Squirrels, Ducks and Coconut Butts!!! A Wish Trip Report *LATEST UPDATE 05/2011**

[All7OfUs]

WOW! Melissa! Absolutely beautiful pictures of the girls! I CAN see the joy in Phoebe's face at the princess meet too. So precious.

I wouldn't have known about the name change of Tink's Treasures either. Too bad! I bet they took out the dresser that you could see "Tink" in too.

The horse poo pic just adds some fun to the whole scene.

 

[jenniferkeala808]

hey melissa!! my prayers and thoughts go to you and your family while you and Pheobe are at the hospital...good luck with everything! Great pics of the girls riding the horses!! I'm loving your pics of MK...and i just LOVE tessa's pictures. so creative! LOL!Awww great pics of the girls with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen...so happy you got to meet them! Oh my that pic of Princess tiana kissing Pheobe is wonderful!! So magical!! oooooooo so castle couture WAS tink's treasures...good to know! Awww those pictures of the girls are just beautiful!! I'm glad you were able to do the photoshoot without having to do BBB!

 

[wishin' on a star]

I hope all goes well at the hospital. Love this day. Sounds like you are off to a teriffic start at the MK. The pics of the girls with Tiana and Naveen are just precious. We did BBB, so had the photos done there, but Carmella didn't get the package that included the photos...although they did one of her anyway...now I know why! I'm glad your girls got a photo shoot!

 

[wish_upon_a_star35]

Wow!!! What beautiful pictures of the girls!!! I just love seeing their smiling faces!!! I was reading your update with Selah on my lap and she is soo excited to see Princess Tiana and Prince "Bobeen" I really hope that we get to meet them!

That is also a great idea about letting Tessa take some pictures. Don't mind me if I use that idea for my little ones. I think it would make them very happy to take pictures at Disney. They take plenty around the house with my camera...I usually don't find this out until I go to upload pictures

I am so happy that you guys had a wonderful MK day! I hope the memories of this trip are ones that your girls will always treasure!

Good luck with Phoebe, you guys will be in my prayers!

 

[noahsketomom]

OMG -- still so behind on the boards, but just have to say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Tiana pics --WOW!

And the CastleCouture looks so cool!!! WTG!!!

OK, so how is it that you are working on day #2 of MK and I haven't gotten around to doing our only day of that? And you got home 2 weeks AFTER us? I hate leaving things undone......

so in the meantime, I'll relive it through you guys!!!

 

[yinyanggirls]

Thanks everyone! I love these pics too because it really was a much more relaxed and happy day. I was able to let the magic happen.

Phoebe was released from the hospital around noon but after a sleepless night I decided to put off the trip by one more day. There was no way I was going to be able to drive the first leg (7hrs) with just me and Phoeb. So I'm off to bed early and heading out tomorrow.

Testing update: Phoebe had 4 of her "episodes" while we were there. Neuro looked at the first two and said unofficially there is no seizure activity on the test. Suggested a muscle biopsy after we get the new MRI done. Those words make me recoil. Anyone had this done? Is it as bad as it sounds? Feel free to PM or email me if you have info!

 

[kellyw8863]

Thanks everyone! I love these pics too because it really was a much more relaxed and happy day. I was able to let the magic happen.

Phoebe was released from the hospital around noon but after a sleepless night I decided to put off the trip by one more day. There was no way I was going to be able to drive the first leg (7hrs) with just me and Phoeb. So I'm off to bed early and heading out tomorrow.

Testing update: Phoebe had 4 of her "episodes" while we were there. Neuro looked at the first two and said unofficially there is no seizure activity on the test. Suggested a muscle biopsy after we get the new MRI done. Those words make me recoil. Anyone had this done? Is it as bad as it sounds? Feel free to PM or email me if you have info!

Ali had a muscle biopsy done in October of 2008, which is how we ultimately ended up with the mito diagnosis. Honestly? It sucked. They took a piece of muscle from her left quadricep that was about two inches long and the thickness of a pencil. It was a good two weeks before she walked on that leg again, though I have read of many instances of the child being up and about the day after. She still has a pretty significant scar from it that falls just below her short line. With that said, I'm so glad that we did it because it is what led to a diagnosis and better treatment for Ali. If you want to talk more about procedure (there is a specific way that it needs to be done in order to be done correctly) or what they might be looking for, let me know. I know of way too many people for whom it was botched or the sample ended up being unusable, and I would hate for it to happen to Phoebe.

