Day Two...the Tweetsie Experience.

You know I should go back and fix my tying errors on the last post. I won't because I am quite lazy. I'm not the best speller in the world...but I am a much worse typist. I think I've blogged why I'm such a poor typist before. I'll have to look it up and see.

Anyway.

Back to the weekend.

Day two, ZooDad went to his morning meeting. the boys and I ate breakfast and went to the coolest. toy. store. evah! The Incredible toy store! They sell Playmobile, Papo, Thomas and Brio trains as well as all kind of very cool "educational" toys. I had to drag the kids out and back to the condo for lunch.
ZooDad and I made a quick change in plans and decided to take the kids to Tweesie Railroad. (We had planned this for day 3)
Tweetsie is a Wild West themed park. It is not PC...at all. There are cowboys and "in'juns." Granted that all races are equally represented in the employees. But 70% of the kids there are sporting a cowboy hat and/or a toy gun.

But since we don't have any problems with "in'juns," cowboys, or toy guns....we had a ball.

Here's the 2 middle boys on the horses. There are several of these on Main Street. The smallest zooby wouldn't get near these Fiberglas equines.


I thought the littlest one would love riding the real steam train. Well, he did like watching it...but once we boarded it and the thing started moving.....it was a slightly different story.




The train stops periodically on its circuit around the park and actors hop off and do little skits. The "dumb deputy" rode in our car. This is him at the "Fort Boone" stop. This is after he and another deputy had thwarted a bank heist. The "in'juns" were about to attack the fort. See one peeking out from behind the Calvary tent.



After the train torture was over, we rode as many rides as possible. We went and down the mountain on the chair-lift. The stroller even rode up. The boys got a huge kick out of that.
Here's the guys on the Ramblin' Wrecks. J and M rode together. M was not so impressed with J's driving. I helped A drive my car while Zoodad was supposed to drive baby S around. Note who is driving that second car please.


ZooDad and J rode the "Insanely-fast-spinning-on-the-side-of-the-mountain" ferris wheel. The thing is moving so fast that it makes a breeze. It's just perched on the side of the mountain giving the illusion that it could break free and just keep on rolling.


The boys in the "cheese mine." That's all I've got on that one. Imagine a very cheap, mouse and gold mine themed "It's a small world" ride knock off.....and add black lights.


We couldn't con ZooDad to stand under this bridge, so J obliged. You can barely see the goat on the bridge.


After petting the goats and all the other critters, watching the shows, and panning for gold...we were exhausted and all "Tweetsied" out.

We found a nice little restaurant where the manager set us up with a table that had cartoons (The Last Airbender...a family favorite) and fish. (The entire cast of Finding Nemo in one tank...another family favorite.) The food was good and the service was prompt. The fact that the boys were well entertained and on their best behavior made it the end of a great day.

Tomorrow...Lime green. It's a very popular color.

I'm still alive.

I know I still haven't filled ya'll in on the rest of our NC trip. I will..I promise. I have to tell you about how I freaked out on Gandfather mountian. (I don't like that place.)

But I'm just a bit busy with house stuff.
I have walls to paint, tile to lay, and a small nation of weeds to pull in the next two weeks.
It's almost birthday party time.

A's birthday is today. He is four! He has been grinning all day and telling everyone, ZooDad, Grammie, Nanny, beighbor man, landscape guy, that his "a birthday boy!"


Arg....dryer buzzer. That means it's time to fold and then start grouting. (the tile...not the laundry.)

Tom Cruise

Wow.

The man's cheese done slid off his cracker.

He's got six cans, but he lacks the little plastic thingie to keep them together.

He's got 52 cards in his deck but most are jokers.

His elevator doesn't quite go all the way to the top.

He's a few clowns short of a circus.

His brain is calling, but his receiver is off the off.

the gates are down, the lights are flashing....but the train ain't coming.


Or as we say here in the South.....Oh, bless his heart.


I think it's time for his publicist to restrain him before somebody hurts him.

