A Fraction of a Good Time

Every year we try to take the kids on some sort of family vacation. Most of the time it's up to Beech Mountain, NC for the annual Woolly Worm Festival in October. Last year we made it a trip to Orlando to visit Shamu and this year we are lucky enough to be able to fit both in, which makes me so happy as going to the Woolly Worm Festival is a family tradition from when I was a kid.
The week before school started back, we planned a quick trip to DisneyWorld and Universal with the girls. They were soooo excited and if I may be perfectly honest, I was too, I mean come on it's Mickey Mouse we're talking about! The night before we left I sat on the couch with the girls by my side and browsed through the Disney website looking at all the rides and shows. Mason has been several times in her decade on earth but Nat has only been once, so she needed a refresher course. And then there's Camryn. Camryn has never been to Disney and sadly, she did not join us this time either, a decision that kills me every time. But when you are raising kids with an autistic sibling, it touches everything they do, everything. And so as our gift to them, we try and take that away for a bit, even if just for the weekend and show then our undivided love and attention and...money, we're talking Disney people!

As usual, when we go away with Mace and Nat overnight, my angelic,sent from Heaven above, mother-in-law keeps Camryn. She is one of those people that kids just gravitate towards. She has a child like spirit and energy about her and I am so, so blessed to have her as my childrens "Nanny". And Camryn is crazy about her, so that really helps. She and her husband "Papa Dave" still live in Port Charlotte where we moved back from, so they are about an hour and a half away. But it is worth the drive to know that Camryn will be well taken care of and loved and spoiled while we are off without her. Brad dropped her off on Saturday and Sunday morning we all piled into the Suburban for our annual Walker's 4/5th's family vacation.

First stop was Universal Studios. We had been there back in February of this year for Mason's birthday. She wanted to do the Jaws ride and E.T. but also was hoping to see the Dr. Seuss section of the adjoining "Islands of Adventure" park as well as the insanely crowded "Wizardring (sp?) World of Harry Pottah ( I know it's Potter, but it sounds so much better the way I spell it!) And of course, you cannot just go from park to park with one ticket. You must purchase a separate ticket for an additional fee to get into "Islands of Adventure". Because it was Mason's tenth birthday gift, we went ahead and bought tickets for both parks. And for some reason I assumed we would be able to do both in one day. I really should have known better! This was also a trip where Camryn would not be joining us but because we weren't staying overnight I just arranged to use our respite hours and have her caretaker watch her that day. Long story short, we were not able to do everything and we sure as heck weren't getting into Harry Pottah. They were handing out tickets with times to come back later in the day because it was so crowded. But we couldn't come back later because we only have so many hours with respite and the clock was ticking. Mason was upset and truthfully so was I. If we were a "normal" family we would just have stayed until the park closed, but we weren't and we had to get home to Cammy. I was disappointed that we had spent that money on the tickets and didn't get to see Harry, so I made a call to Universal, told them the situation and they were kind enough to re-issue us tickets to be used at any time during the year! Now that's what I call customer service!! And they really came in handy this summer when planning our trip because theme parks can get very pricey, so only having to pay to get into Disney was a blessing.

We had a great time at Universal and after helping E.T. "phone home" and escaping the jaws of...well "Jaws", we headed over to our hotel. It was about 8:00 pm by that time and I surprised the girls with 9:00 dinner reservations at the T-Rex restaurant in Downtown Disney. They were so happy! T-Rex is owned by the same company as "Rainforest Cafe" and is the same concept except instead of a rainforest setting with animatronic gorillas and elephants it is a prehistoric jungle with moving dinosaurs. And where it "storms" every twenty minutes over at Rainforest, in the T-Rex room the lights go out and a meteor shower takes place. Anyway, the girls were ecstatic about going, even though we were all about to drop dead from exhaustion after our day. It was a fun time and a great way to end our first day of vacation.

Monday we woke up bright and early and hopped on the ferry to see the mouse! No matter how many times I've been ( and as a Florida native, I've been ALOT) or how old I get, I never get tired of going to Disney World. I don't know how they do it, but it really is the "happiest place on earth". And to experience it through the eyes of my daughters, it made me tear up at times as I watched them bounce with excitement in line for "Snow White" and stare in awe at "Small World". And although I was having such a great time and was so happy to have this experince with them, I was sad that Camryn wasn't with us because I knew she would absolutely love the rides and the parades. I would say to Brad "Cam would go wild over this" and he would answer "Yeah, she would love it, but there would be no way we could bring her with the other two and not have it be all about her". And he was right, which is why we were there and she wasn't. When we take Camryn somewhere, everybody knows that the length of our stay depends on Camryn and if Camryn can't handle it, we leave. It's how we do things and our kids know that. If we are out to eat and Camryn has a hard time, we certainly aren't going to let her sit there and scream while everyone else in the restaurant is trying to enjoy their meal. And if we go to the zoo and Camryn is pinching kids then we have to leave because why am I going to put other people's kids at risk? While it's not fair for Mace and Nat it's the way it's gotta be right now and they handle it so well for their tender age. They are such good girls. In fact, as I was silently picturing Cam freaking out in excitement over the spinning teacup ride, Mason said "I really wish Cam was here, she would love this". And  she continued to mention how she wanted Camryn to experience Disney. She is an amazing girl. I told her we would bring Camryn soon and she said "For my birthday, I want my gift to be Camryn coming to Disney with me". I teared up behind my sunglasses. "Mason, you are a wonderful sister. Camryn is so lucky to have you" I told her. "We'll bring Cams here, I promise". And we will, with a ton of preparation, an escape route, a pass to the front of the lines and family t-shirts that say something about Autism to answer anybody's question or stare. Oh and Benadryl.....lots and lots of Benadryl.

So our four-fifths family vacation was a huge success! We did whatever the girls wanted to do, hovered on their every word, held their hands, hugged them and smooched them to pieces and all the other things we don't always get to do as much as we'd like when Miss Cams is around. We just want them to know they are loved and just as important to us as Camryn and we want them to have "normal" family experiences without autism stealing all the fun. And even though these times are far less frequent than we'd like, they are so special to all of us and so necessary...for all of us.

Second week of October, we'll be piling in the old Suburban and taking a family road trip to the mountains for some hot apple cider and Woolly Worm racing. We'll play checkers by the fireplace, hike a few beginners trails and visit the local country fair. These are still some of my very favorite memories as a kid and young adult and I am so happy my girls will have them as well. Cam will be with "Nanny" making her own happy memories. It may not be the way most families do it, but I don't think I have to remind you we are not "most families". This is the way we do it and it works for us. And one day in the not too distant future maybe, just maybe I will find myself packing three little suitcases with three little swimsuits, three little nighties and three little jackets. And Benadryl.....lots and lots of Benadryl.