Between School Years

I have mentioned before that school is an ongoing, year-round endeavor in our household. We take breaks when there are special events, holidays or vacations. We also run on a relaxed schedule during part of the summer. That is where we are with school work right now. Samuel is participating in a "speech camp" this week and his older brother is participating in a "history camp." Both of these occur in the morning. In the afternoon, after we have had our lunch and taken a rest, I come up with a bit of work for the boys to do. Samuel has been filling in his calendar, writing in a journal, finishing up his religion book. I also found some workbooks at a wonderful teacher supply store up in Maine.



The store where I got the workbooks is called Play and Learn Toys and Teaching Resources and it is located in Freeport. It has become a family tradition to visit while we are on vacation here. My children love it for all the cool toys. They have a fun Thomas the Tank Engine display and it kept them entertained while I took a long look at the teacher supplies. I am always so tempted to buy all kinds of posters, workbooks and bulletin board supplies, but this year I restricted myself to just a few workbooks and stickers. I will have Samuel work on the two books shown in this photo during the month of August. They are both from Carson-Dellosa Publishing. I really like the "All About Me" book. It is 64 pages long and in it he gets to draw all kinds of pictures and fill in blanks to tell about himself. It's a pre-k to grade 1 level and it is perfect for Samuel. It's easy, the pages are visually "do-able" for him (no color or distracting pictures) and the assignments are short. Also, there is a sticker chart built in to the back cover of the book. I am hoping that Samuel will enjoy filling it in and feel a sense of accomplishment. I'm looking forward to him completing the pages where he tells us what his favorite color is, and what he wants to be when he grows up. He doesn't usually talk about these kinds of things on his own. (In the past he has answered "firefighter" when he is asked what he wants to be when he grows up. I'm curious to see if he'll say that again. It's hard to know if he really means it. He never demonstrates that outside of being asked that question. I wouldn't put it past Samuel to just say an answer to get people to stop asking him the question.)

The Scissor Skills book is also very easy, at least it starts off that way. It looks like it will get much more appropriately challenging as he works through it. I ended up getting scissor skill books for Samuel's younger brother and sister as well. I never would have allowed my two oldest boys to try scissors at age 2, but I am comfortable letting my little girl, age 2, do so now. I make sure she only tries it while I am close by at the table with her. She just loves "working" at the table like her big brothers do!

My big job for the month of August is to write up a new IEP for Samuel, choose and order curriculum materials for him, and organize work for my two other sons. I already have their books. This is the first year that I am using a pre-organized curriculum for both of his brothers, in which I "enrolled" both boys and will send off some of their work for grading. I may end up ordering some of Samuel's workbooks from the same place, but there is no way that he can follow a packaged curriculum.

Maine Vacation 2008

We returned this summer to Midcoast Maine, to Bristol. It is about an hour's drive north of Portland, along Route 1, which goes right up the coast. We stayed with the same friends we stayed with last Christmas. They have an 1800s house with plenty of bedrooms and space for us to relax. They acquired a few animals this spring and my children had a few opportunities to help feed them. I don't think Samuel ever helped with the feeding, but my oldest son helped feed the geese and my youngest son enjoyed gathering eggs every day.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera! I really wanted to take some photos and share some more of the sights up there. On this trip we took a drive north from where we stayed to Lincolnville. We crossed a narrow stretch of Penobscot Bay over to Isleboro, a small town on an island. We were there for a very quick visit with our friend's son, who is currently working there. The views on the ferry ride were just lovely. We could see some areas to the north where we have driven to and stayed in the past. Nowadays we don't go up that far because the kids don't have the patience to endure the long car ride.

We also visited Fort William Henry. This was an English settlement in the early 1600's, but did not remain inhabited for more than a few decades because the territory was in dispute between the English, French, and Indians. A stone fortification was reconstructed at the site in the early 1900s. It looks like a castle turret, so that makes it fun for the kids to look at. We were able to go to the top of it and from there you get a good view of Pemaquid Harbor. While we visited there we were able to see local author James Nelson's re-enactment presentation of Dixy Bull, a pirate who raided the area in the 1630's. We all enjoyed that.

