Making Friends

Yesterday, we visited some home-educating friends for the first time at their house. Their home is big and beautiful, and they don't have a garden; they have grounds! Lady paired up with E, and they spent the day exploring, walking in the rain, riding bikes, practising high jumps, learning magic tricks, inventing spells, catching a frog (they released the creature again right away) and talking, talking, talking!

Thomas spent his time with J, and they walked round with their heads bent, and their brows furrowed and discussed stuff. Thomas had taken his Harry Potter robe/Doctor Who coat and his sonic screwdriver (well, what kind of Time Lord travels without one).

Duncan found a selection of Thomas the Tank Ladybird books. They were tightly packed in a large book case with only the spines on view so it was obvious they were there, right! He also managed to find a few chocolate sweets in a high corner cupboard in the kitchen, that S didn't even remember they had. But you know how some shark species can taste one molecule of blood in a million molecules of water, it appears that Duncan has instead, some enhanced sugar detection system.
He liked their rocking horse, and J's toy monkeys and Warhammer figures. He spent most of his time siting in the middle of J's toy castle, looking at Thomas books and eating crisps.

We had a really nice time. Unfortunately Duncan did manage to break a model of a barge E had made and a guitar string and...well something else no doubt :-(
The only way to ensure he doesn't cause any damage, however inadvertently, is for me to stay right with him all the time. And I was having a nice chat myself and many cups of tea.

When we went home, E asked Lady to stay for another while, and S agreed to drop her off home later. I think it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

Duncan is 7!

It's Duncan's 7th birthday, though he insists he is still 6. He's had a nice day. His Granda came around yesterday with a present; a Brio train set, with a level crossing! He set it up immediately and played with cars crossing the tracks.

Late in the afternoon, the whole family took him to his favourite toy shop so he could choose his gift. He picked a fancy station for his 'noisy trains'. He and Thomas played with it for hours when they got home.

When I'd asked him last week what he wanted for his birthday present, he said,'Percy runs away, Ladybird book. Henry stuck in the tunnel, Ladybird book.' So I ordered them from Amazon and hid them in my room. I gave them to him this morning, still in the brown padded envelope, which I know is much more exciting to him than wrapping paper. He was delighted with his books and I had to read the oh so familiar story of Percy the cheeky engine, right away.

It was warm and sunny today, and the paddling pool was out. The children from next door came round, and Gordon's mum joined us in the afternoon. I'd made a chocolate cake, and decorated it with an icing train track, then stuck his toy Percy on top, and jutting into a pile of the chocolate icing. This was to recreate the scene in 'Percy Runs Away' when Percy runs into a bank of earth. Duncan thought this was marvellous. We all sang happy birthday, he sang loudest of all, but covered his ears all the same!

Gordon wanted to take his photo, and Duncan negotiated with him, agreeing to pose only if he could also hold his new Ladybird book. So the first few photos were of the book covering his face, then he lowered it for, what I'm sure you'll agree, is a very lovely birthday photo!

He's my gorgeous boy, and I love him so much.

These days, Duncan is mostly singing;

Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do, when they come for you...

He's a tramp, but I love him, breaks a new heart every day...

Accidents happen, now and again, ba, ba to the end...

A cake-y cake-y a fav-ot shoe (oh yeah!)...
(It's the advertisement jingle for pretty but pricey, Lelli Kelly shoes for girls).

We stand, shoulder to shoulder...

Life must be good, when there's a song for every occasion.

Many children came

I watched a documentary on Monday called 'and many children came' about the local Camphill Community. The film's director wrote about the programme in the Belfast Telegraph; 'Ulster community which truly loves its neighbour'. He says;

... it was by accident that I discovered the Camphill Community at Glencraig and found out that nearly 200 people live there on about 100 acres. They have a school and a farm, grow vegetables organically and are more than 60% self sufficient. Glencraig had been set up in 1954 as a place where children with special needs could be educated and looked after. Today, it is a community that has grown to include all ages.

I live fairly close to Glencraig, and I knew it contained a school where most of the children were autistic. So 2 years ago, I went to look around the place on its open day. I had not realised that the children live at the school. Obviously, that alone meant there was no way Duncan would be going there. But the ethos of the place did not appeal either. It was all very nice, the staff seemed kind, the farm was well tended and impressive, the building's colours were muted and calm and there were wax pictures and candles and handwoven rugs in abundance. There were teachers who also had roles as house parents, as the children and adult residents lived on-site in homes of about 15 people, together with the co-workers; mostly students on a gap-year after leaving school. But where were the computers, the augmentative communication devices? How free were the residents to come and go as they pleased? Were they really helping each person develop to the best they could be? How did the children cope without their parents? The article continues;

I later discovered that Glencraig is a place where some very precious words are never preached, but practised every day: 'Love thy neighbour as thyself'. And it was only later that I got the opportunity to make a film about Glencraig, a film that might also prompt us to look at the way we live our lives.

There is no doubt it is a nice place and the people choosing to work there want to help others and create a peaceful environment. Several of the staff spoke of how they were a community, how they learned as much from the residents as they taught them. I may be overly cynical, but was it more than platitudes? I wonder if there is still bullying, if some residents are miserable. Is any place free from such problems? Do the staff have any concept of the advocacy movements by people with Down Syndrome and autism? Are they interested? They said that everyone has a say, but can the residents make decisions about anything more important than what to have for dinner? One of the staff describes how they assign tasks so everyone has a role to play;

"If someone is autistic and can only push a wheelbarrow that's OK," said Paul. "We need someone to push a wheelbarrow. Someone else can pick the peas. Someone else can pack and process them."

