In Our Daughter's Eyes - Emily's Wish Trip Dec.10-Jan.11 ALL DONE PICS ADDED p.16!

[merbobear]

I just sat here and read every update to your entire TR! I love it, and will subscribe now to follow along until the end.

The video your dh made for Emily is beautiful..my favorite part is at the end, the video of her just smiling away. It always amazes me when children who experience so much difficulty just have the most amazing spirit, and Emily certainly does.

Another favorite - the photo of Snow White blowing a kiss down on Emily at Akershus..simply a beautiful shot.

 

[Emilyswish]

I just sat here and read every update to your entire TR! I love it, and will subscribe now to follow along until the end.

The video your dh made for Emily is beautiful..my favorite part is at the end, the video of her just smiling away. It always amazes me when children who experience so much difficulty just have the most amazing spirit, and Emily certainly does.

Another favorite - the photo of Snow White blowing a kiss down on Emily at Akershus..simply a beautiful shot.

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I keep forgetting I never finished this TR!! And now it's past the 1 year mark!!! I miss Disney!

Anyway, thank you Merbobear for taking the time to read our story. It means so much!

 

[Emilyswish]

I'm going to steal these posts directly from my hubby's blog reports because I have just put this off for too long! Sorry. I want to come back and post pics, especially of the Big Give outfits that haven't been given their proper spotlight yet, but time is just not on my side, ever lately!!


Emily’s Wish Day 6 - (In Daddy's words)
. . . this is the rest of day 6, after our lunch at the Crystal Palace.

A costume change was in order!! We were off to meet the Princesses and Fairies. We met the princesses first after about a 10 minute wait and a frightening moment when Brenna walked the wrong direction in pursuit of a Mickey Mouse sticker. It was only about 5 seconds of absolute fear, but everything was in slow motion, just like in the movies. We met Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Belle (in yellow- and no, they didn’t think it was odd that she didn’t remember them from before). They spent SO MUCH TIME with us and the rest of the room was empty, which I don’t think is the norm. I know a ten minute wait isn’t the norm either, so needless to say, Aimee and I really appreciated the VIP treatment Emily and the whole family received throughout the trip, but especially the personal touch received when meeting the characters.

We had to wait just another five minutes or so to meet the fairies, where we met Fawn, Tinkerbelle, and Vidia. We especially liked Fawn and Vidia, because it was clear that they both really enjoyed their characters.

The highlight of our day came at somewhat of a surprise. I think the ride was called, The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and to me, it seemed pretty ordinary. We had virtually no wait and the handicapped car was able to have the bouncing turned off (thank heavens!). Emily absolutely LOVED THIS RIDE. I screamed ahead to Aimee (who had the other kids in a separate car) because Emily was looking, smiling, and audibly laughing pretty much the whole time. There were lots of bright orange and yellow things, which Emily favors, plus black lights, which really made them jump out. Aimee and I had sort of decided for her that Tigger is her favorite, but boy-oh-boy did she verify it during this ride! I was so excited for her. Don’t think us strange if you ever visit and we have a fluorescent Tigger picture and black lights in our living room!

Right after the ride, I checked my cell phone for messages as (my old friend) Tommy would have a two-hour break between 3:30 and 5:30 and I was hoping to get to see him. He caught up with us behind the castle within a few minutes and took some much needed “Facebook Update” photos (the only other shot we have was 14 years ago). The family took to him quickly, and we were able to catch up while we waited in line for the coveted Dole Whip. This was Aimee’s surprise for me: Pineapple softserve ice cream. I’d never heard of it, but certainly will never forget it.

After lots of peer pressure and a slight mockery by Aimee of a certain Jamboree, we decided to alter our schedule and visit the Tiki Room, which was really fun. I caught Brenna out of the corner of my eye clapping furiously right after the first bird sang. She (and the rest of us) thought it was really cute.
Unfortunately, Tommy needed to get back for his next shift, so we said our goodbyes. (It was great seeing you again, Tommy!)

We made our way to the Magic Carpets where Aimee, Carter, Brenna, and Drew got “spit on” by a camel during the fun flying adventure. Emily hung out by the exit for this one!

The Country Bear Jamboree was as much fun as I remembered and more fun than Aimee remembered. We both agree that your perspective changes when you have kids and you enjoy things because you see how much they appreciate it. This was especially clear to us during this last week.

