J's Trip report - It's Broke down again?? 3 rides and a plane ! Our Amazing Adenture

[J'sMum]

James Wish
Granted by the Dream Factory of Maine
WishFlight 2010
Give Kids The World​

​

Hiya, Welcome to our Trip Report Glad you stopped by. I will do my best to give this Trip Report the Justice it deserves. I say this because the events that went on was beyond anything our wildest dreams ever could have conjured. Never when this road started to be traveled had I expect such great things to unfold, such giving and loving people come our way. Words lack the magnitude of the gratitude we feel for everyone involved in making this Dream beyond anything my son could have desired. For everyone who truly made this a Once in a lifetime event, who made my son and my daughter feel so special You will forever be in my heart. Thank You to all of you.

Background – My son suffers from Crohn's Disease. That's his main diagnosis. Along with this disease comes a slew of complications. He suffers from chronic arthritis which depletes him of the ability to just go and run like other children. He tries his best to hide his pain but I realized the full spectrum of this pain during this trip.

I would like to share with you what he had said to me on a random day at the Villa in Give Kids The World. Someone happened to make a loud thud noise in the villa beside us. Now I happened to be in the bathroom at that moment refreshing my makeup and making sure I had nothing stuck in my teeth. Point of this is, I was behind a closed door when this Loud thud happened and it scared James to the point it caused him to have an adrenaline rush. I have been known in the past to pass out, so his fear and concern for me caused this particular adrenaline rush. I happened to hear him call my name so I immediately went out to check on him, he looks at me in such relief and says to me “Wow OK you're OK, did you hear that thud?” of course I replied and let him know I was OK he walks away turns to me and says “wow, I hate adrenaline rushes they make you feel all woozy, all the pain I normally feel disappears instantly that’s the only cool thing about them.” I know to most this does not seem like a big statement. However to me this is a huge deal. I know my son is in pain everyday, I did not realize his pain was 24/7 I am his own mother and I did not until that moment get the full jest of it. He hides it by far to well. Back to the subject at hand. He also suffers from Asthma and a slew of skin rashes due from the Crohn's. His Crohn's happened to not only be on the inside of his body but also on the outside. To help control this he goes in for infusions about every 6 to 8 weeks. This will happen until he has a reaction to this particular drug. So for now, it's indefinite.

James who is the wish child has a sister who is also ill. In fact she was always our ill one and James was always our healthy one. So god has entrusted us to care for two ill children vs 1. Bare with me here, I have an odd sense of humor but that’s what has made it so we hold together as a family through a lot of trials sent our way. I guess where we have done so well will 1 ill kiddo god decided we could handle 2? :} Why not, they say god does not hand you any more then you can handle right?

Go with me on this. I sway off topic quite frequently but I promise I will sooner or later return.

So you have James (Dream Child/Wish Kiddo) 14, Katelynn (Big Sister) 17, Dad (Tony) and Myself (Mum/Patricia) or Trisha or Tricia or Patty or Treasa.. Only nickname I run from is Pat , beyond that I am called by every name under the sun... Some I seriously can not repeat hahaha.

OK so you have why we have the trip, who is on the trip. Let me tell a bit about who is involved in making everything so wonderful for James and all of us.

We will start with the Dream Factory of Maine. The first person I spoke to a couple years ago was Mary who then introduced us to Chris. For sake of privacy I will leave last names out. Chris also introduced us to Abby. When James chose his dream Chris later contacted us and said James would be a good match to do the Annual WishFlight event that Something Maagic Foundation in conjunction with American Airlines and the American Airlines Credit union puts on. Absolutely amazing folks at American Airlines, I can not even begin to give them enough credit but I will do my best as the story unfolds. When Chris told us there was a place called Give Kids the World we of course had to look it up on the net which then led us to the Disboards where I have met some of the most wonderful people as well. Disboutiqeers Big Give was a huge roll in making this a fabulous trip as well. And I can't forget to mention LL-Bean. They were so gracious as to donate us a set of luggage along with 2 wonderful roll bags with wheels with the kids name on it.

