Last week I took Jessie and Sam to Busch Gardens.
We rode on the River Rapids ride several times.
Jessica and Samuel rode it a few more times than me.
I could only ride it twice.......
anymore than that would have caused great embarrassment to my children......
well, to one, the other would have laughed hysterically.
Why???
My jeans, that I wore for their comfort level, had a flaw.
When waterlogged with copious amounts of water they like to fall slide slip fall down.
I then have to walk around holding them up.
Note to self......never sit next to Jessica on a ride where water is dumped, splashed, shot and gushed at you.
Jessica attracts all the water!!!
Anyway, it was a fun time.
We went back today.
Sam has been asking and asking to go to
"Elmo's World".
That is what he has been calling Busch Gardens.
Today we went straight to
Samuel had a blast splashing around in the water area.
He had Jessica made a few laps around the tree house area with rope bridges, etc..
After splashing around for a while, Samuel came and asked if we could go and ride the train.
On the way out of the Sesame Street area, there was a photo opportunity tent with Elmo and Big Bird. Sam made a beeline and stood in line very patiently. When it was his turn, Samuel went up and gave Elmo tons of hugs. Big Bird received a polite hug, but Elmo was the clear favorite! Samuel was very concerned that Elmo wasn't speaking and checked out his mouth to make sure he was OK.
It was a great photo opportunity.
They were having issues with the computer, so while waiting for the photos, the two kiddos went on the kiddie roller coaster......
Jessica was very distressed because it had some "drops".
Samuel??? Not so distressed......
they rode it again.
We had 15 minutes to wait for the train, so we spent our time watching
SHEIKRA
Jessica declared that wild horses could not get her to ride this roller coaster.
Samuel asked if he could ride this roller coaster.
I said that I would ride this roller coaster when Samuel was big enough to go with me.
Samuel loved getting splashed with the water.
When the people plummeted down the 90 degree, 1000ft (well, maybe not that far!) drop, pulling 4gs, I couldn't help but think that it should be called "Shriekra" not just plain old "Shiekra."
We caught the train and headed towards the exit.
It was a good way to spend a few hours.
Just an ordinary day, doing ordinary things.
Just like everyone else at the park.
But, this wasn't such an ordinary day.
When you have a child with autism, remember that I write from our experiences, you never know.
You never know how a simple trip to the local amusement park is going to turn out.
Will Sam "keep his hands to himself", or will he push, hit, and pull hair to get another child's attention?
Will something cause a meltdown that will swirl so completely out of control and it takes every bit of your strength physically and emotionally to remove your child from the situation?
Will Sam take off running and I won't be able to keep up?
Will Sam truly enjoy the experience, or find it so overwhelming that he stims with his "Sam tai chi" the entire time?
I have hundreds of will, will, wills at any given time.
Can't live life dwelling on the "you never knows."
Can you guess what my "will" question was when Sam made his way up to Elmo??
"Will he hug Elmo or push Elmo down and run off with his head causing great trauma to all the small children present.....?"
That didn't happen.
Sam hugged Elmo.
Sam helped Big Bird look for some swimming trunks.
(They don't carry Big Bird's size)
When we were leaving the area, Elmo and Big Bird were out walking around trying to drum up some photo opportunity business. Elmo saw Sam and came over to him. He rubbed Sam's head and gave him another hug and waved good-bye to him.
So, today, was a good day.
As we go through this journey with our little boy, there are far more good days than bad.
There are more and more opportunities for Samuel to enjoy and experience life just like any 6-year old little boy.
There are more smiles and joy.
There is more of this.......
Sally-Ann
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