So sad to see it end....

Thursday was the last day of Camp Pocahontas.  As was said before, it was an Amazing Experience.  Those capital letters are intentional, if not grammatically correct.  Ian has been in a lot of wonderful programs, but this one stands out from the rest!

Becky with a bunny

Every morning I dropped him off, he transitioned right into the classroom and settled in with no problems.  Every afternoon I picked him up, he seemed sorry to go but did not have any problem leaving.  He attended every event with few, if any, problems.  They went bowling, swimming, canoeing, and rock wall climbing.  They also visited a gymnastics place for tumbling and jumping on a trampoline, the Science Museum of Virginia, and the movies for a showing of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

  The counselors in his group were the BEST!   Kirsten was the coordinator, and Becky, Cathy, Billy, Cindy and Jess were her helpers.  They were honestly sad to see the camp end, and Jess (who I suspect Ian had a crush on) told me that she wanted to take him with her to Tech and make him a little Hokie!  (I know Laurie Bald will be happy to read that!)

Jess shows Ian a baby goat

He was in a group of five children, 3 girls and 2 boys.  He made buddies with the other boy, Kameron, and he was a favorite of one of the girls who seemed to think he was cute.   By the end of the session, I would hear, "There's Ian's mom!" from several of the kids when I came to pick him up.

The classroom door

Cindy, Billy, Becky and Kirsten welcome Ian

Becky and a bunny

Ian pets a snake at the Animal Show

On the last day, the parents were all invited to join the campers for an Animal Show.  I almost wish they had done this at the beginning because I met so many wonderful parents after waving hello for 4 weeks.  The show was amazing and Ian did very well in spite of the noise and all the people.  I was concerned that he would want to leave once he saw me, but he was a champ and we stayed and watched a slide show of all their activities (fun!) and had a pot luck lunch with pizza.  During all the sit-down time, the counselors sat among the campers and parents and that made it even more special.  God bless these caring and compassionate people!  Every parent I spoke to could not have been happier with the program.

The duck at the Animal Show really was loud!

So, camp is over until next summer.  Yesterday Ian woke up and said "Fun at camp?" and I was so sorry to tell him no, camp is all done.  But what great memories we have!

Funny "hats" and food wars

Our weather has been absolutely beautiful the last few days, so Ian and I have been having dinner on our deck.  While we were waiting for it to cook, I did a crossword puzzle and Ian decided to use several things as hats.  He started with the napkin holder, but I didn't have my camera handy at that point.  Then he used the food screens and had a good time smiling for the camera.  It was all good....for awhile.


Then I brought his dinner out.  It was french fries and meatballs.  Turkey meatballs.

He has had meatballs before, but it's been awhile and he wolfed down the fries and pronounced the dreaded "All done!" without even trying the meatballs.  I could see those little heels digging in, but my heels are bigger and I decided to dig in too!

He got up to go inside, but since he has not mastered our screen door he was stuck.  I told him if he took ONE BITE of the meatballs I would open the door for him.  He sat down and seemed ready to prepare for a siege.

The siege begins

I returned to my crossword puzzle and ignored him for awhile.  Then I repeated "the deal" several more times.  He finally budged and came over to the table and plopped himself down.  A lone tear trickled dramatically down his face and he lifted the dreaded meatball with pure trepidation.  It reminded me of Survivor when they used to eat disgusting things for challenges.  Such drama!

I can't believe you're making me eat this!

The most pitiful face ever

It's not bad but I can't tell her that

I'm cute but I'm evil-ha ha ha!

You use it to cover food, but to me it's a hat!

Finally, he took a bite and burst out laughing.  I briefly considered making him eat more, but decided to call it a day and take my victory.  I may have won that battle, but the food wars rage on.....

Being silly

"He is having a great experience!"

The title for this post is in quotation marks because this is what the leader of Ian's camp group told me when I picked him up today.

Wow!

