Big Bike

Introducing Gus' newest recreation possession a 20-inch (20 inches!!!) Specialized Bike from Sycamore Cycles in Brevard. It's still a bit too big, but at the rate Gus is growing, we didn't want to invest too much money in a bike he would tower over next summer. The push bike got handed down to Rion and now we are on to learn how to ride with pedals, a handbrake and a disk-brake.
No gear shifting though. We figured that was too much of a transition for our little cyclist.
We'll be spending some time in abandoned parking lots before we take this show on the road.
- Geraldine, posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Brevard, North Carolina

Our Guardian Angel

This is the young man, I owe a week off from parenting to. Cody Farmer took wonderful care of Gus and kept him safe - mostly from himself - all the while being entertained and humored by Gus' many quirks and preferences - and general attitude toward crafts, during his week at Camp Lakey Gap in Black Mountain, NC.

Among the detailed notes he gave us are these two sentences, which sum it all up:
"Gus chose to play hide-n-seek with his counselor during Arts & Crafts time this morning...."
"During Arts & Crafts , Gus chose to spend some time at the playground and at the creek...."



I love that Cody gave Gus exactly what he needed: a great time with only a few necessary rules and lots of constructive choices. I will never forget the happy shrieks I heard over the phone, as Gus and Cody ruled the deep end of the pool. This little boy has so many to-do's in his daily life that I am truly grateful for this carefree time away from it all.

Thank you, Cody, you made this week magic for all three of us.

- Geraldine, posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Camp Lakey Gap, Black Mountain

Three is a Magic Number

Such a wonderful day - celebrating Father's Day, one day ahead of schedule, because one of the most amazing Dad's out there has to work on the actual Father's Day.


First we had coffee and pastries at Bracken Mountain Bakery...Gus is especially fond of the Mocha Swirl.


Then we rode bikes with fellow bike-enthusiast, Ian, who is just learning to ride his push bike and was impressed by Gus' fearless skill.


Then we stopped at the music store to finally touch (and subsequently blow into) the shiny trumpet we have been admiring in the window for weeks now. Gus is really taking to this beautiful instrument...although all the sounds he created can best be described as wet huffs.











And finally we spent an idyllic two hours floating on the French Broad. Yes we live in this paradise on earth. I'm always amazed how quickly you can get completely away in this beautiful town of ours.
What a day. It's good to be three again. We make perfect sense this way.
Geraldine, posted using BlogPress from my iPad

What I did on my vacation

Since parenting is my full-time occupation, I don't feel wrong calling this week my vacation - despite the fact that I paid bills, went to work, did laundry and never saw anything close to a beach or mountain retreat.

But oh, did I enjoy this time off from parenting, especially knowing that Gus was in good, capable and very loving hands at camp. So here is what I did:




First off, especially for the first couple of days, I missed Gus. Missed his person in the house, his body pressing up against mine, his hugs and kisses, his invitations to play and subsequent dismissal from aforesaid play, because he doesn't approve of my play. I missed his shrieks in the front yard, his quiet singing in the living room, his giggles in the backyard.
Simply put, the house was way too empty, way too quiet and way too neat and clean.



So I went and rooted around the local thrift stores, because I rarely ever get to do that when Gus is around. Among the assorted treasures, I found an almost new yoghurt maker and the skeleton of a skirt sewing project that someone abandoned (judging from the sewing, it was a beginner losing heart). I liked the fabric and decided to pull out the sewing machine (which I also rarely do when Gus is around) and add some embellishments, a zipper and a waistband to the skirt. Voila! Here is my new skirt, product of a happy afternoon spent inside.








Since the sewing machine was already out, I decided to take a drive to the fabric outlet two towns over (another thing I don't dare to do with Gus) and I spent my life-savings (not quite) in the remainder section of the store, buying assorted yards of left-over fabric. Voila, I turned out five cozy baby blankets for all those winter babies our friends are gestating right now.



Wednesday evening I took this fabulously handsome man (my husband, Jacob) out to an all-out date. We strolled around town, admiring all the weird and wacky that Asheville is famous for, then we had a delicious and lingering dinner date with Indian food at Mela's in Asheville, then we strolled some more among the lively evening scene in the "big city".


At the suggestion of our waitress, we stood in line for 20 minutes to get cake and chocolates at the Chocolate Lounge - and she was right, we didn't regret it. When you know how to do sweets you get to be popular - even at 10:30 at night. I so enjoyed spending a night out and having time to talk and laugh and eat and drink with my favorite man.


And lastly, but not in the least, I treated myself well this week. I took a pilates class, I ran in the forest, I swam lapse in the early morning and I finally sat down to do my very favorite thing - drink coffee, eat bagel and read the NY Times from cover to cover. Ah bliss, I love you people of Camp Lakey Gap.

Now I can't wait to go get my baby back!

Geraldine, posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Packages with string...

If anyone feels called to send Gus a package or card to camp, they allow it! (most camps nowadays stay away from packages). Here is the address:
Gus Dinkins
Christmount's Camp Lakey Gap
222 Fern Way
Black Mountain, NC 28711
He will be there from June 10-16 (camp booklet says to send things early)
Not sure what to tell you to send. Maybe pictures? Water toys? Anything that a lot of children can enjoy together? That he can share with everyone. Baked goods? A flashlight?
Your guess is as good as mine.


- Geraldine, posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Last camp test drive day

Yesterday was our third and last dress rehearsal visit to camp (we've been twice before just to get used to the sights and lay of the land) and I can tell Gus is getting a bit impatient with the whole going there and leaving again concept - he is ready to stay and play and play and play...

...yesterday's occasion was that some of the activities directors and counselors wanted to try out their strategies on real-life Autism Spectrum children, and Gus was happy to give them a rough-and-tough version of his idea of what camp should be like.

He plowed through lovingly prepared craft (complete with visual schedule) activities with the grace of a bell-rung boxer, then decided to lie down in the middle of a music and movement segment and be uncooperative until the actual instruments came out...then he was very good and very intent on playing the drum. He rushed through the hike (very well marked and thoughtfully laid out as a visual scavenger hunt) with nary a stop and finally threw all visual schedules in the mud to go play in the creek, while the other kids dutifully explored the garden. He wasn't the one lowest on the spectrum, but he was the one with the strongest, independent will...he listened little and chose to ignore most of what he heard...I worried that we would be "a hard sell" for a patient and firm counselor, but heaven has sent us Cody, a spirited young man, who laughed hard at Gus' antics and quickly learned a common language to share with Gus, somewhere between mud and messing up the parachute game....

Gus is so excited for camp - and I can't believe I'm actually letting him go, without me there to keep him in line. But I trust that Cody will find a way to lasso Gus' energy and harness his bad-boy attitude into good camp fun.

I adore him already for volunteering to be Gus' counselor.


- Geraldine, posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Playing tag

Gus will go to camp with a truckload of stuff - the packing list is long and extensive, if you ask me, but then again, I've never sent a preschooler off on his own before for a week to swim three times a day in between getting muddy, paint and eat food without Momma nearby with a napkin in hand.
He will need three changes of everything - every day.
Among the many hints in the camp booklet, I've been urged to mark and tag everything possible to minimize things getting lost or "being traded" - another new camp concept for us to get our minds around - so Gus and I set out the other day to make simple tags that we will be attaching to everything that won't take a wash-proof pen.
The idea is simple. Print out photos wallet-size, write name and phone number with crayon (Gus practiced writing his name on the other side, along with our phone number) then use contact paper, a hole punch, and some plastic ties from the Dollar Store.

Voila, personalized tags that will help Gus keep track of his stuff.
- Geraldine, posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Brevard