While watching the film, they showed a young blind woman. A co-worker told talked about this woman's role in the laundry, where she does no work, but brings cheer and light to the room. The same woman was shown playing music (a lute, I think) beautifully, with deep concentration and skill. I wondered, (accepting that I don't know anything about her beyond the short amount shown), how in a place that values the work of each person, they couldn't find a more active role for this woman. The article finishes;

Another truth was that in a world that has mostly lost its relationship with the earth there was a huge respect for it and for the rhythms of the day and of the year. The seasons were very important at Glencraig and the life of the community revolved round them and were cherished and celebrated. And then there was the truth of the light. The candle. A simple symbol that the founder of Camphill, Dr Karl Konig, loved. It was hard not to notice the candles at Glencraig, especially at festival times, gentle and tender and bright and everywhere. "We do not label people," said John. "Labelling people diminishes us. Everyone is equal here. Everyone is special. There is a light inside every human being."

I wondered if all the residents enjoy all the ceremonies, the candles and singing and joining of hands on the lawn. Were all the autistic residents really happy with that? I also disagree with the idea that a label diminishes anyone. Autism, is not an add-on, but an integral part of a person. Duncan's autism is a part of him and how he perceives and interacts with the world. To ignore his autism would not help him. I'm not at all sure that I'm being fair here. I hope that everyone at Glencraig is truly happy, fulfilled and cherished. It is a lot better than many of the alternatives, and without it, the residents might well be much worse off. But it did come across to me as a nice, Steiner-y prison.

The Joys of June

It's been a while since I last posted. I've been busy, and did much reading and thinking over the weekend.

However, life has gone on and there are several things I want to make note of before I forget them. Like, our trip to the playground last Thursday, when we met up with a gang of other home-educating families, with some old friends and some new ones. It was wet and often cold, but the children still had fun. Lady has at last mastered the art of swinging, and she played most of the time with another 8 year old girl whom she really likes. Thomas paired up with his best buddy, and I rarely spoke to him for the few hours we were there. He was much too busy playing! Duncan enjoyed it too, although he did keep running to the exit at first, saying he wanted to go to McDonald's (we'd passed one on the way there). Eventually he got into the swing of it too, climbing and sliding and having a grand old time. He was on great form, and although I stayed close and kept a careful watch on him, I rarely had to intervene. He did catch me out somewhat when he slid down the slide, ran to the grass verge, and stood to pee. But it was a heck of a lot more socially acceptable than doing it while up the climbing frame! Also, once he approached a man who was holding his daughter's toy Woody (from Toy Story) and was reaching out to touch the toy. I told him it was the little girl's toy, and he left it at that. I explained to the man that Duncan is autistic; he smiled and was perfectly nice. Our friends came to the house after and the children continued to play while we had tea and a chat and warmed up again!

In the evening I was reading to Thomas, a story about a dog taking another dog's bone. I asked him what it's called when someone takes what isn't theirs, he said 'it's called, rude!' Fair enough!

Duncan has continued to draw loads. I took photos of all his most recent art works. I like to see the progression in his ability. I've put them on Flickr here (they're public).

Lady has been marvellous lately. I am so proud of that girl. It's so nice to have an 8 year old daughter about the house, especially when she can make a fine cup of tea! Earlier she showed me a marvellous Superman story she's written. As she was leaving, I asked her for a hug and told her how much I love her and that she is a bright light in my life. She said, 'Thanks! But so is Duncan and so is Thomas!' She always wants to have them included too. So much for the 'poor damaged sibling of the disabled child' theory.

On Friday night, Gordon's Mum babysat again. She is such a star! We went to a dinner dance, (or ball, if you're feeling posh.) I got the tickets from a woman who goes to salsa class with me, and proceeds from the evening were going to the charity that pays for Gordon's research. We had such a good night out. The food was terrible and the wine was rough, but that was not why we were there. (And also, we are both far too fussy these days! I've been spoiled by Gordon's good cooking.) But there was a live, 2-man band, playing fun, wedding-type music, and we chatted and danced, and I even did a little bit of salsa. Though, I now realise that strappy sandals are not best suited for this.

Duncan was enjoying the Pixar site today, especially the short film Knick Knack. He's been singing the Bobby McFerrin music from that film for the past few days, and we've all joined in.
He sings, 'do-be-de do-be do-be do-be-de,' and we go 'wa-wa, wa-wa wa wa-wa-wa-wa.' I'm sure you get it!

You Make Me Think

There's this meme doing the rounds, called The Thinking Blogger award. Mike Stanton was kind enough to tag this blog. It's quite an honour when you're linked to by a great writer and a thoughtful man like Mike.

The official rules for participation in the Thinking Blogger Awards meme are as follows:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

When I started blogging at the start of January 2006, I was simply intending to have a kind of online diary, that only a few friends and family would ever choose to read. The emphasis, I felt, would be on home-education. It transpired that I probably focus more on autism. I do mostly just record what we've been up to, but every so often, I get on my soap box and give out about the state of the world. My blog stats show that I'm certainly no big player, but a heck of a lot more people read this stuff than I ever expected.

