Our "long time coming", first time ever, very magical trip to WDW!Pictures 1/27!

[yinyanggirls]

Wow, what a long day! I'm tired just reading about it. Thank goodness you found DHs meds. I don't know how you could have gotten around that one. I can understand your frustration with forgetting your camera bag. How awesome that you had just got new cameras for the kids. What kind of cameras did you get? And what kind is yours, that you left home? I need both a new point and shoot, and a DSLR sometime soon. I'd like to have both before the trip but we'll see.

 

[praisehisname]

Oh no, I'm so sorry you forgot your camera!

Sounds like the kids did really well for such a long travel day!

Denise

 

[MN Disneyfan]

That would be my worst nightmare...leaving my camera at home.
Looking forward to reading more of your vacation.

 

[kayrosek]

Travel days are always tough on kids, especially those on the spectrum. Jonnie seemed to do very well considering all the excess stimulation of the day. Thank goodness for the ME movie!

I was laughing at the thought of trying to get Billy to eat a Texas hot dog! He is so not into spicy foods!

So glad you got the Toy Story section at ASM...it's great when things work out like that! I wonder how long Jenna will like camping out on the floor!?

Sorry about the camera bag... I forgot my cell phone charger last time and I was really annoyed with myself for the first few days. Then I realized that you just have to let things go. I will be looking forward to your pictures, anyway. They are probably much better than you realize.


Can't wait for the touring to begin!


Kathy

They all did pretty well on the trip there. Jonnie had a bit of a hard time but I had expected worse. The way back was an absolute nightmare though.

Jonnie doesn't seem to have as many food issues as alot of kids on the spectrum. He does have an issue with anything he considers gooey but otherwise he's a pretty adventurous eater. He's particuraly into intense flavors. Spicy food is his favorite but if we don't watch him close he will over salt or sugar anything he's eating. I had an OT tell me once that his need for strong flavors is a sensory seeking thing. I geuss that makes sense. He's also like Billy in wanting to overstuff his mouth. I laughed when I read about Billy trying to negotiate more pieces of gum from you on a prior trip. Jonnie does the same thing.

I have to admit that alot of the problems I had this trip with pictures were due to operator error. I haven't touched a point and shoot in years. They diden't have the same capabilities as my camera and I was impatient with them. The pictures suffered. Also it was hard sharing with the kids who had thier own ideas on what they wanted pictures of.

Wow, what a long day! I'm tired just reading about it. Thank goodness you found DHs meds. I don't know how you could have gotten around that one. I can understand your frustration with forgetting your camera bag. How awesome that you had just got new cameras for the kids. What kind of cameras did you get? And what kind is yours, that you left home? I need both a new point and shoot, and a DSLR sometime soon. I'd like to have both before the trip but we'll see.

Yeah. I'm not sure what we would have done had I left John's meds home. He can't go without them that long. That's for sure. I got the kids each different cameras that I read and heard good things about. Tessa's is a Kodak Easy Share, Jenna's a Cannon Powershot and Jonnies a Nikon Coolpix. All of them in about the $150 range. Of the three I liked the Canon Powershot the best, with the Nikon coming in a close second and I may have flipped those rankings if I had used the Nikon more. I have to say I hated the Kodak. I had massive issues with focusing it especially in low light. We have a few DSLR's but my favorite and the one I left at home is honestly my Nikon D80. At the time I bought it it was eigther that or the D200 and I liked that it was lighter and had most of the same capabilities. I have arthritis and Fybromyalgia and I hate tripods. Most of my shots are handheld so weight was an issue for me.The biggest difference between the two was the body style and fpm's. The 200 got 5 where the D80 gets 3 but I don't take sports or action shots so 3 is fine for me. I'm thinking of getting a new one soon and I'm pretty sure I'll stick with Nikon but I haven't researched enough to know what camera I want yet.

Oh no, I'm so sorry you forgot your camera!

Sounds like the kids did really well for such a long travel day!



Denise

Yeah forgetting the camera was a real blow but the trip was still amazing. The kids really surprised me with how well they traveled that day.

That would be my worst nightmare...leaving my camera at home.
Looking forward to reading more of your vacation.

Thanks for reading. I'm really hoping to get the next insallment done soon.

