swimming lessons take 2

We had a busy week after returning from vacation. We took another stab at learning to swim this week.

We really loved Vandy swim school so I signed Luke up for some private lessons. Luke was enthusiastic at first, after we cleared up a misunderstanding as to what "private lessons" meant. He thought it somehow involved the showing of "privates."

But the day lessons began he was very nervous and I actually didn't know if he would walk into the pool area. But he found the courage and as soon as he met Ms. Chelsea, he was smitten. After the first lesson he said, "That was actually really fun. And Ms. Chelsea is crazy!"



Luke and Ms. Chelsea before the last day of swim lessons.



Chelsea showing Luke he is swimming on his back with no help from her. He is holding a kick board here.



Luke swimming back to the steps. He got a little push from Chelsea, but he's building up his confidence.

I'd really like to continue some swim lessons during the school year. He made lots of progress this week. I think the group lessons were a great intro, but the one on one instruction is definitely helpful in improving his skills.

While Lamar was working this weekend, Luke and I enjoyed some company from our friends Joseph and Carson while their parents were at a seminar at Vanderbilt. After they were done, we all headed to the zoo together. Thankfully it was a cooler than normal day with some rain showers in the morning and a high of only about 90. That's a cold front compared our typical temps this summer.



On the new train at the zoo. Well, new to us. We hadn't been in a while. It is a pretty short trip, but Luke loved it.




Thanks to our friends, we now know the animal shows at the zoo are pretty neat. Before the show started, I noticed a worker placing some food on trapeze perch just about our heads. I suspected some creature would be flying up there to retrieve it. Given Luke's fear of birds, I went ahead and shared my suspicion with him. We decided to move down a few seats. Luke did great during the show and remained pretty calm when a very large owl flew over the audience to retrieve his treat. Fun times. Luke did really great on our zoo outing. I'm so proud of what a good friend he is and how he's willing to try new things.

ocean isle 2011

Must blog about vacation before it's a distant memory. We had a great time spending a week in Ocean Isle, North Carolina with Lamar's family.

ALL these folks vacationed together. (Actually were ALL there simultaneously for about 24 hours, but most of us were there for a good portion of the week.)

The view from our condo. I took this right after we arrived Saturday evening after travelling for about 12 hours. I don't enjoy car trips as much as I used to, especially since Luke learned to whine about being bored and wanting be there.

But it was so worth the drive. Luke checking out the balcony with Maddie. We had a great balcony with lots of chairs. We spent many hours sitting, talking, and listening to the ocean. Some of us spent a lot more time on the balcony than others (grandparents).

Shortly after we arrived Luke needed to head to the beach. And surprise, surprise, several cousins were more than happy to accompany him, even though they'd just returned from the beach. Here Luke's making his first walk to the ocean as a 6 year old.

Luke, Maddie, and Haley enjoying the ocean.

Luke LOVED the ocean right away this trip. And wasn't the sunset sky pretty?

Back at the condo we had some dinner (Try just throwing dinner together for 16 people.) and then some of the kids played some BINGO.

Luke suggested everyone "act out" the prize they selected from my prize bag. (Luke's pretending to write in his notebook.) I really hope Jonathan is still taking good care of his finger puppet. You might note the teens had their phones easily accessible during the game. They are such good multitaskers.

Luke and Maddie in the pool, and maybe some more cousins behind them. I can't tell. Or maybe the man that Caitlin bear hugged when she was "it" while playing Marco Polo. Whoops. He was not a cousin.

The cousins at Sharky's. Love the kids' table with big kids to help the little one. At Sharky's I had some seriously good crab cakes. And Luke had a hamburger. I think the love of seafood skipped a generation.

Luke and Haley modeling the wares at Waves or one of those beachy shops. Grandma insisted on purchasing some boogie boards for the kids. Guess which kid enjoyed it the most.

Lamar was the champion wave rider.

Me and my boy at the beach. I convinced him to pose with me for about 10 seconds, but he was off again having so much fun with all his cousins. It was so nice to not have to be the playmate for a few days. I got to just enjoy being mom.

The kids at the Giggling Mackerel. I had the grouper sandwich. Yum. Luke had chicken fingers and onion rings.

We saw this fiddler crab on the beach. He looked like a cartoon character, especially when he scurried across the sand.