In my favourite blogs, I would read something that inspired and affected me, challenging my assumptions and giving me better insight into the issues of autism, disability and home-education. It's hard to limit the selection to only 5, but made slightly easier if I do not tag those blogs I know have already been chosen for this award. As for these others, there's a chance they will have been tagged without my knowledge, but in that case they should revel in the admiration! So to get on with it, I choose;

Zilari, at Processing in Parts, even though she has decided to stop writing in this particular blog, and the Autistic Bitch From Hell (to give her her full title), at Whose Planet is it Anyway?
These women opened my eyes to the sh!t autistic people have to deal with, explain the rampant disablism, describe what can be done to improve things and every post produced by each is an absolute must read. Honestly, read them, AND the archives!

If Kathleen, from the Neurodiversity Weblog, has not already been chosen, I'm likely to be the next leader of the NI Assembly. But sure, I'll put her down anyway.
This woman is a ruby. She is clever, dogged, unfailingly polite, thorough, fair, compassionate, dedicated and whatever the highest award available to bloggers is, she should get one. She writes about autistic advocacy and anti-scientific theories of autism causation and 'treatment'.

My favorite home-education themed blog at the minute is by Dani and Allie, and is called Green House by the Sea. As well as writing lovingly about their really cool children and their path of autonomous learning, their contemplations on education and parenting are always thought provoking.

And Finally, I give you, Diary of a Goldfish, whom I've only been reading for a short time, since she arranged the terrific Blogging Against Disablism Day. But how can I put this scientifically...she rocks!

So there you go, 5 blogs, they make me think, and they're all written by women!

A few journeys

The travellers returned on Sunday morning. They'd had a fabulous time, meeting/catching up with family and enjoying all sorts of outings and activities in Toronto. They'd stayed at a guest house called The Toronto Town House which was perfect in every way and in a great location. Gordon's Mum was in raptures regarding the whole experience. I'm so happy they did it. As well as really enjoying a wonderful city, the week served to strengthen so many strands of family relationships.

The boys and I got on fine at home. We took a trip with my Dad, to visit my 2 brothers in counties Sligo and Leitrim. That kept us all busy for a day, and as always, it was great to see the brothers (or "brudders" as my nieces say!) and all the women folk.

The gymnastics class on Friday didn't work out for Duncan this time. He tried to copy the children for a while (he was singing 'Following the Leader' from Peter Pan). Then he started to try to interact with a few of the children while they were lined up copying the teacher. Basically he kept getting in the way of the children, and going the wrong way round the circuit etc. I told the teacher I wouldn't be taking him back. She said they hope to have a woman, who is more used to teaching gymnastics to disabled children, to work one-to-one with him sometime soon. If that happens he can try again, but for now, Thomas will go alone.

I did however, have a call a few weeks ago, from the school nurse at Duncan's old school. She was asking if I wanted to arrange a health check for him, which I declined since he's been to the paediatrician recently. I did ask her if she knew about any social groups for disabled children, particularly any that also involve siblings. She rang me back last week to tell me about a youth club and an art class that they all could attend. I will have to check these out.

What is so great about ABA?

I've read in a few places lately about early autism diagnosis and the (debatable) importance of early intervention. There was an interesting discussion on the Autism Parents Forum here. Then there have been some thoughtful blog posts by various people including the always astute Abfh and one by Joey's Mom.

As well as that, I've been reading more and more in the Irish media and on Irish blogs, about the campaigning by an Irish ABA lobby group called Irish Autism Action (IAA) and the recent court action by the parents of a 6 yo autistic child, who wanted to force the state to pay for 30 hours/week of ABA therapy. They lost the case but the state has just been ordered to pay them €61,000 in costs, to cover the delay they faced in gaining a diagnosis, and because the boy was denied any services until he had a firm diagnosis. The story is reported in the Irish Independent. In the same paper, is an article about a grubby little ad by the aforementioned IAA, which was banned by the broadcasting agency.

The Irish general election next week, has seen all sorts of people, journalists and politicians in particular, talking about autism. The only game in town, as far as they seem to be concerned, is ABA for the children. Alternative educational methods are ignored, as are the needs of older autistics.

For us, as far as early detection and intervention are concerned, I suspected Duncan was autistic when he was about 18 months old. I looked up 'autism' in a paediatrics book, and it didn't describe Duncan at all, since the symptoms listed were things like 'total disregard of other people...highly resistant to being held by care-giver...'

When he was 2, I thought about autism again and this time I turned to the Internet. I came across CHAT and after a few short minutes, I knew for certain that he was autistic. Over the next few months, what I read convinced me that I had to go into action, get him loads of ABA and hound the education board to pay for it. Then after hours of therapy a week, when he was 4 and going to school, he be in a mainstream school. I did not want a child of mine going to one of those special schools. I got over that.

After a while I investigated ABA further, and attended a talk by a provider in London (LEAP). I was not impressed. I knew that ABA, at least how that organisation were offering it, was not for Duncan. For one thing, it was prohibitively expensive, and the likelihood of getting the education board to fund it was very low. But mainly, I knew that the way the programme was explained to me, it would have made Duncan very miserable. Also, the more I heard them focus on the Lovaas claim that the children could be made 'indistinguishable form their peers', the less I trusted them. They kept harping on about a study published in 1987. Was that really the best 'evidence of effectiveness' they could offer?