Day one: the journey to get there

Thursday morning, we loaded up my freshly cleaned out van. It was loaded to the gills with clothes, food, a stroller, some distractions for the 5 hour drive, and ZooDad's work stuff. (It was a business retreat.)
Every year ZooDad's company has a long weekend retreat as a reward. Families are invited and they have about 6 hours of work during the 4 day retreat. We don't have any trouble keeping ourselves entertained while Daddy is "working" and the free room is greatly appreciated.

It took forever to load everything. An hour into the trip...it was time for lunch. An hour after that...it was time for the first potty break. Needless to say it was a long trip up there.

Here's the guys.


About 60 miles from our destination, our road became two lanes....and hilly. Shortly after that...it became quite curvey.

Quite. Curvey.

Last time we were up here, M got a bit car sick. So I kept checking on everyone's stomach status.

Eventually we encountered a sign that said.

Expect delays



Well, ZooDad and I thought that was pretty funny. Expect delays. That's it. Like some sort of Zen travel advice.
Expect delays.

Then we rounded the corner and ....bam. We were delayed.

The road was actually partially closed due to some serious construction. Serious as in "hanging off the mountain" construction. There is no way in H,E, double-hockey-sticks I would have climbed in the cabs of any of those machines.

ZooDad and I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how they got that stuff up on the incline in the first place.
This is isn't the best example. I didn't get a shot of the excavator on such an incline that the operator had the door open so he could bail if the thing started to roll.


They look like toy trucks in the picture, don't they? It was surreal.

Finally, after snickering over the various "deep fried p-nuts" signs and being "delayed"...we arrived at Chetola and headed out the company social dinner.

The boys terrorized ZooDad's co-workers for a while, ate a small mountain of chicken fingers and chocolate cake, and then burned off the sugar and carbs on the playground until 9:30 while ZooDad socialized and drank a few beers.

It was 11 by the time the boys were all bathed and settled in to sleep. They were quite excited about the digs and the prospects of taking a jacuzzi bath. (I had to agree with them on that one.)

End day one
Tomorrow...Tweetsie.

We're home.

I'm still recovering and tying to get everything put away and clean.

We went to Blowing Rock, NC for a few days. It was wonderful and quite cool. (temperature wise)According to my camera memory stick, I took 277 pictures during the 4 day trip.

So I guess y'all know what that means for you in the near future.
Hee, hee, hee.

Expect several posts full of pictures.

By the way, while in Blowing rock...we stayed here. I highly recommend it if you eve go to that area. We had a condo that was bigger than our first house. Wild.

I'm off for a few days

I'll be back online Monday and will fill everybody in.

The foot...The whole foot...And nothing but the foot.

I went to Physical therapy today. I've been going every week but it is so not fun that I've haven't been mentioning it. It's kind of like one of those abduction memories that you repress as quickly as possible.

Oh yes....block that pain.

Friday, I went to the orthopedic doc and I kind of wish I could repress that one too. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
He said that most people are fully healed after the six week period. I am not one of those people. But to my credit I do have " a very high ankle sprain that just might take a little longer than normal to heal." Oh....that's just dandy.

He also said that since I am making progress toward healing and still within the outside time limits...."We will continue with the current course of treatment and not start a more aggressive treatment."

Ummm....excuse me? More aggressive treatment? Are we talking yelling because I've already tried that and it didn't do a bit of good.
I was afraid to ask what aggressive meant. (flash back of my cheerleading days....Be aggressive. B...E... Aggressive. B..E...A..GG..RE...SS...IVE!)

ZooDad happily informed me that he was talking about surgery. Gee thanks honey.

Prayers for my foot please and I'll do my part by dutifully doing my home exercises.

It's your "ucky" day!

More conversations in the van:
We were listening to the All You Need is Love album. It's Beatles songs sung by kids. the boys love it. M's favorite is Dear Prudence. J's favorite is Octopus' garden. A loves Yellow Submarine.

Today in the van, A started singing what sounded like "Mean jelly-beans" over and over during the Yellow Submarine. It was not in the same tune and was not Yellow Submarine.

A: "Mean Jelly-beans....Mean Jelly beans. Ooo know dad dong Mom? Ee a dood dong."
Translated: "Something I couldn't make out. You know that song Mom? It's a good song."

M in the backseat: "Stop singing A!"

Me: "He can sing if he wants too. Don't tell him not to sing."

