Lions and Tigers and...Vampires?

Well October is finally over and we are now in the first few days of the month to give thanks and let me start by giving thanks that October is finally over!! While it is always a crazy busy month, this year October tried to kill me! Between my birthday, the Halloween party, ZooBoo, trick-or-treating and countless other things that went on in those thirty-one days, it is no wonder I had to literally drag myself out of bed this morning after hitting snooze seven times! And if I was that tired, imagine how the kids felt! In fact, they were so tired that...get this....I had to wake Camryn up! Now that's tired!
Like I said, October is always a busy month for us, but this was the first year we had a Halloween party and also the first year we did ZooBoo and trick-or-treating back to back. For those of you going ZooBoo???, what's ZooBoo?, it is an anuual event held at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa at night during the month of October. The zoo is transformed into a Halloween wonderland, with orange twinkle lights, animated skeletons, inflatable pumpkins and just about any other thing that falls under the category of Halloween.  They have several themed Haunted Houses and the kids can wear their costumes. We have been going since Mason was three and because Halloween is Mason's favorite time of year, going to ZooBoo is more important to her than going trick-or-treating. So even though we were booked solid up until the very end of the month, and going to ZooBoo the night before Halloween was not really what I wanted to do, we squeezed it in for the sake of our daughters happiness.
Camryn enjoys it too, but always from the confines of a stroller, cause that's how Cams rolls (pun definitely intended). She has always been perfectly content to buckle herself in and be pushed around the zoo, taking it all in at about two mph. There is always much talk about going days before, so Cams has a heads up. I tell her we are going to see ghosts and spooky things, but I have no idea if she even knows what spooky means because when your kid can't tell you what they're thinking it's kinda hard to know. She is just happy to be in a costume and be with our family and friends, really doesn't matter what we do or where we go. She's easy.  What's funny is that because she doesn't say much about it, last year we didn't even think about her possibly being scared in the haunted houses. And because I am a major wuss when it comes to spooky dark places, I always make Brad go first. Which is fine, BUT last year he was pushing the stroller, so really the first person to enter the tunnel of darkness was completely unaware of what she was about to do Camryn! I was at the back of our group so at first it never occurred to me that my little girl, the one who I have no idea if she understands Haunted Houses, would be the first one shaking skeletons and giant spiders would leap out at. I know, terrible! And I guess it never crossed Brad's mind either, because he just pushed her on in. Now again, we have NO idea what Camryn is thinking when she sees a glowing skeleton or creepy clown. Last year, she really showed no fear when we would go to the Halloween store to see all their spooky wares.In fact, there was an animated zombie that actually crawled on the floor when it was activated and Camryn grabbed it by it's strangly gray hair, picked it up off the floor and said "She needs a hug. I wanna give him a hug"! It needed more than a hug, but the innocence! At six years old, she wasn't afraid of this bloody rubber person with yellow eyes and stringy hair because she didn't know she should be. And that's how she was with every other scary object in the store. At ZooBoo however, it was a different story because the haunted houses were mostly dark and there were strobe lights, loud sounds and creepy things popping up and out and every other direction as you walked by. And me being such a fraidy cat, I kept to the back of the line figuring there was nothing I could do if she was scared that Brad couldn't do, so there was no need for me to make my way through the dark creepiness to find them. I know, I know, I'm terrible! When we finally made it through the fog and the darkness, I exited to see Camryn sitting in the stroller, looking just the same as when we went in. Brad said the only thing she said was an occasional "All done" as they were walking through. It really didn't phase her.
So fast forward three hundred and fifty something days and we are at the Halloween store for our annual walk through. The first display we come upon are some freaky looking clowns that turn their heads when you push the button. I had Camryn's hand,not because I thought she would be scared but because I was scared of her getting in a random scratch at passers-by. I walked toward the clowns and was shocked that Camryn refused to follow. She was staring at the clowns as if they were...scary! She was scared!! I was so excited! Now I know that sounds crazy,but Camryn showing fear is a sign that she is maturing, becoming more aware, progressing!!! I tried to make her go up to them to see they were pretend (another concept I have no idea if she gets) but she would not move. We took a detour around the clowns toward the back of the store. I wanted to see if she was afraid of anything else. This year a popular theme for Halloween was zombie babies and kids and I get where they got their inspiration from because kids are totally scary!! There was a "playground" set up with zombie kids on a teeter-totter and merry-go-round and to me it just looked ridiculous. But Natalie had no interest whatsoever in making friends with them and Mason just said they looked creepy. Camryn stared at them for a while and then decided all they really needed was a hug. "I wanna give him a hug. Him needs kiss. Muwah!!" Obviously, the fear thing would be a slow process.
So, knowing the clowns freaked her out, I knew to keep her away from them and women with too much makeup, but nothing else seemed to scare her. Things shouldn't be much different at ZooBoo this year then.
