Princess J's Wish Trip!

[Lilfoot93]

Yay for dates!! That is great you get to extend too! Our last day is June 8th. Maybe we will see each other

Jackie

 

[angel's momma]

We had a beautiful day here in KC. Jenna insisted on a walk to the park and a harvest feast (she may watch a bit too much Little Bear). So we packed a picnic, walked to the park and settled under a tree. It was so nice!

This park is across a field/creek behind our house and was the first place that I let her go when she was first diagnosed and I was terrified to let her out of the house. We have been hundreds of times, but I always think about those days when she was so sick and we would go there and our happy little girl would return to us, even if just for ten minutes.

This made me teary though.

 

[ajjwmaw]

Yay for dates!! That is great you get to extend too! Our last day is June 8th. Maybe we will see each other

I thought of you when we got our dates and I saw that we were hitting the tail end of Star Wars week. I'm so excited that we are extending. DH gets two weeks paid paternity leave. He was planning to take it when Wes was born, but he got pulled onto an important project at the last minute, so he didn't take his leave. He has a year to do it, so he suggested that he take it and we spend a bit extra time in Florida. I couldn't believe it when he said that - he's not typically a vacation type of guy. I guess the Disney magic got to him.

Since we are extending, both sets of grandparents say they are planning to spend 2-3 days with us! I tend to get a bit stressed about having other people on vacation with me (besides immediate family of course!), but they have gone through so much with this, too. My mom always tells me that the worry that I feel for Jenna she feels too and she also feels the same worry for me on top of that. I'm so glad that they are all in a position in life that they can afford to come.

 

[blessedmom4]

How WONDERFUL you can extend!!!


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[ajjwmaw]

How WONDERFUL you can extend!!!
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Thanks! Lisa's trip report was the first that I read when I joined the board! I loved reading about your trip. You did such a great job of capturing the personalities of each of your kids in your report. It was a fun read!​

 

[angel's momma]

So nice that both sets of grandparents can join you for part of the trip.

 

[Lilfoot93]

I thought of you when we got our dates and I saw that we were hitting the tail end of Star Wars week. I'm so excited that we are extending. DH gets two weeks paid paternity leave. He was planning to take it when Wes was born, but he got pulled onto an important project at the last minute, so he didn't take his leave. He has a year to do it, so he suggested that he take it and we spend a bit extra time in Florida. I couldn't believe it when he said that - he's not typically a vacation type of guy. I guess the Disney magic got to him.

Since we are extending, both sets of grandparents say they are planning to spend 2-3 days with us! I tend to get a bit stressed about having other people on vacation with me (besides immediate family of course!), but they have gone through so much with this, too. My mom always tells me that the worry that I feel for Jenna she feels too and she also feels the same worry for me on top of that. I'm so glad that they are all in a position in life that they can afford to come.

That is great that your DH still gets to take his paternity leave! That will be be fun having the grandparents there too! My Dad is able to come with us and I think that will be a HUGE help and a lot of fun! He too has been there every step of the way with Trevor and now with Kara. We were hoping to extend but our chapter does not allow it. Will you hit the beach while you are there?

Jackie

 

[ajjwmaw]

Jackie, we are thinking about going to the gulf, maybe Clearwater for a night...if we are able to extend, see below...

We are having loads of trouble right now. First we have been waiting for nearly two weeks to hear back on our extension request. Our Wish Granter has been frequently in touch with us, but she isn't hearing back from her coordinator. I'm hoping that it just has to do with someone being on spring break or out of the office for some reason and not because they are considering denying.

The other big, huge issue is that I just realized that the date that I gave MAW to start our trip, June 8, is the day of Jenna's dance recital! This is the first year she had been able to do dance and she is so excited about the recital, not to mention that we have already paid for her fees and costume. I feel awful that she has to miss it. I've asked our wish granter to see if it would be possible for our trip to be delayed a day, but I'm not optimistic, especially since we have been waiting so long to hear back about the extension. I'm really feeling down about this, like I am asking too much when we are being given an amazing gift, but at the same time I want to make sure that I'm doing the best I can to help Jenna be happiest.

In better news, my kidney stone ordeal is finally over! I had the stent removed on Monday and I feel so much better. I was so miserable from the stent.

