The joy and anguish of flying a kite

After the school year ended we took a much-needed mini vacation, which ended up being a small family reunion. My mom had just been recently released from the hospital. My brother flew out from Colorado and my dad rented a beach house on the Oregon Coast for all of us. It was a nice time to gather together and just be a family for a few days.

Part of the trip we were dodging rain drops, and this was a picture I captured one evening as I enjoyed the view of the sunset over the ocean from our rental.

The boys had a huge fascination with the stairs, since our home is single level. They kept running up the stairs and sliding down them head first. They had tons of fun!



And then, there was the sleeping loft. It was a match made in little boy heaven. They got their own cool sleeping space that gave them an awesome view of what was going on downstairs.

And, when you have a really tall daddy like Titan, this is what happens when little boy feet are dangling through the railing...

I found my dad and Monkey hanging out in the sunshine one afternoon in the back yard.

And, after about 20 minutes of carefully negotiating our extremely sensory-sensitive Prince Charming into the water of the hot tub, I was able to capture this gem before I climbed into the water with the boys.

I love the Oregon coast. It is so picturesque.

 

And, now we get to the heart of our story.

In anticipation of our beach trip, I had purchased new Angry Birds kites for the boys. They had never had a very successful kite-flying experience before, so we were eager to test the new kites' ability to catch the wind.

After a quick tutorial with a short line, the boys practiced near us and ran around in circles. They had a lovely time. Titan then showed them that they could let the line out more and watch it fly higher. All they had to do was run to keep it in the air.

And that is when it went horribly wrong.

At first, I was enamored by the sheer joy on their faces. It was an astonishing moment of freedom for them. They were running with excitement and happiness. I didn't want the moment to end and was rapidly taking pictures of them to capture this milestone. I was able to watch their fun easily through the zoom lens of my camera.

I put the camera away for a moment to chat with Titan, and that's when it happened. We both realized exactly how far down the beach the boys had gone. And they continued to run, without stopping. They did not glance back once. Monkey was in the lead and Prince Charming was just trying to keep up with his brother.

Titan and I left my dad and brother behind as we scrambled down the beach as fast as we could through the sand. Each moment we traveled, the further and further away they got. After chasing them for what was likely ten minutes (that seemed like an eternity), the wind must have shifted, because Prince Charming managed to hear one of my bellows.

He stopped and looked back. Monkey was still running at full speed.

I used exaggerated body movements and sign language to tell Prince Charming that he needed to get his brother and come back to us. He seemed to understand, thank the Lord.

He ran off to catch up to his brother and started yelling his name. Monkey was far enough away he didn't hear him. Titan and I continued toward them, but knew that neither could hear us. After a few more minutes, Prince Charming managed to get close enough to Monkey to get his attention, and he finally looked back toward us.

Titan and I were wildly signaling with our hands to come back. He saw us. Both of the boys started heading back in our direction. Thank God. I never made it down the beach as far as Monkey did, and I swear to you it was probably at least a mile away from where we had begun. Looking back down toward our starting point, my dad and brother were barely distinguishable as dark specks on the sand.

When the boys made it back to us, we quickly reeled in the lines on their kites and had a stern chat with them. The long walk back was spent in silence. There were no smiles. No more joy.

It was a shame. They had no cares in the world as they ran along the beach, loving their kites, the wind, and the sun. What was a blissfully happy moment for the boys became something entirely different. Their freedom escalated into our intense worry over their safety, and our recognition that they lacked understanding of possible consequences.

After we re-joined the others and the boys settled into looking at rocks, I quietly excused myself. As I walked up the hill to the car, the tears began to fall behind my sunglasses. I stifled my sobs until I got into my car, and then I let it all out.

This was not the first time Monkey had wandered away with no regard for safety. One time he was brought back to us by the police after being missing for almost an hour with a full-fledged neighborhood search underway. It was a horrific experience I never wanted to repeat. Talk about a flashback.

