.  

We have seen so many other Broadway shows we decided to just run around Manhattan.  We ate my favorite meal, Chicken Scarpariello, at my favorite restaurant Carmine’s.

Around midnight we took a bicycle-rickshaw to the Empire State Building.  Luckily, we caught the last elevator of the night. We went up to the 86th floor.  It is a warm clear night and the views were breathtaking.

In the Empire State Building store there was model built from Legos. I thought Leah and Alex would love this!

Speaking of Leah, my mom said that Leah said the cutest prayer tonight.  She said, “Please bless my mom with all of my luck, plus the luck of everyone who wants her to win the Emmy.”  She is so cute.  For the past two weeks she has chimed in to just about every conversation, “Did you hear the news?  My mom was nominated for an Emmy!”  Neighbors, teachers, doctors, strangers and grocery store clerks alike are all being informed of “The News” by Leah.  

We walked back to Times Square in search of a cannoli.  No luck, everything had closed. 

Here’s a question, what form of transportation should we take to the Emmy’s tomorrow?  There are so many to choose. A)Town car  B) Taxi  C) Rickshaw-Bicycle  D) Horse drawn carriage  E) Subway

Question #2 What time should we arrive?  They serve dinner and cocktails at 4:30.  The award ceremony starts at 7.  (You do realize that this means that my hair and make up have to look good for 5-6 hours! YIKES!)  Do we arrive at 4:30 or does that look to eager?  What about 5, not too eager and not too late.  I doubt I am going to eat, I think I will be too nervous.  So?  What time would you arrive?

Here’s our agenda for tomorrow: Pick up Aaron’s shirt at 1.  My hair appointment at 2.  Make-up at 4.  Emmy dinner at 4:30.  Awards at 7.  Run around New York in a fancy dress after that!  Maybe even get a cupcake at the famous Magnolia Bakery!

I remember the night before my wedding realizing that if I had forgotten anything or anyone, it was simply too late.  There was such peace in that realization.  Tonight I am packing and I feel the same way.  I have done all that I can do to get this “right.”  

I mentioned before that there was a part of me that was relieved to know this Emmy Award Ceremony would not be televised.  Well, I just received word it WILL be on a live webcast.  Not sure how I feel about that. I am not going to dwell on it.  Here’s the information for all of you!

35th Annual Daytime Creative Arts & Entertainment Emmy Awards

Friday, June 13, 2008
Live webcast begins at 6 PM ET

Leah says she will be watching and I am pretty sure my mom will be watching too.  

Here’s a question, if dinner is at 4:30 and the Awards start at 7 what time should we arrive?  On time?  A little late?  Early?  I really don’t know!

As I started mentioning that I still needed a clutch or evening bag, everyone started volunteering theirs.  My mom said, “Are you kidding?   I have half a dozen clutches and I am sure my friends all do too!”  My sisters even have them… how have I gone 33 years without a black satin clutch?  I have no idea.

Do you want to see which dress I am wearing?  Can you take the suspense?  Or should you just tune in to the webcast?  Hmmm, let me think…

I leave Thursday for New York, Thursday!  This is completely surreal my friends.

I have to say that the 20 Dresses post has received more comments than any other post on my Blog.  Isn’t it great to be able to have some say on the matter?  Aaron and I were reading htrough the comments.  He is so funny.  When he read the post and hit the part about nursing he said, “Ray I bet guys read this too!”  I started laughing and I said, “Yeah and most of them know exactly what I am talking about.”

In addition to the comments, I received email messages from family and friends weighing in on their thoughts on the photos.  So let me say I LOVED your feedback and some of you had me cracking up, “The blue one makes me think of my mother’s night gown in the 80’s” or “I love that you are shopping for Emmy gown inspiration at The Rack” or the suggestions with how to deal with only being 5′ 2″.  And yes, I did actually look for an orange or copper dress, to no avail… so far.  I appreciate you all and am so glad that I have a panel of people who care, that I can bounce this stuff off of.  

I admit I am a coupon cutting, deal hunting mom.  I subcribe to BabySteals.com and I don’t even have a baby.  I shop the Sale section first of every on-line store and every brick and mortar store.  I LOVE a good deal!  Yes, I am one of those people who, when you say, “I love that dress!”  answers, “I got it for $39 at TJMAXX!”  (As if you asked!)  Although Aaron LOVES that I love a good deal, he hates that I often announce it to the world.  So I think he was a little annoyed by my last post over-all!  HAHA.

