Blogging for Beau: Beau's Afternoon at Adventureland

On Thursday afternoon, our little family of three headed to Altoona (here in Iowa) for a fun new experience for Beau. Adventureland is our theme park here in Iowa and it had been many, many years since Andy or I had been there. One of our downfalls with aging has been that amusement park rides aren't as much fun as they were when we were kids. Something about spinning in circles while upside down and falling from the sky just isn't the same when your in your 30's! My stomach and head don't seem to appreciate the joy the aforementioned sentence once brought me! The great thing about Adventureland though is that they have quite a bit to offer for little ones. Beau loves to people watch and he loves things that "go" so that combination seemed to be good ingredients for a fun time.

We drove to Altoona during nap time so that Beau could get some rest before his big afternoon. The Iowa heat was HOT, in the 90's with humidity equally as high - you stood still and you were sweating - but that wasn't going to affect our day! When we got there, this is what Beau looked like.....

He was resting up for his next big adventure and shortly after arrival he woke up. We went there wanting to have our 3 1/2 year old to have the same experience every other 3 1/2 year old "typical" child would have. As we entered the park, Beau immediately had his eyes wide open to all the sights and his ears open to all the sounds. He was amazed! Our first stop was the semi trucks. We weren't sure how he would react and this ride was perfect because an adult could ride along with their child. Even with as enticing as the semi's looked, he wanted his Dada to go with him - just to be safe!

It wasn't long before he realized that THIS WAS COOL! He eventually went on the trucks with mama and then finally made it to the inside of the semi truck with mama on the back.

It may seem like we spent a lot of time on the semi's (OK, so we did) but we DID finally make it to other rides. I guess this is the part where we were the parents of a 3 1/2 year old child with some disabilities and we had to be careful with the rides that Beau went on. We watched as other children his age and younger ran, jumped and talked all about the rides they wanted to get on and how much fun they'd had. We had to be careful that the ride wouldn't be one that he could stand up on and lose his balance, because he has horrible balance issues. The bumper cars, he would've loved but the head jerk from a tough impact might trigger a seizure (and maybe that's impossible but that's all I could think about). He was afraid of the rides that he had to do on his own. We went to the "infant ocean" and I placed him in a little boat all by himself. He pointed to the seat beside him and grunted, his way of letting me know to sit. As I fastened the seat belt and stepped away, a moment of panic set in for him and he signed "all done".....

The boat started to move and I was right there just waiting for him to try to stand up and I'd run to his rescue. It took about one lap around and then......

the smile crept up and he enjoyed the ride all by himself. I was so PROUD of him and how brave he was! There were a few rides he couldn't do but we gave him the best experience we could for his "abilities".

We took Beau over to another ride that involved going on it alone, but as children were being placed on the ride, I was quick to get him in his favorite - the fire truck - and in doing so I placed him next to another little boy his age, maybe slightly younger. Beau was so excited about the ride especially when he realized he would have a partner for the ride. We had felt a little bad that he was on rides alone without another kid. So many children were there with siblings or friends so we felt a little guilty. As the ride was waiting to start, I overheard the little boy next to Beau talking to him. My heart dropped as I knew Beau wouldn't be able to respond. Beau though, did what he does best; he flashed his million dollar smile and said "dadadadadada". It was a word he knew and he tried with all his might to communicate with the little boy. The boy looked at him trying to understand what he was saying and then went back to focusing on "driving" the fire truck. Yes, it made me sad. Sad for Beau because he is hindered by his lack of communication but somewhat relieved that 3 years old don't realize that he is "different" than them. My heart worries about a couple of years from now, when children DO notice the difference. I like to think that it just won't matter, especially when he flashes them that AMAZING smile.

From the amusement park to the water park portion of Adventureland, we enjoyed every moment. I would have to say my favorite moment was my time with Beau in the lazy river. He smiled, literally, the whole time. He hugged me, laughed with me, splashed with me and we made some amazing memories that day...just like any other mother and her 3 1/2 year old.