A dose of normal

On Friday we took the kids apple-picking, and it was a great day. Very warm -- hot, really -- and sunny; more like summer than October. We went to Lookout Farm in Natick because it was relatively close and it had a lot of interesting things for the kids, like a petting zoo and play area.

I had read an article in the paper a few weeks ago about how many U-pick orchards and farms were charging admission in order to remain financially solvent. Lookout Farm is one of them, and it's a good thing we went on a weekday because it cost $27 for the five of us. If we had gone on a weekend or holiday, it would have been twice that much, not including any fruit.

Once we got over the sticker shock, we had a great time. There's a little train ride that takes you to various stops in the orchard, and naturally we went for the stop with the petting zoo and play area. The kids enjoyed seeing the goats, no doubt because they have chevres-amis in Canada over the summer. They also enjoyed seeing the new calf, the emu, and even a very shy (or very hot) pig, who was resting in the presumed coolness of its shed.

Then we played on the playground for a while. Timmy and Brian owned the slide, and Abby flitted from one structure to another. Timmy even clapped for another two-year-old who apparently impressed him with her sliding technique.

Then we filled five bags with enormous Jonagold and Golden Delicious apples, and a few Asian pears. The sweet smell of grapes on the vine wafted down from the arbor over the train path. Back at the main building, we paid for our apples and picked out a few pumpkins to brighten our fall doorstep.

We then took the kids to Friday's for dinner. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is. We have been very hesitant to take the kids out in the past, given the eating and behavioral issues, and just the complexity of dealing with three young children at a public table. But we all had lunch at a Friendly's on vacation in August, and that inspired us to try the evening meal.

And it was just great. The kids all ordered burgers and fries, and ate as well or better than they do at home. Timmy and even Brian made small talk with the waitress; no one spilled anything; no one got sick.

It makes me so happy to think that we can actually do something normal as a family. For years it seemed as though having small children, and then having two of them on the autism spectrum, prohibited us from doing any normal family outings -- going apple-picking, eating in a restaurant, going to the beach or a children's museum. But we've done all those things within the last couple of months and have actually enjoyed them -- by which I mean that the pleasure of seeing the kids have fun, and having fun with them, outweighed the busy-ness of preparation and anxiety of making sure no one had a meltdown, or wandered away, or acted too autistic in public.

Little kids plus special needs still equals lots of work and worry, but I'm beginning to feel the proverbial glimmers of hope with more regularity lately. And that makes me very happy.