Make A Wish Trip Day 2

Well, Day 2 was Disneyland for us.  We started the day with the Surf's Up breakfast with Mickey and friends.   Our pic with Mickey is on my Disney CD so I'll post it later. 

Eli with Minnie

The boys thought Pluto was funny!

We also saw Lilo and Stitch

Walt, Mickey, the castle and us (of course, Eli isn't looking...you'll notice that in most of these pics he is not looking at the camera!)

Sleeping Beauty's Castle 

(In comparison, not as big as Cinderella's at Walt Disney World but just as pretty)

The first ride Eli chose was King Arthur's Carousel

Then we rode Dumbo, Peter Pan, Snow White, and all the other Fantasyland rides

I was shocked how much he loved it.  I was sure he was going to be scared of the heights, sounds, etc. but he liked Peter Pan so much we came back later in the day and rode it again at his request!

On the Casey, Jr. train in one of the animal cages!

On the Storybook land boats about to go through the whale's mouth!!

Next the traditional teacups!

Sam's surprised face!

Daddy after the teacup ride! haha

Alice in Wonderland ride

It's a Small World 

(They include Disney characters into the ride; we saw Woody, Jessie, Ariel, Alice, Jasmine, Aladdin, and many more!)

On the train

1st big shocker of the day!  Eli volunteered to do the Jedi training during the Jedi show!!! Couldn't believe he was brave enough to get out there in front of everyone! He was probably one of the smallest (he's only 3) but I'm sure they picked him because of his Make A Wish shirt! haha

2nd shocker: My usually outgoing Star Wars loving 5 year old cowered in the back with Dad! haha The people in costumes really freaked him out. 

This was when Eli decided that he was scared.  No matter how many times I told him they were just good guys in costumes, he truly believed it was Darth Vader, Darth Maul and the Storm troopers!!

The other kids went up and fought the bad guys, but Eli declined. 

He did finally stand with the group and give the final fight, with the help of one of the Jedi "trainers"

Thumbs up during the ceremony at the end! haha

So proud of his certificate of Jedi training!

He LOVED the Autotopia ride and was a horrible driver! haha

Waiting in line for the Nemo Submarine ride!

Inside the sub!

Headed over to the California Adventure park for a meet/greet with Buzz Lightyear...stopped for Ice cream on the way! (Oh, and when we got our packet it had vouchers for two strollers each day. At first, I was like, that's not necessary, but we got them anyway and I am so glad we did! It was a great idea!!)

Jen gave me a bag to use at Disney (Jen: I had a couple of people ask me where I got it! haha I told them someone in Alabama gave it to my sister at a lingerie shower! hahaha)

Eli and Buzz playing Hide and Seek.  Eli said he was going to ask if Buzz would play hide and seek with him.  If you know Eli, you know that right now his favorite game is hide and seek.  He asks like 20 times a day to play!!!  Sometimes I feel like saying "I'll count" and then wait 15 minutes to see if he notices that I never come looking! haha J/K.  I knew Buzz would play with him and he did!! 

Both boys loved asking Buzz about his wings and his laser!

Comparing shoe sizes!

Eli's surprised face on the Monorail

Eli's favorite ride! The Buzz Lightyear laser gun ride. We rode the Toy Story Mania ride the next day, but it didn't have a laser gun, so Eli said this one was his favorite!

Mickey's Toontown

Goofy's couch

Toontown roller coaster

3rd shocker: Eli LOVED the roller coaster! This little guy was a trooper and got on every ride and loved it!

Argggh!

Oh look, a pic of just me and Joseph! haha

Disneyland Soundsational parade

We ended the night with some popcorn inside R2-D2! haha

We didn't end up staying for the fireworks.  Both boys were so exhausted they would have never made it to 9pm.  Around 8 something we headed back to the Monorail to see if we could ride in the front.  We got lucky and walked up just in time and got the front seat.  I didn't take any pics because it was already dark out and the Monorail driver was in the front with us. I didn't want to get in trouble for blinding her with the flash! haha  The monorail here only goes from Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney, so we got off in Downtown Disney and walked back to our hotel.  All in all it was a fabulous first day at the parks.  

