Taking the Scenic Route

The kids really enjoyed VBS this year.  Zach and I were only there for the last day (to help watch kids on the blow up waterslide, for safety), but both kids came home happy and tired each morning, and Zora even took a few naps this week.

Zane had a jr. high girl that hung out with him all week to help him, and I was so thankful.

The group in the sanctuary, there were about 30ish kids this year, a group size that works so much better than the enormous group at the other church last year.   They did several hands on service projects, one of which was making backpacks with hygiene supplies (for Youthville) and a pillow, and it took a lot of explaining to get both kids to understand that they weren’t taking them home with us.  Early in the week I didn’t know what the project was, but I was pretty sure that they weren’t going to bringing home the toothbrushes, soap, and “special backpack” they kept talking about.  I was very glad to see a variety of projects like that because it stimulated a lot of good conversations this week.

The one project that we were there for was writing cards to send in care packages to soldiers.  (and I plan on taking pictures of the other crafts, but my camera batteries need to be recharged first, so it will be another post)

This is Zora’s card:

And this is Zane’s card.  It tickled me.  (it is a stickman style maze/obstacle course, including an exit)

And some crafts from the week:

And, for the final hurrah, the waterslide

The remarkable thing about this picture is that it isn’t as remarkable as it once was.  Zane standing in line, something I wasn’t sure if I would ever see a short while ago.  It’s those little invisible victories that make life so great.

The big kids helping the littler ones up the slippery stairs.

And when did my girl sprout legs like that?  She is growing so fast.

Zane struggled to get up there, but he was so happy at every step.

Taking a break to enjoy some birthday cake.  There were a handful of birthdays this week, and both of my little stinkers tried to claim it was their birthdays too.  (both are fairly obsessed with birthdays and parties right now). 

I love this church.  I am finally starting to feel like a member of the community there.

The Group Picture from Vacation Bible School. Notice anything odd?

How about this:

Smiley camera-ham girl  vs.  trying to get a good photo is like catching lightening boy

Amazing, isn’t it.

Exploration Place has some new exhibits that are a lot of fun.

Zane has been interested in studying the human body, so this was the most perfect exhibit possible for him.  It was really well done and kept both kids, but especially Zane, really engaged.  The animatronics did elicit some nervous giggles from Zora, who was a little freaked out by giant talking creatures.

“Gas Attack” pinball, with info on what causes gas.

The Urine game:  a video game where you learn which things the body leaves in the bloodstream and what gets sent into the urine.

Foreground:  Operation game with rubbery organs; Background:  Digestive tract playground…you walk in the mouth, slide down into the stomach and then past the intestines, and exit through the, well, let’s just say you exit onto a brown mat. 

Burping

There was also a “More Munsch” (author Robert Munsch)  exhibit that talked about creating stories.  It had a lot of neat literacy stations.

And, of course, the familiar exhibits that they always want to see.

Zora *needed* to stop by and play Veterinarian for a while with the other kids.

And the Tornado machine.  (yeah, you can tell these kids were raised in Kansas…they get less than concerned about high winds.)

In fact, Zane is nearly blissful.  He wants to do this over and over again.

In the flight room

An EP employee actually took the time to walk Zora through an entire flight sequence.  It was really neat.

And, in the corner of the flight room, an exhibit we had never stopped at before, but this time it captured the kids attention for quite a while.  It is an active beehive, with the hives inside plexiglass (or something like it) and an exit to the outdoors for the bees.  It was a lot of fun to watch.

It was a great trip.  He has been reading a lot about the human body, especially the digestive tract, and after leaving they both have wanted to know more about bees.  It was on a Friday, when the Zoo has their “wet & wild Fridays”, so the crowd was greatly reduced.  The perfect amount of people…enough that Zora could get some interaction, but Zane wasn’t overwhelmed.

(and the last one makes me itchy just looking at it.  Luckily, she doesn’t react to grass like I do)

The robot detects objects, gives a warning, then shoots a ball.

It is the first time I have been to this park, but will not be the last.  It is a drive for us, but it is awesome.  It is fully fenced in, handicap accessible playground, so it accommodates nearly any playdate we might have.

Zora was SO EXCITED.  Not only a great play area, but a lot of her friends from school also made it.  She was in heaven.  Zane found a whole lot more to enjoy here than he does in typical playgrounds too (and with the fenced in area, I didn’t have to hover to make sure he didn’t leave), so it was truly a win-win for our family.  It was really nice to sit and chat with the other moms instead of chasing after kids every moment.

(merry-g0-round)

And from one of the other moms…

I am happy with the progress Zane made this year.  He is quite a bit more verbal, is learning to manage his emotions better (not perfect, but better), and he is just generally showing a lot of growth.  I am very proud of how hard he works and how far he has come.

Rosie did a really nice job with him this year.  She had the right amount of support and pushing him, something that can be challenging to manage.  We will miss her.  Here she is helping Zane get ready for his “Show and Share”.

They made play-do as a cooperative activity.  It smelled really yummy because Kool-aid was one of the ingredients.  Made me hungry.

And here is the whole crew (minus the Clinical Educator who dashed for her camera so she wouldn’t be in the photo.  stinker.)  If anybody in the group wants an unmodified photo, let me know.   This wasn’t the best shot of Zane, but the better shots of Zane were not a good shots for at least one of the adults each time, so I am posting this one instead.  We all know Zane’s head isn’t attached to the play-do bag.

Zane goes to a “Friendship Group” twice a week.  I snapped a few pictures this time.  They start the day with a “circle time” sort of thing where they greet each other and ask questions like “How are you today?”, with visual supports/PEC cards to ask and answer the questions.

They usually have a craft (often done cooperatively to develop communication and cooperation skills), a game (turn sharing and, in theory, how to win/lose gracefully…although the ‘gracefully’ part has a way to go, it is MUCH improved), a “show and share”  (usually a toy, but this day Zane brought the book “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”), and some sort of special activity.

About the hair.  Zane refuses to cut his hair.  He has always hated both the process of cutting hair and having short hair.  In the last few months I noticed that he was starting to approximate eye contact behind the bangs, and knowing how he feels about cutting his hair it occurred to me that maybe he doesn’t like short hair because it doesn’t provide the sensory screen that long hair does.  I waited until I felt like he had developed the habit of initial eye contact/visual referencing (not sustained eye contact, just letting people know he is talking to/listening to them), because I didn’t want to mess with that, but finally I couldn’t take it any more and started putting his hair into a ponytail to get it out of his face during ST.  (I actually came into the room one time and pulled the holder out of my hair and put it in his when I just couldn’t take it one more minute.  He was pulling his hair purposely in front of his face that day and it was causing issues, and I had made him start putting into a ponytail the week before for swimming.)  From that point on, when he has either ST (because they need to see his face) or swimming (because of my own experience of coming out of the water with a wall of hair suffocating me so I know that it can be panic inducing, even with an experienced swimmer) he has to let his hair be pulled back unless he agrees to cut it.  He is allowed to pull the ponytail out as soon as those things are done (and he usually does almost immediately).  It is a comfortable truce for both of us.

The only down side is that boys do not have long hair in this part of the country, and you can imagine how on top of things the STs had to be to keep the comments to a minimum with a group of boys who don’t have a polite filter.  lol.  Right now I am just waiting for the hair to grow just a little more so the ponytail looks a little more boyish and lower on his head.

Ready to leave