MAW daughter with Rett Syndrome going to WDW!

[kayrosek]

Count me in. I can't wait to hear more about your plans. Khelsey is beautiful. I'm so glad she's getting her wish. I can relate to what you said about your husband. When I met my husband I was a divorced mom of three with one child in the hospital more than not. It was amazing to me to meet someone who saw past all our difficultys and treated us like we were a gift rather than a source of problems like my ex had. I can't wait to read more.

 

[luvmygrlz3]

Glad she liked it.

Here are some other apps she might like when she gets her own.

1. Piano Cats Free - this one has white cats and black cats that act as the keys on a piano. They ‘sing’ when you press them.
2. iDoodle Lite - a drawing app
3. Koi Pond - this is kind of like the one Khelsey liked with the fish
4. Balls - this one has a black screen and when you touch, it starts some colored balls moving around randomly. As they touch, it makes a sort of chiming sound as they touch the edges of the screen and then the ball bounces off the sides. Touching makes them move.
5. Bubbles - this one is listed on the Rettgirls site. It starts with a black screen. When you touch, it makes blue bubbles form on the screen. Dragging creates a stream of bubbles. You can either let them break by themselves just like soap bubbles or you can break them by touching them.
6. Draw Stars - use your finger to draw on a dark blue screen. Stars in different shades of blue and yellow will appear on the screen along with quiet chimes. You can make them into shooting stars which shoot out of the picture by touching them. This one has crickets in the background (It’s supposed to be night
7. Snowball - snowflakes fall from the sky. As they hit each other or the side of the screen, they make a gentle chiming sound and break into many small snowflakes. TOuching the snowflake does the same thing. It’s a nice gentle app.
8. ER ULtimate - this is just full of nice sounds. This is one of my DD’s favorites for before bed or for relaxing at the doctor’s office. It has a variety of prerecorded sounds and then you can make some mixes into those to make the sound file you want.
9. Ambiance - this is another relaxation sound app. This one is different because you can choose the high quality sound files that are downloaded. I love the walk in the Rainy French Forest myself.

Most of these are fairly inexpensive or free. Be careful with the free apps though. Some of them allow purchases or upgrades inside the app, which do cost money. So, make sure the wi-fi is off so that if she clicks something, it won’t buy anything (You also have to put in a password before anything is actually bought).

There are also some excellent apps for communication that are listed on the original website I pointed you to.

Thank you again Sue!! Keep 'em coming!! My father-in-law is very excited about this and I'm going to pass this along to him. They have an Ipad that we "tested" Khelsey on over the weekend and she really loved it. I'm going to see if he wants to add these to it.

I work in the wheelchair department at our local Childrens Hospital. What kind are you going for? It usually takes a few months for all the letters of medical necessity and insurance approval and stuff before you get your actual chair. If your trip is getting close and you dont have it, I'd ask the company you ordered from if they have a lightweight wheelchair you could rent or borrow. A nice Quickie or Invacare would be so much lighter and easier to transport than the typical "hospital style" chairs available at the parks and stuff - they are so heavy! Or even if they had a Convaid Cruiser you could borrow maybe????

Cant wait to hear when you are going!!!

We got our dates for March 3-March 9!!
I just PM'd you too.

 

[luvmygrlz3]

Now, I couldn't tell you how long it's been since we've had a "family" pic done...I'm always the one taking pics so I always seem to be left out! Travis is always doing the other stuff and he never seems to get in any either! Haha

I do have some pics to share of our Christmas and Snow from the day after Christmas...

This is Khelsey with my Step-dad (we call him PaPa) on Christmas Eve...she LOVES this man to death! Plays games with him that she doesn't do w/ anyone else...it's really neat to see them interact:

Here is Me with my little nephew, Brayden...sorry it's not with one of my kiddos, but it's at least a pic of me!!! Hahaha...Like I said, I'm never in pics...I'm always worried about getting the girls pics:

Now these were taken Christmas Morning...Khelsey got a Mini Panda and LOVED it! She's actually laughing at it in this pic...

And I had to put it in her arm to look like she was holding it-- she really like that too.

Here's my silly monkey's, Kaylie (8) and Karis (4). We were at my IL's house having Christmas there on Christmas Night:

And now are my FAV pics! The snow the day after Christmas! We had a FOOT of snow and man did we have a blast in it!!!

And here's Travis!

I wish I had more pics of us all together...my DH and I work opposite schedules...I am in school at night and work PT at night as a server. So we are rarely all home together. I will try to get some more pics of our family tomorrow night to share since we will actually ALL be home tomorrow for the first time since Christmas!!

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy these pics!!

