If the Brady Bunch played miniature golf.

I had heard about a campy little indoor miniature golf course in town, and we decided to check it out. I think that this place hasn't been remodeled since the 80's. It was definitely showing some wear, but that just added to it's appeal. It had a whole Brady Bunch goes to Hawaii vibe to it. I mean, it was like we walked into the Tiki Caves episode.

Don't make a necklace and wear these guys while you are surfing.

Let the games begin!

The course was enough of a challenge, that it neither bored or overwhelmed the kids. 

You see. Happy faces!

There were cool little bridges to cross.

One of the more challenging holes. 

There was an actual cave! 

I think we were through the course in just under an hour. It was a nice little activity. It's a great way for Noah to work on his patience, and for both kids to work on some motor skills. I love discovering a new little gem in town. Let's face it. There isn't a lot to do around here. So to find Brady Bunch Hawaii meets miniature golf, was a real pleasure.  We will definitely be back here.  

I think we are being stalked by Star Wars characters

Last week, we headed to the zoo. When we first moved here, it seemed like we were there every month. I guess we got sick of it, and just stopped going. It had been a few years since our last visit, and we wanted to check out some of the new exhibits.

We got there in the morning, ahead of the crowds.  Our first stop was to check out the Polar Bear Passage area. This was something new to us. Since it was early, we had a clear view of the polar bears, without having to wait for people to clear the way. One polar bear just kept jumping in the water, and swimming right up to the glass. The kids got a kick out of it.

There was just a hint of a chill in the air, but it was a beautiful day. The leaves are starting to turn here! I love fall.

Here are a group of monkeys, both inside and outside of the cage. 

All of the animals were awake and moving around. Check out how close the tigers were to the fence.

Noah staring down an orangutan.

Kangaroos. We had just watched the youtube clip of kangaroos fighting in the streets of Australia, so the kids were very curious about them.

We crossed a suspension bridge to get to the gorilla exhibit. The bridge actually sways a bit, so I'm usually nervous walking across.

At this point, we decided to take a break for lunch. It was under that tent, so we ate fast and got back out into the sunlight.

We took the tram to get to the other side of the zoo.

It was so pretty on that side.

We checked out the gators, or crocs. I can't remember which they were.

And the new baby zebra. So cute!

Then we took the tram back to the front of the park. 

I had new boots on, and my feet were killing me.

We checked out the new to us penguin exhibit.

We were ready to leave at that point. I mean, my boots. I couldn't go on without being carried out. On our way out, we saw some Star Wars characters. Because, you know, it's us. Star Wars characters go where we go. What a way to end a great day!

Sadly, we didn't get a picture with Jango Fett. Noah tried, but Jango kept running away. 

It was a great day at the zoo. I couldn't help but think back to all of our previous trips, several years ago. Back when Noah's anxiety was at an all time high. And all we could do was go to Target or the zoo. And now look at our family. We never gave up trying. We kept on pushing and moving forward, even in the darkest days. Never give up, friends. No matter what your struggles are. No matter how hard it is. Keep on getting out there. Never stop trying. Never give up hope.

The kindness of strangers

We hear so much about how the world is a terrible place. People are heartless. So many tragic things happen. But there are actually some pretty amazing people out there. I believe that there is more goodness in this world. And I just wanted to reflect back on some really great things that people have done for my family.

One of the first things that pops into my mind, happened five years ago. We were in a very crowded line, waiting to get inside Magic Kingdom in Disney World. At the time, Noah was in the grips of anxiety. This was a hard time for us all. We prepared him for this trip, had a schedule to keep our park time to a minimum, and carried along things to distract him. But in this crowd, he got anxious. We put on his noise canceling headphones, gave him a tight hug and tried to sooth him. I knew once we got moving, he would be ok, but it was still hard to watch. And after months of this, I was fighting back tears.  Finally, they opened the park up, and Noah calmed down. As we were walking down Main Street, I still had that pang of doubt. Was I pushing him too far? With that gorgeous castle ahead of us, a woman tapped me on the shoulder. "I just want you to know you are doing a great job!" I almost started bawling right there. That little bit of reassurance from a total stranger, meant the world to me. I have told this story several times, because it had such a huge impact on me, in probably one of the most difficult periods of my life. I hope that woman knows what a blessing she was to me that day.

Over the years, my kids have been blessed with amazing teachers, para's, occupational and speech therapists. I can safely say that every one of them has made a difference in my boys lives. They are better, having been under their care. They have a challenging job. It is not easy to work in a special ed classroom. I can only imagine how exhausting it must be. And lets be honest. They are probably kicked, punched, bit, and slapped by students quite frequently. God bless those educators, who do so much for these kids. They don't love our kids on that first day that they meet. The kids come into their care as total strangers. But these women (and men) jump right in and move mountains for the kids in their class. I'm in awe of what they do.

My oldest is in high school. A group of general ed peers come in to help out in his class. This class wouldn't run without the time that these gen ed kids put in there every day. They really act as peer tutors, both academically and socially. On a certain day of the week, high school students start one hour late. Except for the special ed kids, who start at their regular time. On one particular late start day, the gen ed peers took it upon themselves to come in early and throw a dance party for the special ed class. They are teens. They could have been sleeping in, but they chose to do something fun for my son's class. I mean, come on. That's pretty awesome!

There is a local church that does a parent night out event for special needs families. Several times a year, over 200 hundred volunteers, selflessly give their time, so that parents can feel that they have a safe place to leave their children for a few hours. Those 3 hours give Alex and I to reconnect, and focus on each other. While we are out having dinner and a movie, we have piece of mind knowing that our kids are in a safe place, having a great time. What a great ministry! They take any special needs family, whether they attend church or not. And they do this out of the kindness of their hearts!

My last little act of kindness happened today. First of all, know that this city is out of their minds over our baseball team being in the MLB playoffs. We are so proud of our team!  I ran in to CVS just to grab something before I headed into work. I waited in line behind a couple of women.  They were paying for a bunch of baseball team decorations.They were talking to the cashier, explaining how excited their kids were about the game.  When they walked away, the cashier told me that the ladies bought all the things to decorate their school bus as a surprise to the students. As I walked out the door, I saw the ladies getting their bus all decorated. And it was a special needs bus, which just made me cry right in the parking lot. I'm such a sap. I could just picture the excitement of these kids when they saw their bus coming. I love people!

So, have you done anything lately to brighten the day of someone? It really doesn't take much.  A kind word, giving a helping hand. Even a simple smile. Commit to doing one simple act of kindness this week. Then do the same next week. And so on. Life is good, friends. Life is good.