Fourth of July

We had a pretty quiet 4th of July. We had a lunchtime cookout on the back deck, went over to the pool for an afternoon swim, went and got ice cream at around 8 p.m., and then took in the fireworks in Thomaston.

The fireworks were kind of slow and dull, but also too much for Thane. Again, I admire his ability to really try through some very difficult experiences. He was okay for about 10 minutes as long as he was in the car with the windows done up so it wasn’t so loud. I remember years ago that we went to fireworks in Eastport – so 30+ years ago – and they were set to music so you could have your radio going and it was “choreographed”. That kind of event would probably be easier for Thane to take.

Here are some pictures from our day:

Braeden, age 10.

What does this pickled pepper look like to you?

“I first! You can’t catch me!”

“Wanna bet?”

The boys swimming together.

The swingset as seen from the pool deck.

The joy of shoving big brother down the slide.

Braeden being his graceful self.

Thane tries to show how it is done.

I got surprisingly lucky with a family photo.

I got a second chance before Thane was through.

Thane says the polar bear is drinking apple juice.

Head first!

A nice smile!

Taking a break to line things up.

Another nice smile.

Party

The party on Saturday went pretty well. It seems all the children enjoyed themselves, and none of the adults stayed around. I made one of them laugh when he asked how we chose this particular historian/re-enactor, so I told him that “I won him at an auction!” Well, I did!

Below are two stills and a slideshow for those who want to see what happens when you combine cooking out with living history with a water slide and then a swimming pool

Still Swimming with the Frogs

Spent too much time in the pool to finish sorting the 946 pictures I took of the party yesterday. No human friends today, but there was a frog who joined us for a short while.

Gone Swimmin'

Crazy week in a million ways . . . throwing a party tomorrow, so just thought I would toss up two pictures of the boys swimming today.

Water Wings

Thane made a step in his swimming: no more water wings needed!

Stinky Chicken

Some chickens visited preschool yesterday. I guess one of them decided to poop and Thane called it a "stinky chicken" repeatedly. I think it is funny, but at the same time it draws my attention to the fact that he repeats himself a lot and I am not sure it is fully acknowledged by his therapists. During DT on Monday he kept repeating "I don't swim." He wanted to swim, but it has been a cold July and our pool has been giving us fits.

He did get to swim today, and I took 594 photos of the guys in the pool. Unfortunately, I missed the best picture . . . I blew up an inflatable duck ring for young children after having chosen a duck since Thane adores them. Thane whipped off his diaper, wrapped the duck around his middle, and started running around the living room saying "I don't swim. I don't swim." I blew up a yellow swim boat and then he was running around naked with a duck around his waist and a boat in his hand repeating "I don't swim." He was so excited to go swimming. It's hard not to be charmed by his enthusiasm.

I also found it cute that he decided to hoard pool toys. Check out this face . . .


We also got a taste of what the teenage years with Braeden might be like.


These pictures were taken at near 8 p.m., hence the iffy lighting.