Picture Overload

Hard to believe Summer is starting to wind down.  Within 2 weeks the boys will be heading back to school.  Easton will be starting 2nd grade, Christian and Charlie will be starting 1st grade.  We've been a little distant this Summer as we focused on the boys and had many adventures.  

CAMPING

We've had several camping trips this Summer with either friends or family.  Each trip was fun and adventurous.  We've had camping trips with friends with tubing on a river, swimming (even Sunny got to go swimming!), riding on golf carts, catching tadpoles, playing soccer, and making messy s'mores.  

Swimming in the river
P.S. Sunny LOVES to splash

Sunny had a wonderful bath after this camping trip- she slept in the dirt as much as she could

 We've started having Charlie walk Sunny (when appropriate) so Sunny can get used to Charlie being her handler.  We do this with either Tyler or I in close proximity to help when needed.  We know this is super early to be doing this and we don't expect Charlie to become her handler until several years down the road, but it doesn't hurt to start practicing early.  And actually, Sunny does better walking with Charlie than she does with Tyler or I handling her!

catching tadpoles

Sleeping in the camper is so much better with Sunny by his side

2 peas in a pod- taking a break from the heat

We had camping trips with family that included trips to the nearby park, fishing, hiking, and riding bike.  Both Christian and Charlie learned to ride 2-wheeled bikes this Summer....there's no looking back now!

 It's pretty clear that Sunny has gotten the hang of this whole camping thing.  She loves to lounge by the fire at night and go on adventures during the day.  Of course, there are plenty of times Sunny has had to keep busy with her work with Charlie during camping weekends, too.

DAY TRIPS

We've also had plenty of fun day trips the last several weeks as well!!  We attempted the Minnesota Zoo one evening in early Summer.  It was the boys' first time there and they loved seeing all the different animals

 We spent an evening in Rochester at the Hot Air Balloon Festival.  We watched as 10 hot air balloons were set up and filled.  And then we got to watch them all take off.  The balloons came back near dusk to set up again and then lit up the night sky as they glowed.

 We spent an afternoon at a summer festival at a local christian camp where they had bounce houses, fire trucks, live music, food and tons of fun.

Sunny does amazing on our outings. She is nothing short of a true lady out in public

 Each year in July we head over to the annual antique tractor show.  The boys absolutely love going and finding their favorite tractor at the show.  This year it was the John Deere showcase.

VACATION

We also had a family vacation this Summer where we spent a week in Iowa.  We started the week in West Bend Iowa to show the boys The Grotto of Redemption.  They really liked seeing this huge structure built entirely out of different stones/rocks from around the world.  We made a pit stop on the way there to see the Buddy Holly memorial site.

Top of the Grotto

Milkshakes for breakfast!

From West Bend we headed over to Okoboji, Iowa where we camped at Emerson Bay Recreational Area.  We enjoyed time on the lake, at the beach and a full day at Arnold's Park- an amusement park.

 We opened the park at 10am and stayed until it closed at 9pm.  We had no intention of closing the park, but we were all having so much fun, we just couldn't pry the boys away.

They loved the mini rollercoaster!

And Easton couldn't get enough of the big rollercoaster!

Sunny even got in on the action and rode the ferris wheel with us!

We spent the morning at the amusement park and then headed back to the campground to grab some lunch.  We told the boys that if they had some quiet time, we could go back to the amusement park and do a few more rides.  We headed back intending to only stay a couple hours, but we were all having so much fun it was dinner time before we knew it.  We went back to the parking lot to take a quick rest, rehydrate and decide on dinner plans.  After having dinner on site, we went back in to the amusement park and rode rides again until the park closed.  Needless to say, we had some exhausted parents on our hands ;)

The last day of our trip we had a water day.  Spent some time at the beach and then found a splash pad to cool off at.  We ended the day with some much needed ice cream.

Yep, we're choosing to post the highlights, the fun times, the happy moments.  That's the awesome thing about the internet, right?  We can give people the version of our lives we want them to see.  We can maybe almost make it seem like we have the perfect life, right?  Well, this blog isn't the place where we want to be fake.  This is the spot where we tell it like it is, where we aren't afraid to show people the life that we live.  

Yes, we've had some fun times this Summer. And we've made some pretty awesome memories. But overall, it's been a tough Summer.  As much as we try to plan everything out, have a game plan and prep everyone for what our adventures will look like, there's always something that doesn't go as planned.  Unstructured days give way to hours of meltdowns.  If we don't plan our car rides out perfectly and take just the right amount of breaks, the rest of the day is shot.  We need to be watchful and look for even the slightest sign that some down time is needed.  It's kind of like being a wizard and have the ability to see things before they even happen.  But of course, we aren't wizards and we can't predict every moment.  There are times when we don't even know what sets off an Autism meltdown.  If you've never seen a meltdown, think of a typical temper tantrum hyped up on 10 cups of espresso, that hasn't slept in a week, on steroids....that is a meltdown.  

But we keep going.  We don't give up.  Because giving our boys these experiences are important to us and we don't want them to miss out.  So we'll deal with a million meltdowns (even in public) so we can have a sliver of a typical family life.