You see, we as a family have never traveled, never been on vacation had never had a family picture taken. Always wanted to, just as many families with ill children know money is tight and sacrifices have to be made in order to survive. I know more was involved in all of this then I have mentioned and I do apologize, But I want to Thank each and every person who happens to fall in the behind the scenes that helped make this event for our family happen. I say our family because what started out as a Wish for my son, Turned out to be something that included our entire family and dreams for each one of us was answered at the same time. For that I will forever be grateful. You gave back to us an old saying we had started to lose. “For every bad there is a good, sometimes you just have to be patient to see it” We have this back. Now if we could trade this off and have healthy kids vs a trip of a lifetime. You know without a shadow of a doubt we would choose healthy kids in a heartbeat. However, seeing as that was not an option, we feel beyond blessed too be part of this. We feel honored to be included in such an amazing event. I can not say this enough.

Another thing before I actually begin the trip portion of this Trip Report. Personalities. I think I need too give a quick synopsis of our family personality along with individual personalities. We will start with James. James is a goofball at home and with those he knows VERY well. However he is very reserved any other time and has a very large shy streak. We knew he was not used to being put at the center of attention. So to be honest we was unsure exactly how he would react. Katelynn is shy. Normally will not talk to strangers and Normally does not HUG even with Mum & Dad hugs be scarce and she's been that way since itty bitty. Dad. LOL oh poor shy Dad. Defiantly does not like being center of attention or anywhere near center of attention. Then you have me. I am shy but try my best not to be. I am not graceful what so ever and am so camera shy it is not funny. So between the two Pictures normally does not come out well at all. So all in all you have 1 shy and reserved family hahaha which makes some of this all the more comical.

OK well, Thats a bit longer of an intro then most wanted I am sure. If you are still with me Great ! You get a gold star for amazing patience for this self proclaimed babble queen. Instead of lets get ready to rumble... or lets get ready to party... We will go with Let's get this Trip Report started. :} Maybe I need to be the self proclaimed queen of lame humor?

 

[J'sMum]

Day 1. Thursday September 30th, 2010

The day finally arrived. Kids were excited, Mum was nervous, Dad was simply OK the limo is going to draw an awful lot of attention. HAHAHA you think? Lol our lil quiet dead end road in a place often referred to as a village? Why yes James is royalty today !

We had Tony's Mum & Dad, Our neighbor Mary Anne, Our Daughters Boyfriend Dana, His sister Katie and their Mum Debbie who also happens to be a new best friend gained when they recently moved into the neighborhood.

For an unplanned send off it was a lovely lil gathering

So, In the limo we go, and on to Portland to pick up Mary (Dream Factory of Maine) who will travel with us from Portland to Boston! Now anyone who knows me knows I suffer from a slew of anxiety issues. One of them being travel on the interstate. I admit. I did start to have a panic attack when we took off on the trip. Silly Silly me. However, I wanted to mention how great it was to have Mary with us on the trip down. We talked about a lot of different things on the trip down to Boston and before you know it. We were at the Hampton Inn where we was to meet Chris.

WIND ! Oh My Goodness. Leave it to us to have to leave in the middle of a tropical storm. Or the skirts of a tropical storm, unsure which really. In any case it was WINDY! Understatement let me assure you. The hotel was a great place people were very pleasant who worked there and breakfast was plentiful. And the coffee. For non home coffee. Not too shabby at all Loved the fact they had vanilla creamer which is a staple for me unfortunately atm I have no pictures of us outside of the Boston hotel! Duh I should have taken a picture. Chris was waiting there for us which was awesome and she even had 2 balloons, 1 for each kiddo. As Katelynn so graciously showed off !

For supper that evening we had the choice of going out, eating at the hotel restaurant or ordering in food from a semi fast food place. Of Course my kiddos chose to order food in vs go out to eat. To be honest I think they chose this route because they thought it would be cheaper. But Drats It would have been fun to eat out hahaha I think Mary would have agreed! James seemed to enjoy his pizza as he ate almost the entire thing himself which set the trend for a week of too much milk. He's only suppose to have a ½ cup of milk a day... Was a great start to the trip

 

[xanphylus]

wahoo! you started!! I can't wait to read it- I just had to write this first!

