 |
| From Blogger Pictures |
My Tickers
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Vacation Photos
Since I had so many pictures to share (and this is only a small sampling of all the photos I took lol) I have opted to put these into a slideshow. Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The week in review
So Orion finished up 4th grade last week Friday, he's now officially a 5th grader....at least I assume he is considering he got straight B's. The report card didn't actually say he was heading into the 5th grade like usual, but with straight B's I don't see how he couldn't move onward. Our disappointment came when we realized that he was not given the advanced math class for next year, apparently his ability to work by himself just isn't up to par and although he can do math at a 6th grade level he needs too much supervision to be able to be in the advanced class. Orion sat on the couch and cried most of Friday afternoon over this fact and over the fact that he felt he deserved better grades than he received. This poor kid again received poor marks for his effort which upsets me simply because I know he does try, it's just not easy when you suffer with ADHD. I also know that he makes a lot of careless mistakes and I am sure that counted against him. He doesn't like to ask for help, he prefers to struggle and work out the problems on his own, however when he does this and gets the answer wrong the teacher sees it as a lack of effort because he didn't ask for help and he didn't get it right. It sucks! I wish I could just make it magically better for him!! I hope that next year he proves them wrong and shows them that he deserves to be in the advanced class and that they made a mistake. I hope he isn't so bored in the regular class that he becomes a problem, I hope he uses this as a chance to learn to control himself and his boredom a bit better. I hope he makes the best of the situation!
Summer began quite pleasantly with sunny days and thunderstorm nights. We have had the chance to watch fireflies dancing in the bushes and count the number of flickers for the firefly watch we do for the Science museum in Boston. We have been doing it for a couple of years now, they are trying to determine if the use of pesticides is harming the firefly population. They have recruited people from all across the country to watch for fireflies and then register on their website to make reports during the summers of what they find. We report the flickers, the weather conditions, the kind of territory we have etc. It's a fun thing we do together and it's been great to see our findings this year are far greater than in years past! The fireflies seem to be making a comeback around here!
Also we have started our countdown to summer vacation! We leave on July 3rd for some fun in the sun in Vermont! I can hardly wait! I have started my list of things we will need and it's growing by the day! I am determined to not forget a single thing...a mom can hope right???
Summer began quite pleasantly with sunny days and thunderstorm nights. We have had the chance to watch fireflies dancing in the bushes and count the number of flickers for the firefly watch we do for the Science museum in Boston. We have been doing it for a couple of years now, they are trying to determine if the use of pesticides is harming the firefly population. They have recruited people from all across the country to watch for fireflies and then register on their website to make reports during the summers of what they find. We report the flickers, the weather conditions, the kind of territory we have etc. It's a fun thing we do together and it's been great to see our findings this year are far greater than in years past! The fireflies seem to be making a comeback around here!
Also we have started our countdown to summer vacation! We leave on July 3rd for some fun in the sun in Vermont! I can hardly wait! I have started my list of things we will need and it's growing by the day! I am determined to not forget a single thing...a mom can hope right???
|
| From Blogger Pictures |
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Summer Vacation Planning part 2
The hubs and I decided to go for it and booked the Smuggs vacation! We'll be going up to Vermont to have some fun! As I picked up Orion today he was asking if we had booked the trip and if we were definitely going because he couldn't think about anything else all day long! He is actually starting to get a little excited at the concept! I was thrilled to hear him warming up to the idea and look forward to watching him enjoy the giant water trampoline in the middle of the 6 acre pond! He wants to do that and the giant swing that dangles 100 feet in the air...looks like lots of fun and I want to do it too!
Of course as usual we already have a small hitch....after hubs booked it they called him back to tell him the bank card wouldn't go through for some reason. They supposedly tried it a bunch of times but it wouldn't take...but we know we have enough money in there because that's where our tax return is sitting! So tomorrow hubs is going to call the bank and see if there is any reason it might not have gone through and then call smuggs back and go from there. Currently they have our names in there and the place is reserved for us so we're happy about that!
