A Wish Come True for Mikayla-IN Children's Wish Fund is her Fairy Godmother!

[2specialkids]

Mikayla is getting a Wish Trip from Indiana Children's Wish Fund! We will found out today we are going Sept 26 to Oct 2. Holy cow that is sooo much sooner than I expected!
Now that I've got that off my chest let me introduce you to our little family. There are 4 of us, Suzanne-the momma (that's me, lol), Jim-the daddy, Mikayla-the Wish Princess, and Nikolas-the "baby". Mikayla is an Aspie with mitochondrial disorder and Nikolas has many different health concerns. I'll go into more detail in a post or two.
Those who have read thru old Wish trips may be getting a feeling of deja vu...you should. Nikolas had a super quick Wish Trip from Make-A-Wish in 2009. Must be something about our family....
For this trip we have convinced Daddy to go with us so it will be extra special. Mikayla and I will both be posting on this thread so who knows what will be posted, lol! We know very little about what will be happening and if this will be similar to Boo's (Nikolas) trip since this is a different agency. (We do know that we will be at Give Kids the World Village.) Scary for planning people like Mikayla and myself.
We have decided we definitely need to do another trip binder and she wants to make some really nice photo memory albums so I'm going to be checking out those threads for ideas since I'm really not that crafty anymore.
Please feel free to ask any questions and I'm going to do my best to keep this updated as we plan what we can and find out more about her Wish Trip!

 

[2specialkids]

Good morning! Let me introduce our cast today.
Momma Suzanne -I'm a 42yr old mom of 2 children with unique needs. I work full time as a Medical Assistant and currently am starting Nursing school. I love to read and sew though I have little time for those leisure activities right now.
Daddy Jim -43 and one hard working dad. He's a master tile setter for over 15 years and is currently self-employed. He's also NEVER been to Disney! Boy is he in for a treat. We are planning to show him the BEST TIME EVER! (He's not excited...can't see what all the fuss is about. )
Wish Princess Mikayla -17 now and we recently found out that all her health issue are not in her head but due to Mitochondrial disease. We are still doing test to narrow down what is going on. Mikayla recently graduated from high school at 16-talk about working her buns off! She loves Disney as much as I do. She loves all the characters and movies but The Lion King, Nemo, Mulan and Ratatouille are tops on her list.
Little Man Nikolas -the baby-9yrs old now. He has multiple challenges and birth defects, hydrocephalus, seizures and mitochondrial disease. He LOVES Disney and thinks all the characters are there to see him, lol!
We've already started planning a trip binder and memory books for Mikayla and myself.

 

[Redwavess]

Good morning! Let me introduce our cast today.
Momma Suzanne -I'm a 42yr old mom of 2 children with unique needs. I work full time as a Medical Assistant and currently am starting Nursing school. I love to read and sew though I have little time for those leisure activities right now.
Daddy Jim -43 and one hard working dad. He's a master tile setter for over 15 years and is currently self-employed. He's also NEVER been to Disney! Boy is he in for a treat. We are planning to show him the BEST TIME EVER! (He's not excited...can't see what all the fuss is about. )
Wish Princess Mikayla -17 now and we recently found out that all her health issue are not in her head but due to Mitochondrial disease. We are still doing test to narrow down what is going on. Mikayla recently graduated from high school at 16-talk about working her buns off! She loves Disney as much as I do. She loves all the characters and movies but The Lion King, Nemo, Mulan and Ratatouille are tops on her list.
Little Man Nikolas -the baby-9yrs old now. He has multiple challenges and birth defects, hydrocephalus, seizures and mitochondrial disease. He LOVES Disney and thinks all the characters are there to see him, lol!
We've already started planning a trip binder and memory books for Mikayla and myself.

Hooray for a wish trip you must all be so excited (except for your husband it sounds like ). My husband is kinda of a low-key guy and we don't get huge excited responses from him either, but even he got excited during our Wish Trip about how great Give Kids the World is!! I mean what dad doesn't get excited by FREE... Free food, Free entertainment, Free tickets, a Free room...

Did you guys stay at Give Kids the World on your 1st Wish Trip?

Wow your dates are approaching rapidly... I guess that means you'll just have to plan fast!!!