It rained almost every day of our vacation but we still got few good beach days in. My favorite trip to the beach was our last evening there. We got there as the sun was setting and, in typical tourist fashion, combed the beach for pieces of drift wood and rocks. (I just cannot believe I forgot my camera!)

Now we are back in Virginia and I'm wondering where our vacation went, it passed so quickly!

We took a break from Samuel's visual schedule this trip. I didn't even bring it along, though I did bring a marker board, just in case there were any emergency situations that a schedule would have helped. We did bring along a portable DVD player and a select few videos and DVDs. We also had a DVD player and VCR available at the house we stayed at, so these were all helpful reinforcers to get Samuel through his day and some of the things he needed to do. He did get a bit homesick. Our second night away we stayed in Freeport. As we went into McDonalds to get sundaes (for those of our kids who didn't want a dish of Ben and Jerry's ice cream), he started bawling, "I want to go home! I miss Virginia!" I had to take him out of the restaurant and we took a little walk. We had a conversation about how he felt and that helped calm him down. As we did a bit of gift shopping in the various places we stayed, he was determined to find videos. He went up to several clerks and said, "Woman, do you have any videos?" Sometimes he would be a little more specific, "Woman, do you have any Columbia-TriStar videos?"

Lastly, our friends have decided to rent out their house for vacation rentals. I told them I would post information about it, so here it is! This would be a unique vacation opportunity for anyone who wants to experience a bit of life in coastal Maine that is off the typical tourist path. Kurt and Andrea Rauscher, the owners, also live on the property in an electricity-free home they built several years ago (the rental home DOES have electricity). We have become very good friends since we met them on a previous trip to Maine ten years ago. They are wonderful friends and I know will make terrific hosts to vacationers who stay with them!

Coastal Maine Farmhouse Vacation
Rental
call 207.563.2437
Rent a circa 1800, five bedroom,
1.5 bath house located on a very private 20 acres smack – dab in the middle of
the beautiful Pemaquid Peninsula. This house is located in rural Bristol
within 10 minutes drive of Round Pond harbor, New Harbor, Pemaquid point, South
Bristol, Damariscotta and a host of other Maine attractions. Just an hour
and 15 minutes drive north of Portland takes you to the heart of coastal
Maine. Rate $900.00 per week or longer terms available.
Also
available on this property are the following:
An introduction to living
without electricity (rental house has electricity)
Gardening and preserving
food for the family
Animal husbandry – goats, chickens, geese
Woodworking lessons
Boatbuilding lessons
Sailing lessons
Bronze
casting lessons (view our video on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFOo5EWNl8M
Learn how to
heat your house with firewood

The photo at the beginning of this post is of Muscongus Bay. I obtained it from FLICKR , where it was posted by CA. Thank you, CA, for allowing this photo to be shared! Most photographers on FLICKR have now copyrighted their photos (which I completely understand!), so it was much harder to find things I could legally share on my blog this year. That's okay, I just simply need to remember my camera in the future! Anyways, if you are interested in seeing more scenes of where my family vacationed, you can go to FLICKR, in the "Search" field enter "Pemaquid Harbor", "Pemaquid Point", "Round Pond," "Fort William Henry, Pemaquid, Maine" and you will see lots of terrific photos of the area we stayed at!

The photo of the house is where we stayed, and is the house available for vacation rental. The goats belong to the Rauscher family. They acquired them this past spring and have plans to increase the herd.

Maine is calling.. but I can't go yet!

It happens this time every year, I start to get homesick for Maine! With the exception of our visit this past Christmas, all the trips I have taken up there have been some time between the end of May and the 4th of July. Our trip this summer will not fall within that time frame. We aren't going to go up until mid-July. It'll be so hard to wait that long, but it's just as well that the trip will be later. I have lots to do before then.

I am still getting together a package of Samuel's school work from this past year to send to a consultant. As I mentioned before, I am hoping to have a consultant look at his work to provide an outside opinion of his academic progress. I submit standardized test scores as proof of academic achievement for my oldest son, but will not be able to do this for Samuel since he would not be able to take the standardized test that I usually use, the CAT-5.

Upper photo: the view from Pemaquid Point on a sunny day, taken by rbglasson. Lower photo: wintery view from Pemaquid Point taken by me on our trip last December.