I also called the kennel and woohoo we got the last slot for that week so the dog will be well taken care of and we won't have to worry about him at all!
Of course as usual we already have a small hitch....after hubs booked it they called him back to tell him the bank card wouldn't go through for some reason. They supposedly tried it a bunch of times but it wouldn't take...but we know we have enough money in there because that's where our tax return is sitting! So tomorrow hubs is going to call the bank and see if there is any reason it might not have gone through and then call smuggs back and go from there. Currently they have our names in there and the place is reserved for us so we're happy about that!
I also called the kennel and woohoo we got the last slot for that week so the dog will be well taken care of and we won't have to worry about him at all!
|
| From Blogger Pictures |
vacation planning
It's so not an easy task!! We're trying to figure out what to do and I am under the impression that it would be easier to rip out my teeth one by one without any pain killers!
See the hubs wants to do something fun and actually get away for 5 or 6 days, I think the idea is great, however we have this boy who simply does not deal well with the unknown! Last night hubs and I looked online and found Smuggs...as in Smugglers Notch in Vermont. They have what looks like a great summer vacation set-up...8 heated pools, a 6 acre pond complete with a water trampoline. Each of the 8 heated pools has water slides. There's other activities as well, kids programs, parent programs, things to do as a family and all at around 300 bucks a night. Well this morning I showed Orion the small video on the website thinking it might excite him, that he might think it was something fun to do. Unfortunately about 10 seconds into the video they mention the kids programs and he flips out! He's not going to camp, he's not going to be away from us all day long, he doesn't want to have to be told what to do on his vacation! Of course I tried to explain that he wouldn't have to do the kids programs, that it was just an option that was available, he was too stuck on it to get away from it. I tried to remind him of all the times he had gone snowboarding and wanted to hang out with the other kids at the pool but I wanted to go back to the room and how this could be an opportunity for him to hang out with other kids his age without mom being a drag....not the right answer. I tried to remind him how bored he is every summer and how much he complained last summer about not being able to do anything because we couldn't afford it AND all his friends were away at camp so he had no one to play with...that didn't work either. Nothing I could say or do would deter this boy from the concept that he would be spending his week in misery....who wants to spend a couple thousand dollars for their kid to be completely miserable?? Not me!
I just don't know what to do. I do vaguely recall being a kid and having the same kinds of apprehension, and I recall getting very hostile and angry sounding. I remember being all surly and moody thinking of all the ways things could go bad and not seeing the good at all. I remember thinking the worst of everything, and I thought it was because I was so used to being disappointed that surely nothing good could come to me. I was so wrong...apparently it's something genetic and I don't know how to fix this! I don't know how to turn him around. I don't know exactly what I am doing wrong! I have always tried to encourage him at everything, I have tried to be the positive one but it's so hard! I just don't know what I should do here.
Here's my theory.....since I know that I used to be just like the boy and I can clearly remember my foster parents sending me to 4-H camp and me being determined to hate it...in the end I ended up not even wanting to go home by the end of the week. I think knowing this what I need to do is simply book the vacation, not tell the boy anything other than we are going. We ignore his pouting and fussing and know that in the end he's going to have a great time once he is actually there and sees how much fun it can be. I am betting if we do this he will end up meeting some boy at the pool or pond that's in one of the kids programs and tell Orion all about it and how much fun it is that he'll want to join in the next day. I am betting that no matter how determined he is to be miserable, he'll end up having fun just like I did! The problem will be getting Mr. Patience (aka the hubs) to go along with such a plan. I just don't know if he has the patience to ignore the fussing and grumbling long enough to get us up there and have the boy see for himself that it's really a fun thing to do during the summer.
