A problem with having a larger family

Hotel rooms.  Usually it works out but on our way home from Virginia we stopped just outside Baltimore and our hotel room only had two beds.  There was no pullout couch.  I had brought a blowup twin for Will on the trip since I worry about him wetting the bed.  So we blew that up.  The girls were on one bed.  We were on the other and the boys were crammed on a tiny blow up mattress.

The kids played musical beds.  At one point Lizzy was wiggling too much and Bri was on the floor next to the bed which Lizzy had to herself.  When I woke up next, Bri and Will were in the bed and Lizzy was complaining that there wasn’t space for her.  I tried to convince her there was space next to Jake on the airbed.  She was not convinced and got in with me.   It was super fun.  My husband apologized profusely to everyone the next morning.

~Although, I don't really consider my family of six to be all that large.  I came from a family of seven and my husband has eight siblings.  With that reference four kids doesn't seem excessively large.  However, I consider the work my children require the equivalent of a significantly larger family.  Oh, maybe the equivalent of 8 children -- and 3 of those are young and demanding, 2 are hormonal teenage girls with a penchant for yelling at me, and 2 are video game obsessed boys.  All I can say is thank heaven for Bri!

Operation Beach Bum

I want my kids to try things when they’re young. I think if you’ve already tried something you are more likely to do it again. That’s why I signed them up for skiing lessons last winter and a surfing lesson last week. Although, I seriously underestimated how hard surfing is.

On her very last try Bri surfed for about twenty seconds. Her most spectacular surfing occurred earlier. She somehow twisted around and was sitting down of her board surfing backwards. Lizzy did a lot of knee and one leg surfing. And Jake after a spectacular wipeout that included getting hit by his board twice decided he had surfed enough and sat out the rest of the lesson.

A Lazy Afternoon Exfoliating at the Autism Day Spa

[Guest posting – while Mother of 4 is on Vacation] 

While my wife was watching the other kids take surfing lessons, I kept an eye on William as he played in the surf.  This is a favorite activity, but William has a unique low-energy style of playing in the ocean.  He wades out until the water is knee-deep and sits down.  He lets the incoming waves push him over, then lays there.  He likes feeling the waves roll him back and forth, and the undertow wash the sand out from under him.  I tried to think of a name for it; “wounded walrus,” “dying dolphin” and “bobbing blubber” came to mind.  It’s a gentle, relaxing, sandy exfoliation, while working on his plumbers’ tan.  Will can do this for hours.

Occasionally the seagulls would swerve close by, to see if the waves had washed in a big meal.  William’s body shape means his shorts often sag.  At the beach he’s usually showing some crack.  His unique swimming style accumulates a lot of sand in his shorts.  About 20 minutes into the swim, Will decided clothes were no longer necessary and stood up to take his swimsuit off.  I caught hold of his shorts when they were at his knees, which is a good thing, because once one leg is out it becomes a much harder process to reverse.  “No pants,” he said firmly.  “Yes, you must wear pants,” I replied, conscious of the many beachgoers around us now exposed to a very white bum. “Pants are ALL DONE!” he said emphatically.  As I struggled to pull his soggy shorts up, he expressed his displeasure by readying a double tricep pinch.  I could either endure the pinch and keep his shorts on or save my arms.  I chose to take the pinch while I pulled his shorts back up.

Will would occasionally reach into his shorts to remove a handful of sand to lighten the accumulated load.  One time after he was washed the sand away he held up a small object between thumb and forefinger for inspection.  I thought it was a crab shell or a pebble at first… but this is what he held between his fingers:

Wiki Image

“Lobster is all done,” he said, dropping the marble-sized object into my palm.  I thought he meant it was dead, but no, it was very much alive and immediately began kicking to try to dig back into the sand.  By “all done” he meant “I am done having this in my pants.” 

I had to look up what the ugly little beast was – “lobster” was a great approximation.  All it lacked were claws.  Emerita Decapoda Anomura (if you want the Latin name), commonly called a “mole crab”, “sand flea”, “sand crab”, “beach hopper”, or “lookie cookie.”  They are a genus of hard-shell, oval-shaped crustaceans found on both coasts.  I wouldn’t want one in my pants, either.

Visiting the Redneck Riveria

I read that in a guidebook and thought it was hilarious! We are at Virginia beach with Marcy and Tom. I figured we'd take it by (autistic) storm. On Monday we went to the Air and Space museum. The kids loved it. It was really hands on. Will enjoyed it too. He liked sitting in the kids' plastic airplane. He also was very interested in the flight simulator. I took him upstairs to show him some of the airplanes. I took him inside an airplane to let him play with the controls. When he realized where he was he said, "No plane!" and RAN away. I had to chase him down and promise him he didn't have to fly.

On Sunday, we drove past a small airport. I told Will to look at it. I felt a finger poking my back. Then another poke. "No airport." I'm going out on a limb here but ... I'm getting the idea that Will isn't thrilled with flying.

Pennsylvania

We visited some friends in Pennsylvania over the weekend. It was nice to see them. Driving for 6 hours with a moody Lizzy in the back seat -- not so much.

Third Day

Four of the eight kids in Will's session rode on a two wheeled bike today!  Peter did.  It was great!  I knew he would love it.  Three of the kids I told about the program rode without training wheels today.  I am thrilled.

Bri is so in love with the program that she helped with an extra session and when she was talking about this morning referred to "my kid Liam."   It was adorable.

I really hope Will is ready tomorrow.  I bought him a new bike today and he was interested.

Second Day

Today was Will's second day at Lose the Training Wheels.  He did better today.  Yesterday, he was exhausted by the end of the session.  He kept asking for breaks.

But he was a trooper and persevered.

Although, sadly there was some pinching. I showed the volunteers my "wax on," "wax off" moves.  Because that's the way I roll.  I think I need to buy them some chocolate.  Because they are AMAZING!  And I'd like to publicly announce that I love Frank and Elyssa.

Bri is volunteering in the morning with an adorable little boy who is driving down from New Hampshire every day.