Travel Challenges

I would not be painting the entire picture of our recent trip to Maine if I did not share some of the challenges we had with Samuel and our other children. Travelling with children, any children, takes some planning, preparation, and spontaneous creativity. That's all part of our travels and it's nice to know we have the ability to take our children on certain trips without too much difficulty. That doesn't mean, however, that I am willing to travel any time the opportunity comes up. I have yet to take my three younger children to go see my oldest son race his go-karts. I know that my husband will be busy with my oldest son and I cannot take care of the other three children on my own in a racing environment right now. Even though there might be other people who could help, I know that the conditions would be too difficult for Samuel to manage right now. I don't think my 2 year old daughter would be very tolerant either. I'm pretty confident that within a few years, however, we'll all be able to go together.

As far as our recent trip, we had a few challenges while riding in the car. Periodically Samuel would get bored and want to stop or have a snack (which would then turn into repeated requests for snacks). If he did not get his way immediately he would sometimes scream, unbuckle his seatbelt, or try to kick and hit his siblings. I attempted to deal with this by scheduling snacks. I would pick a time and tell the boys that there would be no snack until that time and I would remind them that it would be only ONE snack at that designated time. This helped Samuel to accept the restrictions a little better. To reduce boredom, I asked Samuel to pick a few things that HE WANTED to bring, and I asked my oldest son to pick a few things he had seen as recent favorites. Oldest son kept the bag of toys (which included toys for the other 2 younger children as well) in the middle row of seats and he would hand them out when necessary.

While in other people's homes it could be challenging to keep Samuel out of trouble. In our close friend's house, he kept trying to get into flour and oatmeal canisters in their kitchen. We also had to hide sweets because he would "raid" them if left unchecked.

At another house we visited, Samuel couldn't keep his hands off their television and DVD player. We thought he might have broken the DVD player, but it ended up being okay. These friends were so nice and understanding, but my husband and I really should have taken more effort to set some limits with Samuel and follow through. We got too caught up in interesting conversation while Samuel was in a basement playroom. Their children were playing with our other three children while Samuel was by himself with the television.

While at home in town, I try to have one of Samuel's "personal attendants" accompany us when we visit others. That is so helpful! My husband and I can socialize and Samuel is encouraged to play with other children and can be kept away from the computer, VCR etc.. Samuel got a portable DVD player for his birthday. We will be teaching him how to use it and will try to take it along when we go somewhere so that he won't be so tempted to get into other's property.

Christmas in Maine!

Samuel in front of our Christmas tree, which my husband was able to cut down on our friend's property. They lent us some ornaments and the kids and I made the paper chain. My friends goats will get to eat this tree when they are finished using it!

We did something very different this year for Christmas, we went to Maine! This is the first time that we have ever gone to Maine twice in the same year, we were just up there six months ago.

We had a terrific time up there, the whole trip was a real adventure. Who would have thought we could load up ourselves, 4 children, Christmas gifts, and winter gear for all of us in a mini van for such a treck and be able to say we had a great time!?

Here are some highlights from the trip: We left most of the visual schedule behind. I took along a dry erase marker board in case I needed that. I only used it one time to let Samuel know what we would be up to. I also took along the mini-schedule with 3 or 4 icons that we use in church. Other than that I verbally let Samuel know what was going on and for the most part it worked out okay.

Samuel was allowed to take some of his videos and DVDs to look at. The plan was for there to be NO TELEVISION, NO COMPUTER, AND NO VCR/DVD PLAYER for the entire week. We took time each day the week before we left to discuss this (during our morning "circle time"). This worked well but then a few days into our stay our friend's son kindly offered to lend Samuel his television/DVD player. Samuel picked up on that and repeatedly asked for it until he finally got it a few days later. Maybe I shouldn't have let him have it, but he did so well and accepted limited time on it. It was nice for him to have something to occupy himself while we socialized with our friends.

I was very proud of Samuel for not trying to get onto the computer that was in one of the rooms we stayed in. He accepted that it was off limits! My little girl, on the other hand, found it harder to stay away from it!