I was kind of nervous about today's activity.  The kids were going to the movies at a local cineplex (not my favorite) and I was concerned about how Ian would do with the crowds, the noise (especially during the trailers), and seeing a movie he was not familiar with.  When I came into the room to get him, the leader immediately said, "He had so much fun!"  Two of the aides looked up and agreed with her and praised his behavior as well.  When  we left, after deciding Ian could bring home his Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head picture, I was grinning ear to ear.

Yesterday Art on Wheels was the activity, and even though that's not Ian's favorite thing, he was happy to show me, and bring home, a decorated foam visor and a few pictures.  Whether he does the work or not, he seems very proud to give me these things and that is an improvement.  Before he could have cared less!

These days at camp are fun for him, but I think he gets tired too.  When I bring him home, I give him a light lunch and let him chill out awhile before we do other things in the late afternoon.  He has no interest in me taking his picture, as can be seen here!

Vivo Summer Session

Vivo is Ian's music class.  For the summer session, it meets on Monday evenings at 6:00.  We have a routine for this.  We leave the house around 5:30 to allow for evening traffic and we usually arrive a few minutes early.  We go in the building (the basement of a very nice church in the more "upscale" part of town) and sit down and wait until the students are called into the classroom.

Ian walking into class

For this session there are some new faces.  Ian is the "veteran" of the group since he is the only one who has done it before.   The new students are Lucy, Elizabeth, Zach and Neil.  As a group, they are very well behaved and attentive and have a wide range of abilities.  Now that he has gotten used to Vivo, Ian seems to enjoy spending time with the other children as well as trying out the instruments more.

Elizabeth

During the class, instruction is led by Heidi and her helpers are Jamaila and Mary Beth.  Everyone is great with the kids and they have very interesting musical backgrounds themselves.  The moms/dads/grandmothers wait outside the classroom and occasionally peek through the class to see how their children are doing.  We also have some good conversations and share information.  Last night we talked about Donna's trip to China to bring Elizabeth to the U.S. as well as a drive-in movie theater in Goochland.  Needless to say, the topics can vary widely!

Waiting for the kids

At the end, the children come spilling out, giggling and running and chatting.  That is about my favorite moment, to see my little guy as part of a happy group that has just had a good time.  We love Vivo!

Camp is still going well

Ian continues to do well at camp.  However, when I went to pick him up today, I saw him hit at and kick at the teacher.  She said it was the first time he'd done it, and that he had a very good day otherwise.  He also stopped immediately as she and I transitioned him out of the room, and that's a big improvement.

The kids have had a busy week!  Monday they went swimming.  Tuesday the Art on Wheels came.  Yesterday they went to CORE Kids for gymnastics fun. (Ian especially loved the trampoline and had a wonderful time) and tie dyed shirts.   Today they went to a place called Armor House out in the East End.  They did some crafts (the one he brought home is shown below) and some things in the garden there and never got around to the water activities that were scheduled but Ian did okay.  Tomorrow they will go to Three Lakes park and go out in canoes.

After camp, we had an appointment with Dr. Mead, who manages Ian's medications.  I treated Ian to a trip to Target, where he picked out a Curious George DVD as a treat for doing so well at camp.  He has been a real superstar all week long....

Farmer's Market....check!

Today we "conquered" another local institution; the Lakeside Farmer's Market.

We are very lucky to have a twice-weekly farmer's market very close to our home.  I've been trying to go on Wednesdays while Ian was at school or camp, but it doesn't always work out.  A few weeks ago, I took him with me on a very busy Saturday morning.  We got as far as the gate, and he would not go further.  So, taking a cue from one of his former teachers, I decided we would do it incrementally and we left.  Wednesdays are a lot quieter since they have longer hours, so we tried again today.

When we got there, Ian immediately started resisting.  He didn't want to get out of the car, didn't want to walk over to the market etc.  But I kept patiently and persistently nudging him along.  Fortunately it's a small space, so we went in, I quickly got 4 ears of corn, and we were done!  He carried the bag (good to have hands busy and a job to do) and even waited very nicely while someone stopped me to fill out a survey.

So proud of Ian!  He is just having the best summer!

I love my boy, but he is not an artist....