6:00 a.m. Denver Time

You read that right.  We were up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready for the day.  This is the first year we purchased the meal plan that you can order when registering for the conference.  The meal plan provides Friday night dinner, Saturday breakfast & lunch, and Sunday breakfast.  We had one dinner in Washington on the meal plan (due to an error of the hotel's at one of their restaurants... they double booked our reservation and we were turned away), and it was wonderful.  The food was excellent.

I'm sure it varies from place to place.  It is very convenient to have your meal ready, on premises, timed between the workshops.  On the other hand, it hasn't been great food here at this hotel.  Don't get me wrong, it's ok for pre-fab, banquet-style food, but not what we'd call great.  Part of that is because I can't eat tomato, and there have been tomatoes in & on just about everything, except breakfast.

Although I'm sure you're fascinated by my culinary issues, you probably want to hear about the sessions, right?  Ok!  Here's one idea: you can access the conference sessions for 1 year at just $45.  Visit the NDSC web site for details.  I think you can still register.....

As usual, David and I used a "divide and conquer" strategy so that we can cover more topics and get more information and use out of the conference.  I attended this one and was really, really impressed and got a whole lot of great info.  I was so inspired I went and bought her books after the session.  Yeah, she was that good, and I got great tips and ideas from all of the other parents attending, too.

The presenter told us they had the same subject last year, but combined girl & boy.  It was so huge they split it this year.  Today was for girls, tomorrow is for boys.  

David attended this workshop and was very excited and raring to go afterwards, and has ideas and contact info on how to support our own local efforts.  I'm sure he'll be sharing it with the Board, and membership in general, soon or on FB.

Now here's some fun photos for the day.  This is the view out of the window in the hall just outside our room:

... and this is for my Ky.  Since this is a descriptive label, as well as a brand name, does it count as a skittle? :)

We'll be heading off for the afternoon sessions soon.  There is an awards banquet this evening, as well as another dance.  We did not purchase tickets for the awards banquet, which honors self-advocates, and also other advocates in the field of disabilities, and Down syndrome in particular, for lifelong commitment and achievements.  There will also be presentations from self-advocates, and a series of films, including Bury My Heart With Tonawanda and others.

Check back later for further updates.  Gotta run!