M: "Can he at least sing the song that is playing and not something else."

Hee, hee, hee...It's hard to argue with that.

Apparently Baby S found a nickle in his car seat.
A: Mom....Dammy bound a doin. Ee is ucky day. Ee a ucky boy.

My A ear's weren't in place at that moment so it took me a moment to process what he was saying. Translated : Mom....Sammy found a coin. It's his lucky day. He's a lucky boy. A then leaned back in his seat smiling at his brother's good fortune.

Yes, he is a "ucky" boy. I'm pretty "ucky" too.
Are all of you feeling "Ucky" today?

My pity party

I had a little sad moment yesterday with my SID/apraxia kid, A. Thursdays have been rough for a few weeks. Mainly because we get such discouraging news on Wednesday's therapy and I spend Thursday trying to implement some new thing that was suggested.

Yesterday, I decided that it was time to drag out my Easy Does it For Apraxia and start all over at the beginning...even making a new notebook.

That's where the sad moment comes in.

A was trying to color in the turtle to go on the cover of his notebook. He was trying to hold the marker the way Miss Beth showed him...and having great difficulty. He even made sure he used his "helper hand." But it was very hard for him to color in entirely and he went out of the lines...a lot.

I told him he was doing a good job.

We wailed..."No, I'm not. Look." and pointed out his mistakes.

I told him that we were going to cut it out so no one would see that part.

He's almost 4 and he can't color. And it bothers him.

sigh

He was finally proud of his work, once I cut out the turtle and glued it on is notebook. So, it turned out ok for him.

I went to the toy store and bought some coloring books with black backgrounds. Now if he goes out of the lines, it won't show up. He needs some successes.

So what does a SID child "look" like?

And is there a "normal" SID child?
These questions was posed by a mom who is wondering what her and her child's futures hold.
neither is easy to answer.

SID kids are as individual as every other child. They all have different issues. We parents tend to get together and the conversation goes like this: "Does your son do XYZ? Mine does too! What about ABC? No, But a friend of mine's daughter does and she does EFG also. What can you do to help her with that?"

We're all pretty clueless. Grasping out for any little shred of information. The doctors and the therapists are in that same fog with us. No one can say for sure how our children will grow up. We all just hope that they will be "normal" some day. But there are no guarantees.

So what does my SID son "look" like?
My son A is almost 4. He is hypo-sensitive and gets distracted by his need for input. It's hard for him to focus for more that a few minutes at the time. He acts a bit scatter brained. Often forgetting what was asked of him the second you stop speaking because he has problems with auditory processing.
He *seems* like a very hyperactive child. He is always moving. He wallows on everything. He touches everything with his hands, face, or feet. You can often find him face down, sprawled out on the floor, and moving like he is making a snow angel. He hates sleeping on a regular mattress. The softness doesn't give him enough sensory input. He does better on the floor or on a sturdy couch cushion. He can sleep in a bed with other people but he moves all night and creeps almost under you.
He has fine motor problems and some low muscle tone and well as global dyspraxia and apraxia of speech. That means that he can't make his muscles do the things he wants them to do. He knows what he wants to do, but can't figure out how to make it happen. He gets so frustrated at times.

He learns best by touching things.
We have wooden letters and textured numbers. We count jumps instead of pictures. I try to incorporate music into things he needs to memorize and say back. For some reason, he seems to sing better than he can speak.
He stuffs food in his mouth because he can't tell how full it is. He eats with his hands because he likes to touch the food and lacks the fine motor skills needed for utensils.
He bumps into things and people when we are out. He has trouble filtering out all the extra information in public places and gets distracted. You have to hold his hand and keep track of him or he will wander off. He speaks very loudly and has a lot of trouble modulating his volume.

He goes, and goes, and goes until he just falls asleep. And he eats all. day. long. That boy can put away some food.

But he's also loving and so affectionate. He's funny and smart. Even when we can't quite understand his speech, he never gets angry. He just looks at us like *we* are the silliest people in the world and starts gesturing to help our feeble minds put it all together. He is confident and happy and strong. Have I mentioned how smart he is? I am sometimes amazed at the ideas he puts out. Then I'm embarrassed at being amazed that he is so intelligent because I realize that I assumed he wasn't.