 

[luvmygrlz3]

I found some more pics to share of my girls...
Kaylie playing softball:

Dance- she's in the red tank top:

Kaylie and Karis:

YAY! I found one of Travis with the 2 little girls...Khelsey was probably walking around the campground we go to in the summer:

My girls:

Had to post some more that I ran across in Photobucket.

 

[kayrosek]

Great pics. Beautiful girls. I have the same issue with pics. I am rarley in them because I am always taking them.

 

[blessedmom4]

Your family is beautiful!

 

[luvmygrlz3]

Great pics. Beautiful girls. I have the same issue with pics. I am rarley in them because I am always taking them.

Thank you!

Your family is beautiful!

Thank you so much!

 

[luvmygrlz3]

1. As far as packing goes, I am trying to travel with the least amount of stuff as possible. Khelsey IS in diapers and needs wipes too. I am worried about the "weight" limit on luggage if we were to pack her diapers...I was thinking about shipping her diapers but how far in advance should we ship them? Would you ship or just pack them in her suitcase?

2. Anyone wanna share their favs at Seaworld? We have YET to even look into things to do...we've been concentrating on MK and the others! I KNOW Khelsey will love Seaworld...she loves aquariums, fish, etc. I have no idea what to expect there.

3. Which nightime firework display is your favorite and why? My DH and I are so overwhelmed with all that there is to do at the parks and we have no idea what is a "must do" or "must see". I'd love to hear your opinions. We are doing some booking and planning tonight! YAY!!!

4. With Akershus dining- do you recommend breakfast, lunch or dinner? Is there a difference in time with the princesses? Is there any way to guarantee Cinderella being there at any particular time? (Kaylie's fav)...What other Character dining do you recommend, maybe for the classic characters?

5. Also, BBB for the little girls...have any of you guys done this? What is the best way to go? I just want to do all that is possible but I don't want to overbook...so any advice on any of this is SOOOO welcomed.
Thank you in advance!

 

[billwendy]

Awwwww - you guys are SO CUTE!!!!!

 

[luvmygrlz3]

Awwwww - you guys are SO CUTE!!!!!

Thank you Wendy!

 

[ms_mckenna]

On diapers do you get them from a DME? Could you call them and see if instead of shipping direct to you they could ship some to where you will be staying? Mailing stuff ahead to resorts is no biggie and I am sure GTKTW is the same.

We have not yet been to SW so I cannot help there.

Honestly they are all really cool and each one is different from the others. Your DD may like Fantasmic more because the characters appear in the water and then on the boat in the end. My suggestion is check them out on youtube and decide from there

I have not been in a few years but Cindy was not at any of the Akershus meals when we went last. This may have changed though. We saw her at CRT breakfast last trip.

Have not done BBB. There is a thread though BBB all you need to know
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1893384&highlight=bbb+official

 

[luvmygrlz3]

On diapers do you get them from a DME? Could you call them and see if instead of shipping direct to you they could ship some to where you will be staying? Mailing stuff ahead to resorts is no biggie and I am sure GTKTW is the same.

I will check with our company re: this...thanks for the help!

We have not yet been to SW so I cannot help there.

Honestly they are all really cool and each one is different from the others. Your DD may like Fantasmic more because the characters appear in the water and then on the boat in the end. My suggestion is check them out on youtube and decide from there

I have found that youtube is an awesome resource for figuring out all of this stuff...just didn't think of checking it out for THIS...thanks for the reminder!

I have not been in a few years but Cindy was not at any of the Akershus meals when we went last. This may have changed though. We saw her at CRT breakfast last trip.

Have not done BBB. There is a thread though BBB all you need to know
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1893384&highlight=bbb+official

Thanks for the link! Checking it out now!

 

[billwendy]

We had a great time at seaworld! She will love going to the dolphin feeding place - you can feed the dolphins (MAW kids get free food to feed them) and then go and watch from underneath -here is Daniel and his sister on our trip

There are also fun tanks where you can feed the stingrays!!
Here are my guys waiting for the stingrays to come up to them - you can see their "wings" flapping up!!!


They also have a splash play area if it is warm enough, and an area with more kiddie type rides - how does Khelsey do with rides? And the shows are AWESOME!!!!!!!

 

[luvmygrlz3]

Khelsey doesn't ride fast rides or anything...she needs nice and slow/relaxing rides.

She does LOVE looking at fish in aquariums and such so I KNOW she will love Seaworld! (of course my other 2 girls will too). Eeeww....stingrays freak me out...I can feed them and pet them when I am NOT in the water w/ them...but YEARS ago, my hubby and went on a cruise to Grand Caymen and we took a boat out to "feed the stingrays"...not knowing, we had to get IN the water WITH them and they were EVERYWHERE!!!! HUGE ones and small babies as well...OMGoodness, they freaked me out. I had to jump back on the boat and I decided to just videotape my DH (Travis) feeding them...HE had a blast though.

