Nathan's Wish Trip Aug. 2008

[twob4him]

Great start! You fit so much in already! Sounds like you are all having tons of fun and pixie dust too!

 

[sherreis]

Thanks for the update and the pics. Sounds like you were off to a great start and what a wonderful thing to hear from Nathan that he was remembering things. The girls sound like they were having a blast as well. What special family time and memories and I'm looking forward to hearing more. Felt sorry for your friend for that LONG drive after a full day at the parks.

 

[bex271]

you're off to a good start and i'm enjoying reading your tr Nathan sounds like such a ladies man. I'm glad he got the special attention.

becca

 

[Robin+5]

We got up early and had breakfast in the room. We had bought some cinnamon rolls from Main Street Bakery in MK the day before, put them in the fridge and had them for breakfast. Boy were they good, even the second day. We had to change our plans because of Tropical Storm Fay was on her way. We knew that the next few days were going to be lots of rain and wind. We went to MK first and immediatly saw Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and Gepetto. Then we spotted Daisy and Chip and Dale again. The kids got their autographs and pictures.

When we got into the park, Nathan asked if he had his morning medicine. I was 80% sure that I had given it to him, but not 100% and no one else saw me give it to him. Ralph took the bus and went back to the room to make sure. I did give it to him. After that I announced that I was giving him his medicine so everyone knew. We saw the characters while Raplh went back to the room. Kim and Courtney went exploring a bit. Courtney is a senior in high school this year and we started thinking about senior pictures.. what better place to have your senior picture taken then in Magic Kingdom. Kim brought her nice camera and they took 2 rolls of film. Hopefully some came out good. Here are some pictures right in front of the Castle just wait for everyone to catch up together.

After we were all together again we went to Fantasyland to do some of the rides that we missed the day before. We went onto Snow White Scary Adventure. When we got off the ride we spotted the Fairy Godmother. She was right behind the Castle. We went over to see her. She asked the kids where they were from and said "that must have taken a lot of horses to pull that pumpkin carrage all the was fron NH". I love it They are so in character. Nathan was called prince Nathan and she was calling the girls princesses. They were all soaking it up.

We went over and did Splash Mtn, Thunder Mt, and Haunted Mansion again. We had 1:30 lunch reservations at Crystal Palace. We waited outside for about 1/2 hour and then got in. The food was outstanding and it was a nice place to cool off and relax for a while. We saw Tigger, Eeyore, Pooh and Piglet.

Well I maxed out the amount of picture in one post. So on to part 2

 

[jessica52877]

What great pictures! I have been reading along and thought I better post. It looks like a great time so far! I hope Fay didn't interupt too much but I am afraid more then you liked.

 

[Lambflock]

Great trip report so far!!! Can't wait to read and see more!! You are getting me sooo excited for Hank's!!

The outfits from the BigGive are awesome! Your kids look great in them!!!

 

[Crystal824]

Great TR. It looks like you were all having a fantastic time.

 

[HeatherN]

YEAH!!!!! I am lovig your trip report.I am so glad you didn't let something like a hurricaine ruin your trip! The part about Nathan saying he remembered parts of the show really got me.Disney really is magical isn't it?

 

[Robin+5]

This is a tough weekend for us. It is one year ago today that Nathan ended up in ICU in a coma and we were not sure what was wrong and if he was going to make it. We are thankful that he has made such great progress. We went to Boston yesterday to see his Neurologist. He was happy to see the progress that he has made. He is going to help us find a OT that has the emphasis on cognitive issues. I don't even have the slightest clue on where to start to look The virus damaged his temperal lobes of his brain. Both side deal with memory. The side of the brain that handles verbal memory was damaged worse than the side of the brain that handles visual memory. The doctor showed us the MRI from a year ago and pointed out the areas of the brain where all the swelling occured. WOW He wants to do a repeat MRI sometime in November to see the changes in the brain. He said that he might write up a paper about Nathan. They said there have not been many people that were in such bad shape that have recovered this far. We thank God all the time for Nathan's progress. And we believe that Nathan has a little guardian angel on his shoulder (my father) that helped him pull through.

I went to see my boss (I have been on a LOA since Nathan got sick) trying to set up something to come back to work. Well...she did not hold my job (she said she would) so now I have to start to look for a new job. She said I could come back as an Tech. (nursing assistant) until an RN position opens up. I might look for a nursing job in a doctors office rather than in a hospital

We are busy packing Kimberly up this weekend to move into school. She leaves on Tuesday It is going to be fun trying to move her into Boston. She in going to Northeastern Univ.

