Disney World!!!!!!!!! Day 2

The view from the ferry on the way to the Magic Kingdom!!!!

Daddy, Alexia and mommy

Blake and Grandma on the Ferry

Taking pictures of each other on the Train to Toon town

In Mickey's house, almost time to meet Mickey Mouse!!!

Blake is waiting with great anticipation! This was his wish and he is about to meet Mickey!!!!

It brought tears to our eyes!!!!!!!!! His excitement to meet Mickey was contagious!

Blake with Mickey and Minnie

Blake at Minnie's sewing machine

Blake and Mommy in Minnie's gazebo

Blake with Daddy on Blake's first roller coaster ride

Blake driving a race car with Daddy

Blake meeting Winnie the Pooh and Tigger

Blake inside Winnie the Pooh's house

Flying on Dumbo with Mama Corinne

Riding It's a Small World with Mama Corinne, Mommy, Daddy and Alexia

Watching a live performance about wishes coming true

Blake was so excited

Alexia was very interested as well

Peter Pan and Captain Hook (And Smee)

Lilo and Stitch, Blake loves to watch their movie!

Blake on the safari with Daddy

Blake and Mommy with a REAL PIRATE after the Pirates of the Caribbean ride!

Blake and Mommy after the big splash on SPLASH MOUNTAIN!!!!!

Blake even put his hands up and loved it so much we went on it over and over again!!!!

Mary Poppins in the Very Merry Christmas Parade

Mickey and Minnie Mouse!!!!

Eeyore and Tigger

Kanga and Roo

Donald and Daisy Duck

Alexia's favorite princess (And the prince is already trying to wink at Alexia)

Bashful was living up to his name!

Blake LOVED having front row seats to the Very Merry Christmas Parade!!!!

Goofy riding his bicycle!

Claribel making goodies.

Toy Soldier

Cinderella's Castle right before the fireworks.

One Sleepy Boy!!!! What a day!!!!
Wow, I have never posted this many pictures on the blog before!!! The day was so amazing!!!! We woke up and drove the short distance to the hotel where Mama Corinne and Papa Mark were staying. They decided to take their winter vacation at the same time we did and went to Orlando a day before us!!! They paid their own way and we are SO thankful that they could share with Blake in this amazing dream come true!!!!

We then drove to Disney World's Magic Kingdom for Blake's first full Make-A-Wish day! We rode the train around to the back of the park. Toon town, where Blake got to tour Mickey Mouse's house and he got to meet Mickey and Minnie. The moment he met them was amazing. He was so excited and it seemed like he didn't think it was real, he was so thrilled and gave them both HUGE hugs!

We also toured Minnie's house, then Blake went on his first roller coaster. He went on Goofy's airplane roller coaster, which is geared toward younger children and he LOVED it!!!!! He then got to drive a race car with his daddy! We all went on Dumbo, Blake rode with Mama Corinne and Mommy and Daddy rode together!!!!

After riding Dumbo and playing in the play area for a moment we decided to grab something to eat! Both kids decided it would be a good time to nap, so while Mama Corrine and Papa Mark were still eating and the kids were napping on them, Daddy and Mommy decided to go on the Haunted Mansion ride! It was a lot of fun! We met back up with the rest of the group. Everyone except for Papa Mark went on the It's a Small World ride. Then we went on the Peter Pan ride and the Winnie the Pooh ride!!!! Blake and Alexia loved all three rides!!!!

We had to go pick up wristbands for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (they were closing the park at 7pm to everyone without a wristband and having a big party and a parade followed by a show and fireworks at Cinderella's Castle). After we picked up the wristbands we stayed at Cinderella's Castle for a live show about dreams and wishes coming true! It was wonderful! Even the adults were entertained!!!

We went to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, then on the Safari Boat Tour and rode Pirates of the Caribbean twice! After that, Mama Corinne and Papa Mark took Alexia for a walk while Daddy, Mommy and Blake went on Splash Mountain (Blake was JUST tall enough to ride) and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster! He LOVED both rides and wanted to go over and over again!!! We were both thrilled that he enjoyed them so much! We both love to ride roller coasters, so it is GREAT that he does too!!!!

