Disney Cupid Shuffle...

We survived Disney again!

Phew! Did not think we would but we did! Of course, now I don't think I want to go back for a while. Thing is, it was exhausting to go with both kids. Quinn is too small to truly enjoy it and having him in the stroller just slowed us all down.

Kai loved it of course. He visited his usual faves: Small world, caroussel, tea cups and the character meet and greets. We also stayed at the Nickelodeon Suites (do not recommend) and he met the characters there as well.

I was reading over my last Disney blog posts and we have sure come a long way! Kai is just such a different child now. So much more aware and mature within his autism. (meaning he is 9 but acts like a 4 year old instead of a 2 year old).I can say we are now seasoned Disney parents. I have also become inspired to write a Disney 101 for parents of kids with autism so look out for that some time in the near future. (I would say soon but with my record, that could be December!)

The thing I will remember most about this trip though has nothing to do with Disney. I know, odd for me right?

While getting ready for dinner one night I hear someone in the other room singing "to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right". I stop what I was doing and run into the other room. When I ask the other adults about it, they shrugged their shoulders and said they thought "it was perhaps the tv". I insisted that it sounded like Kai. I pull Kai over and ask him to do "to the right, to the right". He looks up at me, smiles and starts singing and dancing! If you don't know because you have been living under a rock, go to You Tube and search CUPID SHUFFLE. Yes, that is what he was doing! Who taught him that? where did he pick it up? I instantly remember that he had been working on a secret project for the end of the school year show. I e-mailed the teacher about it and sure enough, she confirms they had been working on it for a while.

That same night , hours later,as we get back from dinner, just as we are literally stepping out of the car we hear the cupid shuffle playing loudly by the hotel pool. I rush Kai over and he stood there frozen with a huge smile on his face. He could not believe his eyes. There happened to be a Girl Scout party at the hotel pool with a DJ and there were about 80 little girls doing the cupid shuffle right in front of us. We could not enter because it was a private event but we had a front and center view from the corridor. We started dancing along with them as we both smiled ear to ear. What a great moment! Completely random but oh so fun! His eye gaze kept shifting from them to me as he danced.

A couple of days ago we attended the actual end of the school year show where he did a great job on the stage performing it for everyone. It was amazing to finally see him participate in something most kids have been doing since Kindergarten! He is now in 3rd grade. Most enjoyable of all was to see him beaming and doing it without assistance.

So there you have it. Something always comes from these trips I love to love and love to hate. We always have a lot of firsts while in Orlando and not sure why that is. The magic of  Disney? who knows. I do know I will remember that moment forever.