Mason's Day at the National Ability Center

This past Saturday we had the opportunity to go to the National Ability Center.  It was quite an amazing experience for our family.  I was very emotional watching my kids, and mostly Mason participating in things that are not very easy for him to do.  They have adapted all of the activities for special needs.  Mason LOVED this place.  He was a bit leery of the rock wall at first, but we just had to spend some time getting over the echoing room.

 They put him in a harness and started to pull him upward.  He was startled by the sensation at first, but then he started to giggle.  The rest of the family was at home attending other events for the first half of the day.  I am so happy that they were able to meet up with us for the second half!

 Once he got going, Mason really didn't want to come down.  He was having a great time.  It was such a different sensation for him I'm sure!

 After the climbing wall we went to a big teeter totter thing and had to balance our entire group on a platform while our 'guide' sang "row, row, row your boat" the entire way through.  It was pretty funny.  Mason loved when we couldn't balance and crashed on either end.  Hilarious.  Then we walked over the the draw bridge thing.  We had to cross with our eyes closed.  It was a lot of fun.  The ramp coming down reminded me a lot of the ramps we saw in Ukraine..  Only this make-shift wooden one was much safer!

 After lunch I swapped groups so that Mason could ride the horses.  He didn't like the indoor sound, but once he was on the horse and they all got a feel for each other he had a good time.  It was so darling to watch him on a horse.  He loved it.  I wish he could have had a longer turn.

 I don't really think he was too ready to get down.  It was a great stretch for his little stiff legs to straddle that horse too!

 The part of the day I was most excited about was the adaptive bikes.  I have to admit I was a tad disappointed that they didn't have the exact perfect bike for Mason, but I am a realistic person and perfect for Mason has to be completely custom made.  That's why we spent about 15 minutes trying to customize the bike that seemed like it would be the best for him.  It was awesome.  The people in the bike shop were amazing and very happy to try anything to get Mason riding a bike.

 It was a huge success.  He LOVED the bike.  We did this the longest.  He was in heaven.  He would have ridden that trike all day long if his darn feet would have stayed in the pedals.  It only made me want a bike that much more.  His legs got the greatest workout!  He laughed and laughed.  I have to figure out how to come up with three grand to get a bike for my Mason!~

 What a great day.  Look at his smile.  He loved his day of adventures.

 Finally the rest of the family showed up.  They had to wait at home for Ethan's baseball game, but mostly for Victoria to come home from Youth Conference.  She was not thrilled to get out of a car from a long drive, and into another car for another long drive.  She made sure that everyone around knew just how miserable she was!  Ezra and Ethan on the other hand jumped right in and had a great time.  Ezra found a hand bike that he wouldn't get off of.  He was pretty good at moving that little thing too.

 Ethan picked a hand bike and he was really good at it.  He kept saying, "Mom, I have got to get one of these bikes.  It is awesome."  It sure was awesome.

 The boys loved that they all could ride bikes together.  A first.  I should have gotten a picture of all three of them.  Too bad!

 After the bikes we moved on to the high ropes course.  Mason was fitted in a harness and a helmet and secured in a little sling and sent up about 20 feet in the air to swing.  He was fine with it all and love to just lick the ropes clean.  What a fun thing for him to do!.

 Ethan was anxious for his turn and when I came over to see him he was harnessed and talking to one of the people who run the course.  Andy (the really nice guy who helped us) had talked to Ethan about trying the 40 foot high wire walk.  You simply climb a telephone pole and exit at 40 feet using these little hanging ropes to keep your balance as you walk across.  It took absolutely zero encouragement from anyone to get Ethan up there.  In fact, Spencer wasn't really around when he was being told what to do and when he was climbing at one point Spen said, 'hey Ethan, that's good enough~"  but then he was brought up to speed on where Ethan was actually headed.  We were amazed by how determined Ethan was to do that.  I love that nobody even had to convince him that he could.  He simply knew he could do it, it looked fun, and he did!

 You have to look close to find little Ethan in this picture..  Yes, he's there.  Almost to the other side.

 Of course as Ethan was braving the ropes Ezra was suiting up for his turn.  He was the same way and just decided what he wanted to do and found a guy to help him.  He climbed up about 10 feet on his own with only the guides helping him.  Then Ethan stepped in and asked if he wanted to try it again with Ethan this time.  Of course he did.

