When You Wish Upon A Star

^Wings^

2009-11-18T07:51:00.000-08:00

On July 29th, 2009, Noah earned his wings and is now safe in the arms of our Heavenly Father. We are so thankful that he was granted this very special wish. We will treasure the memories always.

I hope to finish this blog one day soon...

Day 4 Islands of Adventure

2009-05-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

After another wonderful breakfast at the Gingerbread house, and a couple of rides on the carousal, of course, we went to meet some of the Universal characters. Disney isn't the only one who has characters come to GKTW. Every week some of the Universal characters also come. This week was Scooby Doo and Shaggy...After meeting the characters and getting balloons, we were off to Islands of Adventure (one of Universal's parks). This park is divided into 5 Islands. First stop, Seuss Landing...a whimsical, magical island based on the books by Dr Seuss...

This was definately the kids favorite part of this park...and Noah was able to ride most of the rides in this part of the park. We thought Disney did a good job with wish families...until we got to Universal. Universal employees were absolutely fantastic...I think they spend their days scouting for wish families. We would simply have to wander by a ride, and an employee would be running out to us, pulling us towards the ride, right to the front of the line. One particular ride, we didn't see an employee right away. The line wasn't too long, so we just got in the regular line...no big deal to us. But when an employee spotted our button as we were boarding, they reprimanded us for waiting in line. We were given strict instructions to NEVER, EVER wait in a line at their parks...for them it is a huge deal to have a wish family wait in line. Really, they went over the top to make sure we had a wonderful day. My big regret is that we didn't make it back to one of their parks for a second day, but we had planned to go back during our second week.

The carousal...
Noah loved this ride, of course...
One fish, two fish...Noah HATED this ride and screamed through it, as the fish spit water at us. Didn't do that one twice!As we were finishing up in Suess Land, we spotted the Grinch. After we get autographs, the employee told us to head for the storytime show, and then after, they would set up a special meeting for us with the characters.
Storytime with the characters...
Our special meet/greet with Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 & 2, and whoever that yellow guy is...

After spending alot of time in Seuss land, we breezed through the next couple of islands pretty quickly. The Lost Continent island I think we just walked through...alot of it was shut down as they are building a Harry Potter Castle. Jurassic Park island we stopped and rode Jurassic (a fantastic flume ride), and the kids rode Pterandon Flyers, a kids roller coaster, which I think is one of the shortest rides ever, but people wait over 60 minutes for it! Of course, we had no wait at all.

The fourth island is Toon Lagoon...full of water rides. And these rides you don't just get wet...you get absolutely drenched to the bone! We had our rain ponchos and wore them on these rides, after seeing the state of the people walking off the rides. Even with the ponchos we managed to get pretty wet. Thankfully it was a very warm day and we dried quickly. Noah was too small for these rides, so we took turns riding as Noah entertained himself with a coke can. He was actually feeling pretty good today, so it was a really good day.Next up...Super Hero Island and a private meet/greet with the superheros.

Christmas in February!

2009-05-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

Christmas comes once a week at GKTW...for no child's fantasy would be complete without Christmas! Every Thursday the place is transformed into a Winter Wonderland...Christmas music plays, decorations and lights are everywhere, and even some snow falls. After spending this past Christmas in PICU, I was really looking forward to this evening. I am a huge fan of Christmas and to have our family separated this past year, with Noah doing so poorly, was such a difficult time. So I had high expectations of this evening, and it was everything I had hoped it would be...it truly did feel like the Christmas we had missed.

After the spa, and a ride or two on the carousel of course, we headed to the Gingerbread House for Christmas dinner...yep, traditional turkey dinner complete with all the trimmings, right down to the pumpkin pie! Mmmm! Outside the party was starting and we got word that Santa had arrived in the theatre...

After the pictures, each child is allowed to pick a gift from a wall of toys, generously donated each week by Hasbro. This was an agonizing decision for Kailyn & Joshua...there was just so much to choose from! They both finally decided on fur real pets. We chose a glow worm for Noah (which has since become his favorite bedtime toy).

