It's been a while ...

I can see it's been a while since the last posting. Well, a few things have happened ... I started a new consulting gig. We (hubby and I) went to China. (Harbin .. you can see pics on http://travelsofmarcdonna.shutterfly.com/harbin). We had a visit from 3 of my siblings and took a short trip to Palm Springs, where it was 80 and sunny; the following weekend we took the boys to the snow. I also took Mikey to Disneyland (his Christmas present was a pass) ... so I plead insanity.

Disneyland

This was an experiment for me - I took Mikey alone. I made a BIG story, with the rules. It included details: We will drive to the parking lot. We will park. We will walk to the tram. We will get on the tram and ride to the entrance...

We never tell Mikey in advance that he is going anywhere. For one thing, he has no concept of time. If we were to tell him he was going to Disneyland NEXT WEEK, he would ask for it every minute of every day, and cry and fuss. If we told him, "Grandma will take you TODAY," and anything happened that Grandma could not, it would be unbearable for him. So the school was notified but Mikey was not.

I went to pick Mikey up from school, a little before the school day ended - so I could beat the crowd. When I pulled up at school, he happened to be out in the yard with one of the therapists - he saw me and looked startled. I waved, then parked and went into the office. Did the sign-out thing, then went back out.

The office had called over to get him ready. He marched right up to me, looked me in the eye and said, "I love to go to Disneyland!!"

He was very good and followed the rules, which included going to the bathroom when GRANDMA needed to go, eating and being patient while eating, etc.; and SEVERAL steps before he could actually go on a ride.

This trip, it was several previous favorites (Haunted House, Muppet 3D and Bugs Life) but this time he wanted the Small World attraction - we rode it twice.

Snow!

We have taken Mikey on several "special" trips; David did not make any requests. He's still got some issues around getting outside his comfort zone. But the last time we asked, he said he wanted to go to the snow. Mikey must've heard him, because he asked for snow, too.

Snow Gear

Harbin, China is just south of Siberia. To prepare for that trip, we got snow pants. (We already had pretty decent snow coats, given we seem to end up back East by my family in winter sometimes.) The activity we participate in that took us there also provided coats, pants, heavy gloves, and various other things. So when it came time to go, we had plenty of gear. The only thing I bought was a pair of snow pants for David, who has outgrown Grandpa. He's heavier by at least 25 lbs. and I think the height barrier is about to go ...

Planning the Trip

We debated whether or not to make this a David-only activity; in the end, we decided to take Mikey, too. o I booked a cabin at Big Bear for one night. We also planned to rent a 4WD vehicle - my truck is 4WD but the boys are too big to ride in the back for more than a very short while.

Waiting

Once we had agreed to this adventure - which we did before Christmas - David started asking EVERY weekend, "When will we go to the snow?" At first, we couldn't because there WAS NO SNOW. But finally, the snow came (and came, and came, along with the local rain down here). And of course, I started my new engagement and we had the trip to China.

... and aWAY we GO!

But finally the day came. I picked up the rental vehicle; then we loaded about 40 cubic feet of snow gear into it, and our overnight bags, then we got the boys and off we went. Of course, there was another "story" for Mikey that talked about how long it would take; stopping for lunch; etc.

The boys loved the snow! David plopped and made snow angels. Mikey rode on the saucer down snow - then he just wanted to walk and walk and walk ... we had to limit his walking. Everyone slept well that night, too (the mountains are between 6000' and 7000' where we were). The weather was PERFECT - low 30s, little wind, and the snow pack was deep so even with a little melting there was plenty to play in. The main roads were all clear. At night it dropped below freezing and we had a light dusting of new snow.

The only odd thing happened the following morning - we got up and were out around 8 am (don't ask) playing in an area we had found that we really liked. After about an hour, Mikey said, "May I have home, please?"

We were not ready to go, and David certainly was not ready. We persuaded Mikey to stay on a bit. We did have to go finish packing up (checkout was 11 am). We also found a little zoo up there with a decent aviary (lots of eagles and predators), a bear, fox, beavers, and other local fauna, and Mikey agreed to go. We all enjoyed it, but he did especially.

At any rate, we left a bit earlier than we had planned; drove down the mountain; had lunch; then continued on to home - a good time had by all.

We did decide that if we repeat this exercise next year, we will take 2 vehicles. Grandpa and Mikey will have a short stay and Grandma and David will take the extra time.