And We're Off!

We woke very early on Friday morning to a knock at the door. I woke Ben and it was our limo driver...a day early. I was a little freaked out since I thought, wait a minute, did I get the dates mixed up??? Thank goodness I didn't and it was the limo driver. The next day we woke very early to get a limo drive down to the airport. The limo had sparkling cider that Emma just loved. We all wore our matching shirts. Austin's says: "The Bravest Boy in the World. I have three kidneys, how about you?" Emma's: "The kindest, most patient, loving sister in the world. My brother is my hero." Ben and myself:"Parents of The Bravest Boy in the World. Proud parents of a Wish Kid.".
The kids were so excited, but the plane ride was soooo long. I made Austin wear a mask so he wouldn't catch anything from the (disgusting) circulated air. Austin was not amused. But Emma thought it was a wonderful idea and asked for one.
After we landed we met our Give Kids the World escort. He made us cry by telling us in no uncertain terms that this week was not just for Austin but for all of us, so we needed to let people serve us. It hit close to home. I have always encouraged others to let family and friends serve them, as I know how hard it can be to accept service. For over a year and I half I knew that we were going on this trip and would think about it when times were getting hard, over whelming, or having a hard time enduring. I looked at it as the point in the journey that we have finally made it. Not that we would not have other struggles with Austin's health, but this trip signified the end of dialysis, and his first transplant journey. So when he said to relax, have fun, and to let them do all the work I cried. We made it. Now we had the opportunity to have fun and not worry about medical stuff.
We drove to Give Kids the World Village. It is was awesome! So much to do and see. Since the next day was Sunday we decided to go to church and keep things low key, do stuff around the village and got on a boat ride int he swamp.