I will post more of the trip report when I get a chance. It is alot of work and a lot of fun to relive the trip. I loved reading Amy's and Heather's trip reports, just to see the differences and to share GKTW (what a wonderful place)

Nathan's wish granters are coming over today to hear all about the trip and to see the pictures. Nathan sent both of the post cards which they loved getting.

 

[PEANUT1]

What a wonderful trip..your family is very blessed. I am a nurse and I have never even heard of this virus but it is very scary.

My brother went to Northeastern and loved it so much it took him 5 years to finish ...have fun moving your daughter in.

 

[sherreis]

Robin,

I'm so sorry that your manager didn't hold your position. She should have told you that she was going to give it up. You might have said earlier - what kind of job did you have?

 

[Robin+5]

The lunch at Crystal Palace was great. It was nice to cool off and relax for a while. Here are some of the decorations in CP. They are all made of dried flowers. I think they are pretty awsome.

When we left CP it was pouring out. One of those afternoon thunderstorms, not TS Fay yet. I realized that the wish lounge was right there, so we decided to check it out. What a nice place to rest. I didn't realize that in was in the first aid station.

I love the work of Thomas KinKade, and noticed right away the painting in the wish lounge.

When the rain stoped we went over to Tomorrow Land. We did the Buz Lightyear ride, love it. Monsters, Inc., funny, Waiting in line I took these pictures :

Nathan really wanted to do the Indy Speedway, so Ralph took Nathan, Morgan and Katelyn to there and Kim, Courtney and I went into the gift shop and poked around. We left MK around 5 pm. On the way out we spotted these people on Main Street.

We notice a lot of CM's lined up from the flag pole to the Railroad station. We asked a different CM what was going on. He said at 5PM everyday there is a formal flag lowering ceremony with a band. It was a very nice ceremony and they presented the flag to a veteran.

the kids went swimming at CBR and we went into HS around 8pm. We went straight for the Toy Story ride. What a great and fun ride. The sign said a 100 minute wait time and thanks to our GAC and magic buttons we went on the ride twice in 30 minutes. We just loved it. The kids went on Rockin Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror while Ralph and I walked around. Ralph had been eyeing those giant turkey legs and he finally got to try one. Nathan only went on RRC, he felt a little dizzy, so he did not go on TOT. Kim didn't go on either, she did not want him to feel like he was missing something or feel left out. (good big sister, always looking and watching over him). Everyone but Kim and Courtney went back to the room. The girls stayed behind to look through the stores in HS. They caught the bus later and met us back in the room. When we got back to the room the room phone message light was blinking. The said ...do to Tropical Storm Fay, all parks would be opening at 7 am and Disney Quest would be opening at 9am instead of 11am. The storm was due the next day early afternoon.

 

[jessica52877]

What a great sister to make sure he didn't feel left out. I am really enjoying your trip report!

 

[Robin+5]

We changed our plans around because of the storm. We did not know how the weather would turn out, so we decided to go to GKTW for breakfast and get rain ponchos at Walmart ($3) instead of buying them in the parks ($8). We made it to GKTW at about 9:50am. They say they stop serving breakfast at 10am, but they didn't. We took some pictures of the Gingerbread house.

We got Nathan's passport on the location of his star. After breakfast we went to find out where the Star Fairy put it. It was on one of the banners hanging from the ceiling.

We were moving real slow that day. We were tired. We went to Universal Studios. We ended up parking on the bottom level in Jaws (the furthest away from the entrance, we didn't know it when we parked there) Thank God for moving walkways. We looked around Citywalk for a while and then went into US.

We went on the Jimmy Neuton ride. I did not expect that at all. The kids were laughing so hard when the ride did the chicken dance We thought about Shrek 4D but saw the warnings about strobe lights and worried about Nathan, so we skipped it. We did see Shrek and Donkey though and got our picture taken with them. The CM saw our MAK buttons and only charged us $5 for the picture. She said they give a discount to the MAK families

We walked through Hollywood and noticed the lack of people around us. It was not crowded at all. Everyone must have stayed away due to Fay. I was being very selective on the rides we went on. I was afraid that some of them might be too much for Nathan. We did the E.T. ride and the went to MIB. We noticed the lockers and Ralph decided not to go on and stayed behind with the ponchos and the rest of the loot. It was not what I expected either. It had a lot of fast turns and strobe lights. I was worried about Nathan, but he did fine. When we got off they asked us if we wanted to go on again. We took a few minute breather and did it again. Nathan got a score of over 200,000. I don't know how he did it.
We continued walking around the park and saw the Jaws ride. We did not go on but got a picture of Nathan with Jaws.