Because a year has passed Camryn no longer fits in the stroller, so we upgraded to a wagon. It was nice because she was more out in the open, but it was bad because she was more out in the open. Brad pulled and I walked next to her, protecting any little arms and faces that got too close. The night was beautiful and the zoo was packed as usual. When we approached the first haunted house, we were told the wagon coudn't come through. Ohhhhh, okayyyyy. Because Nat was scared, Brad carried her, which left me to hold onto Camryn (this was before I knew my wrist was broken,yep). There were other adults with us, but Cam is her Momma's girl and if Daddy wasn't going to carry her then Mommy would be her escort. We entered the dark room and I kept a tight grip on her. She was walking with me, but keeping a much slower pace. I think what scared her the most was the fact she couldn't see where she was walking and she has major issues with feeling unsteady. Our group is one of those groups with people running ahead and jumping out, so Mason and my brother were being crazy, Nat was wrapped around Brad like a vine and my mom and I were making sure to stay in between the group so nothing could grab us. About two minutes into the hauntedness, Camryn shouts out "Game over!" Hahahahahaha! We all laughed so hard! Game over? Where had she heard that? Wherever it was, she knew what it meant and when to use it! I tried to make the walk thru funny,pointing out silly skeletons and such. Cams didn't look scared, but obviously she was feeling unsure because after the "game over" comment, she kept waving at everything saying "Bye, have a good day! Drive carefully!" LOL! That is her way of saying "I am outta here!"
We made it through the first house, and Cams was fine. As were approaching the next one a littly boy about Masons age and his grandmother walked over to Cams and me and asked if we had just come out of the Haunted Shipwreck. I told him yes and he asked was it scary? "Yes, it's scary, but not horrible." He asked if things jump out at you to which I answered that things pop out, but nobody jumps out and that it is all pretend. He was so cute and serious with his inquiry. "I'm scared of things jumping out at me" he said. And as soon as he finished his sentence Camryn, who had been standing nicely holding my hand, reached out with the speed of light and pinched his cheek. "Ohhh honey, I am so sorry!" I said, completely moritfied. His grandmother just smiled and said it was alright. He looked shocked but okay and I said "Now that was scary! That was worse than the haunted house!" He laughed and we moved on. Cams, Cams, Cams!
We went throgh four haunted houses all together. Camryn did good and only assaulted one other ZooBooer, this one a teenager who was using her cell phone as a light in the darkness. Cams saw it and because she loves her some cellphones, she reached out and grabbed it out of the girls hands,throwing in a pinch for good measure. Brad was with her at the time and he gave it back to the girl and apologized.Moving right along!
During ZooBoo, all of the animal exhibits are closed except for the manatees and stingray touch tank. My kids love to pet the stingrays! Brad bought some shrimp to feed them and while Mason and Nat placed it in their hand and let the rays eat it, Cam  didn't really get the whole palm flat concept and just threw the shrimp in the water. Whatever! While my other two gently rubbed the rays backs, Camr reached in and tried to lift them out of the water! At one point she got so excited she splashed her hand hard in the tank and completely soaked Mason's ladybug dress and Natalies little mermaid gown. Mason screamed out at Camryn and Natalie started bawling. Cam was "growling" and tweaking up a storm! The crowd looked over and I just gave them a big smile as if to say  "HI!!!"
We toweled the girls off and moved on to the carousel. Yes I said it, the carousel. And what better place to take on such a scary expedition but ZooBoo? Anybody who reads this blog knows what an undertaking the carousel can be when Camryn is involved. It is her absolute FAVORITE thing to do and the fact that you must wait in line and only ride once doesn't sit so well with her. At this point in my mother of autism career though, I am so past not doing something because people will stare, so Cams and I got in the line while Nat waited next to us with my brothers girlfiend. Cams was excited but.....she waited so well!! She was tweaking and squealing out loud, but no meltdowns whatsoever! I held both her hands up as we made our way to pick her horse and I made sure to stand in between her and the little girl next to her. I had to hold on to her while the carousel turned because you know Cams is too cool to hold on. She was grimacing, biting her hand and shrieking in joy, but no bystanders were injured and there were no fall on the floor screaming tantrums when we had to get off. I was impressed!
Last stop was the petting zoo, which was closed but you could still feed the goats. Again, Mason and Nat got that you had to put the food in the palm of your hand to feed the goats while Cams just threw the pellets over the fence. The goats didn't care, it was still food. Cams was more interested in any physical contact she could get with the animals and at one point she was on the ground trying to lick an eating goats tongue! Ewwwwww! Not enough toothpaste in the world!
By this time it was eleven, ZooBoo was over and we headed out. All in all it was a success! A little boy was pinched, a girls cell phone grabbed, Mason and Nats costumes soaked and a goat was slightly molested, so yeah, in our book that's a good night!
I can't wait to see what happens next year. Unless Radio Flyer comes out with a larger model, I'm thinking Cams is going to have to two-foot the whole thing, which will be a welcome change. Hopefully we can exit dry and without DNA under Cams nails and on her tongue. But whatever it will be, I know it will be interesting because with Camryn, life is always interesting and that's just how we like it!