I tend to think I am doing my part to help out other mom’s who may get invited to an award show.  Maybe the original post should have been called, How To Dress For The Emmys and Spend Under $300!

Back to the dresses.  I returned both of the white dresses.  The bow has been removed from the gold dress. The Ebay dress came in the mail and is FABULOUS but is a good 6 inches too long.  I am having it altered today, since I can’t return it anyway.  Pictures to come!  We are cutting this too close aren’t we?

Since Nordstrom was a bust I went to Nordstrom Rack.  Turns out “The Rack” is a formal gown Mecca!  There were at least 6 round racks that were overflowing with dresses.  You know when a rack is so full you can hardly pull the items you want off?  Yeah, that was what I was dealing with there.  Plus none of the dresses were hanging under the right size, so I peeked one by one at hundreds of dresses finding ones I liked and then hoping they were my size.  I found 20 Emmy “consideration” dresses to try on!

If you would like a workout that will have you break out in a sweat and cause muscle cramps in muscles you did not know existed, go try on formal gowns alone.  You should have seen me twisting and turning trying to get those zippers up.  I only zipped up my skin twice. 

Since I am only 5′ 2″ I found that side zippers tend to buckle up rather than lie flat, I just don’t have enough torso!  And REALLY, what kind of bra can you even wear with an evening gown?  I don’t know about you, but I nursed both my girls and an evening gown does NOTHING for me in the bust area.  I know, too much information!  

In college I had a roommate who did pageants.  She was the reigning Miss American Fork, which sounds odd if you don’t know that there is a town in Utah called American Fork LOL.  Back then she told me that they would literally tape everything up that needed to go up and tape everything down that needed to stay down before putting on their dresses.  I used to steal her sash and run around the apartment wearing it, hollering, “I am Miss American Fork!”  I was actually the antithesis of pageantry at the time, driving around in a ‘76 VW Bus in my flannel shirts, cut off shorts, Doc Martin boots and toting my guitar.  Now I think I might need to call in my roommate’s pageant wardrobe skills, secrets and roll of tape.  I might also owe her an apology.

I ended up buying 5 of the dresses to take home and take pictures in them.  Two of the five are not really gowns, but I liked the shorter lengths and figured variety is always good.  I have no intention of wearing white I just got those to see different styles.  I sent the pictures to Joe.  

What are your thoughts?  

How To Dress For the Emmys, as if I know!
When people hear about my Emmy nomination, the first question is “What are you wearing?” I have to admit, this has kept me up at night. The countdown is on, I will be in New York City June 13 for the Emmy Awards.

Imagine you are a regular mom who is blogging in her pajamas at her cluttered kitchen table, and YOU have the chance to go to the Emmys. Is the panic attack setting in yet? It sure doesn’t help that you flip through magazines in the salon and notice each magazine has a “Worst Dressed” section for every event ever. (Great!)

So, if any of you have wondered, “What is Rachel going to wear?” I am going to answer that by blogging this adventure until we all come up with a good answer.

The Good News & The Bad News…
Believe it or not, there are two Emmy Award evenings. They do this because there are so many categories and awards and not all categories are televised. I mean who wants to see who got Outstanding Grip, or Outstanding Gaffer or Outstanding Best Boy? I have been doing Signing Time for 7 years now and STILL have no idea if we have a Grip or Gaffer. Anyway, the televised awards are being held in Los Angeles at the Kodak Theatre June 21. The awards that are not televised will be in New York City June 13. Last year my category, “Outstanding Performer in A Children’s Series” was televised, this year it is not. It feels less stressful to me to go to the awards that are not televised and the date works better too. We have cancelled so many family vacations each year for Signing Time. An event on June 21 would have landed in our family trip this year, and we have cancelled one already.

Back to THE Dress and a Little Background…
My Grandmother is Alyce King.

She is one of The King Sisters.

