A turns 6 today, and is in the final two weeks of an eight week long summer holiday break from school. We have been trialling an artificial colour,  flavour and preservative diet (which is whole other post on its own) to see if this improves A’s anxiety, and thought it certainly wouldn’t be of any harm to our general health either.  Although I only work part time, even if my husband and I take separate holidays all year we can’t cover them all, so A and Little Brother get to spend time with their grandparents. So far we had all been very impressed and a little surprised at the way A had handled the constant change to his routine and varied diet.

On the weekend A had a birthday party to attend for one of his school friends on the Saturday afternoon then we had planned his own party for the Sunday afternoon. Last year it rained for his pony party, this year we had a weekend of 38^o C heat, we just can’t win! A was fine at his friend’s party. His mum had organised water guns and a water balloon fight which was perfect for a hot day. But his social differences did show, he couldn’t transition between the activities as fast as the other kids but he still had a great time. By Sunday afternoon the weather was just as hot, but the kids didn’t seem to mind, they just alternated between the jumping castle and running through the garden sprinkler!

The next day was Monday and we spent the morning packing for our 5 nights away up at the Sunshine Coast (about one and a half hours drive away). Our first full day was forecast to be raining so we planned to visit Underwater World (www.underwaterworld.com.au) at Mooloolaba. It’s an aquarium with lots of fish displays, a touch pool for the kids, a walk through shark tunnel and a seal show.

These days I am very into checking things out online before we go anywhere. The afternoon before I got A to check out the brochure I had picked up from reception and showed him the website. Yes, he was keen. I booked and paid for the tickets on line so that we would be able to jump the queue (and also saved 25%…bonus for me) which is what we do wherever possible these days to alleviate (mainly my) stress having to wait in a long line. We didn’t have access to a printer, but I found a USB stick in the bottom of my handbag we were able to make a quick stop at Office Works on the way to print out the ticket and arrived just before the aquarium opened. …continue reading