Well, it has only taken me nearly 3 months to put this post together. So here it is. Hope you enjoy reading about Cassidy's wish to go to Disney World.
Cassidy faithfully removed one link from her paper countdown chain every morning. Sept. 4th finally arrived and we were on a plane headed for Orlando Florida to join Cassidy on her wish trip to Walt Disney World. Can I just tell you Cassidy was so excited to go on this trip that the first week of school was an entire waste. She could not focus at all on school work. All she could talk about was her wish to go to Disneyworld.
We arrived in Florida Saturday afternoon and were greeted at the airport by a friendly elderly couple from Give Kids the World Village where we would be staying. They helped us get our luggage, rental car and gave us directions to the village. We arrived at Give Kids the World and were taken to our villa where we would be staying. Holy Cow! I had no idea how nice this place would be. Our villa had a kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, washer, dryer, jacuzzi tub etc. I was amazed at how nice it was. The village is an amusement park all its own and they have fun activities all day for kids to do. All the meals at the village were free. It really is a special place. It was founded by a man who is a Holocaust survivor. He has quite an amazing story. Anyway he made his money in the hotel business. He would often use his hotels to host families of critically ill children who wanted to see Florida. He got fed up one day when a little girl died before she could come to Florida because it took too long to make arrangements. That is when he decided to make a place just for sick children to stay. Give Kids the World was built all from donations and continues to run on donations. Most of the people who work there are volunteers. We were treated like family there. It runs very smoothly and organized. They have everything figured out. One of my biggest fears was that Cassidy would get sick out there and I wouldn't know what to do. Well they have a booklet where they tell you exactly what to do and where to go. Everything very thought out. Truly a place where "Happiness Inspires Hope".
FYI I had forgotten how humid Florida is. Wow! It was hot. Don't look to close at my hair in all these pictures (ok now you will). The minute I would walk out the door my hair would go into it's natural craziness. No amount of straightening would do the trick.
Here we are in front of our cute Villa.
Of course, one of the first things Logan discovered is that there are lizards crawling everywhere in Florida. He chased them all around and Lorin helped him catch a few.
That night while Lorin was at an orientation meeting I took the kids to the swimming pool. This pool was so fun! The kids had a blast and there was even a birthday party at the pool for Mayor Clayton the rabbit mascot of the village. I made friends with this really cute African American girl. I had to laugh because I could not understand a word she said. Lorin just laughed at me because on his mission he learned how to understand the southern African American talk (I don't know what to call it). Afterward we had to check out the ice cream parlor where they serve all you can eat ice cream all day long. Can we just say Megan was in heaven!!!
The next day we headed out to go see some of Lorin's mission and the beach. First we passed through Daytona Beach. We went right past the Daytona 500 race track. Exciting to some I am sure. It was so fun to watch Lorin as he remembered exactly where he was going. He had a lot of zone conferences in Daytona. We continued down the road, along the shore, to Flagler Beach.
Lorin actually served in Flagler Beach. We played in the water for a little bit but then it started to pour rain and everyone had to get out of the water. We then drove past a little ice cream shack where Lorin would buy the best chocolate and peanut butter ice cream. The line was long and it was raining so we drove on by.
Yep, Lorin as a missionary. It was so fun to actually see where this picture was taken.
My handsome husband! Wow, missionaries really are just little boys! We were going to walk out on that pier but they charge money to do that.
Lorin, as a missionary, in front of his apartment. This place is just a street or two away from the beach. We drove right past it and I really wanted to get a picture of Lorin in front of the place but there was an old, sun baked couple out front trying to have a little yard sale. The place doesn't look this nice anymore. Kinda turned white trash. I am sure some of the other missionaries were upset when Lorin found an apartment in Bunnell just miles away but closer to the church building.
So this is the picture I took, at a distance.
Next we drove over to Bunnell. It was raining so I didn't make the kids stand in for the picture but I should have. This is the church building. Lorin says that they added on to the building since he was there. These pictures may be boring but it was fun for me. Lorin remembered exactly where he was going. We even drove past a house where an elderly sister would cook him the best fried chicken. We didn't dare knock on the door. She probably isn't around anymore anyway.
