Moab Pics

We had ourselves a mini vacation a couple of weeks ago.  It was Clay's Christmas present.  Ironically, we left on his birthday, so it was kind of a double dose gift!  We camped in Goblin Valley on a Sunday, and went to Canyonlands National Park Monday "on our way" to Moab.  Tuesday was spent at Arches National Park and Wednesday we did a little Arches and then headed home.  

It was an interesting trip.  There was a heat wave in Southeastern Utah at the time, and that made it uncomfortable for the kids, but by Tuesday we were experiencing some nice breezes.  At some point on the trip I got a gluten contamination and spent Wednesday in the car unable to stand or even sit up.  Other than that, the trip was fun.  As usual, we took a lot of pictures:

The above pictures were Goblin Valley.  The night was clear and it was beautiful to see the stars.  It was SO HOT though...we didn't get much sleep at all, which was okay since it gave me a chance to watch the sunrise.

A little bit of Canyonlands.  We didn't explore here as much as Clay would have liked.  It was hot and the poor kids (Buddy Boy especially) were miserable.

We didn't get as many pictures as Arches, especially once I got sick.  There's a few of them though!

Enjoying the Outdoors

The weather has FINALLY been nice and warm!  We've been loving the last week:

Pictures of...us!

Because I've been awful at keeping up, here's what's been going on the last few weeks with us:

Celebrated at Jungle Jim's.

Munchkin started soccer.

Buddy Boy started baseball.

We toured a local news station and enjoyed free food afterwards.

Other stuff:

• We're all anxious for summer to start, and wish that Dad worked at a school so he could get a summer break like the rest of us!  
• Buddy Boy lost his 2nd tooth, thank goodness, because he's got four other loose ones!
• We did 2 news interviews with another local station (those kids were stars and did great!)
• We did a lot of autism awareness spreading (does that even make sense?).
• 2 trips to Home Depot to do kids' workshops
• Prepped a lot of the garden...the peas are looking great and the tomatoes are currently being hardened to get ready for transplant.  Yeah, we've got spring fever!

United States of Autism Premiere

The documentary, The United States of Autism, has been premiering all over the nation, and has received great reviews all over as well.  How awesome that we've had a chance to be a part of it!!

The first night it premiered was at the beginning of April in NYC.  The theater sold out!

It came to our area last Thursday, April 18, and it was so fun to get to see it.

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Our family's sweet friend Margie took the above pictures for us.  She also bought tickets to support us.  She promoted the event like crazy to help as well.  Oh yeah, and she's the ENTIRE reason we were even given the opportunity to be in the film.  She was the one who told me about the applications being accepted for families.  So you know, we pretty much owe all of this to her.  Thank you Margie!!! :-)

Here she is posing with us.  

I feel like I owe thanks to so many, and I'm not sure the best way to do it.  I am planning to send personal thank-you notes, but there were so many who were supportive who I don't personally know and cannot properly thank.  So...I'll say THANK YOU here.  Thank you for supporting our family on this special night; THANK YOU for supporting The Tommy Foundation and those who were involved in making the film.  THANK YOU for caring about autism and about the amazing, wonderful individuals all around us who deal with autism on a daily basis.

I've had a lot of people ask...YES, the film will be out on DVD/Blu Ray in the fall.  Can't wait!! 

Smith's Easter Egg Hunt

So, it's officially a tradition.  Every year the day before Easter for the last 3 years, we've headed over to our local Smiths Food and Drug store.  They put on an Easter egg hunt, and every year they've impressed me.  

You know the city-sponsored Easter egg hunts at local parks?  We tried those once.  When the whistle was blown to start the hunt, so many kids took off running that every SINGLE egg was gone within the first 30 seconds of the hunt!  Our two kids came home crying and empty handed.  
Once, a local park was "prepared" and had extra bags of candy for kids who didn't get anything.  We got in line to get a piece of candy since there were no eggs to be had, and they ran out of the extra stuff too!
Another time it was raining/snowing and freezing cold.  That wasn't fun.

Never again, my friends.

Smith's does it indoors, so I don't have to worry about weather.  They divide the hunt into different age groups so that I don't have to fear my young kiddos getting run over by teenagers.  They have kept it fairly small so the place isn't overly crowded.  They offer free breakfast (well, free donut holes and orange juice/chocolate milk, anyway).  They have PLENTY of stuff for EVERYONE to find, and even when the hunt is done and the kids are leaving with full baskets of goodies, the employees come around and give kids coupons for free products at the store!  They are so nice, so sweet, and I LOVE them for it. :-)

My kids, as usual, have highly enjoyed their haul!  Thank you, Smith's, for providing a stress-free hunt that even my anxiety-ridden boy can enjoy!