Wordless Wednesday Vacation

Vacationing In Virginia With The Family

I had a nice weekend with my family. We went up to Virginia, and stayed in a small motel in Williamsburg. Originally, we were going to find a place to camp, but the motel was having a special. Only $35.99 a night. My husband and I agreed to stay there for 2 nights. Nice, little air conditioned room. And it was little. The way I looked at it though, we only wanted it as a place to sleep.

Taking a vacation with an autistic child has it’s challenges. Add into that an almost 7 year old daughter, and you have your hands full. We needed to find things to do that didn’t cost a lot and were not too crowded. My son loves to wander around, and in a crowd, that makes for a very stressful day of me trying to keep up with him.

Our first night there, we discovered The Yankee Candle. This is a great store. It’s also a huge store. When you walk into it, it’s like walking into an indoor Christmas Mall, only it’s one store. There was one area that actually had it snow on you. Not real, wet snow, just white flakes coming down. Of course, they had an area where you could dip candles into different colors or make hand candles. My son didn’t want to do it, but my daughter loved making rainbow candles. I was in charge of keeping up with our daughter, while my husband chased our son all over the place.

The next day was full of walking and sight seeing. We decided not to go to Historic Williamsburg, instead we went to Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center. Neither one of us had been to those, and both of us had been to Historic Williamsburg. We were able to get a combination ticket for both Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center, and my daughter just got in free. Ages 6 and under are free, and she is still 6.

With it being a holiday weekend, I was happy to see that it wasn’t too crowded. My husband and I took turns with keeping up with our son. We did not stick around for them to light the cannon at Yorktown Victory Center. With my son’s sensitive hearing, I didn’t think that was a good idea. I loved the indoor museums. It was nice to be able to spend half of our time there, indoors. The outdoor recreations were an amazing site. My daughter was fascinated with everything. My son loved the turkeys and chickens wondering around.

We ended the evening with a visit to Pirate’s Cove. This is a miniature golf course, with a pirate theme. My son doesn’t know how to play, but he was willing to learn. At the last hole, he was able to swing the golf club on his own. Not that hard, but he gripped the club and swung to send the ball in the right direction. My daughter was fun to watch. She would hit/push the ball around to try to get it in the hole. By the time we were done, we were all ready to call it a night.

I picked up a lot of brochures for Williamsburg and Richmond, VA. I am hoping to plan a longer trip in the Fall. I don’t know if we will camp or stay at a motel. It all depends on whether or not anyone is having a special deal.

Taking A Family Camping Trip With An Autistic Child

This year, I have introduced camping to my kids. I was worried how they would react the first time we took them camping. My husband and I planned out what to take and what we would do while camping. The first camping trip started out chaotic. We had to make several trips to the store to get items we had forgotten. Packing was a huge chore. I wanted to make sure the kids had a few items from home to keep in the tent. I also needed to make sure that I packed my son’s sheet (he won’t sleep without it), and his radio (have to be able to listen to Shania Twain).

With the truck filled with camping gear and what not (really, do we need all of this to go camping with?), we headed out to the campgrounds. It’s a good thing that it is close by, because we did forget a few things. Hard to imagine, with everything that we packed, we actually forgot an item or two.

Setting up the tent was our first task. It went up without too much trouble. Unloading the truck was a family event. All done, I sat down in my chair and watched my husband go back to the house to pick up the few items we forgot. I played games with my daughter while we waited for his return. My son, of course, listened to Shania.

When my husband returned, we went fishing. My son wasn’t happy about that, at first, because I wouldn’t let him bring his radio. Fishing went over great with the kids. My daughter snagged her first catfish, by the eye. The rest of us didn’t catch a thing. The rest of the camping trip went by quick. We were only there for one night. Not long enough for me.

Our second trip, this past weekend, was for the whole weekend. We didn’t bring my son’s radio, because he had played his Shania CD so much, that the CD player in his radio would not work. Big mistake. The next morning, I sent my husband back to the house to get it.

There were a lot of campers there, this time. Last time, it was us and another family. This time, there were a couple of scout troops. I was surprised that I knew the troop leaders. My daughter was happy to have a lot of other kids to play with. This meant that the rest of us were able to take it easy. My son listened to music and my husband and I relaxed. We did manage to pull my daughter away from the other kids long enough to go fishing.

