Buddy Walk

This weekend the Coleman family joined our cousin Ava in a Buddy Walk to raise money for Downs Syndrome awareness. Ava is the daughter of my first cousin Michael and his wife Michelle. She is approximately two months younger than Sarah and is a sweet as can be! We were happy to come and join in on the celebration of Ava and others at the walk which took place at Keeneland Race Course.

Chris is coming with the wagon and supplies at the ready to make this a fun and successful day for us all. (those of you with toddlers know exactly what I am talking about)

Mamaw and Papaw McReynolds also made the trip up to join Ava and her family and friends. Sarah is pretty content with her milk and donuts in this photo!

This is Ava's sister Grace. She is growing up to be such a beautiful and sweet young lady.

Here is my cousin Michael in the center of two of his friends who joined us as well.

This is Michael's wife Michelle and the star of the day, Ava.

We were also fortunate to visit with some farm animals as well. Check out the Llama.

Sarah was much more interested in animals of the mascot persuasion.

Luckily, Michelle also came prepared with some parade items to keep the little ones busy...Sarah loves batons!

Sarah preparing for our walk with her grandparents.

Here is the Coleman clan (this is the best photo we could get...she was so interested in the balloon that we couldn't get her attention) ugh!

Ava's Parade is on its way. We brought up the rear of the Buddy Walk.

As you can see, many people participated on this day.

We caught up with Ava to snatch a quick photo with her daddy.

Mom seemed to be enjoying herself on this beautiful day.

I had to include this photo of Dad. We get so few of him. He is usually the one holding the camera in the background.

At the end of the walk, Sarah was pumped to see Clifford at the finish line!

This excitement quadrupled when she spied the bouncy castle. She has become quite good at this over the past months. We are contemplating a birthday party at Bounce U this December... Stay tuned.

As Sarah was exiting the bouncy castle, she lights up as she hears the chicken dance in the distance. We quickly strap on her shoes and she is ready to rock. Mom convinced me to join in the dancing fun as well as you will see here!

I had to include this photo. These are some of my students from LHS taking time out to volunteer serving lunch at the Buddy Walk. These are some great young ladies!

The fun just continued all morning! Sarah got to ride in a medical helicopter!

This smile reveals pure joy. She had such a great time today!

After the walk, we spied a quick look at Keeneland. They open for fall racing next week and the place was buzzing with people preparing the staff and grounds.

Believe it or not, I have never been to a meet. I have been here before to take photos. Hopefully I will be able to attend a real race this season! I just love this beautiful scenery (check out the unique tree to the left).

Mom, Dad, and Sarah have never been here at all, so we went on a mini-tour of the grounds.

Sarah especially loved the track. I touched the poly track surface, it feels like rubber!

This photo ends our adventure. It really was a joy for us to visit with family and support our cousin, Ava. Sarah had a fantastic time. The organizers of this event should be very proud of their efforts. We look forward to more Buddy Walks in our future!

Bye for now.