Summer Fun!

The Cooney Cabin vacation that Cole has been looking forward to for months finally arrived. Early in July, we traveled up to Cabin O Pines in Orr. It was our first visit to COP, and we chose it since my brother, Brendan's, fiance's parents own it (whew, did you follow that?). Oh, and don't worry, I'll get to the fiance part later.

We did our best to prepare Cole for what the new resort would be like, to let him know what days he would be there and who he would ride home with. We had a picture schedule and a social story for him. All in all, it went quite well. He loved COP. There was so much to do. He rode 4-wheelers, went on boat rides, scooter rides and bike rides. He played at the beach, swam out to the raft and even jumped off. At night, he played his Nintendo DS and the Wii. We also took Cole to the nearby Bear Sanctuary. Cole liked it, although his favorite part was riding the school bus from the parking lot to the sanctuary. It was fascinating, as we got to see many wild bears in their natural habitat. At times, the bears were ten feet from the elevated deck we were standing on. Cole also loved going on the boat at night to watch the fireworks. It was so much fun!! We ventured out to the bay with many other boats and watched a fantastic fireworks show. Cole thought it was the coolest thing ever.

There were only a few times when Cole struggled. One day, it was sprinkling on and off. That did not sit well with Cole. He gets REALLY mad when Mother Nature interferes with his to-do list. Cole was a man on a mission and the rain did not fit into his plans. He got quite mad and acted out aggressively & vocally, off and on throughout the day. Luckily the rain didn't last too long and Cole's spirits lifted. The other time he got upset was on Monday night. Cole knew he was leaving on Wednesday and for some reason on Monday he thought it was Tuesday. He got very sad and kept saying, "Cole doesn't want to leave. I'm staying at the cabin. I'm not going home with Daddy." After a while, Cole finally said, "I don't want to leave tomorrow." Only then did I realize he had his days mixed up. I instantly told him that tomorrow was only Tuesday and his attitude turned on a dime. He lit up, as happy as could be, and said, 'I'm not leaving tomorrow. I get to stay!!".

Tuesday turned out the be an awesome day at COP. My brother, Brendan, proposed to his girlfriend, Brittany. It was so fun to be a part of the celebration and share the experience with both of our families. Brendan proposed out on the boat in the evening. The guys were out fishing, so us ladies were the first to hear the news- with the exception of Brittany's parents, who Brendan talked to ahead of time. It was fun explaining to Cole that Brittany was now officially his Aunt and that she and Brendan would be getting married. After the men came in from fishing, Brittany's parents and a few close family friends from the resort joined us in our cabin for some celebratory champagne. We could not be happier for the two of them and we are really excited to see Brendan joining such an amazing family. We look forward to the wedding on August 27th of next year.

Wednesday afternoon came and Cole helped Pat pack up the boat. After another fun day in the sun and on the trails, Cole was ready to leave and didn't resist when it came time to pack up and leave. He cooperated really well, said his goodbyes and had a fun time playing songs from his iTunes playlist the entire ride home. Sean and Pat are saints for listening to about eight songs over and over and over and over.

The weeks following the cabin trip proved to be quite a struggle for Pat and I. Cole's schedule was really thrown off, some of our PCAs were on vacation and Cole had several new therapists at MAC. All together, it was a recipe for some challenging behavior. Cole pushed every boundary he could, had some moments of tough physical and vocal aggression and resisted the discipline we have in place for him. Just when we start to question why we bothered going on vacation and putting ourselves through the aftermath, Cole started to improve. He got back into routine and realized that just because he was stretching his boundaries didn't mean he would get away with it.

One of these tough times came at the Aquatennial Fireworks. Cole has gone to the fireworks with Grandma and Grandpa Cooney for the past few years. He loves the show and behaves really well. This year, the fireworks show was on the day he got home from the respite house. Pat took the opportunity to go fishing. I decided I would join everyone else at the fireworks. Cole was very excited. We took two cars and he happily rode with Grandpa. We walked to the area where he's watched the show in years past. It was about ten minutes before the show was to start and Cole asked when he would see dad. I told him, "Dad is fishing, you'll see him later tonight." From that point on, Cole wanted to leave. He asked countless times and we all did our best to distract him and tell him it would only be a few more minutes until the fireworks. It wasn't good enough for Cole and his patience ran out. Suddenly, in front of hundreds of people, he started screaming, kicking me, punching me, scratching me, biting himself, etc. It was terrible. I take that back, it was beyond terrible. I had no choice but to leave; for Cole's safety and my own. So I told Connor we had to leave and off we went. My Dad followed us to the car; with Cole still upset and causing a scene. I felt really bad for Connor, even though he left without one ounce of pouting or complaining. It broke my heart to take him from the fireworks. Thankfully, my Dad stayed about 10 feet behind with Connor and I was able to get Cole in the car and leave without him wanting Connor. Connor got the watch the rest of the show and spend the night at Brendan and Brittany's house. We got in the car and Cole was instantly a brand new kid; happy as can be, singing Black Eyed Peas and playing his DS. Me, well... I can't say I felt the same. It was one of those times when I wanted to scream, "AUTISM SUCKS".

Thankfully we've had a really good few weeks with Cole. He's been into taking long bike rides to see his aunt and uncles. He's gone to the beach and on many fun boat rides. This weekend we are taking him to Bunker Beach and next week we head to the water park hotel in Otsego. I'm sure many of you saw the video of Cole singing with Tim Mahoney at the MAC fundraiser picnic. Again, he surprised us all and went right up the microphone and started singing with the band. He bopped along and sang background vocals. It was priceless and one of those times that make the difficult days disappear from memory. We are blessed that Cole gives us many of those moments. It makes it much easier to stay focused on the positive, where our energy belongs.

Enjoy the rest of your summer everyone!