If you have an autistic child, don’t assume that camping isn’t for you. My son loves it. The key was to make sure he had a few of his favorite items. It’s also nice to get away from the house and just be out in nature. Now, we are planning a camping trip at the beach. I am really looking forward to it.

Wordless Wednesday Camping Fun

It's great to be back to doing Wordless Wednesday. I posted some pictures in the forum of our camping trip. Here are some more cute ones.

Pictures From Carolina Beach

Look Mom It's A Dinosaur Butt

I couldn’t believe it. I swear, it sounded like she said “Look Mom! A dinosaur butt!” What she actually said was “Look Mom! A dinosaur foot!” It was hilarious. My daughter is always coming out with things that take me by surprise, so I wouldn’t have put it past her to have said “butt” instead of “foot.”

We didn’t get to spend that much time on the beach. We arrived at Carolina Beach in the evening. It was too cold and too dark to take a walk on the sand. Our hotel was right on the beach and our room had a view of the water.

It also had a window right in front of the bed I was sleeping in and the sun rose right there. It was like waking up to a bright light aimed right at your eyes. We got up early Sunday, which is usual with our kids. After getting everyone together and everything together, we went for a walk on the beach and collected shells.

My daughter loves looking for shells. My son, not so much. As you can see from the picture, he just wanted to leave. Walking along the sand was no fun. The water was too cold for swimming. We didn’t even bother to bring swimming suits.

We ended up taking a short walk on the beach, collected a few shells, and then went in search of a store to get a drink. First, we had to stop and deposit the shells and the “dinosaur foot” into the truck. Yes, we brought it home. It was heavy, but my husband was a good sport about it. He carried it all the way to the truck. I wanted to see what it looked like all cleaned up. I thought it would be nice in our garden. My husband wants to break it up and see what is inside.




It turned out to be a nice day at the beach. It warmed up as the day went on. Carolina Beach, NC is a really nice place to visit during the off season. It costs a lot less to rent a room. We rented a two-bed efficiency at the Savannah Inn. I like staying in a room with a kitchen. We paid $75 for the night. That’s a little higher than what we usually pay, but the room was nice and the beds were comfortable. They have a pool, but I didn’t bother to find out if it was heated, since we didn’t bring bathing suits.

We had a great time at the Aquarium. I’ll tell you all about that, tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday More Disney Fun

Wordless Wednesday Disney World Fun

My Daughter's trip to Walt Disney World. She had a lot of fun.

Trip to the Zoo

W e had a lot of fun yesterday. We took a day for the family and spent it at the zoo. I love watching my kids reactions to the animals. It seems like every time we go, they discover a new animal to fall in love with. When we go to the zoo, we don’t know which animals will be out and playing.

The all time favorite is always the Sea Lions. Both of my kids love to watch them swimming around, chasing each other. There were a couple of new exhibits this time around. One was a new bee exhibit. Another was a special viewing area for the giraffes. It was free to go up onto the newly built overlook, but soon the zoo will be charging a special fee to walk up to it. Right now, they are trying to get the giraffes used to the people. Eventually, you are supposed to be able to feed the giraffes.

As always, by the time we left, I was tired and my feet hurt. It was all worth it, as you can see from the pictures below. I am hoping to get in one more visit to the zoo before it is too cold. They are putting in a Geyser exhibit, and I hope that it is completed soon.

Vacation in Morehead City NC

I had a great weekend with my family. We went to Morehead City in NC and stayed at EconoLodge. We arrived late Friday evening and stayed until Sunday. I would not recommend the EconoLodge in Morehead City to anyone that is looking for a comfortable place to sleep. The room was clean and the shower had great water pressure. It was also conveniently located to all the area attractions.

Those are the good points. The bad points were unacceptable. For a room that is $99 a night, I expect to get what I am paying for. The HBO that was supposed to be in each room, wasn’t in ours. The information in the room regarding area attractions was out of date. The beds were uncomfortable and the pillows were old. There was a small storm Saturday night and lightening hit close by. Partial power was lost in the rooms. One thing affected was, of course, the air conditioning. After spending a long day visiting museums and swimming at the beach, we were ready for some quiet time to wind down and rest in our room. We had about four hours of no air conditioning. I know, it wasn’t their fault; however, a discount for our inconvenience would have been appropriate.