Even better news, I have wanted to design a shirt in Jenna's honor since she was diagnosed, but I never had time and it was too emotional. But I finally came up with a design that I love and I sold them as a fundraiser for the St Baldrick's event I'm doing this summer. We sold over 100 shirts! My husband's company will match our donation, so we will be able to contribute over $2k, just from the shirts! We are doing a silent auction on June 1, so hopefully that will bring in even more! I've been quiet on here the past couple weeks because I've been living and breathing the design and sale of these shirts! I will try to post some pictures of them soon!

 

[angel's momma]

Sorry things aren't going so well. I hope that you're able to move the date so that Jenna doesn't miss her recital. Angel was adament that she wasn't going to miss her band concert, because she wan't able to do the last 2, and she was willing to wait a year for her trip if she had to. I hope you hear from the coordinator soon, and that you're able to extend. We've had some frustrations with our coordinator not responding. Lots of hugs. I'm glad you're feeling better. So wonderful about the shirts, can't wait to see the pics.

 

[angel's momma]

 

[angel's momma]

You haven't posted in awhile - hope everything is well

 

[ajjwmaw]

Goodness, things are moving around here. Sorry for so long between updates.

I have been coordinating sorry deliveries and making plans for a fundraiser that I'm hosting June 1. Oh and our house had been hit by a cold. Both kids have it and only have a bit of congestion. I on the other hand sound like a man and feel terrible. I'm so glad it is me and not Jenna!

We did get the extension approval. MAW was very clear that the maw portion was only the 7 days, they couldn't guarantee your long tickets were good for, we couldn't try to get freebies I'm their name etc. We understood and were grateful for the approval. Now, I need to figure out where to stay! I think maybe a couple nights at a Disney resort, but the rest somewhere a bit more affordable.

Other than the cold Jenna is doing well. We found out that the dress rehearsal for her dance recital is the morning of the recital, so she doesn't get to go. The will be doing the dances in costume at her dance studio the week before, so that will be her recital.

Her counts were high at her last appt, so they increased her chemo slightly and we go back in two weeks. If course she came down with the cold the next day. At least we found out the reason for the high counts.

We were excited to find out that Jenna will be included in a calendar sold to benefit Braden's Hope (they fund pediatric cancer research and are based in kc - I actually just found out that the founder lives a couple blocks from us!)). The shoot is next month and features the KC pro soccer team. I think it will be a neat experience for her.

I hope that everyone is doing well and those of you that are going on trips soon have a blast!

 

[JWCJ]

Boo to colds. Hope you're all getting over them soon. It's good that counts go up with a cold, at least. At our clinic they require two elevated counts in a row to adjust the meds?

Glad to hear she gets to dance in her costume, even if it's not the official dress rehearsal.

Sounds like you have some wonderful fundraising events ahead. How exciting . And huge hurrays for the extension! We weren't allowed to extend, but we're international so I imagine the insurance issue was the reason. I believe the 3 day Disney tickets are good for 2 weeks, although you wouldn't have the GKTW button to get you the extra "perks". GKTW also has a ton of other attraction tickets that can be used during the time you're actually at the village.

 

[angel's momma]

Yay that you get to extend. Sorry you've been dealing with colds. Hope you are all feeling better now. Glad she gets to perform in the costumes the week before. So exciting about the calendar!

 

[happybelle]

Joining in!

 

[angel's momma]

You haven't posted in such a long time (neither have I, sorry, I haven't been feeling well). I hope all is well, that your fundraiser yesterday was a huge a success, and that you're getting ready for your trip. Have a fantastic time!

 

[ajjwmaw]

Thanks! The fundraiser went great, but definitely took more time and effort than I expected! I have barely done any planning for our trip! Still, we are so excited! 6 days!

We got our ticket info. A limo will be picking us up at 5am next Saturday and our flight leaves KC at 7:50. They are giving us a few hundred dollars of spending money and covering our rental car during our extension (we had no idea they were doing the car and didn't expect it at all!).

 

[angel's momma]

I hope you had a fantastic trip.

I know the St Baldrick's event was this weekend, I hope it was a wonderful experience.