Instead I discovered an nursery for children with autism and related conditions, which Duncan attended for 4 mornings a week for over a year. They used aspects of TEACCH, the Hanen approach to promote communication, and some PECs . One of the 2 main teachers was an excellent speech therapist and she helped Duncan tremendously. The focus there was on learning and play, but mainly on helping the children to communicate.

The NAS EarlyBird parental training programme also helped me gain knowledge of how to help Duncan. And now he's learning at home full time, he's speaking perfectly well enough to let us know what he wants and needs, and to give orders now and then (as when he told me yesterday after we visited my brother and they were our car ready to go home; 'Mummy, get in the car, now!') He's learning to read, both by using the computer to find films and characters etc, and via phonics lessons with me. He's learnt how to draw beautifully (I think, though I'm biased!) on paper and using computer art programmes. Earlier he drew a Percy Engine on Microsoft Paint, not the easiest of programmes, but his choice recently. It was fantastic. I actually had some little tears of pride and surprise when I saw it, but even though I saved it, he cleared it and saved over the file.

So what I'm getting at, is there is no reason to think that it gets harder for anyone to learn as they get older. There is no 'window of opportunity' after which the child is damned. ABA is not necessary, though if it works for someone else, fine. I don't understand however why all these new-style ABA programmes that people talk about are still called ABA though. Is it just shorthand for 'eclectic mix of speech therapy, occupational therapy, play, child-led learning, with a hint of discrete trial training'?

The Zoo, Gymnastics, and Toronto.

Last Saturday, I took the boys to meet up with 2 of my brothers and their families, at the zoo. It's the first time Duncan has been in over a year; our last visit to the zoo together was very difficult. This time I planned more carefully. I made a little book showing exactly what we'd be doing, went to the shop on the way to ensure I had enough drinks and snacks, and brought some money for the inevitable ice-cream van. Duncan decided that he wanted to go in his Major buggy, which was a heck of a lot easier for me than having to carry him on my back on the hilly zoo paths. We ended up having a lovely time with friends and relations, and everyone benefited from my big bag of snacks.

There was a nice group around for dinner after the zoo visit (M&S curry; very nice) and my youngest brother stayed overnight with his girlfriend and daughter. We don't get to see them anything like often enough since we all live so far apart. My sister phoned when they were all here and was jealous to be missing out. That's the problem with living in London. Hopefully she'll move back eventually, (ah go on C!)

The Belfast Marathon took place on Monday. My SIL was running the whole damn thing, her first ever marathon! What a woman. I went out early with Lady and Thomas, hoping to see her and her sisters and cheer them on a bit. But I missed them, they'd either ran past before I arrived or when I'd left. Unfortunately, Thomas was too cold to stay for any longer. At least I recognised one of the runners. The other spectators were just standing around silently when we got there. I started clapping (to Lady's embarrassment) and thankfully a few people joined me, so I didn't feel like such a plonker. But for god's sake, those runners deserved a bit more than stony-faced observation as they stomped the windy streets of Belfast for 26.2 miles!

On Friday, the boys had their 2nd gymnastics lesson. It's a class for 5 year olds, and I had agreed with the manager that Duncan could try it out, and that I'd stay with him. Thomas loves the class. He has been wonderful too, really putting every effort into whatever they're doing, and following all instructions and requests. It shows that he didn't need to go to nursery or school for a few years to be able to line up and take turns and follow a class. His little face was shining with excitement and joy at one stage, when they were dong some stretching exercises and the teacher was asking them to pretend their fingers were spiders running along the floor in front of them. He was showing off a bit on the trampoline too, but not too much. That's my boy!

Duncan was frightened when we went there at first and sat beside me looking around. Then he started to explore and soon he was running around the whole room. He mostly ran around doing his own thing, jumping and climbing and leaping into the foam pit. But a few times, and much more so during the 2nd class, he joined the other children and copied them, especially when they were doing a little circuit of activities. The teacher has just recently moved from the region of London we used to live in, and taught a class of autistic children there, so she's very open minded and flexible about Duncan. She agrees that he's better off getting familiar with the place and equipment at first, and we encourage him to join in as much as possible, rather than try to compel him to do so.

Anyway, both boys are enjoying the class. Lady quite likes it too, since she stays with Duncan to help him and look after him (though I have my eagle eye on him at all times too, and have to do a wee bit or redirection now and then). Lady also has had permission to have a go on the trampoline when the class are finished with it!

Today, I'm busy helping Lady and Gordon prepare for their week long holiday in Toronto. Gordon's Mum is also going. This trip is our 80th birthday present to her! They will be meeting up with Gordon's cousin who lives there, and Lady is especially excited about meeting his daughter, who is exactly her age and whom she hasn't met before. We've been reading about all the various things to do and see in Toronto. It looks like a great city and they are all guaranteed to have a marvellous time. I'll miss them, but knowing they are all enjoying themselves so much, and that Lady and Gordon will have a good chance for some father-daughter time together, means I'm not going to be jealous.

Well not too much!

Fantastic at Phonics

We easing back into normal days again...well, normal for us anyway! The boys are watching 'Come Outside' on Cbeebies. They both love this show. Lady is writing a letter (long overdue) to her best friend in London, and I've just spent some time with both boys in turn, doing a little phonics practice. I'd printed out the 'disks' from this free phonics resource years ago when Lady was learning to read. Duncan has not sat down to do phonics before, but he got the hang of it right away, and just flew through the words! He did 7 pages, before I saw he was getting a bit bored. He was able to decipher all the words, though I had to listen hard as he insisted on whispering them. I was very impressed. Then I repeated the exercise with Thomas. He only did 3 pages, he was much less interested! Anyway, I'm not too worried. We will just do a few minutes each day, and avoid potential tantrums, from all 3 of us!

