A Wet and Wild, fun in the sun weekend! Great America, Pool party and a day at haunted trails

Being that it is summer, we are trying to pack as much fun things into it as we can before the kids go back to school. We had a trip to Great America, a pool party and a Company picnic at Huanted Trails all this past Friday, Sat and Sunday!

We had free tickets for Stephen and Ryan to Great America for the reading they did through the school year, so as time was running out to use the tickets we made plans to go Friday. It was the first time the boys had gone to Great America and they were super excited. We had Mike's mom come and watch Trevor all day. I was a little anxius about this. I had never left Trevor with anyone for a whole day (9:00 till 10:00) before and I wondered how he would do. I worried he wouldn't eat well and would be fussy. Plus we would not be doing his OT that day as I didn't want to add another item to my MIL's list of to do's for the day. He ate a ton for grandma and he took a 3 hour nap for her. He had a great day without us.
Leading up to the trip, I have to admit that Mike and I were not quite as enthusiastic about the trip to Great America as the thrill of roller coasters is not what it was for us. Worrying about Trevor being upset we were gone all day and worrying about how Ryan would do with the noise and the rides, plus worrying that Stephen would not be very patient if Ryan wanted to do the tamer rides and he had to wait all weighed on me and made me wonder if any of us would enjoy the trip. But I think its good to try new things and for the kids to have new experiences so we continue to try the outings. Sometimes they are great experiences and other times we wish we hadn't lef tthe house that day! We wondered how Ryan would do as it would be noisy and loud and he does get bored so easily that staying in lines for rides would be a challenge for him. Plus I wondered if he would be too scared (and too small) to get on any of the rides besides the kiddie rides. Ryan suprised us all and was a real trooper. He covered his ears in the big screen theatre and on various rides, but overall he dealt with the noise really well and was more tolerant of the waiting than I expected. He even went on 2 roller coasters. I'm not sure that he enjoyed the roller coasters exactly (he told me he didn't want to go on them again), but he seemed to be proud that he went on. He never cried or complained, but he was relieved when these rides were over. He did enjoy the train and some of the other rides. Stephen of course was so set on riding all the coasters and was disappointed he wasn't tall enough for all of them. After the Demon and the Whizzer, he lost his enthusiasm for some of the other coasters. We did get to the water park, but was only in the water park for 12 minutes as I didn't realize they closed that part of Great America a couple of hours before the rest of the park. We had a lot of food a lot of fun, a lot of sun. It turned out to be a great day.
Saterday we were all pretty tired out from all the walking the night before. We had been invited to a pool party and of course the kids love swimming now and are always wanting to practice their new swimming skills. It was just this summer that I got Ryan back to trying swim lessons. He has been terrified of floating and putting his face in the water. He liked the pool but until this year was very tentative about getting in past wasit high, hated having his face wet (or splashed) and did not trust others or even floaties to help him float. So this has been a great year watching him grow and overcome his fear of the the water. They kids pretty much swam the whole eveing from about 5:30 till 9:00. They only came out for food and ice cream. Unfortunately Trevor was pretty off the whole day not wanting to eat and being rather crabby most of the day and needing to be constantly held. He did well with grandma on Friday, but we were feeling the effects of him being out of his routine the day before while we were at this pool party. We got to socialize with friends and Ryan and Stephen got to spend hours in a pool with some other kids so it was a nice evening out for all.

Sunday we had Mike's company work picnic. It's something we look forward to every year (this is our third year going). It's a great family event. They have planned activities all through out the day. Good food, games for the kids, rides for the kids (go carts, scrambler and inside there was the Frogger and the teacups along with all kind of arcade games). They had a DJ playing music, someone doing face paintings, an inflatable bouncer for kids they even had pony rides though we didn't get to see the ponies. It was hot that day so we spent a good portion of the day in the arcade and indoor games area. The kids get so excited over getting thier tickets fromt hje arcade machines and spend what seems like forever trying to pick out just the right prize.
The big surprise of the day was seeing Trevor on the spinning tea cups. Ryan wanted to go on and daddy was leaving to go with Ryan for the ride. Trevor started crying when daddy left us to and I thought he was just wanting to be with daddy. He does get upset if one of us parents leaves even if it is just into the next room. He still has seperation issues at times. But he just was watching the ride so intently that I began to wonder wonder if maybe he wanted to go onthe ride so I got in line and waited our turn. He just loved the teacups. The spinning and whirling around did not bother him at all. I was also impressed with both of my sensory kids as the noise and flashing lights didn't seem to be much of a bother to them at all this day!
Other highlights of the day was when Stephen won the "cover all" kids bingo game (got 25.00). Mike got an employee gift - a $50.00 gift card for Walmart (they pick several names out of all employees in attendance and give various gifts - so you always have a decent chance to get a gift). We had ice cream, the kids went in the inflatable bouncer (TREVOR LOVED IT), we played bingo, the kids went on the go carts, had ice cream. It was a tiring but fun family day!