After Santa, and more candy from the theatre, there were very messy snowcones...

beautiful carriage rides...

fun cookie decorating...

and wonderful elves to read stories while we enjoyed more ice cream. The kids even got to keep the books that they chose to read...

That was about all of Christmas Noah could handle. It had been another long day. He spent the rest of the party in this position...

While Noah slept, there was a parade and then dancing to Christmas music with the characters. So he missed out on the characters that night, but I was very glad he was getting some much needed rest...

What a wonderful evening it was! Many of the children who come here will never see another Christmas. They cannot wait another year...we know Noah may be one of them. But GKTW, with the help of an incredible amount of volunteers, make sure that Noah and so many other children don't have to wait. They get to celebrate one more time! The tears come even as I write this...it was just such a special night for us...words cannot describe. The memories from this evening we will treasure always.
I am sure we all fell into bed that night, exhausted once again. Tomorrow Islands of Adventure awaits...

Marc's Dino Putt & La Ti Da Spa

2009-05-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

When we got back from Dinoland, there was a gift waiting at the villa. Today it was a big duffle bag to help transport all our new treasures home. Noah had a short nap, we vegged for a bit, and then off again for a round of mini golf at Marc's Dino Putt. What a neat place with fun dinosaurs, caves, waterfalls and lots of little surprises along the way. You never know which one will shoot water or start smoking!

Brad needed to catch up on some work on the computer, so the kids and I went to the La Ti Da Royal Spa. In keeping with GKTW's theme, this is a special spa created just for kids. (Yep, this place thinks of everything!!) There were massages, tattoes, face painting, nails and makeup. Everything you need to fulfill the fantasy of every little girl, and fun for the boys too...

The kids picking out their tattoos...We tried tatooing a sunflower on Noah. He was very unhappy about the whole thing, and ended up with just a yellow blob on his arm. He was feeling pretty crummy though, with a runny nose and terrible cough, so that was the extent of his spa experience.Kailyn having her makeup done...The kids were able to choose from a wardrobe of dressup clothes. Josh had to be a race car driver of course...Kailyn after her makeover...After the mini makeovers, there were more gifts for the kids. A pony for Kailyn and transformer cards for Joshua and Noah... We loved the spa...very relaxing, beautifully done, and the kids enjoyed all the special attention. A nice way to spend an hour. But the best part of the day was yet to come. As we were enjoying the day, GKTW was being transformed into a Winter Wonderland...

Day 3 Gatorland

2009-04-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

After a well balanced lunch of ice cream and m&ms...
It was off to Gatorland...

You could purchase hot dogs to feed the gators. Look closely at it's head. Think they were a bit overfed??

The gator jumping show...Apparently sometimes they will jump right out of the water for the chicken, but this was about as high as they went that day.This was an interesting place to visit and we enjoyed seeing the Albino gator. Fun and relaxing for a couple of hours, but likely not a place we would rush to go back to. Loved this sign...After a fun afternoon, we headed back to GKTW for our appointment at the Spa and then Christmas!

Day 3 Stars & Pillows

2009-04-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

The castle of miracles...

Each wish child is given a star when they arrive. The wish child takes it to the castle, signs their name (Noah got some help from big sister)...
and sends the star to the Starfairy...

with lots of love and special wishes...
The Starfairy takes the star, and the next day, the star will be on the ceiling with the thousands of other stars already up there...
It is an overwhelming moment, surrounded by the stars...each one representing the children who have come before us...each child with their own journey. Noah's star will remain there and we can come visit it anytime we go back to Florida. Noah's star is on the hanging banner that the volunteer is looking at. They have had to bring in these banners, as their ceiling is already full!

At orientation, each of the kids also recieved a certificate to make a pillow from the pillow factory. Yes, this place thinks of it all! First you pick the kind you would like...
Then press the buttons as much as you can to stuff it...

