First Week of Summer, Lagoon, Dare Devil #1 and #2, Trampoline Park, Camp K

Well the first full week of summer has just passed and I am glad to say that we (I) survived it.  We stayed pretty busy so it went by fast.  The kids started Kids in the Park which is a recreation program where the kids do activities in the park Tuesday through Thursday mornings.  When we signed the kids up we got to choose two additional classes for them to attend.  Josh chose a basketball and a tennis class.  Daniel chose basketball and a taekwondo class.  Mondays are field trip days and this week they went to the movies to see Despicable Me.  They had lots of fun.  After KIP on Tuesday I attempted taking everyone on a family bike ride.  We rode over to a park then after staying there for a bit we went on a longer bike ride back home.  Sarah and Noah rode in the bike trailer which I towed.  The three oldest boys rode their own bikes.  We ended up going for about six miles, but by the time we got home everyone was tired and in serious need of an Otter Pop.

 Wednesday we came in to a lovely surprise.  One of our friends was able to give us some $11 tickets to Lagoon which is an amusement park.  Saweet!!!  We hadn't been to Lagoon for about 6-7 years and the kids have been asking when we can go.  Well regularly the tickets are $45 a piece and when you have a family of 7 that is too much.  However, for 11$ a piece we can do that.  The kids were so excited.  Thankfully Aaron was able to come home from work a little early to help me out because it would have been really overwhelming for me if I would have had to take all the kids by myself. 

 All I can say is that Josh has always been a daredevil.  There is nothing that scares him AT ALL!!  During this trip to Lagoon we found out that Sarah is just like him!!  She wanted to go on EVERYTHING and was not afraid.  However, on a few of the rides she ended up being about 2 inches too short and when she found out she couldn't ride she got quite upset.  She loved the roller coasters the best. After every ride she went on she would get off and yell, "THAT WAS AWESOME!!"  Daniel and Matthew were a bit more timid.  However, we have a rule that you have to ride each ride at least once.  That is the only way Aaron got Matthew and Daniel on this Re-entry ride which is a free fall ride.   Don't let the smile on Daniel's face fool you he was crying two seconds before this picture was taken because he didn't want to go on this ride.  Afterward he said it wasn't too bad, but he didn't want to go on it again.

 Everyone loved the Log Ride where you got to cool off a little.  Here Aaron is helping Sarah off the ride:

We next went on the Rattlesnake Rapids which is a ride where you get a little more wet.  Everyone loved it except Matthew who just sat in the wrong seat and got drenched.  It took him the rest of the day to dry off.

 

Aaron and I took turns on all the crazy roller coasters and I must say we don't do as well with roller coasters as we used to.  When I was young I used to think my parents were boring because they would only do a few roller coasters with us at a time.  Now I know why after a few trips on the roller coasters we would get pretty sick to our stomachs--blech!!  While three oldest boys and Aaron were off riding some roller coasters I would take Sarah and Noah on the kiddie rides.  They liked them.

 Sarah loved all the rides she went on except the Terror Ride.  It is a haunted house and she started crying after the first scene and cried the rest of the way through the ride--poor girl.  Anyway while we were there Noah thought it was funny to run away from us and hide.  Seeing as it was pretty busy this was not a fun game for Aaron and me.  One of his escape attempts he tripped and did a face plant into the asphalt.  His mouth bled for the longest time.  He gave himself quite the fat lip as well.  These pictures don't even do it justice, but what can you do?

Tripping and falling didn't teach him anything, though.  He still kept trying to run away.  Sigh--I HATE that game!!

 

While we were there we stopped by the photo department and got an old fashioned picture taken.  When I was a little girl my family did this all the time so I wanted to do it as well.  The first picture they took they said to be serious.  The kids didn't know what that meant so Aaron just told them to be mad--something they are very experienced with.

 They next had us do a smiling picture.  I thought it turned out pretty well until I noticed how Daniel and Sarah were holding their gun props.  I guess this is how they really feel about family togetherness.  Oh well we had fun dressing up.

