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!!
