Remembering our summer

As you see from the dates mom and dad are quite bad at updating. I could remind them left and right, but we always fall asleep in the evening. It is winter now again, luckily so far better than last year but now I am coughing again, Borik is ill as well, so we are stuck at home remembering the fun we had during the summer.

Just as soon as my dad flew back from the conference at the end of June, we visited uncle Vavra’s beach bar. I was really excited to see the sandbox and kayak rentals. I decided to become a kayaker. I’m already looking forward to getting back out on the water.

It was starting to get really hot at the beginning of the summer holidays, so mom decided that we would travel to Croatia. The next day, we were on our way, and then it was necessary to plan the trip. Luckily, Toňa joined us again this year. Without her, I probably would not have managed with just mom and dad. We spent the first day at dad’s aunt’s in Domašín. There, we found accommodation for the next day. In this way, we managed all the way to the border of Montenegro. A few places were great, but for the most part, most were not accommodating for my wheelchair. We really don’t like stair surprises, unless the surprise is that there aren’t any stairs. My wheelchair needs a bit of juice every day so that I can thoroughly ride it. That’s why next time, we’ll take the extension cord along with the track wheelchair ramps!

I really love the sea very much, so I swam several times a day. The first few days, mom called out to me, “Bozenka, come out of the water already!” And I replied, “You know, Mom, I think I’ll overdo it today!“ Well, then I overdid it every day! Well, I fell asleep after lunch almost always, which I normally don’t do, but the next day I exaggerated again in the sea. During the last stop for swimming in the sea, I overdid it so much, that I had to warm up for 10 minutes on the hot asphalt. They tried to lift me up, but I just wanted to turn over, like on a grill.

Every evening, mom and dad chose where we’ll be going next, and we just happened to recall that our friends were staying on an island just a short distance from us. So, we didn’t hesitate and went across the sea by ferry. It was a great experience, and even greater was a visit to meet Joseph, Apolenka, Frantisek, Peta, and Zdenka. I really goofed around there, and most importantly, Josef is so dreamy that I couldn’t even sleep.

Dad drove back all the way through in one go even though it kept raining, and I slept with BiPAP in the rocking leaned-back stroller. We keep saying what a super car we have. We wouldn’t know what to do without it!

After returning from the sea, we shook off the water and set off to Čakova with my aunt Tonička to meet up with Kuba, Honza, Jand’a and Martin. Čakova is in Jeseník, and it’s reaaally pretty there! I went cycling, kayaking, hiking to Ještěd and all the way to the top at that! I mean, not Ještěd. It was Praděd. I still have to go up to Ještěd. Then every day I hung out with the boys in the garden. The house and the garden were accessible by wheelchair, which was just the best. Borivoj said himself, “Here home better.”

One day, I went with mom and dad to Frýdek-Místek, which wasn’t all that close, but it was worth it. In Fyzio Beskyd, they showed us ways to strengthen and stretch my body that were different than what we’ve been doing until now. The method is based on involving my remaining muscles during everyday activities that people around me do for me instead of me. I had further consultations and exercises with Jand’a who taught dad some new tricks, among which is even taping. I was also at the movies! It was my first time there, and it was awesome! Borivoj didn’t really make it because he spilled the whole bottle of water on himself and dad, so they went out to dry off in the sun, in Bruntal Square. Actually, it wasn’t bad at all, because he didn’t bother me, and I could eat up his popcorn!

In the evenings when dad read us fairy tales, I was tucked up in bed next to Kubík! Once, he even gave me a good night kiss! Ever since then, I keep thinking about him.

You can see a few photos from the summer here.

And what will you see next?

Photos of my new accessible parking space, which was made possible by you! We’ve already planted grass, built a sign, and are waiting on a painter who will paint us a wheelchair there.