Come to the Dark Side...We Have Cookies...(updates 4/3)

[lovethattink]

Walmart had a small hand held air conditioner thingie last Summer and then had them marked down during the Winter. It looked something like an air mattress pump and it was about $30 if I am remembering correctly. I'll look when I am in there this weekend and see if they still have it.

Thanks appreciate it. Let me know what you find out, please.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks appreciate it. Let me know what you find out, please.

I sure will.

 

[lovethattink]

Dates are changing again. DH now has these additional days for vacation, the 19th and 24th.

 

[mommy2mrb]

yay for extra dates off

the can koozee sounds like a good idea, but the mini AC would be awesome!

 

[lovethattink]

yay for extra dates off

the can koozee sounds like a good idea, but the mini AC would be awesome!

We bought all these crazy things last year, but none of them worked. Didn't see any mini AC and never would have thought of a koozee.

He is so happy to have the extra days off.

 

[blessedmom4]

Tink, so happy you wil have the extra days together, that is important.

Okay, Thoughts about the heat as promised. As you know, both Lisa and David have Dysautonomia/Autonomic Issues. We of course use the First Aid Stations for Rest and to cool down, as well as any other places that afford a break from the heat. Lisa sits with ice packs around here in the wheelchair. I insist she drink a set amount of water each hour. (she always has a water bottle with her summer and winter). Our water bottles are always frozen 2/3 full and then water added as needed, makes the ice last longer. They are in water bottle holders or a mini cooler on the back of the W.C. Cool cloths (doused in ice cold water) for the back of the neck and head as needed. I also ask for ice and rub it on her wrists, the back of her knees. A friend bought her this for her MAW trip and when it was postponed we discovered that the fan no longer worked. I contacted the company and they replaced it; however, it was broken once again after one use. They replaced it a third time and it is hit or miss if it works. When it WORKS it was great in the Florida heat. We have the stroller attachment (works great on her W/C) and she can direct the air where she wants. I am eager to hear more about the A/C. David goes along with whatever I tell him and as he gets older it gets a bit easier. Just our experience. We couldn't use the cooling vest because of the weight on Lisa's chest and her heart/surgical scars. I am sure I will think of other things I am forgetting...I will let you know if I do. We have tired the scarf cooling beads, NOT helpful for us. David likes this better, but I think more for just wiping off the sweat and having it cool.

 

[DMGeurts]

Ooh thanks Judy for all the tips on how to endure the heat... I am going to look into some of those ideas. I love how you line Lisa's chair with ice packs - that is a great idea, and I am sure it really helps.

D~

 

[lovethattink]

Tink, so happy you wil have the extra days together, that is important.

Okay, Thoughts about the heat as promised. As you know, both Lisa and David have Dysautonomia/Autonomic Issues. We of course use the First Aid Stations for Rest and to cool down, as well as any other places that afford a break from the heat. Lisa sits with ice packs around here in the wheelchair. I insist she drink a set amount of water each hour. (she always has a water bottle with her summer and winter). Our water bottles are always frozen 2/3 full and then water added as needed, makes the ice last longer. They are in water bottle holders or a mini cooler on the back of the W.C. Cool cloths (doused in ice cold water) for the back of the neck and head as needed. I also ask for ice and rub it on her wrists, the back of her knees. A friend bought her this for her MAW trip and when it was postponed we discovered that the fan no longer worked. I contacted the company and they replaced it; however, it was broken once again after one use. They replaced it a third time and it is hit or miss if it works. When it WORKS it was great in the Florida heat. We have the stroller attachment (works great on her W/C) and she can direct the air where she wants. I am eager to hear more about the A/C. David goes along with whatever I tell him and as he gets older it gets a bit easier. Just our experience. We couldn't use the cooling vest because of the weight on Lisa's chest and her heart/surgical scars. I am sure I will think of other things I am forgetting...I will let you know if I do. We have tired the scarf cooling beads, NOT helpful for us. David likes this better, but I think more for just wiping off the sweat and having it cool.

Thanks for the link. We might consider buying the mini air conditioner. Though it does sound like it doesn't have a good track record if you are on your third and it works wonky. Where do you attatch it to the w/c?

We tried those neck scarf with cooling beads too. Didn't work for him either.

