On Saturday, we had my 10 yr old Granddaughter's birthday party at the local aquarium & I was worried out of my mind for my 13 yr old Grandson, Finn. 😬 He doesn't usually do well in crowds, & there always needs to be a sufficient amount of exits along our route; so, I was biting my nails, to say the least.

When we arrived, the line was out the door & around the corner. My heart immediately sank. Finn was already getting antsy in the line outside & we still had to get through the mega-line once we reached the serpentine inside. 💀

Eventually, we got to the first exhibit. From the moment he was surrounded by the calm of the sea creatures, he immediately was sucked into their world. I would tell him what was inside each tank, & he would repeat it back to me once or twice, & I would confirm it again for him. 💞

We paid for an extra activity, which was a VR experience in motion chairs. We got to "ride" Tiger & Great Hammerhead sharks, & experienced them swimming all around us. Finn never once took off his VR glasses. I kept hearing him exclaim, "Whooooaa!! SHARKS!!" 😆🫠

I could go on absolutely forever about this kid. I don't think I've ever been as proud of him as I was on Saturday! He's made leaps & bounds over the years after coming through some really HARD times (dealing with scatolia, potty training issues, completely non-verbal for years, setbacks in school, elopement scares & much more) but I do believe that on Saturday, he was not only on his best behavior \*ever\*, but also thoroughly enjoyed himself; not ONE outburst for the entire day, not even when we went to eat lunch at a local restaurant!

As soon as I had a chance, I went online & bought year passes to the aquarium for him & I. I can't wait to take him back ASAP! 🙌🏻 \*SO\* damn proud of this kid... 😭 It's been such a long, hard road, & it seems it has all been beyond worth it (though I'm not disillusioned enough to think there won't be our share of hard days still to come); but I'm taking this win for now & \*RUNNING\* with it!! GO, FINN!! 🎉

So incredibly proud of how far my Grandson has come! 🙌🏻