Halloween season is nearly done, but here are some pics!
I've definitely had a very busy and fun Halloween season. Wifey and I took Nate to all kinds of special events, many of which were sensory-friendly or were sponsored by the local autism society. I think we've been to about 6 different Harvest festivals, Halloween events, and trunk-or-treats. I have pictures from some of these events, plus from some fun times at home.
This is Nate and me on a hayride at an autism-friendly harvest festival at a really cool place out in the middle of nowhere called Leeds Farm. He had lots of fun, and I really love this picture of the two of us!
Wifey and I took Nate to an indoor trick-or-treat event at the local children's hospital's autism and developmental disorders center. It's where Nate goes for speech therapy, and where he'll eventually have ABA therapy (currently on a waitlist). Wifey is Batgirl, I'm Supergirl, and Nate's Batman.
Wifey won tickets to the Ohio Historical Society's annual All Hallow's Eve Village event. The event itself was not sensory-friendly, but the local autism society had a "safe zone" for kids with autism to escape from the crowds and noise. Nate had a really hard time, but he enjoyed hanging out with my nephews Josh and Gabe. Josh and Gabe wanted to lie down in front of fake tombstones so I could take pics. When Nate saw the big boys doing that, he wanted to copy them.
The All Hallow's Eve event also featured a reading of the story of the headless horseman, complete with an ending where Ichabod Crane rode his horse past the crowd, chased by the headless horsemen, on real horses. Nate was unable to sit on the dark, crowded hill for the reading of the story. He started kicking, screaming, and generally having a hard time. I let my wifey and nephews stay to hear the story, while I struggled to carry Nate out of the crowd in the dark. It was a challenge not to step on anybody, but we made it. Then, the event security told us we actually couldn't leave the area, because the horses were on the way, and they had no way to notify the two actors to be careful of people leaving the area. So, event staff and security helped me keep Nate sort of cordoned off into a safe area just outside the crowd. They seemed annoyed at first that we were trying to leave, but as soon as I explained that Nate's autistic, they were incredibly helpful and understanding. I really can't say enough for how much I appreciated their assistance and kindness.
Nate really enjoyed the autism safe zone, operated by the local autism society. His favorite part was the sensory bin, full of dry rice, shovels, etc.
Wifey carved a jack o'lantern, and Nate cleaned it out. He kept complaining about how "disgusting" it was, but he did a good job cleaning it out (with a little help from me, his "momo").
This past Saturday, we had our annual Halloween party, the first one at my new-ish apartment. It was a really good time. The best game was the Halloween version of 20,000 Dollar Pyramid my wifey made (not sure if that's the correct number, LOL!). My sister, her husband, my nephews, and my best friend came to the party.
Nate dressed as Superman for the party, because that costume is more comfortable than his Batman costume. He had a really hard time with the amount of people in the confined space, and had been very overstimulated all day, so he was only able to be in the room for a short time during the party. I did get a really cute picture of him with my dog Macy, though. I made a Beanie Baby costume for Macy, which I'd seen online. I was originally going to make that costume for my dog Stella last year, but then she died about a month before last Halloween... And then I got Macy right before Thanksgiving, so I didn't have a dog during Halloween last year. So, this year, Macy got to be a Beanie Baby.
I really enjoyed the Halloween party, and I am really happy with my new-ish apartment. Here I am at the party, dressed as Supergirl, but with extra makeup (because, party).
We've also had fun evenings watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, the new David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special, and the Saturday Night Live Halloween compilation episode. I've been pretty disappointed with AMC's Fearfest this year, as well as with Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween. AMC just hasn't been showing much I want to watch during Fearfest (or they haven't shown anything I want to watch when I'm actually able to sit down and watch TV), and Freeform just keeps showing Addam's Family Values (the inferior sequel) and Hocus Pocus (which is awesome, but I've already watched it twice this year, and I have it on DVD, anyway.
Tomorrow evening is trick-or-treat night for our city. Wifey, Nate, and I will be meeting up with my sister and my nephews, like we do each year. I hope Nate doesn't have too hard a time. We have lots of glow bracelets for him to wear, as well as his medical alert bracelet. My nephews are really good with Nate, and they've already said they want to help him, too. Because we won't be home, and because ambigu-sweetie is highly unlikely to pass out candy for me, I'm putting a big bowl of candy outside for the neighborhood kids, as well as a teal(ish) pumpkin with non-food items for kids with food allergies. I just hope that the first kid who shows up doesn't just take everything and ruin it for the other kids. There's a lot of kids in this neighborhood, so I expect at least a few will be trick-or-treating tomorrow. After we get home, I plan to watch some scary movies on TV.
All-in-all, it's been a really good Halloween season. I'm going to probably have a letdown depression on November 1, honestly. We've done so much, and had such fun, but I keep thinking I've not done enough to enjoy things, didn't light candles often enough, didn't turn on LED light decorations enough, etc. This is my favorite time of year, and I hate to not fully enjoy it. '
It will be good to finally have some time to recoup some spoons, though! Wifey and I have both been operating on negative spoons most of this month, for sure. So, we can finally get some time to just relax.
