This summer was completely different from the last one. Because of the pandemic, we were very limited to what we could do last summer. It was hard because it was potentially going to be the first summer where I felt comfortable doing things with the kids.
Of course, we couldn’t do anything last year. That’s why I wanted to make this summer really good for us. With the help of our respite provider and family members, we were able to experience a lot of fun things this year.
- First Time at the Swimming Pool — My kids love water so we spent a lot of time doing water activities including the splash pad almost every single week. We also went to the swimming pool for the first time. Nobody actually got in the pool, but we did sit on the edge and put our feet in.
- First Time at a Water Park — We had more success at the water park, because there was a lot of different things to do. They had a little splash area that Nicholas liked, a 1 foot pool that Grace stayed in, and a water playground that Daniel played in. And everyone liked to watch the big bucket of water dump on all the kids. It was good experience!
- First Time Watching Fireworks — My kids have never been old enough or cared enough about fireworks until this summer. They normally don’t like loud things, but we decided to try it out this year. Grace loved the poppers and was so excited to throw them. Daniel liked watching the little sparklers, and Nicholas did really well with the big fireworks.
- First Time at Camp Alone — All three kids went to camp at Grace’s former school. I was so happy they could accommodate the boys going too. I think they all really enjoyed going. It was a preview for how preschool will be for Grace this fall. She had a hard time at first, but as the week went on, she really had a great time.
- First Family Trip — We took a risk and went on our first family trip just us 5 together to Steamboat Springs. It was hard but I’m really glad we did it. We did a short and easy hike to a water fall, we saw flowers at a botanic garden, we played in a little creek, and walked around downtown. It was the perfect way to end the summer.
We hung out with a lot of family, as always, celebrating birthdays and holidays with our cousins, including Daniel’s 5th birthday. We went to Estes Park for two days with my extended family. It was a nice little family trip, it’s always nice for us to go away to the mountains for a few days.
We had our family photos taken this summer. We worked with a photographer who understood special needs families, because I was really worried about Grace. It was hard trying to get everyone together, but our photographer was amazing and was extremely patient with us.
Overall, it was an awesome summer. We got to experience so much together. It was definitely hard and I wouldn’t have been able to do it if we didn’t have all the help that we had. I’m glad we got to give our kids a memorable summer since we couldn’t do anything last year.
