Fair Rides and Fall Fun!!

We have had a great summer this year, really getting to know our Van Wert surroundings and trying to explore more and more of it each year.  Summer is quickly coming to an end and Fall in in the air here. This seasonal transition is always evident when the Van Wert County Fair comes to town!  We have gone to the fair for the last 5 years, and this year was no different. In the week leading up to the fair, we drive through town and see the fair rides and the concession stands going up...Cayden immediately knows the FAIR is coming!! 

Mya's new "excitement" face!

"We're going to the FAIR!!!"

"Can you believe it?!"

Last year, I let go just a little bit, and let Cayden ride the dragon roller coaster...but that was IT!  Even that made me nervous with him, so he really only rode it twice.  This year, there has been obvious changes in the way Cyle and I have been handling Cayden.  It will always be difficult, but as time goes by, we are really trying more and more to let him explore his own world, and set him free a little bit. So this year at the fair, we met up with our great friends to share a few rides!  Even Mya surprised me...I ended up buying both kids a ride wristband for unlimited riding!  They both loved it!!

 The dragon coaster was Cayden's Favorite!  He and his friends Hadley (2 rows back) kept getting off and running right back to the line to get back on!

 Mya loved the mini ferris wheel!

 Cayden said he "could see the whole world!!"

Then they jumped on the "Big Baby Swing!"  Hadley on the far left, and my two on the right!  Mya looked so small, but she really liked all the big rides!

 

See?! Smiles all around!

Another tell-tale sign that Fall is coming is the arrival of Cayden's favorite hunting season...

Squirrel!!

I think he and Daddy went out the very first evening it came in - Cayden even got a brand new squirrel call to help them get those little suckers!  He gets such a thrill out of it, and that just makes Cyle so happy!

 "Look Mama!!  Our first squirrel!"

  Even our little hunting dog Ringo had to get in on the fun!

"Yep!  I'm a HUNTER!!"

Chilly weekends are spent inside, doing fun activities like painting and Play-doh!

"Isn't Fall Fun, Mya Brynn?!"

Cayden goes to Preschool!!

It's official...My boy is going to school!

He has been waiting so patiently all year for this day to come, watching all the time for school busses, saying "Mama! There's my bus! Number eight!" He would make up a new bus number everytime, but he was sure that that would be his bus one day! And finally, August 23rd, 2012...it was his turn!

We went to his classroom to meet his new teacher, Miss Rachel, a few nights prior...and this is when my anxiety was bumped up a few notches. I had been handling things so well, thinking 'this is finally it...look how far he's come!' But when I introduced myself and Cyle to Miss Rachel and the teacher's aide and began talking about some of Cayden's limitations....They had NO idea that Cayden had any special issues at all. I was mortified. Why did I fill out all of those papers including full health histories if this info wasn't even going to be passed on to his own teacher?!  And what if I never mentioned it at all that night?! Would she have ever known to take certain precautions??  

So we proceeded to hash it all out as best we could in a half hours time. NOT how I wanted this experience to go at all. 

So the next night, before his first day getting on the bus by himself, spending a full day with a bunch of other kids running around, a playground...I freaked out.  How could they possibly watch him during the day like we have for the past four years?? Have they ever heard of this disorder?? Will they take all the right precautions?!

So I cried. And I printed out information about OI to put in his folder to educate some of the staff. Then I cried some more. Then I called my mom. Then I went to bed early.

Cyle came into the bedroom and sat down next to me. He reassured me that Cayden was smart. That we've spent the last four years preparing for this, and that we've done a darn good job, and that Cayden will do just fine.  He reminded me that bones heal, and that we've all been through it before, and that if something happens at school we'll get through it again. And with that, I was calm. I slept well, and woke Cayden up in the morning to get ready - his excitement trumped my fears, and I smiled. He is smart. He does know what he can and can't do. And he is a good listener. And he will be okay.

So in the morning, we packed him a really good lunch in his new "Mad Birds" lunch box, put his Superman folder in this new Camoflauge backpack, and I borrowed Aunt BeBe's kissing heart idea, and drew a heart on Cayden's hand to remember I loved him throughout the day.

He was ready to go!

Even Mya got caught up in the excitement - early in the morning with her crazy hair! She wants to be just like her Big Brother!!

So then it was time.  We drove to the babysitter's house for his first pick-up to make sure things went smoothly!  Within 5 minutes, the bus was there and Cayden flew out of the van, gave me a quick smooch, and ran to the bus!  The bus aide even had to tell him to turn around and wave to me!  He was so, so excited.  And I felt relieved when he stepped on that bus. No tears from him meant that no tears were warranted from my eyes either.

And away they went! I kept Mya home with me that day - maybe for distraction...okay, probably!

We played all day, and had a lunch date!  Then waited until the bus would drop Cayden off at 4:15!

The bus drops Cayden off right in front of our house in the afternoon, so Mya and I set up some chairs in the front yard and waited! Then they arrived!  The aide walks him off the bus to me! 

 I got a quick kiss from him, but then he spotted his Little Sis!!  They both squealed and gave hugs and kisses!!  Adorable :-)

 Then he spotted his Daddy! He went running to give hugs!!

 He was exhausted, and a little ADD when he got home! Of course I tried to get it all out of him and all I heard was, "Mama, I regot (forgot) what we did all day!" I did ask him what his favorite part of the day was and I got a pretty great answer...

"I liked riding the bus best! And guess what mama...No Broken Bones!!"

I love him...and He loves school!