Luke, Lamar, and Maddie jumping some waves. Luke was so brave in the ocean. And he wanted to hang with his cousins, even when the ventured pretty far out. The surf was really strong. All our swimmers got really tired riding the waves. And I was just exhausted from sitting in my chair and handing out snacks and drinks.

Luke's looking pretty pooped here from all his wave jumping. And I think that's Lamar and his trusty boogie board behind them.

On Wednesday we took a little break from the beach and headed inland for some mini golf. Serious fun. Luke is actually pretty good at mini golf. We also went souvenir shopping. When leaving, Jonathan thought he found our van and opened the door and discovered a bunch of strangers sitting inside. Wrong van. Another favorite memory.

Thursday morning we went back to the beach and then out for lunch and ice cream. Luke had his first ever double scoop: mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream. Can't argue with his flavor choice. My two very favorites. This ice cream eating nearly ended in disaster as keeping up with two melting scoops was more than his tongue could handle. We restored order in his world with a cup and a spoon.

After ice cream, Luke really wanted to play mini golf again, this time at the small course on Ocean Isle. Not everyone shared his enthusiasm. But Lamar, Luke, Maddie and I were up for a game.

Luke got his first hole in one. He thinks he got a hole in one on two different holes, but actually one had a little help from a foot when Luke wasn't looking. But he did have one legitimate hole in one with no assistance.

Totaling up the scores. Very intense.

What fun is a beach trip without forcing everyone to take family photos? This was just before we headed out and maybe my favorite picture of the night.

The Fields got some precious family pictures. We got a few I liked. Luke asked for a crazy face picture.

2011 Christmas card

Another outtake from family photo night. Love it.




Another favorite photo.

I love this one too. He just absolutely adores these girls.

So because we love our families so much, Donna and I decided to drag the kids down to beach a second night for individual photos. Luke wore his new souvenir Sunset Beach t-shirt. We actually went to Ocean Isle Beach. Whoops. Need reading lessons from Luke.

Since we were doing more photos, why not try for another family photo? It was a little windy, so we tried a few different angles so my hair wouldn't be blowing in my face.

Ta da! Definitely not blowing in my face. Makes me laugh every time I look at it.

I don't have photos from when 14 of us went crabbing (mostly because I spent a large portion of time driving back into town to find a restroom--and a diet coke.) Crabbing is not really an event suitable for 14 folks, half of whom are less than enthusiastic about the adventure. But we made memories, like when one of the two crabs they caught pinched Lamar's finger and Luke cried when he saw the blood.

What a great trip, until I pulled my back packing to leave on Friday. Thankfully we planned to split the trip coming home and had hotel reservations. I spent hours in bed alternating heat and ice. Getting old is hard.

We had a super week. I was really touched to see how much all the cousins enjoy each other's company, young and old(er). I think Luke's strong sense of family togetherness is definitely an inherited trait.

i get by with a little help from my friends

I logged in to do a quick post before being out of pocket for a week or so, and noticed this is my 250th post. I feel I should do something a bit more monumental than ramble on about our comings and goings, but these are the thoughts I seem to be able to string together tonight.

Summer is clipping along. School will reconvene before we know it. Summer is too short. Phineas and Ferb are really lucky to have 104 days of summer vacation. Wonder what school they're zoned for.

But as much as I try to savor every moment of summer break, there were moments last week that I longed just a bit for the start of school, or at least for Luke to have a break from dear old mom. We both needed it. Homeschoolers, I salute you. I'm amazed at your patience and tenacity.

On Tuesday I was attempting to convince Luke that going to Costco really would be fun but no we weren't getting a wii game, when a friend called to invite Luke to play. Luke eagerly said, "I can go there and NOT Costco?!!!!" He had so much fun and stayed and played happily for 4 or 5 hours! I ran errands like mad! Big HUGE thank you to Cooper and family! And so proud of Luke for this long play date without mom! Yeah!

And today we had the pleasure of joining some friends for a super great day at the pool. We met these friends years ago in the therapy clinic lobby. And we spent some years in preschool together. The kids are all now in different schools but we moms stay in touch, though kind of sporadically. We've been wanting to get the kids together all summer and it finally happened today.

Some super cool, brave kids lunching poolside. So proud of them!

