We were picked up at 6:45 am by a stretch Escalade. It took up the entire length of our driveway. We watched "Elmo in Grouchland" on the big screen TV inside. Very cool.

We arrived at Give Kids the World Village at 8:30 pm or so and we were tired. However, the village looks like Candyland so the kids were really excited to be there and running around without jackets. I think the employees thought we were nuts because it was so cold! HA! We had just left -38 degrees with the windchill, so we were thrilled.

In the morning we had breakfast in the Gingerbread house (as we did every morning) and had a quick carousel ride. Then we headed to Universal Studios after our orientation to the parks.

At Universal Studios, we met Shrek, Donkey and Fiona after seeing Shrek 4D. Donkey sneezed on us, gross. It was loud for Hannah and she kept her hands over her ears during the entire show. This was a theme during the entire vacation. Most of the rides and shows were too loud. Poor girl. We continued on to other areas and spent a lot of time at the Curious George area. This included a water park. Huge pails of water poured down onto the park every 10 – 15 minutes. We got soaked once when we thought we were protected by a roof. The large holes in the roof really didn't help keep us dry! Hannah didn’t like that very much, but liked the park anyway.

We went back to our villa and to the Gingerbread House for supper, then to the Ice Cream Palace for dessert! The palace was open every day from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm. You could go as many times as you wanted. Jesse loved it. And, who am I kidding, we loved it too. We restrained ourselves to once a day until the last day we were there. We went after every meal!

The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom at Disney. The kids each got an autograph book just in time. The highlight was that Jesse was able to meet Buzz Lightyear and get his autograph. He also loved the Buzz Lightyear ride. You had to shoot the robots that worked for Zurg as you rode a “ship” around the galaxy. Fun times. We were able to use the Disney Wish Lounge. It is a place for families on their wish trip to sit down for a while and relax, play games, watch a movie, have a drink, etc. We were the only family there at the time so it was very relaxing. After that the kids were ready to head “home” again. We returned for supper and a carousel ride just before bed. The next day we headed to Cocoa Beach.

We returned to our villa to find out that we had a new niece/cousin!  Cameron Grace was born on March 11 just before 6pm!  We were all excited and couldn't wait to meet her when we returned to Winnipeg.  Congratulations to Heather and Jeff!

Before we headed to Cocoa Beach, Jesse went horseback riding at the Village.  Hannah petted the horses as she wasn’t feeling quite brave enough to ride.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach.  The kids ran through the sand and ocean and were buried under the sand.  On the way home we had a quick stop at Kennedy Space Centre.  Chris checked out everything and the kids and I played on the huge play structure.  

The next day we headed back to Disney, but this time to the Animal Kingdom.  It was great!  But first we had to meet Goofy, Pluto, Belle, Mickey and Minnie at Give Kids the World Village.  The village and the parks arrange to have many of the characters visit the village.  This way the kids get to really spend time with them without all of the line ups.  Near the beginning of the trip, Hannah did the conga with Dora!  

At the Animal Kingdom, we went on the Kilimanjaro Safari first.  You get into a huge open truck and then the driver takes you around the reserve park.  We saw elephants, a lion, zebras and a bunch more other animals I can’t even remember (but have photos).  When we were done we walked around that part of the park and saw other animals, the hilite was the gorillas.  They were napping right near the window.  Jesse and Hannah particularly liked the hand prints and put their hands inside the prints.  Jesse also liked the skulls of the different animals.  Then Jesse and I saw the Finding Nemo Musical.  It was amazing.  It was a puppet show, but some of the puppets were as tall as the stage!  Hannah decided it was too loud so she and Chris went shopping rode on the Dinosaur ride a few times.  After the show we returned to Dinoland.  The kids went on the dinosaur ride a few times.  On the way out of the park Jesse and Chris went to the Bug’s Life 4D show.  There were some frightening scenes so Hannah and I decided to skip it and check out all of the insects instead.

Stay tuned…

When we returned to the Village, it was Christmas!  You could sit on Santa’s lap and pick a present.  Then there was a parade through the main trail of the village with all of the characters from Give Kids the World.  The participants in the parade handed out small gifts to the kids like smarties (rockets), candy canes, magnets and jewelry from Universal Studios.  Jesse and Hannah were also able to decorate a cookie with icing and treats.  Great fun!  Every evening there were activities, but this was the first evening we really spent a lot of time in the main part of the village before putting the kids to bed.  Every other night they were too tired!  

