3 Pirates and a princess Trip report day 9

[buzz for boys]

First I want to say a massive Thanks for everyone for reading - I love reading the replies and u guys are a captive audience to my disney rambling
Now on with the report but be warned today was very emotional !!

When we woke up today Camerons eye looked fab and from this day till the day we got home we thankfully had no more problems

Today we were going to Give Kids The world - when we went to wdw in 2004 Cameron was seriously ill and we were told to make memories -just in case. Give Kids the world is a place where children with life threatning illnesses can spend a week and they provide the best base ever!! As part of the stay we got to put a star of hope on the ceiling in the castle of miracles. The purpose of a return visit was to find camerons star and to tell all the staff and volunteers that after our last trip that miracles had happened.
In 2005 Cameron was not fighting the cancer and chemo had done everything it could but was no good till cam starting to fight too. After our trip he changed and he really started to fight and the will to live was amazing!! Gktw gave him the will to live and gave us the hope that the impossible was possible and for this I will be eternally grateful.
I was dreading today as I knew we had to do it but also knew it was going to be very emotional - when we put the star on the ceiling we never ever expected to be able to bring Cameron back to find it !!
The staff were fab on arrival and said welcome home!! I apologised for troubling them and they said dont be daft u r family and are welcome anytime!
The first stop had to be the Ice cream palace where we spent every morning getting ice cream for breakfast !! Everything at GKTW is free and even on a return trip this was the case - i felt bad and offered a donation to cover what my kids had but they would not hear of it!!
The kids were smiling their heads off at the huge ice creams they were presented!! Then it was into the castle of miracles cue the tears after looking for around ten minutes we had had no luck in finding his star and I hd managed to convince myself it was no longer there then I decided if it was no longer there then things would go drastically wrong -totally irratonal but id been fighting back tears since we walked through the doos so eventually they were going to flow - the volunteer who was helping me look for his star on a ceiling that was now completly covered with stars was so nice she just said dont let him see u cry and I promise we will find the star !! And we did !!

After the kids had explored the castle again we went to the new playground which is amazing - its a giant replica of a board game called candyland, we explained we knew nothing about the game so we were invited back for the evening where CandyLand would be played on a grand scale!! Never one to turn my back on a challenge we promised to be back for the candyland game !!

Now as part of a return visit to GKTW you get a meal token and as all the kids were starving after running round the park we decidded to give it a go - it turned out to be a rottiserrie chicken and oh my god it was amazing - the best meal we ate all holiday

After filling our faces we had a go at minature golf its a fab course and we all had loads of fun especially at the end where a dinosaur pops up when u collect ur ball! The photos are the result of the challenge pretend to be scared by the dinosaur !! Again I was laughing my head off at the stupidity of us all

The giant game of candyland was fantastic you pick a card with a clour on it then move to the coloured square on the board easy except at gktw each child picks an action that you need to do to get there!! My kids are nutters so we crawled, ran, bunny hopped and even rolled round the park but hey we were all laughing our heads off so who cares?

Keira met the mascots of GKTW mayor clayton and mrs clayton and seriously loved all the attention!!

The boys had got enough candy to last a week and was running round after a beachball with one of the volunteers me I just stood in the middle of the park and smiled my head off. Disney thinks its got the magic but they are wrong the Magic lives here at Give kids the world !!

We left at 9pm and by the time we had got to the villa all the kids were fast asleep.

Day 10 HERE

 

[scottish mum]

AWWW it sounds as if you had a lovely day. It is so nice that you were all able to go back and visit and with your son too. That must have gave the other famillies that were there some hope.

I am loving reading your trip report and your little boy must be an inspiration to many. Kids really are amazing.

Hope everything continues to go well for your family

 

[SusanEllen]

Glad you warned about the tears so that I had a tissue in hand. I needed it by the second sentence. What a beautiful day of memories this was. Thanks for making it a memory for me now.

 

[irongirlof12]

I am not surprised that you were emotional. you have all been through the mill. Thank goodness for places like that. When you see the horrible stuff on the news every day, you do tend to forget how many amazing people and organisations are out there making a difference to lives

 

[Pinky166]

What a lovely day - I know it was emotional but for the right reasons as you were all back there as a complete family.

I hope you, Cameron & the rest of your family are able to return to see his star for many, many, many years to come. x

 

[Cyrano]

What a wonderful report and very personal Grateful thanks that you shared this.
The podcast team had a show about GKTW. I am so glad that I have signed up to the DISUnplugged cause by buying a t-shirt.
Hearing about the wonderful work they do and being able to experience it first hand through your report makes it all the more special

 

[Goofysmate]

Thankyou wanting to share this with us
So glad you found the star

 

[buzz for boys]

I did agonise long and hard over wether it was appropriate to include this day on our trip report but in the end decided this was a big part of our trip and a massive part in why we went to Florida in the first place and if I left it out I was not being honest or true. I have read so many trip reports and felt that if I was to do mine justice I needed to include everything
Please dont feel sorry for us this is our NORMAL!! Worries with camerons health is as normal to us as going to the supermarket - I actually think the day we dont have stress is the day we will be ill this is just how we function and there are plenty of people in much worse situations than us. We still have our son.
Im pleased to highlight the fantastic work of GKTW and maybe someone else will read this and know someone who could benefit from a trip to this wonderful village. I would also like to say a massive thank you for the donation that has been made following this report to GKTW in camerons name - Im truly touched that you have done that x
So big hugs back to you all and I hope that you will continue to read about our trip.
Louise x

 

[wicket2005]

Thank you so much for sharing this very emotional and special day with us.

 

[jockey]

What a wonderful day, very emotional

 

[mark&sue]

Thank you for sharing this day with us and coming back to add your explanation. so pleased that you all really enjoyed your holiday and yes this organisation really does make a difference. What a very special day for you all. so wonderful that you did manage to find Cameron's star.


susan

 

[MrsSparrow..]

I've just caught up with your trippie and it sounds like you had a great trip

This day was clearly very special to you and your family and this organisation and their work sounds simply amazing

 

[Tartan Tigger]

Thank you for sharing this day with us. It was so nice that you were able to return with Cameron.

 

[Snowy-girls]

What a truly magical day for all of you .I also thank you for sharing it with us.
So glad to read that there was no more problems with Cameron's eye for the rest of your wonderful trip.
Great pics by the way.x.

 

[Lizzybear]

A lovely day I bet in a way it's bittersweet because it was in terrible circumstances that you first visited GKTW but that first visit obviously gave Cameron and the rest of your family the encouragement to continue fighting.. What an amazing organisation

 

[Pegasus928]

Thank you for sharing this with us all. Its easy to take things for granted in life and only when we read of what others go through do we really realise how lucky and blessed we are.
GKTW sounds like an amazing organisation who do fantastic work to bring hope and miracles to many and I am so pleased that their wishes worked for you.
Plus your kids got ice cream - what more could they need

 

[raph_b]

Wow, what a lovely day Looks like you all had such a nice time

I'm so glag you managed to find Cameron's star too! As I was reading your report I was worried you wouldn't find it