Happy Easter!

Egg coloring fun.

It's World Down Syndrome Day!

March 21st (3/21) is World Down Syndrome Day. Why? Because people with Down syndrome sport 3 copies of the 21st chromosome. Clever, no?

Down syndrome blogger wrangler Meriah suggested a writing prompt for us today: One Fact, One Fallacy, One Photo (or is it Foto?). Mine are from the EEOC document "Questions & Answers About Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act"

Fact:
Persons with intellectual disabilities successfully perform a wide range of jobs, and can be dependable workers. Yet, many employers still exclude persons with intellectual disabilities from the workplace because of persistent, but unfounded myths, fears, and stereotypes.

Fallacy:
Some employers believe that workers with intellectual disabilities will have a higher absentee rate than employees without disabilities. Studies show that this is not true and that workers with intellectual disabilities are absent no more than other workers. Another popular misconception is that employing people with intellectual disabilities will cause insurance costs to skyrocket. Studies show, however, that employing workers with intellectual disabilities will not lead to higher insurance rates or more workers' compensation claims.

My photo is actually a video: an international tour of people with Down syndrome in the workplace, brought to you by Down Syndrome International. 

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

Sometimes You Need a Helping Hand

Irish Words to Live By

"There are only two kinds of people in the world, The Irish and those who wish they were."

"The Irish do not want anyone to wish them well; they want everyone to wish their enemies ill."

"Our revenge will be the laughter of our children." --Bobby Sands

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures."

Hiking Season is Here

We took our first (non-snowshoe) hike of the year last weekend to Wauna Viewpoint at Eagle Creek in the Columbia River Gorge.

 It was a short but fun hike to start getting our trail legs back. It was a little rainy on the drive out, but was mostly dry while we were on the trail.

Our original plan was to take the Eagle Creek trail, which we've done before lots of times, but we went the wrong way from the parking lot by accident. We saw a sign for the Wauna Viewpoint trail- it was under 2 miles and we had never been on it so we decided to check it out.

 The hike starts out on this fun suspension bridge.

Anthony had a great time. We picked a short hike because we weren't sure how much backpack time he'd tolerate, but he was cheerful and excited the whole way up and down. (The trail had some steep dropoffs at points so we wouldn't let him walk on it on his own.) When we took him out at the picnic area his walking was very wobbly, and we realized his legs had fallen asleep- poor little guy!

There's a little covered picnic area with a fireplace where we had a snack. The sign on the fireplace says "Community Kitchen. Built by CCC (That's the Civilian Conservation Corps) 1936. I looked it up and the bridge was built by them too. Thanks, fellas!