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.

Make a Wish Surprise Party

 

The surprise party was crazy. We had friends come over to help decorate and get everything together since we only had 45 minutes to get everything set up, including the food. We really had no idea how many people would come. We handed out 80 invites, and low and behold over 75 people came! It was amazing. The kids knew we were going, but not when, and we totally got them. They were so surprised. Austin and Emma's faces were classic, and the look of terror/surprise was then a huge smile on Austin's face and a shy grin on Emma's. When they cam in we had the cake lit and sang the following to the tune "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow":

For they are going to Florida!

For they are going to Universal!

For they are going to Disney World!

To have a very good time!

I made everyone practice a few times. Our party guests were all good sports and participated. We then had some snacks, cake, and homemade lemonade made with lemons from our tree. Ben and I made a slurry on the stove so we didn't have to mix the sugar and let it dissolve. It is the picture that looks like bile. Kind of gross, but it really did taste good. We showed a video of all the things that Austin has experienced leading up to the Wish Trip.It was an awesome party and we were overwhelmed by the love and support we felt. It was the perfect way to start our trip.

Austin's Birthday & Wish Trip Prep

It has been crazy busy at our house. CRAZY! Of course I put some of the craziness on myself. I won't deny it. We went to a Christmas party down at ABC studios through the Starlight foundation. We won tickets to Donnie and Marie there. Well actually I really wanted to see them and no one else there either wanted to see them or could go since it was that same exact afternoon and there were only 2 tickets. I called all of my friends trying to find someone to go with since Emma didn't really want to go with me. My friend Karen came with me and we had a really good time. Some of the ladies in there acted like Donnie was Elvis and were screaming and swooning over him. It was rather funny. Then Marie went around with lipstick and kept kissing bald guys on the head. Now that was a little creepy. Despite all the other shenanigans the music was pretty awesome, and so was Donnie's dancing. I never thought that I could be so entertained by them. Marie can out and performed some amazing Broadway routines. Her register is higher so she can sound kind of nasally when singing in her lower range and especially in her break, but when she belts the high notes it gives you goose bumps. Donnie though was just all around awesome. He has a great voice.  

It was Austin's fifth birthday. I cried. Why is this going so fast??? I want him to stay little! He loves balloons and requested a hundred of them. We blew them up and tied them until our fingers were sore. Then taped cellophane over them so the balloons would rain down on him when he got up. He thought it was pretty cool. He could pick one friend to come over to have dinner with and open presents. The Carrs came and we had homemade syrup, pancakes, and cake. YUM...super nutritious.

As you can see I have a budding fashionista on my hands. Emma will ask me to take pictures and she will pose this way and that. I find the poses pretty hilarious and have no idea where she gets it from.

I also spent a lot of time in December/January getting ready for our trip. I finalized our itinerary, made shirts, skirts, luggage tags, and other little things to make the trip extra special. I also started planning the surprise party to announce when we were leaving.

I went into Toys R Us to find a light saber for Austin. The one thing he asked for was a blue light saber (Luke Skywalker) to fight Darth Vader when we went to Disney World. As the associate and I were looking I explained why finding this was so important. She responded "Well we have to find that light saber!". She proceeded to call around to other stores and found one about an hour away. There was another associate driving through there so they had them pick it up for us. I was excited since our trip was a week away. I cam back the following Monday to find a beautifully wrapped package waiting for us. At no charge. I burst into tears and told them they were going to make his day and his trip. The were crying too. It was a great way to start our Make A Wish trip.