batman=a great vacation

Yesterday we spent the day/night hanging at The Great Wolf Lodge, which was great! Boy absolutely loved the wave pool, didn't like the tube slides. We were very water-logged by the time we were done there! Overall it was a good day with low anxiety issues. Our room had the bunk beds for the kids and they thought that was super cool.

Today we hit Kings Island, which obviously was hugely stressful for boy. He was so worried we wer going to make him ride the huge rollercoasters like Beast. After some convincing he felt slightly better, but wouldn't ride really any of the kids rides. That was ok to him though..he didn't feel like he was missing out and was more interested in this ball game you play and can win a batman stuffed animal. Thankfully my husband won him one. That alone made the vacation perfect in his eyes. He spent the rest of the day playing with the batman, yea! the day was saved!

Here are the rides we rode & what my kids thought of them...

Backyardigans swings - all 3 liked them

Scooby's Haunted House - all 3 were scared, but thought it was fun after

LazyTown Scopters - this had the most RIDICULOUS line! Boy hated the ride...it was high up

Bumper Cars - all 3 loved it

Fairly Odd Parents Coaster - Manthy was the only one who would ride & she loved it

Driving Cars - boy liked it

SpongeBob 3D movie - boy hated it, the movement of the seats scared him

SpongeBob water thingy - boy loved, girls hated it

Lil Bill's Giggle Coaster - boy hated it

I'm forgetting alotM but that's ok. If anyone is thinking of going to KI with kids and have questions let me know.

Tomorrow we hit the KI waterpark. I am thinking there should be less stress with that.

All in all, the kids have been fabulous! Bonus - we got to meet spongebob!

just can't wait to get on the road...

"There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it." ~ Charles Dudley Warner

Tomorrow we are off on an adventure. Well, not too much of an adventure, but a 2 adults, 3 kids and 5 hour car ride kind of adventure. We are headed to King's Island in Mason, OH.

Tomorrow night we are staying at the Great Wolf Lodge so the kids can somewhat unwind from the trip and have a blast with the water park activities. Then Wednesday & Thursday we are going to enjoy the amusements of the park -- thankfully there is a water park included with the K.I. admission because I think that may be the only thing the kids really end up wanting to do. Friday we return home, but I am really really hoping to convince my Husband to go 30 minutes south, into KY, to check out the Newport Aquarium...I think that will be amazingly fun! We shall see.

Hopefully it will be a smooth journey. Hopefully.

I will try to blog the fun from my phone for anyone who may care to read it!

"Most of my treasured memories of travel are recollections of sitting." ~ Robert Thomas Allen

things that make you go hmmm?

So, my favorite brand of bread is Aunt Millie bread. You can find Aunt Millie bread just about everywhere and it comes in a variety of types/flavors - wheat, potato, sour dough, white, italian, etc.

Well, when we started our milk-free journey I was much disappointed to find that my Aunt Millie bread contained milk products...all varieties, bummer!

But then...

My husband found that some stores carry Aunt Mille bread from "Perfection Bakery" and if the Aunt Millie bread came from Perfection Bakery there were NO milk products. And, that seems to be across the board for all bread, bun products...if it is stamped Perfection Bakery, then there is no milk.

huh?!

How can that be so? Isn't the Aunt Millie bread a certain recipe that each bakery follows no matter which bakery bakes it?

Apparently not...very interesting...very interesting indeed!

pancakes in a can?

You can now buy organic pancake batter in a Redy Whip type of can...sounds bizarre right? Well, it is milk-free so we bought some and tried it out...


All in all, they weren't too bad. They weren't as fluffy as I would have liked, but Boy liked them!! Bonus -- no mess to clean up...

wow! everything I'm looking for wrapped up into one site!

Alisa - thanks so much for your comment on my blog. It brought me to your website www.godairyfree.org, which appears to be every possible thing about milk-free diets that I am looking for....all wrapped up into one website!

Seriously? Ice cream without milk? GENIUS!

I can't wait to try out the recipes!

First on the list are the frosting recipes...the peanut butter fudge frosting sounds almost too good to be true.

Thanks again for your post and your help in introducing me to such a great site!

wanted: a tasty milk-free cake/frosting recipe

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." ~ Albert Einstein

We are having a birthday party this weekend so I am in search of a tried and tasty milk-free cake & frosting...

Got No Milk?

sensory therapy session 1

"Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it."~ Buddha

Today's sensory therapy was great! We started off doing more testing:

1. line up plastic pennies and then pick them up with his right hand and put them into a cup on his left side, all while timed.
2. pick up small pegs with his right hand and put them into peg holes while timed.
   
3. take mixed up cards (some red squares, some blue circles) and separate the cards into two piles, with his right hand only while timed.
   
4. thread a shoelace through wooden block beads while timed.
   
5. jumping jacks

things to work on at home:

1. play card games - simply flipping the cards over (for example dealing cards) helps build the hand dexterity.
2. one handed sorting - practice taking something from the right, with your right hand, and putting it into a cup on your left.

We also did some time in the playroom, working on the swings and ladders. Next week we won't have a session because we will be out of town, but the week after that we are going to start with a little more testing, visual perception I believe she said.

Basically she stated that he has coordination, gross & fine motor, auditory and tactile sensory issues. When she gets to know him a little better, she will start him on therapeutic listening.

This is by far the most exciting time in our life! We are finally getting answers. We are finally getting somewhere!!