Hey, everyone! I just got back to Colorado Springs from the conference on July 27th. This blog post is a summary of what I did at the annual Chromosome 18p- conference this year. In case you are wondering, these are Thomas’s, Camilla’s, mine, and Chromosome 18’s website.

Here are some related blog posts: https://lilliandarnell.com/2018/07/06/annual-chromosome-18-conference-2018-part-1/, https://lilliandarnell.com/2018/06/15/my-adventure-to-surprise-part-1/, https://lilliandarnell.com/2017/09/13/annual-chromosome-18p-conference-2017/ I hope you enjoy!

July 23rd: 

I woke up at 9:39 am. I then looked at my phone to see if there were any messages from Macy and sure enough there was. Eventually, Macy asked where I was and I told her I was up in the hotel room eating.

Then around noon, Macy went to her hotel room to eat lunch. Then about 9 minutes later she asked where I was again. I told her that I was still in the room but I told her that I was dressed.

So she told me that she was on her way to our hotel room. Then 2 minutes later, she was at the door. So I walked over to the door to open it. So we hung out in the hotel room for a little bit before heading to her hotel room.

During that time, Macy went to the restroom there. Once she was done drying her hands, she asked Siri what the weather was in Kentucky. After she got the answer to the weather, Macy asked what time it was in Kentucky.

Then she told Siiri to type a message to me saying we were in the same room together. After she sat down for a minute, we roamed the hallways and as we approached the 6th floor I asked if she wanted to see Patty, Frank, and Debbie’s hotel room.

She said sure so we did. Once we got to the door I pulled out the room key and looked at the room number to make sure it was the right door. Then I opened the door to show her what their room looked like.

I let her see the view then I closed the white curtains again gently. After that, we went to the 4th floor again. So we could ask Camilla about the pool. We went on a mission to find the age limit of going in the pool by ourselves.

Macy and I went outside and looked on the sign on the gate but to our surprise, there was no age limit on the sign. We went back to Camilla to tell her and she suggested we go look at the sign outside of the pool on the second floor.

So we went to the second floor to look at the sign and sure enough, the age limit existed. The age limit was 14 and under. So we went back to Camilla and told her. She told us to double-check with the hotel staff in the lobby.

So we went back down to the lobby to ask. The staff said it was okay for both of us. We headed back up to our hotel room. Camilla said good but she pointed out the pool had people in it.

We waited until 3:00 pm. At 3:00 pm, people started coming back from the zoo. In about 15 minutes, we got in the pool. I kept an eye on the time too to make sure it wasn’t 10 minutes yet.

When there were about 3 minutes left, Camilla came in the pool and I told her to let me know when 10 minutes were up. When the 10 minutes were up, Camilla helped me and Macy find a spot in the shade to dry off.

Once we dried off, we headed out of the pool gate and down the steps where we ran into the rest of Macy’s family. I followed them right into the elevator and managed to get a spot next to the elevator buttons so I could press the 4th-floor button.

Once Macy and I got off the elevators, we went in opposite directions so Macy could take a shower and so I could get dressed. While I went to the restroom, I Facebook Messaged Patty to talk to her about getting the presents Patty got us from exploring The Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak.

Eventually, I began figuring out what to put on. I finally decided upon black baggy pants that are very comfortable with the shirt I wore before going to the pool. At 4:00 pm, I arrived at their hotel room on the 6th floor.

I sat down to hang out and before I left, they handed me a bag that said Garden of The Gods and Pikes Peak while Camilla got some ‘replacement’ earrings while Thomas got a dream catcher.

At around 4:30 pm, I found Macy in the elevator room on the 4th floor waiting for me so I quickly changed my pants into my blue skirt. Then I went down only to realize I forgot my sunglasses and my little white cape so I went up quickly to grab them.

Once I came to the elevator room, the elevator that came was crowded but there was just enough space for me to squeeze in (being small has its advantages). In the elevator, among the crowd was Katie and her father who were heading down to the lobby as well.

At around 5:00 pm,  I saw this party/tour bus we were getting on. I could hardly believe my eyes. The music I must say was interesting.  Camilla went inside the bus to get photos of the party bus full of self-advocates like me, Macy, and Lauren.

Camilla danced to the music which was very funny. Once she left, we started riding with no seatbelts which were awesome! All the bumps made me feel like I was dancing. Macy said that she was not expecting seatbelts but she liked it like me.

Too soon though, we arrived at the restaurant called Front Range Barbqeucue and again I had another friend hold it while I got off. Once I got off, I followed Macy and the other self-advocates to the entrance of Front Range Barbqeucue.

Then we turned left and I saw three steps with no railing but I looked around and found a temporary railing. Macy went first, I went second, and Lauren went last.

While I was going down the steps, I looked down to ensure that my feet were stepping in the right place. Once I was down, I walked into the room that the self-advocates would be in.

Macy, Lauren, and I all found a spot to sit down together at. I got some water and a straw so I could drink that water instead of my thermos water. Unfortunately, when I was about to message Camilla my phone went dead so I had no way of knowing the time.

Shortly after that, the food was ready and I went to at least get two things of food. Chicken and a muffin. I knew I might not be able to eat both so I chose to eat the meat. Although, immediately I regretted my decision. I immediately wished that I had chosen to eat the blueberry muffin.

After I ate,  my stomach was grumbling, gurgling, and unsettled. So I just rubbed my stomach and drink water in hopes that would settle my stomach. My stomach took it a while but eventually, it settled down some.

I was wondering about the time. I was practically talking to myself about it but Macy heard me and showed me the time on her phone. (Thank you for that, Macy!) It was almost 8:00 pm.

Soon it was time to go so I went outside and went back up the steps using the temporary railing. I found Katie and she helped me get to Macy and Lauren. We got to the party tour bus and this time my hair was blowing around due to a window open behind me.

We saw the sunset on us while on the bus. It was a magnificent sunset. I really wished I could have taken a picture of it. Macy showed me the time again on the bus. Macy and Lauren’s mothers’ all went to get tattoos and Macy asked me if I wanted to hang out with them while they waited.

Then all too soon, we were back at the hotel. We walked back inside together.  And so the waiting began starting with a stop at the restroom for all three of us. Once we were done, Macy’s father asked about us having fun in the bathroom through text message.

We burst out laughing. Once we stopped laughing, we headed into the lobby and I sat with them for a while. When they were on their phones, I went to scout out a plugin outlet but couldn’t find one.

Eventually, Camilla came by and helped me find a spot for my phone and I eventually went over once it was on and messaged Macy through it. Then Macy and Lauren went up to grab their iPhone plugin cords.

I decided to go up with them so I grabbed my phone plugin and went up with them. Once Macy and Lauren got their plugins, we all found a perfect spot for our plugins that weren’t being used. So we plugged up our phones and sat down together on the floor,

Camilla stopped by to take pictures of us and I also asked for a cup of water as I already drank all my water. We sat there until almost midnight. We had a great time together.

Macy set up this group text with Lauren and I because she figured it would be easy to message us through. (Awesome idea, Macy!) I also dropped Macy off while Lauren continued on the elevator alone. I got ready for bed and then I used my phone until my eyes wouldn’t stay open.

So I got up and finished getting ready for bed. Then I went to sleep at about 3:00 am. (Yes, I know it was late but I was having fun on my phone and didn’t see the time until it was too late.)

What do you like to do with your friends? I would love to hear your answers in the comments if it feels right to you!

Click here for Part 7!!!