Summer Bucket List 2016

The kids and I decided to come up with a bucket list of all of the things we wanted to do in the summer.
Each of us wrote what we wanted to do for the summer and I combined it into a list

We made up the list because when we talked about what to do in the summer the kids kept saying "I want to, I want to, I want to"
I thought that if we made a list, then we can post it and cross stuff off as we go along.
And we included big places to go to, and smaller things to do.

Looks like we are going to have a great summer!

Last of Summer Vacation

We spent our last week of summer vacation up North.

We spent 4 days at my parents cottage on Kushog Lake, then went to Kyle's mom's cottage on Orr lake for the last 3 days.

It was fun and relaxing and hopefully not too boring for the kids.

Nick loved the lake and the swimming. It is a deep lake (and cool)

All he wanted to do was swim, swim, swim.

Most of the days we swam together, but right away he wanted to swim from dock to dock with me.
He said to me "Mommy, I can't walk by myself, but I can swim by myself"
So that is what he did. Swim, swim, swim. When he would get tired he would swim holding onto my hips (we tried holding onto my shoulders but he is more likely to push my underwater)

Katheryn was excited to be swimming too.
Because the lake it deep she had to have her floaties on at all times.
(And even if it seems that Nick is off swimming by himself, I was close all all times)

We also did some rock-collecting.

When I was little we used to walk along the road a collect Monarch caterpillars. But with the climate change we don't see very many Monarch caterpillars anymore. They are starting to come back and I had hoped we would find some, but we didn't. 

But we were able to find some nice round rocks

I painted the rocks for Nick. Ninja turtles of course!
Nick didn't really understand (or want to understand) that he couldn't play with them. Everything is ninja turtles for him.

We also played some soccer.
Nick really liked that he could play with Katheryn. He can kick the ball and it will actually move!
Katheryn played goaltender for a while.

The dock is one of those no-no places. Yes Nick's walker could go down it. Would it make it down it without going off the side.
So there is no going  out on the dock without an adult (and/or floaties)

But we can take a minute for a nice photo

Katheryn and Nick were all ready to go out onto the dock now

The water was cool some of the days (70F). We went swimming a couple of the days, but this was as close as we got.

We also took Nick's new canes out and made him walk with them. He wasn't happy, but this was how he could move around.

Katheryn loved the swing set and trying new tricks.
She is even jumping off the swing (while swinging) as well

After a couple of days we moved cottages and got to meet up with Daddy as well.

We spent even more time in the water and with family.
Hayden, the kids 3rd cousin was at the new-cottage and they played together all the time when we were there.

After a relaxing (or exhausting) week away it was time to go back home and get ready for school!

Our summer was super busy, it seems like we were always on the move and doing stuff. No one got bored and once we got the all-clear that Nick was healed we were off doing more stuff!

Summer Camp and Options

We have such a fantastic time at Easter Seals camp last year that we were very excited to apply for the family camp again this year.
Even talking two other families in trying to get a group of people to go to the same camp. So we applied for Easter Seals camp very soon and just had to wait to see if we had been accepted or not.

 Because the Easter Seals camp is a family camp so it meant that Katheryn and Nickolas got to both be at camp together, both participate in camp activities together, with the same people and just be together. And they also had us there so that we could be support while they could also still have independence.

Unfortunately we found out that Nickolas did not get accepted into Easter Seals Camp for this year. It was disappointing for us. But we also had the opportunity to go one year and there were other families who haven't had that chance. It just lets another family have as much fun as we had.

So now we have to figure out what we're going to do for some kind of camp this year.
Katheryn went to zoo camp in 2012 for the first time, and Nick went to Conductive education camp through the March of Dimes during different times in the summer.
Conductive Education camp was an option that I've been looking into, but shift work and a daily trip into Toronto are also concerns. But Nickolas would be getting some intensive therapy we've been missing for a couple of years.

I went to a Special Needs Recreation Fair last month to see what was available in Durham. A lot of the camps were for kids older than Nick, or with non-physical special needs. So we didn't have a lot of choices. What I was really looking for was some kind of summer sports program (i.e. soccer) that Nick could do in the evening every week. But they didn't have anything like that.

But I did get some ideas of what was out there for day camps. And things that I needed to consider.

Do we send both children to the same camp where Nick may not have the support that he needs. Especially for the catheterization, but that they would be together and they would be doing the same thing and they would be with their peers.

Or do we send Nicholas to Grandview camp where it would not be an issue. He would have fun but he would not be able to be with Katheryn, because she doesn't receive service at Grandview anymore.

I looked at what was offered by the city of Oshawa for kids who were 4 and 6. But even if there is only 18 months between them there were not a lot of camps that would be appropriate for both of them to attend (most of them were age 6+).
There was only one choice that would be appropriate for a 4 and a 6 year old. So we would send them to two separate camps. And if they are already separated we might as well use Grandview camp for Nick's support.