 

[yinyanggirls]

Thanks for the tips. I have a Nikon 35mm, and a Mamiya 645 for my "pro" work which hasn't been much in the past 8 years since Phoebe came along. My parents gave us an Olympus digital to take pics of the kids and it's been okay, but seems to be having problems lately. So I want a point and shoot to throw in the purse for everyday stuff and also a DSLR for the pro stuff I hope to get started again. I have two pending weddings this year, so it's a good time to get one. I like the idea of a Nikon because my lenses would be compatible, but only in a manual focus setting. Everyone I know that has a Canon loves it, so wondering if I should branch out....
I laughed when you mentioned not liking the tripod. My DH always rides me about not using, or even bringing, mine along on shoots. It just seems like too much hassle.

 

[kayrosek]

Sorry I haven't got another update for you guys yet. We've been having animal issues. We have a cat who recently had kittens and then nearly died from swallowing a string (she had 3 holes in her intestines). The kittens were too young to be without milk so we have been bottle feeding them. Momma Cat came home after recovering from surgery and started moving the kittens around. Unfortunatley cats don't realize that gaps between things are dangerous and two of the kittens fell in the gap and got thier heads stuck. One lived for awhile and we thought we might have caught him soon enough that he would be okay because he started walking and eating and acting pretty normal but a few hours later he was gone. It was heartbreaking and of course the kids were upset. Jonnie doesn't really understand death and kept asking if he could keep the kittens who had died. It about broke my heart trying to explain it to him. Anyway now that things are back to normal (we are still bottle feeding the one survivng kitten) I'll get started on the next chapter today.

 

[praisehisname]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about the kittens! Take your time; we'll be here when you're ready!

Denise

 

[kayrosek]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about the kittens! Take your time; we'll be here when you're ready!

Denise

Thanks Denise! I'd like to get a new post up as soon as possible unfortunatley my DIS time is reduced now that Jenna is being homeschooled with an online curriculum.

 

[kayrosek]

Okay girls I am really sorry to get off topic like this and sorry to vent but today for some reason all the stress I have been dealing with just hit the the boiling point and I really need somewhere to let it out.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Jenna has been dealing with some health problems. Recently it has excalated to the point where she has missed alot of school so we decided to homeschool her. The problem is we still don't have any answers or solutions and it's just taking it's toll on me. For the past two years she has been having on average one full blown migraine a week and no medication we give her, no change in diet or any other treatment we have tried seems to be reducing the frequency. On top of that she has been having these horrible stomach pains that leave her doubled over crying, she can't seem to gain weight and seems to catch and hold onto any bug she's in contact with longer than anyone else. They have run alot of tests but so far haven't come up with any answers. We have chosen to homeschool her while we look for answers rather than have her missing any more school and while she is doing well with her studies the stress over when she will be sick again and how to help her when nothing seems to help and nobody knows why is just getting to me. Like I said I'm sorry to go OT on you but I needed an outlet and I could really use some positive thoughts and prayers right now.

 

[yinyanggirls]

I'm sorry they can't find the cause of her pain. It's so frustrating to not have answers, but horrible when your child is hurting. I hope you guys can find the right direction soon and end this.

 

[kayrosek]

I'm sorry they can't find the cause of her pain. It's so frustrating to not have answers, but horrible when your child is hurting. I hope you guys can find the right direction soon and end this.

Thanks for the hug Melissa! I have faith we will figure it out soon. I'm just not too patient with this.

 

[praisehisname]

So sorry to hear about Jenna's health. I'll be praying that you find some answers!

Denise

 

[KathyRN137]

...Sending prayers and positive thoughts.


Kathy

 

[kayrosek]

The phone call from Mickey came too early this morning. John answered the phone as it was on his side of the bed but I wanted nothing more than to roll over and go back to sleep until I heard Mickey’s distinctive voice coming from the receiver. Then the kids phone started ringing and I ran into their room to make sure one of them answered. I wanted them to hear Mickey too. Unfortunately they didn’t manage to answer the phone in time and the second call is just a normal wakeup call. Once they were up though it didn’t matter. We were at WDW and this was our first park day! Jenna headed for the shower but not before turning on the TV. Jenna can’t seem to walk by a TV without turning it on. They had a story on the news about cheap Disney shirts. That made me laugh, we were in a totally Disney-centric world right now and I was thrilled! The plan this morning had been to make it to Epcot for rope drop. Take a look do you think we made it?

