Disney Trip: Days 5-10 from Tragic to Magic!

Well, I apologize for not blogging about our Disney trip the rest of this week but I was so exhausted every night when we got back that I just chilled out and relaxed. Let me go back to Monday and update everyone on our fabulous fun-filled week.

Monday we returned to the Magic Kingdom but it wasn't such a magical day as that is what they say to you after you pay the $14.00 to park and enter the parking lot. It poured down rain the entire day! I mean torrential downpours! We made the best of it and got around to as many things as we could trying to stay focused. We spent the majority of the day in Tomorrowland and some in Liberty Square and finally Frontierland. Gwynny actually rode Space Mountain even though she was not at all thrilled with being in the dark. Bill thought she would like it since she loves roller coasters but that wasn't the case. She also freaked out in "Stiches Great Escape" and I had to escort her out of there. What a pain! She was excited to see Jasmine and Alladin at there picture spot in Adventureland but she still refused to go up to get to get her picture taken. Oh well! We ended up cutting that day a bit short because we were all soaking wet and cold. This would be part of the tragic stuff! LOL!

Tuesday we decided to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios instead of Epcot. I had been reading about the different parks and everything I read suggested that if you have young children Epcot would be the least appealing for them. So we made the trek over to Hollywood Studios and that was definitely a GREAT choice! We had to deal with torrential rains again in the morning but we bought ponchos and wore them to help stay dry. Well, the rain stopped fairly early in the morning so we able to enjoy the park more without dealing with the rain. Favorites were "The Little Mermaid" musical show, Playhouse Disney's show, Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, and the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids," playground. I really enjoyed this park with the HUGE Mickey's Sorcerer's hat in the middle as the center point. We also got to see several of the character's such as Mickey Mouse, the old man, boy, and dog from "Up", and the Incredibles!

Wednesday we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. This was probably the least favorite park of mine. The major highlights of this park are the "Finding Nemo" Musical and "The Lion King" musical! Both were phenomenal! We also enjoyed the Safari ride to see the animals but the rest of the park kind of reminded me of our zoo at home. I guess we are spoiled with having such an awesome zoo in Cleveland. The park was only open till 5pm so when we got back home Bill and I changed and got ready for a night out on the town. Grandma and Grandpa babysat the kids so we could go out to Downtown Disney for dinner and to walk around. Very cool place to go! We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe which is an animated restaurant with animals from the rainforest. We were serenaded by elephants and gorillas just to name a few. Afterwards we walked around and looked at the Lego sculptures and shopping in the Disney World Store! To end our night out we went to Ghiradelli's for a dark chocolate fudge sundae! Let me tell you...it was to die for! YUM!

Thursday was a bit more laid back in the morning. We slept in a bit, had a late breakfast and left for our last day at Disney's Magic Kingdom around 12 noon. We wanted to go late so we would stay later for the SpectroMagic parade and the "Wishes" fireworks! It was a great day! We went on Pirates of the Carribean, the Jungle Cruise, Swiss Family Treehouse, and Aladdin's Magic Carpets! Bill and I wanted to go on Thunder Mountain so right before the 3pm parade we got in line for the ride and Grandma and Grandpa took Lily and Gwynny to watch the parade. We had already seen the parade on Sunday. Anyways, Bill and I also went in the Haunted Mansion and Grandma and Grandpa took the girls back on "It's a Small World". That was Lily's favorite ride! As soon as she got in there she started clapping and kicking her feet! She was fascinated by all the colors and everything in there as well so it would have to be her #1 pick! We stayed late for the parade which was out of this world! So cool! I highly recommend seeing the SpectroMagic parade because it is like nothing you have ever seen! The fireworks display was also very cool because Cinderella's Castle changed colors during the whole thing and there was music that coordinated with the fireworks display! Fabulous! Lily on the other hand...had a complete meltdown during the parade and Grandma and Grandpa offered to take her away from all the action and took her closer to the entrance to wait until the fireworks were over. Gwynny, Bill, and I stayed up by the castle and watched.

