Come to the Dark Side...We Have Cookies...(updates 4/3)

[Restrasz]

JJ has the most adorable smile! He is so blessed and so luck to have so many people to love, and so many people who love him! I love reading about all of his adventures!
Good luck to Grumpy on finding a perfect Disney summer job. Ruth

 

[lovethattink]

Tonight is the first play practice. It's a read through. Not sure what JJ will do since he doesn't have any lines. He is very excited.

I hope you are enjoying your day!

Hopefully I will catch back up soon.

Thanks for the Mother's Day wishes! Did you do anything special with your mom?

We didn't do much of anything yesterday. I was really hungry for pizza with mushrooms. We always get plain or pepperoni, so I got my special pizza.

We went swimming I the afternoon, but mostly just relaxed.

What a fun gift that was!!

Yes, very kind and generous of Lisa.

Posting this to all my friends who are REAL Moms! (My dinner is being prepared, so I may have to stop and continue afterwards)! LOVE the pics JJ and LOVE LisaM too!

​

Thank you! Happy Mother's Day!

First of all HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

JJ looks so very proud with his Buddy Ball award. As well he should be!

I'm so happy that you posted the pictures of JJ with his goodies that I sent him. His smile just lights up his face (and mine when I see them). I hate that I missed your call. As always, it was a busy weekend and I'm really bad about not keeping my phone on me or having the ringer on. I promise that I'll do better when we get to Florida. I can't miss a text from you saying that we can, hopefully, meet up. Oh and I saved the message on my phone. JJ sounded so sweet saying Thank You!

Happy Mother's Day.

He was proud, happy, and so excited.

I will have him call back sometime soon. He loves the Yoda bag. His very favorite things were the erasers. And he couldn't believe there was a ruler because we were going to go out and buy one because he has lost all the rulers in the house. He uses them for his crafts and math lessons.

Happy Mothers Day!!!


Jackie

Happy Mother's Day, Jackie. Reveal Day is a few days away, woohoo!

JJ looks so proud of himself with his trophy! sounds like a wonderful day!

how sweet of LisaM to send you and JJ some pixie dust! that's one happy little guy!

Last year awards were a bit of a bust. It was hot, he was having seizures, they ran out of food. This year's was excellent, well planned, he was feeling well.

He loves his new Star Wars gifts. He is soooo excited for SWW.

That is so great about the buddy ball!!! I am often amazed at the kindness and generosity of people!

Cool bags that you and JJ got!!!

I think it's great when someone has a passion for something that they are able to act on it. The people who help out in his league are amazingly generous.

Love the bags!

JJ has the most adorable smile! He is so blessed and so luck to have so many people to love, and so many people who love him! I love reading about all of his adventures!
Good luck to Grumpy on finding a perfect Disney summer job. Ruth

Thanks so much for taking the time to read along and post!

He surely is blessed. He is definitely a people person. Every day is quite an adventure with him.

 

[lovethattink]

May the 4th Continued (Dance Party)​

Before I get back to May the 4th, I just wanted to add they JJ had his first play practice tonight. They did a read through. Since he didn't have any speaking parts he got to sit and enjoy. What a talented bunch of kids they have there. Wow! I was impressed.

We also got the kid's schedules. Wouldn't you know it, JJ's only practices in May fall on Fridays that Goofy has off from work for SWW, and the one and only Friday that Goofy works, JJ has off. Practices aren't until evening, so we can always go to SWW in the morning. So it's not a total loss. But I do have to cancel my Friday ADRs.

I also have to cancel my ADRs for the last day of SWW. JJ has play practice for 7 hours that day. It's a Wet Tech day. He wasn't too happy when he learned about that one.

Back to the 4th, then off to cancel some ADRs.

There was a dance party. I was expecting a character as the DJ. We had heard that Lobot who is from Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back would be the DJ. I didn't expect to see characters dancing though. I had read that characters would meet and greet til 7:30. So I was expecting just a DJ and dancing. It was more than that! There were characters! Chewbacca, Zam Wessel, Boba and Jengo, Luke and Leia, the Modal Nodes, Jawa, Tuskan Raiders, Gamorrean Guard, Guido and Kit Fisto.

We started out joining in the dance party, but it was too much for Mr. JJ. All those people crammed in together, the loud music, the optical effects, etc. So we stayed there until he asked to leave. Then we found a less crowded spot where he could dance all by himself and see the characters. We met a very nice couple from Tampa. The woman's name was Melissa. We talked to them while JJ danced and danced all by himself. Characters and other guests came up to him and watched or said hi. He loved it.

