Many of you are wrapping up the school year this week and I'm right there with ya. There are only two, count them, TWO days of school left. YIKES! If you are like me, you have been plugging away for months trying to set up therapies and things to keep your kiddos entertained. I'm sad to report, I. HAVE. NOTHING. :( We are keeping up with our HBOT and we are trying to set up in home speech, but we have nothing else planned. All of the camps require the kids be at least 5 yrs old, so those are out. We are still looking into one or two and I'll let you know what I find.
A friend of mine also posted concerns about the summer. I wrote back, "Say it with me, 'Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....'". If we can just keep pushing along and keep our heads above water this summer, we should be good. This should be the mantra for all of us in the ASD community.
Life is difficult enough and we should be able to look to our friends for love and support. A true friend is someone who will lift you up, not tear you down, so beware of the devil working through supposed "friends". A little something to ponder....
“The righteous should CHOOSE HIS FRIENDS CAREFULLY, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.” (Proverbs 12:26)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Hands full
Okay, how many of you have done this?
Today I made the kids' lunches (back up, in case they don't like the hot lunch), got shoes on and headed to the car. They made a fuss about taking their stuffed animals, so i grabbed my purse and then offered to carry the crazy amount of animals. One big problem...can you guess? Yes, I forgot their backpacks and lunches! Oops! We get to preschool, they get out of the van and look at me like, "Where are our backpacks?". Poor things are so used to having them (even though they don't need them for preschool) that they looked sad. Hopefully they will forgive me when i pick them up and they see the goodies i got today. I was very busy shopping for their rooms and even found another elephant for little man. He is obsessed with them now and it's adorable. Of all the words, that's the one he started saying a few wks ago & I LOVE watching him light up when he gets a new one. Now he tries to carry them all around the house!
Today I made the kids' lunches (back up, in case they don't like the hot lunch), got shoes on and headed to the car. They made a fuss about taking their stuffed animals, so i grabbed my purse and then offered to carry the crazy amount of animals. One big problem...can you guess? Yes, I forgot their backpacks and lunches! Oops! We get to preschool, they get out of the van and look at me like, "Where are our backpacks?". Poor things are so used to having them (even though they don't need them for preschool) that they looked sad. Hopefully they will forgive me when i pick them up and they see the goodies i got today. I was very busy shopping for their rooms and even found another elephant for little man. He is obsessed with them now and it's adorable. Of all the words, that's the one he started saying a few wks ago & I LOVE watching him light up when he gets a new one. Now he tries to carry them all around the house!
Hyatt Coconut Plantation - Another fabulous resort for Special Needs Families
The Hyatt Coconut Plantation in Bonita Springs is where we vacationed during Easter. I can't say enough about this resort. WE LOVED IT! This has to be one of the best resorts for families, especially those with special needs. Everything is centrally located and almost all of it is FENCED in! Bonita Springs was a good location too b/c it's south of Sanibel Island & Ft Myers and just north of Naples & Marco Island. The beaches were beautiful. FYI, if you travel to Sanibel or Captiva there is a $6 toll to cross the bridge. Just a heads up! We had planned on staying on Sanibel Island last year and changed it to Marco Island at the last minute. Now that we've seen Sanibel, I think we'll shoot for it soon. All this is less than 3 hours from Tampa! Here are some pics from our trip.
Our lanai - fully screened in and HUGE! The kids loved playing out here.
The kids relaxing.
One of the many pools. This one had a beach entry and basketball hoops.
This is the baby pool.
Fully fenced in rubber play ground with sand.
Our kiddos loved the cabanas and hammocks. They even asked to nap there. :)
The lazy river....relaxing! There are 2 ports of entry - convenient since it's so long!
Our lanai - fully screened in and HUGE! The kids loved playing out here.
One of the many pools. This one had a beach entry and basketball hoops.
This is the baby pool.
Fully fenced in rubber play ground with sand.
Our kiddos loved the cabanas and hammocks. They even asked to nap there. :)
The lazy river....relaxing! There are 2 ports of entry - convenient since it's so long!
HBOT is up and running!
This past weekend, the hubs, kiddos and I loaded up and drove across the state to Jacksonville to pick up our HBOT!!! Very Exciting! When we arrived we weren't sure how the kids would behave in this family's house, but much to our surprise, they got along well with the other kids and we were able to have a long, relaxed conversation. Entering into another autistic family's house is like coming home. There's no pressure & no judging. ASD families welcome you with open arms and are ready to share their most private details. It was wonderful sharing details of therapies, schools and doctors. You enter as strangers and within seconds you are the best of friends, sharing your journey through Holland. You talk about your excursions, things that veered you off course and the shear beauty of this place. Best part of that day was watching all four of the kids play nicely together.
