The red Mini Cooper with the black shell on top pulled into our driveway a week ago Sunday, just as it has every summer since Austin was born 5 years ago. I could see Austin in his car seat waving to us shyly. When he climbed out he seemed taller as he gave us each a dutiful but loving hug. The long anticipated summer visit was about to begin! Where to start? What to do first?
The summer activities at Biltmore Lake especially for kids, are like summer camp. The first day we suggested a nature walk, some tennis practice on the courts, a boat ride in a canoe or kayak, and a swim in the lake. Of course, we did all those and more as the week progressed and weather was fine for outdoor everything The stack of library books for bedtime reading were fun. This year I included silly poetry like Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky and some tongue twisters which Austin loves because he has a keen ear for language and rhyming. Once we were finished with books, Austin would be asleep on his blow up mattress, just as his head hit the pillow.
For “back up” if it rained, I had two new 100 piece puzzles for Austin. Both the Moana puzzle and the Wizard one turned out to be a big hit with him even though we had no rain. Spreading the pieces out on the coffee table I watched him start to put each one together. Somehow he could look at the separate pieces, suddenly pick one up, and fit it neatly into the framework he had started. He’s quick to figure out shapes and put them together. One evening we played a new family board game called CAMP which turned out to be perfect. Austin directed us all as we moved pieces like “Bruce the Moose” and “Sassy Squirrel” around a board and then answered trivia questions about animals and habitats. In between we could read cards with Nature Facts on them and all came away learning nature trivia.
Champion Puzzle Maker
Highlights for me were the nature walks on our Biltmore Lake trails and at our North Carolina Arboretum, with the butterfly net and insect container I had bought for Austin. He chased butterflies, dragonflies, bugs he spotted but the container ended up full of unusual mushrooms we found in the woods, a centipede, and some moss which were easier to collect. Butterflies are savvy and elusive when they are chased by an eager 5- year old. With adult direction and encouragement Austin has a sharp eye for things in nature. The Arboretum Scavenger Hunt form for kids is right up his alley as we looked to check off each item from shelf mushrooms to lichen to poison ivy.
Nature walks around Biltmore Lake
One morning Hayden took Austin out in a kayak. He had his own paddle but wanted to stay close to shore as he got the idea to catch minnows in his butterfly net. That was not successful but the idea was fun.
It was exciting to see the progress Austin has made with his swimming since he’s had swim lessons in the community pool in Washington D.C. When he discovered how clear, clean, and warm the water is in our lake he walked right in to the shallow part and spent hours dog paddling around. I watched his growing confidence in the water each afternoon we spent at the lake. Grandpa Art got right into things and had Austin digging in the sand with him building castles and making canals. The tennis courts were not available in the cool of the mornings but he played some afternoons despite the heat. Austin has made great progress with learning how to serve. He is confident when he plays as his Dad praises him and knows when he is on the brink of being tired. He simply calls it quits for the day. It works.
Making sandcastles with Grandpa Art
One evening we went to the Sierra Nevada Brewery for dinner and Austin loved playing outdoor games on the grounds of the restaurant. .. especially the Cornhole Game where you throw bean bags and try to get them in the hole. One night we had a cookout in our side yard where we set up table and chairs to eat outdoors. I found some frisbees amongst the toys I had kept from years past and we had some frisbee throws on Black Horse Run. Austin is very competitive at everything and had learned to throw a frisbee with force flicking his wrist to make it bounce on the ground like a pebble in the water. We threw the nerf football ball back and forth outdoors with Austin telling me, “it goes up aerodynamically, Grandma”. I think he learned that word when someone at his school taught him to make paper airplanes.
Dinner at the Sierra Nevada Brewery
Cornhole Game
Austin is more articulate than ever and has a larger vocabulary than many adults. He uses phrases like “evasive maneuvers” when he’s running in and out playing tag. Most of his sentences start with “Basically…..”. All week we were helping him learn Spanish words in preparation for Mundo Verde, his new charter school where he will start Kindergarten in a Spanish immersion program in a few weeks. We played with words and counting. “Grandma,” Austin would say, “I can count to fifty in Spanish.” And he’d start. Then we’d keep going past 50 as I fed him new words and he repeated after me perfectly. Pronunciation in Spanish comes easily to him.
After a full week at “Camp” Biltmore Lake, Austin told his Dad “I’m not ready to go home…I want to stay here.” Certainly a good way to end a perfect week…wanting more. Now there is next year to look forward to.