The machine starts making noise and blowing out bubbles (Noah's favorite part!)...
And out pops a pillow!! The finished products...

After stars and pillows, it was playtime in the castle. Jolly Hollow is a play area with a slide and special caves to hide out in... The Fe-Fi-Fo-Fun Room... Noah's favorite part of the castle was the silly drawers that make all kinds of wacky sounds when you open them. Combine fun sounds with opening drawers, and you have Noah's perfect toy! The magic mirror. If you look closely in the reflection you can see the crown on Kailyn's head...

The magical wishing well. Throw your money in and you never know what you might hear from deep inside the well. All kinds of suprise noises come out of it. Of course, pennies are supplied, as no money is required here...

After we'd seen the castle, we decided to get some lunch and grab some complimentary tickets to check out Gatorland.

Day 3 GKTW Character Meet

2009-04-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add that at the end of our day yesterday, there was a gift waiting for the kids on the table of our villa. (I think that night they got 5 DVDs). This happened every day, and it there was always lots of racing to get into the villa and see what was on the table.

After our exhausting day, and another night of rough sleep for Noah & I, we decided to not push Noah too hard with another big park day. So we enjoy a leisurely breakfast at the Gingerbread House (mmm...those waffles with strawberries and whipped cream were the best!), and a couple of rides on the carousel, and then it is off to the theatre. Every Thursday morning, Disney sends some of their characters over to GKTW. Today it was Goofy...

Belle...
Pluto...

And inside the theatre were those famous mice again...

Minnie was quite tickled when she saw Kailyn's outfit...After hanging with the characters, the kids rode the cars at the House of Hearts, and then we checked out Amberville again...

Then it was off to the castle for stars and pillows...

Toontown

2009-04-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

In toontown we toured Mickey and Minnie's houses...oh to be a toon!!

When we reached the big character greet tent, we were immediately spotted by a CM, who took us directly behind the scenes and straight in to meet the fairies... Noah was not too impressed by the fairies, but they sure loved over him. I have to say, I was most impressed with Tinkerbell!! She did an amazing job and Noah got lots of extra love and kisses from her...

After the fairies, we were taken directly in to meet the Princesses...

Then it was time to meet the big guy himself (oh, and Minnie too, of course)... I think Toontown is where we saved the most time. The lines for each of these characters was well over an hour EACH! We were able to see them all in about 20 minutes.

After the photo sessions, we had one more land to hit...Fantasyland...where I guess we were pictured out...I took only 1 picture here!! What was I thinking??? We hit all the rides and Noah was able to ride them all which he loved. So here is my lone picture on It's A Small World...

After catching the fireworks, we were officially beat...back to GKTW where we ordered pizza (free of course) and crashed.

Be sure to check out the comments on the last post. So very special to hear from Matthew's Dad! Thank you for what you have done for wish families! Priceless.

Magic Kingdom Cont'd

2009-04-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

After Crystal Palace, we decided to head over to some of the bigger rides and do some child swaps, since Noah was sleeping. So off to Splash Mountain and then Thunder Mountain, a favorite in our family, where we got a nice big dose of pixie dust. When the CM loading the ride saw our button, he asked if we wanted to ride twice in a row...of course, a resounding yes from us! They ended up letting us ride 4 times in a row without getting off!! This was a ride with a 60 minute wait!! To see their pure joy at this extra special VIP treatment...so priceless... wish I had taken pictures there.

When we finally got through riding the mountains, the parade was going, so we caught the tail end of it as we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise. Noah is STILL sleeping, so we took turns riding with the other kids. We still had Fantasyland and Toontown to do yet, but I didn't want Noah to miss out on it, so we decided to go find the Wish Lounge (a private lounge just for wish families) and take a break.

We made ourselves right at home...the kids watched part of a Disney movie, played with some toys and there was juice and bottled water in the fridge for us. We were told that there is usually a Disney CM there with you, but there was no one there that day. The nurse from the first aid let us in, and we had the place to ourselves. It was so nice to have this quiet place to relax...