Lady goes to Brownies tonight and I go to salsa class. I arranged today to take Thomas to a gymnastics and trampolining class on Friday afternoon. I'm going to let Duncan try the class out too, even though it's for 5 year olds. It might be better for him to do something with younger children. The woman I spoke to sounded supportive, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

The other thing is, Duncan has decided that he now wants to go to Disneyland Paris! We went out to a nearby playground on Sunday evening, and he was convinced we were all going on the aeroplane! Oh boy, just a few weeks too late! Anyway, we were only in the park 10 minutes when a pair of men came to close and lock it up. They were so grumpy, giving the children real cross looks- Duncan in particular! Duncan was protesting, he didn't want to leave when we'd just arrived, but I wasn't aware it closed as early as 7pm! These fellas were like characters from the Beano!

Anyway, I reckon I will just have to go back to Disneyland with Duncan, leaving the other 2 with Gordon. I've already told my sister that she has to come with us ;-)

Blogging Against Disablism

Today, is Blogging Against Disablism Day, hosted by Diary of Goldfish, in which lots of people;

write about disability and rail against the discrimination that disabled people continue to face...from discrimination in education and employment, through health care, parenting, family life and relationships, as well as the interaction of disablism with other forms of prejudice.

Like most people, disability issues didn't concern me much before my own disabled son was born. I was aware of the social model versus medical model issue and of the ways language can be used, ie 'wheelchair user' versus 'wheelchair bound' (NO!) but I did still consider people with disabilities to be somehow 'other' to me. And now, I'm not disabled, my child is. But I realise more than ever, that my own situation could change at any time, if I was to become sick or have an accident, or as I age. Disability issues do or will affect most of us.

My son is autistic. It's an integral part of him, like his gender, eye colour, racial background, etc. It affects how he learns, how he experiences the world and how he interacts with others. It is no less valid a way of being than a non-autistic life. He is a wonderful boy, just as he is. I want him and his siblings, to develop and grow to adults with the desire to learn and the ambition to realise their potential. I want them to have empathy and respect for others, to have confidence and self-esteem. I want them to develop a health conscious life style, the skills to solve problems and the flexibility to deal with modern life as well as they are capable. These goals are in the educational philosophy I have written for each of my children. And although I have the same wishes for all, they will not end up doing or achieving the same things and they will have different levels of independence. That's fine too. All we, their parents can do, is raise them the best we can, in an atmosphere of love and acceptance of their differences, difficulties and strengths.

Discrimination on the grounds on disability is no more acceptable than discrimination due to race or gender. It's endemic in our society, and there are many great voices out there challenging this, working to reduce disablism. I see disablism in the language used about autism in the media, the 'devastation rhetoric', the desire you hear expressed to rid the world of autism. Autistic people have a right to exist and have a right to be treated well by society, as do all disabled people.

Thomas is 5 today!

Gordon's Jamaican cousin is over from England for the weekend with her 1 year old daughter. The baby is so gorgeous and we've all loved playing with her and making her laugh. She has such a smile, wow, it's really precious. I got lots of cuddles, especially when her mum was away briefly with Gordon. I got a good fix of baby girl deliciousness!

But the big story is, Thomas was 5 today. We had such a nice time celebrating his birthday. Dad and G. came out for a visit yesterday to give him his present, a pair of light sabres (or light savers, as he calls them!) They weren't able to come today.

So today, after breakfast, he got some more presents; 5 pots of play dough from Lady and Duncan, and a Pirates of the Caribbean dressing up outfit, and a few Doctor Who toys from us. J (Gordon's cousin) bought him a talking Tardis money box. Gordon's mum joined the gathering, as did U, the girl from next door, so we had a small but happy group for the celebration. His cake was also a Doctor Who creation. Oh we're all big fans of the Doctor here and are really enjoying our Saturday night fix. (Lady much prefers Martha to Rose, for one thing, she looks more like her ;-) but she reckons Martha is cleverer, asks more questions and screams less.)



We all headed to the beach and had a nice walk and Duncan drew sand pictures and chased dogs. It was all simple pleasures, and when I was kissing Thomas goodnight, he told me he'd had a really good day. He's such a star. I'm really crazy about that boy!

Disneyland- The Next 3 Days

So here's my memories of the last 3 days of our holiday.

Wednesday

I'd arranged to have our breakfast in the park (Good Morning Fantasyland they call it!) and the restaurant we ate in was done up to look like Gepetto's cottage; Lady and I spent the whole time trying to remember what the little black cat from Disney's Pinocchio was called. We both noted that had Duncan been there, he'd have been able to tell us!

The Park had opened to everyone by the time we'd finished breakfast, so we weren't in the mood to tackle the rush to get on a ride. As we wandered around the corner, we saw lots of the Disney characters out for their meet and greet sessions. The children had their photos taken with Snow White and her Prince. Next we meet Mary Poppins, who blew kisses on Thomas's 2 cut knees- he's fallen over when we were rushing over to breakfast. Anyone who knows us also knows we have a habit of being late...quite often. There were a few scrums (which we avoided), to meet the more popular characters.

