Going Crazy in Corpus Christi

On October 26, 2013 I had my commencement ceremony. It was perhaps a little redundant because I already had my diploma (having graduated a few months prior), but it was a chance to celebrate and see family. Those are two things I never pass a chance up for. I was thrilled that both my mom and my sister Becky came out. Becky is the head of the WGU mentors and so she came dressed in her own awesome graduate robes. They looked like and resembled a cross between Renaissance wear and a clown costume.

My wonderful husband Matt and my oldest little man, Liam also came to the commencement. (Heather was willing to stay behind and watch my two youngest boys).

Liam came dressed to the nines complete with bow tie and suit. The commencement ceremony was surprisingly good. Afterwards Becky snuck us in to the free WGU faculty lunch. It was some delicious Tex Mex.  We dropped Becky off at the airport and then headed home with my mom in tow. We had time to get home and gather up Heather and the boys so we could go out for some Italian. After all the only true way to celebrate is to eat enough calories for a year...in one day.
 

I am extremely proud of Lisa’s academic accomplishments. The past year was extremely difficult, but the sense of confidence and happiness Lisa has felt has made all the sacrifice worth it.

On the day in question, we got up early (around 6:00 am). Liam dressed up in his suit jacket and bow tie and we dropped Lisa off at the University in Austin to prepare for the ceremony. Liam and I picked up breakfast at McDonald’s and decided to call Jamie and Becky to see if they wanted some. They did, so we brought some to the hotel they were staying at around the corner. We had them check out and then parked and walked to the Bass Concert Hall.

The ceremony was a dry, but we made it fun by cheering loudly for Lisa. Liam was as good as gold the whole time and pointed out that we weren’t far from the Natural History Museum (which is free). We agreed to take him after lunch.

Becky scored us some seats at a nice Mexican restaurant. WGU was having a Mentor Appreciation Luncheon and we managed to mix in with the other people there. The food was good, and we even scored dessert. 

We hit the Natural History Museum (much to Liam’s delight). Everything was decorated with cobwebs and bats in a Halloween kind of way, and I had fun running ahead and scaring Liam. He started anticipating me at every turn.

Becky flew back shortly after that, but Jamie stayed the night. She treated us to dinner at Giovanni’s in Copperas Cove. There was a very loud Hispanic family in the section we were sitting that made it impossible to carry on much conversation. I was fine with them there because they managed to awe even our rambunctious little boys into silence with their noise.

 On Sunday my mom was flying back to Utah from Austin. So Matt, the boys, my mom, myself, and Heather piled into our mini van packed full of luggage. We dropped mom off at the airport and headed down to Corpus Christi. We did make a stop in San Antonio and swing by the Alamo (partially to get a stamp in our national park passport book and partially so Heather could ask to see the basement of the Alamo (refer to Pee Wee's Big Adventure)).

We made it down to Corpus Christi by dinner time and checked into our affordable and adequate La Quinta hotel. We immediately noticed an orange tabbby cat begging for food at the hotel. We hurried the kids into the rooms; because I didn't want them to think that it was our cat Azrael (who was safely being babysit back at Fort Hood). We swung down to Corpus Christi's North Beach just so we could see the ocean before going to bed. Liam and Ian were not content with a walk on the beach and as a result rode back to the hotel in their underwear while their soggy, salty, sandy clothes stunk up the van.  The very next morning we headed down to Padre Island and parked at Malaquite Beach.We knew from past experience (living in San Antonio) that the best beach in Texas is on Padre Island just off Corpus Christi.  Finally after three years at Fort Hood, we finally made it down to the beach.

We brought plenty of supplies for a long day at the beach. We had our awesome wagon, a new screened in eating tent, our puppy chairs, picnic supplies, and twenty-four bottles of water.

Heather insisted on bringing her dog Farnzie along so he came with us to the hotel and to the beach. She kept him on a leash and walked him around, but mostly he laid in the shade. It turns out he's terrified of water.

The ocean made Miles fairly nervous. If an adult was holding his hand then he was willing to wade. He was totally unwilling to go any deeper than ankle and when walking along the beach did his best to avoid the water altogether.

Liam could not get enough of the waves. He would go in until the water reached his chest and then let the waves knock him over repeatedly. He got the sensory rush of the century.

Ian loved going in the waves, but unlike Liam preferred to stay upright. I could not convince him to leave his ninja turtle on the beach. Predictably Leonardo is now lost at sea.

Miles spent the majority of his time chasing seagulls. No seagull was allowed to land within two hundred feet of our spot. Miles would start gleefully screaming, "Seagull!" and attempt to catch them.

I could hardly get the kids out of the ocean for anything, even eating. Unfortunately, as we would realize the next day, this also meant good reapplications of sunblock. Even when they came out for lunch they found excuses to get wet again, "Mommy my hands feel dirty I need to wash them in the ocean".

Everyone has some type of trigger that calms their awareness into feelings of home and safety. For some, it is the smell of certain foods, or the melody of a song they grew up with. For Lisa, it’s breathing in the clear, crisp mountain air with the aspen trees shaking in the wind. For me, it is and always will be the sights and sounds of the ocean. Hearing the sound of the waves, with the view of the blue-green water crashing on the shore seemed to pierce my heart and consciousness in an almost cathartic moment. My whole being undergoes feelings of calm and lassitude that overpower the usual hamster wheel of thoughts that run around in my head when facing the mundane events of day to day life. So many good memories growing up can be linked to times on the beach. 

And so it was with great pleasure I brought my wife and three sons to the beach. For Miles, it was the first time. As Lisa said, he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He did enjoy the sand and chasing seagulls. Ian was enthusiastic about it.  He threw his little heart and soul into playing in the waves and building in the sand. He did maintain a healthy respect for the power and force of the waves and was prudent enough not to wade out too deep. Liam’s ebullience for the sea probably stemmed in part from his autism. The feel of the waves crashing against him, the sand under his feet and his enjoyment of being submerged seemed to satisfy the sensory needs that are a part of him. It also seemed to satisfy his thrill seeking. It was interesting to note that Liam was the least burnt of all of us, probably because he spent so much time under the water.

It was with great reluctance we left the beach, even though we were there for 7 hours. All of us were pretty burnt, but it was so wonderful to have a beach day with my boys like I used to when I was a kid.

We took a break to walk along the beach. In the midst of our walking we found a tree with several perching pelicans. Despite our strict "no going in the water during our walk" rule. Liam immediately began creeping out towards the pelicans.

Only our threats of taking him home made him come back out. By the end of the day the children were exhausted and burnt. They'd had a wonderful time and we loved every minute of it.