I want to start off by thanking Make A Wish, The Meiters, Our wonderful fish extender group, Gail and Don Sayman, and so many others who made this trip incredible and possible. Our trip started bright and early Saturday morning with a limo ride to LAX. We were so fortunate to have our close friends the Meiters join us on this trip. There daughter Rachel is the same age as Noah and they have been great friends since birth. After a stop in Tennesee we landed in Orlando in the early evening. Jason's back had been bothering him the week leading up to the trip. He had gone to the doctor and even went for a massage the night before the trip. The long airplane ride did not help and the pain was increasing. After we checked into our hotel we went to get dinner. During dinner Jason felt as though his food was getting stuck and he was very nervous. I suggested we go have him looked at before we got on the boat and things got worse. We were able to leave the kids with the Meiters and catch a cab to the nearest hospital. After a few hours and tests they suspected that Jason had Pneumonia. It was a little strange because Jason had not been sick, had a fever or anything. They gave him some shots for the pain, antibiotics, and pain meds. He slowly started feeling better and by day two the pain had gone away. He has since had another chest xray after being home and all is clear. we certainly like to keep things exciting thats for sure :).
After that exciting night we went to sleep so we could board the boat the next day. I can not say enough how efficient and great Disney is. Everything seemed to always go so smoothly and was top class. They picked up our luggage for us at the hotel and we jumped on a luxury bus and headed to Port Canaveral. We were all amazed upon arrival at how enormous the Disney Dream boat was. It was a beauty. The kids were so excited and of coarse Noah was already starting to make his list of everything he wanted to do. For those of you that know Noah, he is a planner and loves to plan his days out and needs to know what's happening every minute of the day and has a hard time with change. Lucky for him they give you a navigator each day that tells you the ships activities and times. We worked hard and made sure we were able to scratch everything off his list :)
The first thing we did was check out our stateroom. Wow!! It was super nice and can I just tell you that the beds and pillows were so comfortable. Real classy Disney way to go. They had pull out beds and an amazing six foot porthole with a cushion seat that I may or may not have laid and eaten breakfast on while basking in the sun. Next up was a meet and greet with new friends. Before the cruise we had joined a fish extender group. What is that you say?? well outside your stateroom you have these hooks for people to leave you notes etc. Somebody along the way thought it would be fun to make hangers with pockets and form groups to leave surprises for one another. We decided to partake in the fun. The few weeks leading up to our trip we had gotten to know the people in our group through a facebook page. I told you this was gonna be long :). I had shared our website and told everyone about make a wish. A sweet girl named Jodi offered to make our fish hanger, and another gal named Amy Jo offered to take our family pictures. These people were so kind and we were excited to meet up with them on the boat. Through out our trip we received gift after gift in our hangers it was so much fun.
After our meet and greet it was time for the Drill and Bon Voyage party. Our family had fun taking pictures and roaming around the boat taking it all in. Next was dinner. Each night you ate dinner in a different themed room. The first night we ate in the Enchanted gardens. It was a spectacular decorated room that would change colors and scenes. We had terrific waiting staff that would follow us each evening to the different rooms so we always had the same staff. The first night we saw a Disney production and after that the kids got to explore the kids club. As I laid in bed that night I was still in awe that we were really away and that we had been blessed with this incredible opportunity. I'm so thankful that Noah was healthy enough to enjoy it and thankful for the beautiful memories we have to carry us through.
Day 2 was a packed day of fun. The kids rode the aqua duct water slide. A tube slide that goes across the entire boat. They swam, ate, did a detective activity, ate, then ate some more and enjoyed the kids club. We ate a ton. I enjoyed a nice massage, the jacuzzi and lots of yummy food. Every time we returned to our stateroom we were left with baskets of treats from our on board Make A Wish Host. We were also gifted with surprises like certificates for the arcade and snorkel rental and water equipment gift cards for off the boat. Coming back to the room was so much fun because we never knew what we would find in our fish hook or in our room.
My Favorite Day. We docked in Nassau and our family headed out early for our dolphin excursion. To say I was excited was an under statement. It has been a dream of mine to pet a dolphin. This experience did not disapoint. I can not tell you enough how cool it was. We got to hug the dolphin, kiss him, dance with it, touch it's teeth, feed it, and rub its belly. It was so great. They are some of the most beautiful sea life. After our experience with the dolphins we played on the beach before heading back to the boat. The water was gorgeous and the weather was perfect. That night we enjoyed an elegant dinner at a french restaurant onboard. It was a special treat from Jeff and Belinda. The four of us enjoyed our time and the food was out of this world.
More to come later.
Please remember to keep Noah in your prayers for his appointment tomorrow with the transplant team.
Wow! I can't wait to hear more! I am so super thankful that you all had this amazing trip together and that Jason was okay and able to enjoy it. =)
ReplyDeleteI love hearing all about it! The details are great :)
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