This is the part of this post where I mention how Aimee and I scoffed at the idea of standing and holding a spot for the parade because everyone was getting cranky and the 45 minutes would have been not fun. We figured we’d be able to see the bright lights no matter where we were… (some of you may know where this is leading…) Aimee took Drew, Carter, and Brenna on Peter Pan as the last ride before the parade and fireworks and they all came out excited about it. Emily had been fading out and we really wanted her to be awake for the bright lights, so we didn’t push it.
We returned to the Wish Lounge for Emily’s care and drinks and I took turns running Brenna, Carter, and Drew to the restroom. The looks I was getting from the people sitting on the patio were pretty funny since I kept coming out of the door with a different kid.

When we finally made it out we started to understand why people planned their spots so meticulously. We couldn’t get near the street, which would have been ok if everyone stayed sitting. Unfortunately, everyone in the front stands up, and everyone in the second row on puts their kid on their shoulders. Thus, even Aimee and I couldn’t see and we were grossly outnumbered in the kid to shoulders ratio.

We wanted Emily to see it, so I held her up and Aimee took turns holding up each of the other three, but although this works in theory, there are several problems with this plan. One, neither Aimee nor I particularly enjoy holding children in the air for extended periods of time. Two, the two kids on the ground typically get bored since they can’t see and tend to wander a bit in a large noisy crowd IN THE DARK. And Three, as time elapsed, Carter, and Brenna were much less tolerant of being on the ground for extended periods, so they just cranky crashed into tantrums… meanwhile, I was stressed out that we’d lose a wandering crankster. This is where I definitely ended up being unhappy at Disneyworld. Now the bright side of all of this is that Emily loved what she saw, as did everyone else; it was just a bit of a letdown. The good news was that we were in prime position for the fireworks that would start in an hour. But… Now we were an hour hungrier and an hour crankier.

We went over to get hot dogs so we could come right back, but apparently hot dogs are in much higher demand right after the parade than they were 10 minutes ago, so we waited in line much longer than we expected. By the time we finished eating, the fireworks were about to begin.
Tommy had told me that we would be fine if we were in front of the castle. When we started to move that way, there wasn’t enough room to get the stroller through and we had to go back to the left and eventually just had to stop and watch because otherwise we’d miss it while trying to find a spot.

Again, Emily was awake throughout, didn’t seem bothered by the loud noises, and clearly watched the lights during the whole presentation. But it was a bit of a letdown after all the planning.
We talked about it and decided to stay for the next parade (I (Aimee)did NOT want to leave Disney feeling disappointed over rotten fireworks seats!!!!), even though we were another hour crankier and another hour loopier. We staked our spots on the sidewalk edge and joked and sang songs, and cuddled together waiting for our incredible trip end on a high note. It was SO WORTH IT. Cranky or not, it was worth it.

Wish Day 7

We ate breakfast, cleaned up, packed, went on a final carousel ride and checked out.
As promised, we took Drew and the money from his piggy bank to the Lego store at Downtown Disney. He was able to find some things he liked and we got to see some really neat creations.

On the way to the airport, Carter got sick in the car and needed to be changed, plus emptying out a rental car when you have a child who needs to be held and another who wants to be held is pretty impossible without other adults. All told, it took nearly an hour to get to the ticket counter.
Adam the TSA Agent came to our rescue. He escorted us through the checkpoint and carried Em’s car seat and two bags all the way to our flight.
Luckily, since the flight was full, we (and anyone else on the flight) were invited to check additional carry-ons for free, which made transferring to the plane and off much easier.
The flight was unremarkable; the ride home was quick and warm. I’m looking forward to going to bed after a long week wishes coming true. Thanks Make a Wish-New Jersey, Give Kids The World, and all the sponsors of these incredible organizations. We will never forget this week.

 

[blessedmom4]

I'm going to steal these posts directly from my hubby's blog reports because I have just put this off for too long! Sorry. I want to come back and post pics, especially of the Big Give outfits that haven't been given their proper spotlight yet, but time is just not on my side, ever lately!!


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Aimee, I know what you mean about time not being on your side. I am so thankful for you and your husband sharing your beautiful family with us. I look forward to seeing more pics and your beautiful children!

 

[Emilyswish]

Thanks Judy!

 

[KatMark]

I was gone to DW on a girls trip and still trying to catch up. Love tle latest updated. Sorry about the parade and fireworks. Thanks for sharing your beautiful family with us

 

[Emilyswish]

Aww, thanks! We'll know better for next time about the parade and fireworks for sure!