It had been a few years since we had dealt with his complete disregard for safety concerns. Titan and I thought this portion of our autism experience was finally behind us. That hope was immediately crushed as I reflected on what had just happened with the kites and what could have been, had we not been able to get Prince Charming to hear us and understand that he needed to get his brother's attention. With Monkey's high level of endurance, rate of speed, and sheer distance he had on us, there is no telling where he could have ended up before he stopped.

I was snapped back into the reality of autism.

As I cried in the car, I wondered if any of it would ever actually be behind us. The rollercoaster of the boys doing well then not doing well, improving and regressing...it's all so exhausting as so many things in so many areas of their lives can be affected.

It made me ponder the big picture. What will the future hold for my children? It can seem so uncertain from day to day. I always hope for the best, but you can't help but go through worst-case scenarios in your head. Will my planning 20 steps ahead for things ever stop? Will my boys ever lead a "normal" life? I guess I have less certainty of that than I thought I did.

A day that started with so much joy, ended with anguish.

As we checked out of our rental that morning and went down to the beach one last time to fly kites before we left town, I certainly didn't expect our vacation to end on that note. And, I doubt I will ever look at a kite in the same way again.          

Winter Vacation: the Good, the Bad, and the Best

We just got home from a short vacation to Oregon. On the first day, we visited with family in Eugene and then crossed over the mountains that night heading to our destination at the Eagle Crest Resort, just north of Bend. We spent the rest of our vacation gallavanting around central Oregon, visiting Redmond, Sunriver, Sisters, and Bend. We came home by way of the Dalles and the beautiful Columbia Gorge, which was a fun (and much less snowy!) drive back toward Washington. It was nice to get away for a few days, and here are some of the highlights of our trip.

Good: Seeing my Grandma, who was recently hospitalized with another bout of pneumonia. She got to open up our Christmas present to her and we got some nice pictures. We also got to see other family members and learned that the next day Grandma was well enough to be released from the hospital. We were so happy to learn she wouldn't be spending Christmas in the hospital!

Bad: Having to make our trip over the mountains with packed snow and ice on the road in the evening when it was pitch black with low visibility due to snow and wind.

Good:  Having new tires with good traction, eliminating the need for putting on chains while driving in snowy conditions.  

Bad: Running over what looked like a pile of snow in the middle of our lane, which was actually a solid chunk of ice that ended up breaking 2 parts under my car.

Good: Roads that were mostly devoid of cars, except for semi trucks, and still being able to drive my car after colliding with the ice block.

Bad: Getting stuck behind semi trucks with their chains on, keeping me from going over 30 MPH for endless miles. Then, due to the low visibility from snow spray off the trucks, running over some tire chains in the road that I couldn’t see until I was on top of them.  

Good: After already going over 30 miles since I collided with the ice, finally hearing a loud rattling sound coming from under my car which indicated that my car was somehow damaged (or possibly dragging the chains I had just run over!) and keeping me from driving further until I knew what was wrong.  

Bad: Needing to find a safe place to pull over in the middle of nowhere with good lighting and a store that was open late at night so we could try to find a way to fix my car.

Imagine this, only on the front of my car underneath between
the wheels, much less sticky, and with a very grumpy hubby
laying on the snowy ground with frozen hands. For more fun
with duct tape, visit the page where this image came from.

Good: Having a husband with ultra long arms that could reach far enough under my car while lying on the snowy ground in 10-degree weather, eliminating the need to dig out our jack and raise the car up to attempt to fix the car with duct tape.

Bad: After using half a roll of duct tape, figuring out that it doesn’t stick in really cold weather. It’s like using damp scotch tape and is essentially useless.

Good: Despite the delays, getting to our hotel safely without the duct tape coming loose. Prayer works!

Bad: Pulling out of our parking space at the hotel the next morning and having the duct tape immediately come loose.

Good: Taping the car back together again, only in 30-degree weather with dry ground in the daylight – a big improvement from the night before! And, finding a dealership with a collision center about 20 minutes away from where we were staying.

Bad: The dealership not having our car’s parts in stock.