So we signed Katheryn up for Dance Camp, for kids 6 and up and I'm sure that she will have a fantastic time. Nick will go to Grandview camp,  he will have fun and it is will be at the same location as his school. It will help for the two months of not having any school.

I'm a little bit disappointed that they won't actually be at camp together. But it is the same decision we made for school. We won't have to worry about if Nick is having fun or if he is the only one with a physical challenge, I won't have to worry about catheterization and mobility. But I still hate the thought of separating them, even if it is just for one more year.

So this is our plan for camp I have signed them up they're ready to go and for one week in the summer time they will have a lot of fun and for the rest of the time... Still have a lot of fun

Hello Again!

I can't believe that it has been almost been a month since I actually sat down and blogged.

I've been taking the pictures, writing it up in my head. But finding the time (and having it on the top of my to-do list) has been challenging.

It seems like we are never sitting down or staying put.

 

 

And of course I want to talk about that as well! (My poor journal is months behind!)

This blog is important to me, and I want to continue it. And in the coming weeks we got a ton of exciting things happening that I don't want to get bogged down with writing about what already happened!

 

 

And we had some big things happen!

I've been trying to catch up -

Our next Challenge

Keeping Busy 

How'd the crutches work?

Summertime fun

A Big Surprise

Now that we are caught up!

 

There is still craziness and fun happening!

 

 

 

 

We haven't been resting yet. Even a nice relaxing weekend involves some work and 'physio'

 

Going for a walk. That's nice exercise right?

 

Like pulling 70-80 lbs of kid up a hill?!

 We went for a nice walk (if you don't count the bugs trying to eat us)
Katheryn got out to walk part of the way, and Nick wanted to walk too.

What do you say?
At first I said that we didn't have his walker. He gave me this look that said can't you think outside of the box mom?! And wanted to walk with the wagon

He had a lot of fun pushing that wagon!

 

Now it's time to relax, breathe and watch the sun come up - until you think of the next thing that you can be working on

 

Lots of more adventures to come in the coming weeks with camp and school!

Family, family and more family!

The August long weekend means that it is time for our annual Philips Family Reunion!

I don't remember what year we started doing it, but it is the one time of the year when all of the family can get together, catch up, show off, watch grow and relax.

Kushog Lake is a beautiful swimming lake, BUT it is deep and Katheryn was well aware that she needs to be in her life jacket whenever she is close to the edge. (I may have stressed it a little too much, a week ago Katheryn woke up from a bad dream because she was near the water without her life jacket on).

The cottage hasn't grown in the last 50 years or so, it is a 3 bedroom cottage. But the family has grown significantly since my grandfather built it. So when we all meet in the year we camp it!



The kids love camping!

The water, the outdoors.

Katheryn didn't want to actually get in the water, she was just really happy to fill bucket after bucket of water and destroy sand castles. And following around the older girls (who were a huge, big help).

But Nick was the water baby! We swam and swam and swam. (It was alot easier once I got a noodle to help support us). There was a pirate ship on the lake!
Nick and I kept watching out for Captain Hook

Every family dinner needs to have our picture. And since we are too big to eat inside, what better place to set up our photo than with our dinner table!
I think we are all here, except Katheryn was in the cottage napping and we are missing 2 dogs (and Nick is hidden a bit).

The weekend was supposed to have a rainy day, so I made sure we had a bunch of fun things to do when we were stuck inside! The goody bag came out a little earlier and our craziness started to show a bit!

We also pulled out the badminton set and the 'kids' had lots of fun bouncing a birdie back and forth.

The cousins liked playing together, and teaching the younger ones!

The beginning of the weekend was a little bit hectic, with lots of clinging and crying. But by the end of the weekend we were more relaxed. Nick started to relax, and while I could never be too far away, Nick did take some opportunity to get into trouble (like colouring all over his face).

Or doing some exploring!

The cottage weekend was a huge success, the kids all had alot of fun, relaxing, exploring and playing with their cousins. It seems like 3 days is just not long enough.

But we'll take the time we have to breathe and enjoy the peace and tranquility.

Spreading our fins!

Nick has been exploring his independence

Swimming/crawling by himself in the lake

Taking a spin in the boat (while docked)

Playing on the boat

But the best part of Nickolas finding his independence - is that he has realized that he already has the tools he needs to work with his ability to get moving.

Instead of crawling to go where he wants - he started to go to his walker, and then walk to where the watned to go!

Chalk it up to a good day!

Cool dude with the sidewalk art!

And Katheryn's favorite design ever (a rainbow)

red, orange, yellow... green, followed by blue, then comes indigo and violet, a rainbow song for you!

Those knee pads sure come in handy with the hard driveway.
Nick loves crawling all over and leaving his mark!

 And because we were in the driveway, we might as well pull  out all of the bikes.
The kids are both still learning how to ride them

Katheryn has started to figure out how to move the pedals to move forward, just working on getting her to keep moving them forward

And Nick has been able to keep his feet on the pedals.
Now we are just working on getting him to move them

But in the meantime - they are still having fun!