Lucky Seven

Yesterday we celebrated Connor's 7th birthday. I can hardly believe it has been seven years since this sweet, wonderful boy joined our family. His special day started with a 2 hour delay for school (because of a half an inch of snow...), so he enjoyed watching cartoons for a while before he had to go to school. He thought that was awesome. While he was at school, I brought him a happy meal from McDonalds for lunch (this has become somewhat of a tradition) and yummy cupcakes to share with his classmates. He thought that was awesome. After school he came home to a decorated kitchen and a Sonic donut cake (his idea...). He thought that was awesome.

When Dad got home from work, we went bowling at AMF Winston-Salem lanes. Kelsey beat us all. Then the kids played games in the arcade while we waited for our pizza birthday dinner. Connor thought that was awesome.

After we all finished eating we headed back home to open presents and have the donut cake and ice cream. Connor received many wonderful gifts (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Wardle & Romney and Nanny!!!) and was most excited that he received "Sonic and the Black Knight" Wii game, which he can hardly wait to play and a new bike without training wheels. He thought that was awesome.

After the presents, we sang "Happy Birthday" and he blew out the candles and we ate delicious donuts and ice cream. He thought that was awesome.

Then he played with his new toys while he talked with all of the grandparents.  Finally, it was getting late, so he reluctantly got ready for bed--however, he did not go to sleep--he secretly stayed up and played with all his new toys until I heard him 2 hours later. I guess he was just a little bit excited. When I asked how he liked his birthday he said, "It was awesome!" We heard that word a lot yesterday. So, I guess there's only one thing left to say,

"Happy birthday, Connor! You're awesome!"

Downtown Disney and Our Last day

Tuesday morning was busy, busy as we packed all of our stuff and got ready to head back home to NC. We had been instructed to bring some extra luggage for all the gifts, goodies, and souvenirs we would have and it's a good thing we listened--we filled a large duffle bag and a big box with all sorts of fun stuff! After we were finished packing, we checked out of our villa and then spent a few hours doing some of our favorite activities around the village. We rode the carousel and the train again, of course.

Then we decided to check out Marc's DinoPutt since we hadn't done that yet. It is a 9 hole miniature golf course with a dinosaur theme. It was great--we were glad we got to play it before we left. Parker got a little scared by the creepy cave and the T-rex that rears his head and roars at the last hole, but he still enjoyed it.

After that, it was time to say goodbye to GKTW Village. We had such a wonderful time, we were all a little sad to leave. We are incredibly grateful to all the staff and volunteers who made our experience there unforgettable. We are looking forward to returning to GKTW someday--not as guests, but as volunteers, so we can help give other families the same kind of experience that we had.

We had a few hours left before we had to be at the train station, so we decided to head to Downtown Disney. This is a large area of shopping, dining, and entertainment that is divided into three sections, Downtown Disney West Side, Downtown Disney Marketplace and Pleasure Island.

We arrived just in time for lunch, so we took a ferry boat to Downtown Disney Marketplace and got in line to eat at T-REX Café, a dinosaur-themed restaurant where we ate amid all sorts of prehistoric creatures. It was delicious and a lot of fun.

After that we ventured into the LEGO store which was awesome and then we walked around and checked out a few more stores. Like every other place we had been during our trip, Downtown Disney was packed and it was hard to walk around and enjoy it much, so we decided we better face the inevitable and make our way to the rental car place and then the train station. It's a good thing we left when we did because between traffic, waiting for our taxi, and more traffic, we made it the train station with just a few minutes to spare!

When the train arrived, we got on, dropped off our stuff and then went to the dining car for dinner. Then it was time for bed. In the morning, we woke up to snow outside our windows as we made our way through NC. We got to eat breakfast in the dining car again and then had just an hour or so be fore we arrived in Raleigh, where Leroy the Limo driver was waiting with the big white Limousine. Can you tell we were all a little bit tired from a wonderful week-long vacation?

We finally made it home around 11:30am Wednesday morning. It was nice to be home and the kids were happy to see that we still had snow at our house.

We cannot even begin to express the gratitude we feel for all those involved with making Parker's wish come true. It was truly an amazing and magical experience that I know we will always treasure. We really tried to impress upon the kids that this was a wonderful gift that we received because of Parker's condition--that even though his condition is something terrible, good things can come because of it. We can never think of Parker's condition as only a trial, because we have been blessed so much throughout the experience. Most importantly, we all learned that wishes do come true, even something as simple as riding a "choo train".