Our First Road Trip....Just the Two of Us!

Our life with autism is filled with many firsts.....first conversation with a peer, first handshake with a "new"  person, first verbally expressed emotion, and so on.

Today, Ethan & I experienced our first road trip! Just the two of us!

My dad lives about 6 hours away from our home. Ethan's school was dismissed for this Thursday & Friday due to Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences. We have Ethan's IEP meeting next week, so we opted to not participate in this week's conferences. Plus, we just met with his teacher last week. So, the plan was for Corey, Ethan & me to all go to my Dad & Step-Mom's house this weekend....for a 4 day weekend.

However, Corey has 100 billion things to do, and just not enough time to do it all. One of the things he is working on is a very special Autism Speaks Light It Up Blue project....more on that to come.

Anyway, I was able to convince Corey to stay at home & "let" Ethan & I go by ourselves. My poor husband was a nervous wreck, but I promised to constantly check in with him while on the road.

Folks, this 6 hour road trip in our van was AWESOME!!! We had SO much fun together! We played the favorite game, I spy, & other made up games. I showed him mile markers & other road signs....of which he giggled every time a new one would pass us. He loved it! Of course, we had his iPad, DVD player & a toy bin full of fun "play in the car" activities. The time just flew by, and we had not one meltdown issue at all!

So, now Ethan & I are on vacation from our day-to-day routine. I love visiting my Dad's house because he lives in the country & it's so quiet and peaceful. People ask me what we are going to do, and I literally say, "nothing." It's a change of scenery, it's a break from the ordinary, it's getting away from things.....and I so need that right now.

Ethan & I have giggles all day. We are like a couple of kids at Disney World.....or in Ethan's case....a Nascar race. Today, Ethan helped my Dad start a fire in the fireplace. Tomorrow, we may walk around the acreage or paint with water colors. Ethan saw a Save-A-Lot & was excited about that....so we may shop there tomorrow. Who knows what we are going to do....but I love that part of vacation.

No plans, nowhere to be, no household to-do list hanging over my head, no laundry to fold or dishes to wash.....just country fresh air, hot coffee and stillness. Hum.....maybe I have a little autism in me after all.....;0)

Ethan crumpling newspaper & throwing it into the cold fireplace.

Papa Steve & Ethan breaking up sticks to put into fireplace.

Papa helping Ethan break up the thicker sticks.

Ethan & I driving in the van looking for our next exit. As soon as I got my camera out, he went right back to his iPad. But you can see he was having a lot of fun in his van....look at the sticker filled window!