Extreme Home Makeover - Part 2

"MOVE THAT BUS" DAY!!!

AKA - Hurry Up & Wait

A woman on the design team who works on the show provided us with 3 very cool looking "design production guest" passes to get us past the spectators & into the VIP area on Move That Bus Day (Thursday.) We showed up at 9am and boarded our shuttle to take us to the site. The bus was to be moved officially at 12 noon.

Apparently, when working with Hollywood, the theme is "Hurry Up & Wait." We moved that bus LOTS of times- with filming occurring each time & lots of cheering since we never knew if the limo doors would open to reveal the family or not. Until the final time, the limo doors typically opened up to reveal a camera filming the crowd & celebrities!

We had a great spot for watching all of this - just in front of the bus. However, it was very hot & crowded as spectators jumped the fence into our little corral. Will did great, however, under those conditions, Will was a trooper!

Fortunately, his Lovie came prepared with games, toys, & even a pb & jellyfish picnic lunch.

When I was volunteering at the build site on Tuesday, this giant countdown clock stressed me out. It reminded me of those Christmas countdown clocks- letting you know how many shopping days remain. Stress!

The last 10 seconds were SO EXCITING!!!! We counted down & the crowd erupted in cheers! So fun!

And then the director announced that this was Hollywood & they were adding another hour to the clock!

At that point, we were quite hot & trapped in the sun & crowd & unable to move so we relocated to a shady area next door to the house.

This is the front of the house - during one of the "practice" Move that Bus scenes.

A camera zoomed in on Will on my shoulders at one point - we'll see if he makes it on the show!


The celebrities - again, this was a fake out "move that bus!"
Ty Pennington is to the far left in plaid, Johnny is in the cowboy hat (he high-fived Will!), Paige is the blonde of course, & Ed is bald (& hilarious) & then Bill Engvall is the celebrity guest designer in the long sleeve black shirt on the right.
Will was high-fived by Johnny & got Paige's autograph.

Ty & Ed
(the guy in the hat behind Ty is the director. Will liked him a lot on my volunteer day as he was dressed as a "real cowboy" with hat & boots & even spurs!)

Another fake out & shot of Ed

the celebrities

Ty seemed to kind of hang out on his own - apart from the other "stars."
Johnny & Ed interacted with the crowd more - Ty pretty much seemed to ignore the crowd

Will was such a trooper but after a few hours of being in the sun with nowhere to run & play, he finally was wiped out. He took a rest on his Lovie's shoulder

Ty & Bill Engvall
(Incidentally, Bill was just in our town on the frontier raising money for a children's rehab center where Will will begin receiving therapy services in April!)

Johnny & Paige getting off the bus

While waiting for the excitement to really get started, someone called to me from the friends & family corral located next to our vip corral.

I walked over & was so pleased to finally meet the founder of the PLAY foundation (Positive Living for Active Youth,) Jennifer. I have heard about this cool foundation through Katrina Carr (mother of family receiving the Extreme Home) & how they had provided for Ryanne Carr & the whole family to travel to CA to participate in the Endeavor Games. (Ryanne won lots of gold medals in lots of running events!)

Jennifer lost her hands & feet 3 years ago when she somehow became infected with sepsis & doctors were forced to amputate her hands & feet in order to save her life. I love how she chose JOY & to do something so positive to impact families rather than choosing bitterness. As an adult, she was forced to relearn how to function without hands & feet but it clearly has not held her back. She radiated joy & it was a pleasure to meet her. We would love to be involved with this cool organization in some capacity when Will is older (they serve kids ages 5-18.)

I brought Will over to meet her & to shake her hand... & he said, "She doesn't have hands." We're still not sure he gets that he doesn't exactly have hands so it was a good teaching moment as I said, "Yes, Will, kind of like YOU. She has hands just like you do but they are different... like YOURS." And then he gave her lots of high fives.

It's funny to us sometimes when he doesn't quite get that he is different - we're thankful as we are trying to teach him he can do anything & we have the same expectations of him we would have of anyone else. I was thankful that this particular teaching moment occurred with an adult who is comfortable in her skin & that she was gracious to us as I tried to explain to Will that his hands are different too - but we still shake hands & give high fives.

(Thanks, Jennifer!)

Hurry Up & Wait - Will & I waiting in front of the bus...

the morning had just begun

Later, we were so hot & stuffed in like sardines as people jumped the fence that we relocated next door. The kind man who provided our guest vip passes called me to check on us & told us we could join him on the neighbor's driveway next door. It was wonderful to have space for Will to run & play & shade!

Will enjoyed playing trains with the cowboy sheriff while we waited.

Will practicing "Move that Bus!"

At one point (my camera was off), it was fairly quiet as were in a lull - waiting again- & suddenly, Will yelled loudly, "MOVE THAT BUS!" I guess he was tired of waiting & wanted to get the show on the road!

COMING SOON -

IT REALLY DID MOVE!!!