Toes in the Sand

My 'Rella and I took a 600+ mile trip together to see an autism doctor. I drove. We spent way too much time in the car on the road. We headed to Florida, and the hotel was a few blocks from the beach. On the long, long stretches of roadway, she rides in the back and watches a DVD. When we headed to the beach, I asked her to ride up front with me and read the directions. She hopes to be able to drive a car one day, but operating a motor vehicle is just one small aspect involved in driving. And she has just begun to show interest in those pieces.

Giving Mom directions was a first - and she passed with flying colors. She wanted to read the entire thing to me all at once, but I can't hold all the steps in my mind, so she got a lot of practice slowing down and staying engaged with me and with where we were, with looking for the cues given to us by the hotel desk manager.

And we made it to the beach. I got to show her the ocean for the very first time!

We didn't have a lot of time because we were meeting friends for dinner, but we were able to stick our toes in the sand and find a few seashells and write our names in the sand with our feet. :)

I wish we could have stayed longer. The day had been rainy with more rain coming, so the temps were comfortable and the sun not scorching. Would have been a perfect day to relax and watch the waves for hours. I'm glad we got to meet our friends for dinner and wouldn't trade that for time on the beach without them.