It's Buddy Walk Time!

Ben's Brigade Team Page for the Omaha Buddy Walk®

       

It is so great to be going to a Buddy Walk again.  I didn't realize how much it meant to us to be part of an organization who supports it's nations groups in a significant way, until we had lost it.   We are walking in the Omaha Buddy Walk to show support for more than 400,000 individuals with Down syndrome in the U.S. Please join us as we celebrate Ben on this special day. The event has fun activities for the whole family. It would be great to have you with us in person, but if you can not be there, please consider getting a Ben's Brigade shirt for just $10 and wearing it on that day and often through out the month of October for National Down syndrome awareness month.   We have a limited number of shirts left and they look like this:

Contact us if you have questions or want more information or to order a shirt!
Sincerely, The Willey Family 

http://www.ds-stride.org/omahabuddywalk/profiles/team/133

Rough and Ready Rodeo Challenge

This weekend Ben was able to attend the Rough and Ready Rodeo Challenge at the Aksarben Stock Show and Rodeo.  It is a fun morning for kids with special needs to spend some time at the Rodeo and even participate, with out the crowds and noise.  Each participant is matched with a volunteer who takes them around the arena and introduces them to the cowboys and animals.  They even get to pretend to be cowboys when they got to ride horses, rope and get up close to a real bull and even pet him.  Ben had a blast.  The morning was followed up by some yummy ice cream and some delicious brownies that Ben couldn't eat, but both Mom and Dad were each able to sneak one and can verify that they were delicious! Ben seems to be getting much better at understanding when we tell him that a food will make his tummy hurt.  But I was not fast enough when the cowboy handed Ben some bread to feed Midnight.  Ben did not eat any, but we had to go wash his hands since he touched gluten.  It is crazy how gluten can pop up in the most unexpected places, but we were able to deal with it.  Enjoy some photos from the day.

Bronc riding

Picking out his stick horse.

He was NOT a fan of the mustache!

Lindsey was a GREAT volunteer!

He is getting to be a pro at taking selfies!

Mom and Dad even got to be in one of the photos.

This bull was seriously BIG!

This cowboy was trying to teach Ben to rope. 

Thank you to all the sponsors who helped to make this day possible.  It is so awesome to see these kids getting a chance to experience the rodeo at their own pace.