The kids loved playing on the magic carpet...

We rested until Noah finally woke up. He still didn't look great, but I was hoping that he was just catching up from our long traveling day.

Once we'd all recharged, we set out for more. Got some more pictures taken at the castle. I am so glad we bought the photopass and actually have some family pictures...

Off to Toontown to meet the famous mouse...

Day 2 Magic Kingdom

2009-04-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

Morning comes far too early. The night was rough...Noah had alot of trouble sleeping...which meant I had alot of trouble sleeping. He kept waking with difficulty breathing and needing his Ventolin. It was at this point that I began to get a bit worried...perhaps it was just an off night??? Still...there was that nagging feeling that Noah wasn't quite right. It was proving to be a bit of a challenge getting him up and going that morning, and so we decide to order the breakfast cart instead of going to the Gingerbread house.

We loved the breakfast cart! You just dial the phone to order it, and a volunteer shows up outside your villa with coffee, pastries, bagels, fruit, yogurt, cereal, milk and juice. How neat is that?? Later in the day, it becomes the cookie cart, and they drive around the resort serving cookies...mmmmm...After we have stuffed ourselves full, we pack up and head to the Magic Kingdom!!
I think I almost shed some tears when we first saw the entrance sign. Disney is just so...magical. It has such a special place in my heart and it always will...some of our best memories are from Disney. It is not often these days that we can feel like a normal family, just hanging out and having fun. But Disney does that for us...they make it easy...so we can just be a family...enjoy each other...laugh...have fun.

First stop...Guest Services to get a special stroller tag. This tag allowed us to use Noah's stroller as a wheelchair (what a lifesaver this was!). We already had our special Guest Assistance Card from GKTW, and Noah's special GKTW button. All we had to do was show these to the CM at the entrance of each attraction, and they would do what they could to expedite things. Usually that meant going straight to the front of the line, sometimes it meant going through the fast pass line, but rarely did we wait in line for anything!!

Walking out of Guest Services, we ran into Pinocchio...

Main street...stop for pictures with our photopass in front of the castle...

We decide to head to Tomorrowland first...we baby swap and ride Space Mountain. As we were going in, two children came over and handed the kids their balloons. Not sure if it was because they saw our buttons, but it was very sweet and the kids were thrilled!! Then it was off to Buzz Lightyear and Transit Authority. Noah loved Buzz, but the Transit ride was too dark for him and he was not happy. So I decided to take a break with Noah, while Brad and the kids ride the cars at the Indy Speedway. By this time, it is getting close to our special character lunch at Crystal Palace, so we start to head out. But wait, there is Stitch & Buzz...

After some pictures, we head to the Crystal Palace...this lunch was set up for us by the wish foundation, so Noah would be sure to meet his Tigger. But he was already looking really tired and his nose was running like crazy. I was getting worried that a restaurant might not be such a good idea. Restaurants are difficult at the best of times with Noah, since he doesn't eat, it can be hard to keep him entertained for a long period of time. But we really wanted Noah to meet Tigger!

Lunch was all-you-can-eat buffet style...very yummy, although I think our kids barely ate a couple of bites. They were far too intrigued with the characters. First up was Pooh Bear...

Noah was still wide awake at this point and thrilled with Pooh. They spent lots of time fawning over each other...

Next up...Eeyore...He was so sweet to Noah!

Noah was getting droopier here, but still enjoyed playing with Eeyore. Love this picture of Joshua...

Piglet wandered over next...
At this point, Noah starts losing it...he is tired and obviously not feeling well...Just a bit longer, Noah...Tigger is on his way...But our window had closed...Noah slept through the rest of the meal. I was SO disappointed as I had wanted to get some great pictures of Noah and Tigger. After all, this was Noah's wish...Despite the disappointment of Noah missing out on Tigger, we had some great character interaction, the palace was beautiful and the food was excellent. But no lingering over this meal...still so much to see...