Friday was a very laid back day. We slept in and then got up to temperatures in the 70's but cloudy. We decided to go to the pool and hang out. Lily didn't go in because I felt that it was just too cold for her little butt to be going in the pool and then back out into the cool air. Gwynny didn't mind and spent the whole morning in the pool with Daddy, Grandma, and me. Bill and I even decided to take the "Pirate's Plunge" down a waterslide they had at one of the pools at the condo! Total Blast! Grandpa took Lily back to the condo room and between him and Grandma they got her to take a nap. Thank goodness! She was exhausted by Friday and really needs to get back on her schedule. After lunch in the late afternoon it started to rain again so the pool was out of the question. We ended up spending the majority of the day inside packing but we did make a short trip out to the most unique Mc'Donald's in the world. It had video games, a kid's play area, all kinds of memorabilia on the walls, a singing moon man, and a statue of Ronald Mc'Donald on a bench. Very different indeed.

So that brings us to today. Today was a travel day and we made it to Charlotte, North Carolina the same place we stopped at on our way down. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for lunch about an hour from Savannah, Georgia and then made two other short potty stops before landing here for the night. Planning on getting up at the crack of dawn and getting on the road early so we can get home at a reasonable time. FYI: We get to go home and deal with a broken garage door cable. Yep! My friend that has been taking care of our cat while we are gone went over earlier in the week and tried to open the garage only to find out that it would only open a few inches and close. She did not have a key to our house because we only left her a garage door opener so we ended up having to overnight a house key to her. Arrrrgggghhhh! Just one more headache to deal with when we get home! Well, I am tired and we are trying to get the kids to settle down and go to sleep. I definitely will be posting pictures sometime soon it's just that I took 958 pictures so that means I have 958 pictures to go through. Whew! Makes my head spin just thinking about it! Well, talk to everyone again soon when I get back home.

Days #3 and 4: Disney Trip-Arrival at our destination and our first day at Disney!

I am a little behind on my posts but I was just so busy last night preparing for our first day at Disney today that I forgot to post about yesterday. Basically yesterday we woke up at a Residence Inn in Orlando and had a very leisurely breakfast at their breakfast buffet. We had some time to kill because we were meeting Bill's parents for lunch and then heading over to the resort where they have their timeshare to stay for the week. Lunch was at a Denny's, no big deal, but we were able to get into the resort early and check-in. The skies had been looking like rain all morning but it had held off of course until we got in our room and put on our suits. It started to pour! Gwynny was SO upset! How do you tell a 4 year old that wants to go swimming in a really cool pool with a pirate ship and all kinds of cool stuff that she has to wait until it stops raining? Hmmmm....well Daddy and Grandma decided to head over to the pool anyways with Gwynny after about a 1/2 hour when things calmed down a bit. Gwynny had a BLAST! The pool is definitely a highlight of this resort and it's only 1 of 2 that they have here. You could literally come down here and not even go to Disney and have a blast just hanging out at the pool. There is also a lake here, but you can't swim in it. I guess certain times of year you can get some kind of boat and go out on the lake but that wasn't available right now. They also have a Bar and Grill by the pool, as well as a playground and picnic area and miniature golf! It's really sweet! So after spending an hour or so down at the pool after Grandpa and Lily and I also came down shortly after the others we headed back to the condo and had a really nice dinner and relaxed. We had a big day ahead of us because today we were going to the Magic Kingdom!

This morning we woke around 6:30am to start getting ready for the trek over to WDW! We finally got everyone out of here around 9am and had to drive about 4-5 miles to get there. We parked then took the tram to the ticket offices but we purchased our tickets at the Disney store before arriving so we were able to go in and get in the line for the monorail. FYI: Those of you thinking about going to WDW and your child is fed through a feeding tube and takes medications that need to be kept cold do not fear. Disney will keep your medications cold at the First Aid office for no charge. We ended up not having to use that luxury because the weather today was very chilly. The high was in the 50's and it was very windy! I am so thankful that Billy went outside this morning before we left and came back in to tell all of us to put on heavier clothes or we would freeze our butts off! So we did and at times we were still cold. Still better than the 20 degrees they are having back at home I guess.