Chewie and the Modal Nodes









This was hysterical. JJ took on a Tuskan Raider. I had to intervene. He was getting too rough and carried away.





Hey, Where's Waldo?





A guest


















From here we went to eat at ABC Commissary for dinner then found a spot for fireworks. Unfortunately I didn't like the spot that Goofy found, so we walked up towards the exit. It was wall to wall people, so we ended up back at Goofy's spot. It was the perfect viewing area. The fireworks were out of this world. It was so awesome to see them synchronized to Star Wars music. Jj noticed that some of the fireworks were bounty hunter symbols.

 

[mommy2mrb]

happy JJ enjoyed himself last night~
bummer about the scheduling issues with SWW and his practices!

love all the 4th photos! JJ looks like he had a blast!

 

[annmarieda]

What great pictures! It sure looks like a lot of fun. And fireworks? At DHS that are not fantasmic? That is awesome!!!

 

[lovethattink]

happy JJ enjoyed himself last night~
bummer about the scheduling issues with SWW and his practices!

love all the 4th photos! JJ looks like he had a blast!

I'm glad he did too. I was expecting the reading to be a bit boring, but these kids owned their characters, complete with accents.

What great pictures! It sure looks like a lot of fun. And fireworks? At DHS that are not fantasmic? That is awesome!!!

Yes!! Fireworks at DHS that weren't Fantasmic. They closed down a big section of the studios for safety reasons. TSM was one of the things they had to close. So was the Great Movie Ride. The fireworks were awesome. The crowds, not so much. It felt like New Year's Eve there.

 

[ladylyons]

Love all the pictures from May 4th!!! I really loved all the character pictures you got! I really need to get Jeremy to DHS for SWW!!! He'd love to do all that. I'm really going to push DH for that trip next year for Jeremy and I!

 

[kaoden39]

What a lot of fun!! I think it's great that the characters were out there dancing. What fan wouldn't enjoy that? Especially a super fan like JJ!!

 

[blessedmom4]

Praying for your friend and her son's miracle! Praying for JJ's theater schedule with SWW! Praying for YOU!!!

 

[lovethattink]

Love all the pictures from May 4th!!! I really loved all the character pictures you got! I really need to get Jeremy to DHS for SWW!!! He'd love to do all that. I'm really going to push DH for that trip next year for Jeremy and I!

Thanks. I hope you and Jeremy get a chance to go. I know he'd love it.

What a lot of fun!! I think it's great that the characters were out there dancing. What fan wouldn't enjoy that? Especially a super fan like JJ!!

He thought it was great for a few minutes, then too crowded and too hot. The spot we found away from people but where the characters passed through was perfect for him!

Praying for your friend and her son's miracle! Praying for JJ's theater schedule with SWW! Praying for YOU!!!

Appreciate the prayer. They are in a really rough spot right now. JJ will be able to be there the day Trevor is! That day is not mandatory.

 

[lovethattink]

Today was hot, hot, hot in central FL and humid. Even in the car it was hot. JJ really minded it. He said it was even sweaty in the house.

We are checked in, ate lunch at Wendy's, stopped by DHS, went swimming, grocery shopping at Publix and getting ready to eat supper. (Just a turkey sandwich from Publix in the room.)

Dh plans to be at DHS by 5am tomorrow. Though I read on the SWW thread that people were in line already at 4pm today for autographs tomorrow.

Looks like it's going to continue to be hot through the weekend. We won't be staying at DHS long tomorrow, we have to head home for play practice. We haven't decided if we are staying home to sleep or coming back to the room for the night. His practice lasts til 8:30pm. We will miss the first Hyperspace Hoopla of the season. However, if practice is as fun as yesterday's he won't miss it. He loved practice yesterday. He said it was the best practice ever.

 

[kaoden39]

Thanks. I hope you and Jeremy get a chance to go. I know he'd love it.



He thought it was great for a few minutes, then too crowded and too hot. The spot we found away from people but where the characters passed through was perfect for him!



Appreciate the prayer. They are in a really rough spot right now. JJ will be able to be there the day Trevor is! That day is not mandatory.

I don't like the crowds and the heat either. That sounds good to me.

Today was hot, hot, hot in central FL and humid. Even in the car it was hot. JJ really minded it. He said it was even sweaty in the house.