Good: After getting the estimate, the repair guys gave us a free temporary fix that could last until we got home if the parts didn't come in before we left town. 

Bad: Having to wait 2 more days to fix our car and spending an unexpected $250. Ouch. 

Good: Not needing to file an insurance claim and knowing that it could have been MUCH worse for us in so many ways. And, the repair only took 30 minutes to complete.

Bad: Both boys coming down with a cold on the first day of our trip and not having any of our cold meds or a thermometer with us to monitor Prince Charming’s fever.

Good: The fact that both boys had great attitudes and dealt with their colds in stride, even while going on short day trips around central Oregon.

Bad: Having to maintain a gluten-free diet while away from home.

Good: Getting a room with a kitchen and being able to find gluten-free dining options wherever we went, thanks to Oregon’s “crunchy” personality and a free, helpful GF dining app on my phone.   

The Old Mill District, Bend, OR

Bad: Forgetting to bring melatonin for the boys to help them sleep due to the change in environment, and then needing to tediously monitor them while they went to sleep each night – a 2 hour process involving arguments between the boys and tears each night.

Good: Experiencing the quiet and calm of the small towns we were in, and realizing that shopping in cute little downtown shops was much more relaxed than what we might have experienced at home in the retail rush before Christmas.

Good: Finding eclectic treasures in quaint stores – some for our house, some for our taste buds, and a few Christmas presents mixed in for fun.

Good: Riding in a wagon pulled by a pair of Clydesdale horses while viewing the Christmas light display at our resort on a cold and crisp night.

The Superintendent took this picture!

Good: While on our wagon ride, discovering that I was sitting next to the Superintendent of Public Schools in the town we were staying in, and getting to talk with him about autism and services for special needs children in schools.

Good: For the first time ever while on vacation, not having a bathroom emergency with one or both of the boys!

Good: Surviving the end of the Mayan Calendar!

Good: Getting a reprieve from the sadness of recent events in our nation – in Connecticut and elsewhere.

Good: Watching The Polar Express in our hotel room while all cuddled on the couch together on a cold, snowy night.

Hanging out in our hotel room on a sunny, lazy morning.
Prince Charming was acting like a meerkat,
popping up from behind the couch cushions.

Good: Achieving a balance of seeing things and having fun while on vacation, but also building in some down time for relaxation.

Good: Except for the matter of the boys not feeling well and not having melatonin at night, they both had good attitudes almost the entire trip, including full days of driving both to and from our destination. A true holiday miracle!

Good: Driving home on a different route that was much less-traveled, fun to drive, and completely clear of bad weather.

Good: Avoiding a ticket by the skin of my teeth! A guy in a Prius was following me at my fast rate of speed and quickly got irritated when I suddenly slowed down after seeing a cop. I watched the cop pass me in the oncoming lane, take notice of my excessive speed, suddenly flip a U-turn in the middle of the highway, and pull in 3 cars behind me. The Prius somehow didn’t see it happen and quickly passed me out of his frustration at my reduced speed. He was pulled over less than 10 seconds later. Not getting a ticket when it was intended for me = best Christmas present ever.

BEST: Coming home to a clean house, our own comfy beds, and a huge bottle of melatonin.          

It could always be worse!

This is what I told myself in the midst of doctor-visits-and-medical-mystery-a-palooza over the summer.  

It could always be worse!

Everything seemed to go cuckoo with the boys’ health toward the end of the summer. Nothing was clear cut about their situation, and no one seemed to know what was going on.   

The boys both had weird skin lesions that developed a few days after coming back from a camping trip. We did everything humanly possible to figure out what could be going on. Was it contact allergies? Were they bug bites? Was it some other condition? We had no idea and neither did the doctors. And after several days, when Monkey seemed to be getting better, Prince Charming was much worse and literally swelling before our eyes.

No one could tell us what was going on. The pediatrician didn’t know. The doctors at a second clinic didn’t know, even after 3 hours of them talking, researching and conferring with other doctors in the practice. No one knew.

