The story behind the pictures

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but hopefully I can convey less and the reader can enjoy more. The boys and I made a quick trip to my hometown to pick up their sister and decided to make a side trip to Long Beach, WA for the kite festival. Here are our stories:

Trevor loves the sand and playing in the ocean. He's the opposite of Ariel. I think he would be happy as a merman. He thought it would be fun to make bird tracks coming out of the water. I think in the hopes someone would notice the tracks and follow them up the beach. He enjoys tricking people.

Here are two little girls only 2 1/2 years apart and inseparable.
Before their time together was up, they were plotting out the
rest of the year with sleep overs at each others house. Their
five days together was filled with shopping trips, playing
barbies and admiring each other's princess sleeping
bag. I can only hope the bond forged now stays as strong as
they get older.

This little guy really throws caution to the wind and runs where

ever his feet take him. Here, they took him to a restricted area

for registered kite fliers only. Some of those kites were bigger

than my van and I was told if a person was caught on the string,

could easily be lifted and carried as far as the wind could take the

kite. Rather than holding them up all day, these smart fliers

anchored the lines down in the sand.

Being at the ocean, one must never forget the shoreline is

determined by the tides. Even placing towels in the soft

dry sand does not guarantee the tide won't reach you.

We ended up moving our stuff quickly three times and

each time we thought we had reached a safe spot only

to be chased up the beach once more.

One small moment, one giant ride for Trevor

It started with a phone call. My hardworking man (HWM) had taken the kids to a neighboring park about 6 blocks away on a surprisingly warm day after a drizzly morning. Our 10 year old son, Trevor, indicated he wanted to go home but his sister and younger brother wanted no part of that. Taryn, at 7 years old, was waiting for a neighbor boy to show up. That will probably be several posts and a nervous breakdown later. Anyways, HWM decided if Trevor wanted to ride his bike home by himself he could and surprisingly Trevor did, thus the quick phone call to me. In that one moment and the two minutes of tense waiting for Trevor to come home it hit me, our son was growing up. From child to soon to be teenager, we had been preparing him a little at a time for his independence. The hard part of parenting is there is no set rule book on when to expect anything because all kids develop at their own pace. I should know, having to always readjust my expectations; Trevor is on the autism spectrum with limited speech. I think about all the baby steps we took in bringing us to this point. Trevor scooting on his big wheel before he could even reach the pedals. His first 12-inch bike with training wheels and making those tentative starts and stops on the driveway. And then graduating to a 16-inch bike with training wheels. He rode that bike so much the training wheels literally were bent straight up to the sky but he refused to let HWM remove them. HWM finally did one night while Trevor slept. An upset Trevor tried to reattach them and it took a few days for him to ride again. Now he rides so well on a 20 inch bike, I struggle to keep ahead of him. And safety has always been a top priority. Learning to cross the street and being aware of surroundings and wearing his helmet. And Trevor has always been attached to home and family and never wanted to wander by himself for which I am very thankful for. I also get a little too comfortable in that knowledge and it takes a situation like this to remind me that not only is Trevor growing up, I have to let him grow up. Like every parent we learn to let go of the rope a little at a time but when your child pulls the rope you can actually feel it slide a little out of your hands. It burns a little and you have to catch your balance but it's worth it to see the smile on his face when he walks through the door.