Coming Unglued at the Company Pic Nic

Today, was the company picnic for LifeSkills. We went to the picnic at the park and expected to have a fun family time. No sooner than we had walked into the gate, I had an inkling this might be hard for Christian. There were probably about 300 people there with a band playing, kids playing, food, and huge blow up outdoor kids games. We found a spot to sit down our stuff quickly and within just a few minutes, Christian was ready to go and play. He kept saying " eat play eat play" and could hardly wait to finish his food before he eas ready to run with his dad. The large blow up kids games ( Like you see at Carnivals) where designed where you had to go inside to jump and play. The other was a huge slide that he was too little to climb and another big kids ridge. He quickly became frenzied and starting running between the rides with his dad. I saw that he kept falling to the groud and screaming, from a distance so I went to help. I helped him go inside the games but they were overwhelming to him. As soon as he would go in, he smiled at kids but they were not smiling back at him really and the jumping seem to be a little to much so he climbed back out. He was distressed because he wanted to play. He seemed very disorganized and could not get himself back together. He started yelling and falling to the ground, so I gently picked him up and he threw a fit. I introduced him to some of my co-workers, which may have been too much for him and then his dad came and we switched so that I could take Lily. As this point, after only a half hour or so of intese packed drama we decided to leave. Dad walked Christian outside and he was screaming, falling to the ground and sobbing hysterically. When I got to the car 5 minute or so late with Lily, he seemed to becoming unraveled. He threw his drink I handed him and cried. His Dad said he had never seen him like this. I have seen the fit but not the disorganized processing this intensly. He could not look at me for more than briefly. I asked Mike to take us over to the park next door thinking that might help him calm down. As soon as we pulled into the park, he stopped crying. He walked with me into the park and immediately starting running from thing to thing. At one point, he began saying " hurry hurry hurry" and began to run frantically to the next ride. He would go up the slide and be focused on the next thing before he could was even done. This is not his pace and his usually much more happy go lucky. He just seemed to be having hard time processing. When it was time to go about 15 minutes later, I told him we need to go and he cried and began the whole falling to the ground again. On the way out, he was crying HELP ME HELP ME Stop Momma Stop Momma. Honey, Honey, No no. When I put him in the seat he said "No seat.. no no no" and knocked off the front of his cover. His dad came and helped us fix it. When we started driving, he continued sobbing to the point he began to gag like he was going to vomit. Quick thinking Dad found his Barney Sing-Along Tape. He put in the tape and Christian found a Barney book. He started singing along with Barney and was much better. When he got home, I stripped him down, turned on Sesame Street and gave him some time to regroup. By this point, Christian had started interacting with us again and seemed to have his thoughts organized. As a mom, it is anguishing to watch him become that distraught. I think it was just a sensory overload with too many people, too many choices and to much activity. We need to play diffrently next year if we decide to go in the future. Thank Goodness that one was over! WHEW!