Adult Changing Table at Ryan Field

Monday, September 28th:

Theo and I made the trek down to the INI in Peoria to see our friend Emily Cooper with Audiology. Theo cooperated and allowed her to check his ears. His hearing test all came back the same as before, so that's good news! 

We got home in time for PT and OT with Ms. Becca and Ms. Laura. Theo took a nap on the way home from Peoria, so that helped with his energy levels for PT and OT.

Okay guys this is insane...

Why is everything so expensive?!

Tuesday, September 29th:

Theo and Nurse Patti headed to school, Josh went to work, and I worked on my travel blog posts. 

After school I took Theo to The Legacy Ranch to see Sherman and Ms. Rachel. Theo did really well during his lesson!

Wednesday, September 30th:

After I sent Theo and Nurse Patti off to school I headed to Walgreens to get some more travel vaccines. My arms are a little sore, but it wasn't so bad!

After Theo got home from school, Ms. Jen came over for feeding/speech therapy.

Thursday, October 1st:

The Postseason is here! The Angels didn't make the postseason again. So I gotta root for the Brewers (for Josh), the White Sox and Cubs (for Chicago), and the Dodgers (for my dad). 

I went to the dentist today (all good!) and I also attended an all day virtual Family to Family webinar that was put on by The Arc of Illinois. A lot of the discussions were very informative. During one of the sessions they highlighted a few of the local advocates and I was one of them!

I was able to talk about Changing Spaces for a minutes and then I answered a couple of questions.

It was so nice of them to give me and the other advocates a spotlight! 

That afternoon it was Josh's turn to go to the dentist. He needs little work done, so he'll have to go back on Monday.

Friday, October 2nd:

I received an email from someone I didn't know informing me that there are powered, height adjustable adult sized changing tables at Northwestern's new Stadium: Ryan Field! What?!

I found their website and I was in shock! They are claiming to be the "most accessible stadium ever built" and from what I can see, that may be true!

Not only is the stadium unbelieveably accessible for wheelchair users, they are claiming to have 25 private family restrooms with adult changing tables in all of them. 

Honestly, I had a hard time believing that they have all these powered, height adjustable, adult sized changing tables without seeing them for myself. I've been burned before! I posted about it on my social media pages and I tried to find actual pictures (not drawings) online, but I couldn't find any. I reached out to "information" and I actually heard back! They sent me a picture and confirmed there is a powered, height adjustable, adult sized changing table in the private family bathroom in between sections 114 and 115. I was SHOCKED!

 

It seems like they are still installing the changing tables and their end goal is to have one in each of the 25 family restrooms. I didn't get a timeline on when this could happen. But hopefully it will be before the end of the football season! I guess I need to go to a game and go find all the other tables!

Weekend:

Did you know that October is AVM Awareness Month?

On Saturday I had a meeting with my fellow Changing Spaces Campaign chapter leads. It was a great meeting and we are all very excited that Changing Spaces will be celebrating their 10 year anniversary next Saturday. 

On Sunday, Josh went golfing with his work friends. I am so happy that he is still enjoying his new hobby!

Theo at the Dentist

Tuesday, September 22nd: 

Josh took Theo to see Sherman at The Legacy Ranch and then they picked me up from the airport. While I was on my trip I finished reading "American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump." I know who Roy Cohn is and all the horrible things he did along side Senator McCarthy. Well, at least I thought I did. This book was an emotional rollercoaster. Most of what I was feeling was anger and disgust. But I was also sad and amazed. I knew Cohn was evil, but this book takes it to the next level. Read it. You won't regret it.

[So super strong!]

Wednesday, September 23rd:

Theo headed to school with Nurse Patti while I fought off some jet lag and the post travel blues. Gotta get back to reality!

[Theo has been working hard at school]

Thursday, September 24th:

Theo and Nurse Patti headed off to school and I went to my yearly Dermatology skin check appointment. Everything looks good!

[Theo's art]

Josh is still working a ton, which we appreciate! He is on multiple projects right now. The client usually panics at the end of the year when they realize they have a lot more money to spend. So, they tend to start up a lot of projects at the end of the year with quick deadlines.

I've been working on getting some SWAG for our company. We bought hats, beanies, and jackets for all of our employees. I contacted a local lady who is going to embroider them for us. I'm excited to see the final results!

And I found a local guy who does amazing work with an engraving machine! He did all 90 of our Yeti cups and they look fantastic!

[Our stash!]

Friday, September 25th:

Theo had his 6 month check up at the dentist today and it did not go well.

[Oh my sweet boy]

Theo usually fights when we take him to the dentist, but today it was really rough. We couldn't get his mouth open and I've never heard someone yell so loud with their mouth shut. 

Theo scratched me pretty badly and refused to cooperate. After a few minutes the dentist called it. We all knew what was coming next. Anesthesia. Once Theo calmed down a bit we talked about options to have Theo go under anesthesia to have his teeth cleaned, get x-rays, and get sealant put in his back molars. Once our new insurance kicks in I am going to get that all set up.

