Well, for step one of our plan to get everyone outside more. We made it out of town for a few hours and had our field trip to Stubb Stewart State Park.
But first, Head Start and EI
EI person is useless. That is all there is to say about that. She is nice, she means well, but as far as a SPL, she is kind of a dud. I need to keep that avenue open, though, because the jury is still out on how to best serve Avery and I want my options to be open. She is completely harmless, so it isn’t like it will kill us, it just doesn’t do anything for us. Thank GOD I have a lot of behaviorism and a lot of augmentative communication and a bit of speech/language pathology under my belt. I’m basically doing my own therapy.
Also simultaneously had Head Start teacher. She and Avery did some pretend play in the kitchen. He is warming up to her and she interests him. (He completely doesn’t give a shit about EI person.) That was fine, but both of us were tired after nearly two hours of that. I think it is all the intense scrutiny. I think he feels it. When they go, he just wants to go play by himself in his room.
So, anyway, that was morning. Afternoon was Stub Stewart. We had a choice of either going at 7:30 am to 4:30 pm or going from 1:30. I thought the whole day would kill us and was even worried about having enough to fill 3 hours. But now I wish we would have gone the whole day. The time really wasn’t long enough and I was so paranoid about not going too far so we wouldn’t miss the bus. If we missed it, we would have been stuck there all night. (Or we would have had to call a very expensive cab.) I did have 3G out there and I can call a cab through the Magicab app, so it isn’t that dangerous for us to go out there, but still. Also, I think we need more time to just chill and relax.
So, the goal was sort of a recon mission. Can we get there ok? (Yes. No problem at all.) Do we like it there? (Yes. kids finally did relax and had fun. And we didn’t even explore 1/10th of the park.) Could we camp there? (Probably yes, with some high level of strategizing. We would have to carry our stuff about a mile up hill on a paved road to get to the cabins. It is POSSIBLE, but would we die doing it? We will have to see how little we can pack. The cabins have beds with no sheets, electricity and heat, but that is it.) Is this something we want to do again and spend more time? (Unanimous yes on that one, even proxy-ing for Sully and Avery’s vote. Everyone wants to go again.)
Probably next time we will go for a day trip and find Rock Creek, which was too far for us today. This might be something we can carry over to spring, I’m not doing winter camping. However, the cool thing about CC Rider going there is that you can just get up one sunny day and decide to go. You don’t have to arrange ahead for rides.
I need to do more (as Jill would say) Heartwarming Nature Crap with them because they were so whiney and wimpy at first. Drove me bananas with how tired they were and we were going to get lost and whatever. Ye of little faith in their blind parents’ ability to not get them lost in the woods! I finally stopped at a playground at a campgrounds, thinking, we came all this way for them to play on a playground? But I think it was a familiar thing for them and helped transition them to just chilling out and being in the moment. After the playground, they were a lot better. They started noticing birds and trees and sunsets and scenic views and caterpillars. Its like if you can just get them through the first hour and get them to loosen up, they are perfectly happy walking and hiking and stuff. Weather was really good today so that certainly helped. I think if we go back and it is somewhat familiar to them now, they will not be so anxiety ridden about it. But for a first-time try out, it went well and I think we can move forward now to more adventurous things.
Pictures!
Waiting at Willow Creek Transit Center for the CCR bus.
Making everyone calm the hell down at the playground. Well, Avery was fine. He didn't complain.
Tot lot was a train engine. Big kids liked this one better and Avery liked the big one better because it had a steering wheel.
Aaron was SO HOT and mad because I made him bring his jacket, until he was cold and needed it.
Steering Wheel!
Naim told me to take a picture of the beautiful trees.
Snack time! They wanted it right when they got there but I made them wait till 3:00.
Naim over explaining navigation to me.
Trying a shortcut to the cabins, we went up a very steep hill. I think we will take the road to haul our stuff up.
Avery was very happy there. He liked to touch the grass and ferns.
Aaron wants to come back and watch the sunset.
Crazeee Dog! Off-leash area.
Fetch!
Avery's favorite toy is his stroller, which is very convenient when we are waiting for the bus.
Aaron called this rock "Mt. Everest for Ants."
On the bus on the way home. They said this bus was like the airplane but without wings and on the ground.
Naim is reading the literature he picked up from the park ranger kiosk.
Avery, asleep on my arm. It doesn't seem weird to hold him on the city buses without a car seat, I do it all the time. And even though transit and cabs are exempt from carseat rules, it always freaks my out a little to have him there with no carseat. He has a lap belt here. He was probably fairly safe, but still...
I forgot a thingy from the other day. Nik heard a loud crash and asked me to check outside, but I didn’t see or hear anything (deaf blind for ya). But Naim came out and he saw the car. So we went back inside and told Nik to call 911, and then I was going to go check, but I didn’t want to take Naim in case it was bad. By that time, someone had already called and the police were driving up. It was a good opportunity to talk about 911 and emergency procedures and stuff. And helping if there is no other help there, but staying out of the way when the police or ambulance are there. Another little emergency we had was D walked the kids home late one night and drove off the sidewalk and got stuck in mud. He sent Naim to our house to get help while Aaron stayed there. Naim was very proud that he ran all the way down the dark alley by himself (he does NOT like the alley at night.) He couldn’t get into the garage so he came around the front, and then Nik and I went down there and pulled D out of the mud. He’s pretty good in a “crisis.”
Car Crash. Injuries were minor, I heard.
Filed under: Communication, Early Intervention, Fieldtrips, Health and Medical, Physical Education, Science, Uncategorized | Tagged: Early Intervention, Ecology, Emergencies, Head Start, nature, Stubb Stewart | Leave a comment »
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