Our family has had two fabulous weekends in a row! Between the Shuffle last weekend (and the zoo on Monday, which still felt like the weekend to me) and our adventures this weekend, we have had a very good time as a family.
On Friday, we went to a local museum that was only open to special needs families. We've been to this museum many times, but it is usually pretty crowded and crazy. This time, it was much less-crowded, with lots of volunteers to answer questions and chat with the kids. They even had a "calming room" for kids who got over-stimulated. I loved how thoughtful and understanding they were.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, it was also really nice for Caleb to get to do something fun because of Abby's special needs for a change. That may not make much sense to you, but that's because you're not living it. Too often, Caleb can't go to parties because I can't drive alone with Abby, or is shuffled from one family member to another while we go to doctors' appointments, or is away from his parents for several days in a row while Abby is in-patient, or is told to "wait" when he wants to show us something and we're changing Abby's trach ties. We are aware of this and try really hard to give him his time, but sometimes Abby has to come first. So it was good to finally be able to give him something fun to do because of Abby.
We also went to a baseball game, but I'm going to save that for a separate post because this one is already kind of long!
Here are some pictures from our excursion!
On Friday, we went to a local museum that was only open to special needs families. We've been to this museum many times, but it is usually pretty crowded and crazy. This time, it was much less-crowded, with lots of volunteers to answer questions and chat with the kids. They even had a "calming room" for kids who got over-stimulated. I loved how thoughtful and understanding they were.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, it was also really nice for Caleb to get to do something fun because of Abby's special needs for a change. That may not make much sense to you, but that's because you're not living it. Too often, Caleb can't go to parties because I can't drive alone with Abby, or is shuffled from one family member to another while we go to doctors' appointments, or is away from his parents for several days in a row while Abby is in-patient, or is told to "wait" when he wants to show us something and we're changing Abby's trach ties. We are aware of this and try really hard to give him his time, but sometimes Abby has to come first. So it was good to finally be able to give him something fun to do because of Abby.
We also went to a baseball game, but I'm going to save that for a separate post because this one is already kind of long!
Here are some pictures from our excursion!
Caleb and Abby in the lighthouse
This is a floor-to-ceiling fish tank that Abby LOVED. We hung out there for a long time while she signed fish over and over and over and over! :)
The museum has a hands-on room where the kids can learn about turtles and horseshoe crabs. Abby's checking out the turtles here.
There's a sailboat for the kids to play on. Abby and Caleb both loved it!
It's not really on her head...but it looks like it!
They both really loved the jellyfish.
This sweet man was there teaching kids how to tie knots. I really didn't think Caleb would be interested, given that he usually throws a fit if I try to work with him on tying his shoes, but he LOVED this. He learned every single knot the man taught him, and was really good at it! Maybe I can use this as a springboard for the shoe-tying...
They have one of those coin spinner things that Caleb loves to do. They each did one, and they put one down at the same time and let them race. Ah, the little things!
The lighthouse
Lovely evening at a lovely place!
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