heading to the beach, baby!

Last Friday night (very early in the a.m.), we began our journey to Myrtle Beach. We drove to our first destination, Pinehurst, N.C. That part of the road trip took about 9 1/2 hours. We stopped a few times for bathroom breaks and for snacks, but it is still a LONG drive. After we arrived at Pinehurst, we checked into our very nice hotel room and relaxed. The boys (SJ, Bob and Bob's friend, Rico) binge watched some "South Park" and then went to enjoy the hotel's pool.  We went out to a pizza place for dinner and just hung out in the hotel for the evening.


Saturday morning, we woke up and had a yummy breakfast in the hotel before continuing our journey to Myrtle Beach. We drove for another 2 1/2 hours to our destination of Ocean Lakes Campground in South Myrtle. Our house wasn't ready yet, so we drove to the beach. After quickly changing into our suits, we all were in the ocean (even me). The water was lovely. It was warm, yet refreshing. We stayed in the water for almost two hours and then I got a phone call that our house was ready. We drove our car the half mile to our vacation house. It was a three bedroom beach house on stilts. It was nice, but it needed some TLC. 

After unpacking, my husband and the boys hung out at the house while I went to Walmart for groceries and supplies. When I returned, we went back to the beach for another 90 minutes. The water was still warm and the sand had cooled down a little. For dinner that night, we chose to eat at Meet 'n Eat, the snack shop at the campground. Everyone was happy with that plan. After dinner, we went back to the beach house and the boys started a puzzle. That was enough for our first day.

Sunday was another beautiful day. While everyone else was sleeping, I took a long walk before it got too hot out. I made breakfast for everyone when I returned. The boys slept fairly late, but they were exhausted from all the driving. After the boys woke up and ate, we went down to the beach. The water was just as nice as the day before, so we played in the surf for hours. That evening, we went out to dinner at the River City Café. It is a great dive place to eat (burgers, chicken, salads) and you can write on anything and everything. It was still hot out after dinner, so we went back to the beach. That evening, the waves were huge, which the boys immensely enjoyed.

Monday was our Wonder Works day. What a great day!  We got the Adrenaline Pack, so we could enjoy the science center as well as the zip line and rope course that were right next to it outside. We did the science center first. The boys loved it. We did many of the exhibits (including the Bed of Nails), the inside rope course and played laser tag. When we got outside, we had a little wait until the zip line and rope course opened. There were these bubble roller balls that you could get in on the lake. The boys wanted to try them, so we let them. They had a blast in them and my husband and I enjoyed a refreshment while we waited for them.  Next, we went over to the zip line area. I couldn't believe that Bob was going to attempt this (he is afraid of heights), but he surprisingly did. SJ and I did the zip line while Bob, Rico and my husband did the rope course. The zip line was awesome and everyone (but me) loved the rope course too. 

                

On our way back to the house, we stopped at McDonald's drive thru for a late lunch. After the boys rested in the house, we again went back down to the ocean. The water was still great. Since we had such a big day, we decided to just make dinner at the house. The boys wanted to go to the arcade on the campground, so they spent their time and a little money doing what they do best: being video game zombies.

Tuesday was our day at Myrtle Waves. This is a local waterpark. Again, Bob surprised us by doing many of the scary water slides. I was so proud of him. Rico is a good influence. We let Rico and Bob walk around by themselves while SJ, my husband and I did our own thing. It a little crowded, but not so crowded that SJ complained much. Everyone had a great day at the waterpark. 

              

That night, we decided to go to our first of three miniature golf courses. We went to Mt. Atlanticus (this is a favorite of the boys). Rico really liked it and we only had to speak to SJ a few times when he got upset about losing a hole.  After mini golf, we again ate at Meet 'n Eat and then the boys went back to the arcade. They are getting older now, so we let the three of them walk back to the house without us.

