We stopped at a little mom and pop shop to use the facilities and get some snacks about 2 hours into the trip. The boys were hanging out with Topher while his mom, sister and I took turns using the facilities. They all picked out snacks and we continued through the Allegheny Forest.
We drove a little farther down the road and saw a pizza shop. We both pulled in and had lunch. The boys and Emma (Topher's sister) shared a pizza while the adults had sandwiches. I must tell you the food was delicious!
We drove the remainder of the way through the forest and into New York. We got to the rental office shortly after 3 p.m. and checked into our condo. We shared one of the condos with the family that followed us and the other two couples shared the one next to us (they came a day earlier). All the girls planned on staying together, so we had Topher and Willie (the other boy) at our place. We got all our ski gear on and were heading to a chair lift by 4 p.m.
We went down one run and the group wanted to try another chair lift. SJ was all for it, but Bob started to have a fear of heights panic attack. I ended up taking Bob and Emma, who had a sore wrist, back to the condo. SJ, my husband and the group continued to ski. When everyone got back, SJ was chatting away about how much fun he had. The boys all hung out in the loft of our condo for the remainder of the evening.
I must tell you that I love these kids. They have never thought of SJ as special needs. He is just SJ. They think he is funny and smart. They love how entertaining he is with his plushies and stories. I couldn't think of six better friends for SJ to have.
The next morning my husband and I made breakfast for everyone in our place. After breakfast, the guys went out with most of the kids. Bob and SJ weren't in any rush, so we took our time. We left our condo around 10 a.m. and skied for about 90 minutes. We came back for lunch and then went out for a second run. We got separated from our friends, so we went off on our own. We managed to get Bob to do a few more runs, but he got another panic attack. He was so upset, so I stood with him while my husband and SJ got to ride the mountain coaster. That was very cool!
Bob was getting more and more upset, so I took him and Emma back again. I got the lasagna ready for dinner while Bob and Emma watched tv. Everyone else returned to condos a couple of hours later. We enjoyed dinner with everyone. One of my friends made pasta and pizza rolls for the kids who don't like lasagna. SJ was super excited that we allowed him to have pizza rolls.
After dinner, the kids played hide and seek between the rooms. I could hear all the kids laughing and was so happy that SJ was getting to spend time with his friends. After dinner, everyone went out for an evening run. Bob's knee was sore from the previous run, so I opted to stay with him. Emma stayed with us too. SJ went out with the rest of the group. They stayed out for about 2 hours (it was so cold, maybe 12 degrees).
SJ declared that it would be movie night when they returned. He made some popcorn and we put in "Back to the Future". None of the kids had seen it and they really seemed to enjoy it. The adults got to socialize in the room next door. After the movie was over, we got all the kids to bed. It was a fun, but very exhausting day.
Our last day there we went out early. We were on the slopes by 9 am. Bob was doing much better with his fear of the lifts. SJ and Bob kept going down the same run. There was an area where the kids could ski through the woods. They both loved that. As my husband and I were trailing the boys, I told him how nice it was to watch they be brothers. That was one of the perks of this trip. A bonus was the fact that SJ wasn't the boy with PDD. He was the boy who loves to ski.
We went back to the condos around 11:30 and had lunch. We were going to go back out for one more run (Bob was actually finally getting comfortable with the lifts), but everyone else was ready to go. We left the winter wonderland around 1 and began our journey back home. We again caravanned with our friends.
This weekend was nice for all of us, but each in our own special way. For my husband, he got to do something he loves for three straight days. For me, I got to bond with my friends and Bob. For Bob, he got to attempt to conquer a fear. And for SJ, he got to typical and that is priceless!
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