What a weekend of fun in the sun, fun in the water, spinning on coasters and rides and lots of food! It just goes to show me that my kids are very well adjusted and have good coping skills for their sensory issues.

The boys photo session June 2008

Trevor's update for July

July has been a great month for Trevor - my FTT baby. Not only did he hit 19 lbs - he has continued to maintain his weight and add a couple of ounces despite having a cold last week. Our nutritonist Florence was here yesterday 7/8 and weighed him. He is 19 lbs 6 oz (up 2 oz). I asked her to also check his height, and we were both amazed to see he has grown 1 1/4 inches in just 2 months! How awesome! He is still under 1% for weight, but he is up to 5% for height now. We have been adding oil to his soy milk (and nesquik) and was adding liquid protein to his juice. His appetite has been very good lately and I have decided to end his food therapy at the end of July.

OT therapy started in June and we see benefits from it as well. He is calmer and a happier baby all around since we have started using brushing techniques and compression (this is for his sensory issues).

We've been without a speech therapist since May. IT is so frustrating to have to wait so long to get a new therapist. He continues to add words and is definitely babbling more. He now says mine, no, ball in addition to his other words.

I am now planning his 2nd bithday, it is only a couple of weeks away. I don't know where these two years have gone. I want him to stay my baby forever. He is in the terrible two's now but I am really enjoying him so much these days as he can express himself more and I love seeing how an almost 2 year old thinks!

Lazy Days of Summer

I have often heard the phrase lazy days of summer. I always look forward to summer (I am not a cold temperature lover and don’t have any wishes to have snow during the winter). But besides the warmer weather, why do I look so forward to summer? I thin part of it is that I always (every year) have the misguided notion that things will slow down and I will get to a zillion things that stay on my to do list for months (and years). Yes, I don’t have to drive the kids to school, but I still have to get up early (earlier actually than the school year) to get Ryan up and ready for summer school. I find myself racing against the clock most days to get this done before the bus comes to pick up in the morning, get that done before the bus drops off in the afternoon, get other things done before Trevor naps (can’t vaccum or do laundry during nap time) and so on. Since it was summer and I thought we would have more time for fun stuff, I let each of the older boys pick an activity and then they also get swim lessons. Between the swim lessons, baseball, gymnastics, therapies/Dr appointments (Trevor has speech, OT, food therapy and a nutritionist); I am busier than ever. Plus throw in a Tupperware party here and there and I wonder who was in charge of my date book! Still I do love the summer if only for the break from mandatory homework (yes I still make the kids do some homework type things, but not everyday and not the amount they would have from school). So in the past 2 weeks, I have taken the boys to 5 swimming lessons, 2 dr visits for stitch removal (Trevor had 10 stitches in his knee from a June 10th injury), 2 friend’s birthday parties, 2 birthday parties for Stephen, 2 visits from the OT (Occupational Therapist), 2 visits from the food therapist, 2 visits from the nutritionist, 2 trips to the Eola Center for gymnastics, 2 trips to the Vaughn center for baseball, 1 Tupperware party, 1 trip for the “Meet N Greet” for Ryan’s summer school program, 1 book club meeting and another appt that I actually missed (I missed our gastroenterologist appt because I wrote down the wrong day).
My calendar is a bunch of pencil scribbles everywhere – I need one that has twice as much space for each day to get all that I need written in.
So if you see me or talk to me (or email me) and I seem a bit clueless (or worse frazzled and stressed) take pity on me and understand I’m busy as the CEO of the Linden household jumping from task to task. As I sit there writing this, I am thinking about all the things I should be doing, but we all need a break here and there, right?
Summer is a fun time; walks outdoors, trips to the park, or even just swinging on the glider outside – I guess I need to write those kind of appointments in my datebook – they are just as important! I am planning on taking the kids to the pool later for some fun in the sun, and a lazy day of summer fun in the water!