EconoLodge also has a continental breakfast. This consisted of cheap orange and apple juice, coffee, store bought bagels and donuts that were small and almost stale. Because of this, we discovered a nice diner called Captain’s Table that, on the outside, didn’t look like much, but they served great food at a low price and the staff was extremely friendly. Did I mention that the staff at the hotel was both pleasant and unpleasant, depending on who was working?

Another great place to eat in Morehead City is Cubbies. When we arrived late Friday, we tried another restaurant, New Dawn, and arrived twenty minutes before closing. I would have been fine with take out, but the doors were locked. They had closed early. We drove down the street and found Cubbies. It was fifteen minutes before closing, and I wasn’t sure if we would be eating there or doing take-out. We ate there. The staff was happy to feed us and their other customers. The food was great. I had the best hamburger and my husband had a great cheesesteak sandwich. They were cooked to perfection. My son had a grilled cheese and he enjoyed that, too.

There are a lot of great places to go to in the Morehead City area. We visited Beaufort and took a harbor and dolphin sightseeing cruise. It was great. We also visited Fort Macon and walked all around this historic park’s restored site. My son did not enjoy it, but it was mommy and daddy’s turn to enjoy ourselves. We spent both mornings at a little harbor beach at Radio Island and had a great, relaxing time. We visited the Maritime Museum and browsed several stores. One store, Satan’s Breath, that sells spices salsas and sauces, all made by the store owner Elmo Barnes, Jr. We bought a couple, thanks to the owner seeing us pull up and coming out before we left. The store wasn’t open, it was Sunday. The store is also a B&B, located in Beaufort, a few blocks away from the harbor with several boats you can go out on for sight seeing.

I recommend finding a place to stay in Morehead City, NC and having your next family vacation there. There are a lot of things to do during the day for families. There’s not much going on in the evenings for kids, but if you stay at a hotel with a pool, you will be fine. The key for our successful vacation was making sure our son understood that we had to take turns in choosing activities. It wasn’t always easy. Several times, we gave in and cut short the activity that my husband and I had picked because our son was extremely unhappy. It just wasn’t fun when our son was obviously miserable. We did not cancel our sight seeing cruise, though. Before it, our little boy tried everything to get out of it, but the closer to the boat we got, the less upset he was. He became fascinated, and ended up having a great time. We all did.

Vacation in Kissimmee, FL

Summer is closer than we may be ready for, but there is still enough time to plan your summer vacation. I am going to Florida for my vacation this summer. It will be for my 20th High School Reunion. I am really looking forward to it. When I was offered an opportunity to write about a vacation to Kissimmee, FL, I was eager to say yes. I love Florida. Kissimmee is one of my favorite destinations in Central Florida. It is about an hour and a half to Busch Gardens and Adventure Island. It is only 30 minutes to Walt Disney World in Orlando.

My destination is Tampa, FL because that is where my sister lives and I can stay with her for free. If I am lucky, I will be one of the sweepstakes winners for either a weekend getaway (3 days/2 nights) for two – 3 winners will be chosen or a week long vacation for four – 2 winners will be chosen. Drawings will be held on or around 4/1/09, 5/1/09 and 6/1/09. This sweepstake is being sponsored by Kissimmee and I would love to be one of the winners for the week long vacation and stay in Kissimmee for my reunion. My reunion is only 3 days, but I would make it just the final night if I was staying in Kissimmee.


There are so many things to do in Kissimmee , FL. I would do the walking tour in the historic downtown district. I would go to the Osceola County Historical Society and Pioneer Museum and visit the 1898 “Cracker House” and the 1900s General Store. There is a blacksmith shop and a sugar cane mill that my kids would love. We would have to travel to the nearby waterparks in Orlando. Wet n’ Wild and SeaWorld’s WaterPark Aquatica would be a big hit with my kids.

I love that there are so many things to do in Kissimmee that do not cost any money. You can go fishing or canoing on Lake Tohopekaliga or spend a day at the beach. They are known for doing Exotic Car Festivals and everyone in my family loves cars. Admission is free and it is usually an all day event. My husband would be in heaven.

If you are looking for a vacation destination, check into going to Kissimmee. You can stay at a campground & RV Park, rent a room at a Hotel or Motel, or stay in a vacation rental home. You are sure to find something in Kissimmee that the whole family will enjoy.