Vacation Overview

I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that Oliver's trip is over.  It went by so quickly.  We had a wonderful week.

We stayed at Give Kids the World and it was once again an amazing experience.  The entire resort (village) was created to help families feel comfortable away from home, to leave the medical stuff behind, and for the kids to enjoy themselves.  Our favorite part is the volunteers.  They are wonderful!!

We flew in on Sunday.  Oliver loved the limo ride to the airport - he was obviously thrilled.  We had a easy time flying.  The kids did great and I happened to sit by a lovely woman whose nephew has Angelman's Syndrome.  We were able to "special needs" talk and make connections.  Once we checked into GKTW, we drove over to a friend's home.  Susan and I met over a year ago at an MPS conference.  Her daughter has Sanfilippo.  They invited us over for dinner and a visit.  It was lovely to connect with another family.  There is something so incredibly special about spending time with a family who *understands*.

The next day we headed to the Magic Kingdom.  The weather was gorgeous the entire week, so Oliver was even able to strip down to his diaper and enjoy the fountains.  He was a bit confused by the characters at first, but by the end of the week he was a pro.  He didn't like hugging them as much as he liked holding their hands.  Both of the kids enjoyed the rides and parades.  At the evening Electrical Light parade, Wavey did have a seizure.  We think the strobe lights may have caused it.

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom.  Breakfast with Donald Duck.  Oliver loved the safari jeep ride.  I don't think he noticed the animals, but he loved riding in the jeep.  We spent the afternoon back at GKTW in the swimming pool.  Oliver is our water baby and I don't think he would have ever wanted to get out of their beautiful pool.

Wednesday was EPCOT.  Both of the kids rode everything - even Soarin' and Test Track.  More fountain play in the sunny afternoon.  That evening, we left early to take Oliver to the doctor.  He had been sick all week with a cold, but that day his breathing became very wheezy.  The urgent care prescribed some antibiotics and we were hoping that would be the end of his illness.

Thursday we went to Universal with our friend Susan and her daughter.  They have a Barney show that Waverly loved!  Oliver played at the play area, focusing on the ball pit.  We also ventured into the Harry Potter area - very cool and Butter Beer was awesome.  We took the kids to a character dinner with Mickey and his friends.  Oliver was still very under the weather and his breathing was getting worse.  Matt ended up taking him to a pediatric urgent care late that night, where they decided to have us use a nebulizer on him to clear his airway.  Poor Oliver.  He was so sick.

We weren't sure about hitting the parks Friday, but we hated to miss out on our last day.  We went back to the Magic Kingdom (in matching shirts, because everyone thought it was Waverly's wish - we were hoping the tees would clear that up).  We took it slow, riding a few favorite rides and simply enjoying the beautiful day.  Oliver was still not acting at all like himself.

We had a little time at GKTW on Saturday, so the kids went horseback riding and played at the village.  While we weren't ready to see our vacation end, we were excited to get Oliver home.  The kids did great, once again, on the plane.  Oliver was excited to climb back into the limo and was thrilled to get home to all of his toys.

It was a wonderful trip!  We made some wonderful memories as a family.  I wish that Oliver would have been healthy for the week, so he could have fully enjoyed his Make-a-Wish trip.  However, he was a trooper and did great.