It's Summertime!

SUMMER TIME has finally hit our little corner of the world. The above picture is actually at our beach.

Truth is we haven't had much REAL summertime weather. However, the beach activities have begun. I am reminded WHY I like living here. I do like the small town feel and low crime, but I also LOVE being 4-6 miles from the beach.

We bought our beach pass, which enables us to park and attend our Town Beach. We also have a State Side to the beach but that side gets more crowded and in my opinion it is always dirtier, more congested and just not as fun in the summer.

Activities Events July and August

Mondays... Rock music on the beach - live bands followed by fireworks!
Tuesdays ... Movies on the beach at a different location each week. The first week was Madagascar 2.
Wednesdays.. Blues music on the beach - live bands.
Thursdays ... Magic Show at a location on the beach OR down in another area concert.

In addition there is Shakespeare in the Park. Summer Pops Concert. Virtual Arts Festival - to name a few.

What I love is that almost every night for July and August I can get out of the house, with Kiera and maybe even run into friends or make new ones! It is free other than the drive/gas from my house. I don't usually buy food or other things at events, but we pack things we like. It is VERY family oriented. For some, maybe that sounds boring -- but then I am boring.

Experiences to enrich Kiera's life. Every experience adds to her development.

This past Friday we went to the circus! She had never been and I had not been since the older kids were kids if even then. Again relatively close to home - 10 miles. A fun night out, a friday night and I was with Kiera just where I wanted to be, making memories and having fun.

Saturday night was what they call RIVER GLOW. They light small fires on the river and they float. It is absolutely beautiful. The temperature was about 63 degrees with a breeze. There were people everywhere, families everywhere all having fun. I ran into some people I knew and we got to chat and visit. Again we brought a snack, so it cost nothing but was another night out. All just one mile from my house.

We are so fortunate to live in a place that has so much going on, the home town/small town feel. Add in a few hundred or more tourists! Good times.

Long Time

Hi everyone:

Thank you to the few of you that emailed me to see how I am.
I don't blog very much anymore or lately. I teetered if I wanted to delete the blog or not and decided, for now, I will keep it and post when I can.

As always there is good and not so good. I feel blessed that there has been more good than bad.
I'm a person that always wants to know the worst FIRST. I consider the worst case scenario first and figure anything above that is a gift. I hope for the best, don't get me wrong. It is just less stressful for me to have to deal with the worst when I planned for the best or better.

So.....

First the BAD. I just got hit with $77 in bank fees. It isn't really my fault, but it is I who has to cover the fees. GRRR. Had it been middle of a month it wouldn't hurt so much. However, its the 1st and time to pay rent. So this now leaves me with $30 for two weeks! Food is covered and all the household bills are covered. However, this leaves nothing other than gas. So I will drive as little as possible, which I already do, but even more so and make it through two weeks. If i just had $50 of the dollars I would have in two weeks it wouldn't be so bad. I don't like playing it this close to the vest, but this is the time of year with 3 birthdays in under 30 days -- all my kids.

Next.. the GOOD! (see the bad isn't THAT bad, but darn it I really thought I was doing good!)

Let's see.

School ended - actually Kiera's last day was June 18th. So that has meant more fun, but also more work again for me. The schedule changes and anyone that knows about Autism, it makes life oh so fun! NOT.

Kiera turned 8 on June 30th. I cannot believe it! She is finally ready for some get togethers with friends. She really wants friends, still doesn't really know how to play that well, but with the right guidance and the right friends it can be so wonderful.

We had her birthday on June 30th, the actual day. I anguished over the day to have it on, the actual day versus a day prior or after. I anguished who to invite for friends and how many. I finally decided the actual day, mostly because the family I wanted to invite with three kids is also off for the summer. I had my son come and take pictures. This family is great. All three children are somewhere on the spectrum, although the youngest who is turning 6 and entering 1st grade is very high functioning Aspergers. Very verbal, extremely bright and funny and such a great friend to have. It was the PERFECT choice. EVERYONE had fun. My theory was I had some things planned, but would go with the flow of what the kids wanted.

Kiera had fun, they had fun and did not want to leave. The mom is a friend of mine and the dad I know well too. They, of course, totally understand autism and the challenges and so therefore Kiera could be herself, their kids could be themselves and there would be no weird comments or looks.

Kiera got a ton of My Little Pets to play with, some care bear things , boogie board and well just a lot of things she needed and wanted. It was a swimming party and although we have been having more than our share of rain, the sun was shining hot and bright!

Here are a few pictures.





First one they are all splashing me.
Second one is the cake. I put on the carebear decorations, but it is a walmart made cake.
Third one is of course, Kiera.