Eli fell asleep in about 25 seconds!!!  Seriously, he got out of the bath, dressed, climbed in to bed, closed his eyes and was out!  I'll share more in a later post but we are seriously spoiled.  Because it is a Make A Wish trip we were given a special pass.  It allowed us to walk in the exit of each ride.  As soon as a cast member saw the pass they would ask us to step up and the next car was ours. It was insane!! We will never be able to take our boys to Disney World because they will think that no one has to wait for rides. We rode every ride we wanted to. In fact, sometimes it was exhausting because when you have to wait in line you have a chance to take a sip of water, eat an ice cream bar, make a phone call, etc. But we never waited in any line. I had to periodically make everyone stop just so we could take a break! haha  We are still tired but we are headed to the Pacific Ocean today.  I think we might head to Newport beach. We had thought about Santa Monica but our waiter this morning said that Santa Monica is farther away and traffic can be a nightmare.  I'll post pics from Cars Land and the other California Adventure park rides that we rode yesterday on our second day in the park.  The boys just got back from the pool so I'm thinking a car ride to the beach is next! :)

Make A WishTrip Day 1 continued

• Ahhh! I can't seem to keep up with these posts!  It is the end of a very long Day 2. We had a blast at Disneyland (it's like the Magic Kingdom).  I was afraid that Eli might freak out or be super shy, but he shocked us...I mean SHOCKED us and was more outgoing and less fearful than big brother Sam!!!  He was leading the way and telling us which rides to go on next.  It was lots of fun and as Eli likes to say, "It was crazy wicked!"  However, due to my extreme tiredness I am only going to include pics that I uploaded this morning before breakfast that chronicle some of the rest of our first day here.  Hopefully sometime tomorrow I can write a little more about our fabulous Day 2!!
 

 

Eli in our rental van right before he fell asleep!  I felt so bad because I had to wake him up just so he could see us pulling into the hotel!

Joseph navigating Los Angeles

Coming into Disney!!

Our fabulous room

The view over California Adventure Park from our room window.  In the water area is the nightly "World of Color" show that is super cool to watch even from a distance!

We had supper at The Rainforest Cafe our first night. 

 

Aquarium in the lobby of The Rainforest Cafe

Sam reacting to the "Volcano" dessert we ordered

Eli posing with the Hulk in the Lego Store...not sure if Sam was just distracted or scared but he said he definitely did not want a pic with the Hulk! haha

 

Eli showing off his creation at the fun tables outside the Lego Store....(I have some more pics to come from our time there...also, Sam made us promise that we would return to the store sometime this week! haha)

 

My apologies for not having more pics but I actually did not get the week off of work so I have papers to grade!  I can sleep some other time, right? ;)

Make A Wish Trip Day 1

Well, when I said I was going to try and keep everyone posted as to what we were doing on our trip each day, it didn't occur to me how tired I would be.  However, I will try and share as much as I can remember about our day today.  We are exhausted!  As I am typing, all three boys are asleep, Joseph, Sam and Eli.   We had a great day, though.  I will try to share in pictures....

We left the house around 7:30 and made it in plenty of time.  Meme and Pops were able to come all the way to the gate with us as well.  Once I got some Starbucks in me I was ready to go.  Both boys were SOOO hyper...they may have been just a little excited ;)

They were so excited to see our plane pull up and watch them attach it to the gate thingy (I'm so technical!)

Daddy with his plane buddy, Sam!  Sam did great and really enjoyed the flight.  He played with his Leapster (we were able to get a second one from his friend Bradley so both boys would have one!), played with his transformer and just watched out the window.

Eli was not happy that it was raining, but I assured him that the weather forecast for California was sunshine!!

Checking out the emergency procedures....he sure does ask a lot of questions!

 

Being silly!  He did so good on the plane....he colored, read a magazine, played with cars and toys!

More silliness!

**On a side note, we sat by a very sweet couple.  She asked about Carol (my mother in law) and complemented her by saying how beautiful she is!! (Just thought I'd add that in there for ya, Carol!). They said they were flying back to GA Thursday in the same seats...and so are we! haha At least we know they are good plane buddies for me and Eli!

He did ask right as we took off and topped the clouds if this is where God lives! So sweet! 

 

Well this is the last pic for tonight....Sam in our super nice rental van! 

