November 20, 2012

Adventure Girl!

For some crazy reason we are going to get in our car at 3:00 today and drive 1,200 miles for Thanksgiving. One of my sisters and her family live in Louisville and my Mom and her husband will be traveling there. They are flying, we could not swing four plane tickets.

But the result is the same, for the first time in a very long time I will be sharing the Thanksgiving celebration with my family! John was 100% supportive of this effort and is excited. Tom was 100% non-supportive of this trip, and will be kicking and screaming the entire 18 plus hours. It is opening day at Snowmass and god forbid a 17 year old boy miss the opening day on the mountain.

Alex is our adventure girl, she will go anywhere anytime. She needs about 24 hours notice on anything that impacts her routine, but once adjusted she rolls with the punches. We were delighted when Alex grew in to adventure girl as transitions were challenging for her for a long time. But as they say "when in Rome", or "when in down syndrome" you have to understand the rules. We do and abide by them as often as we can.

Alex began her planning two days ago. She did her laundry, went through her clothes, tried on outfits (she has lost 10 pounds) and asked me to approve. Alex has planned what she will do with her cousins, her aunt and her grandmother while in Louisville. She has prepared her backpack for the car and loaded music on to her IPad.

When we spend a lot of "quality" time together Alex gets silly. She finds humor in almost everything on the road and makes us laugh for hours. She initiates the geography word game and catches us when we have a repeat. She makes it fun, easy and infects us with her excitement. She is our entertainment, no road trip is complete without Alex.

My contribution to our entertainment is a poem, which I will sing to my husband and kids for 18 hours in a car, or until they leave me on the side of I-70

Over the mountains, and through the plains,
to a Kentucky house where we will stay!
The car knows the way to carry us
through the 1200 miles of boring highway.

Over the mountains, and through the plains,
to see Grandmother at the cousins’ location!
We would not stop for fun or rest,
for 'tis time for the Thanksgiving celebration.

Over the mountains, and through the plains,
oh, how we stopped and peed!
It stings the eyes and bites the nose
as over the states we speed.

Over the mountains, and through the plains,
and straight through Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri,
We seem to go extremely slow,
it is so hard to wait for glory!

Over the mountains, and through the plains,
When Grandmother sees us come,
She will say, "O, dear, the children are here,
bring a drink for everyone."

Over the mountains, and through the plains,
now Grandmother's smiling face I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the turkey done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!

Save travels to all who are on the road and have a wonderful holiday!

Oh, and today my Thanksgiving post was featured on blogher.com. Please check it out!!

9 comments:

  1. Hi! I found your blog via the Widening Circle and I'm so glad I did!

    I'm always looking for other bloggers out there to connect with who have kids with disabilities - particularly when the kids are older as there is much to learn.

    My step-daughter just turned 11 and she has down syndrome. The road I am on is long, narrow and unfamiliar.

    I'm following your blog now and am looking forward to reading more.

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    1. Hi Jess, I am so glad you found us. I can imagine learning to embrace your step daughter might be unfamiliar territory for you. Congrats and stay in touch!

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  2. Congrats on being featured on Blog Her. It is great to think of so many people reading and learning about what life with a child with special needs is all about.
    I am singing right along with you on your 1,200 mile journey. I love that song. You will be spending Thanksgiving only 2 hours from where we live in Cincinnati and the weather will be in the high 60's! Have a wonderful time with your family.

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    1. Hi there, thanks for the note and you are more than welcome to share our song with your Thanksgiving table...Haha.Can't wait to see your pictures as we celebrate two hours from each other!

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  3. That is one of the funniest poems I've ever read! It's very good - although I certainly hope that your family doesn't leave you on the side of the road because of it LOL! Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. Thanks, I have managed to stay in the car! Have a great holiday!

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  4. Great poem! I hope you have a great Thanksgiving with your family!

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  5. You weren't far from us when you were in Louisville. Glad to hear you had a good Thanksgiving!

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