A trip binder and memory books sound awesome!! Great idea!!

I can't wait to hear more of your plans!!

Happy Planning,

Madeline

 

[2specialkids]

Our first trip was through Make-A-Wish for son. We did get to stay at GKTW. That place is amazing! I'm hoping that all the "free" stuff will win him over lol. He still thinks we need a lot of cash to cover things.

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[2specialkids]

Ok doing replies from the phone may not be my best idea lol. I'll have to edit finish that last thought from home.
Anyway, I'm hoping that he relaxes. Mikayla called IN Children's Wish fund to ask some questions and try to get her dad some info but we aren't sure how much it eased his fears so to speak.
I'll have to post pics of everyone soon and of the cute memory books we got. We still want to make tshirts for everyone this time so she needs to decide on what she wants.

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[Redwavess]

Our first trip was through Make-A-Wish for son. We did get to stay at GKTW. That place is amazing! I'm hoping that all the "free" stuff will win him over lol. He still thinks we need a lot of cash to cover things.

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Here is to hoping (especially for your husband) that Children's Wish Fund will be as generous as Make A Wish and the full trip will be covered. Fingers crossed that you will know soon!! We only ate lunch at the park, breakfast and dinner we got free at Give Kids the World. Yummy!! We didn't spend any of our own money.

When my husband got worried about the $$$ stuff, I borrowed a line from the Big Bang Theory and would respond to him, "Said the Grinch to Christmas!" This is now a family joke!!

I'll drop back by soon,

Madeline

 

[katiee37]

Just joining in! I love how Mikayla is contributing to the trip planning! I hope you all have a magical trip--I'm sure you all deserve one!

 

[2specialkids]

Holy cow where has time gone! We leave in 3 weeks. Between her starting college a year early and me staring college a semester early we have NOTHING done. Trying to explain a Wish Trip to a college is beyond frustrating. They just want to know if she can postpone her vacation until a standard break. :/
Well we are getting a letter from Indiana Children's Wish Fund to explain a little and for documentation. She stressing which is making her sick and she's an hour and a half away. I just keep reminding her to relax. It will be fine. Now I hope it really will be.
On the plus side I just realized that exactly 3 weeks from now I should be in a van on our. Way to GKTW!!! I really need to plan with her this weekend when she's home. I think we will both feel better after a good Disney fix, lol!
Ahhhh back to work.

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[Redwavess]

Holy cow where has time gone! We leave in 3 weeks. Between her starting college a year early and me staring college a semester early we have NOTHING done. Trying to explain a Wish Trip to a college is beyond frustrating. They just want to know if she can postpone her vacation until a standard break. :/
Well we are getting a letter from Indiana Children's Wish Fund to explain a little and for documentation. She stressing which is making her sick and she's an hour and a half away. I just keep reminding her to relax. It will be fine. Now I hope it really will be.
On the plus side I just realized that exactly 3 weeks from now I should be in a van on our. Way to GKTW!!! I really need to plan with her this weekend when she's home. I think we will both feel better after a good Disney fix, lol!
Ahhhh back to work.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Hooray for 3 weeks!!! You must be so excited at your house!!

When we had an issue with the airline the MAW coordinator called and explained to them the seriousness of a wish... you know what I mean I hope. And that did the trick. They were apologizing and doing everything they could to fix the issue. Maybe it would help if the MAW coordinator emails or phones the school. Best wishes for working that out.

Yes I thinking planning is in order... for sure!!!

Happy Planning,

Madeline

 

[2specialkids]

Hi, just wanted to stop in and check out the thread. Yes, from the budget and check and everything we received, we should only have to pay for souvenirs beyond our allotted budget, and the extra tickets for Disney, since we've decided to stay an additional day Still extremely stressed out, because I have ONE PROFESSOR that just can't get it through her head- yes, it is a Wish trip like Make-A-Wish, yes I have a terminal illness that qualifies me, no you cant 'see' it 24/7, and NO, WE WILL NOT RESCHEDULE THIS TRIP. But I've decided to focus my energy on getting a little ahead on my school work, and planing this wonderful *twice* in a lifetime event So now we're planning a tentative schedule, as well as trying to find T-Shirt ideas and get them made. I know mom wants to plan a binder and such, but I'll leave that kind of thing to someone who knows what they're doing That's it for now, I'll post again a little later when I think of more things. Mikayla