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip

Blog post about my BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip with Alicia in September 2026:

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part I: Seattle, WA

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part II: Seattle, WA

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part III: Hagrid's Hut

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part IV: Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part V: Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part VI: Crater Lake National Park

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part VII: Drive Along the Coast

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part VIII: Whale Watching, Creamery, and Cannon Beach

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part IX: Astoria

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part X: Home

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part X: Home

Tuesday, September 22nd:

Alicia's flight left at 6:05 AM, so she was up and out the door by 3:30 AM. I was able to sleep in a bit before catching my 10:45 AM flight back to Chicago.

[Goodbye Mount Rainier - Please continue to behave]

Josh and Theo picked me up from the airport after Theo's horseback riding lessons. I had so much fun on this trip, but it was nice to be home and see my boys! Thanks to Josh for holding down the fort and keeping Theo on schedule while I was gone. 

Thanks to mom and dad for coming up and taking care of Theo. We very much appreciate the help!

[Papa and Theo]

[Grandma and Theo]

When Alicia originally reached out to me about this trip she had a long list of places to see including the San Juan Islands, North Cascades National Park, Mount Olympus, and Redwood National Park. I told her that we could do all of that but we would need 2-3 weeks! It was hard to cut out those locations, but I guess we will have to go back!

Thanks for Alicia for going on this 1600 mile road trip with me! We always have the best time together! Until next time!

BFF Outlaw Pacific Northwest Trip - Part IX: Astoria

Monday, September 21st:

I love tours. I think they are totally worth the money. Sure, I can research and drive around and see the sites, but it's so much better for a professional to do that!

The day before we got to Astoria I booked a tour with Onward Adventures. Katie sent me a text and said we were the only ones who had booked a tour that day. So, she will be picking us up in her RAV4 the next morning.

And she did! Right at 9:00 AM she showed up in the parking lot of our hotel. We hopped in her RAV4 and off we went!

She asked us what we were interested in and if there was anything particular we wanted to see. We told her we wanted to see it all and that we love history and movies! Katie was very excited to show us around and since it was just the two of us and we were fast on our feet, we were able to see so much in a short amount of time!

One of the things that Astoria is known for is movies! A lot of movies and TV shows were filmed IN Astoria and in the surrounding areas. Of course we knew we HAD to see the Goonies House (and we will!), but everything else was a nice surprise!

Our first stop was the Astoria Riverwalk to see the view and a couple of sea lions.

[Hello boys!]

We then jumped back in the RAV4 and saw the following sites:

- Flavel House Museum

And the Giant Sequoia that sits out front

- The Movie Mural

- The Oregon Film Museum (we went inside later)

-A park from The Ring 2

-New fancy neighborhood 

-Van Dusen! I know them!

-School from Kindergarten Cop

-House from Kindergarten Cop

- Mouth's House from The Goonies

- TMNT Film Location - Desdemona Club

- Goonies House!

Goonies Never Say Die! 🏴‍☠️

- Gustavus Holmes House (I love all these old Victorian Houses)

- Free Willy House

- Oregon Route 22 Sign and Datas House from The Goonies.

- Home of George Washington Sanborn (he was important 🙂)

 - The Astoria Column - We hiked all the way to the top and threw our airplanes (don't worry, everyone does it and it's perfectly legal!)

- Astoria Poineer Cemetery

-Youngs River Falls - The salmon were coming up the river to spawn and die. There were so many of them and they were very excited to reach the waterfall!

You could literally reach out and grab them!

Look at the bottom of the waterfall - Can you see the jumping fish?

Very cool tree!

- Hammond Marina - Eucalyptus Tree (smelled sooooo gooood!)

- Hammond Marina - Free Willy film location

- Fort Stevens

- Columbia River South Jetty

- Collecting iron with our magnets by the Wreck of the Peter Iredale

-ELK!

- Whispering Giant sculpture named Ikala Nawan

- Doughboy Monument

- Short Circuit House

- Astoria-Megler Bridge

We saw so much during our amazing tour! Astoria is such a great city! After our tour Katie dropped us off at our hotel. We asked her where to get some good food. She said the best clam chowder is at Josephson's Smokehouse and Astoria Brewing Company has really good fish n chips. SOLD!

[Clam Chowder with smoked salmon on top - Yes, it was the best!]

[Fish n Chips]

[Fried shrimp sandwich]

After lunch we went back to the old County Jail which is now the Oregon Film Museum. It's TINY and there wasn't much to it, but apparently they are building a Goonies Museum just across the street.

On our way out of town we crossed the Astoria-Megler Bridge, entered Washington, and went to the North Head Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment (yes, that's it's real name).

We said goodbye to the Pacific, jumped back in the car, and made the three hour drive to our hotel by the Sea-Tac Airport.