Our Serbian Story: Graham's School Trip

Gazing out at the train and the mountains -- a happy boy!

Somehow, I got bogged down in May and June and sort of fell off of the blog-writing wagon. I have a list of things that I meant to write about, but didn't, so I hope you'll all indulge me and let me share a little about a few things that happened during those two crazy months.

One of the most exciting things that happened in May was that Graham had the opportunity to go on an overnight school trip (with Lori, Mikayla, Graham's teacher and classmates). It was a three-night trip to a beautiful mountainous area in southern Serbia called Zlatibor. Our family visited Zlatibor last May, and so I knew that it would be a great trip for Graham and his friends. This trip was doubly special for Graham because he missed the big 2nd grade trip to Land Between the Lakes that he would have gone on had we been in Nashville this past year. Truth be told, though, I think that this trip might have been even more up Graham's alley than the Nashville trip would have been.

Basically, although it wasn't, you could say that the trip was custom designed for Graham. The kids rode a steam-engine train around beautiful mountains, rode horses, jumped on trampolines, rode paddle boats in a lake, jumped in jumpy castles, visited waterfalls, ate delicious food, and even had a visit from a clown. Of course, I was nervous about him going, particularly in light of my worries about his seizures. But he was in tremendously good hands -- Lori takes such good care of him, and the other adults on the trip were wonderful with him and the other kids, as well. We were so grateful that he had this experience of taking a trip without us -- another step towards a certain level of independence that we hope he will be able to achieve in his life.