We had decided to take a trip into Paris and were making our way to the station, when we passed Alice and the Mad Hatter, standing in prime spot, with a nice orderly queue of only 2 families. So the children waited their turn, and got to meet Alice. They were great, the Mad Hatter in particular interacted so well with them, and expressed deep regret at having missed Thomas's tea party the previous day! Thomas thought Alice was beautiful, and tells me she was his favourite person in Disneyland!

Gordon was determined to visit Paris at some time while we were there. Lady also was very keen to see the Eiffel Tower. The train station is right at the Park entrance, so we bought our tickets and boarded the Paris bound train. We weren't too sure where to alight, and I asked a woman sitting near us, who was part of a group of Yorkshire people, if I could borrow her tourist map. She was kind enough to let me keep it, so we were able to figure our route. We got out at Charles de Gaulle — Étoile. Lady was surprised to come up the metro steps to see the Arc de Triomphe right there. We walked towards the Eiffel Tower, stopping at a pharmacy for some anti-histamines (my face had broken out in a painful rash after using a new bottle of sun screen that morning) and more pleasantly, we stopped at a Boulongerie for a few wonderful cakes. We all enjoyed a picnic with a view of the tower, though to be honest, Thomas was more impressed with the steep stone ramps alongside the steps, which he kept sliding on.

After crossing the river, we joined the queue to buy our tickets to ascend the tower. And phew, that was quite a queue. The children did great, though Thomas was a bit too cold at times and I was carrying him now and again. He amused himself by clambering on the railings, and playing 'Fingerman' with Gordon (in which Gordon's index finger becomes, 'Fingerman' who tickles a small boy and plays various tricks, to the delight and entertain said boy.)

At last we got onto the tower and went straight to the 2nd floor, which felt high enough to me with my jelly legs. We ate some horrible croque monsieur at the cafe (avoid!) then joined another queue to continue our trip to the top of the tower. Well, going up in that lift was a scary experience. It felt like we were moving for such a long time. Eventually we got out, and felt very proud of ourselves, well me and Gordon did; the children felt it was no big deal to go so high! After taking a load of photos, we joined the 1st of 2 more queues to get back to ground level!

I was knackered after all that standing about, so we walked back across the river and took a table outside a cafe. Now, we've been in Paris once before and we were skint. We weren't able to afford to eat at one of these places, yet here were these 2 young children settling down to hot chocolate and lemonade like they were royalty! Gordon ordered a cake with his coffee, which we shared. We agreed it was probably the best tasting cake either of us had ever eaten.

It was getting on, so we went back to Disneyland, and braved going straight back to the park. It was just half an hour before closing time, but in that time we manged to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience (a great 3d show) and to go on the Star Tours simulator and the carousal! There was zero queueing, thankfully since we'd all had our fill of lining up for the day.

Dinner was at Planet Hollywood, bringing back memories of student days in London when going there was a big treat. We all had a lovely meal.

Thursday

It was yet another beautiful day, and when walking to the parks, we noticed that the Panoramagique tethered hot-air balloon was taking on passengers, so we hopped on for a wonderful ride 100m into the air. Next, we'd decided to spend a bit of time at the Studios Park, and started off with the Tram Tour, which I'd known nothing about, and which was a very pleasant surprise! Over the next few hours we went to the CinéMagique show (absolutely don't miss this, it's excellent!) and the fantastic stunt show and the children were able to meet loads more characters, including Mrs Incredible (another of Duncan's favourites) and the main man, I mean mouse, Mickey himself! Amazingly, there was no-one else anywhere near him, so the children chatted and played with him for ages!

In the afternoon we went back to the Park, and over the course of the afternoon we manged to ride on Autopia (little cars, Thomas loved being in control of his car), watch the brilliant Tarzan show (with a very buff Tarzan, iykwim!) and ride on Big Thunder Mountain (Oh Duncan, you'd have loved it darling!), Space Mountain (making use of baby swap), the Mad Hatter's Cups and the Pirates, Buzz and Small World rides (again). Oh, I forgot to mention, the park was open until 10 o'clock. We had eaten at the Blue Lagoon, billed as Caribbean cuisine and with a nice sounding menu. This however was very poor quality and hugely overpriced for the 2nd rate canteen food we were served. It was a nice location though, and apart from the food, we had a nice time!

Friday

So at last, our last day arrives. We packed our bags and handed them into the hotel luggage store before heading off for a few more hours of fun. I cannot believe how much we have managed to see and do. We were all missing Duncan, but were happy to know that he was having a great time with my Dad. When I phoned, I only heard about how well he was getting on and how easy he was to look after!

There were a few items on the park maps which we still wanted to tick off, 1st being the Animagique show at the Studios Park. This was, like all the other live shows we'd seen, wonderful, really top quality stuff. Thomas keeps singing the little song 'Laa, laa, la la la la, animagique, c'est fantastique!' We also watched the Art of Animation show, which was not so good, especially the bit when the narrator competes with the sound from the multi-language head-phones and all you hear is babel. I hope it's not like this at the UN. The Armageddon experience wasn't all that special either.

Anyway, we all went on the Flying carpets ride too, again, with less than 5 minutes to wait in line. The Studios parade was on, and we had a great spot to watch it from, so although it's much less spectacular than the main Park parade, we interacted with the participants more and enjoyed it better.