Gwynny completely enjoyed the day! We spent the day going through Mickey's Toon Town, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. We hit all rides and attractions in Mickey's Toon Town, and Fantasyland except Snow White's Scary Adventures because Gwynny opted not to go on that one. A little too scary for her! The only thing we did in Tomorrowland was "The Laughing Floor" with Mike Wickowski from Monster's Inc. Very cool! We especially loved Mickey's Philharmagic which was a 3-D movie that was very cool, the Dream's Come True stage show in front of Cinderella's Castle, and the "Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade". Lots of princesses to see in both the stage show and the parade. Gwynny was in heaven though she was convinced the witch in the stage show was the real one! LOL! There were also lots of characters located at specific spots throughout the park which was very cool to see. We didn't get any pics with them because Gwynny doesn't like to get close but we did get to see them in fact while waiting in line for the "Mad Tea Cup" we noticed that the white rabbit was on the ride and then Alice got on and joined him! So much fun! I felt like a little girl in a candystore today! A couple of times I just got very teary-eyed because I never ever thought last year that I would be at Disney World with my family especially with everything that happened with Lily. It definitely was a "Dream Come True" today and I thank the Lord for the opportunity to be able to go. We can't wait to get back there tomorrow and have even more fun! Stay tuned...

Day #2: Disney Trip- Deja Vu

Deja Vu? Really you may ask. Yes, today was almost a complete repeat of yesterday. Let me explain why. Got up this morning and went to the lovely breakfast bar at the Spring Hill Suites hotel we stayed at last night. The waitress was very friendly and was more than willing to wait on us hand and foot even though we wouldn't let her. The topic of conversation among the business travelers was how quickly their colleague could speak today so they could get the heck out of Charlotte before the winter storm hit. Let me tell you, I think we definitely dodged a bullet there. We got on the road around 9 am and got far enough away from the storm that we didn't have to deal with any bad weather.

The first four hours of the trip went ok. Lily was not very happy to be in her car seat for a second day. She whined a lot and screamed a lot too. We stopped in Savannah, GA at a Ruby Tuesday's for a lovely lunch. I love how they ask you if you want your iced tea sweetened or unsweetened. I told the waiter I wanted "NO Sugar because that's how we drink it where we come from". LOL! :0) Lily was very happy with our dining situation. She was happy as a clam sitting in the little highchair chowing down on some Stage 2 applesauce and cereal. Yummmy! She was just as pleasant as she could be! But, and I mean a BIG but, she was like Jekyll and Hyde once she got back into the van. She spent the last part of the trip going from laughing to screaming and then back to laughing. We just wanted to get to our destination and fast. We would have arrived earlier if we had not been held up in a HUGE traffic jam just south of Jacksonville, FL on Rt. 95. That was a bummer! Anyways, we arrived to Orlando safely but a little stressed out! Once again we grabbed a very quick dinner, got the girls in the pj's, and got them into bed. At least tonight we have a door that separates the living room area from the bedroom area so Gwynny can't try to "Hang Out" with us like she did last night and told us she was going to the same tonight until we nicely informed her differently. Well, tomorrow we meet Grandma and Grandpa K for lunch and then we will check into the condo we will be staying at for the week. Yeah! Stay tuned for more adventures...

Day 1: Disney Trip-First Stop Charlotte, NC!