Once we were done we met Papa Mark and Mama Corinne for dinner, then found front row seats for the Very Merry Christmas Parade! The parade was wonderful! All of the Disney Characters, right there in front of us! Some of them even came and shook Blake's and Alexia's hands!!! The prince from the Princess and the Frog even winked at Alexia!

After the parade we watched the fireworks, then took two very tired kids back to the Villa to get some rest!!!!

What an amazing day that was for all of us!!!!

Disney World!!!!!!!!! Day 1

In the Escalade stretch limo at 3:30 am on our way to the airport

The limo had 3 flat pannel televisions and were all playing Return to Neverland (one of Blake's favorites)

Blake and Mommy in the limo

At our Villa at Give Kids the World! The place was amazing!

The Mickey Mouse lamp in Blake's bedroom!!!!!

A FREE banana split at the Ice Cream Palace at Give Kids the World

Blake eating his ice cream

Making fun of the clown

The bird is attacking Blake's head, oh no!!!!! (Good thing it is a fake bird)

Blake sitting on a bench at Give Kids the World

Blake getting ready to surf ;)

Blake's going surfing with Mayor Clayton and Miss Mary

The amazing pool at the Give Kids the World village

Blake in the train (no they did not really let him drive it)

Our first day was absolutely amazing! We were picked up in an Escalade stretch limo at 3:30 am and made it to the airport, got checked in and took off at 5:30 am. We connected in Atlanta, Georgia and had just enough time to run from one end of the airport to the other for our connecting flight. We were in Orlando by 11:30 am and were greeted by one of the volunteers from Give Kids the World village.

We were given a complimentary rental by Hertz. We got an amazing Toyota Sienna minivan. It was fantastic and had tons of cup holders!!!!! We were greeted like royalty at the House of Hearts, which is the welcome center and media center at Give Kids The World. They showed us to Katie's Kitchen, which is actually FREE food provided by Boston Market. They gave us a wonderful Boston Market meal for four and showed us to our Villa! We stayed in Villa 115! It was a very short walk from the center of the village. Blake says villa in such a cute way! It sounds more like "Billa". So CUTE!!!!!

The Villa is AMAZING!!!!! It is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch style villa. The entire thing is handicap accessible and the bathroom off of Blake's room was bigger than our master bedroom at home!!!! There was a kitchen and dining room and a living room as well as a washer/dryer! It was just like having our own home! Give Kids the World made a lasting impression with us in the first 15 minutes we were there. The staff and volunteers made us feel like we were loved and they truly seemed to enjoy every moment of it!

Blake and Alexia are in HEAVEN! They love the village and the villa! There is a train that gives people rides from their Villas to the different parts of the village! It truly is every child's dream! We spent about 3o minutes running through the Villa discovering all of the amazing things!

Once we were done unpacking and getting settled we toured the Village a bit more. We went to the Ice Cream Palace where Blake ordered his own ice cream and white milk! The volunteer angels were so kind and helpful!

We walked around and found Ol' Elmer, the GIANT elm tree that snores when you walk by! We also found the amazing pool and sprayground!!!!!

We were all pretty tired from getting up so early and we had an amazing day planned the next day, so we went to bed pretty early!!!

More pictures and info soon!!!!!

Fall 2009

Blake removing one of the Mickey heads from his Countdown calendar!!!!

The countdown calendar. We counted down to his Make-A-Wish trip!!!!

Alexia Chayne!

Blake with his dinosaur

Playing in the leaves!
We had a wonderful fall!!!!!

Blake started maintenance, so he only goes to the hospital once a month and does lots of home chemo. We also got the green light to put him back in school, since he was asking to see his old friends at school again. Technically we got the green light a long time ago to put him back in, but we were really nervous about him being around other kids.

We are happy that Blake has come so far in his treatment! His immune system is back up, so he is okay to be around other kids more often. It is a real treat for him to be able to interact with more kids! It is never a fun thing for a young child to be separated from other kids their age, but for children in his situation it was necessary.

Alexia is simply amazing! We have blogs for both kids now, but thought we would update this one for those of you who read this one only! :)

God Bless!!!