A Very Fun Day

No photos. Just memories. We woke early, packed up a backpack, stopped for chai tea and bagels, and then spent 5 hours at Volente Beach. This is a little mom and pop swim park on the lakeside. It's really the perfect size for Bowie. We've done Schlitterbahn and it was so huge and overwhelming to him. This place has just 3 body slides that all end up at the same point and minimal time spent waiting in lines. Bowie loves the Flash Flood (open slide) and will ride it over and over again. I wouldn't come to vacation in Austin for a trip to Volente Beach, but we have gone 4 times this summer and enjoyed it so much each time.

Right upon entering is a kiddie area for kids under 42". Bowie is taller, but there was no one else in the area and we asked the attendant if we could play as long as no smaller children came. And we ended up playing there almost 2 hours, with kids all about his size. I enjoyed him initiating games with other kids, sharing his toy, pointing out his favorite things to do with them. He was at ease, taking turn leading and following, smiling and waving at me ever so often. There have been times recently when he would have shied off from playing in an area with other kids. We would plan on going to a park but he'd see kids already there and just wouldn't want to go anymore. Sometimes we'd just drive away from the park, other times I'd hold him in my lap a distance away and he'd watch until he felt ready. After a couple of times, he noticed how much this helped him and I felt so glad for him that he knows himself so well and also knows ways of being in the world that feel good to him. I didn't freak out and wonder if he was social enough. I didn't force him into classes and large playgroups, even as my husband sometimes voiced concerns and asked me to please make sure that he's getting enough time with others. I just let him be, didn't push him and knew that sometimes he felt like making friends with everyone and other times he wanted a big shield around himself. And I suspect that he will continue to ebb and flow in that way, and I feel so grateful that we have a lifestyle that can flow along with him.

Anyway, after finally exhausting ourselves we made the long drive home. It was 103 degrees and we both wanted to get inside, close the blinds, soak up the AC. After dinner, playing and some Ben 10 episodes Bowie requested The Deep. This time we got out 2 books, Down Down Down and The Incredible Journey to the Depths of the Ocean. We flipped through the pages, finding illustrations of the animals currently being described by David Attenborough and read whatever additional information we could find. It was so fun to make these connections; Bowie remembering the pages containing the hagfish, hairy angler, hatchetfish, tubeworms, etc. and turning to them, glancing back forth between the illustrations and film to compare them. (He is at this very moment looking at the books again and pointing out different anglers, with varying colors of bioluminescence.)This deep sea fascination has lasted about a month now, and I think it relates to his love of monsters These are fantastical creatures, unlike any we've ever seen before. I wish we were closer to the ocean! I think we'll be returning to Moody Garden Aquarium in Galveston this fall after it cools down a bit but deep sea creatures can't be brought to the surface; the only way to observe them is through films and actually getting down there. I hope to find ways to make his dream to go down in a submersible come true.