For the unknowing, our youngest son Patrick, age 13, is a developmentally delayed, non-verbal child with Autism and experiences “sensory overload” pretty frequently.

We are lucky enough to live near Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia and go there often. So yesterday we packed up our gear and headed over, planning to meet up with family members visiting from out of town. As usual, as soon as we clear the entrance area, Patrick is heading for the train. He loves the train and would happily sit on that train for an hour. So that’s our first stop. We let the family know we are in the park and wander around for a little while after our initial train journey. We then make arrangements to head over to the Sesame Street area where there are plenty of fun things to do and see, particularly for the little age-3 cousin with us. I figured Patrick would like this; he likes Sesame Street and watches it on TV at home sometimes.

…Big Mistake!

It’s cheerful, it’s loud, it’s colorful, it’s teeming with little kids… and Patrick is miserable. This of course means that he is trying his darndest to pull me out of there even if it means that the arm he is pulling will now be stretched beyond it’s capacity for stretchiness!

So I yell to the family that we will be back on the train and will meet them in an hour at the FestHaus for dinner. We head out of the Sesame Street area. He’s not trying to maul my arm at this point, but is still a little edgy. Thankfully once we are out of earshot of the squeaky peppiness, he calms down quite a bit.

Next we head for the train station, but on the way we pass the SkyTram entrance and Patrick slows down to look. The line isn’t long, so I ask him if he’d like to go “up”. He walks that way and waits his turn easily. We rode the SkyTram.

Once we got off, we just went to another train station and hopped aboard, riding to Patrick’s other favorite Busch Gardens event: dinner at the FestHaus!

Train, SkyTram, Train, Dinner.

Happy Patrick.

Life is Good.

My name is Christine Burns and I live in fabulous Williamsburg, VA but was born in Brooklyn NY and spent all of my growing-up years as a “Lawn-Guy-Land”er. I’m married to Dan, my sweetheart since 1987, and we have 4 excellent kids, one granddaughter and another granddaughter due in November. I love Disney movies, Broadway musicals, reading, Star Wars, cupcakes, a really good bagel, and Italian food! I’m an assistant teacher in a special-ed preschool class and it’s my dream job! Life is good but very chaotic. I like to take one day at a time and pray a lot. I figure that if God wants me to make a difference in this world, or at least in our family, then He better lead the way!