We went back for one last time to the main Park, where we rode the Fairytale boat ride (zero queue) and Casey Junior (5 mins queue). Obviously we took photos of Casey Jr for Duncan. I was only sorry that I couldn't find any toys based on this ride in any of the shops. We strolled around Alice in Wonderland's Labyrinth; Thomas was disappointed now to see pretty Alice there. Then we took the Disneyland train to Frontierland, and had a great meal at the Cowboy Cookout Barbecue (which also has some of the cleanest toilets in the Park!) Next we went to the Pocahontas Village play area for a while before finishing up at the Pirate play ground before heading back to the hotel. Thomas shouted 'au revoir' to all the children as we went!

Our taxi came on time, the flight went smoothly, we picked up the car and got home just after 10. Duncan was asleep, so Lady wrote a postcard telling him we were all home (it had a picture of Big Thunder Mountain on it!) and left it on his pillow. Early the next morning, he cam into my room and found the Disney bag with all his presents. He had Buzz Lightyear laser blaster, a Zurg car, a toy Big Thunder Mountain train (hooray!) a Winnie the Pooh lolly and a Mickey Mouse T-shirt.

It was marvelous to see him again, he loved looking at all the photos, and as always when you go away, it was great to be home.

Disneyland Day 2

Tuesday

I'd had to take an early slot for breakfast the following morning. At 7.30 (yikes) we were downstairs partaking of the breakfast buffet. This was lovely, I thought. There were piles of good croissants, plain and with chocolate, as well as the usual continental breakfast ingredients. Thomas and Lady were in heaven at the prospect of unlimited chocolate croissants! We filled our bellies then had a little walk around the hotel. A while later I took the children to the swimming pool while Gordon went to the gym. This wasn't such a success. The water was very cold and far too deep for the children. Thomas was shivering, so after braving it for a few more minutes we gave up and got out. Anyway, it was almost 10 o'clock and we had better things to be doing!

The first thing on our to do list, was the Buzz Lightyear ride, so I collected 4 fast pass tickets (meaning we could get on a while later and skip the queues) then we joined the line for the Orbitron (rocket like rides). It was about 25 minutes before we all got on the ride; this was the longest we ever stood in line at Disneyland. And though we all enjoyed the rockets, we decided that it wasn't worth our while to queue for ages for anything again.

We took our turn on the Buzz ride straight after, walking right through and onto our carriage where Lady and I helped defeat that evil Emperor Zurg and all the baddy aliens. Obviously, we were all thinking of Duncan so much then, and Gordon made a few films especially for him to see when we gt home.

We ate lunch in Cafe Hyperion, and I collected the free, instantly available tickets to see the Lion King show. I hadn't known what to expect of any of the shows we saw while we were there, but they were all excellent. The sets were wonderful, the music was, of course, terrific, and it was an unexpectedly great event to experience at such close range. It lasted only half an hour, just right for the attention span of younger children.

After that little break we were ready for more action. A wander round the park brought us into the path of a mini parade, the Casey Junior Character Express. This little train is (no surprises here) a big favourite of Duncan's, so we took a few snaps to show him later, though he turned out not to be very impressed since it wasn't the correct colour!

Lady was keen to see inside the castle, and Thomas wanted to explore the dungeon and see the dragon, so we did both. Next we visited the area known as Adventure Land, and went right to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We all thoroughly enjoyed this. There's nothing like a glimpse of plundering and pillaging, arson and death to brighten up a nice family day out!

The children had a bit of a play around the pirate ship and caves and tree houses. These areas are great when you want a break from rides and shows. There's so much to see as you wander round the parks too. There are a hundred or so shops and stalls, most of them selling the same stuff and the children were mightily interested in spending the money they'd each received from their Granda when we were leaving.

Next up, Frontier Land and for some reason we decided to visit Phantom Manor. After a not too bad queue, we entered the hall of the building, crowed beside a few too many other people. The room descended, plunged into darkness and Lady joined the other sensitive souls in a good old scream! The ride itself was in these creepy old looking black carts, and was nice old fashioned ghost ride, with new fashioned effects. Lady was creeped out and declared that she wouldn't be dong that again!

We dootered back to the castle area, where we were just in time to watch the 'Once Upon a Dream' parade, which was unbelievably well done. These Disney folk are very good at this sort of thing!


I'd booked a character tea party, and since Thomas is 5 in only a few days time, I'd arranged to make it into a birthday party for him. This was terrific. We had loads to eat, then the nice Disneyland people brought out a load of birthday cakes for all the children celebrating their birthdays, and we all sang Happy Birthday. The Disney characters started to arrive and circulate the tables. By the time they'd met Mr Smee, Tigger, Captain Hook, Pluto and Goofy, as well as some creature I didn't recognise, the children were a lot more comfortable with meeting and even hugging the characters. Thomas really enjoyed his tea party.

We just had time for a ride on It's a Small World (so sweet!) before going back to the hotel for dinner and a relatively early night.

If anyone wants to see all the photos on Flickr, e-mail me and I'll send you an invite...well, I will if I know you!

Disneyland Day 1

I've been trying to find the time to write a post about our fabulous holiday last week, but keep getting stuck with stuff like washing, cleaning, helping the children to learn and catching up on what happened in blog land and in real life while we were away (bloody awful stuff). So I'm splitting my telling of this tale into sections, otherwise it'll never be posted.

It's sure to bore the t... or whatever off most people, so read on at your peril.

