Return to GKTW Village!

On Monday, the kids and I headed to Give Kids the World Village (GKTW) while Jason attended his work conference. We were so excited to return to this very special place where we stayed 4 years ago for Parker's Make-a-Wish trip. It is such a wonderful organization and we will never forget the fun and unique experience we had there. "Wish families" are welcomed to come back any time and enjoy the village for the day, eat a meal and have ice cream, of course!! We made sure to do everything we could while we were there.

First, we headed to Amberville Station to ride the train (this was one of Parker's most favorite activities of the Village when we were there for his wish trip). He wanted to ride up front, of course, and push all the buttons. It sure brought back sweet memories of 3 year old Parker enjoying the same thing :)

Spencer enjoyed riding the train for the first time!

Kelsey, Connor, and Parker also got to ride a new ride that has been installed since our original visit--flying butterflies.

We spent some time in the Castle of Miracles and looked for Parker's star that he wrote his name on in 2010. We also got a few pictures with Pluto

Then we rode the beloved Enchanted Carousel. Before we left for Florida, Parker told me he was too old to ride the carousel, but as soon as he saw it, he could not wait to ride it again (and again and again...)!

Spencer also enjoyed the carousel--he LOVED riding on a reindeer all by himself!

Of course, we had to stop for a picture with Ol Elmer, the snoring tree.

And pretend we were surfing at the Park of Dreams Splash Pad.

We visited Julie's Safari Theatre to meet Mickey Mouse, but we just missed him...Oh well, getting pictures with Alvin and the Chipmunks is cool too!

Then we spent some time at Mattew's Boundless playground where Kelsey, Connor, and Parker played and Spencer finally zonked for a short nap.

After playing hard, we were all ready for some time inside and some food so we headed to Town Hall for lunch.

Before we left we rode the train and the carousel again, spent some time at the arcade, and visited the Ice Cream Palace for ice cream, of course! We had such a fun time visiting GKTW for the day!!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon resting at our hotel. Later we picked up Jason from his conference and headed to Downtown Disney for dinner. We ate at Planet Hollywood where we enjoyed delicious food and an entertaining atmosphere.