Our family had the King Family Television Show before I was born. The famous designer Bob Mackie used to design all of the King Sister’s and King Family’s gowns and costumes. Since I was not born yet, I thought it would be SO wonderful if I could get a Mackie gown! I called in a favor and they took my call! Sadly Mackie is not doing couture gowns anymore but they do have a warehouse of things and his partner Joe asked me to go try on gowns, take photos and send them to him so we could see what style and length we like.

I walk into Nordstrom and they have 6 gowns, 3 of which look so pageanty I don’t even bother, these gowns. Then I started thinking, who buys these anyway? I should go to Nordstrom Rack where all un-bought gowns go! In the meantime I started searching Ebay (YES I used GoodShop with Signing Time Foundation as my foundation of choice!) and I searched my size and gown. I quickly discovered I needed to search MINUS “wedding” and “night”. Well, I was surprised at some of the great things that came up. I actually ended up buying one of the dresses (a brand new $480 dress for less than $70 including shipping) and I found another dress that I just love and I emailed the seller and asked if they would just give it to me! LOL They are asking $400, puh-lease! I also said that I know it is a crazy request, but they could donate it to my foundation as a write-off, or I could return it AND I would blog about their store if they did… I haven’t heard back.
(To be continued…)
P.S. for some reason I can’t upload photos (ARGH) webmaster is working feverishly to fix this.

Yesterday was Lucy’s 8th birthday. When she woke up, we all hopped into her bed. She looked at us and said, “I don’t feel 8!” We laughed and told her that is a pretty common feeling, NOT feeling a year older on your birthday. She got ready for school, sporting her new High School Musical t-shirt, she brushed her teeth with her new High School Musical toothbrush and then opened her present, High School Musical Barbies.

She had a great day at school and thankfully I did remember to drop off donuts to her class. That was a close one!

After school we asked her where she would like to have her birthday dinner. She wanted California Pizza Kitchen. We drove downtown to CPK and found a parking spot right in front. (Which was miraculous) As Aaron parked I looked out my window and noticed a small group of people standing less than 5 feet from my car door. First I recognized Kenny Ortega the director of High School Musical! “NO WAY!! That’s Kenny Ortega!!!” I shouted to Lucy and signed to Leah. Then I realized that Vanessa AKA Gabriella and Zac Efron AKA Troy were standing with him!!! Zac had a hat on and Vanessa had BIG sunglasses, you could tell they were trying NOT to be recognized. “Oh my gosh!! Lucy look it’s Zac and Vanessa!!!!” I threw open my door, grabbed Lucy and walked the 4 steps to stand in front of them. “I am sorry to bother you, but it’s her birthday today and she’s even wearing her HSM t-shirt and got HSM barbies as her gift can we just say Hi?!!!” They said, “Happy Birthday!” and Zac asked Lucy to give him “5″. She did. Kenny started waving at Leah, letting her know it was okay to come out of the car. Leah wheeled forward in her heeleys, white as a ghost with her jaw to the ground. “ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!!”, she all but screamed. Zac said, “I like your heeleys!”

We let them know how much we love HSM and are excited for the next one. (They shoot here in Salt Lake City). And you may have recognized “Coach Bolton” in our Signing Time DVD “Family Feelings and Fun”.
Then they quickly made their way through the mall before too large of a crowd formed. we stood their stunned. I realized my legs were shaking. LOL. Lucy looked at us and said, “This is the Best Day Ever!” We had to agree.

After lunch we ran into Kenny again. He stopped Lucy and was talking to her. He had his little Yorkie with him and told Lucy that he loves her name, and when he gets another Yorkie, he is going to name it Lucy.

When I told my sisters what had happened they all asked, “How did you pull that off?” I just laughed, “Oh what we won’t do for a birthday around here!”

We didn’t get pictures with them, but I will be posting Lucy’s afterglow picture when we got to the restaurant.
Here it is!

This morning I am going back to Ghana! You may have noticed that we have moved my Ghana Journal, Blog and video to the Signing Time Foundation site. All future updates about Ghana will originate on the foundation site. I posted the details about today’s trip in a post called, “Going Back to Ghana Saturday.” Hop over to that site and subscribe to the blog for updates about our continued work in Ghana. Again, I have NO idea if I will have internet access while I am there. I promise that I will journal and take pictures!

I will be back late Thursday night.

Rachel