Bobby's Shopping Haven

I have to preface this posting:  Bobby has never picked toys up off of a shelf in a store to buy.  In fact, the only thing that I can think of that Bobby ever really picked up off a shelf that he wanted to buy is potato chips when we go to Giant Eagle.  There may have been something that he showed us that he wanted from a store other than potato chips in the past, but I am coming up blank.

Now to today's story....
Yes, it's another rainy day in Bobby's World.  ENOUGH already!!  Rain rain go away, come again...in a couple of weeks!!  However, it is supposed to continue raining for days.  Bob took today off because we had been planning to take Bobby to Presque Isle, Lake Erie, PA to go "swimming at the beach!!"

As we were hanging out on the couch watching tv this morning, we knew that Bobby was bored!  So, we got in the car and headed off for a long drive to get Bobby out of the house.  We stopped at a WV landmark vacation stopping point.  Many of you will know just from this picture where we are....

For those of you who have no idea....we stopped at Cool Springs.  After all of the curvy mountain roads, we needed to get out and walk around.  We weren't outside too long because Bobby tried to pee into the creek and it started raining.

We didn't get to go look at the train or the donkeys....

We went inside to use the potty.  The best part of stopping on a rainy Friday is that there were only a couple of people inside the store/restaurant.  Most West Virginian's stop here on their way to their camping destinations and we have had trouble finding a place to park before.  Not today, we were parked right in front.

Funny thing, the other family that was in the store were from Bob's hometown and he knew them.  Bob went ahead and took Bobby to potty while I was looking around the store.  I saw a table of Melissa and Doug brand toys so when Bobby came back out I brought him over to look at the toys too.  Obviously I was paying more attention to the toys than to Bobby because he was looking at something on a shelf behind me and when I turned around he had taken the toy out of the package.  It was just a little plastic construction set with a matchbox size construction truck but more importantly it came with little plastic road signs.  I took it from him and put it back into the package so that I could pay for it, luckily it was only $2.99.  On our way back to where Daddy was looking, Bobby found a little toy (cup on a stick/ball toy) and he picked it up.  They have this toy on an episode of Oobi which has been on our DVR for a long time that he likes to watch at least once a week before bed.  Oh my goodness, I have to buy Bobby two toys!!

I left Bobby with Bob while I went over to pay.  There was no line since there was only one other family in the store and they were talking with Bob.  I decided to wait a couple of more minutes and I walked to the back of the store where Bobby was wearing a straw cowboy hat.  Yes Bobby, I'll add this to your purchase.  Back I went to checkout.  I am in mid-checkout when Bob yells to me, "wait!" Bob told Bobby, "take that to Mommy."  Bobby walks over to me with a wooden snake.  Ok, we will get this too.  Me to the cashier, "wait one more second."  I went to the sucker bin behind me and searched for a couple of blue Dum-Dum suckers since Bobby hasn't had any since Grandma's retirement party.

I just have to tell you that I was beaming with pride inside and so extremely happy!!!  I was like a normal mom at a souvenir shop.  I was buying a junk toys for my kid that he was picking out.  I remember picking out junk there when I was a little girl and we were going camping.  He has never picked out a toy in a store and now I have a bag full.  The main difference that I could think of while we were driving back...the toys were in cardboard boxes on tables, not nicely lined up on shelves like a typical store.  Bobby likes to junk shop!!!  Me to Bob:  "I know where we are coming to Santa shop!!"

Now this next picture is one of my favorite Bobby pictures of all time...

He's wearing his new hat, has his construction set in his lap, blue sucker in one hand and cup/ball toy in the other hand.  The only thing that didn't make it into the picture is the snake.

We sat in the car for a while because it started POURING...

Might as well eat some lunch.  I had packed some pepperoni rolls and a bag of chips.  Bobby likes to eat his chips out of a bowl and since I didn't have one, we had to make do....

What a multi-functional hat!!!

We finally left and since it was raining so hard we went back the way we came.  By the time we made it back to the top of the mountain, the rain stopped and we had a pleasant ride home.  That means, we should make another stop!!!  Instead of turning R in Grafton to head back to Morgantown, we went L and headed to Tygart Lake.

Apparently I got a couple of rain drops on my camera because all of my pictures have blurry spots in the middle.  We decided to walk on one of the trails...

Bobby decided that he would play LIMBO.

Hey, you're supposed to bend backwards, not forward!!!

Ahhhhh, melts this Mom's heart!!!

To the left boys, to the left!!!!  Yeah, anyone who know Bobby knows that it's not going to happen.  There is water down that path!!

Bobby doesn't care that we shouldn't be there, he wants water!!

Bob got him turned around and we started back up the hill...

When we got back into the car it started sprinkling.  However, by the time we were halfway home on Grafton Road it started down pouring.

Now, we have to figure out how to spend the rest of our rainy weekend.  All of my plans for summer fun require nice, sunshiny days!!!

In Over His Head

This week the pool water finally got to the appropriate Bobby temperature.  This means, hours of swimming a day, mostly spent in the evening.  We have been working on Bobby's actual swimming.  When he went to a special needs swim class a couple of years ago, the first thing to work on was sticking his face in the water.  He had no interest in participating in this task, yet we knew that he didn't have a problem with getting his face wet since he jumps into the deep waters.  Daddy started working with Bobby in putting his face into the water.  It started out with Bob holding Bobby's nose and getting him under....

