Morgan's Wonderland

Today, the whole family headed to Morgan's Wonderland, an amusement park in San Antonio geared specifically to special needs kids.

I don't believe I've ever mentioned it, but my littlest sister, Lily, has special needs (though not very obvious). There is not, so far, a specific name for Lily's needs, however... she defies categorization. With pride. Perhaps that's why I haven't thought to mention it before. The first thing that pops into my head when asked to describe my sister Lily is definitely not that she has special needs; she's SUPER cute and knows it all too well, an evil genius (there is no room that can hold her), very loving and touchy, stubborn as heck, the ultimate Backyardigans fan, unbelievably bossy (and that's coming from ME); and has the fine motor skills of a... a... a fine motor skills superhero who can take apart anything at all including baby gates, crib tents, blinds, my cell phone (still bitter about that), spatulas, and even playground equipment.

At any rate, she has special needs. That's made places like amusement parks completely overwhelming.

But Morgan's Wonderland rocked. It was just a wonderful, blissful experience. And it was FUN.

We got Lily up this morning and told her that today was a Lily Day (as if every other day isn't). We popped her into the carseat, turned on the DVD player, and headed to Morgan's Wonderland.

The instant we walked in, I swear she relaxed. Maybe she could sense that we weren't uptight and worried, or maybe she could just tell. I don't know. Whatever the case, she smiled at the woman who placed armbands on all of us and then rushed into the park.

There was a massive, sprawling playground - the equipment was all wheelchair accessible and big enough so that two could pass each other at the same time. The slides were fast and fun but short enough that everyone could handle them. There was a massive sandbox to dig in, a train to ride, and places to eat snacks. A huge gymnasium held basketball courts, kickballs, and a stage for the drama queens in the park. Lily loved the indoor "sensory station" - so did the rest of us! Imagine a dark room with four giant screens projected onto the walls. One shows butterflies flying around, the other shows beads falling down, and the last shows little tadpoles swimming about. Okay, now imagine that when you stand in front of the screen and lift your arms, the beads fall into the shadow of your arms projected on the walls; or the butterflies land on your head; or the tadpoles swarm around you in a blur. It did all that!!! Lily was ready to go before I was - I kept finding more stuff the screens would do! It was unbelievable!

The favorite by far, though?

The water station.

I don't think I've ever mentioned this before either, but Lily loves water.

No, I mean she loves water. She climbed into the fountain at a Mamacita's restaurant one time. If she so much as spots a puddle, she sits in it. Bath time is like heaven.

So when she saw the massive water tables with all these gears and spraying hoses and bowls and canals and little kids running around with dripping wet clothes and water droplets beaded on their eyelashes, she just about had a cow.

Had a COW.

She wouldn't stop laughing. She cackled and grinned and jumped up and down and shrieked. Oh, my gosh, she was beside herself. I don't think we would've been able to pull her away except that somewhere between the musical fountain and the giant water mill, the sun and excitement and effort of climbing up so many playground steps added up and she crashed. We picked her up, still grinning and sopping wet, and headed out.

It was beyond an awesome day.

This is also the earliest she's gone to bed in a year or so, I think.

We will definitely be going back.

Oh, and here's the link to their website. If you know anyone at all who has a child with special needs, I highly recommend the park. Be sure and read the story behind it all, too!

Thank you, Morgan's Wonderland, for a beautiful day in the Rush family!

http://www.morganswonderland.com/