 

[J'sMum]

Day 2 Friday - October 1st, 2010

Let the real fun begin. This I will warn you will be a long entry as so much went on in 1 day. I also believe that the biggest magic of the week also happened on this day.

Wind is still ripping. I was actually worrying about everything. Worried flight would be delayed. Worried it wouldn't be delayed and that we would crash on take off. You name it I thought of it.

We grab our luggage meet Chris and Mary at the hotel door and off we go on the Hotel Shuttle for Boston Logan Airport and the start of the Something Maagic WishFlight with American Airlines.
Words can not express just how huge this event was. Along comes 2 people dressed up as Harry Potter Characters which was way cool, and some other folks as well. I do apologize for not recalling names. I am completely a face person. So off we go to drop luggage off at the check in spot which we then stop for pictures. I have not yet seen these so they will not yet be included in this.
From here we went to Security. Most people dread this. I had only flown once before and security took almost a good hour. Not this time. They had an empty security area set up Just for James and us. We did absolutely everything every passenger has to do. Take shoes off set our stuff in the bins. Difference is. No Lines No waiting and treated like 100% royalty. Kids will not understand the spectrum of this event until someone later down the road when they get the opportunity to fly again as a regular Joe. This flight I know has tainted them in so many ways. Not that that is a bad thing haha but I know for a fact that they will recall this event each and every time they fly. So after we go through security they take us to a VIP lounge. To be honest with you I did not know places like that exist in airports... As you can tell I am far from a seasoned traveler. Tony was very excited about the remote control that looked like a controller to some elaborate video game. Silly folks handed it to him with permission to play with it. Luckily he was distracted enough not to abuse it! We had an amazing view of planes taking off which made my tummy spin when each one did. They were very courteous in offering water tea soda coffee, you name it they offered it. They even had a princess stop in for Katelynn ! Which this is one of those times I wish she had been less shy hahaha. We have all learned years ago how not to react at all in any situation. We always react after the fact. . So after a short spell and washing hands In mouthwash by accident vs soap they take us down to the terminal where a fantastically huge party was waiting! Decorations galore, Pizza ! Cake ! Banners n balloons and loads of people. Was positively overwhelming and I prob looked upset to most nearly everyone. I was not upset. I was fighting tears in the worst way. All this for James, All this for our family.

Everything was so festive, warming and exciting. No matter how hard I tried to explain the experience words will do no justice to the magnitude of everything everyone had done to prepare for this. We met one gentleman forgive me as again I do not have name nor a picture at this time. He left an impression on me however. He was telling me how happy he was to be here and part of this event. That he came back a day early from vacation just so he could be a part of this. How many people do you know who comes back to work while on vacation for any reason? He did this for this event for my son? My heart just melted in gratitude. Another woman was hurt in the process. As I had mentioned earlier the wind was just ghastly and I am not 100% sure exactly what happened but as this woman was helping prepare for trip, wind ripped a door shut down on her arm (I could be wrong on series of events) but her arm was broken. She was more worried about the fact she was going to miss playing Hermini and giving James an excellent send off vs pain her arm was in. She even made It back from hospital jussst in time to say hello to James and wish him a happy flight. How many people do you know who break a bone at work and return just as soon as they are released? Not many I can assure you. Most would call it a day and head on home. I know I most likely would. So not only was Airport decorated, but the pathway to plane inside as well as the plane inside. Oh and I have forgotten to mention the First Class Upgrade. AMAZING. I only have a few pictures to share at this time but I am sure by now you are wanting a peek see

 

[J'sMum]

I forgot to share this image with you. This was the AWE in James' Face when he realised just how huge this event was.