Hannah was really starting to be brave.  The morning she met Mickey Mouse (Thursday), she let him touch her!  Then that evening she was so excited to see the Gingerbread Man she walked right up to him/her and got a hug.  You see, she thought it was Gingie from Shrek, her favorite character.

Friday morning was cloudy and a bit cooler than the rest of the week, but we didn’t mind.  We headed to Sea World.  Our first stop was the Dolphin Cove.  Jesse and I fed the dolphins (Hannah didn’t want to) and petted them while Chris videoed the experience.  It was really neat!  Later I bought a photo from the Sea World of us.  You’ll have to ask to see it when we see you next!  We went to the Dolphin show…amazing.  Chris and Jesse sat in the soak zone with garbage bags.  Jesse kept his around him and stayed relatively dry, but Chris did not.  There were birds involved in the show too and they flew into the audience while the dolphins flipped around in the air and people rode on them like a horse.  It was crazy.  Probably the best part of the entire trip for Chris and I.  We also fed the sting rays.  That was pretty cool too.  You hold the fish in between your fingers with your hand at the bottom of the pool.  The sting rays swim over your hand and suck the fish out of your fingers!  What a neat feeling.  We also fed the sharks, which is not quite as fun since you just throw the fish into the tank, but still neat.  We also watched the Killer Whale show.  Not quite as thrilling as the dolphins but still amazing.

There was an extreme games set up at Sea World.  You could rock climb and jump on a trampoline with bungee cords.  Jesse was too light to rock climb, but he sure loved the trampoline.  We have video of him giggling and laughing so hard the supervisor thought he was scared!  He just loved it!

We headed back to the village to find the Pirate and Princess Party.  The kids rode the carousel (as they did almost every night) and played the games at the party.  Coincidentally Shamu and the Dolphin (I don’t know her name) were at the part to meet all the children.  Hannah was brave again and danced with Shamu and even gave him a hug!

Last entry:
On our last day at the village Jesse wanted to stay and play in the pool. First we spent some time in the Castle of Miracles playing games and found Jesse's star.  Each wish child gets a star.  They write their name on it and the fairy puts the star on the ceiling while you are sleeping.  There is a whole interactive movie that happens during this.  You put the star into the fairy’s box and then the fairy appears on the screen above the box and flies around two other screens close by as she takes the star from the box and places it in the sky.  When you open the box, the star is gone!  It was pretty neat.  The ceiling is covered in stars.  There are approximately 60, 000 of them.  That really puts it into perspective, doesn't it?

Once at the pool, what we thought would be an hour swim turned into 4!   Needless to say, we ended up with sunburns, except for Jesse, the one of us who is supposed to burn easily due to one of his meds!  Who would have thought?  Jesse is a nice tanned color now and had many comments about how great he looked when he went to Clinic after our trip.  The kids (and of course us) stayed in the pool almost the entire time we were at there.  We had take out lunch from the village and ate poolside.  Jesse played with a little boy his age named Cooper.  He was from New York.  They had a great time pretending to be Dinosaurs!

That evening was Mayor Clayton’s (the huge bunny mayor of the village) birthday.  We stayed for a few of the events, but Hannah was exhausted from all of the swimming and sun!  We returned to our villa and put the kids to bed.

On Sunday, we left before breakfast and checked out.  We headed to the airport and returned the van.  The plane ride was uneventful and we had a 4 hour stop in Hamilton.  Luckily, Kristi and Meghan joined us at the airport for a visit.  It made the long stop much more enjoyable and Jesse had fun playing with them while we caught up on the latest from the two of them.  Hannah slept almost the entire flight from Hamilton to Winnipeg!  She was exhausted.  The stretch vehicle picked us up again and we headed home.  Tired, but quite happy with our wonderful trip south!

This trip wouldn’t have happened without Make-A-Wish, Give Kids the World and all of the volunteers and sponsors who donate time/money/materials each of these organizations.  There were so many amazing parts to this trip that I’ve only just touched on in the journals here.  It was a wonderful time and has made such a difference to Jesse and Hannah’s spirits.  In each of the photos we have of the kids, they have huge smiles on their faces.  This is because they had such a good time!  They both seem much more calm and energized at the same time!  This is the best part of the whole trip.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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