 With Ethan on the ropes he was more confident.  He never really got scared either time on the cargo net.  He followed Ethan up the entire way.  It was high too!  The guides were just giddy watching him.  Nobody could believe that a 2 year old was doing it on his own!  He is now a legend.  I'm so proud.

 These are my boys!  Approaching the platform.

 They made it and could barely be bothered getting their picture taken.  They were too busy waving to the crowd of admirers who had gathered.  It was fun to overhear the comments about how brave and darling Ezra was, and how sweet and compassionate Ethan was.  They were celebrities.

 Now to come down.  That was the part where Ezra realized he hadn't thought this through completely.  One of the guides climbed up eventually and talked Ezra through it and he came down happily and willingly.  It was cute.

It really was a day that I will never forget.  I wish that Victoria would have participated so there were fun pictures and stories of her to share!  I was shocked that she didn't even want to ride the horse.  But I suppose, she is a horse a lot of the time so that may not be such a fun thing for her!  The important thing for me was that Mason had a wonderful adventure.  Today was all about Mason for me and I am so thankful there are places like this that give him these amazing opportunities.  Two months ago I stood in awe of a country that couldn't really accommodate a person to patronize a bank or a mall, let alone be suspended on a ropes course or ride bikes or horses!  We live in an amazing place with amazing people to give us such opportunities.  Mason really had a day I will never forget. 

Walmart Rides~

The best reward I could ever give this kid for being good at Walmart is a ride on one of the trucks, or trains, or planes after we checkout.  He had been eyeing the Bob the Builder truck for a while and was so happy to finally get to ride in it.  He climbed in and drove and drove.  I went to put in my money and of course the dang thing was broken and it was the last of my change!  I felt so sad to not get to see him ride the truck.  He on the other hand was totally happy to just get a ride and to drive the truck himself.  I should have saved my money.

Back to the Sleeping Pictures~

It's been a while, so I had to post some sleeping pictures.  Ezra is still young enough that he is so funny to check on to see how he is sleeping.  He fights going to sleep everyday for naps and every night for bed.  He is definately like all of our other kids.  He does sleep in the car sometimes though.  It's pretty funny.

 This day he refused to nap.  He cried and cried when I put him in his bed.  He told me that he wasn't tired and he wanted to "go and play with his friends, not nap."  He beat on the doors for a while and after it got quiet I went to check on him and it turns out he was tired afterall!  One thing is for sure, he loves his blankies.

 Since Victoria came home and took over Ezra's room, Ezra has been sharing with Mason.  He doesn't like Mason's room and tells me all the time that he is scared of it.  I don't know why, but he hasn't changed his tune in 2 months.  He has a little fire truck bed that he sleeps in and seems to like it all the time except for bedtime.  He has started to join Mason in his bed at night.  He likes to get up and play with Mason at nap time and feels more secure sleeping with Mason.  Of course, Mason absolutely loves the company and giggles when Ezra climbs in bed with him.  I think it's just sweet.  Ezra also tucks Mason in with all of his stuffed animals and sometimes he will even share his blankies.  That is big.

Lunch Date~

For years Ethan has called my dad and asked him to take him out to lunch.  Our later school schedule has made that hard for Ethan to get any real time to call and hang out with his Grampy.  Ezra however, has taken his turn in calling Grampy for lunch dates.  The last week of school we were able to go out and enjoy a kids meal with Grampy.  The funny part of this is that it was completely Ezra's idea, he called and asked Grampy, and he picked the place.  It was darling.

 The best part was that the toy in his kid's meal was a bucket you put on his head and a ball that I got to throw at him.  He thought it was funny.  I thought it was hilarious!

Mason's Recognition Day - Last day of School~

The last 'real' day of school I was able to go with our whole family to Mason's school to hear his teachers talk about the year and recognize the kids for all of their accomplishments.  Mason's classroom is a class called 'Life Skills.'  He is in a small classroom with kids who attend 1st through 6th grade and have extra needs at school.  He LOVES school.  I can't say I blame him.  He has so many great and amazing people who adore him working with him everyday.  This is his Communication Intervener.

 This is our Ricci.  We love Ricci.  She is the saint who stayed with Mason and Ethan while Spencer and I were both in Ukraine.  She and her husband are two very amazing people.  They are wonderful and my kids all adore them.

