Give Kids the World

This is my last Disney post, I promise!  I just wanted to be sure to write about the place we stayed because it was top notch. :)

 

We stayed at a place called Give Kids the World, which is exclusively for Make-A-Wish kids and their families.  It was such a great, great place!  They assign you little villas with a couple of bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, living room, washer and dryer.  You get three meals a day if you want them, unlimited ice cream, a pool, arcade, a couple of rides and a different theme every night (Christmas, pool party, etc.).  They really go above and beyond to accommodate all families and give you as much of a vacation as they can.

There are a ton of volunteers that make the place go.  I don’t think I saw the same volunteer twice.  The very first morning we were there a gentlemen from Owatonna, MN stopped by our table and said this, “I know you parents tell your kids that they are special, but when is the last time somebody told you adults that you’re special?  For everything you do and everything you sacrifice.”

That was all it took and I was blinking back tears.  That meant so much to me; I just can’t even say and started our trip out on the right foot.

 

 The Give Kids the World Village (GKTW) just got to me.  It was kind of, I don’t know what the word it, comforting maybe, to be able to draw up your kid’s meds at a meal and nobody looks at you funny or wonders what you are doing.  Everybody else has to do it too.

 It was kind of like being in a hospital sort of environment in that you got to see kids with all sorts of different stuff going on out and about.  But, this was so much better because it was a fun place that kids and their families actually wanted to be.

 

 It was also a good reality check as these things tend to be.  I saw numerous kiddos in wheelchairs.  I saw a couple of kids that had to be kept flat on their back and were unable to move around that were hooked-up to what looked like a breathing machine of some kind.  It broke my heart.  Now don’t get me wrong, GKTW accommodates these kids the best they can with options for the water and making things handicap accessible, but I don’t know, it was just hard, especially for those kids hooked-up to the machines laying flat. 

 I looked at them and then I looked at my child; my amazing little Blake who has been through so much in his few short years.  Who beat the odds at birth, who did well on dialysis, who received an awesome kidney, who kept fighting even when that blood infection almost took his life, who has done and continues to do the things that doctors said he couldn’t do or wouldn’t be able to do.  But, there he was.  Running, jumping, laughing and doing everything his siblings were doing. 

Yeah, this situation isn’t ideal and it never has been.  But you know what?  We are pretty lucky and I was reminded just how much on this trip.

(These character pics were three of my favorites taken at Hollywood Studios, so I wanted to include them.  Hollywood Studios was awesome!!) 

 

 

Blake got one wish and it was full-filled.  We can’t say enough thanks to Make-A-Wish Iowa for coordinating everything for us.  It was a week of quality time together, long fun-filled days, laughter and a whole lot of memories made for our family and for that I will always be grateful!!

Disney - Days 1 & 2

No way around it, we had an AMAZING, once-in-a-lifetime trip to Disney for Blake's wish!  So many memories made, it's hard for me to wrap my mind around how to even blog about it all.  I did do some journaling to help me remember everything I want to remember.

We went to Des Moines the night before and stayed at the Holiday Inn across from the airport Sunday night.  We hit the shuttle at 4:20 a.m. and checked-in at 4:30 a.m. for our 6 A.M. flight to Chicago.  

I have to say that Southwest was awesome to us.  Like, a sign up for Blake, a goody bag, getting to sit in the cockpit before take-off awesome.  Can't say enough about them!

My highlight going through security was Aaron having to be patted down by the TSA.  Our pediasure did look a bit suspicious - LOL! It was the kids' first flights and only our second.  I must admit that the flight to Chicago was rough - for Aaron and me!  Not the kids, they acted like it was no big deal.  Aaron was overheating and I was so nauseous.  Clearly the altitude changes aren't kind on my old self!

We landed in Orlando about noon and everything went smoothly from there.  A volunteer met us, helped us get our bags and got us to the rental place to pick-up our van. 

Since we only had a half day and Aaron hadn't gone to our required orientation at Give Kids the World, we just kind of hung out around GKTW and enjoyed what they had to do there. 

Day two was all Magic Kingdom.  It was as magical as I had hoped!  And it really IS the happiest place on earth!!  Here's what we learned:  our kids are little ride junkies!  Every last one of them.  Luckily, the boys were at the 40" requirement for a lot of rides and were able to ride with an adult, which meant the 'fraidy cat mom had to ride with one of the twins.  This pic below is the 7D (Seven dwarfs) Mine train.  One of our FAVES!

We had to wear our Make-A-Wish buttons every day at the parks and it worked so slick.  The workers saw our buttons and we got to go to the fast pass line at Magic Kingdom. I honestly couldn't imagine waiting in line for over an hour for a two minute ride!

The parade at Magic Kingdom was awesome!  The floats were beautiful.  Bowen loves to read "Beauty and the Beast,"  so he was stoked to see this float.

This was something super cool that happened.  This dwarf spotted Blake and came over to touch his nose and give him a high five.  Blake said, "He had big fingers!"  LOL  Anyway, after the dwarf left, he signaled to Snow White about Blake and she came over and blew kisses to Blake.  It was adorable!!

We had to take a break from Magic Kingdom to head back to GKTW.  We quickly learned that six hours was the magic number for being at any one place and the twins would be in meltdown city if we pushed our luck.  We headed back that night for the fireworks.

Aunt Jill told me she tears up a little when she sees them and I kind of laughed, but she was right!!  It was one of my favorite things.  I did tear-up a little because they are just amazing!  I think I could watch them every night and not get sick of them.  Seriously. 

Everybody told me to take a lot of photos and I'll be honest - it was kind of hard!  Most of the times you were on a ride or with a character, so I did my best, but I still struggled. ;)  The picture above is from the Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios.  It was so fun!  We rode it a few times and put it as one of our faves.  Thankful for that recommendation from Aunt Mandy!

Our crew in front of the castle.  It was St. Patrick's Day which is why we are all in green.  Also, not a great idea to be staring into the sun! ;)  More posts to come...!