Pool time at Jennifer's...

We had a great time this afternoon hanging out with good friends at Jennifer's house - the new pool is awesome! Mia, Corey, Jimmy, Logan and Shelby all had a blast swimming and being silly in the water and the grownups had fun with them, and chitchatting, as well.

Will wonders never cease?

A little background is probably in order on this one. Corey is an autistic child with sensory issues and very specific issues about food. For years now, he has hated anything that is mushy - pudding, ice cream, mashed potatoes, pastas, oatmeal, etc. He is a meat, veggies/fruit and plain rice/bread/fries guy - no condiments, gravy, sauces, etc. with the exception of salad dressing. Yesterday, of the way home from Zilker Park, we stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a few things that I can't get at the regular grocer. The kids were being super great and patient while I looked for the items I needed and then checked to see if there was anything new/interesting in the gluten free freezer, as I generally do. Corey looked too, and picked out a frozen meal told me he wanted it. Now - asking for something at the store is a fairly new thing for Corey, and asking for something like a frozen entree - never. Then - I looked at what he had picked... A baked ziti with broccoli and an apple crumb dessert. Following Corey's normal food rules, the only thing "edible" there was the broccoli, and he wouldn't eat is cause it had "stuff" on it. However, Corey was insistent that he wanted it, so I went ahead and bought it, since it was gluten free and casein free - what the heck, right? Well - today we offered it to him for lunch and amazingly, he said yes, he wanted it, and even more amazingly - he actually ate it! Baked Ziti - are you kidding me?

Corey is making such progress in many areas this year, and this is just another reminder of that. He needed some help with eating his lunch, since he wasn't used to dealing with slippery, soft-ish noodles and finds it tricky to get them securely onto a fork. I was happy to help him branch out and enjoy a new and different dining experience. From a sensory standpoint, this a great step for him. And for overcoming some of his classic autism-related "rigidity" to try something new - this is awesome!

This is what he picked out and ate:

Austin Nature Center

The kids and I headed down to Zilker Park today and explored a bit at the Austin Nature Center. It is a beautiful day and the kids had fun checking things out. Of course, I didn't remember to take the photo in front of the sign until the end when the kiddos were hot and tired... Oh, well. They are still cuties in my book.

Pizza Night!

To celebrate Corey's first week back to school, we had pizza night. Now - keep in mind with Corey being gluten and casein (dairy) free - pizza is not easy to come by - at least pizza that remotely resembles the pizza we all know.

Good news for Corey. A new place just opened right here in Round Rock called Promise Pizza.

www.promisepizza.com

Not only do they have "Corey friendly" pizza, they do all natural, organic pizza - even natural sodas and gf brownies. How cool! They even deliver in eco friendly (if goofy) Smart Cars.

They made a pretty darned good gfcf pizza for Corey with a new cheese product that is totally vegetable based, but soy free, gluten free, and vegan. He ate darned near the whole pizza! Mia and I tried their regular thin crust pizza with mozzarella and mushrooms and it was quite tasty. Mia has informed me, in no uncertain terms, that I am to save the leftovers for her lunch tomorrow. I am to stay away from it. LOL

Do you think Corey was happy to get "real pizza"? Judge for yourself...

Mmmmm.... cookies

I haven't been doing a lot of baking recently, other than Corey's sandwich bread. Something about triple digit temperatures to take the baking urge away for a while. Now that we are approaching (hopefully) fall, I am going to get back into the baking groove. Yesterday I came up with a new cookie recipe and they turned out so yummy! They are gluten free, casein free, soy free, as usual. Going to have to make note of this recipe - a keeper for sure.

First Day of Third Grade!

Today was Corey's first day of 3rd grade - how did that happen? Since he had finally decided to go on a summer vacation sleeping-in schedule the last week of summer, I wasn't sure how he would do with getting up for school. He has to be up early since his bus picks him up at 6:40am... But, the boy was great - got himself up a bit before 6am, played computer for a few minutes and then came downstairs to get dressed and ready for school. He was such a good boy, took his meds, ate his breakfast, and when he heard the bus was ready to head outside and hop on.

Corey has a new teacher this year, Ms. Ryan. He will continue with the same OT and speech therapists, and add Music Therapy to his curriculum this year. He will also get Adapted P.E. in additions to time in his regular ed classroom, and specials (PE, art, music), lunchtime and recess - all with his regular ed classmates.

TerraBurger Austin

A friend suggested that we try TerraBurger, the new North Hills location, so the kids and I decided to go check it out yesterday. What a great place! They use all natural, organic ingredients to make yummy burgers, fries, etc. and to make it even better - they have gluten free buns for folks like Corey that don't eat wheat, etc. Even the sodas are natural - sweetened with natural cane sugar or stevia instead of processed corn syrup, aspartame, etc. They also have non-dairy shakes made with coconut milk. A pretty awesome place for folks with food allergies and for everyone who is trying to eat healthier, with less processed foods, additives, etc.

Do check them out at:

www.terraburgeraustin.com

When you go, the kiddos can play on the playscape or the little sprinkler park area while mom and dad can relax at one of the shaded tables.

Here are some pics - one of Corey's rockin' lunch - all natural and gfcf, and a few of the kids hitting the playscape.