We did the Disaster show/ride and started heading for the exit. Just as we were leaving we decided to do Shrek 4D. We figured that if Nathan could handle MIB twice, he could handle Shrek 4D. It was fun and not bad at all. We left around 3pm and did a drive thru Wendy's run and went back to the room. We stayed at Caribbean Beach and ate at the food court for dinner and let the kids swim in the rain. I did laundry and we got to bed early.

 

[mom2lilnick]

Glad TS Fay didn't cause too much trouble! The pics are great!

 

[Robin+5]

Well we dropped Kimberly off at school yesterday. I told her she went from one extreme to another. She went from hearing crickets and chickens (we live in the country) out her bedroom window to hearing sirens, the subway and taxis honking (she is at Northeastern Univ. in Boston). It will take her a while to get used to city living and even longer for us to get used to her not being here. It is not easy leaving your child when she is crying and doesn't want to stay . She watched us walk away and leave her with tears streaming down all of our faces. It was one of the hardest things to do. Her dorm was not what we expected at all. It is a little bigger than a closet. The beds were lofted (which she hates) so we took it apart and tried to do the best to arrange her room. I am sure her roommate and her will figure out a way to arrange the room. Classes don't even start until Sept. 10 so they have time to change and decorate the room. She is in orientaion right now. She has a good attitude. She knows she has to stay for a few weekends to try to make friends and get used to her surroundings. Courtney and Nathan are having a hard time with her not being here. Thank goodness for cell phones

 

[sherreis]

Robin,

My heart goes out to all of you. I'm sitting here remembering crying when my parents left me at school 32 yrs ago like it was yesterday. I hope that Kimberly has a nice roommate and enjoys getting to know people. It's still a difficult transition- much more difficult than they anticipate as they are planning to live away.

 

[dizneefamily5]

Robin,

I just found your trip report and had to respond! We are fellow wish-trippers as well. Our youngest daughter's wish was granted last June. I got teary seeing all the GKTW pics and remembering the memories we made there. But, that's not why I am posting. I, too, got EEE when I was 8 years old from a mosquito bite while we were visiting family in TN. Nathan's story is soooo familiar to me, it's eerie. I lost all memory at that time and suffered quite a bit of brain damage. After several years of therapy, I returned to school. I ended up graduating as VALEDICTORIAN from my high school class of 300+. I received a full tuition scholarship to college and got a BS in Accounting. I have been an Accountant since. I am now 34, married and have 3 wonderful children. The only real side effect I have now is that I have no memory of anything that happened before the EEE and I have migraines I haven't had a seizure since I was 21. NO meds at all. I say all this to tell you to never give up hope. LIfe will return for Nathan, hopefully sooner, rather than later. I would like to add Nathan to my prayer list if it's okay with you. I can understand how he feels. It's like living outside of yourself. Good luck to you all and I can't wait to readd the rest of your report!!

If you have any questions at all for me, feel free to PM me!!

 

[tofubeast]

I am subbing as it has been a joy to read about Nathan's MAW trip! Looking forward to more!

 

[bigdisgrandma]

Well we dropped Kimberly off at school yesterday. I told her she went from one extreme to another. She went from hearing crickets and chickens (we live in the country) out her bedroom window to hearing sirens, the subway and taxis honking (she is at Northeastern Univ. in Boston). It will take her a while to get used to city living and even longer for us to get used to her not being here. It is not easy leaving your child when she is crying and doesn't want to stay . She watched us walk away and leave her with tears streaming down all of our faces. It was one of the hardest things to do. Her dorm was not what we expected at all. It is a little bigger than a closet. The beds were lofted (which she hates) so we took it apart and tried to do the best to arrange her room. I am sure her roommate and her will figure out a way to arrange the room. Classes don't even start until Sept. 10 so they have time to change and decorate the room. She is in orientaion right now. She has a good attitude. She knows she has to stay for a few weekends to try to make friends and get used to her surroundings. Courtney and Nathan are having a hard time with her not being here. Thank goodness for cell phones

It is always so hard when a young person who has grown up in a close family has to be separated from the family. Each time it happened at our house, we all cried and cried. Our children are all really close and I think it is a really good thing that they all live close, even the ones who are married, because it is almost like they are not complete without their siblings. Good thing, too, that they all married people who can accept this little quirk! We joke that if one decides to go to the zoo, they make a few calls and soon it is like an expedition--multiple Kellys are all on their way! Let Kimberly know that it will only be a short time and she will do great!

I'll be thinking about you and your trip as we head out for ours this week!

Denise