Hang in there.

Beautiful princess pics. I need to get back to work on Ali's TR!

 

[kellyw8863]

Thinking of you and hoping you're doing okay...

 

[rcq925]

Thinking of you guys and hoping that your drive went well and you are enjoying being with family!!

 

[eyor44]

Okay, I finally have my laptop back and am all caught up with you. I love all of your pics. They are so awesome. I think Tessa is following in your footsteps. She takes great pics also.

Wonderful trip report. Thanks for all the info on SeaWorld. We will be going there for the first time this November. Love your report. Such detail.

 

[GeminiAngel]

OMG!! I love the princess pictures!! Phoebe is just glowing! You need to get Tessa in commercials. I fell so far behind in this report, I stopped getting e-mail notifications for some reason.

I hope all goes well with Phoebe's muscle biopsy.

 

[syncsk8mom]

Melissa,

Just catching your trip report now. I am so sorry we did not get to meet up in Orlando....it was a really rough week for us. The little one was in the ER twice! AUGH

Anyway, I have to say that your pics look GREAT and I am so glad you guys got to meet Princess Tiana and Naveen. The girls looked like they had a blast and Tim sure looks good in his Mr. Increadable's shirt! LOL

Hope to catch up to you soon. I am having my knee replacement in July so hopefully I will have some time to send you an email to catch up!

Glad you and Phoebe are out of the hospital and good look with the mito testing.

We will be praying for Phoebe.

Sarah

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Checking in and saying hello! Hoping all is well!

 

[Granna4679]

I got Tessa ready while Tim experimented with his camera. Phoebe continued her second nap behind that closed door. Tessa was goofing around. I swear she could be a model, with all of her silly expressions and poses, usually with little to no prompting.

Once Phoebe was up and ready we headed on over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for our 6:30 ADR at Boma, the African themed buffet. We were a little concerned that the GPS didn't list it by name, but we were able to figure it out and got there a couple of minutes late. As Tim dropped me and the girls off at the front door we realized we didn't have the handicapped placard again. What the heck? I asked a guy who standing with the valets, but was wearing a more professional uniform so I'm guessing was a supervisor of some sort, if it would be okay to park in the handicapped spot anyway. He could see the wheelchair of course and said it would be no problem. Phew!

I saw a photopass photographer by the front door at a desk. I asked him where they take the pics here and he explained they do a professional shoot or just a quick snapshot in the main lobby. Since we were now about 5 minutes late I asked how late they would be there for the lobby pic and whatever his answer was (8 maybe?) I assumed it would be late enough for us to make it after dinner. We checked in at the desk, gave them our name and the time we reserved. They gave us a pager and asked us to have a seat. We sat. And sat. And walked around. And gave Tessa a time-out for wandering away and not listening. And walked upstairs. And went outside. And rode the elevators. And had another family take our pic.

And went outside again. And gave Tessa another time-out. And sat some more. We did have plenty of time to chat with other families, several of whom LOVED the girls' dresses and wanted to know where we bought them.

Peaking over the stair rail at the food we were really hoping to eat soon.

Finally Tim went to the desk to ask what was going on since we had been there about 45 minutes, Tessa was driving us crazy and Phoebe was whining pretty good because she was hungry. There was some mix-up with the ADR and the lady he spoke to, different from the one who checked us in and gave us a pager, said something about we were never marked as arrived. She asked us to wait just a couple more minutes which we grudgingly agreed to do, when they paged us and we were finally seated. Our nerves were already frayed at this point and I knew it wasn't going to be the casual, tasting and learning of a new culture that I had hoped it would be. It was, hurry up and fill up a plate with anything the girls might like to eat, then alternate which of us got to go fill our own plate while feeding Phoebe and trying to keep Tessa moderately under control. There were definitely some delicious dishes on the buffet, and I tried to have a small taste of anything I hadn't had before. I knew I'd never remember what I ate that night so I took a pic of the menu. I still can't remember all of what I ate though!

Tessa got a lighting up Tinkerbell clipped to her drink which she played with through the rest of dinner. After that night I hid it away and asked her if she wanted to give it to her cousin who loves Tink. She said YES, until it came time to give it to her. She wanted to play with it again, but of course lost interest after a minute, again.

