big ideas.

so i dont know how many of you have a handicapped child, or know one that is, but either way, have any of you ever been to some of the 'everyone can play' playgrounds in the area?  ive taken my children to the two that are somewhat close, we have clemyjontri park in mclean, and claude moore 'fun for all' in warrenton.  both playgrounds are AWESOME.

there are ramps to all sorts of play structures that are wide enough for a wheelchair to fit through, as well as all sorts of activities that would be at the perfect height for those children, puzzles, musical instruments, race cars... they also have swings that look like kiddie swings, but are much larger so that all children can swing safely without fear of falling off.  there are also climbing structures and slides and such for the kids that arent handicapped.  and clemyjontri even has swings that are large enough that an entire wheelchair can roll right on, so if your child cant physically move from the wheelchair to the swing, they still arent left out. 

its so weird, i read about these playgrounds before we found out about finleys muscular dystrophy and absolutely loved that there were playgrounds where 'everyone can play.'  i even took the kids to the one in mclean, ashey had a blast!  finny still wasnt walking yet so...  :)  who knew that one day we would need a playground like this...

anyway...  we dont have anything like this in prince william county.  and im not really cool with that.  i decided i was gonna fight the county to build one, and of course i know things like this take a lot of time but i figured by the time i get it done might be when finny actually needs it.  so i started looking up county park planning meetings, and the pwc disability services board and when their open meetings take place and i figured i would just go and find out how to get started.  i have no idea how these things work.  i mentioned my big ideas to my mom, who mentioned it to someone, who mentioned it to someone...  you know how that goes.  long story short, theres a man that owns a large plot of land that wants to donate it to a good cause instead of selling it.  so my new idea is to create our own non-profit organization and build the playground ourselves. 

itll be a lot of work; of that, i am sure, but in the end it will be totally worth it.  i havent started anything yet, but my parents have a friend that is really familiar with this sorta thing thats gonna help me out...  then ill contact the other non-profit organiztion that actually builds the structures and then start fundraising.  so, if you know anybody that knows anybody that wants to possibly donate to a good cause, send them my way.  :)