We "stayed home" a lot more while up there and the kids had lots of time to play in the snow. There was about a foot of snow on the ground when we arrived and we had snow, rain, and sleet during our stay. I was glad that the kids had good packing snow to make snowmen and snow forts. It took a lot of doing the weeks before we left, but I managed to have snow pants, jackets, hats, gloves/mittens, and boots for myself and all the kids! They came in handy!

This was my first trip to Maine in the winter. My other 6 or 7 trips were all in the early summer or late spring. It is our hope to one day live up there, or maybe New Hampshire, and after this trip I can say that I wouldn't mind the winter, even if it's long and the weather is difficult, though I would have to learn how to be able to drive in icy and snowy conditions!

We had to cut our stay there a day or two short because of the heavy snow forecast. We were originally planning to drive home today, instead we left this past Sunday. Good thing we did, they have gotten over a foot of snow the past few days! As it was, the last 6 hours of our 13 hour drive home were in snow, rain and sleet. I'm so glad my husband is a good driver!

Second photo is of Samuel playing where we stayed. Our friend built a bonfire one afternoon and while the kids played and sledded we ate soup, roasted lamb, and drank hot chocolate and mulled wine in the barn where his sheep and goats live!

Third photo is of Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. We went there on a dark snowy day and it was just lovely!

The fourth photo is a view from Pemaquid Point. Imagine the wind and snow hitting my face as I took this photo! The only sound besides the wind and the snow hitting me were the waves crashing on the rocks!

Maine Vacation - Midcoast Region

The third day after leaving home we arrived at the cottage we would be renting for a week. It is in New Harbor, Maine, and we rented it from L. Dewey Chase Real Estate. We stayed in a cottage called "4 Stars." You can look it up at this website: rentals.ldchase.com/rental.list.php We used this same real estate company four years ago to rent a different house and were happy with them. The house we rented then would be too small for us now. This time we were a closer distance to Pemaquid Beach, a place we have come to enjoy over the years. We could walk to this beach by crossing a path in an empty lot across the street from us. We had to walk over some big rocks to get there. I had a hard time with that since I had to carry the baby. I was amazed how easily Samuel was able to walk over them!

Samuel absolutely loved the beach. I think he was in sensory heaven! He liked playing in the sand and walking in the COLD water. It was a bit too cold to wade, but there were a few hardy souls that were doing so, and swimming! We spent lots of time at Pemaquid Beach. Each time we went Samuel explored a little more. One time he and I walked to the opposite end of the beach and explored some rocks. He liked wading and sitting in the sun-warmed pools left behind at low tide. By the end of our week there, Samuel was picking up the seaweed and checking it out!

Here are some more highlights of our week. One cloudy day we went over to Boothbay Harbor, about a 30 minute drive from where we stayed. It is a charming town that has a lot of quaint boutiques and antique shops. This time we only had lunch there, no browsing in shops like we did on our honeymoon! On our way home we stopped at a miniature golf course and my husband took all three boys. Baby girl and I wandered around the rest of the property and browsed through a sea shell museum. The owner of the golf course runs the course during the summer and then lives in Florida for the winter.

We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to take a family ride on the water. Our good friends who live in the area have a son who works at a marina near Falmouth, Maine. We were able to take a catamaran ride thanks to him and his friend who owns it. I was a little apprehensive about all of us being on the water, but felt better once I saw the kids would have life jackets to wear. I thought Samuel might enjoy wearing it, thinking it might be like a weighted vest, but he wanted nothing to do with it. We kept a harness on him instead. My oldest son got to stear the catamaran, which he greatly enjoyed!

On our last day of vacation we went to Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, down at one of the southernmost points of the peninsula we stayed on. We honeymooned at an Inn that was within walking distance of this. On another visit (the one where Samuel kept waking up at daybreak - 4am!!!!) we had dinner in the house right next to the lighthouse. Some people we knew at the time were renting an apartment on the second floor. They had been living there for 15 years (would you ever give up an apartment like that?)! There are some amazing rock formations and cliffs in the surrounding area. My husband and oldest son walked on them while the rest of us explored the park area.

The godparents of our two youngest children live in this area. We saw them every day that we were there. We used to see more of their sons, but they are all grown up now and have moved away. Our last evening they had a pot-luck dinner for us at their house and invited other people we have met over the years. It was great fun, though (as often happens) I did get a little overwhelmed as the evening went on with whiny demanding kids, mosquitoes, and a husband caught up in conversation with other adults!

