Recently my Sandy invited Kyle to spend a week with her family in Vermont. I admit that I felt very anxious & nervous. Silly, I know. Kyle is 8 years old, afterall!! That being said, with the exception of when he spent the night at his buddy Andrew's house, he's never been away from home without having either me or Jim with him. It has nothing to do with anyone else. I'm over-protective & I worry too much. I have serious trust issues & when it comes to my kids I fully admit that I'm a true "Mama Bear".
The decision to allow him to spend an entire week without me/Jim was not taken lightly & I discussed things in great detail with Kyle, Jim & Sandy before ultimately deciding that I needed to do this - not only for Kyle, but also for myself. It's time to let him go on little adventures & explore different enviornments. It's important to me that he grows up to be a "well rounded" kid. So Sandy & I came up with a game plan to meet at my Dad's house in Wilmington, VT on Sunday. Wilmington is 3 hours from us & 3 1/2 hours from Sandy - so we were kind of meeting in the middle.
I decided it'd be fun for us to spend the weekend in Wilmington, versus just 1 day, so I packed up the van on Friday & we hit the road when Jim got out of work.
Our ride was fairly uneventful. We didn't have to make any bathroom stops along the way, so we made it to the house in a little under 3 hours. As usual, the girls were miserable during the trip. They simply don't travel well, but we're used to it. I made sure they had their comfort items; blankies, sippy cups & snacks but they only worked for so long. Bella spent much of her time whining while Savannah alternated between fussing & downright crying/screaming for pretty much the entire time but I knew that the minute I spotted the 'Welcome To Vermont' sign a feeling of happiness & peace would wash over me, making it all worth it. And I was not disappointed. As soon as I saw the sign my whole body went into "vacation mode" & I felt relaxed!!
We spent the next couple of days doing a whole lot of swimming, eating & drinking! The sky was blue, the sun was warm, the pool water was clear & refreshing, the grill was hot, the drinks were flowing & the kids were happy..can't ask for more than that, right?! Kyle has grown super confident in his ability to swim; so much so that he was jumping into the deep end of the pool & then swimming the entire length of it to the shallow end!! I was so impressed!!! Bella is still testing her fish gills, but with the help of her life jacket she's also growing confident & had no problem floating around the pool "chasing" after Kyle! They both had SO much fun swimming! Auntie Joan has this great little fenced-in play area for the kids, located right near the pool. She has tons of fun outdoor toys for the kids to play with & that's where Savannah spent much of her time - toddling around the play area, keeping busy! Kyle & Bella also had a lot of fun playing there, too! All 3 kids were very well behaved & slept GREAT! We were able to spend lots of quality time with my Dad, Auntie Joan & Uncle Dan - which was awesome! We all had a great time together!
My sister Sandy, brother-in-law Ed & nephew Elijah arrived on Sunday afternoon. The boys were incredibly excited to see each other & had a blast playing before they hit the road again. I admit that after Kyle was buckled into Sandy's car I cried a little - I was overwhelmed with mixed emotions but I knew that I had made the right decision when I peeked into the car & saw a huge grin on both Elijah & Kyle's face! Their little faces were overflowing with excitement!!
The ride back home to Rhode Island felt strange without Kyle. He's been gone for a few days now & things still feel strange to me. It's like a piece of my family puzzle is missing. Everything around here is just a little too quiet. I miss him terribly BUT he is having THE TIME OF HIS LIFE & my sister Sandy has sent me the proof in pictures!
I wrapped up this Squirt Gun set & put it into Kyle's suitcase as a surprise for him & Elijah. They look like they love it:
The boys have been very busy - they spent some time at a playground:
They went to the library & made some crafts:
They had fun with Lego's at the library:
They played in the pool & sprinkler in the backyard:
They went to the movies & saw Ice Age 3 in 3-D!
They roasted marshmellows by a camp fire!
And they've created a bond with each other that never would have happened had it not been for my sister Sandy & brother-in-law Ed's gracious invitation to have Kyle stay with them for the week!
Sandy & Ed have opened more than just their home to Kyle; they've opened their hearts to him as well. They are making absolute sure that he is having a ton of fun at "Camp Vermont" & because of their efforts (along with Elijah's, too!) he will forever remember his time there with them this summer!
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