Even after 10 (yes, TEN!) vials of blood taken between the boys for tons of tests, no one knew. (Getting the blood draw is a whole other story that requires consumption of a stiff drink – or several – before I am able to speak about it…)

The skin issue remains a mystery to this day, but thankfully the rashes are now gone. After about a week of not knowing what to do, making lots of phone calls, visiting various doctors, and doing endless research on the internet, I figured out a simple cure without any help from the doctors.

The secret is activated charcoal! I stuck a little pile of charcoal on top of the lesions and covered them with a bandage overnight. By morning my swollen Prince Charming was much less puffy. It was a messy miracle that took about 2 days, cost all of 3 bucks, didn’t hurt, and didn’t have any side effects. I wish I had figured it out sooner!

In and among the mystery skin issue, we were also dealing with some additional symptoms and concerns in Monkey. Cardiac symptoms.

Yes, you heard that right. In particular, tachycardia. If you are not sure what tachycardia is, it’s when the heart rate becomes accelerated for no apparent reason.  

You could have knocked me over with a feather when we figured out he was having heart issues. It was so unexpected.

When it first started happening, we thought it might have been an upset stomach, possible cold/flu, or even food poisoning. I was starting to feel like I was on Dr. House’s team with all of the research and differential diagnosis I was attempting.



Image Source

Each time Monkey would get his strange symptoms he seemed to recover quickly (within minutes or hours). There was only one time that his symptoms lasted for more than a day. He never developed any other symptoms of illness. It seemed strange that he apparently kept coming down with something but then the sickness never materialized. We knew something was up.

It was by accident that I figured out his heart was racing. From that point forward, we began documenting all of his symptoms and even found an app for our smart phones that would monitor heart rate. Then we got in to see a pediatric cardiologist.

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect one of my children to have a need for a cardiologist!

She sent us home with a portable heart monitor that we used to record any incidences as they occurred. Monkey was still being monitored when school started, so then I had to have a long discussion with the school nurse and his teacher to go over the details of the heart monitor in case he had tachycardia at school. What fun.     

After all of that, and a couple of visits to the naturopath, we still have a lot of questions about the boys’ health issues over the summer. We don’t know exactly what happened with either of them. We don’t know if the skin issues were related to the cardiac issues. We don’t know if any of the symptoms will come back.

The cardiac symptoms began going away once I started on a supplement protocol given to us by our naturopath to help Monkey’s immune system, focusing heavily on natural anti-virals. I did that for two weeks and as a result he stopped having his cardiac episodes.

We had a follow up appointment with the pediatric cardiologist to go over the heart monitor results. I reported the information about the naturopath’s treatment protocol and how the episodes tapered off and then stopped. Much to my surprise, she told me that since the naturopath’s protocol seemed to work, I should immediately begin doing it again in the future should Monkey’s episodes return.

What? A mainstream medicine person agreed with my naturopath and that natural methods worked and should be used again? I was happily shocked. Usually, information like this is met with disdain in the traditional medical community.

In our first visit with the cardiologist, she said there was a chance that his heart symptoms were being caused by some kind of virus. We were never able to pinpoint an exact virus from the myriad of tests run with the blood draws. So, she felt that success of the anti-viral supplements through our naturopath proved that Monkey’s heart issue was definitely being caused by some unknown virus. And, it could happen again. So, I will keep anti-viral supplements on hand for such an occasion.

All of this is to say, that during this time of health uncertainty, I really felt the stress of not knowing what was wrong and feeling helpless to fix it. Keeping that in mind, I know that it can always be worse.

Someone else always has a worse situation than you.

I better understood that I should not take my boys’ good health for granted. They have come a LONG way in their journey with autism and are much healthier than they were when they were younger! We have made a lot of changes, including the GFCF diet and proper supplementation. My boys are better because of it. I recognize that my life is much different now than it otherwise would have been had things not changed and I hadn’t been open to visiting a naturopath and doing other sorts of non-traditional treatments.  

