Make a Wish Day FOUR

Day 4

We started our day at Disneyworld's

Animal Kingdom.

We went straight to The Lion King Show which was absolutely spectacular.  They invited Cecily and Erin up to the front to dance around with the Zebra Lady.  After they finished dancing, Timon gave Erin a big high five.  She thought she was pretty special after that.

This next point in our trip was a huge turning point for me.  It was a time of real reflection.  There were a series of lines to visit the characters, one line for Mickey, one for Minnie, Goofy, etc.  Each line had at least a 20 minute wait.  After going to the front of the line for Mickey and then Minnie, John and I started feeling sort of sheepish about not having to wait in line.  I felt selfish for making everyone wait while we got to cut in front of them, especially because it was so hot and humid.  John suggested that maybe we should just wait in line for the next character.

Then, it hit me!  A year ago we would have given anything to wait in a hot sweaty long line, but instead we were resigned to live in a hospital room for 7 1/2 months.  Erin spent nearly a year isolated in a tiny room, she deserved to be at the front of any line. 

So we went on to the front of the Goofy line.  An employee explained to the people whose turn it was next that a wish kid was here and that she wanted to see Goofy and asked if they would be fine if she went before them.  The kids hugged and chatted with Goofy, and then I happened to see the Mom who had let us go in front of her family.  She was turned away crying.  It made my eyes start to fill with tears.  People are so kind, they are so understanding of families like ours.  I greatly appreciated the generosity of all of those strangers that let us go before them, it really made our trip extra special. 

At the hottest part of the day we decided to head back to the village, have an ice cream break and rejuvenate so that we could spend the cooler evening at the Magic Kingdom.

This was our villa in the village. 

The kids called it "our barn, a house barn." 

The kids relaxed a little in the shady candyland playground.

After a little relaxation we jumped into the car and went back to the Magic Kingdom, the picture below just cracks me up because all three kids fell asleep while we were driving.  Having fun is just so exhausting!

But, we all perked up for the tea cups....

...and we got to drive in the cars 2 times without getting out of the car.  The employees were so nice to us!

Refreshing drinks.

I will never forget how hot it was.

The time finally came for us to see the Electrical Parade.  When I was in high school my family lived in Arcadia, California and I had the opportunity to work for Disneyland at a booth in Fantasyland.  Two times every night the Electrical Parade would come near my booth, but in all that time working there, I never once got to see the parade.  I was pretty excited to finally see it.  Erin was too, she was so happy to see all the princesses and characters she loved that I shed a few tears and wrote more memories on my heart.