I wonder if I could be as strong and patient and determined as he is if I were him.

How will I teach him to read? How will I teach him math? Will he have problems spelling? Will he have problems writing? Will he be successful? Will he be "normal" one day?

I don't know. I don't know what "magic curriculum" will be the answer to his needs. But whatever he needs, we'll do our very best to provide.

Of course, I'm always thankful he is who and what he is. I don't know what pattern his string forms in God's tapestry. But I do know he adds something beautiful.

Getting all Hoity Toity

I've been on a spending spree. Yep. 2 years of tax returns will do that to you.
I'm fixing up the nest and making plans to take the boys to Disney World.

The new furniture is divine. I've already had the professional cleaning guy come out to take care of a spot. I t's going to be a looooooong five years for that man. (snicker)

The living room is looking spiffy but the fish tank was looking too small for Oscar, Elmo, and Comso. So I bought a new 20 gallon tank and all the accoutrements for fish living for the larger tank.
Now everyone is all comfy.

Then ZooDad decided that we have been neglecting the boys in social awareness and video game "savy-ness." Hmmm...These boys have computer games, an old Nintendo 64, and PSone, and THREE gameboys. I wouldn't call them neglected. But ZooDad was armed with the latest report that video games help children learn to multitask, a skill that ZooDad lacks and will readily admit. Since we have two children with fine-motor problems and issues with hand-eye coordination...I thought we could kill two birds with one stone.

We are now the proud owners of a new Game Cube and several games, including Zelda and Animal Crossing. Both games require a good bit of thinking and reasoning.
No wars have broken out and everyone is sharing quite nicely. When they've "gamed out" they go out side and play.
Cool
And ZooDad and I get to play too. I consider it marital counseling when you get to shoot down your spouse in aerial combat. Get that aggression out!

Then I went to this store called Tuesday Morning. They sell overstock house decorating stuff at discount prices. ZooDad came along and helped pick out a fancy schmancy new comforter set for our big rice bed and I fell in love with some butterscotch colored 600 count sheets for a steal. They just happened to match the comforter set.
Oh, these sheets are heavenly. ZooDad keeps trying to send me back to buy another set. The man is now spoiled rotten.

Now, I'm making plans to replace the cracked tile in our tiny foyer and then tile our bathroom. It currently has carpet. It also has three very large wall mirrors. Now before you judge, I am not responsible for the carpet and mirrored walls being originally placed in the room. I have lived with them for over 6 years though...so I do have to take blame for allowing them to stay in existence.
There is also the bad wallpaper and the 80's ball lights to replace.

Then I want to tile the kitchen and laundry, paint or restain cabinets, and paint every other wall in the whole darn house. Oh, I promised the boys I'd do something with their bathroom. The brown floral 80's wallpaper has got to go. But I'm starting to love that yellow linoleum in there. I'm thinking of a retro style bathroom...without flowers.

Oh yes...I'm fixing up the nest. School is on the backburner until the end of July.

Y'all send me your Wonder Woman vibes, o'kay? If you're in town...feel free to drop by and watch...or maybe help.

Aaaaah-choooo

The dust is killing me. I spent the day chasing dust bunnies and digging legos and hot wheels from the old furniture cushions.

The new furniture arrives tomorrow. We we bought it, they told us it would be at least two weeks and possibly three. It's been five days. ZooDad is so thrilled about finally getting a recliner. He is planning a power nap tomorrow, ASAP.
Here's what coming.

I had planned to paint the room before the new furniture arrived. That didn't happen.
We did get all the old furniture out except what's staying. I also dusted and scrubbed everything else and replaced the broken shelves in my curio cabinet.

I also found a great idea for the two littlest boys. They have had a ball playing with the old seat cushions. They have stacked them and jumped into them. They have built forts and hide-aways. They have jumped on them like stepping stones.

So I called a local upholstery shop and ordered some cushion foam and I will make covers for them. Then I can just keep them stacked in the corner like giant building blocks for creative little people. On the plus side...they can also be extra seating and sleepover palates.

I would just use the old cushions....but that poor couch has just not survived 4 boys very well. I was thrilled to get those stinky things out to the house. The couches..not the boys. LOL