Welcome to Holland: Summer Has Come and Passed

I can't believe school has already started--at least for Eric--and vacation is over, day trips are done and the pools are closing. I'm happy for the cooler weather, but sad because this was the first summer that felt semi-normal in our house, i.e. doing things we couldn't do in the past and really enjoying spending time together as a family doing regular family stuff!

School for Eric seems to be going well. It was questionable about how the day would go, could he/would he ride the bus, etc., but once all of that got ironed out (I won't bore you with the inconsequential details), it is going well. I really love his teachers. They are both young, energetic and full of great ideas! No tears were shed on the first day, although I will admit that having to relinquish control over some portion of my child's day is tearing me apart!

There are four kids in his autism support classroom, along with the teacher and three aides. He starts his day in his regular ed classroom with an aide. I'm not sure how the day progresses from there, i.e. when they pull him out to go to his autism room, if they wait for him to be having a difficult time, if he has to leave to go to speech or OT. I know it isn't all ironed out yet as school hasn't even been in session a full week yet.

We have been busy around here--with the usual stuff, but with some fun stuff too! We decided to take an overnight trip to Hershey last weekend. Rob was already in Carlisle for a Corvette show, so the boys and I drove out to meet him. We spent Saturday afternoon at the M&H Railroad where the boys got to ride a real train. Then, we checked into our hotel and took the boys swimming. After we showered and got ready, we headed out to dinner and then to the Park. It was great. Evan really loves the rides and Eric was quite excited to do the water park on Sunday. We woke up Sunday morning and met my sister, Dad and Lauren for breakfast and then went to Chocolate World. After that, we went into the park. Eric only rode the Carousel and the trains, Evan was into just about everything and kept asking if he could ride the roller coaster--sorry buddy, still too small. Rob and Eric eventually took off for the water park. We met them there and Eric was having a blast. He had a life jacket on and just thought it was the bee's knees because he could bob up and down and float all over. He kept going under and didn't care! All in all, it was a really, really nice weekend.

Evan doesn't start school until September 9, but when I asked him the other day why we go to school, he told me "to have fun." Hopefully that attitude lasts the next 14+ years!

We are going to a Pirates game on Sunday with the boys. They have never been so I'm anxious to see how it goes. Eric isn't much for loud crowds, so it could be interesting. We thought his hands might become permanently attached to his ears at Hershey Park, so I can only imagine the ballgame will be the same.

The boys and I went downtown to ride the incline and walk through Station Square. This is them on one of the lookouts from Mt. Washington.