We are checked in, ate lunch at Wendy's, stopped by DHS, went swimming, grocery shopping at Publix and getting ready to eat supper. (Just a turkey sandwich from Publix in the room.)

Dh plans to be at DHS by 5am tomorrow. Though I read on the SWW thread that people were in line already at 4pm today for autographs tomorrow.

Looks like it's going to continue to be hot through the weekend. We won't be staying at DHS long tomorrow, we have to head home for play practice. We haven't decided if we are staying home to sleep or coming back to the room for the night. His practice lasts til 8:30pm. We will miss the first Hyperspace Hoopla of the season. However, if practice is as fun as yesterday's he won't miss it. He loved practice yesterday. He said it was the best practice ever.

Wow!! That is a long time to wait in line. I understand the 5am but 4pm wowzer!!


I hope that the weather cools for you. Heat like that sucks the fun out for you.



I hope that practice continues to be the best practice ever.

 

[blessedmom4]

Praying you are having fun. I am so happy you can work out the schedule for JJ to do everything he loves!

 

[ladylyons]

While I do love the heat, I to agree that it takes a lot out of a person. Glad JJ is able to enjoy both things he seems to love..... SWW and Theater.

 

[Lilfoot93]

Yay that we get to see you guys on Trevs Star Wars Day!!! Maybe it will cool down a bit by then I was looking at the extended forecast and it was saying mid 90's for when we are there! Yikes! Looking forward to meeting you guys!

Jackie

 

[lovethattink]

Dh is on his way to DHS. JJ is just too tired, and we know we can't push him. According to the SWW thread, the queue for Ray Park and the merchandise line are all the way to the boat dock. They start just outside dhs's gate on the right hand side. So Ray Park's autograph is out of the question.

When we checked into the resort, not everything was in working order. The tv remote didn't have a battery, so obviously didn't work. The freezer door was left open and there was a huge build up of ice. The refrigerator didn't work.

As I was heading to the front desk, I passed by a maintenance man named Ross, and he hooked us up with a battery for the remote. He was upset about the freezer. Said it's unacceptable and he was reporting housekeeping. We turned the refrig off and stood there with a blow drying to defrost it. He offered to go get a big fan to dry it out.

We turned down the big fan. The blow dryer worked fine. Thankfully the refrigerator is now working fine too!

We ate lunch at Wendy's before dh had to head to work. Parted ways and we headed to dhs to get JJ's GAC. His was expired and we knew today would be busy at guest relations. It took a long time to get the GAC. The whole time he used that handheld airconditioner that Judy had told us about and we bought. It works great if you just want to cool and inch or two of your body, lol. It was too hot to stay so we headed back to the resort to swim, but stopped at Publix first to get food for supper. Put that in the nice cold refrig and went swimming.

JJ met two friends while swimming. I through pool rings and they retrieved them. They got along great. The first friend he met was Leonardo who was 6. English was his 2nd language but they communicated pretty well. Leonardo wasn't a strong swimmer and his parents never touched foot to the water. JJ learned quickly not to get too close to the boy. His arms and feet went everywhere. I taught him how to use his arms to bring his body down to the ring. His parents clapped when he did it right.

DH just texted. No chance to get Ray Park or Jeremy Bulloch's autograph. The queues are way too long. He is in line for Dee Bradley Baker.

The 2nd boy, we never got his name, but he was a good, strong swimmer.

This time, a call from dh, he thinks he'll get the morning session of Dee Bradley Baker.

I don't like the crowds and the heat either. That sounds good to me.

Wow!! That is a long time to wait in line. I understand the 5am but 4pm wowzer!!

I hope that the weather cools for you. Heat like that sucks the fun out for you.


I hope that practice continues to be the best practice ever.

Today is suppose to be 88 degrees. It's 67 right now with humidity 84%. Sunday looks thunderstomish.

I hope he continues to enjoy practice too. Temperature wise, it's perfect. They keep the theater freezing cold.

Praying you are having fun. I am so happy you can work out the schedule for JJ to do everything he loves!

Appreciate the prayer. Yesterday was a much better day. My friend's son is in the hospital. Yesterday they allowed her to see him. She will find out today at 11 if he can be discharged. If so, he will go straight to special Olympics at Disney to compete. If not, he will have to stay in the hospital til Monday they said.

While I do love the heat, I to agree that it takes a lot out of a person. Glad JJ is able to enjoy both things he seems to love..... SWW and Theater.

