The One Where I Overschedule Our Day

You might wonder how many things can a family with four kids do in the course of one day. A good answer is probably one, considering the fact that we have two special little guys who need a lot more help than so called "typical" children. In typical ME fashion, though, I scheduled to run my first 5k ever early in the morning and then attend a Special Needs Egg hunt down in Norcross, followed by the family picnic held by that group.
So first I made my family get out of bed at 6 am on a Saturday to go do this thing with me.

I did a fairly shit job. I'm okay with that. I also never did one before and I'm with acknowledging that I'm not good at this whole running thing - yet. I don't need to be told I'm doing better than the people who didn't even show up. I may or may not be doing better than them, I don't know their story. What I know for real is that I'm a beginner at this and I wasn't counting on doing well, I was counting on finishing. So I made my family get up and watch me do a shit job but achieve a goal - I finished a 5k.
After that we went to Krystal and I ate like I had never had food before in my entire life.

It was possibly the best breakfast I ever consumed - which is completely untrue but you might have thought otherwise had you been there.

The special needs Easter Egg hunt was probably one of the best things ever for our special little guys. They held it in an enclosed baseball field - this helps out the parents with runners - and there were an amazing amount of eggs.

Charlie's MO was to run around and stuff as much candy in his mouth right there on the spot. Louis was charged with helping him actually get some into the basket.

Miles understood the drill more, he remembered, but he didn't really want to pick them up. He just wanted to step on them. To each his own, I supposed.

Julia however racked it up. Even with all three of my little kids getting FULL buckets (Louis is of course too big for such things, he says - although jumped right in to help Charlie) there was a ton of candy and eggs left on the field. The organizers REALLY out did themselves this year. Some years I've been to events where some kids got huge heaping buckets of eggs and other kids got about 6. This wasn't like that - there was MORE than enough for everyone which was so incredibly generous. I know it really meant a lot to the parents like me, the ones whose little guys normally "don't get as much" just because they don't quite understand or aren't able to participate at the same level as other children.

It's just candy and it's NOT important yet - the gesture was massive.

Afterward we went up to the shelter to enjoy the family picnic.

This pic makes me laugh - probably bcse Claire took it and couldn't see what she was shooting. She ALMOST got us!

Hot dogs and chips and wee tiny cupcakes were served and there was great rejoicing. I have to admit, by this time we'd all been up for hours and it was showing. We were getting tired. I considered suggesting the playground to the husband, did suggest it and then he looked at me like I'd lost my mind. We didn't suggest it to the children but beat a retreat to the car after we ate.

We started the drive home - and then Rita's happened. The car is still jacked up from the accident and we haven't been able to get the air conditioning fixed because everything is taking forever. So we were hot. And the car was hot. And the air was hot in the world. And Rita's was on the way home so...

Eventually we got home, and I collapsed asleep like the dead.

I don't think I was ever that tired in my entire life.

Doing lots of things sucks.

But it was totally awesome.

The One Where I Overschedule Our Day

You might wonder how many things can a family with four kids do in the course of one day. A good answer is probably one, considering the fact that we have two special little guys who need a lot more help than so called "typical" children. In typical ME fashion, though, I scheduled to run my first 5k ever early in the morning and then attend a Special Needs Egg hunt down in Norcross, followed by the family picnic held by that group.
So first I made my family get out of bed at 6 am on a Saturday to go do this thing with me.

I did a fairly shit job. I'm okay with that. I also never did one before and I'm with acknowledging that I'm not good at this whole running thing - yet. I don't need to be told I'm doing better than the people who didn't even show up. I may or may not be doing better than them, I don't know their story. What I know for real is that I'm a beginner at this and I wasn't counting on doing well, I was counting on finishing. So I made my family get up and watch me do a shit job but achieve a goal - I finished a 5k.
After that we went to Krystal and I ate like I had never had food before in my entire life.

It was possibly the best breakfast I ever consumed - which is completely untrue but you might have thought otherwise had you been there.

The special needs Easter Egg hunt was probably one of the best things ever for our special little guys. They held it in an enclosed baseball field - this helps out the parents with runners - and there were an amazing amount of eggs.

Charlie's MO was to run around and stuff as much candy in his mouth right there on the spot. Louis was charged with helping him actually get some into the basket.

Miles understood the drill more, he remembered, but he didn't really want to pick them up. He just wanted to step on them. To each his own, I supposed.

Julia however racked it up. Even with all three of my little kids getting FULL buckets (Louis is of course too big for such things, he says - although jumped right in to help Charlie) there was a ton of candy and eggs left on the field. The organizers REALLY out did themselves this year. Some years I've been to events where some kids got huge heaping buckets of eggs and other kids got about 6. This wasn't like that - there was MORE than enough for everyone which was so incredibly generous. I know it really meant a lot to the parents like me, the ones whose little guys normally "don't get as much" just because they don't quite understand or aren't able to participate at the same level as other children.

It's just candy and it's NOT important yet - the gesture was massive.

Afterward we went up to the shelter to enjoy the family picnic.

This pic makes me laugh - probably bcse Claire took it and couldn't see what she was shooting. She ALMOST got us!

Hot dogs and chips and wee tiny cupcakes were served and there was great rejoicing. I have to admit, by this time we'd all been up for hours and it was showing. We were getting tired. I considered suggesting the playground to the husband, did suggest it and then he looked at me like I'd lost my mind. We didn't suggest it to the children but beat a retreat to the car after we ate.

