Prebble Family Tales

Gareth has been suffering from seasonal allergies lately, resulting in a lot of thick secretions. He is, otherwise, quite enjoying Spring.

I was in Orlando for a week at a software conference, so Gareth got to enjoy almost daily messages from me left on our answering machine letting him know what Daddy was up to. The final message was a note to let him know that he would receive something special when I arrived at the airport. After the requisite hugs and kisses (he was pretty excited to see me return home, especially since he was able to see my plane roll up to the terminal), I unveiled his special gift: his very own R2-D2. We played with it for about an hour after we got home and had some good laughs. Definitely a recommended gift if there are any small nerds in your family. Or, uh, big ones I guess.

The photo up there is from our Sunday spent at Talleyrand park. They were having a bit of a festival from noon to 4PM, capped at the end by a stocking of Spring Creek wherein gentlemen from PA Fish & Boat dumped fish down a slide into the creek below. Definitely … interesting. Gareth most enjoyed checking out the railroad cars that were open to the public and least enjoyed having his wheelchair lifted up and down the steps of the foot bridge to cross the creek.

We have a trip to Danville tomorrow for our regularly scheduled ENT visit. Nothing new is expected, but this is his first visit since having his ear tubes reinserted. We’ll at least get an update on how that’s going.

The weather has finally decided to recognize the onset of Spring, so we went out for a Saturday drive to break up the monotony of life. We ended up grabbing ice cream at the Twin Kiss and then hanging out at the Sayers Lake overlook while we consumed our soft-serve.

Evident in the photo above is a recent vehicle change for us. When the Fall rolls around, Gareth will be starting kindergarten. Because of the hour at which kindergarten starts, I will be taking Gareth to school in the morning and Brandy will be picking him up in the afternoon. There was no way my Ford Focus was going to accommodate his wheelchair, so we’ve traded it in for a Honda Element. As you can see in the photo, his wheelchair fits pretty well.

Speaking of kindergarten, preparations have begun in earnest. A few folks from the Bellefonte Area School District have visited Easter Seals in order to evaluate and spend time with Gareth. Things seem to be going well so far, but we won’t truly be at ease until they come back with their recommendations for Gareth’s placement. Will they see that he needs to go into a regular classroom or will they suggest that he be placed in a needs oriented class? We’ll hopefully find out in the next couple of months.