During this time of concern over the summer, I really began to think of everyone I know that has dealt with things far worse than I can even imagine as a parent. I have friends who have children with Down syndrome that have dealt with multiple heart surgeries in their babies. I have another friend who had a child born with a significant heart defect, and right after her baby had a procedure to essentially re-build his heart, their apartment burned down and they lost everything while their son was recovering in the hospital. I have friends who have children with autism that cannot speak and still wear diapers at ages 8, 10, or even 16.

I can think of tons of examples of families that have a different experience with their child, and in my mind and my own experience it seems almost too difficult to imagine. What I’ve dealt with in my own boys is much more challenging than many of my friends have had with their children. But, we all deal with the cards we are dealt.  

We all have different experiences, challenges and triumphs. All we can do is try to do the very best we can in each moment of crisis or moment of joy. The boys’ health scares over the summer really brought that into focus for me.

I am so thankful for everything with my boys. Even though things have been hard in many ways, they’ve also been so wonderful in others. I am grateful for the path we are on, despite the twists, turns and brick walls along the way. I am also keenly aware that it could always be worse, and I’m exceedingly glad that today is a better day.    

The pyramid of crazy

If you are a parent of a child with autism, you quickly realize that there are new levels of crazy you have never experienced before. If you are a woman, this intensifies the situation. This topic came up the other day when I was in a mood. I had a headache that suddenly appeared and was escalating fast, my boys were driving me nuts, and, well, I was hormonal and felt like crap.

I had a full car as we headed off to therapy. In addition to my kids, I also had my husband and Miss C with me. Instead of the adults staying to participate in the therapy session, we dropped the boys off and got back in the car since I needed headache medicine in the form of a hot, caffeinated beverage. Miss C made an off-hand comment on our way to Starbucks. Sensing my mood before we left for the appointment, she chose not to say anything at the time because she knew I would likely maim her in some fashion. She was right. So, in the relative safety of the car (and the protection of my hubby) she shared her little quip about how she had been afraid to say something to me earlier that afternoon and instead chose to shut her trap for fear of the bodily harm I might have done to her.

My hubby laughed. Loudly. I whipped my head around to glare at him. He immediately changed his body posture and looked back at me timidly. I made some stern remark about how I was hormonal, I had cramps, I had a headache, I was in a pissy mood and you better not mess with me. (You should know that I’m really not as mean as I make myself sound…I had a humorous glint in my eye and a smile on my face while I was laying down the law.) Titan, sensing the mood was clearing a bit, replied with something to the effect of, “Yes, dear. Okay, dear. Anything you say, honey. I luuuuuv you.” With that we all broke into laughter.

Somehow this interchange started us in the direction of the different kinds of crazy we have observed. I got to talking about how you don’t want to mess with an autism mommy because she will cut you if you talk smack about her kids. We starting coming up with some hilarious anecdotes and we were all laughing very hard. Laughter is good medicine for headaches. And, coffee helps, too! I mentioned that all the talk about crazy would make a great topic for a blog post and I tucked it away in my brain for later.

Well, it does make a great topic for a blog post! I got to thinking about the conversation we had in the car and let my mind wander and funny stuff starting popping into my head. I actually cracked myself up and began laughing out loud while I was pondering what I would write about. I was imagining a diagram of crazy, much like you might see with the USDA’s Food Pyramid. Coming up with the names of the levels practically made me cry with laughter, so I knew I had to write about it. I crack myself up sometimes. And, here it is…the pyramid of crazy:

(It's kind of hard to read when it's so small... You can click on the image to make it larger.)

Would you like a little explanation?

Level 1: Tired, Hormonal, and/or Uncaffeinated crazy

This is the most common form of crazy and we’ve probably all been there quite often. Some autism moms can be afflicted by this form of crazy every day, to varying degrees. Lack of sleep, chronic stress, wacked out hormones and always being in need of caffeine is part of the job description. And yes, it does make you crazy one day at a time.  

