Our Canadian family comes to visit

Dacotah has traveled great this weekend, in fact as I am typing this he is sitting in his car seat watching the DVD player. Prior to our last trip to Harriman TN to see grandma and Papaw Pickell we decided to move his car seat to the middle instead of directly behind my seat. It has been 80% better for traveling so far. But he can see out and he is closer to sissy, and I'm not tossing him food so it's a win win!!!

So this weekend was special our Canadian family came in for a visit. We all met up in Pigeon Forge at the rental cabin. Minus the uninvited scorpion the cabin was great. We were able to enjoy time alone without being stuck in a hotel and we had a blast. Pake and Travis played golf Saturday morning and while they were out Beppe, Montana, Dacotah, and I went to Tanger for about an hour by that point I was stressed and Dacotah was moody. Shopping is not his thing. I made a quick run into Walmart and bought craft supplies to make some sensory bottles to send to our Canadian cousins. Sidetrack: I got the idea after I received his gift from Hilary. Aunt Hilary made him a new lap blanket with sensory ribbons (made from our wedding!) for him to use. This is a priceless gift and I'm so glad he loves it. So on we went  back to the cabin we put the bottles together and gave them to Beppe for delivery. While Dacotah was down for a nap and Montana ran off to watch tv. Mom (My Canadian one who adopted me into her family years ago) and I had a long chat about everything going on. After talking to her about my concerns with Dacotah's speech therapist I am going to call the coordinator on Monday and ask that Dacotah be assigned a new one. I have to go with my gut on this and make sure we have the right person. It really came down to the fact this one does not agree with OTs recommendations and I need someone who is on the same team so we get the best results!

Grandma and Papaw Pickell got a hotel on the other end of town so they could watch the kids while we had a double date. We had so many laughs and adventures between food and miniature golf. Honestly it was a getaway that I've needed since last July. Because I had dairy at dinner Travis went in to get Dacotah and Montana from the hotel. Grandma said Dacotah did great (I hid in the backseat so he couldn't see me, and once at the cabin I quickly showered and off to bed he went). Speaking of bed I don't know if it was the fact we were exhausted or if it was the pillow top mattress (I have moms temper-pedic mattress at home) but it made for some great sleeping. Dacotah woke up as usual and I didn't record to see how long he slept but it was restful.

Today (Sunday) we went to Dollywood with Pake, Beppe, Grandma, Papaw, and the kids. Dacotah rode the carousel, not only did he ride it but he rode one of the animals that went up and down. (Daddy was on one side and I was on the other but he rode it!) then when we got off he kept saying this... This... This... And I asked if he wanted to ride it again and he nodded yes!!!! The second time he did not want a moving animal so he sat next to me and grandma on a stationary seat. This is progress no matter how tiny, it's a huge step for him!

We all rode the train together and he fell asleep. At the end Grandma and Papaw babysat him in the park while we went around the park riding rides. Grandma said he only fussed once in the 5 hours they had him, and he kept them on their toes taking his time wandering throughout the park. They have a playground by the Thunderhead and Papaw said he played and played and played and finally Papaw said he (papaw) was tired and they came to find us.

We are almost back to Kingsport surprisingly he isn't asleep but other than a few whimpers he's content. As I said before many times... No matter how tiny the step is we will get there one step at a time!