Epic Update

Well, epic in terms of length, not of "epic-ness". ;)

Where to begin...my guys and I had a great summer. It was pretty low key, but we managed to get out there and have some fun. Seth rediscovered his love for slides, especially tall metal ones (pretty anxiety inducing for me, but I stopped spotting him after about his 50th successful climb). Emmett attended day camp for the first time and really enjoyed it. He did a nature camp in July where they learned about different kinds of birds, insects, rodents, etc, often with stuffed or mounted "specimens". The stuffed woodpecker left me wanting to hang out on the other side of the room, but Emmett had a great time banging Mr. Woodpecker's beak up against his plastic case and saying "Cheep!! Cheep!!" while giggling. Boys.

In August we took our first ever overnight trip as a family of 4, to Drumheller and Calgary. The kids weren't too thrilled with the drive down, especially Em ("We have to go home now. I need to watch TV!"). Once we got to the badlands though they got very interested in the change of scenery! They loved the dinosaur museum, the world's biggest dinosaur, and the hoodoos. But nothing could compare to spending the night at the SUPER 8!!!! Wow!!!! Really, they were beyond excited. Watching TV at the Super 8! Having a bath at the Super 8! Eating breakfast at the Super 8! It was all too much. I think Em finally fell asleep around 10pm, and they were both up at the crack of dawn...apparently the big beds at the Super 8 were too exciting to do much sleeping in. We hit the road early and headed to the Calgary Zoo, which was fun but HOT. Every single time I go to that zoo, it's a million degrees out without a hint of shade...it's like they know I'm coming. Anyway, the whole trip was pretty exhausting for James and I but it was totally worth it. Two months later and Emmett is still asking when we're going to stay at the hotel again!

Summer did end on a bit of a rough note. In June we adopted a stray kitty from the Humane Society that we named Monty - a big ol' tom cat, pretty chill around the kids but NOT a fan of other cats. At the end of August he couldn't attack the feral cat outside our door who was trying to get in, so he attacked me instead. He cut up most of my instep and heel, and left a few deep bites/tears in my leg. I went to the clinic right away and got cleaned up/started antibiotics, but my leg still got really infected. I ended up on IV meds for 5 days and now almost 2 months later the tears are just now fully closed up. I've got some nasty scars, but I am SO thankful that it was me and not one of the boys. We were already quite attached to that cat and it was sad to let him go, but we were able to find him more of a "barn cat" position that I'm sure he's quite happy in. We adopted a couple of sweet kittens last month, which has helped ease the loss. They are fun boys and are working out much better for our family.

Emmett started kindergarten in September at Tevie Miller School - a program that specializes in kids with severe speech problems. He goes full time, which I was a bit concerned about at first, but he's adapted very well. He's happy to get on the bus each morning and his teachers tell me he's a happy boy at school. He's got a lot of difficulties, as well as the attention span of a gnat, but he IS making progress. He can now print his name, and he is learning to print a new letter each week. With his fine motor delays I never thought he'd be printing this early! I'm so proud of him and so happy that he's in a good school with good teachers.

Seth is still a character/total ham. I'm fairly certain he's in love with Jamie, the lady that teaches his weekly preschool music and dance class at the rec centre. Today he told me "It's Jamie's CLASS!" and went for his shoes...I told him his class wasn't until tomorrow and responded "No, no fanks Mommy...Jamie's class." and kept on with the shoes. Something tells me this kid is going to do back flips when he gets to do actual preschool next year!