Whirlwind (Whirlpool?)

It's been a rather full and quick few days, so I'll give you a rather brief and compact summary of it all!

Daddy came home Friday evening, safe and sound though late thanks to British Rail. The boys and I toured Union Square mall while we waited, making sure to exhaust all fun potential in the escalators and buy a birthday present from a local shop. When Daddy came out of the train all eyes were on him and his 75 pound bag (weight, not price!). Whenever he goes to Oxford to work with Mr Bernd he always takes a lot of books, and this trip was no exception. He still had room in his bag for some gifts for the boys, though--this time two hand puppets from an Oxford toy shop. Still haven't decided who is the mole and who is the fox, but they are sweet.

The boys then spent most of Saturday with Stevie, our angel from next door, while Mommy and Daddy did their workshop for Welcoming Church Forum. If you want to see what that's about, look here. Stevie took the boys to the beach where Adam had his first ever birthday party. I don't know how many people wait until their child is 7 for them to be invited to their first birthday party; needless to say it was a fun event for him and us. Sadly we couldn't be there, but Stevie told me all about it and it sounds like the kids (and Adam) had a blast. I would have been nervous about him, but it was a girl from his class with Down Syndrome, who I know for a fact is in love with Adam anyway, so I figured he was in good company! They all had a great time, and we had a lovely day on our end discussing issues of disability, worship, inclusion, belonging and growing as the Body of Christ with 18 people from around the city. Day well spent, four very tired people at the end of it!

Sunday, and a lovely church service and back into the groove of the swimming club. This time Daddy joined us, and by 5pm again we were all warm, tired, and ready for a pizza. What a quick weekend!

I'll have more this week on further developments in Adam's school and education experience. It is not great at the moment, for reasons Adam--bless his heart--cannot express to me but thankfully his teacher can. I am still trying to find the right way forward, the right people to talk to, and the courage to put up the fight that I suspect is coming. Pray for me, and for Adam, that we would be able to get him the support he needs to enjoy school and get as much out of it as possible.

Off to bed!