groundspeed

Zip Line

Our church had a party, primarily for the preschoolers, but add in their families and it felt like the whole church. At the party was a zip line and all three of the boys (but neither of the parents) gave it a try.

Kevin held the rope as they went so none of them got going too fast.  We put Toby in right before we left and he was so tired by that point I don't think he had any idea what was going on, but I still wish I knew what he was thinking when he was pulled to the highest point (much higher than what I posted).

Fun new experiences. Now this week Kaden will be at Environmental Studies Camp in Jensen Beach 9am to 4pm all week and I decided Blue's swimming needs work so he's got classes every day at 10am.  Add in Toby's usual appointments and it's a busy week.

Skinny Dippin'

Yesterday after I posted, Toby came up to me because he had a poppy diaper. (Of course he did - it wouldn't be right if we didn't have two nasty diapers before noon.) Instead of taking him inside to change him, I stripped him down and hosed him off.  And since he was running around naked, I put his little pool out for him.

Is the wary look because he heard I don't do modesty patches? Ah, but for my kids, I can manage strategic angles.

What says summer better than a quick drink from the hose?

And yes, I know my son needs a hair cut. Any volunteers?

Where They Hang

If the boys are sent to the backyard to play and there is no water anything set up (our current options are slip and slide, water balloons, sprinkler, very small pool only for Toby, or the mister contraption Kevin made last year, but all of these require effort from mom so happen once a week at most) then this is ALWAYS where they are:

Toby usually just plays in the sand and ignores the big play set, but he has started climbing on the small one.


Funny to think that this thing has been in the family for 5 years and seen three states! (Kaden got it from Poppy for his 2nd birthday when we lived in NC. It went to TX before coming to reside in FL.)

The above pics were from yesterday afternoon.  This morning is no different:


Do you love how Gus is always right with them? Such a good sport.

And so mistreated.  The boys put sand all over him and I post his picture on the internet without a modesty patch.

Oh, and ignore the straw that is our poor excuse for grass these days. EVERY day this week we had thunder and dark clouds over our house. And EVERY day this week those clouds rolled on out and dropped their rain somewhere else.

If Kevin were to win the lottery (especially tricky if you don't buy tickets) the VERY FIRST thing he would spend it on is well/sprinklers/sod.

In the meantime the little boys don't mind the straw when they've got their sand!

Friday Fragile X Links

For the Research Volunteer Registry for research studies at the UC Davis Health System here: https://vr.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/vr/home.vhtml
This isn't just for Fragile X studies.

To read an article about a Canadian family with three kids with Fragile X go here: http://www.calgarysun.com/2011/06/18/family-triumph

And to read about the latest "disease-modifying" treatments for Fragile X read:
Updates on New Treatments for Fragile X 
and
mGluR5 antagonists fro Fragile X

and... he promises more to come so check back there.

While Brother's Are Away...

Toby still plays!

While Kaden and Blue are at VBS this week, Toby has had his own agenda in the morning.  Monday and Tuesday he had speech and OT and on Monday Kevin also took him swimming.  Then today, after a quick Target run, I took him to the fountain at Tradition.  And uh, the fountain at Tradition was a happening place this morning!

He didn't mind all the people, instead he just enjoyed the abundance of toys they'd brought along. (No, those aren't our buckets.)

Read the Shirt, Lady!

Because that's what I want to do!

(It says, "Let's Roll.")

Last night after our photo attempt Toby climbed into his wagon. We used to keep the wagon in the backyard but it's in the garage because my jogging stroller has a broken wheel and now I use the wagon for when we go on walks. Toby loves the wagon. We can't go through the garage without him climbing into the wagon. Sometimes cute. Sometimes, like when we're in a hurry, a pain in the butt.

Father's Day This and That

Daddy's Favorites (According to Kaden)

Color: red
Thing to do: play baseball
Food: Pizza
Drink: Mt. Dew (Ding, ding ding - this is a correct answer)
T.V. Show: Sports Center (We'll give the boy credit for this one too!) 

What else does Daddy like?
Tackling, taking us to the park, his plants.  (I liked that third one - totally true!)

***

Then I talked briefly to Blue:

What does Daddy like: To put us to bed. (Ha! Yes! We both like that! Because then the kids are, well, IN BED!)

If you could buy Daddy any present what would you buy him: A swimming pool and some Mt. Dew.

***

At church on Sunday Blue made a picture of Kevin. He very appropriately had Kevin wearing orange and blue. He very appropriately had Kevin bald... but then he changed his mind.  He drew hair on Kevin and announced that it was Daddy before he was married.

***

Father's Day morning I made bacon, eggs, and pancakes. But then I had to hurry off to church to practice the music and Kevin did the dishes. Oops!

 
Father's Day lunch I made jambalaya. No picture, but I did do dishes for that meal. Father's Day dinner we went out. Along with eating, we went to church, Kevin got a few presents (not the least of which is the fact that I mowed for him the day before), he took the big two swimming, and he fixed the door of my van which wouldn't open.

It's like he's kinda being an over-achiever at this whole father thing, huh?

***

Speaking of over-achieving. Today he took the day off so I could collect on my Mother's Day present - some time at the spa and tonight he's taking the big two to a baseball game - this is what he wanted for Father's Day. Before they left, I took a pic, but Toby was NOT having it, so I told him to blow me a kiss.

Blue blows that kiss and Toby is still trying to flee and get to me.  

Couldn't imagine any other partner for this bunch of sillies.

VBS at the Shake It Up Cafe!

Here's Kaden and Blue after I dropped them off for their first day of VBS. It's being done by the church where Blue goes to preschool. I know the boys are going to have a great week!

Friday Fragile X Links

Great article in Good Housekeeping: The Never-Empty Nest

"Nobody talks about what happens when the adorable kids grow up, as Matt and Sean did, to be clumsy, awkward adults." No, sugar-coating here. A look at a family with adult children who have Fragile X, and the difficulties they face.

Fraxa.org which has long since been linked here has updated their site, so if you haven't checked it out in awhile go spend time there.

If you live anywhere near the Nashville area at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center there is a Fragile X community forum scheduled this June 20th at 6pm to discuss their current research and how it is improving clinical care.

First Week of Summer

We're well on our way to having survived the first week of summer.  One day when Kevin came home he asked me how my day went and I said, "I was with the kids. All. Day." And he said, "Get used to it." Except this week and the very last week of summer are the only two weeks that I will have all three kids all day long, so we played hard...

Monday we did Chuck E Cheese to play and eat lunch; Tuesday we went to the library (ok, maybe we didn't play that hard); Wednesday was our swimming play date; Thursday we went to the beach; and today we're going to another pool. These are all our am activities. In the afternoons the big two watched a movie while Toby napped. Then we'd go on walks or get into other silliness - like today the boys wanted their dress up clothes out.

No problem. 

Kaden and Blue were playing dress up while Toby continued a super long nap and I sat a few feet away at the dining room table working on my 2011 digital scrapbook (I'm done through April!) And then I looked over and Blue looked like this...

Safety goggles. Two bandanas as an... Apron? Skirt? And his Captain Hook jacket worn as a shrug. Not really sure what to think about Blue's sense of style, but I appreciated the afternoon laugh.

Later he put on his pirate hat, so I told him to give me a good, Argh!

That boy. The other 99% of the time he still drives me crazy.

As much fun as we may have had this week (and it has been fun), I'm glad all the am plans for next week have he and Kaden at VBS. For one thing, after this week, I'm a little backlogged on the housework!