Day 2 Friday - October 1st, 2010 Continued
Once settled in on the plane and trying to divert the fear of taking off in such windy weather the kids were brought up to the pilots area. James was then able to learn a few things from the pilot and co pilot and he was absolutely amazed by this experience. I'll be shocked if he doesn't now want to be a Pilot hehe. The ability to go up and see everything that the pilot works with sure made him feel special. Once seated and take off went well this scared mum started to calm down a group of men kept walking in and out of the first class section. Well I was unaware of what was happening. This is a huge pixie dust moment. Another moment when you are reminded of the kindness of absolute strangers. A group of I believe they mentioned 60 people were heading down to the Patriots game in Miami. When they realized what flight they were on and why this one was so special being a WishFlight they took up a collection for James. Over a 1100.00 was collected from this group for James. They give James the donation and then a few moments later return with a couple more hundred from a couple more folks unrelated too the Patriots Game Party. Between the money that Dream Factory of Maine had given and this Money that was given by this anonymous group of people It was more then enough to make a week of yes’s for James. One thing that the kids did purchase that they never would have ultimately had was an IPOD touch 4th generation. Better then Christmas by far. To back track a moment. IN the kids seats waiting for them was gifts from the Boston Logan Airport. James received a transformer that he was so excited about and katelynn was given a purse and a tiara/crown among some other smaller gifts.

Next stop on this trip was Miami. We landed and was greeted by a couple of men driving a golf cart dressed as a dragon. Not to shabby of transport let me tell you! Speedy lil dragon and saved us from walking quite a distance. Arrival to Miami party. OK by this point James was Very tired and his stomach was hurting him a wee bit more than usual. My guess is so much excitement in one day had already had happened. So an adorable clown happy as can be come to greet James and tosses sparkles / Pixie dust all over James.. Ouch he did not take to that to well. He was worried about his hat. Most expensive hat he's ever owned. Unfortunately directly after this happening he was asked to have his face painted. And he blatantly said no. Now I can understand. Most 14 yr olds especially boys don’t want their face painted. However the woman said No? Did you say noo? You are the Only kid to have said no all day, which then made me feel bad cause she seemed a wee but upset he had said no. Then someone comes over hands him a present then comes over a few minutes later says we will hold this for you. James had not had a chance to open it yet and he was a bit bummed that they took it away. After that he was just feeling a wee bit bad and thought he had upset them and that’s why they took the gift away. I reminded James at this point how wonderful Boston was and that the spot we was in had, had parties going all day long and I was sure they were just as tired as we was. I did go over an apologize for James saying no and explained that his stomach was in quite a bit of pain. The gentleman making balloon characters was amazing and he did squeeze a smile out of James The gentleman asked James what character he would like so James mention squid-ward from sponge-bob show. He said he wasn't sure how to do that one but he would try... Can you believe he did it!

Take off time again after a delay that happened due to the Tropical storm running up the east coast. Boarded finally and off we go we land some 37 minutes later in Orlando! We were greeted by a crew of people shaking bottles with something inside and clapping up a storm very warm welcome to Orlando. We look up and to the left and a security guard was holding a sign for us. He takes us down to the luggage area and then sends us on our way to find our way through the airport from there to find Rental car and our way to Give Kids The World. This part was a bit of a bummer because we had the wrong impression that someone would be with us all the way to get car and make sure we got to Give Kids The World. Not the case but that’s OK, A few Hours later we finally make it to GKTW and James was FINALLY able to get some food. He does not do well with lack of food and since flight was so late and it took us by far longer to navigate our way through airport over to Car rental and even Find Give Kids the World, Day 1 did not end as well as it had started but we were all happy none the less. WE were finally here and on vacation and an open schedule for the week because we Chose the motto for the week Go with the flow. That's just what we did. We went with the flow, no time constraints no rush.

So here is our late night arrival to GKTW as you can see we are happy yet tired ! Tony looks soo funny in this one. No doubt he has LONG DAY written all over his face. hahaha
So that was Day 2. Long day but a day full of amazement and a night with Pizza. The start of MANY Pizza calls in the week.

 

[J'sMum]

Day 3 Saturday October 2nd, 2010

Morning, Rise & Shine. We did not rush, Orientation was being held at 9am since we arrived too late to join the one from the night before. Tony had agreed to go to this; so while he did, the kids and I went to breakfast. Ice Cream For Breakfast of course. James had Ice-cream, Kate and I went for the breakfast option. I chose cinnamon rolls and bacon. HOLY BACON they gave a huge serving which I shared with James Not a bad idea mind you. Salty n Sweet mMMmm. The cinnamon rolls were to die for as they were so soft, warm and yummy. Just perfect. Was such a gorgeous morning we chose to eat outside in a huge ice-cream bowl shaped seat.