Nope. Not happening we may have been at WDW but we were also tired. The kids were a mixture of excited and crabby and it took a while to get them moving. Not to mention several conversations with Jonnie about what we were doing (go to breakfast, get on a bus, go to Epcot. The park with the big silver ball). He has to know everything in advance or it really upsets him and I had shown him lots of pictures in the days preceding our trip so I reminded him of them a lot during the trip. It was nearly nine by the time we left the rooms. The kids were even more excited about the resort now that it was day time. They oohed and ahhed over the giant figures, debated the pros and cons of getting a temporarily tattoo at the stand near the pool and pointed at the pool itself. On our way into the food court Tessa stopped to check out the guy doing caricatures. She thought she might want one. I could tell John was getting antsy. He’s a pretty purposeful guy. He’s got the attitude that when your going somewhere you should just go there. Don’t stop to check everything out on the way and it didn’t help that he was in a wheelchair we were pushing so he was dependent on our whims. I got the kids focused on food and found a table to park John at. Breakfast consisted mostly of pastry’s and fruit. I had read about people having tons of leftover snack credits on the DDP so I used 3 snack credits on the more expensive breakfast items and saved a few credits for later in the day. I had thought that eating simple breakfasts would speed up the process but it still took 45min. to get our food and eat.

Finally we headed to the shuttles. We started to take John through the regular Epcot shuttle line but a CM ran over to us and told us to just take John around to the front every time there wasn’t a specific wheelchair line for a shuttle. I had been kinda worried about the shuttle bus service at ASM after reading lots of comments about it being the last stop at the All Stars and last nights ME shuttle had confirmed that trend so I was pretty concerned. Jonnie doesn’t do well with long waits. Luckily the bus showed up right away and we were off to Epcot. We got there without any problems and quicker than I had expected, got off the bus and that’s when the problems started. Jonnie and Tessa started arguing over who was pushing daddy’s chair . Dh was a little on edge already. He wanted to take the kids to WDW but large crowded amusement parks are right near the top of the list of biggest stressors for my husband who suffers from PTSD and an anxiety disorder. The argument and it’s tantrums (Jonnie) and pouting (Tessa) was just too much and John decided he needed a few minutes.

I decided to take the kids on my own to get the first order of business settled, getting Jonnie’s GAC. Bag check moved quickly and soon the four of us we were through the gates and in the park. I have to admit this wasn’t the magical entrance I had expected. I was feeling a little ornery that my vision of us all entering the park together happily wasn’t happening and I didn’t want to dawdle. We got to guest services and I approached a CM about a GAC for Jonnie and some questions about something that I had been wondering about. I explained Jonnie’s needs and was quickly issued a GAC for him then I asked them about John. I told the CM that among other things John had anxiety and PTSD issues and I wanted to know if I could bring him back to get him a GAC just in case we decided to split and ride different rides with different kids. We had discussed John taking the girls on a few roller coasters while I took Jonnie to something he was less terrified of and since that would leave John riding the rides with the longest lines I thought a GAC might help if he got stressed. The CM then did something I know she wasn’t supposed to do but that was just so helpful for me that day. She asked where John was and when I told her he had decided to stay outside the park and get a few minutes peace and quiet before entering she gave me a GAC for him too, although she did point out that we wouldn’t need both at the same time (I knew that) and he didn’t end up using his at all anyway but it eased my mind.

Now that that was done we headed back out of the park and found John on the phone with his mom. He hung up and explained that his mom had to drive a few hours out of town today and wouldn’t have time to stop by our house to get the camera but that he was trying to get a hold of our house sitter to see if she could ship the camera to us. It was decided that eight her Jenna or I would push John today and we headed to bag check for the second time. The line was longer this time but moved quickly and entering Epcot with my whole family was much more enjoyable. Next up we’re finally having fun and what’s missing now?

 

[KathyRN137]

She asked where John was and when I told her he had decided to stay outside the park and get a few minutes peace and quiet before entering she gave me a GAC for him too, although she did point out that we wouldn’t need both at the same time (I knew that) and he didn’t end up using his at all anyway but it eased my mind.

Peace of mind... that's what it's all about! And it's always good to have options and flexibility.


Kathy

 

[kayrosek]

Peace of mind... that's what it's all about! And it's always good to have options and flexibility.


Kathy

Exactly Kathy. I learned about the GAC from your TR's and that got me thinking. John has legitimate problems with being in crowds, lines etc. Probably worse so than Jonnie. In a way the GAC's benefitted me at least as much as anyone else. I was able to enjoy the trip knowing that we diden't have to be in situations that would be unessessarily stressful for eigther of my guys. I felt a little guilty asking for two GAC's but I just needed that reassurance that we had it if nessessary.

