Our plan was to throw our own going away party. William was already in OKC for a paint ball birthday party and Tucker was there for All-State Jazz band. The rest of us went and shopped. We met up with Tucker and were supposed to pick up William around 4:00pm, go to Pop's for dinner ( a little touristy diner that has over 400 different kinds of pop) and then play laser tag. Well, we got lost trying to find the paintball place and so we didn't get to Pop's until 5:30 and it was packed! 90 minute wait! No thank you! We did let each of the boys pick out a bottle of pop- the choices were staggaring. Some went tame with a fruit punch Nathan) or a root beer ( Tucker)- David got vanilla orange cream, I got vanilla cream, William got watermelon and Sam got blue raspberry. They then let Nathan make the choice- fast food and laser tag or Olive Garden and go to the hotel. He chose Olive Garden- our week of eating had begun! The boys loved the hotel ( a new Hyatt place that I got for $80 for a suite! I love a good deal!) and we hit the sack early to get rested for our trip!
We were all up ready to see the world bright and early. Well, most of us were up bright and early. William is our sleeper.
We went to airport parking where MAW had arranged for us to park and take a shuttle to the gate. Luckily, the airport is fairly empty because it takes us a while to get all of our stuff through security. I went to the check in gate for SW and said, " We are on a MAW trip and were told we would be able to get preboarding." We did this at every check in and didn't have a problem- some had no idea what we were talking about, but they still gave us preboarding. Finally, we are on the plane and ready to start our adventure.
We had an incredibe flight attendant on our first flight. He was very funny and gave Nathan a lot of attention. He announced to the plane that Nathan was on a special trip and after the flight told him that the pilot had invited him to the cockpit to "fly the plane".
We ran into our flight attendant in the terminal and got a picture with him. It was a perfect start ( BTW, none of the other attendants were nearly as attentive the rest of the trip)
Nathan was very excited to be greeted with his name-he felt like a celebrity!
The drive to GKTW was easy. David and I sat through a short welcoming orientation while the boys looked around the caring hearts welcome center. We recieved Nathan's magic button and pass. A side note here- usually at this welcoming, the wish child gets a Mickey and the siblings get a Shamu. All the kids get a t-shirt. We didn't know this was customary and it was our greeters first check in. When we checked out, we saw groups checking in and getting these things. I didn't want to say, " Hey, we didn't get those!" So I just pointed out the shirts and asked if there was somewhere we could buy them. Our check out person said, " Didn't you get one when you checked in?" I told her no and explained that it was our person's first time and I was sure she just forgot. She quickly got us our stuff- which worked out great because Nathan loved getting a Mickey at the end of our trip.
Finally we were at our home for the next week. We took a picture by our bunny sign with our name on it. Notice the boys gave the bunny bunny ears.
The villa was great. Lots of room to unpack things. A King size bed in our room, 2 twins in the kids room, a sleeper sofa and a pull out bed. I organized the boys' clothes. Each boy had a shelf and then I put out the clothes for them to wear that day on the bottom shelf. Hey, we were coordinating clothes- I had to be organized!
We then explored the resort. Well, after we got some ice cream.
The boys loved, loved, loved the mini golf. We played numerous games. The arcade was small, but my boys still enjoyed it. I never let them play those games when we are at places. Playing them for free was a luxury to them.
We then had our first dinner at the Gingerbread house. Somebody had mentioned previously that the place had a lot of unruly teenage volunteers. I think it really depends on the day. On Saturday there were a lot of teens standing around. They weren't rude, but not helpful. I think they were probably new volunteers. Most of the volunteers were extremely helpful. Our favorites were the older people who were there for breakfast. We would go to breakfast early when it wasn't crowded and the volunteers were extremely helpful and friendly. A couple of times over the week I would be in line somewhere and a teen would be by themselves. They wouldn't have a volunteer nametag on so I assumed they were a sibling. I would always say, " Go in front of us" - I hated a single person waiting for my entire family, and then find out they were a volunteer! A minor irritation. I think volunteers should know that they should never "cut" in front of a wish family, even if offered. But maybe that is just me. But for the most part, the volunteers were great but I could see how maybe a not so good batch might be there time to time.
Finally we went to the life size Candyland game. Matthew's boundless playground is incredible. Everybody really needs to visit there. We meant to go back during the day to take pictures, but I forgot. My boys love a good game ( they are a wee bit competitive) but this really wasn't a game. You were assigned a volunteer ( this night most of them were Disney employees and were great!) and they had you pick a card and do silly things to each square. Not really my boys cup of tea ( but the younger kids seemed to enjoy it) but they were good sports. And Kevin, our guide, was great.
He even did William and Sam's signature point. My nephew, Daniel, started working at DL this summer. He told us at Disney you are only allowed to point with 2 fingers or a full hand. CMs told him that after a while you find yourself pointing that way all the time. Notice how Kevin is pointing. My boys loved that! He was a true Disneyite!
They also had queen Frostine and Princess Lolly at Candyland. I play Candyland a lot with my speech kids at work, so I got pictures of them for my kids!
Well, that is about it for our first day. I guess I'd better go get ready for church.
That is a good thing!
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