Who could have ever predicted that Bobby would LOVE this!!  He went over to his Daddy numerous times, grabbed Daddy's hand and put it up to his nose and had Daddy push his head under the water.  What child likes this???  No crying, no flipping out...instead having Daddy do this over and over.

They took a little break to do some water ballet...

Back to shoving Bobby's head in the water!!!

If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I'm not sure that I would have believed that he really "liked" this, let alone LOVED it!!!

Grandma came over to visit and got in the pool too.  If she can't move tomorrow, here's why....

For some reason she decided to throw him.  Hey Grandma, he doesn't weigh 40 pounds anymore!!  Of course Bobby loved this too and wanted Grandma to throw him over and over.

Daddy, throw me too...

And then.....Bobby decided that he could put his head under the water with no help...

We were all shocked and he kept on doing this over and over and over (like he does with most things that he likes).

Then he would just jump high out of the water...

Time to get on the boogie board...

A perfect family fun evening!!

A Super Busy Four Day Weekend

We have been taking Bobby out to explore the local surroundings.  Quite frankly, he has gone to more new places in the past 2 weeks than he has in the past 2 years!!

There was no school on Thursday because WV Day is a state holiday and the teachers got the day off.  To celebrate WV's 150th birthday, we took Bobby to Cooper's Rock. Bob and I had taken him to the picnic areas when he was about 3 years old but he had never been to the overlook or the big playground.  Yes, he loved it!!  Especially the wooden bridge/walkway to the overlook....

As soon as he made it on to the rather large overlook area, he has so happy that he let out a super loud and long....well, we will call it a "toot."  Oh Mr. Bobby you really know how to make an entrance!!

In the background..."Ha Ha Ha!!  Stinky!!"

He had to run up and down the bridge and stairs a few more time before we could move on to the next area...

We obeyed the "Do Not Climb" sign and instead had Bobby sit....

Bobby's absolute favorite part of the day....

was walking slowly to the back of this stop sign and then running around to the front...

and then back again.  Over and over and over and over.

We had to move on or we might still be standing by this stop sign!!  Off to the playground...

Cynthia, Bobby's respite worker, got on one end of the see saw and prompted Bobby to the other...

He got on and really seemed to enjoy himself.

Finally, we were off to a walking trail...

I didn't take pictures while we were walking because the terrain was a little more challenging and I needed to watch my feet!!  Bobby must have been watching his feet too because he noticed a pile of loose dirt on the path and HAD to stop and play...

We emerged from this trail huffing and puffing.  Bobby saw the car in the parking lot and made a beeline to get in.  Thank you buddy!!!

Bobby doesn't have summer school on Friday, so even though it was HOT, we headed off to walk at Prickett's Fort.  Did I mention it was hot???

We finally figured out where the walking trail was located and we headed off.

 It was nice to come across a bridge...finally a little bit of a breeze.

Trying his hardest to see over the top...

We finally made it to a point where Bobby could see...

Such a nice view while you are walking...

Bobby kept walking and walking and walking.  I kept trying to get him to turn around, after all, we had to walk back.  But he kept on going...

He kept wiping his hands across the back of his hair and then looked at them (and smelled them too).  Me:  "That's sweat Bobby!!"

We stopped on the bridge on the way back for a little more of the slight breeze that was blowing.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure that I mentioned that it was HOT!!  I stopped by the car and took a couple of pictures before we headed home...

Thank God for air conditioned cars and water bottles...we sure needed them when we were finished!!!

Saturday finally arrived!!  A day that I had been looking forward to for a few weeks...Sonny's 9th Birthday pool party at the indoor pool at Lakeview.  I love autism birthday parties because 1) there is no stress put on the kids to follow social norms and 2) I get to spend time with my fellow autism moms.  A win-win for all!!  I knew that Bobby would love getting in the big pool since he likes playing in the deep waters of Krepps Pool.  However, Mr. Bobby had other plans and going into the room where the pool was located and getting into the pool were NOT in his plans.  Yeah, it didn't go very well.  So, we took him home.  Oh well, we can't win them all.

Because of Daddy, Saturday was not a complete washout.  I had been telling Bob how much that Bobby likes that platform swing at his occupational therapy appointments at Playworks, so Bob got to work and built him one of his own.

When it was ready we brought Bobby outside.  He immediately walked down to his swing set and got on...

A happy boy...

Finally, on Sunday Bob and I did something we have never done before.  We went to my family reunion and left Bobby at home!  We knew that Bobby would be happier at home with Cynthia where he could swim in his pool and play in his yard.  I also knew that Bob and I would be happier where we could actually sit down.  We actually got to sit down and eat without jumping up and down chasing after Bobby.  Bob and I never once went out into the playground area and we didn't hang out by the creek like we have been for the past 9 reunions.  We participated in the family reunion games. We talked with other adults.  IT WAS AWESOME!!!  Not that we don't love Bobby and really enjoy taking him places, but sometimes, it is just nice to have low-stress, Bobby-free afternoon.

Just relaxing with my mom!!

When we got home from the family reunion, Bob and I put on our bathing suits and spent the next couple of hours playing in the pool with Bobby.  What a great way to finish out our weekend.  

This morning it was back to school for Bobby and he couldn't wait for that school bus to pick him up....

I have a couple of new things planned for Bobby this week...just hope that the weather cooperates!!