Road Trip to Minnesota

James, Mom and Dad loaded up the minivan last Thursday to go and visit James' sister Venessa, and her husband Jeremy, in Minnesota. The original plan was for the visit to happen on Tuesday but due to severe weather the trip had to be delayed. This did not go over very well with James. He was adamant that "We are going on Tuesday, NOT Thursday!" A trip to the grocery store on Wednesday for a bag of cheese balls and his favorite pop in preparation for the car ride seemed to calm him down a little.

Thursday morning James was more than ready to go and packed the back of the minivan full of blankets, pillows, movies, his chess board and anything else he could think of to pile in. He patiently waited most of the morning in the back of the van until it was time to leave.

Mom, Dad and James arrived at Venessa's house before she got home from work. James quickly made himself at home. He found a spot on the couch, brought in his blanket, pillow and cheese balls, set up his chess board and ordered The Karate Kid from the satellite. James made himself so comfortable that he removed his socks. This would normally not be an issue but Venessa's dog, Lambeau,  loves socks! It took James awhile to figure out who was taking his socks and he had to search several hiding places throughout the evening.

For dinner we had to order pepperoni pizza (and breadsticks!!!)  from Papa John's pizza because James would have it no other way. This will likely continue for years to come. Hopefully Papa John's never goes out of business!

Racing Weekend

It is a big racing weekend for James. Tonight James and I saw "Cars 2", and he is spending Saturday with our parents at the Iowa Speedway. James memorizes the opening dates for all the movies he wants to see, and then thinks he needs to see each movie on opening day. He always gets a large Dr Pepper, skittles, and a large popcorn. Once I tried to get him a medium popcorn because I didn't think he needed a large. It really stressed him out and during the middle of the movie James yelled out, "I need a large popcorn!" I always get him a large popcorn now. James thinks he needs to police the Copper Creek movie theater premises. On the way into the movie tonight he told smokers, "You're going to need to put that out." He often shushes children in the movie theater, and then says "I'm in high school" as if that gives him some kind of authority. 

Father's Day

James insisted on eating four scrambled eggs right before we headed out the door to celebrate Father's Day at grandma and grandpa's house. We were concerned that he had spoiled his appetite, but upon arrival, he ate two steak burgers. It was a great day to celebrate two of James' favorite people, dad and grandpa!

Saturday at the Blank Park Zoo

Since James met Hedwig at the Iowa Cubs game on June 9th, he has been asking to go to the Blank Park Zoo. Today James and I headed out to the Zoo with his favorite Nascar magazine that I could not peel from his fingers to meet Joni Armstrong, James' long-time reading tutor. In reference to the Zoo James will often quote an old Bible story video he has on Noah's Ark, "God told them to take all of the animals, a male and its mate." Focused on an Iowa Public Television presentation toward the entrance of the Zoo, James took Joni and I on a high-speed tour of the Zoo premises that ended back at the IPTV presentation. Then James sat down and started reading his Nascar magazine. Later James posed for photos with the Cat and the Hat and Dan Wardell. Although it is often hard to tell by his actions, I know James had a blast and was glad to see his friend Joni!

On the way home James wanted to stop at QuickTrip for a drink. QuickTrip ended up being extremely eventful and not for all good reasons. First, we ran into my friend, Chris Knauf, and his girlfriend, Lauren, on their way to the Zoo. Never wanting to miss an opportunity to hug a girl, James reached out for Lauren and gave her a big sweaty hug. Inside James got his Dr Pepper fountain pop and peanut butter M&M's and headed to the counter. At stores James usually tries to make conversation with the clerk, and I encourage him to do so because that is socially appropriate behavior. However, I was hoping the floor would open up and swallow us when James very socially inappropriately asked the QuickTrip clerk, "Are you a man or a woman?" At that moment we were saved by a man that grabbed James' Chicago Cub's shirt and said, "Hey man, what time do we play the Yankees today?" I said, very loudly, "I'm sorry. He is autistic. He doesn't know."

Celebrity Sighting

James loves the movie "Cars" and has been looking forward to "Cars 2" for months. I read on Facebook that a star from the "Cars" movies had been spotted on SE 6th and Scott. Tonight James and I played paparazzi on the hunt and found Mater. He graciously posed for photos.

Autism Walk Weekend

This weekend all of James' sisters were in town, which means he gets extra spoiled. On Saturday morning Vania took James to the Iowa Walk Now for Autism Speaks while our mom, grandma and I were working in accounting. On Saturday afternoon Venessa, our mom and I headed over to my grandparents' house for a visit. Like with most places, James has a routine at our grandparents' house. Right away he gets an ice cream bar and a Diet 7-Up and heads to the basement to watch T.V. After awhile he reappeared from his man cave to request Subway. Recently a Subway was opened on the corner of Hickory Blvd. and Maple St. in Pleasant Hill. James constantly asks for Subway and always follows his request with "Eat Fresh". Eventually James switched tracks from Subway to college. According to James, he is going to be an Iowa Hawkeye and will need Easy Cheese, Reeses, Cheese Balls, Skittles, Dr Pepper and jelly donuts. We are assuming this grocery list is for his dorm. Venessa told him he was also going to need a gym membership.

James Meets Hedwig

Saturday is the 2011 Iowa Walk Now for Autism Speaks. In support of the walk team "Iowa Cubs Wives" James and I took our turn tonight working the Autism Walk informational table before an Iowa Cubs game. We were placed next to the very popular Blank Park Zoo table complete with live animals. James was very interested in Hedwig, the one-eyed owl with a broken wing. He asked Hedwig, "Do you play the electric guitar?"  After the game James asked me if we could go see pigs at the Blank Park Zoo. I tried to explain that pigs are on farms and the Iowa State Fair but not at the Blank Park Zoo. He isn't convinced.

  

First Day of Summer

June 6, 2011 on the Boland family calendar did not go unnoticed by James. He religiously checks the calendar and our mom had the day marked "Last Day of School". To celebrate the first day of summer break I took James to Mark's fastpitch softball game. On the way to the game James dumped Gatorade all over his shirt. I decided to stop at my house so he could change into one of Mark's shirts. James could have cared less that he was soaked in Gatorade. I'm not sure he got any in his mouth. What James does care about is tags in shirts. He will not wear a shirt with a tag. Mark's shirts all had tags in them. After selecting a shirt and removing the tag to James' satisfaction, we were finally on our way again. It was all worth it because James had a great time at the game. On the way home I asked him, "What are you going to do this summer?" James thought a moment and replied, "Watch T.V." If he only knew the plans his mother has for him...