Best One Yet

     For the past three weeks, my mum has been visiting from Wales.  She comes about once a year and is awesome about getting outside and playing with the kids.  She plays kickball and goes for walks, watches soccer games and cheers for our little cheerleader at football games.  When she is here I often think of the time she spends outside with them as a break for me to stay inside and get things done.  During this visit, I decided to try something new.
     On Tuesdays we drop my 15 year old son, Harper off at the local community college where he is taking a few classes.  Our routine is that we then head home so we can do our home school lessons.  Two weeks ago we brought my mother along so we could show her the school.  After we dropped Harper off, I had an inspired thought!  I remembered that the Walkway Over the Hudson was very nearby.  The Walkway is a special local landmark.  It is a 1.28 mile long pedestrian bridge over the Hudson River that connects Poughkeepsie to Highland, New York.  I suggested the idea to my mum and she was all for it!
     I always shy away from any activity that could potentially make me overheat so I really had to dig deep and want this.  My mum kept mentioning that if we did it I could blog about it so that was just the incentive I needed.  It was cool out and I had high hopes that it would be breezy up on the bridge.  Oliver and Ginger were excited!  Well sort of.  Ginger usually complains on outings like this.
     We started walking and it turned out to be the best outside adventure yet.  The weather was kind to me and the children were having fun.  We stopped at each sign along the bridge and took turns reading facts about the bridge and the area.  About halfway in we discovered the year old glass elevator that we had heard about.  The elevator went beneath the bridge and gave you a view that was almost magical.

Walkway Over the Hudson with Grammie

It took us to a path at ground level that wound around to include a playground, a restaurant, a children's museum and roads to the city above.  We felt like we had stumbled into a secret world!
     Next to the children's museum was a skateboard park full of ramps in various sizes.  Nobody was using it so we went in to explore.  Oliver quickly discovered that skate ramps make terrific slides!  He and Ginger would run up and slide down.  Eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I was sliding too.  Mum didn't join in but Oliver, Ginger and I had a blast holding hands and sliding down the ramps.  We had to pull them away to see what else we could find.

Fun at the skate park

     The playground was another hit.  They were the only ones there and it was easy for my mother and I to sit back and just let them be.  That is where I had my moment.  It was a moment where I realized how much I love home schooling my kids.  I love going out on school days and having places to ourselves.  I love seeing them learn by experiencing like they did when they read the historical signs on the bridge.  I loved letting their interests guide them.
     Eventually we took the elevator back to the bridge and walked the rest of the way to Highland.  Once we got there Grammie treated the children to ice creams.  We walked the 1.28 miles back to the Poughkeepsie side and headed to our car.  By then it was warm and I was getting anxious to lose a layer.  The amazing part though was that I was still having fun.

Fall At Last!

     This past Wednesday brought with it the moment I have been waiting many long months for.  Fall is here again!  I love everything about this time of year.  Fall means cooler days, sweater wearing and leaf changing.  It also could potentially mean less whining from me as I embark on more outdoor adventures.  I can't promise that, but it could happen.

     I ushered in fall with good friends, a picnic and a hike.  I dressed for the occasion by wearing sandals with a back strap.  Flip flops would have been just plain silly.  My long skirt may not have been the perfect choice but it got me through.  My dear friend, Lisa and her kids, Logan and Grace met me, Ginger and Oliver at Mills Mansion.

Mills Mansion

Mills Mansion is a local historical site along the Hudson River that has beautiful trails and large open grassy spaces.  Without a single gripe from me, we walked for an hour and a half!  I loved seeing Ginger and Grace walking hand and hand and listening to the boys chatting about Legos and Star Wars.  Lisa and I were able to catch up after a summer too busy to see each other.  The best part?  I wasn't the one to ask to stop hiking!  That's right!  It was one of the children!  

     We walked back on the trail until we reached our cars where our picnic lunches were waiting.  We spread our old blankets out on a large open field under the trees and enjoyed our food.  There was so much giggling and chatter that it made my heart feel good.  When we finished eating, the children began a game of Apples to Apples.  Lisa and I continued to enjoy our uninterrupted opportunity to talk.  Perfection.  

     There were lots of hugs good bye and promises to meet up again soon.  For a moment I almost caught myself wishing the weather would stay this reasonable so we could have more outside days like this.  Almost.  

