Day 3 - DisneyWorld

Monday morning we were up bright and early. We met Mary Poppins, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy, who had come to visit the kids at the village. Madison loved Minnie most (girl thing), but had fun with all the characters. Austin and Zac didn’t care to meet any of them. (grumps). After meeting the Disney characters we had breakfast at the Gingerbread House Restaurant and headed off the DisneyWorld. First, we didn’t have to wait in any lines, with Madison’s Give Kids the World button and our Make a Wish buttons, the Disney employees took us thru the exits of the rides or to meet any characters and we were next to board. That was so helpful, not to have to deal with a grumpy 4 year old in a 45 minute line. Madison rode almost every ride there, with her dad. I love how they bonded during this vacation. J was her protector, and she was his little princess. They had a blast together. Madison was able to meet Cinderella, Belle and Aurora, and then she was able to meet Tinkerbelle, Silvermist and another fairy (I don’t remember her name). The first ride we took the kids on was a little roller coaster in Toon Town, they all loved it. Madison and Austin loved Astro Orbiter, Zac not so much. Madison HATED the Stitch show. It was dark and you are pinned down to a chair (that doesn’t even move), water is sprayed in your face, there was a stinky chilidog bump in your face, it was a bad “ride”. We didn’t take the kids on Space Mountain, Madison did not like rides that went dark for even a short amount of time, so a ride that is dark the entire time I thought would scare her. She loved all the other roller coasters and anything that went fast or high. It started raining so after a bit of shopping we headed back to the village for dinner and bedtime. (You'll notice the lack of pictures of Austin and Zac, they were both a little grumpy and didn't want their pictures taken.)

Madison with Mary Poppins

Madison with Pluto

Austin and Zac with Pluto

Pluto refused to let the boys get by him

Madison with Mickey and Minnie

Madison with Goofy

Madison on the boat to DisneyWorld

Madison and J – she loved the Princess Castle

Madison with Cinderella

Madison with Belle

Madison with Aurora – Madison’s favorite Princess

Madison with a Fairy

Madison with Tink

Madison with Silvermist – her favorite Fairy

Madison's first ride - the rollercoaster in Toon Town

Madison and J - race car buddies

Madison with DonaldDuck

Day 2 - Give Kids the World Village

The next morning (Sunday) we called and they still had not located out bags so we decided to spend the day at the Village. The kids had a blast. We walked around the village. It was so cute. The kids played in the arcade room, rode the carousel several times, rode the train, played on the CandyLand playground, and they had ice cream. Madison was able to place her star on the ceiling in the Castle of Miracles with the thousands of other Make a Wish visitors, all the kids made special pillows, and the kids got airbrushed tattoos. All the volunteers were so nice. We had our first “gift giving” knock on the door, everyday a volunteer would bring some kind of gift for all the kids. Our wish granters had warned us to bring an extra duffle bag for the stuff the kids would get, they were not kidding. That night the kids played in the “worlds largest” Candyland game the kids were the game pieces and would draw a card and run the game board, then Madison joined in the block party. She danced the night away. Austin and Zac played in the Candyland playground. Our luggage was located and delivered to the village during the day, and we had to get up early to meet Disney characters that were coming to the village so after ordering pizza for dinner, we all headed off to bed.

gift giving

our villa

the carousel and the Gingerbread Restaurant

the Gingerbread Restaurant

the kids

me and J

Madison writing her name on her star

Madison’s star

Zac making his pillow

Austin making his pillow

Madison and J making Madison’s pillow

Madison on the train

Madison and J playing pool

Zac getting his airbrushed tattoo

Austin getting his airbrushed tattoo

Madison getting her airbrushed tattoo

Zac’s tattoo

Austin’s tattoo

Madison’s tattoo

Austin on the carousel - always on the lion

Zac on the carousel

Madison on the carousel

the arcade

Madison and Austin on the train

Candyland game

Madison with the Frost Princess

Madison with Ms. Merry

Madison dancing at the Block Party

Day 1 of our Make a Wish vacation

It’s time to start posting about our Make a Wish trip. To start off we had a blast, even with the mishaps. We left Saturday morning, our limo arrived bright and early at 6:30am, we made it to the airport and our first example of the benefits of Make a Wish was getting to skip the long line of checking luggage, we were directed to a very short line and were not charged for my (overpacking) over weight bag. The first part of the plane ride was interesting. We were supposed to change planes in Houston TX. When we reached Houston, the airport was shut down because of a bad storm so we were directed to Austin where we waited a few hours then made our way to Houston. The landing in Houston was terrible, really terrible. The plane was all over the place. I was scared. Madison and Austin loved it. (To be a kid again.) We waited in Houston for a couple hours and arrived in Florida about 10:45 (Florida time) and went to get our bags. With all the issues in Houston our bags had not made it to Florida so I waited in a line to fill out the lost luggage forms and we finally made it to the Village at about 1am (Florida time). Even though it was a really long day, all the kids did great


Riding in Style - the kids loved the limo














Austin and Zac in the limo














Madison and J in the limo














Madison's first plane ride.
She loved the super fast takeoffs
and the bumpy landings

2 days until DisneyWorld

Last night we had our farewell dinner with Megan and Christy (our Make a Wish, wish granters) at Peter Piper Pizza. The kids found out that Make a Wish is sending us to DisneyWorld to grant Madison’s wish to meet a real princess. Everyone is so excited. I’m not sure if Madison really understands, but we will have a limo pick us up at the house at 6:30 Saturday morning (so early), we will be dropped off at the airport for an 8:30 flight, and we will land in Orlando at 5:35pm (a long day of traveling). Jason or I will have orientation at Give Kids the World then we will be off for 6 days of park hopping and lots of fun. I’m really excited to have this time with Jason and the kids.

I will try to be back later tonight to update on our Easter party for now a couple pictures from last night.

Megan, Madison and Christy

vampire teeth and huge glasses???

She's pretty cute.

Madison with her Make a Wish and Princess balloons.