June 16th Thursday: Disney World

I have so many pictures from our trip to Florida that I will break them into themed blog posts. There will be much more to come, and hopefully some more journaling too- but for now I hope that some pictures will tell our story well enough!

The Magic Kingdom was fun. We got to see Rapunzel who was the one princess that was on the top of each of the girl’s hit list. (She is from the latest Disney princess movie, Tangled.) Unfortunately she was the last princess we saw and Charlotte had just fallen asleep during the ‘It’s a small world’ ride and did not want to wake up. (Charlotte does not wake up nicely... remember, we call her the dragon for a reason.) We also got to see some of the other princesses, these were the only people in costume that the girls were not too afraid of. I guess the mascot type costumes were too scary. It was a very nice perk to have a button for Charlotte that showed she was on her Wish trip, we just had to flash it and they brought us to the front of every line up... in front of people who had been waiting hours to see the attractions. Her button granted us free parking and a double stroller rental, and it let us into a special quiet lounge, just for the Make a Wish families. We were very taken care of.

Sleeping Beauty, she was one of the best princesses for her acting in character.

Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Cinderella

Two happy suckers, I mean girls.

Belle also visited us at GKTW where we stayed, she played her part so well. This was Robs favourite princess.

Watching the parade.

 Unfortunately the day so hot (like 38-40 degrees) so we were poking in and out of aircon areas a lot, I didn’t realize it at first but that was wreaking havoc with my camera lens fogging up... so I was a little disappointed with my pictures.

Prince Eric and Ariel, the Little Mermaid

Cinderellas fountain

Here we were in the Make A Wish lounge in Disney world, what a welcomed relief! A whole quiet, peaceful, air conditioned room in the middle of the Magic Kingdom craziness. The girls were so hot and tired after lunch, this gave us a wonderful little spot to recharge... and jump around?

They had so much fun jumping on the pillows, and dancing on the rug- its a charachter from Aladdin.

Trying to show the line up at 'Its a small world' we got to skip right through with Charlotte's button!

The line continued around and behind that whole white building

Yolanda and Grandpa

On the 'small world' boat, it was not just Charlotte who fell asleep during this ride!

Charlotte waving at the singing dolls.

Rapunzel and a sleeping beauty in one picture!

Thank you to Make-A-Wish, Give Kids the World and Disney for making this day happen.

***THE PINK CAR*** A work in progress

For those of you who have not heard.... Charlotte and Yolanda are getting a PINK car. Not just any pink car either! Their daddy has been working some long hours to make this car come to life. We have met some wonderful hardworking people on this crazy endeavour who have been an immense help.  Seriously, who wants to clean car parts Friday night! (Thank you to everyone who has dropped by to help out!) It all started with Robs old Coronet car project, he was tossing around ideas for how he plans on painting it one day... and the girls kept telling him it should be PINK, pink pink. So with that in the back of his mind and waaay too many hours spent on his phone while he has tied up with nothing to do during our hospital stays this past year, he found a (to him) reasonable sounding old car restoration project, that could be pink. A ‘70s Dodge Charger. (That’s the same car that the Duke Brothers drive in the old TV show.) So here are a few pictures of what they have been up to so far. We are hoping to have it running to do a couple of little road trips this summer... so if you are bored hanging out in Cranbrook with nothing better to do Friday (or any) night, you know who call!

Charlotte seems quite happy with how the car is already.

Who needs an engine when you have a dad to push your car around?

Panther Pink

Enough pink to make a Barbie nauseous!

June 11th Saturday: Make a Wish ... and Squeaky Shoes

Wow, time has flown. We have been having fun, not really DOING a whole lot... but keeping busy. Our big news/distraction has been getting Charlotte's Wish started. We asked Make A Wish if they would send us on a fun Sea World adventure. Well, we are gearing up for a week long treat at Give Kids the World in Orlando. We get to spend time at Sea World and meet some princesses at Disney World.

Our Make a Wish Package arrived!

Wow, were we spoiled or what!

Gnome Hats from Disney's Gnomeo movie

We got hats, backpacks and tee shirts.

I didn't get all of it in the picture but they also each got a special "Make a Wish" barbie and a stuffed animal!

We haven't even left on our wish trip and we were spoiled... Thanks Make a Wish!

Aaaannndd..... here's a cute little show we filmed today. I picked up Charlotte a new pair of shoes at Bumble Tree for our trip... With Squeakers in them! She had a pair like this a year ago but I took the squeakers out before I gave them to her. After watching this video you will understand why... but now its too late, she is hooked, she loves them so much that she would not let us take them off tonight. So, yes, she is sleeping in her crib... with her shoes on.

I think maybe tomorrow I will have to take ONE of the squeakers out, then maybe the other the next day and tell her they got broken. Could you imagine having to listen to this while touring Sea World?

Haha, too fun.

I have a new friend down in the states who's daughter is fighting a similar tumour to Charlotte, she is a beautiful writer and I feel like some days I just want to copy and paste her whole blog here... she writes things that I feel like they came from my own heart about my daughter. Please keep little Kate in your prayers beside Charlotte. Here is something I have copied and re-worded from her blog.

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Thank you to those who continue to pray for our family. Those who have tangibly sought to help our family during this life shaking year. Oh how I hope you will have a front row seat to seeing God miracle in Charlotte's little body..... please keep praying for it.

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We feel so grateful for all the support for our family and friends. So many kind gestures and offers, thank you Cranbrook for everything you have done.  I just don't know how to express a gratitude of this magnitude.