Sunday, June 4, 2017

Beach Vacation 2017

The ride down to Hilton Head Island was a long one. We stayed overnight a little short of half way. Dacotah hates being restrained in his car seat, I cannot emphasis this enough. So it makes longer trips AWFUL. We left on Friday afternoon and got into Hilton Head around 6 Saturday night. The traffic getting onto the island was an hour long due to multiple wrecks. :( Needless to say he was not a happy traveler, but did better than I expected him to.

We went out to eat Saturday night, I guess after being in the car all day, he was happy to get out and enjoy. He ate at the restaurant and didn't make a peep. They had a playground outside that he really enjoyed. But most of all I think he was happy to see Mamaw, Papaw, Uncle Wes, Aunt Ashley, and Caleb. It had been a while since we have all been together so it was super uber nice. I think we all agree as the boys get older we are in soooo much trouble.

Sunday morning we went to the beach. Montana and Dacotah LOVED it. I knew Montana would, but the last time we went and Dacotah was much younger he hated it. But this time he loved playing in the sand, with the water, and with his cousin. Dacotah could sit and fill up a bucket and dump it out a million times if you would let him. He didn't want to get into the water much on Sunday so he stayed up near the tent. He played so much and took a long Hard nap. We went to dinner, this time it wasn't as much fun, I'm not sure if it was the noise the atmosphere, etc. but Dacotah insisted on being outside. Travis and I took turns until the food came, then I got mine in a to go box and went outside with Dacotah. It's not knowing the triggers that make going out to eat harder. I know he has a very hard time sitting still, which is often seen with autism.

Monday we went to the beach again, and as always all three kids loved it. Another long nap, but we decided against going out anywhere else with the group for the day. Dacotah needed some quiet time. Around 7 we walked out to Harbor Town got some drinks, desserts, and let him play on the playground until he was "all done".

Tuesday Dada and Uncle Wes went to play golf in the morning. Ashley, Mamaw, Caleb, Montana, Dacotah and I went to the farmers market. Mommy found some tea that I loved. Dacotah enjoyed watching the center fountain. By the time we left Dacotah was screaming for fries. So we left to get McDonald's for lunch, while the others went to the grocery store. Mommy found Starbucks. LOL. After the meltdown, we got back to the condo and Dacotah fought his nap, but finally 4 hours later he went to sleep. I honestly did not want to attempt going out to eat because I "KNEW" it was going to be a nightmare. We went to the Oyster Factory, From my Facebook post "As usual D sat down and was eating his chicken and French fries and when he was done he started to wander. I explained to the manager he is autistic and asked if it was okay for him to just pace.
Let me tell you, the staff was OVER AND BEYOND AMAZING. The waitress in the picture let him follow her and be a guest server. Dacotah's face lit up like a Christmas tree as he went table to table. She made him an honorary waiter and sent him home with a shirt.
Thank you all for an amazing evening and for being so awesome to our son. From the bottom of this mommas heart you all made my night."

Afterwards, we went out to play putt putt. Papaw felt like joining us and playing too which was fantastic. Mamaw ended up having to take Dacotah back into the arcade about halfway through because he doesn't understand he can't just run from hole to hole. When we were done we went into the arcade where Dacotah hit a jackpot worth 500 tix on one of the games. Talk about a lucky kid. Montana said it was the best night ever. 

Wednesday morning came all too soon, but we decided to stop by the beach on the way out. Boy am I glad that we did. We saw a pod of Dolphins swimming in the ocean, a hammer head shark, and a storm rolling in. We were sad to leave the beach but Travis and I both had to work Thursday morning. The trip back was okay, Dacotah did better with some modifications that made the trip home all 8 hours was a million times better. 

We have definitely said we need to take the kids to the beach at least once a year. They love it. It was the only place that I have gone that I didn't care, didn't think, didn't feel the need to apologize for our sons autism. He could be loud and no one cared. I didn't feel judged. Going out to eat is a different story but it was nice for a instant of time I didn't care, he could just be a kid. 

I did notice on our trip that his SMOs are fitting differently already. They should be lasting about 6 months, and so far we have had to replace them every 3 months. BAH.... We have an appt with PT on Tuesday and I'll have her check them (she checked them last month). I think he hit another growth spurt in his feet and has his daddy's curse of EXTREMELY big feet, and they are flat too! 

Travis and I sent off our blood-work for genetic testing last week. We should know something this upcoming week. We don't have a full family history for either of us, so I am hoping this will fill in some gaps and voids that we wouldn't otherwise have. 

That's all I have for now, will update again soon. 

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