Day 1 GKTW Cont'd

2009-04-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

After we had our fill of the train, it was time to check out Matthew's Boundless Playground. This is an amazing, fully wheelchair accessible, play structure. It is set up like a giant Candyland game board. It was so neat to be able to bring Noah right up to the top in his stroller.

We had tons of fun getting to know Mary better and checking the place out with her.

After a while, we figured we'd better go find Brad, who should be done with orientation by now. So after dragging the kids away, we headed back. But, hey, the carousel is running! We had to stop for a ride or two...

Fully wheelchair accessible of course...

The carousel turned out to be Noah's absolute favorite thing to do at GKTW. We have been working on teaching him a bit of sign language, and he began signing "more" on the carousel. By the end of the week, he would sign "more" throughout the entire ride.
We finally find Brad again, who's been missing out on all the fun. He got all our tickets and Noah's special magic button (more about that later), so we are set! Now we haven't eaten enough yet today, so it is off to the Gingerbread house for some dinner.

If you look up, the shelves are lined with hundreds of dolls, all donated by previous wish families.

Perkins restaurant supplies a different food feature each night (buffet style, with a separate special kids buffet, and if that's not enough, a yummy dessert buffet as well). Tonight is Mexican night. Of course, you are not allowed to serve yourself here. Everything is done for you...someone even carries our trays to the table. There were even volunteers to sit with the kids if Brad & I wanted to go get more food...we LOVED that!!

Everything in the gingerbread house is made for the kids. The chairs and tables are all kid size. And if you look closely at the tabletop you can see that they are all made up of candies!
And who did we run into on our way out of the Gingerbread House?? The mascots of GKTW...Mayor Clayton and Miss Merry!

By this point, we were all beginning to feel the lack of sleep. But there is a party going on at the theatre. It is Family Fun Night and a magician is getting ready to perform. So we can't leave without checking it out...

Inside the theatre is a fully stocked concession stand...yes, more food!! By this time, Brad & I cannot even think about eating. But of course, we get the kids some popcorn and slushies, the kids make some Pucker Powder (tubes of flavoured sugar), and we go find a seat.

We are only there a few minutes, but the kids are all starting to droop in their seats, even with all the sugar in their systems!! So we decide to skip the magician tonight, say goodbye to Mary, and head back to the villa for some zzzzzzzz's.

One more suprise was in store for us...as we are getting ready for bed, Macntosh showed up at the door. (He is another friend I had met on the wish boards who was there with his family that same week). He had 20 trading pins for our family, donated by Mousepinsonline. For those of you who have not heard of Disney Pin Trading, it is this whole other world inside Disney, and it can be quite addicting and expensive! Kailyn & Joshua had gotten a taste of it during our Disneyland trip and were hooked. So we were all SO excited to have more pins for trading. Thank you Mousepinsonline for the pixie dust!! And thank you Macntosh for delivering them to us!

Finally, we get Noah's TPN hooked up and then it's off to bed. It has been an incredibly long, amazing day.

Tomorrow...Magic Kingdom!!

Give Kids The World

2009-03-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

"Imagine a world governed by a rabbit, where ice cream is endless
and having fun is a full-time endeavor..."

A bit of an intro for those of you who are hearing about GKTW for the first time...Give Kids The World (GKTW) is a 70 acre non profit resort that provides magical vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. This amazing place all began with the vision and inspiration of one man, Henri Landwirth. (To read Henri's amazing life story, from holocaust survivor to GKTW, check out his book Gift of Life)

As we get close to the village, Noah FINALLY has a quick catnap. Although I'm not sure how, with Kailyn & Joshua bouncing off the walls. Then we finally see the sign and the gate!!

From the moment we arrive, we are made to feel as if this resort is ours. "Welcome home!!" the gatekeeper angel says as we drive in...

First stop...the House of Hearts to check in...

