Birthday Cake, Race Cars and.........Seizures :-(

With a large family, birthdays are never ending and this weekend was no exception, over the next 2 weeks we have 4 birthdays and we always make a point of celebrating each person individually.  We will do large extended family, family dinners and combine occasions but we also have an individual celebration with those living at home.

For some of our children we do a special family outing instead of a "friend" birthday party.  The type of celebration is dependent on the child's wishes and circumstances, not all our children enjoy or can manage peer friendships and their birthday should be enjoyable for them.

This weekends birthday celebration brought us to the car race track to watch demolition racing.  We haven't been to the track in a couple years as the triggers for children with sensory issues are extreme at the track.  We left our youngest 2 with a babysitter and the rest of us went armed with sunglasses, earplugs and blankets.  It was amazing the progress that the children have made in 2 years in regards to their tolerance at such events.  With ear plugs in, sunglasses on and blankets on their laps (cuddling with their blanket and covering their nose with it when the smell of burning rubber was too strong) we were able to sit and watch the races in a strategically chosen part of the bleachers (leaving a quick escape route if needed).

While in line to pay we were very blessed, when a stranger noticing our large group came up and offered us a free ticket to admit 1/2 of our group.

The children managed incredibly for the majority of the races, when it came time for the final demolition the shock of it all was too much for one child, triggering seizures.  Fortunately she was on my lap when they started and as they weren't letting up, I was able to escape through our pre planned route with her to get her the help she required without causing a scene.

Another tradition in our family is the birthday person gets to choose dinner.  Some requests are not necessarily what I would consider dinner and need to be supplemented, for example one birthday someone requested toast so I added eggs and sausage making everyone happy.  Tonight's supper is "2 noodle casserole" (tuna noodle casserole), cesear salad and chocolate birthday cake.