Lunar Eclipse

     Fall also brought with it an amazing phenomenon called the Supermoon.  My understanding of this is limited, but I believe it means the moon was closer to the earth than ever and something eclipsed at the same time.  What I do know is my husband lives for this stuff.  He has been known to get up in the middle of the night to see meteor showers and other astronomical activity.  Since those things fall into the category of outdoor adventures, I never partake.
The night of the Supermoon I checked in with my daughter, Daisy, who is in South Carolina attending college.  She loves being outdoors, so I asked her if she was going to observe the eclipse.  She was bummed because it was too cloudy where she was to see it.  She suggested I go out and look at it.  In her words, "You  should go out and get your Supermoon on and blog about it".  My response, "I can't.  There is a marathon on tv of The Facts of Life".  Besides, there will be another one in 2033.

Proof

     They call Labor Day the "Unofficial End of Summer".  I was waiting with baited breath for the day when summer ended and took with it the heat and sunshine.  Unfortunately for me, Labor Day came and went and then the temperatures went up.  I am looking into making Labor day the "Official" Last Day of Summer in hopes that will change the universe's weather pattern going forward.  So far though, no luck.

Tan lines!

     As predicted, I struggled with my outdoor adventure plan for the hottest months of the year.  I have never loved the heat and I wondered how I was going to get myself outside every week now that I said I would.  So to all of you that said I couldn't do it and to all of you that said I wouldn't do it, I have proof.  I have proof that I have not only gone outside this summer but I have gone outside a lot.  My friends, I have tan lines.  I have flip flop lines on my feet and caramel colored knees.  You don't get those from staying in the ice cold awesomeness of the indoors!  Tan lines are hard earned.  I like to think of them as battle scars. As further proof, I have noticed highlights in my hair.  It is possible they are just grays, but I am calling them highlights.
     Don't get me wrong.  There were absolutely some magical outdoor moments this summer.  There were trips to the Lake House and a fantastic birthday party.  There was sitting on a restaurant's deck for hours while I caught up with a friend I hadn't seen in six years.  There was the beginning of a new cheer season for Ginger and a wonderful day with my husband and three youngest children at the county fair.  Through it all I learned a lot.  I learned that I probably will never learn to love sunshine.  I learned that sunscreen really works if you actually remember to put it on.  I also learned that my kids want me outside with them because they want to share something they love with me.  Most importantly I learned that that is reason enough to get out there.

Praying for Sunshine

     On this past Sunday, we had a party to celebrate the birthdays of our three youngest children.  Leo, Oliver and Ginger have birthdays in June, July and August so we always throw them one big Summer celebration.  Every year I seem to pick a weekend where lots of families are away and I worry about how many people will come.  I didn't have to worry this year.  Everyone was coming.  As the guest list kept growing, I began praying for a sunny, dry day so the party could be outside.  I basically never wish for days to be sunny and dry, so this was new for me.  It wasn't even about not wanting 40 kids and 35 adults in my house.  It was because I knew they would have more fun outside.  There.  I said it.  Even I knew they would have more fun outside.
     The day of the party was indeed warm and dry.  Very warm. Unpleasantly warm.  I whined every time I stepped outside to work on preparations.  Luckily my super, amazing husband took care of 99.8% of what needed to get done out there.  My jobs were blissfully contained in the climate controlled utopia of the house.  I cooked and cleaned and decorated cakes and painted names on beach bags for the kids coming to the party.
     Five o'clock came and it was party time!  Outside we had a sand table with hidden shells, a large block of ice with treasures frozen inside, pennies in the hay, a kiddie pool, a large homemade slip and slide and new for 2015...slip and slide kickball!!!  Soon the house and yard were full.  The slip and slide had at least ten kids on it at any given time and there was a wet and wild kickball game that went on for hours.

Homemade slip and slide

     We purposely planned the event for early evening so it would be cooler.  The yard was shady and it was actually bordering on reasonable out there.  Our guests ate and chatted.  There were people sitting on the grass relaxing as the children played together without incident.  It couldn't have been nicer.  I was grateful for the weather that made this day possible.   I can't believe it either, but I was.
     The morning after the party I woke up stiff and sore from two straight days on my feet.  I got the children up and we headed to the yard to begin clean up efforts.  Socks and cups floated in the kiddie pool.  More cups were spotted mysteriously in the treetops.  It looked like the aftermath of a college kegger.  To top it all off, there was a pair of panties on the fence post of the horse's pen.  Now that is evidence of a great party!

No Pictures Please!!!

