2010 Autism Carnival

This past September we were able to attend the Autism Carnival put on by Sahara Cares. The owner of Sahara Construction has a son who is autistic and the carnival started as a way to get a few kids together with his son, to have a good time. It has grown into a big carnival for kids with Autism and their immediate families. It is 100% free and all of the staff are volunteers. What an amazing service for these kids!!

When you arrive at the carnival, the child with Autism is immediately celebrated as the VIP. They get their own special shirt and a name tag so that everyone can call them by name all day. It really made M feel so special. Every activity, the VIP of your group gets to go first - ALWAYS! M just loved this! Shortly after M got her shirt she ran into "Captain Jack Sparrow" - oh boy was she smiling! Then we went on a bug scavenger hunt and made our way to the face painting. Last year (our first carnival) we got to the face painting last and there wasn't enough time - M was so upset. This year she said "I want to get my face painted first". I was surprised she remembered!! So we went first and the line was only about 5 minutes long! YAY!! (oh, you don't see any pics of N because he had a soccer game - so Tim took him there)

During the carnival we found the Bee from the Salt Lake BEEs baseball team. M had a conversation with this talking pony, there were sack races, water guns, and these giant balls that the kids could roll in!!

There was dancing with music provided by www.munchkinradio.com (check it out - music for little kids, so awesome!), ice-cream everywhere, and train rides. Oh, there was so much more... lunch for all, Star Wars people walking around, rock climbing walls, bounce houses, games galore! It was a beautiful day - full of fun and laughs, candy, games and more! M had a great time - and so did the rest of our family! THANKS SAHARA CARES!!!!