Our night did not go as smoothly. We stopped off to visit the grandparents in Ormond Beach and then headed off to our hotel. As I mentioned in a previous post, hotels are NOT our friends. We got a suite, but it was too enticing for them. We arrived late and after some obligatory tv viewing, tucked everyone into bed. They were excited at first, then.....TOTAL CHAOS! Needless to say, I didn't sleep more than 2 hours that night. At one point, everyone was in the same bed, so i snuck off to theirs in the other room and woke to someone coughing in my face. It was a long night!
Sunday we arrived home and the hubs was all to eager to get the HBOT set up. I was just trying not to pass out. ;) We put the kids down for naptime, set up the machine and all the goodies that came with it and tested it out. PERFECT!
I'm not sure that i'll be able to keep up with this throughout the summer since the kiddos are home, but i will try to post updates on the HBOT usage. We have noticed increased sleep. Here are the stats from the past few days:
Sun slept from 9PM-9:10AM (both napped once we got home from trip)
Mon 9PM-9AM (both kiddos napped)
Tues 9PM-9:20AM (both napped)
The twins sleeping this late is not the norm. E actually asked to go to bed Tues night at 8:30 and walked into her room by herself. I have been trying to wake them each morning and it's NOT EASY! If only this weren't the last week of school. B said "MOM" the other day and made me melt to mush. (((sigh)))
Here's a pic of our new HBOT set up.
Our night did not go as smoothly. We stopped off to visit the grandparents in Ormond Beach and then headed off to our hotel. As I mentioned in a previous post, hotels are NOT our friends. We got a suite, but it was too enticing for them. We arrived late and after some obligatory tv viewing, tucked everyone into bed. They were excited at first, then.....TOTAL CHAOS! Needless to say, I didn't sleep more than 2 hours that night. At one point, everyone was in the same bed, so i snuck off to theirs in the other room and woke to someone coughing in my face. It was a long night!
Sunday we arrived home and the hubs was all to eager to get the HBOT set up. I was just trying not to pass out. ;) We put the kids down for naptime, set up the machine and all the goodies that came with it and tested it out. PERFECT!
I'm not sure that i'll be able to keep up with this throughout the summer since the kiddos are home, but i will try to post updates on the HBOT usage. We have noticed increased sleep. Here are the stats from the past few days:
Sun slept from 9PM-9:10AM (both napped once we got home from trip)
Mon 9PM-9AM (both kiddos napped)
Tues 9PM-9:20AM (both napped)
The twins sleeping this late is not the norm. E actually asked to go to bed Tues night at 8:30 and walked into her room by herself. I have been trying to wake them each morning and it's NOT EASY! If only this weren't the last week of school. B said "MOM" the other day and made me melt to mush. (((sigh)))
Here's a pic of our new HBOT set up.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Great autism movie!
Everyone talks about the Temple Grandin movie, but not much has been said about claire's hubby, Hugh's. Over Easter vacation I saw his movie called Adam. It's about a man with autism living on his own and dating. it's nice to see more movies being made about autism.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Friendzone at St. James
A BIG THANK YOU to Joe, Paige and Emma for being buddies to our twins today at Friendzone!!! We aren't sure who was more exhausted. ;)
Happy Anniversary to Friendzone as well! Many families would be lost without you, including us!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Happy Anniversary to Friendzone as well! Many families would be lost without you, including us!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Mother's Day
I was treated to yummy Panera and the kids made cute cards at school for me that immediately went up on the fridge. My night ended with me doing laundry & putting spray n wash on the kids clothes. Emma saw me and said, "great job mom!". That made doing laundry all night worth it. ;)
What did you guys do to celebrate???
What did you guys do to celebrate???
Monday, May 9, 2011
Travel - Great places to stay in Orlando
Where are some of the best places to stay in Orlando with autistic kids??? Well, my hubby and I have always loved traveling and we haven't stopped since we had the twins. Now we just choose places for different reasons.
1. Does it have a fenced in play ground or pool area?
2. Does it have a large pool or multiple pools?
3. Can we get at least a 2 bdrm or larger?
4. Does it have an elevator or are we on a lower floor? (People, you have to ask this b/c you may end up chasing and thus carrying one or more children football style.) ;)
I know many of you who read this are in different parts of the country or international, but at some point may come to Disney World in Orlando. Here are some of the best places we've stayed and they can accommodate families of various sizes - studios to 3 bdrms + pull out sofas.