     Last week Oliver, Ginger and I headed back to the lake house.  We weren't ten minutes away from our home when I realized I forgot the camera.  I had made detailed lists outlining our meals for each of the four days we would be gone including which groceries we would need.  I remembered bathing suits, clothes, even the Quiet Bag we needed to bring to church on Sunday.  Yet, I forgot the camera.  I contemplated turning around, but I didn't want to lose the momentum and enthusiasm we were already experiencing.  We had the book on CD playing, the mountains of stuffed animals and blankets filling the backseat, full Disney  and Scooby Doo lunchboxes by our sides, and we had already sang two triumphant verses of "On the Road Again" at the top of our lungs.  I decided to press on and do without.
     Most everybody these days would have been fine without a camera on a mini vacation because their fancy phones take pictures.  However, my phone isn't fancy.  It is barely even a phone.  Technically, it does take pictures.  Teeny, tiny ones with no way to zoom in.  I do occasionally use the camera feature but I have no idea how to get the photos off the camera onto Facebook or into print.  So it was time to face the music.  This would be a camera-less trip.

No Pictures Please!!!

     Schroon Lake is absolutely beautiful.  It is a gorgeous clear lake surrounded by pine trees.  The sun was shining, my children were being adorable and I couldn't take a single picture of any of it.  Like many other women, I have a love-hate relationship with cameras.  I love taking and having pictures of my kids.  I hate having my picture taken.  I always feel insecure and worry that I will look too fat, too old, too something.  I have been trying to overcome this mindset so my family will look back through the years and remember that I did, in fact, exist.  One major lifestyle change at a time please.  For now I am working hard at just going outside.
     Just like our last trip to the lake house, we spent most of each day at the beach.  I am still working on wanting to be outside, but I am at least better at going outside.  I may even be starting to understand why someone would choose to go out when they could stay in.  Maybe.  I think I get it as far as kids go anyway.  When you are outside you don't have to watch your volume and you can frolic and things don't get broken as easily.  You make friends with kids you don't know and you explore and you find treasures you didn't know you couldn't live without like the world's most microscopic snail shell.
     So for four days I sat in the sun watching my kids smile and splash and have the time of their lives.  I never told them it was time to go home.  I just waited until they wore themselves out.  I had my feet buried in the sand, I judged sandcastle building contests, I complained about the heat (not a lot!), and I didn't take a single picture of any of it.  So instead of capturing memories we were busy making them.

Through Leo's Eyes

     We have a son with special needs.  Leo is intellectually disabled amongst a variety of other disorders.  He is also compassionate, affectionate, polite, obsessed with sneakers and High School Musical and tries hard at everything he does.  Unfortunately, his disabilities makes him a challenge a good deal of the time.  As a couple, my husband and I tend to divide the kids up so that one parent has Leo and the other parent has Oliver and Ginger.  That way the rest of the kids get some attention.  Most of the time Dennis has Leo.
     The other day I had Leo all to myself and I tried to really savor it instead of just trying to make it work.  I had kids at work, school and camps so Leo and I were left to adventure on our own.  We had just dropped off Ginger at a library class.  My original plan was to stay at the library in air conditioned book reading bliss, but Leo said, "I can't just stay inside all day!".  Although staying inside all day is my favorite thing to do, "New Outside Adventuring Blogger Diana" knew I had to seize this chance.  So we went for a walk through town.
     Since I decided to take on the challenge of going outdoors once a week and blogging about it, I have tried to focus on what I see, hear and feel when I am outside.  At first that is what I did.  I was fixated on the noises of a town full of traffic and of course, I was thinking about how painfully warm it was.  Quickly though I began to focus on Leo and how he was experiencing things.  He was terrified.  We don't usually walk around in places with so much noise or traffic.  He held onto my hand like it was his lifeline.  As we approached an intersection I thought he would enjoy pushing the button to make the light tell us when to walk.  He liked pushing the button but was frozen at the prospect of crossing the street.  To make it worse, the light never changed and we had to walk when it said not to.  Being Leo means being trapped in a brain that doesn't work like other eleven year olds.  It means being confused a lot of the time and that means being vulnerable.  My heart was breaking for this child I love so much and am so often frustrated with.  I held his hand tighter and we crossed the street.

