A wonderful weekend, finding peace in the forest

There are a few times when I honestly feel at peace outside our own home.  When the world of worries disappears just enough to let me see the delights that surrounds us. When I'm not worried about or relying on my thick skin to push aside the way the world that so often feels like an ill fit for our family.  But on our last weekend away, I, we, found some peace.

My family and I went away for a special birthday celebration to Thorpe Forest. Despite knowing relatively little about where we were going, we had prepared our kids for the idea of staying in a cabin - ours was called a Golden Oak Cabin Treehouse.  But I had no idea it would turn out to be so ideal for our extended family stay. 

Here are some of the things I worry about when we go to stay somewhere:

• My kids will escape and get lost
• My kids will get hurt on the furniture
• My children will accidentally break things that need replacing or worse can't be replaced
• My kids won't be able to eat anything because I can't cook it or it's not available
• I or other members of the family won't get any sleep because they aren't comfortable
• There will be too many distractions for the kids
• There will be nothing safe for them to do

Because the truth it that although it is OK for me to have padded bars over all the sharp edges in my living room, it's not very practical for many places.  Cheaper places have square edged veneer covered corners everywhere.  Many up market places have glass furniture. We've been in many places where the first thing we do is put a chair by the front door so we can hear if someone is thinking about escaping.  But it was all OK here.

The cabin had a large but completely enclosed outdoor space, with a separate fenced space for the large hot tub. The long bridge that led to a master bedroom 'treehouse' was enclosed.  The treehouse separate bedroom was ideal for the kids grandparents.  Giving them space to be with us and on their own.

In order to get to the front door you had to first go through the doored cloak room area.  Inside was furnished with soft or rounded edges and decoration was simple and essentially 'break free' for the most part.  The kitchen was properly equipped so I could make whatever the kids wanted to eat.  We could even get food from the onsite café delivered to our cabin. 

The beds were comfortable and the bed rooms spacious.  The hot tub was only accessible with adult help.  There were things to do that didn't involve anyone else.  And the cabins are far enough apart that there was no worry about what others judging the loud jumping kids.  It was like staying in a cross between a self-catering cottage, a hotel and Neverland.

We spent three glorious days in the woods.    We went on a bike ride, everyday. We walked through the easy but wild forest paths everyday. We ate what we liked, everyday.  We used the hot tub as a warm play pool, everyday.  Jane had a great time playing pirates and we spotted different forest creatures including birds and squirrels on walks and from our own bridge.

And when we weren't full of the pleasures outside the treehouse cabin, we were able to do what was needed.  Anthony could stand and script on the bridge without worry or care. The boys were able to watch their regular programmes because we could watch Sky TV.  The Wifi was super and David had no problems playing on however many iPads he needed to.  We were able to play the WiiU when Anthony needed it's stimulation.

 

Not all the activities at the centre were easy for us.  We tried the mini forest rangers activities but Anthony found it too hard and got upset as we, and therefore he, didn't know exactly what was happening.  I also noted that not all of my SEND friends would be able to use the facilities. I contacted Forest Holidays after the break and am pleased to say I found their response promising.

I explained the difficulties we had in participating in some of the activities and made some recommendations. There is more information and photos on their website now to enable families with autism to know what they will do and who they will meet at the centres.  The last time I spoke to the company they were also in the process of installing more hoists in some of their cabins to enable more people to visit their sites.
 
The company took time to listen to our concerns and this gave me great hope that more changes will be made.  Our family had a great time at Thorpe Forest.  The kids were safe, happy and the family were having fun.  Everything was easy and I was at ease.  And that's a really good start.

Wonder what the Makaton sign for 'squirrel' is? 

Have a look at the #wetalkmakaton sign of the week.

We paid for our own stay at Forest Holidays. We were provided time on the Forest Ranger activity but were unable to access it and the company have been great in listening to our feedback.