 

[Redwavess]

Hi, just wanted to stop in and check out the thread. Yes, from the budget and check and everything we received, we should only have to pay for souvenirs beyond our allotted budget, and the extra tickets for Disney, since we've decided to stay an additional day Still extremely stressed out, because I have ONE PROFESSOR that just can't get it through her head- yes, it is a Wish trip like Make-A-Wish, yes I have a terminal illness that qualifies me, no you cant 'see' it 24/7, and NO, WE WILL NOT RESCHEDULE THIS TRIP. But I've decided to focus my energy on getting a little ahead on my school work, and planing this wonderful *twice* in a lifetime event So now we're planning a tentative schedule, as well as trying to find T-Shirt ideas and get them made. I know mom wants to plan a binder and such, but I'll leave that kind of thing to someone who knows what they're doing That's it for now, I'll post again a little later when I think of more things. Mikayla

Hi Mikayla!!!

You must be so excited!!!

I sorry to hear that you professors don't get the whole Make-A-Wish thing!!! But I think it's great that you are focusing on getting ahead in school work, I think that will help with your professors!!

Happy Planning!!!

Madeline

 

[2specialkids]

It's finally starting to come together. Mikayla came home from college this weekend (yes, she's in college, graduated at 16 left for college 2mths after turning 17). We got some shopping and planning done and I think we just might make this deadline after all
Mikayla went through the backpack Indiana Children's Wish Fund sent her and looked over her goodies and all the planning things they left her. She had a neon colored t-shirt for each of us, some information about GKTW, our paperwork, and a huge Walt Disney World planning guide. She proceeded to get out her Mac and start her Must Do list, lol!
This morning we hit WalMart. We bought the tshirts for all of us and the transfer paper for our family shirts. I picked up a small binder that is more travel-sized than the one I made before. This should easily go to all the parks with us so we remember everything we have on our "must see and must do" lists. I'm hoping to get to print out everything over the next day or two. Mikayla was looking at the one I made for her brother and started picking out pages "we definitely MUST have in mine" and the "we don't need these" pages. I think this will be a wonderful keepsake. We also got out our journals that will become keepsakes and started looking over all the scrapbooking stuff we have to begin making our memories.
It's getting close and I am starting to relax and get excited instead of stressed.

 

[Redwavess]

It's finally starting to come together. Mikayla came home from college this weekend (yes, she's in college, graduated at 16 left for college 2mths after turning 17). We got some shopping and planning done and I think we just might make this deadline after all
Mikayla went through the backpack Indiana Children's Wish Fund sent her and looked over her goodies and all the planning things they left her. She had a neon colored t-shirt for each of us, some information about GKTW, our paperwork, and a huge Walt Disney World planning guide. She proceeded to get out her Mac and start her Must Do list, lol!
This morning we hit WalMart. We bought the tshirts for all of us and the transfer paper for our family shirts. I picked up a small binder that is more travel-sized than the one I made before. This should easily go to all the parks with us so we remember everything we have on our "must see and must do" lists. I'm hoping to get to print out everything over the next day or two. Mikayla was looking at the one I made for her brother and started picking out pages "we definitely MUST have in mine" and the "we don't need these" pages. I think this will be a wonderful keepsake. We also got out our journals that will become keepsakes and started looking over all the scrapbooking stuff we have to begin making our memories.
It's getting close and I am starting to relax and get excited instead of stressed.

A trip binder... Wow now I see why you were stressed!!! Sounds like you put a lot more into the planning process then I did!!! I agree that it will be a great keepsake!!!

I'm glad to hear that you are feeling more relaxed and excited!! Hooray for wish trips!!!

Now her post about professors makes more sense now that I know she graduated early!! It must be nice to have her back home!!!

Good luck with all your planning!!! I hope it goes GREAT and stress free!!!