 Friday was Aaron's day off so we headed over to the trampoline park that they just added to the Pass of All Passes.  Oh the kids and Aaron and I had so much fun.  It was a fabulous way to get their energy out, too.  Here's Sarah and Noah in the kiddie area.  Again Sarah is our family daredevil #2 and had no fear about jumping of the trampoline into the foam pit.  Noah just stayed on the trampoline and watched.  He did not like jumping off.

 They had a trapeze you could swing off of into the foam pit as well.  Josh and Matthew are waiting for their turn:

 They had a running trampoline that was Matthew's favorite. 

Here Josh is trying to go off of the tallest trapeze swing, but missed the swing and fell off.  In the beginning of the clip you can see Matthew hop on by on the running trampoline:

Daniel was quite the trickster.  He loved trying the flips and such.  Here he is on the running trampoline doing a flip at the end:

Aaron even took a couple turns on the trapeze.  Here's his first:

It just so happened that Daniel and I were up at the same time.  He went on the middle trapeze and I went on the tall one.

Aaron and I have been throwing around the idea of getting a service dog for Matthew.  We have completed 2 steps of the six step application process.  There was an informational meeting on Saturday that me and Matthew attended to learn more about the process and benefits and also to answer some of my questions.  I brought Matthew to see how he would react to the dogs.  At the meeting there were about 50 + people there along with their training dogs.  It was a good experience.  However, the house they had the meeting at was ginormous!!  It had an indoor pool and an elevator which Matthew wouldn't leave alone.  Now if you know me you know that I like to not draw attention to myself, but Matthew made sure everyone knew who we were.  He is Mr. Chatty Cathy and tried talking to all the dogs and their trainers.  For lunch we sat by and really nice trainer who answered a lot of my questions.  However, we got interrupted quite a bit because Matthew would bolt to the elevator to push all the buttons.  We only stayed for two hours and then Matthew had had enough.  As I was getting some last minute information I mistakenly turned my back on Matthew.  He then took that opportunity to run to the front of the classroom and got everyone's attention.  The teacher had to stop teaching because he had interrupted her class.  He then said in his very loud monotone voice, "Hey I would like to make an announcement.  My mom and I are now going to go and do something fun."  While he was making his announcement everyone looked right at me seeing what I was going to do about it.  I could have died.  Oh well at least one of the trainers say they train these dogs to help special needs kids like Matthew so they have dealt with stuff like this before.  We have sent in the paper application now and have to do a few clarifications on it and then hopefully we will move on to the next step in the application process.  Hopefully things will work out....

 

Sunday was Father's Day.  The kids excitedly helped me make breakfast in bed for Aaron.  We have to make a humongous breakfast because all the kids feel they are entitled to all the food Aaron is getting.  Breakfast in bed ended up becoming breakfast all over mom and dad's bed, but at least they had fun.  This is the perfect shot of our crazy family.  Josh and Daniel are goofing off, Matthew is smiling at the camera, Sarah is eating her toast and Noah is helping himself to Aaron's drink.  Just a normal morning for us ;).

 For Father's Day Aaron basically got the day off.  He enjoyed his quiet time and his roast dinner.  He even got out helping to put kids to bed.  I think he had a good day.  I am thankful for him and know that he is a wonderful example of a dad to our kids.  Before everyone went to bed he was able to give Matthew a blessing since he was leaving for Camp Kostopolous for five days Monday morning.  We got Matthew all packed and ready and I took him to drop him off this morning.  Here he is with his suitcase and sleeping bag.

 When we got to camp to check him in things were pretty hectic.  We had to check in with the counselor and then the camp director and then the nurses.  Matthew was surrounded by very boisterous special needs kids that were very touchy and loud which got him a little agitated and nervous and teary eyed.  After all the checking in was completed he got to pick out his bed in his cabin.  After that it was time for me, Sarah and Noah to leave. 

 We gave Matthew and big hug and he started crying.  It broke my heart.  I hope he has a great week.  I did tell him he could call me if he gets homesick so we will see if I hear from him.  I snapped this last picture of him before I walked back to the car.  He is trying to smile, but mostly trying not to cry.  Poor guy!  I hope he has a good week!

 As I was putting Noah and Sarah in the car I looked over and saw him doing a craft.  He couldn't see me, but he still looked sad.  Oh my poor Matthew boy.  Hopefully this will be a good experience for him!