Happy 300th. The post about my accident was my 300th post. YAY. Too bad it wasn't a happier post. Anyway, I've got stories to tell of our "vacation" in Vancouver. LOLSOB.
Two nights before we were to leave, MrFCS went downstairs with an insomniac Pop at about 11:30 and started screaming for me to come down. Unusual... okay, so I run down there and the dishwasher has leaked about 10 litres of water onto the floor. So we cleaned that up and in the morning I called Eric The Dishwasher Guy. He came the next day, i.e. the day we were leaving, and took one look at it and said, "You need a new one". Shmeesh. He also stood in my kitchen and chatted with me for about 1.5 hours of my precious getting ready time. Thankfully, I'd called over someone to look after the kids for me in the morning while I got us ready.
I got all of our stuff ready and MrFCS came home a bit early so he could help and I could run out for a few errands - I needed boots, I'd found some, and dammit, I wasn't waiting. So I popped out and bought them. The lady there told me her son has autism too, and when she heard that I had three with autism, she came out from behind the counter and hugged me. :) So now I'm extra glad I bought them from her.
The ferry ride was uneventful, I guess. It was then that I realized I'd forgotten my camera and Snap realized she'd forgotten her meds. Crackle likes to ride the elevators and run the stairs. He's been a bit, um, more out of control than usual - shrieky and giggly and hyper - so that's never fun. Pop was scared and wanted to stay in the van and watch Thomas on the laptop.
We hit Vancouver at 4:40 on Tuesday. What works best for me and the mister is that I drive in traffic and he navigates. I do not read maps well and I find navigation stressful. He doesn't like driving in traffic. So that works nicely. We got us all to the Westin Bayshore, which is a beautiful hotel, and also where Showcase's show Endgame was filmed. (I loved that show, and Showcase can rot for not renewing it). The view was of Coal Harbour Yacht Club if that gives you any indication just how swanky the place is!
After we got some food into us, we took the boys down to the pool for an hour or so and left Snap to her computer. Oh my various gods, the kids love the water. Crackle laughs and squeals and holds on for dear life. It's like it's a roller coaster for him. Exciting and scary but terribly fun. Pop kicks and splashes and laughs. It's adorable. Then Crackle figured out there's a hottub and then the fun really started. Do you know what he loves more than anything? Going back and forth between the hot tub and the cool pool. GAH. He loves the shock of the temperature difference. I, on the other hand, hate it. Hate.
Also hate? Insomnia in children. In a shared room. I think we got about 4 hours of sleep. Then MrFCS went off to ApacheCon and I got the kids for the day. First thing we did was go shopping, because in addition to forgetting her pills, Ms Snap forgot her bathing suit. Apparently it is impossible to buy a cheap bathing suit in November (we could have got one at a specialty store. For $100. Dream the fuck on.) So I got her some cheap yoga gear and she wore that in the pool. While shopping, we took the boys to a toy store, and also we went and picked up a bunch more food for supper - we can't eat at restaurants with all of our allergies. Cannot be done. Anyway, more microwaved supper and then a nice walk down to Canada Place. Pop fell asleep in the stroller, insuring that he'd be up until at least 12:30. Fun. At least Crackle slept - thanks to GABA and melatonin.
Next morning. Shopping again. Because it kills time and wears out the boys. At the end of this was the infamous fender bender. Yay. Spent the afternoon spending $1.49 per call to phone ICBC and BCAA from the hotel room. Spent the evening in the pool. Another night of not much sleep. Gah.
Friday. Going home day. We had to check out by noon, but MrFCS's conference wasn't over until 5. So at exactly noon, we called a porter and loaded up our crap into the van and headed over to the Vancouver Aquarium to meet Katie, a Behaviour Interventionist who'd worked with the boys until about a month and a half ago when she moved to Vancouver. HOLY SHITSNACKS. The aquarium was a zoo. We waited 1/2 an hour to get in, and Crackle snitched a gluteny snack out of some other kid's hand while we were in line. Yay. :( So I ran back to the van for the charcoal pills. I think I managed to get them into him on time, because he doesn't seem to be glutened. Thank GOD. And wow. The boys absolutely loved every second at the aquarium. Crackle squealed with glee at the dolphins, and watched one of the tanks intently as the kelp waved in the water. He ran around in his glory. Pop? Same deal. He adored everything. Of course, crowds exhaust him, so he wore out quickly, had a quick nurse and fell asleep for an hour in the stroller. Even Snap had a good time. She liked the belugas best, I think.
Now, Friday was a crazy weather day. The first winter storm hit us while we were still in the park. Katie had to go, so we went too. I texted MrFCS and told him we'd just go find a place to park, eat snacks and watch the storm. He said screw it, he'd cut out early. And thank god he did. We drove to the ferry and JUST made the last one. We had to wait for hours because of wind delays and cancellations. But we got on the last one. And whooooooweeee! It was a bit of a bumpy ride. We certainly couldn't let Crackle run stairs in that.
So we got home at 10. The lady who looks after the dog brought him home for us. She'd also cleaned my house top to bottom while we were gone. I mean, she scrubbed the baseboards. She washed floors. She cleaned out my closet. HA. She warned me she was going to clean, but OMG. What a nice treat to come home to. I got a load of peed laundry into the wash and then crashed. Or that is, lay in bed with Pop while he watched TV and I slept.
Saturday, I went for a Healing Touch treatment. I am spoiled to have a good practitioner. It was so refreshing, I've basically recovered from my holiday. And she took the pain out of my ankle for a while. NICE indeed.
So, quite the roller coaster!