The Marriott Harbour Lakes is an amazing resort. You have 2 large pools, complete with slides and pirate ships, a miniature golf course, multiple FENCED in basketball courts (great for letting the kiddos run and play with balls/toys), FENCED in water spray grounds, a FENCED in rubber play ground, and a FENCED in children's pool with covered canopy. We were sorry to not have noticed the children's pool until the next to last day of our trip. It was so nice to sit in a chaise or have a conversation without worrying that someone was going to run off. We stayed in a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen. There's a Publix grocery store right down the road, so that made shopping a breeze.
The Hilton Sea World has a lot to offer too. It has a FENCED in spray ground and children's pool, a few other pools, a movie theater and a FENCED in covered/shaded play ground. What's great about this place is that it's right across from Sea World. I'll have to talk about Sea World in another post. Too many fabulous things for autistic children! The only drawback to this resort is that it is large! You'll want to bring a stroller/wagon if you are not near the main pool/spray grounds, etc. We took them when ours were 2 and took our double jogger. They show a pool side movie once a week and the kids loved this.
The Hilton International is reminiscent of Italy. It's nickname is The Tuscany. It has beautiful grounds, running trails, giant chess game pool side, waterfalls, spray grounds (not fenced) and a massive pool. The entire pool area is FENCED in, but your kids can roam A LOT in this space, so we still had to chase them a bit. My hubby and I stayed here before kids and then when the twins were 9 months old & 2 yrs old. This resort is close to shopping....The Outlets are right down the street and Publix and restaurants are across the road.
Also, there is a wonderful FULLY FENCED in park for kids of varying needs in Lakeland, FL (not too far from Orlando). If you are making the trip to Florida and renting a car, it's worth the drive. You can only do Disney or Sea World so many days and then you need a break. It's called Common Ground Park!
Let me know if you have stayed anywhere else in Orlando that has been a hit! We've stayed at some other hotels there, but they aren't worth mentioning since it's no fun sharing a hotel room or studio with energetic, autistic children. They take forever to fall asleep if they can see you are still up. :)
1. Does it have a fenced in play ground or pool area?
2. Does it have a large pool or multiple pools?
3. Can we get at least a 2 bdrm or larger?
4. Does it have an elevator or are we on a lower floor? (People, you have to ask this b/c you may end up chasing and thus carrying one or more children football style.) ;)
I know many of you who read this are in different parts of the country or international, but at some point may come to Disney World in Orlando. Here are some of the best places we've stayed and they can accommodate families of various sizes - studios to 3 bdrms + pull out sofas.
The Marriott Harbour Lakes is an amazing resort. You have 2 large pools, complete with slides and pirate ships, a miniature golf course, multiple FENCED in basketball courts (great for letting the kiddos run and play with balls/toys), FENCED in water spray grounds, a FENCED in rubber play ground, and a FENCED in children's pool with covered canopy. We were sorry to not have noticed the children's pool until the next to last day of our trip. It was so nice to sit in a chaise or have a conversation without worrying that someone was going to run off. We stayed in a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen. There's a Publix grocery store right down the road, so that made shopping a breeze.
The Hilton Sea World has a lot to offer too. It has a FENCED in spray ground and children's pool, a few other pools, a movie theater and a FENCED in covered/shaded play ground. What's great about this place is that it's right across from Sea World. I'll have to talk about Sea World in another post. Too many fabulous things for autistic children! The only drawback to this resort is that it is large! You'll want to bring a stroller/wagon if you are not near the main pool/spray grounds, etc. We took them when ours were 2 and took our double jogger. They show a pool side movie once a week and the kids loved this.
The Hilton International is reminiscent of Italy. It's nickname is The Tuscany. It has beautiful grounds, running trails, giant chess game pool side, waterfalls, spray grounds (not fenced) and a massive pool. The entire pool area is FENCED in, but your kids can roam A LOT in this space, so we still had to chase them a bit. My hubby and I stayed here before kids and then when the twins were 9 months old & 2 yrs old. This resort is close to shopping....The Outlets are right down the street and Publix and restaurants are across the road.
Also, there is a wonderful FULLY FENCED in park for kids of varying needs in Lakeland, FL (not too far from Orlando). If you are making the trip to Florida and renting a car, it's worth the drive. You can only do Disney or Sea World so many days and then you need a break. It's called Common Ground Park!
Let me know if you have stayed anywhere else in Orlando that has been a hit! We've stayed at some other hotels there, but they aren't worth mentioning since it's no fun sharing a hotel room or studio with energetic, autistic children. They take forever to fall asleep if they can see you are still up. :)
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