Hey everyone! It has been a long time since I have updated my blog I know. I have been crazy busy! I thought I would just do a quick update to let everyone know how our first day of travel went. Well, we left our house this morning around 9:20Am with the dog crammed in with us and made a stop at the vet to drop her off for boarding. Not a happy camper but that's how it goes. We actually got on the road around 10:20Am and the kids were doing pretty good. Every once in awhile Lily would let out a yell or two. We stopped just near the West Virginia border for lunch at Mc'Donalds...Gwynny's favorite! That was approximately an hour ordeal and then we got on the road again. On the road again I can't wait to get on the road again...You get the idea. Anyways, I think it was somewhere in the mountains of West Virginia or Virginia when Lily just would not stop yelling. Every few minutes she would holler. I tried everything a mom could to get her to settle down but nothing seemed to help. I realized that part of the problem was the sun in her face off and on as we were driving. So after a few hours of her yelling we finally decided to stop at a Walmart and pick up some of those shades for the van windows only to find out that they wouldn't stay on because it was too cold outside and the window was a little dirty. Bummer! We will try again in the morning. So we had to endure Lily's screams for another 3 hours off and on. The main thing was that she did not want to be in the van ANYMORE! She was done at like 3pm. We finally made it to our reserved hotel in Charlotte, NC and after unloading the van Bill went to a local Taco Bell to pick-up some dinner. Not my first choice believe me anyways, he comes back and tells me that when he pulled up to the window to order the person working took one look at all the salt and snow stains on our van and asked him if the weather was really getting BAD outside, nevermind that it's like 50 degrees outside. You see there is a Winter Storm Warning here tonight and I guess living in the south saying the word "SNOW" sends everyone into a complete state of mayhem. Bill assured them that the weather was just fine and that the salt and snow on the van was from Cleveland where we live. Anyways, we are hoping that everything goes well the rest of the drive. Kids are feed, in their pj's, and in bed. Can't wait to see how rush hour is here in the morning? Stay tuned... Tried to upload some pics but the Internet here at the hotel is too slow. Sorry. :0(

My New Toy

Lily got this really cool Fischer Price sitting toy with a mirror and musical instruments. It even has a microphone rattle! She loves it! We can put her in her Bumbo seat in front of it and she will bop and move to the music and push the buttons. Such a blast! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa K this was definitely one of her best gifts this Christmas!

Where Has the Month Gone?

I can't believe it is already the 17th of January. I feel like the older I get the faster time flies. I thought this month that I would be much more diligent about blogging but as you can see I haven't. There has been a lot going on, such as running kids to and from preschool, therapy, and doctor's appointments. I also have been working 2-3 days per week. Tuesday and Thursday nights and then Saturdays. It is just ok. Nothing at all like teaching of course, but I didn't expect it to be. I got a job at a scrap booking, card making, kind of store. It's called Archiver's. Hoping to keep looking for another job so I don't have to work on the weekends. It's becoming a bit of a drag.

Anyways, enough about that, how is the munchkin doing? Well, Lily is doing well. Had a visit from her Intervention Specialist from "Help Me Grow" and the case manager also tagged along this month. They both were so impressed with how much Liliana has grown and improved in just a year. She is up for an IFSP review in February and so of course I had extra paperwork to fill out. Fun. I am really hoping that things come through with the Toddler program through the county. I thought Lily was 4th on the waiting list but after the visit we had Thursday they told me that they finally received the immunization records they had been waiting for so they could now proceed with enrolling her in the program. It's always something. She also needs one more shot that she will be receiving at her 18 month appointment this Tuesday so we'll see what happens. Wait, wait, wait.

Other than that we are getting very excited! We leave for Disney World in 11 days! Yeah! Gwynny is beside herself! I have so much to do in the next week and a half to get ready but believe me I am very ready to go! We so much need a break from things here. We are planning to get a 5 day ticket plus the condo we are staying at is very kid-friendly and centered around kid activities. Gwynny will be in heaven. It will also be a nice break from the cold weather we've had here. I don't mind the snow but it has been downright cold here lately. Well, just wanted to let everyone know we are alive and doing well. I will try my best to update again this week. I definitely will have to post some pics from Disney. Have a wonderful week! God Bless!

Greetings! It's good to be back! An update.

Well, it has been a long time since I have actually sat down and posted. It seems like the month of December just flew right by. We were constantly on the go. Though we are back into our usual routine we are still on the go but it isn't the same. Christmas 2009 and New Year's were a crazy and wonderful time for us this past year. We got to see lots of family and friends over the past 2 to 3 weeks. We also did some entertaining here at our house as well. We had lots of fun!

Santa was very generous this year! Gwynny got lots of Disney princess stuff including the new Princess and the Frog dolls and Ariel and Eric in their wedding outfits! She is one happy girl! She also got a Leapster 2 so hopefully she won't bug Bill anymore to play the games on his phone and we are thinking it will be good entertainment for her in the car when we go to Florida soon. She got lots of clothes and many other things too. Lily got a really cute little toy...not sure the name of it from Grandma and Grandpa that has a mirror on it and all kinds of fun musical gadgets to push and make sounds. It plays music too and she loves it! We can put her in the Bumbo seat and put her behind it and she will sit there and clap, cheer, and bebop to the tunes! It is so cute! May have to get that on video! She also got several other toys like a sit to stand toy by V-tech, and a baby laptop! Aunt Annette also got her a "Signing Times" dvd so we can work on continuing to teach her to sign. We haven't been very successful in that department yet even though I consistently try to teach her "eat" and "more". We will keep on trying. Santa also brought me a wonderful new camera actually compliments of Bill's company Christmas present. It is an awesome camera and I will definitely have to learn how to use it better but I love it! It's a Nikon D3000. Very cool.

On the other side of the coin...we did take a lot of time to focus on the true meaning of the season. We meaning Gwynny, Lily, and me participated in the Christmas play at church this year. Gwynny was a proud and adorable little angel and Lily and I were travelers to Bethlehem. It was a fantastic drama written by a very talented individual at our church and it really helped me to focus on what is truly most important about Christmas. Jesus! We also went to a candlelight service on Christmas Eve at our church which was very cool! Everyone lit a candle and we sang Christmas carols and focused on the light in all the darkness in this world... again it is JESUS!

We have so much to be thankful for this past year. Liliana came home from a long hospital stay in February of 2009 and started a new chapter in our lives. Though she may be more behind developmentally than some kids her age, she has really grown over this past year by leaps and bounds. We went from an NG tube to a G-tube to a Mic-key button this past year. She has been eating Stage 2 baby foods by mouth consistently for over 6 months now. She is learning how to drink from a sippie cup and she babbles and interacts with people like never before. She even has her own fan club at church. It is hilarious to see her when Bill picks her up from the nursery. She starts waving "hi" and saying it to everyone that passes by. So funny! She is so close to sitting up by herself, she is just lazy. We will hopefully conquer that one in 2010! She received a clean bill of health from the cardiologist back around Thanksgiving. She also was diagnosed with far-sightedness and now wears glasses, ahem...I mean we are working on her wearing her glasses. LOL! That too will come. Thank you Lord for our little blessing. She continually keeps things in check for me.

Gwyneth has been growing up and becoming quite the BIG girl. She started preschool this past year and she goes 5 mornings a week and seems to really enjoy it. She is learning a lot especially about relationships and how to get along with others. Very important! I know she struggles with the whole Lily getting a lot of attention but we are working on that with her and hoping that as she matures she will overcome some of her jealousy. She also started pre-ballet lessons this year and will have a recital in June. Can't wait to see that one! LOL! She has had a busy year and a half as well.

God knows we have so much to be thankful for and we owe it all to him. He has provided for us this whole year because I had to quit my job. I now have a new job which is only part-time but it does help a little bit financially and it gets me out of the house for a few hours. Thank the Lord! I think our biggest frustration this past year has been the issues we have had with Lily's g-tube and now her mic-key button. Personally I feel the mic-key button is overrated. It is great when it works but when it fails, which happens a lot then it stinks. We had a recent mishap on December 23rd where the button came out some time over night and the hole had started to close. We ended up having to take Lily down to the GI department at the clinic and luckily the nurses were able to put a new button in without Lily having to go to surgery. Whew! Dodged a bullet there. I had visions of us spending Christmas Eve at the Cleveland Clinic again. Unfortunately that button only lasted about a week and had a leak. I put another one in that only lasted about 4 or 5 days! What is up? I put another button in on New Year's Eve so I will keep you posted as to how this one does. Man, talk about frustrating. Kimberly Clark and I are best friends with all the phone calls of complaints and asking them to ship me replacements. Anyways, through it all God has been faithful and he has stood by our sides through thick and thin. He is my rock and my salvation, whom shall I fear? I have nothing to fear in 2010 as long as I cling to that rock and ask him to keep me in the palm of his hand. He loves us and he knows each and every one of us. The bible says he knows every hair on our head. Even if we think things are as bad as they can get God is there in our midst. He will never leave us nor forsake us. I challenge you in 2010 to let go and let God! Give your life to him and let him take control. Thank you again Lord! Happy New Year everyone and make 2010 a GREAT one!