Level 2: Gird your loins, I may cut you crazy

This is affectionately known as the Tonya Harding level of crazy. I can say that because I grew up in Oregon and worked at the mall where she practiced before she became all famous. I feel a little bit entitled to use her name for my gain, especially after her crazy unleashed itself at the Olympics and later in the wrestling ring. Anyway…this level is achieved when you have been at level 1 for too long, or if you have multiple forms of level 1 happening at the same time. Tired, hormonal AND uncaffeinated? That is a situation ripe with “I may cut you” potential! And, if your hubby is reason you are going crazy and you have the desire to whack him, you might warn him to gird his loins. They could become a target if he’s not careful!  

Level 3: Rubber room, reservation for 1 crazy

If after being at level 1 and possibly level 2 for an entire day (or an hour, depending on how predisposed to crazy you are), you may find yourself with the intense desire to go hide in your bedroom, lock the door, rock gently in the corner, and hum, “Soft Kitty” to yourself (thank you Sheldon Cooper for a song of comfort). You may feel the urge to escape your child with autism because they won’t stop scripting {insert the name of the cartoon you most loathe here}, stimming and/or melting down and you are about to snap or start the ugly sobbing that won’t stop without copious amounts of chocolate or alcohol.

Level 4: Batsh*t/Killer rabbit crazy

This level is known as Batsh*t crazy for most of you, but for the hardcore Monty Python fans (like we are at my house), the preferred name is Killer rabbit crazy. The Killer rabbit comes from the movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I love what Wikipedia says about this character: “The rabbit is now used as a metaphor for something ostensibly harmless which is, in fact, deadly.” I can tell you from personal experience that if I have worked up to the Rubber room level and my emotions are raw from a rough day (or several days in a row of full-blown autism at its finest), this level is unavoidable as you become like an exposed nerve that can turn into full, insane crazy at the drop of a hat.  

Level 5: Blue-faced warrior crazy 

Do you remember the scene at the end of the movie Braveheart when Mel Gibson’s character is standing at the top of a hill making his big speech about them never taking away his freedom, and then he proceeds to fight with his army to the bitter, bloody end? Now imagine that your child with autism is a target of some idiot that decided to judge you as a bad parent and your child as a snot-nosed brat because they are having a meltdown while standing in line at a store. You will move easily up to Blue-faced warrior as you defend your child with a savage verbal attack before you feel compelled to go cry in the car. Have you ever seen a mob of autism mommies form out of thin air to circle the wagons around a family that has been harmed in some way as a direct result of their child’s autism? We are a vicious bunch when we are angry and have climbed the levels of crazy. Let me tell you…we are a force to be reckoned with. I think the blue paint would be an added bonus, given that blue is often associated as the color of autism. Can you imagine us running down that hill in our warrior paint screaming at the top of our lungs as we attack the stupid people? It’s an awesome visual, isn’t it?

Level 6: Shotgun crazy

The best way to describe this level of crazy is the picture from my Shotgun Mama post. If you’ve had a particularly rough time recently with your child and you are at the end of your rope, you may do like I do and call your husband to warn him that if he doesn’t start heading home from work the kids may not survive. When you’ve reached the top level of the crazy pyramid you may feel like if one more crappy thing happens people are gonna die. You know that I say this in jest. Jail just doesn’t fit in with my boys’ therapy schedule! Some autism mommies I know will take a vacation day away from their kids. I’d say that’s a good plan if you can swing some time away from your precious angels. Before going postal, you might consider talking with a mental health professional. I’m just sayin’.  

One last thing about the pyramid of crazy:

You don’t have to move through each level in succession. It is possible to be in more than 1 level at a time or to skip levels as you work through your particular brand of crazy.

We all have some sort of crazy inside of us, and autism has a way of magnifying that. You are not alone in your crazy. We are all right there with you. Revel in it and claim your level!

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Happy thoughts. J   

Run! Mother Nature is calling!