Wednesday was a low key day. We started our day by going to the beach. Rico and Bob were tired, so they stayed at the house while SJ, my husband and I went to the beach. After we returned to the house, Bob decided he wanted to go mini-golfing again. I took him and Rico to Gilligan's Island Mini-Golf. It was so hot while we golfing that I thought we were going to pass out. We stopped at a souvenir shop after mini-golf to browse and to cool off. Rico did buy a few things while we were there. While we were golfing, SJ was enjoying the indoor skate park at the campground. He told us they had a "warped wall" there where he and some of the other boys were trying to run up it. We tried to go out to dinner that night to Drunken Jacks, but the wait was way too long. Instead, we went to Chick-Fil-A and got take out. The boys were happy about that. That evening, they again went to the arcade. They came home with a ton of tickets!

On Thursday, the boys were "bored" with the beach, so we drove up to Myrtle and did a little go-carting (well, the boys and my husband did). I went to the Hollywood Wax Museum instead. The boys liked the go-carting, but it was so hot there. Bob and Rico decided to do some mini-golfing, which was also at the go-cart place. SJ and my husband continued to go-cart. As long as everyone was doing something that they enjoy, I was happy. We went out to dinner that night at a place called Sticky Fingers. It was very good. Rico got a burger, the boys got chicken finger meals and my husband and I got bbq. After dinner, we stopped at two shops to do some more souvenir shopping. Everyone got something and Rico bought tons of stuff for his family (a very generous kid). That evening, the boys went to the arcade and then we joined in the go-cart parade. So much fun!

Friday was our last full day in Myrtle. They were calling for rain in the afternoon, so we decided to hit the beach first thing. The water was considerably colder that last day, but still enjoyable for us. Bob and I sat on the shore while my husband, Rico and SJ were swimming in the water. At one point, I thought I saw a shark's fin. There had been many shark attacks in Outer Banks, NC, so it was alarming to even think there were sharks near my family. Bob pointed out that it was a dolphin, so I relaxed. It was actually 3 dolphins and they were about 100 feet further out than the swimmers. Very cool!  After two hours, we decided to leave the beach. The boys wanted to do one more mini-golf course. We went to Cancun Lagoon, which had half of the golf course inside the "temple". It was a very fun mini-golf course, so I am glad they suggested it. On our way back to the house, the boys decided that we should go to the arcade one last time. They played the last $20 worth of tokens and cashed in their massive amount of tickets. SJ had the least (4,000ish), Bob had around 6,000 and Rico had the most at over 8,000. They took a long time to decide on their prize choices. When we started back to the house in the golf cart, it started to pour. And by pour, I mean it was a torrential downpour. We were soaked! The rain eventually stopped, so we did the golf cart parade one last time. What a wonderful week we had. It was so nice to get away and to try some things that we had never tried before. Goodbye Myrtle!

summer speech session #7

The Tuesday before we left for the beach SJ had his speech therapy session.  SJ had spent a few days with my parents while Bob was away at a soccer camp. I had my parents meet me at the therapy site. SJ was in a fairly good mood when he arrived. Before they started their session, I quickly told his therapist that we would be leaving for the beach in a few days as a source for conversational speech work. 


When he came out of his session, he was still in a good mood. She said he was very chatty about going on vacation. They spent some of the therapy time talking about things he was planning on doing at the beach and he told her that his friend was probably not going to make it due to an ear infection. He was pretty bummed about that. 


After they were done talking about vacation, they worked on a Figurative Language & Exclusion activity.  She had him read a story. When he was done, he needed to identify the main idea, specific details, emotions and idioms. She told me she chose this activity since SJ loves idioms. She said he did well with finding the idioms and emotions, but he was struggling some with telling her the main idea. She will continue to work on this with him.  Here is an example of one of the stories:

                          

There were four stories that they worked on. He had the same struggles with each story. This will have to be a concept that she will be addressing at additional sessions. She told me to tell him to have a great time on vacation and was looking forward to hearing his stories when he returned.

summer reading session #9

This Tuesday SJ had his weekly tutoring session with Mrs. Banks.  They began the session by reviewing Chapters 7-9, since SJ wasn't paying much attention to the book at the last session. After they reviewed those chapters, they read from Chapter 10 to the end of the book. 

