Summer

In spite of the unexpected start to the summer we still found things to do, both outside and inside.  We frequented the $2 summer movie each week and there are some pictures below of some other things that we did.

At the creek with Aela (before 5/27)

Aquatic Center Summer Bash (before 5/27)

The Friday after we got home from the hospital Gabriel's violin teacher did an outdoor performance.  It was the perfect, calm thing to do outside.  And they got to push Dad on a big swing.

Camping trip with Dad where they saw wild horses

Corban went to swim camp and brought a friend from school, Jordan, to fill Gabriel's spot.  They had fun each day swimming, having swimming lessons, playing outside, doing group activities, and watching a movie at the end of the day.

This year brought the return of Summer Bible Camp at church.  Taylor did the teaching and I did the snacks.  Lot of other people volunteered to make it a fun few days for all the kids.

The week of July 4th Taylor was out of town at a youth camp.  He dropped the boys off at his parents before he left and they had a good time with Pop Pop, Gammer, Aunt Tracy, and Drew.  I drove down on July 4th after I had worked the day prior and we went to a festival and parade in downtown Braselton.  Honestly, I think their favorite part of the outing was finding a store called "Art of the Nerd" full of Pokemon cards and action figures.

We spent a day at a science museum with the Spears and then had fun the next day playing at their house after we spent the night with Grandma Cheryl

The week after we came home the boys went to a 3 day free camp at VT run by the chemistry department.  The grad students include the kids in learning about their research and doing experiments both outside and in the lab on campus.  Both boys got to go this year and had a really good time

Duck Pond

Minor League Red Sox game with friends from church

Chilling in the backyard with their drinks on boogie boards

Corban swinging wrapped up in his towel

Bowling with friends.  Corban was so excited to win!

At Chilis for Daddy's birthday (they finally opened one in Roanoke). 
The boys thought the staff singing to Taylor was hilarious.

One Saturday I drove the boys out to the Green Valley Book Fair.  It's quite a drive, but Corban's class had gone there on a field trip and had talked it up to Gabriel.  I have a hard time saying "no" to discount books and there is a very yummy ice cream place down the street.

Pulaski River Turtles Baseball courtesy of Carilion

We went to the beach the first week in August.  The boys loved playing in the sand and drifting over waves (actually Corban liked diving into them).  It was nice to just have a week of no set time to get up (we let the boys watch cartoons on the TV in their room in the morning, which they thought was great), simple meals, introducing them to tacky beach gift shops, and playing mini golf.

This kid was fearless and all about the waves

We let them pick out one thing in the giftshop.  They both went with pirate
weapons and masks (we had recently watched Pirates of the Caribbean )

Gabriel spent a long time collecting these little sand creatures.  He had them in a bucket with some water and sand.  As he found each one he added it to the bucket and watched in burrow itself down into the sand.  He even named a couple of them.  He was so gentle with them and when we were done for the day he placed them each back in a wet and sandy place and watched them burrow down to safety

We went to Touch a Truck at the mall.  We've gone to this every year that it has happened since they were little.  The boys don't want to wait in the long times to climb on most of the trucks, but they like walking by the vendors (getting free candy) and looking at things.  They especially loved the SWAT truck and asked the officers there all kinds of good questions.

Lunch at Panda after Touch a Truck.  I guess it's kind of a tradition
because they remember doing it and want to do it again each time. 
Gabriel is reading a book to Corban on the Kindle.

 And before we knew it, it was time for school to start and Corban's 8th birthday. . .

Unexpected Summer Plans

I have been reluctant to put anything on here for the past several months because I knew the next thing would be this.  I can't decide how detailed I want it to be, but I know that when I look back later I'll want this here.

On May 27th (about a week after school got out) Gabriel fell 30 feet out of a tree and had a traumatic injury to his head and left side of his face.  Taylor got him to the hospital, where I was working that day, and he was flown to Roanoke and admitted to the PICU.  Those first 24 hours were the scariest hours of my life and I am so thankful that God spared his life.  I have a couple pictures from the hospital but those are better kept elsewhere

The boys did not like being apart and Gabriel cried for Corban many times when he wasn't at the hospital.  Corban got up each day and was ready to run out the door to go and see his brother.  He made a welcome home sign for Gabriel with their friends, Caleb and Oren.

