Maria got her driver's permit! She and I have an agreement that she will take driver's education prior to graduating from high school. She is rather nervous about driving and getting into an accident. Which I'm glad she is concerned verses thinking it won't happen to her. One of my plans this summer is to look into what kind of hand controls will be the best for her and to slowly get her behind the wheel and start some car basics. 
We also are gearing up for track season which starts next week! Personally I'm not ready for the track meets, but I'm excited to see how Maria does this year. I have a feeling Ella will get a kick out of watching Maria too.
The other weekend we ended up meeting up with some friends a few hours away for the weekend. They were in the state for a robotics competition and we took advantage of spending time together. At one point I was in charge of 5 kids. We ended up having fun and playing in the pool at the hotel. This was the first time Ella has really gotten to spend time with these friends. She was very hesitant at first and did a lot of crying when they first approached her. Fairly quickly she warmed up to them, especially their almost 8 yr old son who requested hugs and kisses from her all weekend. He said she was his "angel from candy heaven" and a "marshmallow with caramel on it". She also likes their older daughter who is 13. We spent the last night avoiding the rather loud crazy wedding party in the hall, while the kids turned off all the lights and had a major glow stick party of their own. I'm not sure who had more fun, but Ella was right in the thick of it yelling whenever someone opened the bathroom door. They all had lots and lots of fun.
We are finishing up spring break too. A pretty quiet weekend at home. We did a have a full day with specialist. The good news is Maria doesn't need to see Ortho or neuro surgery for 1-2 years! Ortho was happy with how Ella was doing, but also said she will need a new AFO soon because when hers was made, it was harder to keep her foot in the neutral position. She also gets to wear her AFO to bed at night....so far she isn't objecting much to this. I did get to talk with neuro about her shunt some and I hope she will be able to use the same neuro surgeon that Maria has had.
Maria also got to do some climbing this week. She loves climbing and it is a place that is very accepting of others. It isn't unusual for others who are climbing to come up and talk to Maria and her friend like equals. In fact this time, Maria was waiting for the rigging to go up for the equipment she normally uses. She was watching some climbers climb on the wall and asked if I thought she could do that. I said I wasn't sure, but to ask the gal in charge if she could try. Well, the said yes and made a path 7-8 feet high with lots of hand holds. Maria had maybe two spots where she needed help, but was doing the rest of it herself (with breaks of course).
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