Sometimes I Actually WILL Claim Them as My Own

Some people are all syrupy and gushy when talking about their kids and when listening to those people talk you have to resist the urge to throw up a bit - at least I do.  Then you have my kind of people, the ones who are sarcastic and maybe a bit grumbly when it comes to talking about their kids.  I think us sarcastic folk love our kids just as much be we are under no delusion that they are constantly wonderful and like to have fun with the ways they cause us grief. 

That is my usual tack when talking about my kids but you are going to have to excuse me for a moment while I gush and be syrupy.  I got an email today from my oldest son's special needs teacher that had me thinking he was pretty amazing.  For those of you who are new readers and don't know us in real life, my oldest, Drew, was born with mild cerebral palsy and has some pretty significant developmental disabilities.  He struggles with academics and well, lots of things.

This week in school the 6th grade, my son's grade, has been doing a special Outdoor Education week.  Instead of staying at school, each day of this week the entire 6th grade class goes to a nearby state park where they kayak, hike, bike and rock climb with some learning thrown in.  Drew is the only kid in the 6th grade who is part of the school's significant special needs (SSN) class and yesterday as part of the instruction, the class was given a lesson on disabilities and people with disabilities. 

Drew's SSN teacher emailed me today and told me that during that discussion Drew raised his hand and told all the typical 6th grade kids what it is like to live with a disability, how learning is hard for him and how sometimes it is hard for him to say words right.  She said there was not a dry adult eye and that the kids were totally fixed on him and listening to what he had to say. 

I am so proud of him for feeling good enough about himself to share his experience and so for now, I am feeling a bit gushy. 

At least until he comes home from school and tells me I am fired or makes shooting noises until I think my head will explode. 

Able to Leap Tall Buildings in A Single Bound

from here

Amazing how my kids can come from the same genes but be so different.  My youngest child, well, that kid is practically a saint and I fully expect him to be canonized one day.  He could be the patron saint of Lego's. 

My oldest, hmph, that is another story.  He is stubborn and likes to be in charge and is very vocal about his objections to things.  No idea where he gets any of THAT from.  He is also extremely messy so at any given moment, there is some area in our house that looks like it was bombed by the Toys R Us giraffe and it needs to be cleaned up by him.  Typically, when I ask, there is a lot of grumbling before he gets down to work.  Usually, like 2 minutes will go by and he will announce that he is done.  I will go look and confirm my suspicion that our definitions of done are drastically different and set him to work once more.  This process repeats itself usually 4 or 5 times before either the area is clean or I get tired of the whole thing and decide good enough will suffice. 

Lately though, there has been a shakeup in this whole routine.  As you may or may not recall, Drew did a special needs biking program this summer and learned to ride his bike.  Every afternoon on our cul de sac, you can find any number of neighborhood kids riding up and down the street playing games on their bikes.  With his new found biking skills, Drew is finally able to join the kiddie peleton and has become practically obsessed with being out there.  So, everyday after school he comes home, throws down his backpack, announces that he doesn't need a snack, and heads out to bike.  

It only took me a few days of this happening to see how I could use this to my advantage.  Now, when he gets home, if I say, "yes, but before you go out you need to clean up your room".  He is on it in a flash and with no complaints cleans every last bit of it up without me having to go in there 900 times to tell him he isn't done yet.  This is the, by far, the best parenting thing that has happened to me in a while and I have to resist the urge to add a "mwuh, huh, huh, huh" (that would be an evil laugh) after issuing my instructions because I just feel so powerful all of the sudden.  

I don't know what I am going to do when winter comes but right now I am enjoying my new found power and my cleaner house.   

The Odd Couple - The Vizsla Version

Since adding Tucker, the second Vizsla we have ever owned, to our family we can see some definite similarities between him and Ella.  Things that must just be Vizsla-esque.  They both get the zoomies and race around the house full speed.  They are both very vocal and they both have the goofiest way of sitting on our steps, usually with the butt one level above the front legs. 

That is where the similarities end though. 

If Ella had a human incantation, I could totally picture her being a prima ballerina with a very tight bun.  Totally intense, Natalie Portman in Black Swan intense, but instead of dancing it is squirrels and birds and patrolling the yard.  She is also very particular and for a dog, she seems to have an interesting sense of propriety.  She WILL not, no matter how thirsty, stoop to drinking from the toilet, she is picky about the food she eats, and one night when, unbeknownst to us, Tucker piddled a bit on Ella's dog bed she threw a fit.  She was grumbling, pawing at the bed, dragging it with her teeth across the room and would not lay down.  Finally we turned on the lights, saw the two little dribble spots and got her something else to sleep on.