 This is Mary.  She is in Mason's class and she has a little sweet spot for Mason.  You can tell he feels the same.  They are best friends and from what I hear she makes sure he always has a friend closeby.  She is so darling with him.  I tear up watching them together.

 At last the best of all the game, here is his teacher.  She deserves so much recognition for the things she does for all of these kids.  They love her.  One of the boys cried and was so upset that school was over and just hugged her and held her.  She cares about these kids and what is best for them and is very aware of each of them and their special needs in the classroom.  I have been so grateful to have her this year.  Mason has done so well and I know that he is in the best hands possible when he is at school.  We love Miss Dian.  Mason misses her already.

Giving Ez a Bath~

I mentioned how Victoria is a broken record telling me how bored she is, didn't I?  Well, that is pretty much all I hear these days.  Even if we are in the middle of eating dinner I get to hear the Vika broken record saying, "mne-scouchna" over and over and over again.  It doesn't really to the annoyance of it justice without imagining the whining and the "Maaam" attached to it.  The worst part is that she knows how dang irritating it is and she plays on it totally.  She thinks she is hilarious.  I do not. 
There was one day when I was taking care of a million things and she was following me around to inform me of how bored she was so I gave her a quest.  Bathe Ezra.  "NOOOO Maam!  NO!"  "oh yes, Victoria, yes."  I was close by and she stayed in there with him.  He loved that.  He was in absolute heaven with having her there.

 He thought soaking her was the greatest thing ever.  I thought it was pretty funny too.  She complained afterward, but you can tell that she wasn't too miserable.  It's hard to be grumpy when you have someone as darling as Ezra worshipping you!  He was so excited to have 'Fika' helping him that he couldn't talk about it enough.  She made sure that I knew how wet she was, (trying not to laugh while doing so!)  It was priceless.

Memorial Day weekend~

What a crazy weekend!~ Honestly I am freaking out over summer. I normally am so excited for the kids to be home and for the sun and the time to play with friends and do all sorts of summery things. Not this year! I have a daughter who follows me around telling me that she is bored ALL DAY LONG!~ I am not joking or over exaggerating about this one. It is seriously all day. The SECOND she finishes eating her dinner I get, "Mom, me-scoochna" i.e. "Mom, I'm bored." arghhh! Honestly we need a hobby.
I was a bit concerned about Memorial weekend and it could have been worse, but it was a headache. We went to a few movies this weekend at the dollar theaters and that saved us. Thank heavens there is at least one activity that all four of my children can agree that they enjoy. The best part is that they all agree on the movie choice.

Victoria thought it was great that we went and saw Rio. That was the movie we saw in Kyiv with her brother before coming here. She thought it was absolutely hilarious that the first time we saw it together it was in Russian and I didn't understand it, but the second time we saw it together it was in English and she didn't understand it! Hilarious.
On Monday we started the freezing morning off headed to the cemetery where my grandpa on my dad's side is buried. It's a big gathering of aunts and uncles and cousins so I decided to take Ethan and Victoria. Ethan was excited about going until Victoria started complaining. That is my biggest pet peeve currently - my younger kids behaviors regressing and copying her! She taught Ezra how to throw a temper tantrum and how to tell me "no." Not cool. Anyway, Ethan got all grumpy about going until I told him that I'd stop and get them drinks at the gas station. That is a very rare thing around here and really pumped him up about coming along. It was so cold that I honestly wasn't looking forward to spending a lot of time there, but I was happy that the timing worked out that we could go this year. Once we left and were driving things were fine. She was content listening to that blasted phone of hers and that one headphone she has. It is so irritating to me to finally understand the frustration of having a teenager wanting to be 'plugged in' all the time. It was a pretty long drive, so I figured I'd give her that. I would interrupt her and try to chat with her. Ethan ended up riding there with my parents and my grandma so it was just the two of us.

She has this thing lately where she pretends she is an animal when she is frustrated by something. (That is irritating too.) But lately when we ask her to do something she makes the sound like a horse so we have called her a Victoria horse. When we passed a pasture of horses I got all excited and shook her to get her attention saying, "look!! It's you!" She laughed and got a bit more interactive. She saw another field of horses and said, "mommy, it's my friends!" Maybe one of those 'you had to be there moments' but it was funny. She was very nice and willing to meet anyone I introduced her to. Thank heavens. That one can go either way usually!