Star Raising Party

To finish things off with Make-a-Wish, we got to have a party so that Chris could raise his glass star and add it to the rainbow of stars that they have on their ceiling. These are all granted wishes!

We invited family members and a few members to come celebrate with us. Here is the cake they had for him:

 It was really good cake, and they even had Mickey Mouse plates and napkins!

 He didn't want his picture taken here, so this is the best shot we got.

  We love Make-A-Wish!

 We got to write a special message on his star, then he raised it up to the ceiling. 

 



Disney World--Day 3

On our third and final day at Disney World we went to Disney Hollywood Studios in the morning because there were attractions there from Disney Jr. that I thought Chris would like. It was a fun place! First we saw Jake:

 Then Sofia:

  And Doc McStuffins! These characters were so fun, because they don't talk, like most of the characters in Disney World, but they make kissing sounds when they kiss. It's really cute.

Kisses

 From there we headed to the Disney Jr. show. They started with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, then had Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I thought Chris would love this, but he was still pretty scared of everything. He did sing along a few times, though.

Matt was tempted, but it was kind of a long wait to become a Jedi.

Star Tours is still around! It was so fun!

 We went home for lunch, then left Chris with his grandmothers and took the girls to the Magic Kingdom to see how many rides we could ride before dinner. We took the monorail to the park this time.

 We started and ended with the Seven Dwarves Mine Train, since that's our favorite. We went to buy Shannon's parasol that she wanted, then we headed over to Frontierland and found some stocks.

 The girls rode Splash Mountain with us! We didn't get very wet, though. I was thinking of my dad the whole time because he used to read Uncle Remus to us. It was a very fun memory. We also rode the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

 We headed over to Adventureland next and rode the Aladdin magic carpet ride and tried to go on the Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was closed for repairs. Sad! We went to the Haunted Mansion, which was just as much fun as I remember it being, then we went back to Tomorrowland and the girls rode Space Mountain with us again! Leah kept her eyes open this time.

Then we let the girls drive cars on the Speedway. Shannon's parasol got stuck in a hole and got ruined, so we went back and got another one. That took a lot of time because they are hand painted with princesses. We headed back to the villa after than with big plans to take everyone back to Disney Hollywood Studios to see Fantasmic, but the parasol had taken so long that everyone was pretty tired, so we went swimming and went to IHOP for dinner.

It was such an amazing trip! Here we are on the way home. Chris liked reading all about the airplane.

 Sleepy boy!

We are so grateful for the Make-a-Wish organization and to all of the people who have ever contributed to it. This was such a great time spent with our family and we made wonderful, happy memories that we will keep forever.

Disney World--Day 2

We got an earlier start the second time we went to the Magic Kingdom and headed straight for Mickey Mouse.  Chris was nervous at first, but got excited when he saw Mickey and got to dance with him. Disney World really made this a special moment. What a great memory!

  It doesn't get any better than this! 

 His legs look like toothpicks coming out of his shorts. He was pretty sick prior to our trip and lost a full 2 pounds, so he looks pretty emaciated in these pictures.

 Dancing with Mickey 

He even got to inspect all of Mickey's accoutrements

Right after we saw Mickey, we stepped outside and Snow white was there.

Then we went over to the other side of the building and saw Tinkerbell.

Her little "home" is so fun!  She has lots of great big things. Chris liked the giant crayon the best and wanted to take it home.

 

 

 Next we headed over to Tomorrowland and went to the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, rode the People Mover, then got some lunch at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café. Chris fell asleep again, so we left him with grandma and took the girls to Space Mountain. Shannon really didn't want to do it, but both girls got brave and did it! They didn't want to ride it again, though. I love that Leah's eyes are closed. She had them closed the whole time.

This picture always makes me laugh because Matt said he was laughing at the lady in front of him the whole ride because she was cursing in Spanish the entire time.

 We found Merida, and the girls got to have archery lessons.

Of course, we had to introduce the girls to the teacups. They loved it.

We went home for some dinner, then went back to the park that night to see the Electric Light Parade. On the tram from the parking lot to the ferry I turned around and saw this. I said, "Leah, what in the world are you doing?" She said, "Holding Nanny's hair on so that it doesn't blow off." (Nanny wears a hair piece) I laughed so hard!

 This was the view of the fireworks from the ferry. I love that the castle is purple!

The parade is exactly how I remembered it. They really haven't changed much since I was a kid.  They also did an amazing show projected on Cinderella's castle. It was beautiful!

Tinkerbell!

Naturally, Chris loved Mickey's train.

The girls had glow wands from their Aunt Heidi and this was the perfect night to use them. All of the people in the parade saw them and waved at them. They are the two on the right.

Leah and Minnie