Other information about the area we visited.. locals and tourists enjoy a local treat, The Lobster Roll (pronounced "lobstah"!!!). It can vary a little, but it is basically a hot dog roll with lobster meat (I've had it where the meat is mixed up with mayo, like tuna salad). The going rate for one on this trip was about $17! We did not partake this time. One of the towns we passed through in Maine as we headed north, Wiscasset, had people lining up for them!

One of the northernmost towns on the peninsula we stay on is called Damariscotta. It is quite picturesque. During our stay we experienced its main street, including the sidwalk, being repaved. It made traffic through the town heavy, but fortunately there were ways to get around it. The paving was completed our last day there, just in time for the area's tourist season, which always gets under way the week of the 4th of July.

We were very sad to leave our cottage as well as our friends and the area. We hope to be able to return next year. My trips to Maine have always been enjoyable no matter what stage of baby and toddler I have to deal with, but I sure do look forward to the day when I can experience these things with children that are a bit more independent!

All photos are from Flickr.com. Pemaquid Beach pictures taken by MaineMama. First picture is of the NW (I think!) end of the beach and second photo is of the SE end of the beach, if I have my directions correct. We walked on a path through the area with the trees in the second photo to get to the beach. Picture of the seaweed was taken by Thallium. Boothbay Harbor picture taken by Harry390. Picture on the water taken by denjes3, near Falmouth, Maine. We sailed on the catamaran near here. Pemaquid Point Lighthouse picture taken by eva8. Red's Eats picture taken by Madame Pocklock. Lobster Roll picture taken by wendalicious (this is a lobster roll from Red's Eats). Damariscotta scene picture taken by GTOfan. Downtown Damariscotta picture taken by Wildhorses.

This has been a long, taxing week. My head is spinning from all the thought going on about Samuel, his school, finding a good place for him at his school.

I did manage to find out that Samuel's class will not be moving to a "modular classroom" (there are so many different names for these things I have learned!). A story goes along with how I learned this, but I probably shouldn't share it here. I will say that this situation has caused me to wonder if I'm hearing the full truth from school staff and administration. I have heard statements from different people that just don't jive. The bottom line, however, is that Samuel's class won't be in a modular classroom and in spite of the questions I now have about who is saying what, I'll just be happy with that knowledge.

Samuel is enjoying an afternoon outside in our backyard. His younger brother, who turns 5 in a few weeks, has discovered the joys of playing games on the computer. Great, now I have 3 boys who fight over 2 computers! There is also Dad's laptop, but it isn't always available. (If I was my husband I would NEVER let it be available to them!) When my oldest lamented about not having a computer to play on I jokingly told him "Just think, some day you'll tell your grandchildren about how you had to endure the hardship of sharing electronics with your brothers!" He didn't sense my sarcasm.

We all attended a car show that was part of the Apple Blossom Festival up in Winchester, Virginia. We let Samuel know ahead of time that he could not touch the cars and he did terrific! He also did very well walking with my husband and he played nicely at a playground before we left. He fussed a bit when it was time to leave, but I gave him a 2 minute countdown. I had to get him when time was up, but he accepted that and then willingly walked the 3/4 mile back to our car with us. It's great to be able to all go out together like this. It takes a bit of planning and strategizing, but it always does with young children anyways!

My husband and I have decided that we are going to attempt a vacation to our favorite place on Earth.. mid-coast Maine! We went there on our honeymoon, which was the end of May almost 11 years ago. We have returned there many times together, usually the same time of year. As mid-spring approaches now I always start thinking about going back. Our trips there used to mean staying at quaint inns and B&Bs, but not any more (though we may attempt one overnight stay at one of the inns)! We now either stay with friends we have made up there, or we rent a house. We're going to try and rent a charming house we stayed in four years ago. I have not been up there in 3 years, so I'm very very excited at the prospect of returning. Two years ago I was pregnant and last year my husband just took the boys while I stayed home with the baby. I'm not even going to think about the 12 hours of driving up there with a fiery tempered baby girl who hates car rides!