Me personally...I would give just about anything to go back to Vermont and breath the fresh mountain air of my youth! Maybe I could get Big Sis to come up and visit while we're there. I think it would be great to see her again since I haven't actually seen her (other than in photos) in about 20 years. I am sure if we vacationed up there she would make the trip to come see us and it would be nice to chat with her again face to face. Even if she couldn't make it, it would be nice to build some happy memories with the family and have them happen in Vermont. I'm goi g to have to do a lot of talking, thinking and planning before making the final decisions, but we're gonna have to do it soon since the week hubs has vacation is 4th of July week so it'll probably be more crowded and book up faster than usual.
I gotta get this wild child ready for school...which means getting him off the PS3, so I'm out.
See the hubs wants to do something fun and actually get away for 5 or 6 days, I think the idea is great, however we have this boy who simply does not deal well with the unknown! Last night hubs and I looked online and found Smuggs...as in Smugglers Notch in Vermont. They have what looks like a great summer vacation set-up...8 heated pools, a 6 acre pond complete with a water trampoline. Each of the 8 heated pools has water slides. There's other activities as well, kids programs, parent programs, things to do as a family and all at around 300 bucks a night. Well this morning I showed Orion the small video on the website thinking it might excite him, that he might think it was something fun to do. Unfortunately about 10 seconds into the video they mention the kids programs and he flips out! He's not going to camp, he's not going to be away from us all day long, he doesn't want to have to be told what to do on his vacation! Of course I tried to explain that he wouldn't have to do the kids programs, that it was just an option that was available, he was too stuck on it to get away from it. I tried to remind him of all the times he had gone snowboarding and wanted to hang out with the other kids at the pool but I wanted to go back to the room and how this could be an opportunity for him to hang out with other kids his age without mom being a drag....not the right answer. I tried to remind him how bored he is every summer and how much he complained last summer about not being able to do anything because we couldn't afford it AND all his friends were away at camp so he had no one to play with...that didn't work either. Nothing I could say or do would deter this boy from the concept that he would be spending his week in misery....who wants to spend a couple thousand dollars for their kid to be completely miserable?? Not me!
I just don't know what to do. I do vaguely recall being a kid and having the same kinds of apprehension, and I recall getting very hostile and angry sounding. I remember being all surly and moody thinking of all the ways things could go bad and not seeing the good at all. I remember thinking the worst of everything, and I thought it was because I was so used to being disappointed that surely nothing good could come to me. I was so wrong...apparently it's something genetic and I don't know how to fix this! I don't know how to turn him around. I don't know exactly what I am doing wrong! I have always tried to encourage him at everything, I have tried to be the positive one but it's so hard! I just don't know what I should do here.
Here's my theory.....since I know that I used to be just like the boy and I can clearly remember my foster parents sending me to 4-H camp and me being determined to hate it...in the end I ended up not even wanting to go home by the end of the week. I think knowing this what I need to do is simply book the vacation, not tell the boy anything other than we are going. We ignore his pouting and fussing and know that in the end he's going to have a great time once he is actually there and sees how much fun it can be. I am betting if we do this he will end up meeting some boy at the pool or pond that's in one of the kids programs and tell Orion all about it and how much fun it is that he'll want to join in the next day. I am betting that no matter how determined he is to be miserable, he'll end up having fun just like I did! The problem will be getting Mr. Patience (aka the hubs) to go along with such a plan. I just don't know if he has the patience to ignore the fussing and grumbling long enough to get us up there and have the boy see for himself that it's really a fun thing to do during the summer.
Me personally...I would give just about anything to go back to Vermont and breath the fresh mountain air of my youth! Maybe I could get Big Sis to come up and visit while we're there. I think it would be great to see her again since I haven't actually seen her (other than in photos) in about 20 years. I am sure if we vacationed up there she would make the trip to come see us and it would be nice to chat with her again face to face. Even if she couldn't make it, it would be nice to build some happy memories with the family and have them happen in Vermont. I'm goi g to have to do a lot of talking, thinking and planning before making the final decisions, but we're gonna have to do it soon since the week hubs has vacation is 4th of July week so it'll probably be more crowded and book up faster than usual.
I gotta get this wild child ready for school...which means getting him off the PS3, so I'm out.
|
| From Blogger Pictures |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)