Want to know what I learned when we went on a mini-vacation to the Oregon Coast? Mother Nature beckons at the most inopportune times. It’s almost like a cruel joke. It happened time and time again while doing various fun activities on our trip. For instance, when we walked down the beach so far that we could no longer see our hotel…THAT was the moment. Or, when we finally got the kids comfortable in the swimming pool and ready to try to swim…THAT was the moment.

What is this moment? It is precisely when the boys realize that I-have-to-go-poop-right-now-or-we-are-going-to-have-a-big-problem. Often times they are completely unaware that their body is telling them it’s time to head toward the bathroom and by some stroke of luck I might pick up on the signs before they do. If I ask the question, there is almost always an immediate response akin to, “NO, I don’t have to go right now. That would cut into my fun. Duh.” They get so distracted when they are busy doing things they enjoy that it somehow renders them incapable of listening to the little voice inside their body that has an early warning system for such issues. They wait until they are about 5 seconds shy of an eminent waste explosion and then the look on their face turns to sheer panic and we find ourselves in a real pickle of a situation.

I thought I would share 2 of my favorite the most memorable “Mother Nature moments” from our trip.

First, did you happen to watch a CBS series called, “Undercover Boss?” In case you never saw the show, they take the top executive of a company and put them undercover as an entry-level employee at their own company. They go around and do various menial jobs and get a very clear view of how their company is working, discover things they never knew, and also learn ways to make their company function better, both for the customers and also for the employees. It’s a great show, particularly if you are like me and have a business background. I would watch the show and literally craft a case study in my brain as it went along. Yes, I know I’m a total nerd. I’m cool like that.

Anyway, one of the episodes featured a top executive from Great Wolf Lodge. I have never been to my local Great Wolf Lodge, but lots of people I know have been and enjoyed their stay there. And, if you have no idea what a Great Wolf Lodge is, it’s a huge water park inside a hotel. So, in the show this lady is doing some of the low-on-the-totem-pole jobs, including helping to watch the pool areas. At one point, there is an AFR code. A what? AFR stands for Accidental Fecal Release. I started simultaneously cringing and chuckling as I watch this big cheese exec get into the pool and pick up a pile of kid poo. I bet at that moment she wished she had never signed up for the undercover assignment!

Well, we nearly had our own AFR while we were swimming on the second day of our vacation. It didn’t matter that we had the boys go to the bathroom before we got suited up and walked over to the pool, or that I would occasionally ask them if they needed to go while we were at the pool. It was always an emphatic, “No” when the question was asked. It takes the boys a while to get into the pool (due to their sensory issues with temperature) and then get comfortable enough to want to move away from the side of the pool. We hardly ever get a chance to get them in a pool, so it’s like they have to start over each time, no matter how much progress we made with them in the past.

The boys were finally able to stop clinging to the wall (or me) and actually started to play in the water. I turned my attention to Prince Charming because Monkey was walking along in the 3 foot deep section and Prince Charming wanted to use the kickboard. I helped get Prince Charming positioned with the kickboard and Titan began to help him kick his legs properly when I turned back around and saw Monkey posturing. Even with a good portion of his body submerged, I could see that he had his behind sticking out like he was impersonating the walk of a duck. I asked him if he had to go and he said no. I watched him for another few seconds and asked him again, more insistently. He stopped moving and then the light bulb switched on. Ding! He was done.

I could see he only had mere seconds, so I urgently instructed him to get out of the pool and go into the bathroom (about 15 feet away). I yelled over at Titan to get out of the water and run after him while I swam over to Prince Charming. By the time Titan stepped foot into the bathroom I heard Monkey yell. I knew what had happened. I listened as the shower was turned on and then I began to smell the aroma that is unmistakably Monkey’s when he’s having some slight GI issues. The pool is indoors with open beams near the ceiling between the bathrooms and the main pool and hot tub area. Goodness gracious, the entire place began to smell pungent. I pretended that I didn’t smell or hear anything, so as to not draw further attention to the situation in front of the other families present.

