OwensFamily

The hotel was kind enough to give us late check out so we didn’t have to kill TOO much time before our train departed for home. There was plenty of time for Max and I to have breakfast, for the boys to sleep in, and for us to stop at the Go Kart arena ONE MORE TIME before we left! Those boys…. I figured it was a good place for them to practice their driving since both will be getting their learners permits soon!! We arrived at the station with plenty of time to get our bags checked, get the boys settled, and for me to return the van to the rental place before the train arrived. We were so excited to see that Manny was our sleeping car attendant again!! Max couldn’t even contain his ... read more

Saturday (today) was a GREAT day at the conference. It was one of those days where every single workshop I attended was SUPER helpful and informative. I was able to glean all of these little nuggets of wisdom that were EXACTLY relatable to our EXACT point of development with Max right now. I can’t wait to get home and start to implement them! The thing I think I love most about this conference is that so many people share their experiences and inevitably I spend most of my time in each session nodding my head because they are describing our life!! Even though this disorder is a spectrum disorder, and there are definitely differences between each kid and adult with the disorder, there are also SO MANY similarities across the population. It’s really nice to know ... read more

After a nice long sleep, we woke up JUST in time to get to Miller Park in Milwaukee (a drive that was 20 minutes away with no traffic, but took us about 90 minutes because of the game day traffic!) to watch the Brewers play the St. Louis Cardinals. Miller Park was a great park, too, but I enjoyed Wrigley more. Miller reminded me a lot of Safeco Field in Seattle, so it wasn’t as unique. Also, their staff wasn’t nearly as helpful or attentive. They weren’t bad, per se, but they let people who hadn’t paid for seats in the handicapped section sit RIGHT BEHIND us (normally there is a decent “bubble” of space so you don’t feel like someone is breathing down your neck as well as room to maneuver the wheelchair in and ... read more

We left Portland on Sunday in the evening, so Tuesday is really full-day-TWO of our trip, but since TECHNICALLY Sunday was the start, we’ll call Tuesday DAY THREE. We woke up in St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota after a much more restful night of sleep. I think I got used to the noises the first night and I was so tired by night two, that I slept pretty much straight through. Max and I slept in and missed the breakfast service, so we hit the café car for bagels. Jena (pronounced “GINA”) and Max became fast friends during our short visit because he picked up various items that people had dropped on the ground – a quarter for her tip jar, a napkin, a straw. He told her that he liked chores and she told him that he ... read more

After our first (and I'm just putting it out to the universe – our ONLY) hiccup, we arrived safely at Union Station with plenty of time to check our bags and enjoy the "fancy" waiting area reserved just for sleeping car passengers ("first class" in train-speak!). The hiccup occurred when our transportation from the house to the station failed to show up. Luckily, I called right away and didn't wait for it to get any later!! Jacob's dad, Joe, was still in our driveway when I figured out we had no ride. We threw everything and everyone into his pickup truck and got to the train station in plenty of time. Thank you, Joe!!! We boarded the train and met Manny – our sleeping car attendant. He is very nice and carries a bottle of air ... read more