The excitement of the morning was just too much. The ability to sit there and wait was non existence. So what does one do in GKTW when you are suppose to wait patiently? Go to the playground of course. This mum was also a kiddo in the park. I'm sorry but this place (GKTW) will bring out the imagination and kid in everyone. No way humanly possible to stay serious in a playground set up to be an oversized Candyland game. I have to tell you, This is a moment I enjoyed just as much as the kids did. I played just as hard as they could. Now I do admit if any other families or children had been in the park at that given moment I most likely would have wanted to play but refrained from doing so. Having said that. The park was ours at this given moment. Of Course I HAD to play!! I ran I slid.. I swung. Yep. You had two teenagers and a mum all acting like toddlers at the same moment and loving every moment of it. I most likely would have embarrassed Tony had he seen just how kiddish we all were. Hahaha. Worth it though here are some pictures of our private park moment!!

 

[J'sMum]

wahoo! you started!! I can't wait to read it- I just had to write this first!

YAY Hiya ! wowwie yeah this took me longer then i realized it would lol . Once this is done I can get back into the swing of everything else. LOL but THis is a LONG Trip Report !

 

[J'sMum]

For today that is all I will post as It takes me awhile to upload photo's in the process. So tomorrow I will continue on with Day 3 *hugssss* to everyone

 

[xanphylus]

Loved it all! I can't believe how cool the WishFlight was111 That is sooo cool! They had Harry Potter characters and everything. It was amazing just to read about it. Very happy for you! And I really can't believe the donation you guys got on the plane!! How cool was that?!?!?

I would have played on the playground too. Regardless of other adults there! I probably would have gotten my face painted too.... I did at my DH's Christmas party one year- it was fun! lol

Sounds great so far and I can't wait to read more! You got quite a bit done too!

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Wow What a day of pixie dust for your family!!! Great start to your tr! I bet you all were exhausted that night! What a generous group of people on your flight. Definately a magical moment.

I am all about enjoying myself as much as the kiddo's I am one to swing, jump and play with the kids as well!!! INothing like a little fun in our lives

 

[15isto2]

What an amazing report so far. The story about the collection on the flight brought tears to my eyes

 

[maroo]

WOW!!!

What a start!!

First, before I forget - Don't worry about James refusing the face paint...Lauren would have done the same thing if she had been on Wish Flight (the real thing)...it took her hours to get her makeup right that day and there is NO WAY she would have put make up on. lol


Back to my other thoughts...

WOW!! JUST WOW re: the collection on the plane!!!! That is so totally awesome!!!!!!!

That has to be the best pixie dust (financially) that I have ever heard of on a plane. A stranger gave Lauren some money, too.


Looks like a great start to the trip!!!!!! I love the playground pics and the picture of James' face when he saw the Wish Flight party.

 

[Mom2mitokids]

Wow!! What a great TR so far. I can't believe the money donated to you. How awesome!!! I can't wait to read the rest.

 

[rcq925]

WOW

What an amazing amount of pixie dust you received at the airports!! Simply amazing and I have never read anything like it on a wish trip!!

Can't wait for the next installment!!!

 

[rcq925]

Duplicate post

 

[planningcrazymom]

Great start to your TR. Can't wait for the next day. WOW some major pixie dust while on the plane. I would have been in tears.

 

[fulseasmama]

Great start to your trip report. What a really magical flight you all had. Can't wait to read more!

 

[p00h4me]

Love the details in your trip report especially the pixie dust from fellow passengers on your wish flight! What a wonderful group of people from AA that made this possible to families that really deserve this special treatment. Can't wait to read what you all did the rest of your days there!

 

[cajunfan]

WOW! What a great start to your Trip Report! I can't wait to hear and see more! Thanks so much for sharing with us!

Lynn

 

[Shannon84]

I am getting caught up on your TR so far now and its great So glad to see all of the amazing things happening so far!! I cannot lie though, I think I would be overwhelmed at that point and wouldn't want my face painted either