Sometimes this is what happens when you send Owen to put on his PJs without assistance. I mostly have them in the drawer as sets, but he pulled out these two odd pieces. At least they match, right? And at least he can do it by himself!!
If you’re wondering about the pose, he’s pretending to be a statue because Medusa got him.
Owen: Mom! Look at Katie! She’s a ballerina!
Owen was being a bit cranky when I told him the TV was staying off so I told him he could go play or take a nap. This is the result:
He said “My choice is…I want to lay on the couch and relax.” 🙂
Then he continued to be a bit cranky until Miss Katie came up and started playing peek with his B. 🙂
I had no idea what he meant when he said this, so I told him to show me…and he got out the Play-Doh!
Look at the tongue! He’s definitely concentrating!
The local autism society hosts “sensory friendly” movies at our theater—lowered volume, not completely dark, no ads or previews, you can get up and walk around, and you can bring your own snacks—which we thought would be a great first experience just in case…
As we were wandering around showing him the lobby, he immediately noticed the Planes sign and was very excited. 🙂
Today’s showing was Despicable Me 2—and he was excited because he likes the minions.
And…he loved the movie and did REALLY well. He didn’t talk that much and only got up once. He did ask for popcorn after his crackers were gone…so Tom bought the cheapest $7 bag…and Owen ate about six pieces. Which means we got to eat it (though I’m not complaining—it was delicious).
He did SUCH a good job that we stopped to get ice cream on the way home.
And since he did such a great job, we’ll try to take him to one more regular movie before Tom leaves…
So, overall…the sensory-friendly movie experience was…interesting. For the most part it was okay but there were more than a few very young (read: too young) kids there who were running around. Now, this showing was meant for allowing that…which I understand. But really, if on a basic level your child is too young to sit still for even 15 minutes of a movie—and you’re constantly chasing them or herding them—I don’t think they should be there–even if it’s a more friendly version. There were also lots of crying babies/kids and noisy older kids…which I was okay with the older kids (this was an autism event after all) but the babies? Still no excuse…but I know some were there because the parents didn’t want to get a sitter. (The people next to us brought SIX kids—three of which were too young IMO.)
So while it was okay and Owen enjoyed it, I’m hoping he’ll do okay at a “real” movie…so we can hopefully avoid some of the other shenanigans.
So we had to pick up Tom’s car on the way back from the movie today and I had Owen with me.
While we were stopped at a light:
Owen: Mama! I see a dinosaur!
Me: A dinosaur? Really? Where?
Owen: Over there!
Me: On a sign? Or a wavy tube dinosaur? [We had just seen a wavy tube fox so I thought it was possible.]
Owen: No! Over there!
And by god, I saw it.
Owen: And there’s a guy riding him!
Me: Yep, I can see that, too!
He’s so observant it scares me.
Owen went to the bathroom and set his sword down. When he got out:
Owen: Mama, did you touch my sword?
Me: No.
Owen: Great! Then you get a digi-medal [something from Agent Oso cartoon] for not touching! Good job mom!
Owen: Excuse me. I have to do my job.
Tom: What’s your job?
Owen: To keep my friends safe.
Tom: From what?
Owen: The spears. They have pointy ends. And the lava king.
Looking at old pictures…
Tom: Look at that doll!
Owen: That’s not a doll—that’s me Owen!
Tom came home from work early and I took Owen to a play group water slide get-together. When we got home, Tom was sleeping…and he slept a long time (through dinner). When he finally came downstairs…
Owen: DADDY! You’re alive!!
Me: I didn’t coach him at all.
We went to a mommy group water slide play date today and Owen was in heaven (which I was glad to see he wasn’t spoiled by the Great Wolf Lodge experience). He got to play in a new pool and on a new water slide…WITH KIDS! 🙂
There was a bit of drama (with six kids from age 2-6 with three of them being girls) but Owen handled himself pretty well. And then by cake time everyone was happy and getting along again.
And I think Owen was the instigator of the frosting-on-the-face game…but they all were giggling like crazy.
I was working on my laptop on the couch and Owen was in the foyer playing with his blocks when I hear:
“Mama! Look what I made! Look!”
And he was deliriously happy and pointing at the floor.
“Come see! I made an arrow!”
And I thought it would be interesting to see what he thought was an arrow. So I walked over. And damn if he really didn’t build a perfect arrow.
I told him it was an AWESOME arrow and he did a really great job building it—and he was just GIDDY with excitement. Like almost vibrating with glee.
I love that kid.
Owen was pretending his new sword was a light saber, so Tom downloaded an iPhone app that makes the sound as you swish the phone. So, if you hold it to the sword as you swish…you get a light saber.
So they were all on the couch when I hear Owen say: “Good job, Miss Katie…you’re being gentle.” And I look over and see this:
Both kids slept well (no random nighttime Katie screaming is always good) and our day started off with donuts from the Dunkin Donuts inside the resort.