I felt so bad for Monkey. I also felt bad for Titan since he was having deal with this whole thing in a public bathroom…thank God there was a shower in there! He got Monkey cleaned up as best as he could, cleaned up the floor, grabbed a towel, and walked Monkey back to the room for a proper shower with warm water and privacy. Pool time and fun in the water ended abruptly. Mother Nature, knock it off, would ya?

The following day, after breakfast and a bit of shopping, we took a few minutes to “freshen up” in our hotel room before heading down to the beach. I checked with the boys several times about going poop before we left, and forced them to at least try before we left the room. The walk down to the beach from our room takes a few minutes and then you have to climb down about a million steps. Okay, it’s more like one hundred. It’s a haul, for sure. There is an outcropping of rocks about 1,000 feet from the staircase, which is where you can see tide pools and all kinds of fun stuff when the tide is out. That is where we were headed.

We had just gotten there and I had taken a couple pictures of the boys climbing on the rocks when Prince Charming got the intense urge to go. He started waddling and I had no idea how he would manage to hold it in all the way back and up the million stairs, much less how my asthmatic husband would make it when pressed for time. All I could do was watch and pray as they took off for the room. By the grace of God, Prince Charming managed to hold it until they got there. Then, while he was wriggling his clothes off in the bathroom, he had a slight accident. It was miraculous that he didn’t have 10-pound droopy drawers the whole way back to the room! Our beachcombing, rock exploration, and leisurely walk ended just as fast as it began. Mother Nature, you’re really starting to get on my nerves.

One of these days I hope that Mother Nature doesn’t foil our fun plans during a vacation. It would be nice to plan an activity and be able to actually do that activity for more than a few minutes before we are forced to stop. Mother Nature, you always have us running, that’s for sure!   

            

Spring Break 2011

Last week was Spring Break and we actually took a real vacation! For 5 full days! I had almost forgotten what vacationing with my little guys was like... It all came flooding back soon enough. Remind me why I went on vacation again? Oh yes, FUN! Thaaat's right.

We rented a 2 BR, 2 BA condo with a full kitchen in the small town of Welches, Oregon, which is located at the base of Mt. Hood and is about 45 minutes east of Portland. What I loved about this place was that there was a great playground just across the driveway from our unit and they also had a heated pool (85 degrees). We ended up swimming on a snowy day and it was really strange being in the warm water but then having the freezing cold snow land on your face and shoulders. 

I was born and raised in Oregon, so I found myself reminiscing as we enjoyed some of my favorite places. Oregon is truly a beautiful place and it was fun to share some of its treasures with my boys!


We packed up a whole bunch of food so we could cook in our condo, keeping the boys on their allergy-free diet (or close to it...). I admit, cheating was allowed in moderation. It was vacation, after all! We planned some day trips and excursions and also allowed ourselves some down time. Although with our boys, there is never really down time unless it's the middle of the night. By the time we got back home we had logged 900 miles! And, I have to tell you, I think this was our most successful vacation with the boys to date. There were no major meltdowns the entire time. Now that's what I call progress!   

Below are a few pictures from our week.  




View from the back patio. This is where we saw deer each night.



View from the front of the condo. We got about 3 inches of snow.



The view from Crown Point outside the Vista House.



Multnomah Falls as seen from our parking spot.



We got drenched by the falls!



View from the falls looking toward the Columbia Gorge.

The Astoria Bridge at the northwest tip of Oregon.

Having fun with sticks at Cannon Beach.

A nice shot of Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.

Courtesy of Monkey, this is to remind you where we were.

I hope you enjoyed your Spring Break as much as we did!

April is Autism Awareness Month! A group of mommy bloggers have joined together to help spread the word about autism. Please visit these wonderful blogs!

Organizing Made Fun
Earth Monkey Moms
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Goodbye House, Hello Home
Pieces of My Heart

Caffeinated Autism Mom
Mom's Flight School
Helping My Boys
My Thirty One
Life with Lissy
Frou Frou Britches
This Journey Through My Life
Endless Crafting
Loving This Life with 5
Snails & Puppy Dog Tails
Me, You, Wine, Cheesecake, and Autism

Join us, won’t you?