Fall Hayride – Bendix Woods

It is a delight to see Tristan use his communication device, Prologuo2go, consistently at home. I love when he asks for activities. Not too long ago, he asked for a hayride. We had this on our family outings lined up. We headed to Bendix Woods in St. Joseph County, Indiana, for the hayride. In the fall, this park is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. The weather was a warm autumn day. The park department offered multiple days for hayrides with various themes. On Saturday, the day was called “Adaptive Hayride” to include the special needs community! Due to an error in Mom-planning (he-hem), we had a quiet hayride all to ourselves. We were very grateful for God’s grace at this moment because all morning, we talked to Tristan about how fun the hayride would be! Only to arrive a tad off schedule. More pictures and features of this event will be shared on thepracticalsideofautisim.com.

Hayride 2022 Bendix Woods

Thistleberry Farm – A Sensory Experience

We took Tristan to Thistleberry Farm in South Bend, Indiana. It was a wonderful experience. It was full of activities offering a sensory experience which is what our Forever Toddler craves!!! This picture shows him enjoying the space with corn to dig in. As you can see, he LOVES it.

Currently, we plan on only spending 60 minutes on any family day outing activity. Usually, Tristan gets sensory overloaded, and it is best to leave. However, at the Thistleberry Farm, we stayed and played for 120 minutes.
The variety of activities offered is simple but oh-so-fun for kids. (A jumping pillow, sand box with construction levers, hayride, bicycle tracks, cow train ride, corn mazes, apple launchers)
I highly recommend this gem of a place for families. It was a short drive from our home, and we will definitely add this to our annual fall family days.

Thistleberry Farm 2022