 

[luvmygrlz3]

OMGosh!!! 49 more days until we leave!!! Time is flying by!! Whoohoo!!!

 

[luvmygrlz3]

Limo: pick us up and gets us to the airport 2 hours prior to departure!!!!!

Thursday, March 3, 2011
depart: 11:02am
Arrive in Orlando: 2:40pm

Minivan is reserved for us along with 2 boosters in Orlando!!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011
leave orlando : 1:30pm
arrive back in our neck of the woods: 6:30pm

Limo picks us up to bring us home....
this day will be a sad day, but soooo many memories will be made from this whole experience!

 

[Blessed03]

Hi I just wanted to say that my DS just got the call and we have tenative dates for March 5-11.. I hope we all have the much needed fun that we possibly can knowing this is a trip of a lifetime!

 

[ms_mckenna]

OMGosh!!! 49 more days until we leave!!! Time is flying by!! Whoohoo!!!

You guys are going to have a BLAST! My oldest son has Cerebral Palsy we went to WDW with kidds kids years ago. It was our first family vacation and it was WONDERFUL! I am so excited for you guys!

 

[mommy2mrb]

1. As far as packing goes, I am trying to travel with the least amount of stuff as possible. Khelsey IS in diapers and needs wipes too. I am worried about the "weight" limit on luggage if we were to pack her diapers...I was thinking about shipping her diapers but how far in advance should we ship them? Would you ship or just pack them in her suitcase?

2. Anyone wanna share their favs at Seaworld? We have YET to even look into things to do...we've been concentrating on MK and the others! I KNOW Khelsey will love Seaworld...she loves aquariums, fish, etc. I have no idea what to expect there.

3. Which nightime firework display is your favorite and why? My DH and I are so overwhelmed with all that there is to do at the parks and we have no idea what is a "must do" or "must see". I'd love to hear your opinions. We are doing some booking and planning tonight! YAY!!!

4. With Akershus dining- do you recommend breakfast, lunch or dinner? Is there a difference in time with the princesses? Is there any way to guarantee Cinderella being there at any particular time? (Kaylie's fav)...What other Character dining do you recommend, maybe for the classic characters?

5. Also, BBB for the little girls...have any of you guys done this? What is the best way to go? I just want to do all that is possible but I don't want to overbook...so any advice on any of this is SOOOO welcomed.
Thank you in advance!

Shelby, your girls are beautiful!!! so happy you all will be making this special trip, sounds like the get away is well deserved.

my $.02 on your questions...

shipping stuff - probably 1 week ahead - make sure you have your reservation number on the mailing label.

have been to SeaWorld in San Diego, its a lot of fun, if Khelsey is so into fishes, etc she will LOVE it!

Wishes Fireworks are our fav's, but Illuminations is wonderful too!

We went to the breakfast at Akerhaus, very good food and great interaction with the princesses!!! I'm not sure what princesses are usually there right now, we were there last in 08....

BBB is so much fun....you can bring your own costumes to save $$$ a couple different packages....my DD did it in 05, 08 and will be doing it again in March for her 11th Bday (she just doesn't where the costumes anymore, but loves wearing character t-shirts, so I got a happy bday Cinderella shirt from the on-line disney store!!!

looking forward to hearing more about your trip!!!

 

[babynala]

Also, thank you for the tidbit about the Character dining...I'll keep that in mind. My husband and I are actually going on a date tomorrow night (first time in a YEAR) and this will definitely be one of the topics of conversation.

Again, thank you!

Have fun on your date!

1. As far as packing goes, I am trying to travel with the least amount of stuff as possible.
2. Anyone wanna share their favs at Seaworld?
3. Which nightime firework display is your favorite and why?
4. With Akershus dining- do you recommend breakfast, lunch or dinner?
5. Also, BBB for the little girls...have any of you guys done this?

1 - I've never shipped anything to Disney but people do it all the time. I think there is a grocery store that delivers to hotels too. I wonder if maybe you might be able to stop somewhere on the way to the hotel and run into the store?
2 - haven't been to Seaworld in Forever
3 - All the firework displays are great so don't worry about a "must see". Everything is great in its own way! You will have a wonderful time no matter what you do, even if you miss something that others think is a "don't miss".
4 - We did Akershus about a year ago. We did a late breakfast and Cinderella was there. I don't think any of the princesses (except maybe Belle) are guaranteed to be at Akershus. You can check the menus at allears.net and the prices of the meals.
5 - BBB is lots of fun for all girls.
Have fun planning!