Madeline

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Hi, just wanted to stop in and check out the thread. Yes, from the budget and check and everything we received, we should only have to pay for souvenirs beyond our allotted budget, and the extra tickets for Disney, since we've decided to stay an additional day Still extremely stressed out, because I have ONE PROFESSOR that just can't get it through her head- yes, it is a Wish trip like Make-A-Wish, yes I have a terminal illness that qualifies me, no you cant 'see' it 24/7, and NO, WE WILL NOT RESCHEDULE THIS TRIP. But I've decided to focus my energy on getting a little ahead on my school work, and planing this wonderful *twice* in a lifetime event So now we're planning a tentative schedule, as well as trying to find T-Shirt ideas and get them made. I know mom wants to plan a binder and such, but I'll leave that kind of thing to someone who knows what they're doing That's it for now, I'll post again a little later when I think of more things. Mikayla

Hey Mikayla!!

Do you have any favorite celebs? If so, I was thinking about having them on your shirt. Also, what are your family's favorite characters?

 

[2specialkids]

Mikayla likes Lion King, Remey, Jasmine most Disney, Dad like Eeyore, Nikolas likes Cars especially Mater and Lightening, momma loves Sorcerer Mickey and Tinkerbell. Hope this helps! Thank you!

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[2specialkids]

OMGOSH!! I just realized that we will be driving to Orlando 5 days from now. It's been chaotic here to say the least lol. I'm working on Mikayla's trip binder and finally found the pages I was looking for. Thanks to IntoTheLight we have a wonderful design for a family set of t- shirts that I still need to print out and get ironed on. I have clinicals tomorrow then I have tons of laundry and housework to finish and packing to do. We're getting so excited that neither Mikayla or I are concentrating well right now. She's home to plan and pack then we both have school and I have work for a few days. I think I need like an additional 4-5 hours each day to get everything done lol!
Time to clock out at work then get home and really get busy.

 

[moe10378]

I have read your other trip report!! So glad ur dh is going this time!!! Our trips overlap!! We will arrive at Gktw Sept. 29!!! I bet u r super excited!!! I know we are!!!!! Look out for the crazy lady with identical twins!!! Lol

 

[Redwavess]

OMGOSH!! I just realized that we will be driving to Orlando 5 days from now. It's been chaotic here to say the least lol. I'm working on Mikayla's trip binder and finally found the pages I was looking for. Thanks to IntoTheLight we have a wonderful design for a family set of t- shirts that I still need to print out and get ironed on. I have clinicals tomorrow then I have tons of laundry and housework to finish and packing to do. We're getting so excited that neither Mikayla or I are concentrating well right now. She's home to plan and pack then we both have school and I have work for a few days. I think I need like an additional 4-5 hours each day to get everything fond lol!
Time to clock out at work then get home and really get busy.

Hooray for the T-shirt I'm so glad that worked out!!

Hooray that the wish trip is coming so soon!!!

Good luck getting the last minutes things taken care of!!

Madeline

 

[2specialkids]

I have read your other trip report!! So glad ur dh is going this time!!! Our trips overlap!! We will arrive at Gktw Sept. 29!!! I bet u r super excited!!! I know we are!!!!! Look out for the crazy lady with identical twins!!! Lol

YAY!!! We had another family there at the same time last time and it was a blast! We got to meet up during the evening parties a few times and Mikayla and I still chat with them online from time to time.
GKTW Village is an AMAZING place! Definitely take some time there to explore. Last time we would eat breakfast there, eat lunch out most days then came back for dinner. After that we would either attend one of the parties or do evening things in the parks.
The volunteers are wonderful! They will wait on you hand and foot-let them. They want you to relax! Many of them know what we do day-to-day and want us to have a break. That was REALLY hard for me. I'm used to pushing a wheelchair loaded with child and bags and carrying a tray and getting the door...they won't let you.
We are planning on showing DH the time of his life, lol! He still thinks Disney is like Kings Island or Universal. Those are great parks but nothing compares to Disney. It is the most family friendly place I've ever been or taken my kids to. I'm working on Mikayla's binder as I type and waiting until Wednesday is killing me! I'm ready to go now...I'll buy clothes when we get there.
Hope we can at least meet while we are there.

 

[2specialkids]

Ok I finally got some current photos uploaded to photobucket so here come some pictures! I'm still editing (and having my morning coffee) so this may take a bit to get them all up.