"If you like Cars 2, raise your hand!"

It was precious time watching our kids play and enjoy each other. And it was so refreshing for me to reunite with these moms who are also so thankful for the amazing progress of their special kids, but still press on with challenges that remain.

So post 250 is a little about us but mostly about friends. I am not good at asking for help, but sometimes we all need a little help from our friends. So thankful for the friends God's placed on our path.

more summer stuff

Playing catch up again. This summer of "just relaxing," as Luke would say, is wearing me out.

Luke is working hard to learn to ride his bike. Ride his bike WITH training wheels. Pedaling is so hard for him. I think he has low muscle tone. I've been doing some research and that's my mom opinion. So we keep practicing. He's making progress.




He "chases" one of his therapists on the bike. It takes him a long time catch her. He's also scared of going too fast on the bike, which is unfortunate since he could use some momentum to assist with the pedaling.

Last week we finished up swimming lessons. He came a long way in the class. I was impressed with his bravery.


Here he is swimming with his face in the water.

The final day of swimming lessons they had a "graduation." Here Luke had just received his certificate and was going to get his commemorative t-shirt.

Luke posing with his certificate. I really should have brought my good camera. The certificate doesn't really glow.

After graduation Luke went to thank his teacher, Miss Janae. He really loved her. I thanked her for her patience and gentle encouragement. She was very gracious.

I was very pleased with the Vandy Swim School and highly recommend them. That being said, after 9 group lessons Luke is not yet swimming well independently. He is putting his head under water and trying lots of new things, but he still begs us to hold him while swimming, much more than I ever saw him beg his swim school teachers. All the enrollment paperwork emphasized that swimming skills are difficult to master and many children need to repeat classes to master the skills. And I'm certainly used it taking Luke a bit longer than average to master skills, particularly physical skills. But I must admit, that I had just a glimmer of hope that swimming would come really easily for him. I mean, logically I knew it wasn't likely. But maybe he would be a natural. Clearly I've seen him in the pool countless times and knew he was not an instinctual swimmer. But maybe with a little instruction . . .

But no, when the class began Luke was at about the same skill level as his classmates. And they all progressed faster than he did. Not a lot faster, but I noticed. I know some of them were in the class for a second time. But it wasn't especially easy for him. And really, I knew it wouldn't be. I mean, he can't even really pedal well.

But he came so far in the class, was never scared, got a long well with the other kids and teachers, and I'm pretty sure no one in the class knew he was "different."

And I signed him up for some private lessons in a few weeks. He is braver and familiar with the pool and teachers now. Maybe a little more instruction time will improve his skills.

It would just be nice for something to be easy for him. But he's a great reader, a good speller, and a whiz with electronics. I have nothing to complain about.

And Luke keeps making me laugh. The other night we took a family walk to the school playground. On the way we saw a man walking his dog. Luke got scared but I pointed out the leash and told him the dog would stay right beside his owner. After we successfully passed, Luke said, "Oh great. I didn't get killed."

When we rounded the corner to the school Luke said, "Wait, this is MY school . . . awkward!!"

At the playground, Daddy took a turn making us laugh.

We enjoyed a quiet 4th of July. After 7 years of attempting to find a way for us to celebrate the 4th that didn't end with Luke sobbing and me holding his ears while he buried his head in my chest to hide from the terrifying fireworks, I finally conceded to the fact that perhaps the 4th of July just isn't our holiday.

All day Luke asked when the fireworks would be and would any be in our yard. And if there were some in our yard, could he call the police? We did enjoy lunch with Mimi and Papa, a little swimming, and playing Wipeout on the Wii (pretty sure that is the funniest Wii game ever). And were home, in bed, and under the covers at 9:15, watching a movie to drown out any firework sounds.

On the way to Mimi and Papa's house yesterday, Lamar and I were talking about his nephew who is studying to be an electrician. I was saying that could be a great career for Luke, but maybe a little risky. Then I reiterated my desire for Luke to go into HVAC repair. How handy would that be to have in the family? Lamar mentioned roofing, but I said Luke doesn't have the coordination and balance for that. During our discussion, Luke was watching a movie and I was certain not listening when he asked, "Can grown ups be dancers?" Yep. Every mom's dream for her son.