Dreams and Wings -

This is our fourth year participating in an amazing program called Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan. Because of DM, C has had the chance to participate in some amazing things. This year, for the first time, we participated in Dreams and Wings. Dreams and Wings is an organization that provides plane rides to kids with special needs. B didn't go up in the plane and I'm not sure that C will ever do it again, but it was a great experience for him. The day was amazing. We got to the hangar and there were tons of activities for the kids. A fire department was there just for the small group of kids. They had a race track set up with remote control cars which both kids loved. They had a caricature artist and temporary tattoos so we have some amazing memories from the day. 

Conner was SO excited to walk out to the plane and look at it. BUT once he realized he was getting on it, he got a little scared. He was crying and really upset. He got strapped in and continued to cry until the plane took off. David went with him (I am not that big on flying either!) and once they took off, he said he thought it was pretty cool.

The pilots donate their time and planes for this event. The pilot that flew Conner was great with Conner and we had a great experience. The plane was so small that to get on, you had to climb on the wing of the plane.

While Conner was in the air, Brennan made a new friend on the ground. Now, every time we go to a Dance Marathon event, she asks if her "best friend" is going to be there!

This was such an amazing experience and we are so grateful that our whole family has the opportunity to participate in activities like this. Conner says he doesn't ever want to fly again. He is slightly terrified (I think the noise of planes scares him the most and he can't really verbalize why at the moment) so we are probably going to skip this program the next time until Conner is ready to do it without tears! We had such a great day and we love Dance Marathon. Those U of M kids are amazing!