That is, until Thanksgiving, which we're hosting at my apartment this year, for the first time in nearly 10 years. Ahh!!!!
This is Nate and me on a hayride at an autism-friendly harvest festival at a really cool place out in the middle of nowhere called Leeds Farm. He had lots of fun, and I really love this picture of the two of us!
Wifey and I took Nate to an indoor trick-or-treat event at the local children's hospital's autism and developmental disorders center. It's where Nate goes for speech therapy, and where he'll eventually have ABA therapy (currently on a waitlist). Wifey is Batgirl, I'm Supergirl, and Nate's Batman.
Wifey won tickets to the Ohio Historical Society's annual All Hallow's Eve Village event. The event itself was not sensory-friendly, but the local autism society had a "safe zone" for kids with autism to escape from the crowds and noise. Nate had a really hard time, but he enjoyed hanging out with my nephews Josh and Gabe. Josh and Gabe wanted to lie down in front of fake tombstones so I could take pics. When Nate saw the big boys doing that, he wanted to copy them.
The All Hallow's Eve event also featured a reading of the story of the headless horseman, complete with an ending where Ichabod Crane rode his horse past the crowd, chased by the headless horsemen, on real horses. Nate was unable to sit on the dark, crowded hill for the reading of the story. He started kicking, screaming, and generally having a hard time. I let my wifey and nephews stay to hear the story, while I struggled to carry Nate out of the crowd in the dark. It was a challenge not to step on anybody, but we made it. Then, the event security told us we actually couldn't leave the area, because the horses were on the way, and they had no way to notify the two actors to be careful of people leaving the area. So, event staff and security helped me keep Nate sort of cordoned off into a safe area just outside the crowd. They seemed annoyed at first that we were trying to leave, but as soon as I explained that Nate's autistic, they were incredibly helpful and understanding. I really can't say enough for how much I appreciated their assistance and kindness.
Nate really enjoyed the autism safe zone, operated by the local autism society. His favorite part was the sensory bin, full of dry rice, shovels, etc.
Wifey carved a jack o'lantern, and Nate cleaned it out. He kept complaining about how "disgusting" it was, but he did a good job cleaning it out (with a little help from me, his "momo").
This past Saturday, we had our annual Halloween party, the first one at my new-ish apartment. It was a really good time. The best game was the Halloween version of 20,000 Dollar Pyramid my wifey made (not sure if that's the correct number, LOL!). My sister, her husband, my nephews, and my best friend came to the party.
Nate dressed as Superman for the party, because that costume is more comfortable than his Batman costume. He had a really hard time with the amount of people in the confined space, and had been very overstimulated all day, so he was only able to be in the room for a short time during the party. I did get a really cute picture of him with my dog Macy, though. I made a Beanie Baby costume for Macy, which I'd seen online. I was originally going to make that costume for my dog Stella last year, but then she died about a month before last Halloween... And then I got Macy right before Thanksgiving, so I didn't have a dog during Halloween last year. So, this year, Macy got to be a Beanie Baby.
I really enjoyed the Halloween party, and I am really happy with my new-ish apartment. Here I am at the party, dressed as Supergirl, but with extra makeup (because, party).
We've also had fun evenings watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, the new David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special, and the Saturday Night Live Halloween compilation episode. I've been pretty disappointed with AMC's Fearfest this year, as well as with Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween. AMC just hasn't been showing much I want to watch during Fearfest (or they haven't shown anything I want to watch when I'm actually able to sit down and watch TV), and Freeform just keeps showing Addam's Family Values (the inferior sequel) and Hocus Pocus (which is awesome, but I've already watched it twice this year, and I have it on DVD, anyway.
Tomorrow evening is trick-or-treat night for our city. Wifey, Nate, and I will be meeting up with my sister and my nephews, like we do each year. I hope Nate doesn't have too hard a time. We have lots of glow bracelets for him to wear, as well as his medical alert bracelet. My nephews are really good with Nate, and they've already said they want to help him, too. Because we won't be home, and because ambigu-sweetie is highly unlikely to pass out candy for me, I'm putting a big bowl of candy outside for the neighborhood kids, as well as a teal(ish) pumpkin with non-food items for kids with food allergies. I just hope that the first kid who shows up doesn't just take everything and ruin it for the other kids. There's a lot of kids in this neighborhood, so I expect at least a few will be trick-or-treating tomorrow. After we get home, I plan to watch some scary movies on TV.
All-in-all, it's been a really good Halloween season. I'm going to probably have a letdown depression on November 1, honestly. We've done so much, and had such fun, but I keep thinking I've not done enough to enjoy things, didn't light candles often enough, didn't turn on LED light decorations enough, etc. This is my favorite time of year, and I hate to not fully enjoy it. '
It will be good to finally have some time to recoup some spoons, though! Wifey and I have both been operating on negative spoons most of this month, for sure. So, we can finally get some time to just relax.
That is, until Thanksgiving, which we're hosting at my apartment this year, for the first time in nearly 10 years. Ahh!!!!