And the endless gifts begin...the kids each recieve t-shirts, and stuffed toys (a Mickey Mouse for Noah and Seaworld dolphins for Kailyn & Joshua). Our villa was not ready yet, so we decide to go have some lunch at Katies Kitchen (a takeout window with food provided by Boston Market). After stuffing ourselves full of chicken, mashed potatoes, fruit, cornbread, salad and amazing cupcakes, our 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom villa was ready...

The fridge is stocked with drinks and doughnuts, and more gifts are waiting on the table...

Then it was off to explore the resort...

Ummm...kids???

We have this amazing place to check out, and they want to chase lizards!! Talk of ice cream finally lures them away! I had plans to meet up with a friend I had met on the wish boards (an internet chat board for wish families), and so I sent Brad to the orientation session to get our tickets, and the kids and I headed off. After a quick peak in the castle, we found Mary (maroo) and went to have our first ice cream...
The ice cream palace opens at 7:30AM!!! It is available all day long, as much as you can possibly eat! Although we did talk about having ice cream for breakfast, there were just far too many other yummy breakfast options, that we never did make it there quite that early!!My amazing banana split... Oh how I miss these!!!
I think this was the only ice cream Joshua had the entire trip. The rest of the time he would ask for a bowl and fill it with m&m's from the toppings. Kailyn had an orange sherbet that first day, and then she was hooked...only orange sherbet for her!! My only disappointment was that Noah could not enjoy any of the endless supply of ice cream. Thankfully, he has no idea what he missed out on!

After ice cream, we headed to Amberville, the train station.

Riding the boats (Noah loved these!!!)...of course it was ride all you want, no quarters required... Inside the station is the most incredible model train set. The pictures just don't do it justice. It is huge, and there are interactive buttons all around the edges to press that make the trains move, start the carnival etc. Pressing the buttons was one of Noah's favorite activities here...Kailyn driving the miniature boats...

And of course, then we had to ride the train a couple of times...By this time, the kids were in heaven, and I think they would have been perfectly happy to forget all about Disney and never leave the resort. And this was only the beginning...

Was this the end of our day???
Oh no...there is so much more!! Stay tuned for more of Day 1!!

And...We're Off!!

2009-03-30T17:43:00.001-07:00

3:30am came all too quickly, and suddenly it was a mad scramble to get up. Oh, how nice it was to just walk out of the hotel room and into the airport!! Going through security went smoothly, although time consuming, and by the time we got to the gate, it was time to start boarding. The flight attendants on our first flight were wonderful and very helpful and even presented the kids with wings from the pilot. Kailyn showing off her wings...

It was nice having TVs and movies to watch (we've always flown Northwest, with no entertainment) and Noah was very happy to watch his Treehouse the whole way (without the sound as he didn't like the headphones).
We landed in Toronto and the flight attendant called for a golf cart to take us to customs.

Once through customs, we grabbed some muffins for a quick breakfast and then it was time to board again. This flight was jam packed, so no special treatment. I thought the kids would all fall asleep, but nope...everyone was wide awake!! Soon we landed in Orlando, and were immediately greeted by our first GKTW angel, holding up a sign with Noah's name. (Apparently whoever took this picture for us didn't think Noah was that important!) She helped us get our luggage, find our rental vehicle and then left us with directions to GKTW.

The Night Before...

2009-03-27T16:11:00.001-07:00

It is Monday...the plan is to leave for the Sheraton hotel at the airport once the kids are home from school. The kids still have no idea about the hotel night! The day is spent with me crazily trying to tie up loose ends, and run around like a mad woman to finish our last minute packing. I must have opened each suitcase ten times each to check and recheck everything. But by the time the kids walk in the door, everything is packed in the van and ready to go.

The big suprise...I tell Kailyn & Joshua to go get changed as we are leaving RIGHT NOW!! First, the stunned silent look...
Then, it starts to sink in...We are leaving NOW???

Kailyn got so excited, she began sobbing!!

Noah...all ready, but not a clue what is all about to happen...

We load up into the van and head to meet Brad at his office. Then it is off to the Sheraton. We watched the planes for a while, ordered pizza , and then off to bed. 3:30am will come far too early!!