He is very passionate about both. His director for the special needs theater and his stage manager from there are the same for Aristocats. They expect more out of him now, because he exceeded their expectations for RaFUNzel. He hit every queue, mark, expression, etc. His bar has been upped. They don't focus on what he can't do, they focus on what he can do and use those strengths.

Yay that we get to see you guys on Trevs Star Wars Day!!! Maybe it will cool down a bit by then I was looking at the extended forecast and it was saying mid 90's for when we are there! Yikes! Looking forward to meeting you guys!

Jackie

I hope it's not mid 90's, that would be miserable. It has been fairly cool up til now. There's been a few stinking hot days, but most of the days have had low humidity so it wasn't bad. Last night I did get chilled getting out of the pool.

 

[jmskinner]

I'm playing catchup yet again. Oh, I was so upset when I heard about the May the 4th events. Why couldn't they do this when we lived in FL? Looks like you all had a great time.

One of my DH's friends was complaining about the crowds yesterday on FB. Hope you all have a great time!

 

[mommy2mrb]

bummer about the hotel issues, happy Ross was able to help you out so quickly!
hope Goofy got the passs for Dee Bradley Baker!

great JJ had a fun time in the pool and made some new friends, but then when doesn't he make new friends, he's so sweet!

hope you have a fun day today and its not too hot for JJ to handle!

 

[ladylyons]

He is very passionate about both. His director for the special needs theater and his stage manager from there are the same for Aristocats. They expect more out of him now, because he exceeded their expectations for RaFUNzel. He hit every queue, mark, expression, etc. His bar has been upped. They don't focus on what he can't do, they focus on what he can do and use those strengths.

Glad you were able to get the room issues figured out!! That would be hard to go without a fridge while dealing with the heat.

That's awesome that they focus on what he can do and not on what he can't do!!!

Can't wait to hear more of what you're able to do during SWW!! Makes me think of ways to save money for that trip next year.

Wanted share our adventure today:

They say bad things come in 3's so I'm really hoping we are done for a very long time!!! First my DH sliced open his hand last week at work (no stitches were need thank goodness!!), then the accident on Thursday and now today Jeremy thought it would be a good idea to mess around on his bed (him and Sarah are in bunk beds and he's the top bunk) and he fell!!!!! He split his ear open!!! With everything going on and with us leaving on Monday for our cruise I really didn't need the 3 hour Emergency Room visit!!!! He is ok thank goodness!! He ended up with 8 stitches. I couldn't believe how brave he was. When the Dr was stitching him up he never moved but my poor baby did cry. Which I told him was perfectly fine because I probably would be crying too (and I almost did!!!) I had to stay strong for him during the procedure but later after all 3 were in bed I had a good cry. I really needed it. Here's how his ear looked after his stitches. (Before was just really, really bad. You could see the cartilage coming through.)





This one was taken while we were waiting for the Dr to come stitch him up. He wanted one with me. Jeff was at home with James and Sarah.

 

[lovethattink]

bummer about the hotel issues, happy Ross was able to help you out so quickly!
hope Goofy got the passs for Dee Bradley Baker!

great JJ had a fun time in the pool and made some new friends, but then when doesn't he make new friends, he's so sweet!

hope you have a fun day today and its not too hot for JJ to handle!

I'm playing catchup yet again. Oh, I was so upset when I heard about the May the 4th events. Why couldn't they do this when we lived in FL? Looks like you all had a great time.

One of my DH's friends was complaining about the crowds yesterday on FB. Hope you all have a great time!

Yes, he got the pass and yesterday he got one for Ashley Eckstein. Today we all went early and got a FP for James Arnold Taylor.

He never meets a stranger.

Yesterday was too hot to handle. One Man's Dream is the perfect place to cool down as is Darth's Mall.

We left the park when it started raining today. But before we left, we covered a lot of ground. We got the celeb FP, saw the rope drop show, signed up for JTA got the 9:20 slot, met a DISer at JTA, saw JAT, saw the roaming clones, ate at 50's PTC, saw the jawas, went to Darth Mall and saw Princess Leia and the Rancor, got green name tags. Whew, that was a lot of ground covered.



Sandra,

Poor Jeremy. That must have been so hard to stomach (the pictures alone make me queasy) and I would have cried too. I thought you were on your cruise this week. Guess I got mixed up. I hope he heals quickly. When does he get the stitches out.

I hope you and he can work it out to come to SWW next year.