Christmas in July?

I hate to admit that sometimes life happens and I struggle with posting to our blog (I am sure some of you share my struggle!).   This time of year we often hear the the term "Christmas in July" so I am choosing to share with you one of our stops during our Christmas Vacation 2014.

This past Christmas we had a very non-traditional Christmas.  My parents left mid December to head south for the winter and Trey's family celebrated Christmas after the Holiday's.  So we spent Christmas on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX!

One of our biggest struggles in raising a special needs child is finding activities that we can ALL enjoy as a family while on vacation.  Our goal is to let Trent choose at least one activity and then we plan one activity for Trachelle (often not an easy task).  While researching activities in San Antonio I came across Morgan's Wonderland.

Morgan's Wonderland is a 25 acre accessible amusement park in San Antonio, TX for children and adults with special needs.  Read about Morgan and the inspiration for the park here.

  Trachelle and her brother Trenton ready to enter the park.

When we entered the park Trachelle was super quiet.  Her head was dropped and she seemed tired...we commented about the possibility she was not feeling well.  What we came to realize is there were so many sounds going on in the park she was having a hard time figuring them all out.  Trachelle's vision is impaired so she has VERY sensitive hearing.  Imagine hearing the Merry Go Round, Train, Music Garden (big marimbas, drums, harps etc), Electric Cars, playground swings, kids laughing, screaming etc. all at once VERY loudly!!  No wonder.  Once she got use to all the sounds she had so much fun.

One of the first rides we rode was the Off-Road Adventure Ride.  This type of ride can be found at many adventure parks.  The kind where there is a driving track with a metal bar down the middle of the track.  If the wheels hit the bar it jerks you back the other direction...trust me!  Morgan's Wonderland created the exact same type of track except the cars are trucks and the bed of the truck is wheelchair accessible.  Basically they created a ramp system that you wheel the wheelchair onto and it rotates around to the bed of the truck and the wheelchairs rolls on.  I wish I had a better picture of what the trucks looked like and how they operated.  If you look at the picture below, you will see the front of the truck that is coming in behind her.  

Trachelle riding the off-road adventure ride.

  Trent and I drove her around the track.   I think you can tell by the picture how much she loved it.  

Yes, happy tears for this Mom & Dad!

Trachelle and Trent on the accessible train. 

Getting ready to swing!

Just a swingin...ok I'm telling my age!

Riding the accessible Merry Go Round in her wheelchair!  (Serious business listening to Merry Go Round Music)

Check out all 25 attractions here.

  

Morgan's Wonderland is not your typical thrill-riding amusement park for teenagers but it is the perfect place for a lot of special people.  While driving back home to Missouri we asked Trent what was his favorite part about our vacation.  He immediately said "taking Sis to Morgan's Wonderland".  

Trachelle's joy brought so much joy to our entire family!

I can't say enough about Morgan's Wonderland.  

Happy place for sure!