Gabriel was so brave in the hospital.  When he first got to the ER he was a "Trauma Alert" and therefore got a whole team of people rushing to him (ER doctors and nurses, lab techs, pharmacy, radiology, nursing supervisor, etc).  He quickly had his clothes cut off*, got labs, and a fast ultrasound to look for internal injury, Xrays, and then basically a whole body CT scan.  He was then flown alone to Roanoke (where they have neurosurgery) where he arrived in the ER before I could get there (I ran home to get his bear, Freddy, not knowing how quickly the helicopter could get him). He got no sleep due to frequent neuro checks, was in pain, had a neck immobilizer, and couldn't even get out of bed for the first 2 days.  The second day there he had an MRI.  He of course wasn't happy about any of those things and was scared and sad, but he did what was asked of him while he was there, even when he was crying in pain or fear.  He has been much the same since.  One week he said "how many doctor's appointments this week," but he's done a lot of follow up without complaining.  As of now he has been cleared by every doctor except the eye doctor.  He starts rehab for his left eye today (8/29)

*The ER charge nurse asked me if she could show some of the staff what was in his pockets when he got there.  I believe it was a magnifying glass, a plastic knife, and something else.  She said it was just so cute that what he had was definitely "all boy"

He was showered with gifts and art activities (very limited screens and reading for the first month).  We played a lot of games and he listened to a lot of audio books.  He had a good attitude about it for the most part, but his summer was nothing like he thought it would be.  So many doctor's to see (eye doctor, dentist, neurosurgery, brain injury clinic, counselor, pediatrician).  He couldn't finish the baseball season or go to the swim camp as planned with Corban for a week.  He could not run, jump, or do anything with changes in pressure or risk of impact to his face or head (so no swimming pools).  The summer was hard for all of us, for different reasons and in different ways, but as I feel like we're starting to come out of a "fog" with school starting I know that we all have much to learn and process from the past 2 months.

A very kind friend at church organized meals for a couple weeks as well as a "craft drive" where she put a box at church and people could drop off things for the boys to do.  So much clay, coloring things, craft kits, and even a little Zen garden.  Gabriel was given Panda Express and Chick-fil-a gift cards by many people and a Door Dash giftcard allowed Corban to try Red Lobster for the first time since he's wanted to eat some legit lobster (he thought it was ok)

Gabriel's SS class had the idea to raise some money and buy him a Lego set.  They asked anyone in the church who wanted to participate to contribute small amounts (like $5).  They ended up with hundreds of dollars and bought the boys all of the Harry Potter Lego sets seen in the picture.  To say they were overwhelmed is an understatement.  Our dining room table was all Harry Potter for the majority of the summer.

Some of his SS class

Gabriel went to a friend's birthday party at the pool earlier in the summer.  I was so nervous the whole time about the arms and legs of other kids hitting his face or head.  He was good about not jumping into the pool or going underwater but even he said when he left that he felt really tired.  That was one of the only pool times until we went to the beach in August.

Buzz Lightyear pancakes with a mold that a woman at church gifted them

Fixed front tooth!

At the cool pediatric dentist office that has video games and TVs on the ceilings

I am so very proud of how both boys weathered the summer.  Corban was scared while Gabriel was in the hospital, both by how he looked and also the equipment and having to leave his brother there.  He got dragged a lot of places that were no fun to go.  He didn't get to go outside or swim as much as he liked.  We spent a lot of time at home, and we had some really bad days and some really good days.

I know that what I have written could be in a better order or more clarified, but that's where my head is at this point in time.

I had been wanting a prior co-worker to do some pictures for our family, and on the first night Gabriel was in the hospital around 3am I booked a photo session with her for August.  Even then, my thought was that if we were all here in a couple months I wanted pictures.  And my God's grace here are some of them: