Should roll out the driveway in 10 days

[brat]

for the long drive from AZ to WDW. Might roll out the night before putting the kids to bed in RV to get a head start.

The kids do not know we will end up at WDW.They think this is just a trip to see Foster Sons bioGM with a fun stop for each of our kids.

Our family is DH, myself, our 8 adopted kids, 1 Foster Son and cousins DD that we now have living with us.

We are headed to Fort Wilderness campground. We will average 400 to 500 miles a day.

This will be the kids first trip to WDW.

 

[brat]

Sorry I only got a short start earlier, got DDs Dr called to confirm our travel plans. Before we roll out of town we are having a party at the hospital playroom.

Okay, time to tell you a little bit about our family.Both DH and I are full-time power chair users. I had a spinal cancer as a kid. DHs injuries were caused by a drunk driver running a red light hitting the his families car.His sister and Dad died in the crash.

We both wanted kids, we chose that for us the best way to bring kids into our home was to become Foster parents. Since our home is set-up for our wheelchair needs,we said Special Needs kids okay.

As Foster kids have come through our home 8 of those wonderful kids have stayed with us and become our kids.All 8 of them have mobility issues.

Our youngest DD is a toddler who just got her first power chair which she totally loves. She giggles the whole time she is in her chair. Most of the time when we are out she is in a baby carrier that fastens to my chair. She now uses her powerchair around the house.

Our 5 yr old DS has been with us since he was 2 and can walk a little still but has progressive muscle wasting. He loves Mickey Mouse.

Our 5 yr old DD came into our home at 3 as a child abuse victim spinal cord injury. She is into pink and Little mermaid. She still has major fears of smokers, we are still working on this.

Our 8 yr old twin DDs have birth defects of their spines and had rods put in before Christmas. They love to draw and have fun with their friends.They love history.

Our 9 yr old DS has many too many health issues to get into in this post. He tells me we need to be happy and pass that happiness to others even if we are having a bad day.He wants to stop listen to others then help them have a better day.

Cousins 9 yr old DD just came back to us, her Mom is having problems right now. She is a wonderful kid and she is very helpful. She acts like a little adult till you tell her its ok for her to relax and be a kid.She loves the simple things around our home or having dinner as a family and there being food in the fridge.

Tell you guys about the older kids next post................

 

[brat]

Back again, got more of the RV packed.Putting Disney themed stuff in the hide-E-holes in the RV behind things we will use along the way.

Packing the RV for 25 days away from home with a family of 11 takes a bit of time. So please forgive that this is taking me a while.

Okay, back to back to the who is who.

DS 10 multiable birth defects many times we told he would not make-it through medical issues.He is our most medically involved kid. When we first got involved with him it was to get him medical help, he was suffering from a skin infection that deep and spreading up his legs.He lost both of his legs just below the hips because he had not had the medical care he needed soon enough.He is a people person and loves to hear old peoples life stories.When he sees pictures of large groups of people on TV he talks about just how much fun it would be to read each of their life stories.He is my other history kid.We will stop at the "Alamo " for him on this trip.

DD 13 spinal cord injury and PKU. She plays the harp.She loves flowers and is in love with love stories.She is learning to sew and just sent a box of pillowcase dresses an boy shorts to charity that she made.

Foster Son is a young teen with Autism, he is high funtioning but enjoys things for much younger kids.He thinks this trip is just about taking him to see his bio-Grandma.Then the little side trips so each kid gets to see something along the way.


Now that you have the cast of charaters. Now the trip plans have us driving our RV from AZ to FL. We homeschool all but Foster son normally and he will homeschool along the trip along with weekly check-ins with his teachers at his school.DH and I keep the kids to 6 to 8 hours of school a day 5 days a week at home.On the road we will keep up with school till week get to WDW where we will let them go down to two days of school that week.We had planned to have them do more school days between the Disney days but budget says skip some more school while paying to camp at Ft since we pay more to camp there for the things to do while there.

So this trip will be us. our RV, DSs Service Dog, our three indoor cats(they will stay in the RV.They love to ride in the RV and youngest DD enjoys that the cats ride in old baby carseats) and nine wheelchairs.DH has the rule that everyone is buckled in while on the road so even though we are in the RV restroom and meal stops will happen about every two hours during day driving.

 

[brat]

Trip delayed.

 

[1girln3boys]

Wow what incredialbe people you and DH are. Sorry you're trip got delay . Why was it delayed? I hope the kids have a magical time when you are able to go.

 

[brat]

Thank you, 1girln3boys.We honestly feel the kids are blessings.

We are delaying the trip because the Twins need surgery on their backs again. They had rodding surgery before Christmas and some of the hooks that hold the rods in place need replacing.

Their backs just did not look right to me so they went back to ortho Dr. he ordered scans and we waited over the weekend.Surgery will be tomorrow.

 

[1girln3boys]

Good luck with the surgery. I hope this time it fixes the problem for them. Keep us posted.

 

[brat]

I will post an update on the girls in a few days. I will bring computer with us but till they are post-op enough that I feel comfortable I likely will not post.

At least they got a few months of their backs not hurting out of the last surergy hope this time will give them a few years.

 

[brat]

Girls made it through their surgeries.They are still groggy and meds still have them out of it.

So it looks like they will move out of the ICU today.Update when I can.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Wow what a great family you have there! Glad the surgeries went well. Hope you can take that Disney trip soon. It sounded like it was going to be a blast.

 

[brat]

Thank you 3Princesses+Prince.


Girls are doing much better than Dr expected them to do They are bouncing back faster than most of his pts do.Dr said he wants to see them in his office Monday but after that we should be able to start setting our travel dates.(Good thing we eat in our RV) If Fort is sold out we may end up camping off-property.Waiting till monday ....so we can call and see what dates we can get.

Heading home tomorrow

They both wanted to go to hospital playroom today. Back to almost normal they are still a bit ouchy but not enough to stop them from seeing their friends and having fun.

 

[1girln3boys]

glad it went so well. Have fun in Disney.

 

[brat]

We are home from hospital

Both girls say they feel so much better.Now we just need to find out how soon we can hit the road in the old RV.

 

[brat]

We got the okay to travel with the twins so I am trying to get new resses for the campgrounds.

Dr gave us names and numbers for Drs he knows along our trip route and in Orlando area just in case we need them.

Each of our kids have stops along the way they want to stop and see except our youngest.The kids get to vote on a stop she would like.Everyone adds 3 places they think would be toddler fun that are less than an hour off route.Since she is a new powerchair user a nice open space where she can really be silly after long hours in the RV.

 

[Disney Cat]

WOW!!! What a fascinating story. You are a remarkable family. I can't wait to hear how your trip goes. Post pictures if you can.

I will check back daily to read your posts. Good luck and have an awesome trip!

 

[brat]

Thank you for the pixie dust Disney cat. I just got our new arrival date for Fort. We will be there on the 8th

Will try to pick-up new camera from lay-a-way today.

 

[brat]

How much stuff do we really need to bring with us on vacation?

Thinking I should look at just how much folks brought with in covered wagons.Meals, clothing, school supplies, medial stuff and gear it just adds up.

Should have picked-up camera but.......getting travel food prepped just took more time, DS had his power chair need a repair and missed pick-up time by less than 5 minutes.

 

[brat]

We have made it to New Mexico!

 

[brat]

We are in western Texas so we are getting closer to WDW

 

[brat]

We are getting closer.Going to a zoo in the morning before we get on the road again.

We are five days and a wake-up from WDW