 

[marvali]

Aimee, hard to believe you are all finished up, and even harder to believe it has been over a year since we were both there at New Years! Even though we didn't get to pull off the DISmeet we had hoped for, it has still been great getting to know your beautiful family here on the DIS! Thanks for sharing all the wonderful pictures!

 

[that's nice]

Hey Aimee!

I had to go back and read the last few updates. I took a DIS hiatus after Christopher was born in August. I didn't have the time or energy.

Something came over Emily and she began to smile the biggest, brightest smiles we had seen the whole trip!!

I just love this picture!!! How great is it that Tigger came back for a few visits with her!

Thank you so much for sharing your family with us! Thanks for finishing too. I'll be looking forward to seeing the last few pictures!

 

[Emilyswish]

Aimee, hard to believe you are all finished up, and even harder to believe it has been over a year since we were both there at New Years! Even though we didn't get to pull off the DISmeet we had hoped for, it has still been great getting to know your beautiful family here on the DIS! Thanks for sharing all the wonderful pictures!

Thanks Marv! I'm glad we "met" too, even if it wasn't in person!

Hey Aimee!

I had to go back and read the last few updates. I took a DIS hiatus after Christopher was born in August. I didn't have the time or energy.

Thank you so much for sharing your family with us! Thanks for finishing too. I'll be looking forward to seeing the last few pictures!

I can definitely understand that! Thanks for being so loyal and following along til the end! Sniff Sniff.

 

[Emilyswish]

These pictures are from our meeting with the princesses, on Day 6 of our trip, after our lunch at Crystal Palace.

The girls changed into their Minnie Fairy tutu outfits from the Big Give by Wendy! They closed off the whole room and we had Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle all to ourselves!! So magical!

Hugs for Carter

The trifecta!!

Then we went to see the fairies (they were still in MK while we were there).

Fawn was cracking me up! She liked Emily's "flying machine".

Tink!

Vidia

A very special treat after the meet and greet!

A special moment with Daddy

 

[Emilyswish]

A genuine, random moment of sweetness.

Hugs for Drew

Can you find the hidden Mickey ear??

I wish I could remember what they were discussing!

The Fairies

She was honored to learn that orange is Emily's favorite color!

Inspecting Vidia's wings

 

[Emilyswish]

AFter we met the Princesses ans Fairies we met up with my husband's friend who works at the park. We went to the Dole Whip stand (Yummo!!!) and then we went to the Tiki Room. We went on Aladdin's Mgic Carpets and then to The Country Bear Jamboree.

Front row seats!!

I just loved watching them watch it.

After the Jamboree, we decided to try to get on a few more rides before SpectroMagic parade and Wishes fireworks.
We went on Peter Pan and then all 6 of us went on Winnie the Pooh. I'm so glad we decided to squeeze that ride in, Em LOVED it!! I think it was the black lights!

Unfortunately we cut it so close to the parade starting that we couldn't see at all. We ended up in front of the castle but behind about 8 rows of people!

Holding Em up to see the Spectro lights

We tried to find a better spot for the fireworks only to be redirected further away. We ended up on a bridge, behind some huge trees.

We were determined not to leave Disney disappointed! So even though it was very late and the kids were beyond exhausted, we decided to head to Main St., find a spot on the curb, and wait it out until the next SpectroMagic Parade. We were so glad we did because we had an excellent view!

It was almost 10pm when I took this picture, and they are still smiling!! I think you can see the "snowflakes" in their hair too! Remember, this was New Year's Day, 2011.

 

[Emilyswish]

We were late to bed but up early on our check out day so we could relish our last hours at the village. One more breakfast, one more ride on the carousel, one more stop for ice cream too!

Last picture at our cottage

Finding Emily's star on the wall

Just a few more spins . . .

A few more scoops . . .

Bye Bye GKTW!!!

 

[Emilyswish]

We left GKTW and headed for Downtown Disney. We probaly could've squeezed in our 2nd Universal Day or SeaWorld, but we had promised Drew he could go to the Lego store, so off we went!

The Lego Wall

We got lots of attention and compliments on our Big Give Mickey tie-dye shirts!!

And that's all!!!

So sad it's over, but so happy and thankful that we had a chance to experience Disney in such a magical way.