Not sure about the scarf?

We have also packed a freezer bag with ice water and placed a wash cloth in it to use as needed and pack it back up in the baggie. We keep that in the cooler bag.

We have also used the umbrella for shade and we block the sun from hitting him.

Thanks so much for all your ideas. Everyone please keep them coming.

 

[lovethattink]

Ooh thanks Judy for all the tips on how to endure the heat... I am going to look into some of those ideas. I love how you line Lisa's chair with ice packs - that is a great idea, and I am sure it really helps.

D~

Hello D~

We use frozen water bottles. Once they melt you have them as drinking water! We lined his chair with them. Put one behind his neck, along the side of him, on his legs.

On the previous page, I said this is a concern that I have. We have reservations for Pop Century. They have a refrigerator, but no freezer. We are staying the 16th to the 20th. I may have to cancel because I don't know how we'd swing it without the frozen waters.

 

[blessedmom4]

I was in the middle of teaching math when I realized I forgot to say GATORADE is also your friend on hot days! Lisa doesn't like the regular, so she drinks the rain Berry flavor. She rarely drinks straight water because she has a drink she has to have for her heart (don't ask) and we alternate between that and the Gatorade. I can't believe I forgot to mention that. I also mentioned the umbrellas over on my TR...I keep thinking of all the ways we keep she and David cool....It is a huge challenge. The attachment for the handheld cooler is no longer made...which is a shame because it looked like it was custom designed for her W/C it fit so perfectly.

 

[DMGeurts]

Hello D~

We use frozen water bottles. Once they melt you have them as drinking water! We lined his chair with them. Put one behind his neck, along the side of him, on his legs.

On the previous page, I said this is a concern that I have. We have reservations for Pop Century. They have a refrigerator, but no freezer. We are staying the 16th to the 20th. I may have to cancel because I don't know how we'd swing it without the frozen waters.

Hi Tink... Can't believe how rude I was... I just commented to Judy and I didn't even say hello... Not sure where my brain was??? Sometimes I just rush through my morning routine... I usually have about 15 tabs open at the top, and I just reply as I go along... Soooo... Good morning Tink - I hope you are well.

The 16-20 of which month??? I guess I am a little lost... For some reason I can never keep up with your TRs.

Lois, in my PTR recommended a misting fan? Not sure if that would help any? I need to figure out where exactly in Walmart they are located??? I am not sure I have seen them before - and I don't go there much.

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

I was in the middle of teaching math when I realized I forgot to say GATORADE is also your friend on hot days! Lisa doesn't like the regular, so she drinks the rain Berry flavor. She rarely drinks straight water because she has a drink she has to have for her heart (don't ask) and we alternate between that and the Gatorade. I can't believe I forgot to mention that. I also mentioned the umbrellas over on my TR...I keep thinking of all the ways we keep she and David cool....It is a huge challenge. The attachment for the handheld cooler is no longer made...which is a shame because it looked like it was custom designed for her W/C it fit so perfectly.

I am contimplating doing a garden grocer order this time around... I've never felt justified doing this, but then I could order some Gatorade/Powerade (to be honest, my girls don't like this stuff much, and I am not sure I could get them to drink a lot of it????)... But then we could order some fruits (which we never seem to get when we are at WDW) and I could order my yogert too.

D~

 

[lovethattink]

I was in the middle of teaching math when I realized I forgot to say GATORADE is also your friend on hot days! Lisa doesn't like the regular, so she drinks the rain Berry flavor. She rarely drinks straight water because she has a drink she has to have for her heart (don't ask) and we alternate between that and the Gatorade. I can't believe I forgot to mention that. I also mentioned the umbrellas over on my TR...I keep thinking of all the ways we keep she and David cool....It is a huge challenge. The attachment for the handheld cooler is no longer made...which is a shame because it looked like it was custom designed for her W/C it fit so perfectly.

He can't drink Gatorade. I know he needs the electrolytes, but he's had partials every time he has gatorade. Maybe the sugar?

That's such a bummer that they don't make the attatchment any more. I went ahead and ordered that fan from Amazon. Hopefully it will work and work more than once, but at least I am forewarned.

Jj has the size w/c smaller than Lisa, but I bet it would have been a perfect fit too. Wonder if we can find it on ebay or somewhere?