 

[kayrosek]

We had just gotten into Epcot and hadn’t walked too far when we saw a favorite character. When we approached Stich there was absolutely no line but within just a minute there was a pretty long line behind us. The kids were excited to get their first autographs so I got the Disney themed journals I had bought them to use for autographs out of Johns bag. They didn’t need pens as they were each wearing a lanyard with a pen and a keychain flashlight attached to it. Those lanyards became the source of a lot of fun with Stich.

First Jonnie handed Stich his pen,. Stich didn’t like Jonnie’s pen so Tessa handed him hers. Stich really didn’t like Tessa’s pen he threw it on the ground! I’ve only got one picture of this but it actually went on for awhile. Tessa would pick the pen up and Stich would knock it out of her hands. After doing that several times Stich went out to the crowd and took a pen from some other kid. I was laughing this whole time and the kids were having a great time. After the business of autographs the kids posed for a picture and got hugs from Stich. Stich didn’t want to let go of Jonnie.

When we left Stich we were in a better mood. Still laughing over how mischievous he had been we went to find out where to sign up to save the world.

The kids really wanted to do a Kim Possible Mission and I had read that they fill up fast so this was our first order of business. We found the kiosk signed up and resisted the temptation to play with the other activity’s surrounding it. Then we headed for Soarin. I had read a lot about this ride and was dying to try it. We found the elevator inside the land pavillion and Jonnie noticed something that looked like a train to him. Jonnie loves trains so of course I hear “Mom! Train! Ride train now.” I have no idea what this ride is but I tell Jonnie we will come back to it after Soarin. The standby wait time was 90 min. so we showed the GAC and were lead to the fast pass line. We waited probably ten or fifteen minutes during which time Jonnie debated whether he wanted to ride. Jonnie does this on pretty much any ride. Especially one where he can’t see the whole ride beforehand. I was certain he would like Soarin but I had to convince him first. The people in front of us were talking about the ride so I asked if they had ridden before, they had and when I told them Jonnie was nervous about it their teenage daughter explained the ride in detail to him. He felt better once he knew exactly what would happen and decided he wanted to ride (although he was still a little nervous.) We were seated in the second row and Jenna and Tessa removed their shoes before we took off. I haden’t thought about removing my ballet flats but as soon as we were in the air they felt like they were going to fall off. I had to lift each of my legs up one at a time take off the shoes and shove them under me on the seat so I spent the rest of the ride sitting on my shoes. Other than that, the ride was everything I had imagined and more. We all loved it. Even John was impressed by it and we left talking about our favorite parts. As soon as we got out of the elevator Jonnie noticed the train looking ride again ( I couldn’t tell what it was that corner was pretty dark) and of course he remembered it(he has documented memory issues but somehow he always remembers when I tell him we will do something later ) so I tell the others that were going to ride whatever this ride is. Turns out it’s Living with the Land. It’s not a train it’s boats but boats rate fairly close to trains in Jonnies book so were off to ride the boats. The CM directs us to the wheelchair line and we board the next boat. The dark makes Jonnie a little nervous but soon were all pointing out things and really enjoying ourselves. I hadn’t planned on riding this ride but I am so glad we did. As soon as we got off the girls start asking about Nemo but a look at John’s watch shows we are nearing our time for our Kim Possible mission so we decide to skip the Seas pavilion for now and go get our Kimmunicator. This is where we get lost and by the time we get our phone thing it’s almost time to be in Japan for our lunch res at Tokyo dining. The only thing we can think of to do is put off the mission until after lunch.

We head towards Japan and the kids get side tracked by a CM trying to get kids to crawl through a moving string without touching the sides and stopping the little machine. All the kids try it. Jen does it on the first try but it takes Tessa a few tries. Jonnie tries a few times but then we have to leave. Don’t want to be late for lunch. We check in for our ressie and are told there’s about a fifteen minute wait. The kids have to use the bathrooms so that seems perfect until we walk by the Hibachi tables on our way to the restrooms. Jonnie loves hibachi. He loves watching the chefs cook in front of him and he loves the flames so as soon as he knows it’s here he stops being satisfied with the idea of sitting at a normal table. He had a huge meltdown about this and it took awhile to calm him down. During all this Jenna, who’s hypoglycemic started feeling her sugar drop which makes her a bit grumpy. Luckily I have some cashews in my purse to hold her over. I can’t tell you how happy I am when were finally seated at our table and have ordered our food. I notice other kids going over to the sushi bar to watch the chefs prepare the sushi so I take Jonnie over for a minute and that seems to placate him. Then our food arrived. I have to say it was fabulous. Jenna and I both ordered bento boxes and I loved the little tempura pancake thing, John got a sushi platter . Tessa’s order got messed up and she got a tempura platter instead of chicken with teriyaki sauce but this turned out good as the Tempura plate became our family’s overall favorite of the meal (we always share). Tessa was thrilled with it and still talks about it fairly often. Jonnie loved the little monorail plate (it’s a kind of train what’s not to love) and he liked his teriyaki chicken but the portion was pretty small. We all shared with him so he had plenty to eat but he would have liked more of the Teriyaki. I had let Jonnie order my dessert to share with me and he chose the chocolate ginger cake which didn’t sound good to me but tasted great. John and Tessa ordered the green tea pudding which was also really good. Overall we loved this meal and it became one of our favorites of the trip.