This was Lorin's apartment in Bunnell and how it looks today. It didn't appear that the missionaries still live there. The picture below was taken in the backyard of that apartment. I really have no idea what it is with missionaries and burning things. I think Lorin is burning a tie. I don't know.
Next we drove over to Palm Coast. We ate at the Cracker Barrel where Lorin occasionally went to if he scrimped and saved his pennies. I saw this sign and all the beautiful flowers but once again it was raining. It was fun to drive the roads Lorin had to ride his bike on. In Florida there are no shoulders to the roads let alone sidewalks. They would just have to ride as close to the edge as possible and hope that the cars wouldn't hit them. Lorin showed us a trail that he and his companion decided to take one day. It was a beautiful ride but when they got home they realized they were crawling with ticks. They didn't do that again.
Lorin, as a missionary, in front of the Orlando Temple. The temple was dedicated when he was on his mission. It is interesting to hear him talk of how much opposition there was to this temple being built. People thought that their property values would go down and complained about every little thing. But the temple was built and property values went up. I am sure that it changed the area and the hearts of the people in so many good ways. It is a beautiful place.
Oh the love after a long day in the car!
Sunday morning Logan complained of his legs itching. He was told not to run through the grass, if you can call it grass, chasing the lizards but he kept doing it. I guess there are chiggers in the grass that bite so we thought maybe that is what had happened but it looked more like a rash. I thought it would resolved itself and just be on his legs. Well, by night time it had spread everywhere including his face. He fell asleep but I felt pretty uneasy about it so at midnight Lorin headed out to Wal-Mart to get Benadryl. By morning the rash was gone. I am glad that I didn't just let it go. He obviously was allergic to the tall grasses.
On Monday mornings some of the Disney characters come right to the village to take pictures with the kids. Cassidy loved Pluto and kept petting him.
Next we headed to Sea World
"Come here little fella!" Logan was always chasing something.
The kids got to feed the dolphins. Pretty cool! We also "made" the kids go the the Atlantis ride. It has a fairly large drop off at the end. Needless to say we had a couple kids in tears over that one. I still have to laugh. I know, mean, but the looks on their faces were hilarious. I need to scan that picture in.
Then the clouds burst open and it poured rain. And I mean poured!!!
The kids absolutely loved the carousel at Give Kids the World. Cassidy got to put her name on a gold star and it was hung in the castle of miracles. Someday we hope to visit and find her star.
On Tues. we headed to Magic Kingdom, Cassidy couldn't wait to see the big castle. She got to meet a lot of her favorite characters. It was nice being a wish kid because all the cast members were so sweet to Cassidy.
Logan wasn't too sure about Jasmine. She needed more clothes on!
We went to Storytime with Belle. Cassidy was chosen to go up on the stage and play the part of Cogsworth the clock. She was so proud. It was hilarious when she reached down and had to see if the clock worked. She was really anxious to give Belle a hug and almost didn't wait until the show was over. It was very cute!
Lorin took Megan and Cassidy on Splash Mountain. Logan refused to go on it so I had to wait out with him. Anyway, as luck would have it, they got stuck in the ride for an hour. It scared the girls so they said they were never going on it again. Nice! I convinced Cassidy to go on it with me on Thursday. I told her I was scared and needed her to go with me. She loved it! I think the favorite ride ended up being the Big Thunder Mountain. We went on that over and over.
On Wednesday the kids got to ride horses at the village. Then we headed to Animal Kingdom and Epcot Center
Cassidy is quite proud of herself for going on the Everest ride. It is pretty intense. I don't think you could pay Megan or Logan to go on that ride. Cassidy came out smiling!
While we waited for Cassidy and Lorin to get off of Everest Logan found another creature, a enormous grasshopper. He really wanted to step on it but that would have made a big mess and probably a big crunch.
On Thursday we to a quick look at Hollywood studios and then went back to Magic Kingdom. I have to laugh at the dorky picture of us with the "Up" logo. The kids quoted that movie the whole time. They are so funny! The kids really enjoyed taking the boat over to the Magic Kingdom.