Leo

     He never let go as we went to the post office and mailed a letter to his sister in college.  We headed back towards the library and I spontaneously pulled him into a toy store for a peek.  The store was a darling, quaint little place with toys in the back and a candy shop up front.  He never asked for anything and just delighted in looking around.  He asked what certain toys were for.  Again my heart was breaking.  Leo doesn't really have an imagination.  He doesn't play with toys.  He does sports and he does them well because they have rules and expectations.  Toys don't work in his world.  We walked into the candy section and there I found my idea of Heaven.  They had candy form Great Britain!  It was like a flashback to my childhood visits to my family in England and Wales.  I had to have it.  I selected a few of my favorites like Penguin bars and Refreshers.  By then the shop owner had begun a chat with Leo and was showing him the playroom where she hosts play groups and classes.  He said that he wanted to go there and I had to explain it was for younger kids.  He offered to come and help her run the classes and take care of the kids for her.  I understood then that Leo is not really aware of his limitations.  He truly believes he would be an asset to her business.  My heart tore a little more.  She told Leo that she was offering a creative writing class to kids his age and he got very excited and asked if I could bring him there.  He kept telling her that he had very good handwriting.  I knew he couldn't participate in a class like that, so I told him we would have to discuss it.  Again, my heart was aching.
     As we were leaving to go back to the library, his hand found mine again.  I asked him what my favorite thing to do was.  He answered, "Hold my hand".  He was right.  I think he was relieved when we navigated the crosswalks and arrived safely back where we had started.  At the library a toddler was playing in the children's area and Leo was eager to talk with him.  The boy couldn't say any real words yet and that suited Leo just fine.  Leo acted like he understood everything he said and found a ball to entertain him with.  This went on for quite some time while the boy's mother and I chatted.  When Ginger's class was over and it was time to go, I told Leo that we were going to head home.  He looked at me and said, "I can't leave.  The baby needs me."
     Although I didn't really experience the Great Outdoors on this adventure, I did really learn things.  My Leo sees the world as a very different place than most of us. He is vulnerable and trusting and everything is big and important.  When I took the time to see things through his eyes my heart broke, but holding his hand helped put it back together.

A Change of Scenery

     I apologize for not writing this post sooner, but I was busy being OUTSIDE!  For the past week two of my children and I were on a vacation to Schroon Lake, a beautiful lakeside community in the Adirondacks.  We are blessed to have such generous friends that they frequently loan us their vacation home there.  As often as we can, some combination of my family borrows the house which is a mere two or three minute walk to the lake.  This time it was Ginger, Oliver and my turn.
     The three of us have been there two times before together but never in summer weather.  The first trip was last October.  The kids insisted on swimming in the deserted lake while I sat on the beach wrapped from head to toe in their warm towels.  The next time we visited was in April while part of the lake was still thick with ice.  That time we focused our outdoor energy on the local playgrounds.  For this trip I knew the weather was ripe for beach trips.  Lots of them.  I summoned my inner strength and in order to show my commitment to all things outside, I had my nails done for the occasion.  That is how ready I was.

"I had my nails done for the occasion."

     We arrived on Saturday evening and went straight to unpacking and making dinner.  I did channel my fun mom side and took them on a walk to get ice cream.  I will admit that I love the ease of walking everywhere when we are there.  At home we live in a more rural area and can't walk to anything except the local graveyard.  It felt so good to enjoy the simplicity of a quiet walk holding my daughter's hand and seeing the excitement of treating my kids to a late night snack.
     The next day we walked to a nearby church and then stopped on the way home to play at a playground.  It had rained overnight and the only seat available was an outdoor chaise- loungy thing with a fabric cover.  It was sunny and warm and I couldn't just stand there.  I gave in and sat on the soaked cushion.  I hung on as long as I could while the children played.  It got hotter and hotter and I got wetter and wetter.  I lasted about an hour and then suggested we head home.  After lunch was our first beach trip.  The children were in the water faster than I could set up my soccer mom chair on the sand.  They were in paradise.  I am about to admit something big.  I was happy to be outside.  Happy. Outside.  Watching them was a pure delight.  They made friends, built sand structures, swam, played, and giggled.  It was wonderful.  We stayed for hours.  We stayed past dinner time and past when the other families left.  Exhausted, we headed home.  Repeat that for the next five days.
     I really was extra fun during this trip and we were outside each day for many hours.  By day four though, I prayed for rain.  I got it in the form of a thunderstorm overnight and a grey morning.  It didn't last and we were right back on the beach by lunchtime.  Oh well.  The children were so happy.  That was all I needed to keep myself on that beach.

Ginger and Oliver

     I will admit that it was easier to be outside because the weather was so reasonable.  Just as soon as I would start to complain about the heat, the sun would disappear behind a cloud and I would stop my grumbling.  Watching the kids was what really made it all worthwhile.  It made me think how easy it would be to make them happy by getting outside with them more.  They need to run and be noisy and explore.  They were loving every minute of our time there and that made me love it too.
     Saturday morning we slept in, tidied up, and were on our way home from the Lake House.  We were all sad to leave.  By the time we had driven the three hours back to our house the rain started in earnest and continued for the rest of the day and all through the weekend.  Believe it or not, I was glad it waited for us to go.