Monday
The big day arrived. I had time to pack and tidy and organise stuff that had to be organised, before Dad and G (my step-mum) arrived at 3. I'd written a story comic strip for Duncan to reassure him that we would be returning. He was ecstatic when he saw his grandparents. He knew they would be looking after him and he was obviously very happy and excited. We all kissed and hugged and said goodbye then Gordon, Lady, Thomas and me drove to the airport.

The journey was smooth. We'd each taken a small bag or case and carried them on-board. The flight left on time and the children enjoyed it. I'd booked a taxi to take us to Disneyland from Charles de Gaulle, and the driver was waiting in the terminal holding a placard with my name. About 30 minutes later, we were pulling up to the hotel.



The Sequoia Lodge hotel looked nice, lots of wood and stone. It's supposed to resemble a lodge from the great national parks of the USA. As I was checking in, the children spotted Minnie Mouse in the lobby. Some children were with her, but Lady and Thomas were too shy to approach her yet. A minute later my shoulder was tapped, and it was Minnie. It was obvious then that this was no ordinary hotel, this would be no ordinary holiday. The children then said hello to her, though Thomas was still uncertain about the big creature person.

We dropped our bags off in our room which was perfectly nice. I hadn't booked a room in the main building as that cost a bit more and I didn't see the benefits, but we'd been upgraded anyway...which was nice!

So, it was then just after 9 pm, but Extra Magic Hours meant guests of the Disney hotels could stay in the park for 2 hours after closing on a few days each week. So we headed to the park. It was a scenic and gentle walk round the lake, passing through an area called the Disney Village, which was a collection of shops and restaurants, then going under the pretty Disneyland Hotel to the park entrance. And wow, it really was something special. I know this is a big corporation, but man, they are good at creating magic. It was beautiful.

We scoffed a few hot dogs to stave off the hunger pangs and set off to try a few rides in the short time before closing. Thomas had always said he wanted to try the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride 1st, so we went there, and queued for only about 10 minutes. Straight afterwards we went to the Peter Pan's Flight and got onto our 'flying' ship right away! Both rides were so much fun, and the children talked about their favourite bits for ages afterwards,

We were all hungry for something more substantial then, so even though it was after 10 we went to the Rainforest Cafe. We just shared 2 large starters, and Gordon and I had a cocktail each. A short dander brought us back to our room, where the children instantly conked out.

April Adventures

What happened to the 1st half of April?

We'll be off to Disneyland Paris on Monday, and everyone is very excited. Duncan is just looking forward to getting his present when we get back again. He's going to stay at home with his grandparents, as he wanted. But Lady and Thomas have been deciding what to pack and talking about what rides they'll try and have even been practicing a little bit of French.

Easter weekend we spent with my brother and sister-in-law in Leitrim. The children had a great time with their 2 little cousins and we all enjoyed a few days of being well looked after. My brother did all the cooking, and damn fine food it was too.

My other little niece visited last week one day with my dad and step-mum. We walked through the country park, the children all pretending to be jungle princesses and princes...or something. Lady gathered a handful of leaves and pine cones to pretend to cook when they got back for their 'forest feast'. Some of the leaves, she told me, smelled of garlic. They looked familiar so I Googled wild garlic, and that's what it was. It's quite safe to eat, and tastes good, sort of peppery. The guinea pigs really liked it! They've been loving all the fine weather as they're getting on in their run on the grass every day.

Gordon had a few days off work so we all dossed about a lot and occasionally managed to cross a few things off the always growing to-do list. On the Monday, after we drove back from Leitrim, I took Thomas and Lady into town to buy them shoes and a small suitcase. The traffic was terrible as we approached so I parked in an outer car park and we walked in. It turned out that we'd just missed a parade of some sort. I'd naively (hopefully) assumed it was some sort of Spring festival for families and was sorry we'd missed it. I found out later it was a Orange Order thing and a bunch of low yahoos had been causing trouble so it was no loss. And that's an understatement. Anyway we got what we wanted and went home.

Yesterday, Thomas and Lady were playing on the street (well, the pavement) out in front of our house while Duncan and I were on the computer together watching videos of Disneyland parades on Youtube- oh I wish he had wanted to come with us! Lady came in all excited with a little Yorkshire terrier that they'd found in our garden. They took him into the back garden to play with Duncan, who had immediately named him Pippin after Auntie Mabel's dog (it's a TV show he likes). I went out front and walked up and down the road to see if anyone was looking or calling for their dog. I went to ask the lady who lives across the street if she recognised 'Pippin'. I knew she owned a dog herself and people often know the other dogs in their area. Now I'd never spoken to this woman before, and I'm so glad that we've now met. She's a lovely woman, who has lived here for over 50 years. We stood talking for ages and I told her all about the children and she's going to come over for tea some day when we return from France. It's funny how it takes an unusual occurrence to get you to meet your neighbours.

Another neighbour, whose house backs on to ours didn't recognise 'Pippin' either, but he gave us a little bag of dog food in case he couldn't find his owner soon. I kept an eye out on the street while the children played in the back garden with this adorable little dog. Eventually a woman walked past who was able to tell me where the dog lived, so I called into the right house and the owner came to collect him. The children were so disappointed. They'd been hoping that we'd be able to look after him for a while longer. Hopefully they'll be be able to see him now and then.

It's certainly re-opened the dog debate here again. Though one senior member of the household is adamant that there will be no dog! Ach, sure we'll see!