Camping trips with Mormor & Morfar...

Oliver was able to take a camping trip with Mormor and Morfar this summer. I heard that he had a blast. Some friends of Mormor's had a dog and Oliver quickly decided that the dog was the best dog ever. He spent plenty of time snuggling with the dog.

I heard they went on a few hikes and saw buffalo. Oliver even got a new sweatshirt which he wears all the time now!

Lucius went on his camping trip with Mormor and Morfar a few weeks before Oliver's trip. Lucius and his cousin Carl went together and I heard they were the best of buddies.

Lucius last baseball games...

Lucius LOVED playing baseball again this summer. It did seem to go on forever and with Soccer on all the nights that he didn't have baseball I think our only free evening was Fridays. Soccer and Baseball were also on the weekends as well, which meant it was a very long and busy start to our evenings this summer. But it was mostly worth it because the JOY Lucius finds playing sports. The bonus is that his bestest friend played on his team this year. They are quite the cutest pair of little buddies ever.

After they finished their last game of the season, Lucius and his buddy were chosen to play in the "allstar" game. Two players from every team in the league were picked to make up two new teams to play against each other for a fun way to end the season. Since Lucius and his buddy were the two oldest, and probably most experienced on their team, their coach gave them the honor of playing. They were thrilled. They played on opposite teams and were crazy competitive about it. Here's Lucius playing first base while his buddy is the runner on first base!

I don't remember exactly what happened but I think Lucius's team won and his buddy was in tears at the end of the game. I think he blamed himself for losing the game for his team. Lucius was such a sweetheart and tried so hard to cheer him up!

Another friend on Lucius' team had a birthday party and took them all to a twins game. They all wore their baseball gear and had a blast! I got this photo in a text from the birthday boys' mom saying they were having lots of fun!

MN Zoo excursion...

Just after school let out a friend and I decided to meet up at the MN Zoo for a day time adventure. We brought a third friend along because we had an extra pass and then there was someone a little older for Oliver to spend time with. It was a warm, almost hot day with plenty of sunshine to enjoy. Lucius took his first camel ride with our younger friend (he is super sweet and made sure she stayed safe!).

Oliver was going to walk the Llama but they were on a break. We decided since we have a membership that we would just have to come back another time to walk the Llamas.

My 40th birthday...

Growing up is hard to do but these peeps have seen me through a lot, if not all of my almost 40 years. Celebrating my soon to be big birthday with family a few days early and having a blast!

On my actual birthday July 9th, I asked friends and family to come throughout the day between the hours of 9am-10pm. Now that I'm 40 I figured out that I didn't really find parties super fun. I mean they are, but if I'm hosting I always feel like everyone comes, I talk to everyone a little while and then everyone leaves. On my birthday I had friends and family stop by throughout the whole day and it was glorious!! When someone came, we were able to sit and chat and really connect- which my introverted heart absolutely loves!!

When someone left, I had just a few minutes to chill and serendipitous someone else would stop by. It really worked out like magic. Several people came and surprised me during lunch and then again another group came around dinner to a potluck. It was fantastic! My last friend stopped by around 9pm and we talked till just after 10pm. I could not have asked for a better day!

Graduating OT...

This kiddo just graduated out of OT! He was so happy, so we celebrated with an extra large Dragonfruit drink from Starbucks (instead of the ice cream I promised to get him if he actually did the evaluation in the first place).

Its been two whole years of OT and this kiddo has grown a lot. We have so many great strategies to help him, a wonderful team of supports at school and such better days knowing how to help him stay regulated. It's been a fantastic time in OT and we will dearly miss our Occupational Therapist but he is ready for the challenges ahead!

Fourth of July...

Our fourth of July played out much like several previous years. We stopped by Auntie Nell's house to celebrate with LOTS of yummy food. Lots of family were there and cousins. Then we went home to relax till the evening fireworks. We got there a bit early as usual to get a good seat and wait. Some family came to watch with us and a few friends. Then it was off home again to find our beds. Happy fourth of July!

Some days are like that...

Some days with Oliver you never quite know what will happen. A lot of days are great but ever once in a while there are really awful days when things like this happen.

This is Oliver's room after he got really mad when I asked him to turn off the video game he was playing. They had been on for quite a while and it really was a wonderful day outside. I asked them to stop playing and go outside. Little did I know that he was in the middle of the game or that he had just got a turn or something. Instead of telling me- he just started screaming and when I walked into his room I found this storm. Eventually he did clean it up but it wasn't exactly smooth sailing the rest of the day.

Some days are HARD. Really hard. I love him to pieces, I just wish we could help keep the violent outburst to a minimum. OT really helps and knowing his disorder helps, but it doesn't make everything perfect or make it all go away.