2nd Annual Food Allergy Awareness Night at the Ballpark!

It's here again folks- Food Allergy Awareness night at the ball park! Please join the Taylor family at the Cedar Rapids Kernels vs. Clinton Lumber Kings on :

Tuesday April 21st
Gates Open at 5:30 PM
Admission is $6.50 until 4-20-09 Price at the gate $9.00


The Taylor family will be manning the FAAN table again this year. Stop by say hi! Get some info and learn more about food allergies. And for goodness sake ENJOY THE GAME!

- No products containing peanuts/tree nuts will be served at the concession stands
- The stadium will be cleaned of any remnants of nut residue before the game
- Alternative snacks will be served in the stands during the game

To purchase tickets call the Kernels Ticket Office at 896-7560 or in person the Ticket Office hours are: 10 am to 5 pm M-F, 10 am to 2 pm Sat. The ticket office opens March 16th.

A special thank you to the entire Kernels organization for continuing to support this great event. Last year we had so many parents come up to us and say this is the only professional baseball game they have ever been able to go to as a family. Please support this worth while event so the Kernels continue to allow us this family activity every year! We are hoping for a sell out this year, help us achieve that goal!

The Taylor's

Working with the School

We have had a great many people ask us about how we handle lunch at school and what precautions we put in place for Lynda to ensure her safety at school. So we thought we would post some pictures of some of the things the school (CPU is GREAT! ) has put into place to ensure Lynda's safety. They have signs posted in her classroom (Laurie made the poster with all her allergens on there as well as her safe foods) and they have outfitted her table in the lunch room with special graphics so other kids (and adults that work with Lynda) understand the rules at the lunch table. They also block off a chair on each side of her to give her a "safety zone". There is a staff member each day that is responsible for wiping down her area prior to her arrival and they check on her during the lunch time to monitor for reactions. I will tell you this works, just check out a couple posts ago. I hope this will help someone with their school. Remember Knowledge is POWER!

Sean & Laurie

Field Trip with Dad

Well today was our field trip to UNI (or Northern Iowa) for a play depicting 6 short stories. My daddy decided to take the day off of work and go with me on the bus and sit with me as we watch the plays. One of them was about Giving a Pig a Pancake! It was funny. When we got there we had to climb up all these stairs -daddy told me 5 flights- and we sat way up high. (in the one picture of me you can see the stage way in the background) I was glad my daddy was there because we were up so high. Daddy road the bus with me all the way up, we sat next to each other during the performance and he road back to school with me and took me to my room so I could wait for the other kids to get their milk for lunch. We had a great time. Daddy and I looked for animals and animal tracks in the snow on the bus ride and we looked for airplanes in the sky. We got to sit next to my friend Nicole on the way back. All in all it was a fun field trip- I want my daddy to do that again some time.

When the phone rings.....

Can be the most scary and unnerving feeling for a parent dealing with food allergies. That was the situation last week for Laurie and I. The morning the school called. Lynda accidentally got the wrong play doh in art class. Guess what play doh has Wheat in it! Me being 45 minutes away from the school and Laurie a good 25-30 that is the worst call to get. We are very fortunate the staff at our school is very hood and on the ball. One of the lunch room workers noticed Lynda was not looking right and breathing funny. She had rubbed the play doh into her eye and it started to react. The nurse at the school acted quickly and she was observed in the office for 2 hours. By the time I got home she did not look like she had a reaction. The point to this post is to encourage parents to work with your school. Drill and practice what happens when a reaction happens, because most reactions happy outside the home. Have someone desinated to be their champion and an expert on your child. We are so blessed to have this situation, but we started planning for it long before Lynda went to school. So tonight as she went off to "church school" I got one heck of a smile. Keep Safe

Sean