Fall Break Beach Trip

I will use my extra hour this evening to catch up the blog. Or at least get started. Since fall break we've been extra busy, and our computer is extra slow. I think this dinosaur is moving quickly toward extinction. I think my ipod I got for Mother's Day, followed by my iTunes purchases, (particularly the Dora videos and such I downloaded for our trip) did the hard drive in.

We had an excellent fall break at the beach with good friends. We talked about a beach vacation for a few weeks but couldn't seem to finalize any plans until Heath and Alison invited us to join them.

It was pretty cool our first days there. But I loved the a cool afternoon on the beach. Not the best for swimming, but I'm a little too phobic of sharks and jellyfish to do much swimming. We did get in some good wave jumping our last day there when it was much warmer. But there will be no photos unless I crop my swimsuit wearing self myself out of them.

Luke was way more into sandcastle destroying than building. But Cooper is one serious builder. Luke loved burying feet and hands and breaking free. And he had a great time playing baseball and volleyball on the beach. And he loved playing in the water, even when it was freezing. Not one thing he enjoyed involved sitting still and enjoying the view (other than eating his snacks). And he always wanted me playing with him. Fun and exhausting.

It was pretty windy our first day there. We thought it felt great, but all the locals were bundled in coats and gloves.

This boy really loves the beach. I'm so glad we were able to squeeze in a second beach trip this year.

We were only there a few days but packed in a whole lot of fun. Mini golf was a big hit with Luke.

He also took his first go kart ride. They tried a wooden track first, which was a little bumpy for him. I was worried he wouldn't enjoy it. But both little boys asked to go back a second night for more mini golf and go karts. The second time he rode on a smooth track and loved it even more! Since they were the only ones riding go karts both nights, the boys got lots of extra laps. Another perk of going to the beach in the fall: it's pretty empty.

All the boys enjoyed fishing in the pond behind the condo (Luke refers to any place you stay at the beach as a "condo.") The little boys need to work on staying quiet and not scaring the fish away. I'm pretty sure we scared away fish and neighbors.

A highlight of the trip was exploring a small island very close to where we stayed. We loved following paths to find a playground, a playhouse, and a very quiet bay side beach.

Luke had so much fun with Cooper. Our first days there he happily did whatever Cooper did, almost to the point of obsession. But he relaxed as the trip wore on and I think they really enjoyed each other, with an occasional argument. It's amazing to see Luke forming real friendships. Dream come true.

Lunch our last day there I asked the boys to smile for a picture:

I may have asked them to pose a few too many times.

Apparently Luke was a big fan of Baby Kate as well. After we got home Luke asked me if we have a baby sister. When I answered we did not, he said we should get one and name her Caroline. Alrighty then. I suggested he pray about it and he has been. As of yet he hasn't forgotten about it. ***I just remembered he also said, "No, not Caroline. Lebron." Fortunately he quickly reverted back to Caroline.***

So our last night I lay down with Luke as he was drifting off to sleep. His hair smelled like ocean air. We quietly talked about what a fun trip we'd had, and he told me he didn't want to go home. I thought back to Luke's first beach trip two years ago, just days after his autism diagnosis, and I was humbled and thankful to have this amazing moment.

tattoo

Tonight as Luke and I were reading books before bed, he pulled up his pajama sleeve and said, "Oh no! Where is my tattoo?" The sheep tattoo he got three weeks ago at the school hoedown has incredible staying power. There are actually still a few black dots remaining. He just couldn't see them in the dimly lit room.

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Luke had a good time at the hoedown even though it was moved inside and the gym was really, really loud. Too loud for me too. But he wanted to see his friends so badly I think he would have stood outside the doors of gym all night waiting.

The week of the hoedown was spirit week. Monday was crazy hair day. I thought about putting some goo in his hair and for some spikes and what not, but he was in no mood to try that morning. Mrs. Jenny later shared with me that once at school she commented how much she loved some of the girls crazy hairstyles. She said Luke messed up his hair, cracked up laughing, and said, "Look Mrs. Jenny, I have crazy hair too!" Then throughout the day he checked with her to see if his hair was still crazy, and she would mess it up a little more for him.

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We also went to the Country Ham Festival a couple weeks ago. It's like a really small fair. Luke was so excited to ride the train (about four cars pulled by a four-wheeler). He patiently waited for at least 15 minutes. And as we rode by the fire engine they demonstrated the siren. The only time I heard it while we were there was when we were 20 feet away. Yah. Luke covered his hears and looked a little freaked, but never lost his cool. A year ago he couldn't tolerate the fair because of the noise of the motors, fans, and music.

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Apparently in a mood to impress he asked to try out the inflatables. We started with the big jumping pit variety. He happily bounced around with all the others kids and complied beautifully when his turn was done. Then he asked to try out the obstacle course. He waited his turn and climbed through all the squeezy rollers and bounced through big tall columns. I hovered alongside, peeking in through all the cracks to watch his progress. The last obstacle was a plasticy rock wall type thing. It was kind of a challenge and he needed help. He accepted a hand from the teenage volunteer who was perched on top of the plastic mountain. And he flew down the slide with a smile. Amazing. And then he asked to go again. Wow.

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Trip # 2 was equally as successful. He twisted his hand at the end and got teary, but quickly asked to go again. Sometime during Trip #3, Papa decided he would go get some of that tasty fair corn-on-the-cob. Lamar, Mimi, and I waited for Luke to finish. As Luke came over the top of the plastic mountain and peered down at his audience at the bottom of the slide he said, "Where is Papa?" We told him he'd gone to get a snack. Luke said, "I need Papa!" We attempted to convince him to slide, promising we'd go find Papa when he did. And thus began another attempt to out will autism. Ever tried? You will die trying. Apparently we'd all four been standing at the bottom of the slide his first two trips and nothing would suit but we all four be there again. The teen helper offered to slide with him. No dice. We threatened, we bribed. Not a chance. Mimi goes to find Papa. And I silently, or maybe not silently at that point, prayed, "Lord, please let some child knock him down the slide." And Lord moved on our behalf, through a bratty little five year old. There were tears and a talk, but no meltdown. We got some kettle corn, apple fritters, and Papa got his corn and we enjoyed the afternoon.

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And that story is kind of an allegory for my life now. Most of the time I'm amazed at how quickly he's conquering obstacles. And then a little autism comes and smacks me in the face. And some days I'm really tired of working so hard to just try to catch up with "normal".

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But Luke is so incredibly funny these days that we can never be down for long. Two girls in his class had a birthday today. I asked him how old they are and he said, " 'Member their shirts Mom? It said, '4th birthday'! They're four, like me." I said, "Oh that's right, you're 4." And he said, "No wait! I'm 16!!!!!!" Not the first time I've heard this but I went ahead and asked, "Why do you want to be 16?" And he said, "To drive the car!!!!!"