 

We landed and found our way around LAX and then to our rental van.  Then poor Joseph had to navigate his way out of LA (I say "Poor Joseph" because he worked a 24 hr. shift and then got a quick shower before heading to the airport with us this morning so he was pretty tired!).  Fortunately, he's a pro with traffic due to growing up in Atlanta and now driving an ambulance for work.  I'm sure that on weekdays it probably gets rough, but the traffic was a breeze!  We made it to Anaheim and our hotel without any problems.  Everyone was so helpful getting us checked in and into our room.  We have an awesome view!!!

We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney and then visited the Lego store (at Sam's request).  I have some great pics of those places as well.  Even though my clock is saying 10pm, my body is saying 1am so I cannot sit here and wait for 10 more pics to load.  I will definitely fill in more tomorrow.  We have breakfast with Mickey in the morning and then it's off to Disneyland! 

See you tomorrow :D

 

MAKE A WISH

Well….It’s finally here.  I can tell all of you about Eli’s upcoming Make-A-Wish trip because it is official!   I’ll give you a little background first and then tell you what I know about our trip.

We were contacted by Make-A-Wish back when Eli was first diagnosed.  We were put on a waiting list, because they make sure that children with terminal illness and more dire situations get to choose first.  We were so relieved to learn that this is how they organize the wishes and that we are not taking the spot of a child that may not make it to their next birthday. 

As many of you know Eli was diagnosed with a Wilm’s tumor, cancerous, on his left kidney.  After having his left kidney and tumor removed he underwent 25 weeks of chemo, and 6 radiation treatments.  This spanned from Sept. 2010 until March 2011.  The week of his 2^nd birthday was his last week of chemo!

Now fast forward 2 whole years and he is a very healthy, very energetic almost 4 year old.  It actually worked out perfect because taking a potty trained and healthy preschooler on vacation will be much more enjoyable than a sick little toddler!  Also, our trip will be the same week as the 2 year anniversary of his last chemo treatment AND his 4^th birthday party will be the Saturday after we get back!

The whole Make-A-Wish process has been fun.  They have some wonderful volunteers who showed up at our house with presents (toys) for both boys to play with while we all chatted.  We filled out paperwork and put down a few possibilities.  We were trying to be conservative and choose something close by, like a day trip….but they said for us to try and choose something that we wouldn’t normally take him to.  In fact, the whole process is supposed to be centered on the child and they are supposed to choose. However, when I questioned Eli about where he would most want to go he said “In my room to play with my cars and trains”! Then I rephrased the question and asked if there was someone/character he would like to meet and he replied “Sam!”  Haha!

So, since we really didn’t want to spend our trip in his room playing with Sam we kind of had to choose for him.  We put several options and the one that came through was ………………………DISNEYLAND!

Yes, Anaheim, CA here we come!  The volunteers pointed out that because of his love of the movie Cars this might be a great choice because they have a new section of the park dedicated to that movie series.  It is also somewhere that we would definitely not ever probably get to travel to.  We are closer to Disney World and have thought about planning a trip in the next few years anyways, so California ended up being the best choice! 

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited we all are.   Eli has a tendency to be very reserved and even fearful of new things so we have been talking about this for quite some time.  We have played “plane” where we take off our shoes and walk through a “metal detector” and then “strap in” and wait for the seatbelt sign to go off.  We have talked about how some of the Disney rides are inside and some are outside, some are loud, some are bright.  He also seems to have some sensitivity to sound so we will definitely have the earplugs for most of the rides that involve loud music, etc.  I know Joseph thinks I am going crazy over planning but my mantra is: I will plan, pack, make lists and run around like crazy now so I can sit back and enjoy the trip!