After lunch it was time to help Kim (so glad the world could wait to be saved until our belly’s were full )! I have to say we didn’t like the Kim Possible mission too much it was just too long winded and the kids (especially Jonnie) didn’t stay interested too well. I ended up figuring out how to skip some of the verbage and hurried us through it a bit while John waited in the shade. It’s one of those things were glad we tried once but would never do again. After that we decided to head back to the Seas pavillion before going back to the resort for a rest. As we are crossing over the bridge though Jenna gets distracted. And I stop to get her headed in the right direction. John and Tessa have stopped not to far ahead of me and Jonnie was just in front of me and heads right to them or so I think. Apparently right before he gets to John, Jonnie sees someone who he thinks is me and just keeps following. John sees him pass but he too thinks he’s following me and figures we are headed to a bathroom or something and will come back for them so he stays where he is. All of this happens within a minute or two at the most and when I get to John he’s surprised I don’t have Jonnie and I’m terrified to think he’s not with John. John has me alert a CM at a nearby kiosk and they head off to find him. I had been scared of this before we left and had prepared cards that had our cell phone numbers and the fact that he is Autistic on them in case he won’t talk to them (he’s very verbal but not usually with strangers or when he gets upset). John keeps assuring me but I’m starting to panic it’s been about ten minutes but it feels like ten hours and I just start sobbing. I’ve been calling out his name in case he hears me but now I‘m crying and doing it. A crowd gathers around asking me whats wrong, several of them offer to help find him but right at that moment Jonnie walks up with two CM’s just as happy as can be. He runs into my arms and I thank the CMS profusely all the while hugging my son. The CM’s tell me that Jonnie talked to them but also gave them the card and that they tried to call my phone but apparently I hadn’t heard it. After all that drama we decide it’s time for a rest now and skip the Seas in favor of heading back to the resort for awhile before Illuminations. Next up pool time and will we make it in time for Illuminations?

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi Krystal! Another Spectrum Mom joining in! What a scary story about losing Jonnie! That's my greatest fear at WDW... I attach cards to my kiddos too - they are both very verbal, but you never know what will happen in that type of situation. If I ever lose one of mine, I'll make sure I take my phone out of my bag so I can hear it if it rings.

Can't wait to hear the rest of your story!

Amy

 

[kayrosek]

Hi Krystal! Another Spectrum Mom joining in! What a scary story about losing Jonnie! That's my greatest fear at WDW... I attach cards to my kiddos too - they are both very verbal, but you never know what will happen in that type of situation. If I ever lose one of mine, I'll make sure I take my phone out of my bag so I can hear it if it rings.

Can't wait to hear the rest of your story!

Amy

Hi Amy, thanks for stopping by. Losing Jonnie was scary. Up until a couple years ago he has fit one of those animal backpacks with the tail thats a leash. He liked wearing it. He hates holding hands. I think it's a sensory thing he has never liked having anyone hold his hand. I actually had a cord attached to his backpack for that very reason at the beginning of the day but people kept trying to cross in between us and I was afraid Jonnie would be knocked to the ground so I took it off. Good idea about taking your phone out. My bag never left my side while Jonnie was lost. I thought for sure I'd hear my phone if someone called.

 

[KathyRN137]

I'm always getting calls on my cell and not hearing them because the phone is in my bag... even though the ringer is on High! This very same thing could have easily happened to me.

Sorry for your scare. I lost Billy briefly at the MNSSHP...surely not as long as ten minutes... and even that was awful.

So glad Jonnie decided to try Soarin'... isn't it awesome?!

They had such fun with Stitch! I love when the characters play with the kids!


Kathy