Vacations + Autism

We went on our longest family vacation so far. We rented an AirBNB in Pasadena with my mom, step-dad, sister, niece and nephew for a few days to visit family and explore; and then Shamus, the kids, and I camped for a few nights in an Otentik on the way home.

The trip itself was actually a lot of fun. It was a comedy of errors, but luckily we are skilled at finding the humour. 

For example, I’ve been driving across Newfoundland regularly to visit my family in Corner Brook for 25 years but this year we got our first flat tire. And then we were stuck in Clarenville for 2.5 hours while we waited to get it fixed. We had fun cramming ourselves into my sister’s car for a bit though. (Parked safely).

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I messaged the Mill Whistler in Corner Brook last month (who do a cool kids train ride around town) to get a sensory ride for the kids. We sat in the park where we would pick us up for an hour – we ate, waited around, had some chaos with a child’s bad belly….then we discovered the train had been pulled off the road 4 hours before. Cue screaming children. We went to see a real life train though and that was a lot of fun too.

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In keeping with that theme, here are some things I learned on our trip:

1. Never refer to “returning to your nightly accommodations” as “going home” on accident. Crying and screaming will ensue.
2. The more adults that are in a house, the more likely your escape artist son will get out of said house. 7 times to be exact. With way more attempts besides the successful ones.
3. If you only bring one comfort blanket for your son on your trip, he will leave it outside in the rain overnight.
4. Best not to rent a tent that doesn’t have internet. Your daughter will literally try to strangle you when she figures it out.
5. On a related note: if your phone gets over $50 in internet overage charges, your phone company will shut off your internet.
6. The first time your noise sensitive child goes to the public bathroom without headphones, a stranger will definitely use the very loud automatic hand dryer. You must then ask random strangers to promise your child they will not use the hand dryer while she is in there so she will get out of the fetal position and wash her hands. #noshame
7. If you swallow your pride and ask the people you were hoping to visit to come visit you instead (where your children are comfortable) more than likely they will agree. And everything will go 10× smoother.
8. It’s okay to not include both children in all events if they are not interested. Rory preferred a playground over a walk. Penny preferred to stay home with nanny and poppy instead of going to the Insectarium. I can live with that.
9. I must always let the kids have their own rooms so they will sleep through the night.
10. If an airBNB has two tvs and 2 remotes, your daughter will have a monopoly on all. Then she’ll lose one remote before you check out just to make life fun.
11. If you keep yelling, “but we’re having FUN!” every time you’re stressed, your husband will eventually tell you that your enthusiasm is waning.

But in all honesty, we did make some great memories. 

I loved being surrounded by family. A lot of my CB family who I haven’t seen in 2 years (3 years for Rory). 

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I loved seeing the kids learning, like how to float in a pool instead of climbing on top of my head in a pool.

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I loved seeing the kids try new things, like the zipline swing in Terra Nova and sleeping in a tent. A fancy tent but a tent nonetheless. 

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And I really enjoyed just being able to relax for a few days. As relaxed as you can be with kids. It’s nice to get away from real life for a while.

I’m looking forward to more adventures with the family. Here’s to new experiences but the joy of sleeping in your own bed! (We may need to invest in a camper…)