The park didn’t open until 9, so we just lazed around and hung out.
Owen tried climbing the ladder again…but only got this far again. 🙂
Being at the park when it first opens is AMAZING. There’s no hunting for a table and chairs, there are no lines, there are no throngs of people…and it’s calm and almost quiet. Tom and I took advantage of the no-lines and tested the River Canyon Run family ride in the hopes that Owen might go down that one (it’s a huge inner tube that didn’t look that precarious). HOWEVER. The ride down was quite wild and we knew instantly Owen would NOT do well on it. As it was, it actually made Tom a little dizzy (though he blames the sinus stuff he had going on!).
So we let him enjoy his slides…
In the adults-only hot tub…we only spent about 15 minutes there. It was nice…but we were missing watching Owen have fun!
In the wave pool waiting for the waves. Owen didn’t want anything to do with this pool yesterday but today he was all about the waves!
Underwater Owen!
Pruney baby feet!
He wouldn’t even go under the water with Tom…
Watching and waiting for the dump bucket…he always appeared VERY concerned.
We kept trying to get him to come under and he never would.
I even tried to get him to come with me under the bucket…NO GO.
Owen doing the crazy robot:
Tom took Owen to the outdoor pool and frog slide one more time while us girls went up to the room to start getting ready to leave. Of course I had to get a picture!
Owen had seen all the kids running around with wands (you can buy an expensive wand and they can play games) but he was too young for that…so when we saw this light-up sword in the gift shop, we had to get it for him. It was his treat for being such an awesome kid on the trip. He LOVED it!
I highly recommend late check out—even with the additional fee—because it was great being able to go back to your room to check out instead of having to check out then haul everything to the car and take a bag to the park.
I think Katie was out by the time we left the parking lot and Owen lasted about 20 minutes…
I had been planning on heading to Great Wolf Lodge when Tom returned from Afghanistan…but he suggested we go beforehand. So he took two days off work and we headed up this morning. I had the brilliant (if I do say so myself) idea of taking our babysitter, Virginia, along for an extra pair of hands and eyes…and as it turned out, it was completely AMAZING—it was great being able to pay more attention to Owen (who will remember it) and be able to take tons of pictures (though Virginia is in most of the pics with Katie!). But seriously, Virginia was awesome with Katie the whole time—even when we weren’t actually at the water park.
So without further ado, the pictures.
Proof we were actually here, LOL—though this picture was taken as we were checking out. 🙂
We splurged and got a Kid Cabin suite—complete with log cabin bunk beds and a day bed (and their own TV which we never even used). Owen was excited about his own room/bed and testing out the bunk bed steps. He didn’t make it to the top because he was too scared. 🙂
The view of the outdoor pool area from our third-floor balcony.
Katie was (of course) intrigued by the new annoying band on her ankle.
Sneaking one of my fries. Tom ran to get us Chick-Fil-A while we got settled and into suits. We figured we’d be eating at the hotel enough (and spending enough money on overpriced food) that fast food was acceptable for our first lunch.
Waiting in her 2T suit. We had brought her 12m suit (that Grauntie Rose got her for her birthday) and I actually put it on her but it was really too tight.
Ready to go with Miss Virginia!
She SEEMS to be interested in the bubblers, but unfortunately it only lasted about seven seconds (if that). She just wanted to MOVE. This is where Virginia came in really handy.
Owen liked them quite a bit, however.
Of course, she was more entranced with the hole that had no water coming out of it…
This is how Owen watched the 1,000-gallon dump bucket—far away from the action on the sidelines…
…in the bubblers. 🙂
One of the few things Katie could reach and was semi interested in.
Miss Virginia on constant vigil—keeping Katie’s face out of the water as she tried to drink it.
FEETS!
This is where she liked to crawl.
Making sure I actually get in a photo!
She LOVED the lazy river (Owen hates it with a passion—he has some strange fear about inner tubes).
The outside frog slide that he loved!
Just hanging out. I cropped the pic so he appears closer than he really was. He was pretty far out. I love that he’s old enough we can let him do that and not worry or freak out.
It was about this time that Tom and I decided to splurge on drinks from the bar…since it was right there and all…and it was HOT outside. Yeah, we only had one drink because while they were certainly tasty, they were NOT worth the price. But, as a bonus, while we were standing there waiting for the drinks and Tom was holding Katie, she peed on him. (She had a swim diaper on, but they can only hold so much.) 🙂
I then had Virginia take a family shot—and she only took three and one of them came out really well!
This is how Katie crawled most of the time—her knees were sore (yours would be, too, if you were crawling on cement!) so she would kind of drag one leg while actually putting the other foot down (if you look closely you can see the foot prints on the right side).
Owen having fun in the pool with the water toys.