If that were all she had done it would have been fine. She was talking to people at the tables around us, climbing over chairs and benches to get to them, going under the table, turning every which way in her seat, etc. She had two more time-outs during dinner, one of which Tim had to take her out of the restaurant for because she was screaming. It was just a little too late for us. And we missed the photopass guys. Oh well.

One of my dinner plates. Just a taste of some things.

Tessa pointing to her favorite, a brownie. Yes, this is the second plate for her and Daddy.

My dessert plate. I left most of them on the plate after one bite because I just wasn't in love with any of them. None were bad, just not over the top delicious like I had expected. But then, I'm a really simple dessert kind of person. Cookies. Ice cream. Zebra domes. just kidding. I think my fave of these was the apple cobbler stuff. Tim and Tessa finished some of mine and even after we got home from the trip Tim said he really loved these desserts.

After we were done with dinner we explored the hotel for a little while.
Walking along a wildlife path.

It led us to the savanna where a couple of "guides" were helping people look for animals with night vision goggles. They were from South Africa and the one we were talking to was part of an anti-poaching unit there. (Caitlin - I thought if you because he was very handsome, young, single, but had a serious career. You'll have to call and see if those guys are there when you go back!) He and Tim talked about law enforcement for a while. Tim had fun. Tessa was playing around and scraped her knee. This owie would be an annoyance for the rest of the trip because she would either re-open it by falling again, or pick at it if actually had a chance to start scabbing.


Walking back to the car.

We had the kids in bed by 10:30 which was later than I wanted, but not bad. We really enjoyed having a slow paced day. And NO, it never did rain.

Melissa -love the update on Boma. I am sorry ya'll had to wait so long. We went to Boma in October and loved the food but didn't care for the desserts either. The girls look so cute in their dresses. I am glad they got to wear them to AK Lodge. I can totally relate to the "time-out" rituals. My DGDs get a lot of time outs as well. They are very active and headstrong...LOL. They have even been known to put themselves in time-out (find a rug somewhere) when they know they have misbehaved.

The Tiana pictures are just absolutely beautiful. I love their princess dresses.
The black and white photos and the last one of Tessa with Tiana are my favorites. Perfect.

Sounds like the trip is great so far (except for the rain)...can't wait to read the rest of the trip report.

P.S. Love the photopass picture (with the poop in the background...) Too funny!!

 

[jordanyosh]

I've just read the last update...

Great pix and good fortune with Princess Tiana and Naveen. It really does look like they took their time with the kids which is awesome.

Great photoshoot pix as well.

as far as the horse poop in the background...that's just classic. I would've been taking a picture of it as well...but that's pretty obvious given the nature of my TR...

 

[yinyanggirls]

We're back from our Utah trip. The wedding was beautiful and I took about 650 photos. Thank goodness I went digital! I now have a ton of editing to do. We also pick up Phoebe's new wheelchair tomorrow, get "trained" on her gait trainer that we've already had for a couple of months, and then Friday she's scheduled for an MRI and CT. I say scheduled because we all picked up a little cold bug in Utah (where it was rainy and in the 50s most of the time, yuck!) so I don't know if they will still want to sedate her with a cold. We've been beefing up her immunity as best we can and so far she seems to have very mild symptoms but she definitely has it so we'll see. My mom drove back home with us and at some point I need to take her up to Phoenix so my sister can drive her home to CA, since they are going to visit anyway. I hope I'll have some time for an update this weekend! I'd love to share a few pics of this trip, too, because we got to have a little fun while we were gone. That's what summer is all about, after all.

 

[jordanyosh]

glad you made it back safely and had a good time other than the colds picked up.

can't wait to see pix and hear more about your trip.

 

[dawnbu40]

Glad to hear you had a nice trip except for the colds. Looking forward to more trip updates as well as the pics of your summer fun

Hope things are able to go on as scheduled for Phoebe

 

[Wee Annie]

Hey Melissa,

good to hear from you. Glad you had a good trip, despite the colds. I hope Phoebe's tests can go ahead as planned. We just did a sedated MRI with Elke, and they did call beforehand and ask if she had a cough.... So hoping that Phoebe nips this cold in the bud.

 

[wish_upon_a_star35]

Glad you guys made it there and back safely! Hopefully Phoebe will still be able to get the testing in! I love weddings and hope you get a chance to post a few of the pictures!