Sleepover and the Fair

We've had a busy week, my friend's husband was out of town, so we took a few of her kids off her hands. Tuesday we just had them for the afternoon, then Wednesday we just ended up doing a sleepover. They had so much fun!

Two buddies, Gabriel and Alchemy

 Gabriel, Alchemy and Skye

 Alchemy being a little ham. This boy is such an adorable cuddlebug. I wanted to keep this little guy, cuddles make everything better, and I sure don't mind that either! My boys are more of "yeah you've kissed me, can I go now?" kids. :)

 Splish splash, 4 kids in the bath! They loved their ball pit bath. I'm not used to girls though, and combing their hair. I just remember how much I hated that when I was a kid. So many tangles.

 Testing out the air mattress before bed. It never feels like we have 5 kids, it sounds like a lot, but then as I look around I keep expecting there to be more. Skye (3) is in red, Gabriel (16mo) in blue, Dawson on the left (5), Rain is upside down (5), and Alchemy in green (19mo). It's a little more crazy when their 2 year old autistic sister and the 3 month old baby are here, but we like crazy. As long as crazy goes home eventually! Which is part of why I take them, because if I had 5 kids under 5, I would be begging for a break! But it's really fun while they're here. :)

 Playground! I let them bring toys out, as long as they helped carry them all.

 Found a use for those hospital bottles.

 Skye recently cut her hair, with her sister's help. Though if you ask her, she says her mom cut her hair! I said "really, it was your mom?" and she says "wellll, I did, but my mom cut it more!" haha

 Gabriel loved the slide, he does it all by himself now! He's getting so big.

 Climbing up by himself.

 Skye

 Alchemy was excited to ride the trike.

 I think they had as much fun pushing as he did riding!

 Thursday evening we went to the fair. Dawson got to ride a camel!

 Showing off with his parade wave. :)

 Gabriel rode a pony, he was excited to get on one again. He was reaching over to pet the pony as he rode and everything.

 Such a little cowboy. He rode with just 1 hand on the horn!

Carousel. The guy started it up before I got them both on a horse, and a kid pushed past and got on the one next to us, so they ended up sharing a horse.

 Gabriel was excited to ride the cars. I shouldn't have gotten him a wristband, there wasn't many rides at all he could do, but we had fun. He did do about 4 rides.

 Dawson came and sat with him in the car.

 Daddy and Gabriel, watching Dawson on a ride. Gabriel was so upset that he couldn't ride more of them. When Tyler was a year old, he had no interest in rides, he just liked watching them! Gabriel needs to be in on all the fun though!

 The slide. We've had bad luck with the slide, 2 years in a row now! Last year, the guy told Tyler he was too short, even though he was exactly the height required. He rolled his eyes and said "there's always next year".  Thankfully it wasn't the same guy this year. Dawson did the slide all by himself this year. He stands in lines so well. I told him "you're behind the boy in the blue shirt", and he stuck to him like glue. Then another boy, older than him, cut in line. Dawson looked confused, looked at me and I told his mom that Dawson was behind the boy in blue. Issue fixed. Then the boy kept touching Dawson, and pushing him out of the way. Dawson got fed up and pushed him back. The mom only saw Dawson push, she'd been talking to a friend and missed the rest. So she yelled at Dawson, then yelled at me, saying her son is Autistic and doesn't understand.

At that word, I had hope. Mothers are usually understanding because they know Autism and it's social awkwardness. I said "my son is Autistic too!", in an understanding, relieved tone. Finally, someone who understands Autism. I was imagining smiles and understanding to follow. Instead I heard "I don't care! It's not ok to push!". Um... what?! That was not expected at all. I knew it was a lost cause, I didn't even tell her that her son was doing the same thing. She was still yelling, Dawson started crying, her son started crying.Then she noticed him crying and just gave me a dirty look and walked off with him in a huff. I saw her son later doing rides. Had we talked through it and had them apologize, things would've stayed calm. Autistic kids feed off those angery emotions so much, and it's such a bad example to just go off and yell at people! Dawson was so shaken up by it all, that he refused going on any rides after that, even his favorite ride that he hadn't gotten to try yet. He just sat in the stroller, looking close to tears as he looked at all the rides on the way out. I gave him time to simmer down, Gabriel rode the carousel with me once more, but Dawson was still too shaken up to want to stand in any more lines. At least he still did the slide.

It just ruined our whole night though. It's already hard going to places and having fun, missing Tyler. Plus yesterday marked 9 months since Tyler died, so that was on our mind, plus the fact that this fair was the last place we got to take him. It was already tough, we really didn't need any drama. I wish people would look at both sides. Once she said he had Autism, my annoyed thoughts of the child immediately went away. Where is people's compassion? We're all just trying to have a good time, a little patience and understanding would go a long way. What gets me the most is when it's other special needs parents, and friends, who in theory should be understanding and compassionate. Yet they jump to conclusions without a thought about what might actually be going on. Think before you judge people, because nobody knows what someone else is going through and what their story is. Everyone is fighting a battle of some sort. Be kind. "Love thy neighbor!"

 Gabriel on the carousel

 Thankfully Dawson did perk up just long enough to hold some animals. I was relieved. He loves animals, and has been more interested in them, with his imaginary pets and all. :)  He decided to hold a chicken. I wasn't sure if he'd want to hold the chirping, flapping, kicking little thing, but he was adamant and determined. He did it! That face is priceless.

 Then he got to hold a duck. So cute and fuzzy! Gabriel pet the animals, and I didn't get any pics because I was too busy just making sure he didn't injure them! He held out a finger and let me help him pet the chicken's head. But the duck, that thing has a good neck for a handle! Before I got his hand, he had grabbed the poor duck's neck and looked so proud of himself. That poor duck. I managed to pry his fingers off without injuring the poor thing, and we let him have a break back in his cage after showing Gabriel the proper way to pet a duck. His favorite animal was the horses though. Gabriel really wanted to climb in with them. He's related to his mommy I'm thinking. ;)

I'm not sure what it was, but this morning both boys woke up and immediately threw up. That made for a smelly, exhausting morning, but thankfully it seemed to be a one time thing. They had pizza at the fair, and I'm thinking maybe it was just too greasy or something. They aren't used to that really greasy stuff. After a nap they both seem to be fine. Knock on wood! I'm really hoping so, because we have a very busy weekend, between donating stuff to a family, going to a grieving families picnic and having Dawson evaluation for his horse therapy that's starting in just 2 weeks!