Last SWW we bought cooling gel pads, but they didn't work either.

Hi Tink... Can't believe how rude I was... I just commented to Judy and I didn't even say hello... Not sure where my brain was??? Sometimes I just rush through my morning routine... I usually have about 15 tabs open at the top, and I just reply as I go along... Soooo... Good morning Tink - I hope you are well.

The 16-20 of which month??? I guess I am a little lost... For some reason I can never keep up with your TRs.

Lois, in my PTR recommended a misting fan? Not sure if that would help any? I need to figure out where exactly in Walmart they are located??? I am not sure I have seen them before - and I don't go there much.

D~

16th to 20th of May for the opening weekend of SWW.

We have a misting fan. We fill it with ice and water and it works great until the ice melts. We got ours at the Walmart on Turkey Lake Rd. It's a cute Mickey one in royal blue. It broke so we need to get a new one. At that Walmart it was on an end cap near the check out, but they have all kinds of Disney stuff there because it's a tourist trap near the parks.

I've been updating like crazy, but I've been really good about updating the index links. Both the Christmas TR and this one have links. The older two TRs have an index, but there's been no updates on them for ages.

I put finished Christmas Eve's TR updates (3 parts) this morning. We went to Epcot and the Yacht and Beach Club. Ate at Beaches and Cream and checked out the gingerbread displays.

 

[lovethattink]

Theater was back in swing this week with homeschool classes one day and special needs theater another day.

We got our schedules for both. Dates have been changed. Neither the showcase nor the play conflict with Star Wars Weekends!

Dh wants me to cancel the Pop reservation even though the dates don't conflict. We are both concerned about not having a freezer to freeze water bottles. We've tried freezer bags of ice from the resort in the past, but they melt much quicker than the frozen water bottles.

Anakin is getting closer to his reading goal. He was thrilled the other day while watching PBS that he could answer the questions the show was asking. Then at acting class he was given some lines to say and he was able to read all of them without any help!

In the last couple weeks, he finished his old Abeka K4 readers and we are working on the K5 ones. It feels like we are finally getting somewhere.

Hopefully he won't ever have another seizure like he did last spring that wiped out his ability to read. I'm so proud of him. We had to start back at he very beginning as he didn't even remember the names of the letters. He's also beginning to remember sight words! He is making some progress.

 

[kaoden39]

Hi, I am back. I would say I am better but not completely.

Great steps for Anakin. It has got to be hard to start over but it sounds like he is doing great! Good for him!

 

[lovethattink]

Hi, I am back. I would say I am better but not completely.

Great steps for Anakin. It has got to be hard to start over but it sounds like he is doing great! Good for him!

So nice to see you back!!

I'm glad you are doing better. It takes time. Anakin is still coughing up a storm at times.

 

[CtinaDitty]

What about wrapping the bottles or fan in foil to help keep the water cool. I know I always did this when I'd take my lunch in school to keep my drink cold. It worked really well!

 

[lovethattink]

What about wrapping the bottles or fan in foil to help keep the water cool. I know I always did this when I'd take my lunch in school to keep my drink cold. It worked really well!

That could work.

 

[blessedmom4]

I have not been able to get you off my mind all day. Praying all is well!

Tell JJ we said hi!

 

[lovethattink]

I have not been able to get you off my mind all day. Praying all is well!

Tell JJ we said hi!

Yesterday was JJ's neurologist appointment. He was pleased with the current seizure control and noted that the cooler weather is better for that.

We talked about the heat and humidity and living in Florida. He said once the temps rise a little more we need to get him him where he's going and not linger outside.

We talked about Buddy Baseball starting soon and how late afternoon practices are too hot as the spring approaches. Games are early in the morning, so games will be fine as he can tolerate.

The neuro was interested about the theater troupe with unique abilities, since theater is so beneficial and it's in the air conditioning.

After the appointment we stopped at DTD. It was Earl of Sandwich for lunch and Goofy's Candy Co. for dessert. We found larger Mickey molds so Jj and his dad can make larger Mickey soaps!

Another opportunity may be presenting itself soon, Special Olymipics. Since he can't do any outdoor sport, bowling was suggested. Apparently he can compete as an independent? I will be looking into more information. But bowling alleys are always freezing!!