Fun Family Vacation time..

Well, sorry I haven't posted! The last 2 days we went on a mini trip down to see my husband's great aunt Jane, a beloved family member that we named our daughter for. She and her friend Marcy are very dear to us all, and it's so wonderful to have time to visit them while Tom's sister and family are with us visiting. They live about 3 hours south of us in Bradenton. Today we went to a lovely beach near their home on Anna Maria Island. The children had so much fun putting their feet in the water and gathering shells. Later we'll make shell collages, perhaps tomorrow!

At first, to be honest, I was intimidated by taking my kids to a home that isn't terribly kid friendly to spend the night. They have a swimming pool outside their home, not a big danger for adults, but for kids could be problematic, and we had to put one of our kids in bed with us, too. Eli can really give us trouble getting into things that satisfy his sensory needs.

But as it turned out, I had little to worry about. Eli did just fine, only got into some lotion for a half second. He didn't want to go to bed, and neither did Sophie, but we managed to get them to sleep a bit later. We got up today and went to the beach, which was just fabulous and made my whole week. We must visit a lot more often.

Sophie is traveling with her Aunt and Uncle and cousin and is just so happy. She has a new idol, her cousin Amanda. She just adores her no end! I love that!

So, I'm grateful that we've had the time to find pleasure even when we are intimidated and having a rough time adapting. I almost got into it over vaccines with my sister in law, but I have learned to pull out of these things before bad feelings get brought out, so I just backed off. I want this to be a happy time, and so far it has been!

I'm very grateful Eli is a flexible child who doesn't have a very hard time with transitions like many other autistic children, or 2 day spur of the moment trips would not be possible. I'm so happy I can take him somewhere without fear or worry (Ok, a little worry..but not that bad!) that he'll break down and flip out. Thank goodness for my little son being able to adapt well. It really makes his future so much brighter!