We woke up Wednesday morning still on cloud nine from the night before and feeling relieved that we didnt need to be anywhere. Still, we were all up by 7:30am and ready to go by 8:30. The night before, we had received a call from the front desk that we had something there waiting for us, and it turned out to be a gorgeous edible arrangement from dear friends of ours back home. Ali hadn't eaten much since our arrival, so it was perfect!
So, we enjoyed that before heading over to the ice cream palace for a breakfast of egg sandwiches.
After breakfast, we headed over to Keatons Korral to do some horseback riding with the girls.
It was amazing watching the kids on the horses. As long as the child was not too big, they did their best to get him or her on a horse. Both of our girls do like horses, so I knew they would love this. Ali used to go to hippotherapy, so shes been on horses before.
The volunteers were so caring and attentive and really just made sure it was a fantastic experience for the girls. Both received certificates and hats for their participation!
After the horseback riding, we decided to get the pillows and star out of the way so that we did not find ourselves at the end of the week trying to squeeze it in. We wanted to take our time and really enjoy the Castle of Miracles, which we had not yet visited. We decided that I would bring the girls hats and certificates back to the villa and grab the envelope for the pillow and star, while the rest of the family went on to the carousel and Castle. Im glad I did, because I got to meet Melissa! It was only briefly as they were in their car on the way out to the parks, but it was so nice to be able to put a name to a face.
Back at the Castle of Miracles, the girls were having a great time.
Youll begin to see a trend here, and that is Ali with her hands over her ears. She has many sensory issues, including noise. And, shes just a very fearful kid in general. The first night we were there, she decided that she was terrified of Ole Elmer, the snoring tree, because she was convinced it was growling at her. Every time we passed it, she would put her hands over her ears and start running. Imagine my surprise to discover that she loved playing inside Ole Elmer, though her hands were never very far from her ears. I guess it was her way of facing her fears.
Maya enjoyed the magic mirror and playing with the wishing well that made all kinds of noises, but Ali was feeling noise shy and stayed away.
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We do have one very blurry picture of her throwing a penny into the wishing well and then running for dear life with her hands over her ears, but thats it. She didnt even want to make her pillow and essentially forced her to do it, though she was a little more willing after she saw Maya make hers.
Maya got a Bugs Bunny pillow, and Ali got a Dora pillow, who she does not like at all. It was hard to have this pillow that was supposed to be so special that she absolutely hated, but more on that later.
After doing the pillow, we did Alis star, which once again, you can see she just was not thrilled about.
I think she was just overwhelmed in general, which made all of her sensory issues that much worse. She did finally make it with Mayas help and stood there waiting for the star fairy to come take it away.
We are fortunate that it ended up in a very accessible place, so it was not a problem for us to find it once it ended up on the wall.
In fact, my husband, who is 64, was practically face to face with it if he stood on a chair.
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And you are not a cornball - you speak the truth!
It was Ali's favorite ride, and actually, we stayed on it for several trips through. Stitch was a bust, though I don't think I could have convinced Ali that was going to be the case - Stitch is her "thing." Same thing with Space Mountain and Maya - she wanted to ride it and there was no telling her otherwise. Ironically, by the end of the trip, Ali ended up loving rollercoasters (Goofy's Barnstormer) and Maya wouldn't go near them.
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