This is quintessential Ella, regal, elegant, refined.  She is also a bit aloof.  She likes to get petted but on her terms and not for too long because being too crazy about the humans would just smack of desperation.  Don't get me wrong, she has fun and can be crazy but she has standards at the same time. 

And then there is Tucker.............

I almost don't need to say more, do I? 

If Tucker had a human form, he would be a lovable slob of a tow truck driver named Frank who watches WWF wrestling with one hand down his pants and chip shrapnel all over the front of himself.  He is a complete and utter slob.  He drinks from the toilet even though his water dish is literally one foot away and then drips toilet water all over the house.  He will eat anything and has.  He is super easygoing and seems to care less about the birds and the squirrels.  He would have no qualms about sleeping on a pee dribbled bed and he is completely desperate for attention from the humans.   

In spite of their differences though, they love to play and hang out together and it seems to work.  Ella occasionally gives him a look that seems to say, "you are so gross!" but fortunately he is also so lovable.  The whole opposites attract I guess. 

Banff National Park, Eh?

We spent all of last week in Banff National Park in Canada.  Kevin and I had been there about 12 years ago before we had kids but it was the boy's first trip there.  They were both excited to see another country but I had to explain to them that unlike when we went to Europe last summer, nothing about Canada was going to seem all that different.  Different money, some French on the signs and they say "eh" a lot, otherwise kinda like home. 

While there we did lots of hiking and the boys even tackled a 7.4 mile hike, their longest distance yet, with no real complaints.  The complaining did kick in though on a lung busting, 1,000 foot elevation gain in 1 mile, hike during which we also got rained on.  I was complaining on that one too. 

The last time we were in Banff, there was a hike we wanted to do but couldn't because the trail had been closed by park rangers due to a grizzly bear tracking hikers.  On our last day this trip, we went to attempt that hike again.  We knew it was grizzly bear area so the kids had bells on their backpacks (you want to make noise so you don't surprise the bears) and my father had an industrial sized can of bear spray.  When we started the hike there were 3 men hiking just ahead of us and about 3/4 of the way to our destination, we met them at a bend in the trail coming back our direction.  They said that just around the bend were a grizzly bear with two cubs.  As much as I was curious to see what they looked like, we have lived around the mountains long enough to know that you don't mess around with any bear with babies.  Sarah Palin uses her lame "mother grizzly" euphemism for a reason.  We promptly turned around and headed back down the trail. 

During our trip we saw tons of wildlife.  The day we drove in, Kevin and I were talking about how in all the time we have spent collectively hiking, going to Yellowstone, camping (him not me), neither of us had ever seen a bear in the wild.  Literally, like 5 minutes after that conversation what do we see by the side of the road but a black bear.  We ended up seeing black bears on 3 different occasions, elk, big horn sheep, goats, marmots (my favorite), and tons and tons of chipmunks begging for food.

We also went canoeing twice while there, once in a river and once on Lake Louise.  The boys and particularly Drew really loved paddling around in the canoes. 

I took a ridiculous number of photos because it is so gorgeous there and here are some of the highlights and some wildlife shots. 

 The guys at Lake Louise. 

 In Johnston Canyon at the start of our longer hike.

 Where we ended up at the end our our 7.4 mile hike.  A gorgeous valley with a stream and some natural springs.  Really amazing place!

Kevin and Ethan at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park just over the border in British Columbia.



 My favorite of the lakes in Banff, Peyto Lake and yes the water really is that strange turquoise color.

 Stewart Canyon

A beautiful mountain valley on our last hike, right before we had to turn around because of the mama bear.

 In the really popular tourist areas, the chipmunks are horrible beggars.  At one point we were sitting on some rocks at Moraine Lake eating lunch and one particularly bold guy tried to get in my mother's pocket because there was trail mix in there. 

 One of the black bears we saw. 

 We visited a wolf sanctuary and this is Wiley, one of the wolves.  While we were there all the wolves started howling in unison which was one of the coolest things I have heard.

A marmot.  I love these guys.  They are kind of fat looking, with that cute face and they have these really cool paws that are sort of like hands. 

 A goat family who are obviously in that oh, so awkward losing the winter coat stage of life.

An elk eating flowers by the side of the road.