Bode caught TWO fish!- not having to cook, bake, clean up the kitchen for 5 entire days
- watching B & K play with their cousins and uncles
- that the kids did relatively well in their assigned (age) groups. I had people watching my boys from 9:30 in the morning til noon. Then i took K back to the cabin to nap while B went back to his group from 1:30 til 4:30
- hiking to Stewart Falls. Well. Loved it when we got there. The hike itself was a bit longer than anticipated but well worth it!
- running by myself up the Mt. Timpanogos trail (until i got spooked by some animal in the brush that was probably afraid of ME and i thought, "what the hell am i doing out here all alone? Cougars? Other predators?!")
- that Doug and I took advantage of having willing babysitters and took off for the morning on our anniversary
- photographing Bridal Veil Falls (where Doug proposed to me)(it's going in a collage over our bed of all the states we've lived in since we got married)
- eating at Tucanos, a Brazilian steakhouse. So fun!
- the girls' night i organized for myself and my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law. We saw "Mamma Mia" and got shakes at the Iceberg. A really good excuse to spend time with each other and get away from camp (i can't stop listening to the soundtrack!)
Me with Al, Bethany, Alicia (& Kris is in background)(why i always have to make a goober-face is beyond me) - the quiet time i had to myself while K napped and Bode and Doug were otherwise occupied. I read two books! I was supposed to be crosstitching but got sucked into Jodi Picoult instead
- how absolutely beautiful it was up there. The weather was perfect
- that the boys enjoyed the simple things. Collecting sticks and throwing rocks into the river were favorite activities
- the ropes course. Had to climb up a log and then a short rock wall, into the trees to climb around on cables in the treetops with just a harness and a couple carabiners keeping you safe!
- watching camp through my children's eyes. In their eyes, it was AWESOME.
They LOVED this train. Part of "Frontier Night," which included snowcones. A big hit in the days of the old frontier, no doubt! Much loved by my boys!
Me & Doug in the trees
And not to dwell on the negative, but it was a really really trying week. We'd had a very busy 6 weeks or so prior, with our trip to DC, school starting and then this Utah trip. We tried to continue B's OT programs as much as possible, but it was pretty much impossible to do so while we were at camp. I'd watched him start to slip before the Utah trip and things just got really bad while we were there. He shows us he's slipping with lots of frustration and i found myself sobbing almost all day the Sunday we were in Aspen Grove because he was just so angry. And i thought of all the things i've done wrong (having created this angry child!) and just felt so bad for him (because he's this amazing little person underneath it all) and so frustrated at the loss of the progress he'd made. He has been fully potty trained for awhile now. Zero accidents until we went on our DC trip. Let's just say he had "accidents" everyday in Aspen Grove. Anyway. I wasn't psyched to be in Aspen Grove in the first place and these things made me desperate to leave, get home and focus on B and his programs. I do have to say, with all the negative things i saw, he did amazingly well socially. He warmed up to his cousins and uncles immediately. He did fairly well being dropped off at his group activities. He loved the pool and even went down the slide. He was suuuuuuuper fun with everyone else. Seriously. Did great. I was really happy to see these improvements sticking. My child who used to take over an hour to warm up to an activity (and then it was done!) only needed a moment or two to check things out/take things in and he then jumped right in.
I love that he went down this slide!
Camp ended Friday morning (the 22nd). We'd planned to spend two more days in SLC but decided to high-tail it out of there. We drove home the southern route (I-70 through the ski resorts). LOOOOOOOVELY! So much nicer than Wyoming! We've been home now for a little over a week and Bode is slowly getting back to himself. We're back to a routine (school for Bode M-W-F. Keegen and i are starting a tumbling class M-W. And then they're going to do soccer W afternoons). Maybe we'll consider another trip to Aspen Grove. In 6-8 years...
On the hike up to Stewart Falls 
3 comments:
YAY! Oh, THAT makes me miss Utah. I do love the mountains. So, um, I got engaged on that bridge you're on in that picture. Awesome, eh?
what a great place. too bad my pasties and thongs just won't cut it there, or i'd go too! ;)
i'm glad things are mellowing out, now that you're back home.....
(i am reeeally behind on your blog!)
Hey Ashlee,
I got locked out of your blog for some reason, but now it works again. Ah technology. So...I have much to say. This is an all-purpose comment. First of all, I love you friend. I'd love to be in your living room talking about all this stuff. I'm glad you found such a long list of things to love about Aspen Grove, in spite of what a tough week it was. I so admire that. I was thinking about you that week. I loved reading about all that you do for Bode. I found his birth announcement the other day and just sat down and had a little cry about how much it took to get that boy here. You are the mom he needed to have! I can't wait to know about his continued progress. Be good to yourself-I hope when you read your summary of B's programs you felt really good about what you are doing for him-how you are using all your skills-everything you've done has prepared you for this time. I call that a tender mercy.
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