Virginia spent a lot of time walking Katie around. Again, brilliant idea.
Owen on his favorite indoor slides. It was terribly hard to get good pictures of this due to timing and the new camera that I wasn’t totally familiar with the best settings to get the best shot. So lots of the future shots might look a little off. I did the best I could. 🙂
The other area Katie liked—the waterfall station (well, it was more like a sheet of water). It was somewhat interactive because the water did crazy things when you stuck your hand in it.
Tired boy…and we had only been there 2.5 hours at that point!
Climbing in the ropes with dad. They headed to the top to attempt the waterslide…but once Owen got to the top he said NO WAY (even though the one he went on in Kalkaska was about the same).
Back at the room for dinner. This is where Katie loved to crawl.
Miss Virginia taking a break.
Owen and daddy taking a break.
Virginia stayed in the room with Katie while I took my real (i.e. non-waterproof camera) down to try and get some better pictures of Owen.
Owen liked the sheet of water, too.
This is him doing his robot through the falls.
Back up at the room on the balcony with Virginia and Katie. Katie liked to push the furniture around and stick her feet out the slats.
Completely THRILLED that she got the remote and we didn’t take it away from her!
Owen in his own bed!
Katie had only slept about an hour in the car and then didn’t get an afternoon nap at all…so we were hoping it would help her fall asleep quickly. And it did…she only screeched for about four minutes before she was out cold. I’m sure Owen wasn’t too far behind, and Virginia even put away her laptop and went to bed about 9:20. Tom and I turned our phones off about 10:30 as we were exhausted, too. However, I didn’t have a great night’s sleep…I tossed and turned and it felt like I had slept a loooong time but when I looked at the clock it was 1am. Ugh. The cycling of the A/C pretty much kept me up/woke me up—when it was running, it was COLD and you needed to be under the covers…and when it was off, it was WARM and you didn’t want the covers on. Plus my back hurt (as usual) from the car ride and what carrying of Katie I did (though Virginia did most of it). Plus it was only a Queen bed. So I knew I’d be exhausted the next morning…
Road trips are best when the kids look like this:
Thankfully it’s only a four-hour drive to Williamsburg, Virginia…and Great Wolf Lodge—our last-minute family fun overnight trip before Tom deploys!
Stay calm Owen, stay calm. Look for postcards.
Mama! Look! A postcard!
I love this game. OUCH! I don’t like cactuses.
Owen: Mama, I’m a hunter. This is my rifle and my pistol.
The pistol was his reward for being a good boy during his haircut yesterday. 🙂
Owen: I’m sad.
Me: Why are you sad?
Owen: I miss the condo.
Me: We had fun at the condo, didn’t we?
Owen: Yes!
I’m pretty sure this is Owen’s way of requesting Gramma Jean and Grandpa David go to Myrtle Beach again… 🙂
Someone was a little messy with his ice cream.
So, in addition to the Daddy Dolls, I also got Owen a personalized book called Daddy’s Deployed. Of course I had it for two months before I could even bear to read it myself…and then I made Tom read it to Owen the first time because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get through it without crying (I was sitting behind Owen so he couldn’t see me). Owen did pretty well during the story, but did get a little teary and sad. Especially on the page where we’re all saying goodbye to daddy with sad faces. 🙁
But he asked to read it again the next night…and it was up to me. I steeled myself and got through it…even with Owen being sad again.
He’s also been sad on and off throughout the day for a few days now…back to saying how much he misses his daddy. 🙁 Thankfully it’s not as bad as its been in the past…but I’m keeping my fingers crossed anyway.
So then this afternoon Tom overheard Owen playing:
Owen: When daddy is deployed we are going to send him letters and packages and call and Skype and he will love it!
Awwww.
Tonight’s project was trying to get him to float better. He could do it a little bit during the completion of his jump…but I wanted him to do it longer. It took quite a while—and daddy finally getting in the pool—before it actually happened.
But first, the prerequisite underwater shot…
A cool shot that looks like ice…
And cool new underwater blowing bubbles shots…
Attempting to float but really just jumping at me…
A cool faux-hawk…
Making mama happy…
Floating!
And on video!
When it was almost time to go in:
Me: Daddy, I think it’s time for I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M. Owen, do you know what that spells?
Owen: I got no idea.
Tom: What does I-C-E sound like?
Owen: Ice!
Me: Yes, so ICE-C?
Owen: Cake!
Me & Tom: [Laughing] Nooo.
Me: ICE-C-R?
Owen: Cracker?
Me & Tom: [Laughing] Nooo.
Tom: ICE CREAM! Doesn’t that sound good?
Owen: Ah, no thanks.
🙂
I walked into Owen’s room to see him hiding (?) behind the curtains.
Me: Owen, what are you doing?
He pops out:
Owen: I can hear the ice cream man!