Summer Camps

The three older children each participated in a summer camp in august. It worked out that all of the camps that the children wanted to do fell on the same week. Once we got the logistics figured out of how to get each person where they needed to be when they needed to be there (and picked up again!), I actually loved doing everyone's activities all in the same week. It worked well for us.

Perry participated in Camp Prov. It is a wonderful day camp for kids with special needs. He had a blast swimming, singing, playing, making snacks, and doing projects. 

Kacin decided on a Harry Potter theater camp for his week of day camp. There was a fun little performance at the end.

I didn't get a picture of Kyler! But he chose to go to a basketball camp. He absolutely loved it.

And then both boys had an opportunity to participate in another theater camp for a really great deal. So I gave in to that one and they had fun at their half day Hobbit Camp the next week. There was another awesome performance at the end of the week in which Kacin played Bilbo and Kyler played Gandalf in a condensed version of The Hobbit.

Birch Bay

Way back at the beginning of August we took a quick weekend trip to Birch Bay in our trailer. You see, I was determined to get the most out of our trailer during the nice summer months. We invited some friends and spent one night camping.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset at the bay.

Completely dirty and completely happy.

The older kids had fun playing games late into the night.

We spent the next day playing by the water in the muddy mess. There was clamming, fish catching, and digging.

We also discovered this cute little candy shop near the bay. Each of our kids excitedly picked out one sweet. It was no small feat to choose only one.

Such a fun, quick trip.

this and that

Before I finally move on to documenting some august adventures, here are a few random iphone pictures.

This girl of mine is constantly asking me to take pictures of her (so unlike my boys!). She insisted she needed her picture taken like this. 

I insisted she needed her picture taken when I picked her up from music class like this (It was detective/spy day.)

Doesn't this look like perfect water to bathe and get clean in? Perry chose one color drop to turn his bath blue. I set the container of drops on the counter. Yeah, he got to them when I didn't see and dumped the brand new container full so he could enjoy this black bath. Sheesh. He had fun all the same. And, since all the drops are gone, we won't be having a colored bath for quite some time . . .

I finally got our blog book for 2014 made! Our kids pour over these books. They are such treasures.

Another fun day at the children's museum . . .

School started this week for half of my kids. The other half begin next week. Maybe then I'll catch up on the rest of our summer adventures.

Sibshops

For two days this summer, Kyler and Kacin attended a Sibshop day camp. Sibshops are for children who have siblings with disabilities. Sibshops are awesome! I'm so glad we discovered them. It was a chance for my children to be with other children who totally get what it's like to have an autistic brother. Plus, they got a lot of adult attention and participated in some fun activities and got to share some of their stories, feelings, and experiences about life with a sibling with a disability.

We have tried to be mindful of spending extra time and attention on our other three children, but no matter how much we try, because of therapies, appointments, and behaviors, Perry just demands a lot of our attention and energy right now. And because his meltdowns are so frequent, it has made life at home more than a little stressful at times and life in public a little embarrassing, too.

I always knew it was a challenge for our family and that it effected our older children, but I never realized how much of a strain it was. When we heard about the Sibshop, my boys were very enthusiastic about going. It appealed to them to have a chance to be with other kids in the same boat as they were--kids they could relate, too.

As Kyler put it at the end, it was awesome for him to not worry or feel embarrassed when I brought Perry and Layla with me to the family performance. He knew when Perry did "funny" things or starting whining that no one would be staring at him and they would all understand. He was quite happy and relieved about this.

Kyler and Kacin are awesome older siblings. They go with the flow and really don't complain about the challenges and changes our family has had to make. They are helpful, great examples, and step up when we need them, too. Really, the praise for these two could go on and on! They are wonderful.

I'm glad they got a little respite and a chance to express their feelings about what goes on in our family now. It was a good reminder to Eric and I to check in on feelings about everything a little more often than we have as of late.

And I'm glad they got to participate in so many fun activities--crafts, tie-dye, swimming, yummy food, and games.

Each of the groups performed a skit for families at the end of the Sibshop. They received their participation chocolate bar and we all ate popsicles.

Layla, Perry, and I had a few of our own adventures while they were gone. One of which was meeting up with their bio sister at the park. It was fun to see her and her family.We think they are pretty awesome people.