We found out a few months back that Eli’s wish has a sponsor, Merrill Lynch.  They wanted to give Eli a “send off” party.  This past Monday we trekked up to the Merrill Lynch offices in Atlanta for the party.  As usual, I had talked about the party with Eli for several weeks and tried to prepare him for the crowd and pictures and handshakes and questions, etc.  I must have done a pretty good job because he did great!…No, actually he just wanted to make a liar out of me when I told them that he was very shy because that child was the friendliest, most talkative and funniest we have ever seen him!!! If you know Eli, you know that in most unfamiliar situations he will sit in my lap, bury his head in my shoulder and refuse to even look up.  But Monday he shook everyone’s hand, told them thanks and ran around the room smiling!  Both boys were so well-behaved that I think Joseph and I probably looked so confused because we just stood there in shock! Haha  

We met the nicest and sweetest people at the office there.  Everyone was so kind and wanted to meet Eli.   The Branch Manager for Merrill Lynch was the one introducing us to everyone at the event.  I found out later that he has worked with Make A Wish for many years and is on their board of directors.  When we filled out the paperwork back in October they had a short questionnaire about Eli’s favorite things.  Of course, when you are three that changes weekly, sometimes hourly!  Am I right?  

Mr. John Inhouse, the manager, had the questionnaire and was sharing some of Eli’s likes and favorite things with everyone, when my shy little 3 year old stands up and starts correcting him on how he doesn’t like poptarts anymore and his favorite food is now pizza!  That definitely got a laugh out of everyone.  He then proceeded to change some of his other answers too!   Then he started telling this room full of strangers how his new pillowpet dinosaur (that he had opened in the lobby) likes to bite people!  It was definitely a shocker for us to see him in such rare form. 

They asked us to tell a little about Eli’s story. I got up and walked to the front of the room and when I turned around I realized just how many people were in there.  I’ve taught elementary school all the way to college, but I have to say that was the most well dressed crowd I have ever spoken in front of!   As a stay at home mom of preschoolers who works online, I’m never around that many people in suits.  I have no idea what I said but it must have not been too bad!   

After a bunch of pictures, a few presents, several pieces of cake and lots of handshakes our super sweet MakeAWish volunteer contact, Ms. Sheri had a few more presents for Eli.  So many of the presents and other things associated with all of this were donated by businesses and I only wish I knew who had given what so we could thank them personally.  There is so much behind-the-scenes that goes on that we will never know all of the details.  We have just tried to show gratitude and be thankful for everyone that we have crossed paths with during this!

As we were leaving Sheri pointed out how well Sam had done.  I hadn’t even noticed that he had not shown any jealousy or been upset that he was not given any presents or that he was not the center of the party.  He really made us proud with the way he was excited for Eli but didn’t try to take the spotlight away from him.  Sam did make us all laugh when as we were headed to the elevators to go to the car he exclaimed loudly, “Next stop...the airport!” haha He totally thought we were leaving for Disney right then!! 

To make this incredibly long story even longer…..not really, I’m almost done…..we will find out the details of our trip later this week.  I do know that we are leaving on March 23^rd and coming back March 28^th.  That is the extent of my knowledge about the trip….Seriously, try packing and planning like crazy with that amount of knowledge! Hahaha  It’s okay, procrastination and me are old friends so we’ll work it all out next week! 

I’ve included some pics below from the party.  I plan to update this blog about our trip before and during so if you are interested (or just nosy haha) feel free to check in and see how it all went.

**I didn't even get my camera out once. 

These are "stolen" from Pops' camera that must think we are still in 2007! haha

Ms. Sheri!

Another Make-A-Wish contact, Ms. Kristen

***The toys only made it as far as the living room last night so when they got up this morning Sam exclaimed to Eli, "Hey, Eli, look what Santa brought you!" haha 

A little singin'

Wow, I guess it has been a while.  With Facebook and email I feel like I keep everyone updated on our family, but I think I would rather start using our blog more.  I can share more pictures and stories at once this way!
One Sunday morning the boys were in a particularly cooperative mood and agreed to let me take some pics.  Then I was amazed when they agreed to let me record them singing!!!  I think I did a double take to see if it was really my children standing there so still.  I was reassured when at the end of the recording Sam decides to "disappear"! When we were watching this clip to show Daddy, Sam proclaimed proudly, "The disappearing was my idea!!" Merry Christmas, and enjoy!

Eli hasn't been able to eat before radiation. Since yesterday was the last day of that, I made him his favorite breakfast: pancakes and bacon.  I think he was a happy boy....check out the video and see for yourself! :)

Check out our Caring Bridge site

If you want to know what's going on with us right now, check out our Caring Bridge site: www.caringbridge.org/visit/eliphillips  

I'll probably just post on there instead of here for a while until things settle down :)
Carrie