Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Wings for Autism II....



Two years ago, our family learned of a very unique airport travel 'test drive' program 

Created by Jennifer Robtoy Ryan of the Charles River Center, the program was designed to assist children (especially those with special needs such as Autism, sensory processing challenges, etc.) and their families in trialing airport travel from parking lot to plane and all steps in between. Having worked with a family whose Disney World travel plans were dismantled due to one of the children's inability to board a plane, Jennifer knew she needed to do something to help the children and their families. Wings for Autism is the culmination of her idea, with tremendous support from airport, airline, security and TSA personnel. The program, while founded in Boston, has since gone national, and is now being leveraged through major airports across the country. Wendy previously penned an article about our first experience with Wings for Autism for Bay State Parent (http://www.baystateparent.com/features/stories/Travel-Dreams--for--Autistic-Children-Realized-130778768.html) and we again participated in the November event to see how things have progressed.  While our kids love to travel/fly, we were happy to find that the Wings for Autism remains incredibly supportive and the personnel involved (JetBlue/United,  TSA, Logan Airport, Charles River Center) are so thoughtful that families should check with their local airport to see if a Wings for Autism event is scheduled. 
If not, contact Jennifer and she can help! :) 
Upon arriving at ticketing, families are met by a ticketing agent to help them get their tickets...
Once ticketed, families proceed through TSA security checkpoints...with support along the entire way.
TSA reviews all identification, asks questions, and prepares family members for the security checkpoint (bags on conveyor, shoes off, etc.
Members from the JetBlue team are available to answer questions and welcome families.

Once your gate is called...get ready to board! :) 
We board the plane and find a good seat.
Tony helps Abby with the seat belt...
While the boys figure out how to use the TV system located in the back of every seat on JetBlue. We prepare for snack (delivered graciously by JetBlue), visit the cockpit, and sit back and hang on the plane figuring out all the cool new gizmos and gadgets that are now on board since our last trip. JetBlue also delivered a BRAND NEW plane (never been flown commercially) for this event. It was so clean and beautiful...you could eat off the floor! :) 
Our globe trotters...ready for their next adventure/trip...but what they don't know is that it is already booked...and they are going to LOVE it! :)

WORLD SERIES VICTORY, All Hallow's Eve, and the Tooth Fairy...




It's official. The Boston Red Sox WON the pennant! World Series Victory 2013! Yippeeee! October really was an incredibly month of joys for our family. The Red Sox played well, the kids are healthy (but losing a lot of teeth...), everyone is doing well in school, and Tony was named (again) to the prestigious list of Boston Super Lawyers (At the same time, his firm ranked in the top tier by U.S. News & World Report in 12 categories including 3 of his specialties). Alas, we spend all the free time we can enjoying ourselves as a family. Hijinx are never too far away for us--and we even occasionally drag friends and family into the mix. 


Aramis himself could be a jack-o-lantern...having lost three top front teeth in one month! Can you say, "All he wants for Christmas is his 3 front teeth...his 3 front teeth...his 3 front teeth!"


Abby's bestie Colleen selects her pumpkin....


Abby prefers one that is a little bigger...
These crisp fall days are also perfect for hiking. As newly minted Mass Audubon members, we now have access to even more properties for exploring, but we use several trails close to home to keep ourselves fit, while enjoying and exploring the community. After school one day, we headed off to Goldsmith, a cool trail by a marsh/pond and on the trail, we came across some interesting art.


No...not those 3 cute kids...the ART below....some of it is cool...and the other...kinda creepy! :)

"We're not lost...we're taking the scenic route..."
October - All Hallow's Eve - And we're ready! 

 For the men this year, pumpkin carving started to elevate as an art form. NO one wants to put their hands inside the pumpkin to clean out the seeds (except mom and dad) which makes carving not as much fun! Where's the 'get your hands dirty' thought process? Anyway, after doing some cleaning and carving, our pumpkins were ready and Halloween commenced. With a fully stocked costume rack however, our kids changed costumes at least 3 times...from vampires to Spiderman, Pink Power ranger, Batman..etc. We gave up on taking costume shots because they didn't stay in one costume long enough and after multiple parties and trick or treating, we were just happy to put Halloween on the back burner and raise our eyes towards the big holidays.  For those that are wondering, YES, we have already started to pull out our Christmas decorations. If stores can shove Christmas in our faces...then we fell great about decking our halls. Besides, Music Choice is already dishing up Christmas tunes, so....if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! :)



Having started reading the Harry Potter series as part of our summer reading, the boys wanted to dedicate at least one pumpkin to their favorite wizard, Harry. :) 



Look at these two cuties! 


It's all party, party, party with these kids...At what point does the work part start? 
Happy Halloween 2013!


 Thank you Boston Red Sox for winning the World Series! We're proud and happy fans!

The teeth are just flying out of our kids' mouths these days. What seemed to take forever to start has finally caught up as our little guys are losing their teeth---multiples in a single week! Aramis is now sporting a no-front teeth smile--as if they've been knocked out by a boxer...and Alec has lost some bottoms as well! The Tooth Fairy has been extremely busy of late, and she must be going broke at this point since she's delivering upwards of $2/tooth and these boys are filling their banks with lots of dollar bills. Someone is getting rich here...


Apples and Pumpkins and Airports...oh my!!


The kids get a fond welcome from John, one of the Orchard hands...
New England is well known this time of year not only for the absolute brilliance of color courtesy of the changing leaves, but for delicious apples and tons of fun activities such as harvest, chowder, seafood and oyster festivals. There's so much to do that visitors can barely pack in all the fun. This year marks the first 'field trips' with school for our family, which was both exciting and a little nerve racking. But, to calm nerves, we simply volunteer to chaperone and can go along for the ride--as was the case in Abby's class trip to Russell Orchards. She, fortunately, is popular among her friends, but is equally enamored with all of them as they are a pretty cool (and cute) group of gals...

The class is mesmerized by the cider-making demonstration...

Our family too overtook several orchards this Fall...as we needed lots of apples for apple pie recipe experimentation. Actually, Wendy is trying to unlock the PERFECT pie crust recipe, so many, many pies have been made and devoured. As of this post, she is still trying to find the perfect blend of ingredients, but hopefully, it'll all be worth the effort in the end.



Daddy and Alec try the season's first applies...yum!

No one wants to take pictures, it seems, especially when you have to look at the camera. :( They'll be sad when they get older when they see how lazy they were as kids. ;) 






Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins!! :) 
Tony selects his personal pumpkin to carve. :) 





Alec found this unique pumpkin and thought it was a perfect pumpkin for Halloween. We agree! 
One of the final Summer Bucket List items was 'Eat breakfast at the airport.'  Some may find that kind of lame, but here's the cool catch--we live super close to a small airport (private planes/helicopters and some commercial/military) that houses a super-cool diner within that allows you to watch planes take off and land while you eat! So, the kids got to visit Joe's Landing cafe' and finish up the bucket list for the season. We're already working on the holiday/Winter Bucket List--our third year, now.

Looking out of the windows from our table to see all the planes!
Planes on the tarmac...waiting for their pilots. 

The boys practicing their 'plane' moves in front of the air control tower. Thinking it may have given those guys a little laugh during the weekend... ;)