Trip to White Sands National Monument

We drove to White Sands yesterday.   We were all impressed with the white sand.  

Of course Lonnie found a rain puddle to play in for as long as we could let her.    It was only a few inches deep, but she and a boy there with his family had a lot of fun running around and splashing each other.   When she got hot, she just sat down in it!   I'm glad I had a blanket in the car for her to sit on.
 
It is a 3 hour trip each way, so when it was time to head home, of course she did not want to leave.   All the way home, she was fussing at me about having to leave.   When she gets this single minded, I cannot say anything that will help.   There is no logic, just her wanting to stay.    By the time we got home, I just wanted to take a nap!

Lady's birthday party

We had a birthday party for one of our dogs, Lady.   There is a bakery in town that makes doggy treats, so I got doggy cupcakes, balloons and streamers. 

We invited the neighbor's dog, Mitzy - who is friendly with Lady.

The party did not last long, just till the dogs finished their treats - but Lonnie had been planning this for a couple of weeks and she was really happy it all turned out okay.

Some people might think this extravagant or silly, but Lonnie asks for so little that when something is obviously this important we try to make it happen.   She doesn't want a cell phone, iPod, or expensive video games.  She doesn't care about having designer jeans or fancy shoes - she just wants to love her dogs.

Miniature Golf Outing

We decided to try something different and took Lonnie to a miniature golf course.   I'm glad we did, but think we will stick with bowling.   Golf was a real exercise in frustration.  She would get upset when the ball did not go where she wanted it to - she wanted to make every hole with one shot.  She had trouble waiting her turn, she would try to start the next hole before the couple in front of us was finished.  She got upset when her dad hit his ball off the course.   By the time we were finished, she was really stressed.   Luckily they had a air hockey table there, so I got her to play a game with me.   She is very good at it and I made sure she won.   We are definitely going bowling next week!

Back to School!

Today was Lonnie's first day of school starting 6th grade.   When we arrived, we discovered that the teacher in whose class we thought Lonnie would be, had resigned and accepted a position at another school.    So the teacher who has Lonnie this year has no information or preparation for dealing with her at all!   Should be interesting - I wonder how soon she will be calling me to schedule a conference.

Lonnie is reluctant to let go of her summer routine, but we got her dressed and to school with no meltdowns, so that in itself is a victory.  We saw Lonnie's teacher from last year.    Lonnie is now almost as tall as her, she had a real growth spurt over the summer.   The first couple of weeks are always the most difficult, but I feel like it may be a little easier this year.   As Lonnie gets older, she seems better able to adapt to changes.  

Lonnie's new room

We decided several weeks ago that Lonnie needed a bigger bedroom.   She is getting older and has accumulated stuff, most of which she will not let go of.   At first, when I talked to her about moving her to a new room, she was not happy.  But when I told her Jenny would still be with her in her new room, and that she would still have her favorite comforter, she agreed.  She asked if we could paint it pink and I agreed.  We finally finished painting Lonnie's new bedroom and got her things moved in.   She and Jenny, the dog, seem very happy with the finished project.    Lonnie was very excited about painting the room her favorite color, pink,  but until we got her things moved in, she did not really understand what it was going to look like.   She painted the fan blades herself.   Since she had six colors and the fan only had five blades, I showed her how to paint one blade with two colors, and she did great.

Here's another video from the show

Although Lonnie gets distracted easily, I thought she did really well in the show.   She sang, stood up and sat down when she was supposed to.

She was so excited about being in this show.   She loves doing things with other children.

Summer is almost over

Hard to believe school starts in one week!   Lonnie has had a good summer.   She has been going swimming at the local pool a lot.   She still does not swim very well on the surface, but she is swimming very well underwater.   I got her a swim mask so she does not have to hold her nose and she loves it.

We took her and our two dogs camping in the mountains.  The first night was great, the second night we had lots of rain, thunder & lightening...Lonnie ended up snuggled up next to Dad until the storm was over.

Last week she went to music camp at our church where the kids made props and costumes for a show they put on last night.   It was called "Don't Rock The Ark",  a musical about Noah, the animals and the flood.   Lonnie was in the chorus and had a dog mask.   It was great!    I am going to try and post a short video of one of the songs - hope it works.   Although she continues to struggle with her social skills, Lonnie really enjoys being with other children and doing whatever they are doing.