We started the drive home - and then Rita's happened. The car is still jacked up from the accident and we haven't been able to get the air conditioning fixed because everything is taking forever. So we were hot. And the car was hot. And the air was hot in the world. And Rita's was on the way home so...

Eventually we got home, and I collapsed asleep like the dead.

I don't think I was ever that tired in my entire life.

Doing lots of things sucks.

But it was totally awesome.

For Special People

Yesterday was one of our favorite events, the Spectrum Family Fishing day event. We always really enjoy it, it's a day just for our families with Special little guys - a day where no one will stare at you if your kid is screaming or flailing or stemming for no apparent reason.

Three of four kids caught fish - Miles caught a leaf. They like the idea of the fish, but neither Miles nor Charlie will do much but want to reel the line in. But Charlie was fascinated by his fish, he gave it a good grab. Sorry fishy. Lots of fish were caught by lots of kids this year it seemed, it was really a happy day for little fishermen.
In my mind I'm always very Captain Quinn about it.

In reality I'm someone's dorky mom trying to remember how to cast. It's the thought that counts, right?

They always also offer horseback riding for the little people too. I wasn't sure this year how Miles would take to it, he's been really afraid of dogs for the past year, and sometimes other random animals. He's never been afraid of horses BEFORE but he also didn't used to be afraid of dogs so, I wasn't sure.

He loved it. It was a short ride but a lot fun for my four little guys.

It's a pretty good day when a family of six can go horseback riding, fishing, and have a picnic all for free, thanks to some wonderful people who host this event every year. We have fun, breathe fresh air and cavort in the outdoors with other families who live our weird lives.

For one day, we're just like everyone else.

It's pretty awesome.

We decided to end our day with more outdoor fun so we broke out the grill for the first time this season. Some tree frogs had decided my grill was the place to be.

After I evicted them Charlie and Julia helped me make some delicious although somewhat burned hamburgers. Hey it's my first grill of the season, give me a break.

I slept like the dead and the kids let me sleep till 8:30 this morning.

Seriously, it was a great Saturday.

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For Special People

Yesterday was one of our favorite events, the Spectrum Family Fishing day event. We always really enjoy it, it's a day just for our families with Special little guys - a day where no one will stare at you if your kid is screaming or flailing or stemming for no apparent reason.

Three of four kids caught fish - Miles caught a leaf. They like the idea of the fish, but neither Miles nor Charlie will do much but want to reel the line in. But Charlie was fascinated by his fish, he gave it a good grab. Sorry fishy. Lots of fish were caught by lots of kids this year it seemed, it was really a happy day for little fishermen.
In my mind I'm always very Captain Quinn about it.

In reality I'm someone's dorky mom trying to remember how to cast. It's the thought that counts, right?

They always also offer horseback riding for the little people too. I wasn't sure this year how Miles would take to it, he's been really afraid of dogs for the past year, and sometimes other random animals. He's never been afraid of horses BEFORE but he also didn't used to be afraid of dogs so, I wasn't sure.

He loved it. It was a short ride but a lot fun for my four little guys.

It's a pretty good day when a family of six can go horseback riding, fishing, and have a picnic all for free, thanks to some wonderful people who host this event every year. We have fun, breathe fresh air and cavort in the outdoors with other families who live our weird lives.

For one day, we're just like everyone else.

It's pretty awesome.

We decided to end our day with more outdoor fun so we broke out the grill for the first time this season. Some tree frogs had decided my grill was the place to be.

After I evicted them Charlie and Julia helped me make some delicious although somewhat burned hamburgers. Hey it's my first grill of the season, give me a break.

I slept like the dead and the kids let me sleep till 8:30 this morning.

Seriously, it was a great Saturday.

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A Day For Us

The local autism awareness and support group SPECTRUM had their annual Family Fishing Day and we made the trek over to Grayson (the other side of the earth) to we could have a great day with other families like us.
I kind of love this event, we've been a few times in the past.
No one looks at us like WTF here. No one wonders what is WRONG with those kids and why do they act like that?
Because it's full of a hundred or more families EXACTLY LIKE US. Siblings who do without, or constantly make concessions because of the special person in their family. Parents who always look slightly weary and worn out.

But it's so much fun.
The fishing is free and there are horse back rides as well as a petting zoo and lots of other fun, sensory friendly and kid friendly things to do, plus a great day by a beautiful lake hosted by a lovely family who allows us to do this on their land every year.

We had a great day in the sun. A day where we didn't have to look around to see if we were a spectacle, where it didn't matter how crazy we acted.

Because today, we were just like everyone else.
Tweet

A Day For Us

The local autism awareness and support group SPECTRUM had their annual Family Fishing Day and we made the trek over to Grayson (the other side of the earth) to we could have a great day with other families like us.
I kind of love this event, we've been a few times in the past.
No one looks at us like WTF here. No one wonders what is WRONG with those kids and why do they act like that?
Because it's full of a hundred or more families EXACTLY LIKE US. Siblings who do without, or constantly make concessions because of the special person in their family. Parents who always look slightly weary and worn out.

But it's so much fun.
The fishing is free and there are horse back rides as well as a petting zoo and lots of other fun, sensory friendly and kid friendly things to do, plus a great day by a beautiful lake hosted by a lovely family who allows us to do this on their land every year.

We had a great day in the sun. A day where we didn't have to look around to see if we were a spectacle, where it didn't matter how crazy we acted.

Because today, we were just like everyone else.
Tweet