Make a Smilebox photobook

Snuggle Fest

Who says people with autism don't show affection?

Mission Beach

So on Sunday we decided to record conference and do something with the kids, since none of us have the greatest attention span and you can get kind of stir crazy. Michelle had been to Mission Beach with her friend Liz, and thought it would be a great place to take the kids. Boy was she right. They had a fun playground with a family favorite, swings, overlooking the ocean. There was also an awesome walkway. We got the best exercise ever while looking at the beautiful beach and the dark blue ocean and imagining what it would be like to afford one of the awesome beach houses along the path. The kids really loved going on a fun walk. Caiti's favorite part was to sneak off with Aunt Michelle while Garrett Jason and I sat in some shade. She got to go play in the ocean. Aunt Michelle said that she thinks that is the most fun Caiti has ever had. That makes sense since her favorite things are sand/dirt and water. What a nice day with the family! We will definitely be going back soon!

Last weekend I unsuspectingly (is that a word?) took Garrett outside to get the mail. Much to my surprise, my next door neighbor had a gigantic Spongebob bouncer in his yard. It took all my power to drag Garrett, who had made a beeline to the bouncer, back inside where he proceeded to freak out and think I was so mean. Luckily, our nice neighbor rang our doorbell about then and invited the kids over to jump. I was very grateful to Michelle for watching them in the bouncer while I ran some errands. They were in heaven.

Snugly Garrett & Caiti Confronting Her Fears

Garrett loves having Aunt Michelle here. When she leaves, he points to the air and says, "Aunt Michelle right there!" and waits for me to confirm that she is right there...even if she is not. He usually starts out in his room or my room when he goes to bed at night, but by morning, he has sneaked in to sleep with aunt Michelle. When Aunt Michelle is relaxing or watching TV, Garrett especially likes to snuggle up to her. He climbs right behind her and gives her hugs. We're sure glad she is here to make things easier and happier for all of us!






This is a funny sight from the same time as the above snuggle fest. Usually if Caiti sees a vacuum she runs the other direction, so we thought we would capture this amazing moment in time.

Sweet brothers!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Isn't that cute! Sorry for the poor quality of movie, my camera is broken. Aunt Michelle took this with her cell phone. Though Garrett is snuggly and sweet to adults, he usually ignores his brother and sister and other kids. (Typical autism behavior). Yesterday, he was watching a movie on Aunt Michelle's cell phone with Jason, and he kept looking over and smiling. Today, he randomly came up and gave Jason a kiss on his head. That might not be a big deal for other kids, but it is for Garrett. He still does steal Jason's apples, but we are making cute progress!