Winter Getaway, Bobby Style

"At the beach" is Bobby's new mantra, meaning let's get the heck out of this winter soaked place and find shelter on a warm, sunny beach.  Mommy and Daddy totally get it Bobby, but we just can't go to the beach right now.  We have been feeling super bad for him and looked up a couple of different ideas for weekend getaways.  When we really thought it through, if we were going to be able to relax at all while Bobby was having fun, a hotel with an indoor pool was our best option.

When we plan any type of night away with Bobby all types of issues arise with the biggest issue being his safety.  What kind of safety items are we going to have to take with us to make sure that Bobby doesn't escape from the room?  So it made even more sense for our relaxing swimming weekend to happen in our own town so that we could go home at night and Bobby could sleep in his own bed where the safety bells and whistles are firmly in place.  Yes, our autism friendly getaway happened in a hotel close to home.

We knew that Bobby was going to love the swimming aspect, but never dreamed how much he would love the hotel room.  He ran around the room laughing and squealing before he stripped off his clothes and got into one of the beds and snuggled up in the covers.  Daddy and I were stunned!!

 Score, he got to watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune from his hotel bed!!!

Then Bobby decided to call for some "entertainment."

When Mommy and Daddy said no to his entertainment, he had no choice but to use the internet!! Ah, Elmo, that's more like it....you really know what I like!!!

He swam for a little while on Friday evening but most of our time was spent just enjoying the room. We went home and slept and went back over first thing Saturday morning.  He swam all day Saturday!!!!

 His favorite spot in the pool was in front of a light that was in the 3 foot water.  He spent a great deal of time parked out in front of this light, it makes it look like he was swimming in the dark in the pictures.

 He would get out of the water, run to the deep end, jump in, bob up and down for a little while, swim to the light and park himself there for a while longer.  Mommy and Daddy got to hang out in the lounge chairs!!!  Perfect!!!

 Dead man float!!

What does an autism family do when they have access to a local indoor pool????  Obviously you call your other autism family friends and invite them over for some swimming.  After this long, hard winter we all need some swimming fun.  Sonny and Joey came over and we all went to Burger King for some lunch and we let them play in the play area before we came back for some swimming.

 Joey hanging out in a lounge chair for a couple of minutes.....

 Sonny was hanging out in the hot tub and decided to use the foam to make a Santa beard!!

 Hot tub fun....

 Look, the brothers are getting along!!

Next on our swimming playdate agenda, Miss Natalie......

 Look at that smile on her face!!!

The kids all had fun, the adults got to hang out in the lounge chairs with free wifi.  I didn't have to cook any meals.  A good time was had by all!!!

Now it's time to get back to our normal winter routine.....watching it snow and guessing how many inches of the white stuff we are going to get in this new snowstorm.  I'm hoping for just a dusting and praying it is not a foot!!!

Watch Out Nags Head, Here Comes Bobby

We haven't gone on a real vacation since before Bobby was born.  We have taken him on a couple of overnight trips when he was small enough to be confined to a stroller and unable to work a child lock on a door.  However this year Bob and I decided that we needed a real vacation.  It's been way too long!

I went online and started looking for somewhere for Bob and I to go that was semi-close and semi-affordable.  I just can't imagine being too far from Bobby yet so that I can get home to him in an emergency situation.  I ended up ordering the tourism books from all of our neighboring states.  Bob and I had pretty much figured out our vacation in our head.  However, every time I looked through the travel books I kept hearing myself say, "Bobby would love this."

One day while Bob was at work, I started looking through the North Carolina book and ended up searching rental homes, which was not our intended vacation destination, in the Outer Banks, since it isn't as crowded as other beaches like Myrtle, Ocean City, Virginia Beach.  I looked for small homes, since I really don't want to be keeping an eye on Bobby in a huge, multi-bedroom home.  Then I looked at the cost and it hit me, he would be so much easier to manage for this type of vacation during the off-season.  I found a house that I liked with a pool, we have to have a pool, and that is 350 feet from the beach.  I showed it to Bob when he got home.  He liked the idea of taking Bobby too.  We picked a time after school starts back up and the beaches are much less crowded.

We rented the house and we are going on a family vacation.....now the real stress starts!!!  OMG, we are actually going to take Bobby to the beach for a week.   This is either going to be the best or worst week ever!!  Please take a minute to pray that this week is the best week ever.  Thank you.

This is a picture of our beach access from the rental website.

Why am I sharing our future vacation plans, and so early??  Hoping to get some great tips from my autism friends that have successfully traveled with their child/ren.  

We don't foresee any problems with the drive there, he loves riding in the car and is now able to go into fast food places and eat and use the bathroom with not much problem.  I'm also not worried about what to take for him to play with since he doesn't play with much.  As long as we have his iPad and a small storage container of his favorite blocks we should be fine on this end.  I will also be preparing most of our food while there so what he will/won't eat isn't really a concern either. 

Our biggest concern.......Bobby's safety.

Since Bobby wears a Project Lifesaver bracelet, we have to tell our sheriff's department where and when we are going to see if they offer the PL service at our destination.  They will also inform their sheriff's office that Bobby is coming to town!!  I know, crazy isn't it, but this is important in our travels to make sure that all preparations are in place just in case he elopes.

I think that I have figured out a solution for all of the sliding glass doors that are in this home.  I am planning to take tension rods with me (my house will have a lot less curtains while we are on vacation) to put up at the top of the doors to keep them shut.  This way he can't reach the rod like he could if one was stuck in the bottom track.  I also plan to take these magnetic door alarms (they run about $15 for a 2-pack) to put on all of the exterior doors, which are required to be metal.  That way we will have an alarm any time a door opens so we know if Bobby opens a door.

I am also planning to take a twin mattress off of the bunk beds in one of the other rooms and put on the floor so that Bobby can sleep in our room, just like at home.  We also have a video baby monitor that we are taking with us so that we can watch him in another room.

  Hopefully we will just be spending all of our time here....

and here...

and that I'm not stuck too much in here!

Please feel free to give us any tips or advice, no matter how big or small, that will help make our first real vacation with Bobby a huge success.