Mrs. Banks said he did very well today. She said he was happy and seemed well rested. (I encouraged him to go to bed before midnight Monday night.)  She said they finished the comprehension questions without a problem. She hoped that SJ would tell me all about it when I got home from work. (He happily did.) She told me that she felt SJ really enjoyed the book.  So glad to hear that!

Then, she reminded me that SJ will have two weeks off while she is vacationing at the beach. (We will also be at the beach one of those weeks.) When she returns, she said she would have a new book for SJ to start reading with her.  Hopefully, he will like it as much as "Lawn Boy".

summer speech session #6

SJ had missed two speech sessions in June. My husband was supposed to take him to his sessions, but he was out-of-town on business. I wasn't able to take him either, since I wouldn't have been home from work in time to transport him to speech. I had to call to cancel those first two appointments.

Last Tuesday, my husband was out-of-town again, but luckily I made it home in time to get SJ to speech. Before she took him back, I told her about the talent show, his end of the year grades, our upcoming trip to our friends' lake house and how summer was going in general.

She thanked me for the information and took him back for his session. When he came out, she said he did very well. She said they talked for a while about the events of the end of the school year. She said he was very chatty (sometimes too chatty) and had to remind him occasionally to let her take a turn in the conversation.

Since they spent most of their session catching up, they didn't get to any additional speech work. She seemed okay with that, because having SJ practice his conversational speech is a necessary skill in his social development.

I apologized again for the cancelled appointments and told her we would see her in two weeks.

summer reading session #8

Two weeks ago, SJ again had tutoring with Mrs. Banks. Apparently, he was very tired that morning. My dad had a lot of trouble waking him to get ready to go to Mrs. Banks' house. He was very irritated with "Pappy" that morning.

Mrs. Banks said when SJ arrived at her house he was very antsy.  He told her that he was irritated with my dad for waking him up to come to tutoring. After a few minutes, she was able to get him to settle down enough to read. She told me that he wasn't interested in sitting in a chair at all and she had to repeatedly remind him to put his cell phone away.

With his irritation and non-cooperation, she felt that he missed some of the major parts of the chapters that they were reading (Chapters 7-9). She told me not to worry. She planned on reviewing those chapters at their next session.

I felt horrible that he was so difficult for her. I apologized and told her I would talk to him. She seemed unfazed by his behavior. She has already raised three teenagers and is a sixth grade teacher. She told me not to worry about it. Bless her!

summer reading session #7

At SJ's next tutoring session, they continued to read more of "Lawn Boy". Mrs. Banks texted me after the session and told me that he did well during their session. However, she did note that he was extra fidgety and was full of jokes from YouTube videos.

Even with all of his fidgeting, she said he is still understood the story. She said they read a few more chapters and she had him answer comprehension questions that came from Chapters 4-6.

She said SJ was comprehending the concept of making money in the story, but he declared that he really doesn't want to work to get money as the boy in the story is doing. I wasn't the least bit surprised by that comment. Both Bob and SJ are fairly lazy.  Boys!

summer reading session #6

A few weeks ago, SJ started his summer reading sessions with Mrs. Banks. He is supposed to do the sessions at her house. She asked if she could come to our house, since she was dog sitting some extra dogs at her house (SJ is semi-afraid of big dogs). I told her that would be fine and I told my dad that she would be arriving around 10:00 AM.  They were beginning a new book. It is called "Lawn Boy" by Gary Paulsen. 

The story is about a 12 year old boy who decides to use his Grandpa's riding tractor to earn some extra money cutting neighbors' lawns. The boy's business grows and he learns about capitalism in a very funny way.

Mrs. Banks said he started out the session a little crabby. She said he stomped down our basement stairs while muttering something about "Why do I have to have tutoring?" and then just looked at her and said "Let's do this." 

She said he did a great job after that. She said they had very insightful discussions about the book. She told me that he would be learning about the stock market next week in the book. She also had him write answers to the questions that she had in the comprehension pack.

I am glad he worked hard for her. I had to remind him to go to bed a little earlier the next Monday night so he wouldn't be so tired and crabby. I needed good luck getting a teenager to go to bed early on a summer evening.