The Last Day of our Wish Trip
It is Monday morning and we are due to check out of GKTW....oh....if they would just allow us to move there...well...I guess that would be Mami's "Wish". We woke up a bit later then we expected so we asked for the breakfast car to come by. YEAH, the breakfast car! If you can't get to the Gingerbread House for breakfast they will bring breakfast to your villa!! Have I mentioned how magical this place is?! And it is fully run by volunteers...angels is what they are called! Everyone a Wish family comes across is a volunteer. There are few paid employees and they are behind the scenes.
Savvy runs out in her PJ's to grab some breakfast...how we managed to keep her from going straight to the playground is beyond me! The playground is a lifesize version of the Candyland game....and you guessed it on Sunday they knocked on the door and Savvy got a Candyland game...but not just any Candyland game ... an official Give Kids the World version of the game!!!
Here are our angels delivering breakfast....I am sure she is laughing at something Savvy did...Savvy tends to have that affect on people.
So after a quick breakfast we head to check out but not before getting on a few more rides.
You can never ride the carousel tooooo many times!
Then we head to visit Savvy's star....this still gets me teary eyed...yup...we stood there and cried...they can tell you where each child's star is...magical I tell ya!
Oh Ms. Merry....I don't want to leave you! Ms. Merry whispered somthing in Savvy's ear....You my darling Warrior Princess may come and visit me anytime. You are a special Wish child so this is your home.
After leaving GKTW (and it was hard!) we headed to Universal for our final day at the parks. We had not had a chance to meet all of the characters when we previosly visited so we wanted to make sure Savvy got to meet Dora. We asked a team leader what time Dora would be coming out.....well.....Julie, the team leader told us. We went on our way and were late to get to where Dora was...turns out Julie was standing there waiting for Savvy and would not let Dora go until Savvy got to say Hi!
Julie is in the background of the picture under Spiderman with a blue shirt next to the stroller...she was beyond awesome! She recommended we see the Grinchmas show but it was in the other park and she had called over and it was starting soon....and she knew Savvy just kept wanting to see Spiderman....so she cut us through the backlots of the park so we would not be late!
She walked Savvy in to see Spiderman (she gets the same reaction she had with Prince Caspian...what a crush!) and Spiderman hangs out with Savvy. We go to leave and the other Marvel characters came out.
I honestly can not remember the name of this character from Xmen but Savvy walked up to her and said, "princess". She took Savvy and started to talk to her and Savvy was talking about who knows what...meanwhile all of these men wanted to take a picture with her and a crowd gathered. I told Savvy she had to go so others could take there turn and "princess" tells me that Savvy wants to see Spiderman (mind you we just saw him)...so she leaves everyone behind and takes Savvy's hand and walks in to see Spiderman with her. Savvy was a bit OBSESSED with Spiderman...going back a few times...he was great! So now with all of her princess and Elmo dolls we also have a Spiderman on her shelf.
We watched the Grinchmas show which is spectacular and just had fun the rest of the day at Universal. Soon it was evening and we had to head to the airport. Savvy was excited about the Princess plane and riding in the Princess car again....but every little Warrior Princess has a limit....and with a flight delay....well...she just passed out!
Here are the loves of my life at the end of our magical journey!
I asked Super Papi to take a picture of the Princess car for Savvy for she never woke up the rest of the evening :)
It was the most magical Wish trip one can ever dream of for their little princess! We are so grateful to so many for making this Wish come true....The Make-A-Wish foundation of Southern Florida, Give Kids the World (no sick kids exist in this magical place!), Disney, Sea World, Universal, ELMO and COOKIE MONSTER!! There are just too many....Thank You!
Oh.....one more thing!
Ms. Merry invited us to return to GKTW. "Wish" children are always welcome back so next week.....I will be taking her back to this magical place! Thank You Henri....Thank You!
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Like the special children Give Kids The World serves, its founder, Henri Landwirth, knows all to well what it is like to give up his childhood. Born in Antwerp, Belgium, on March 7, 1927, Henri and his family were separated and became prisoners in the Nazi death and labor camps during WWII. Henri spent the years between the ages of 13 and 18 in camps including Auschwitz and Matthausen. By war’s end, both of his parents had been killed, but miraculously Henri and his twin sister, Margot, survived and were reunited. Henri worked his way to America on a freight ship, arriving in New York City with $20 in his pocket and little knowledge of the English language; soon after he was drafted to serve in the Army.
Henri used his GI benefits to learn hotel management and landed a position in a hotel, taking every opportunity to learn each job in the industry. This first job became a lifelong career.
Landwirth moved to Florida in 1954 and began to manage the 100-room Starlight Motel in Cocoa Beach, near Cape Canaveral. Space exploration was in its early days and the original Mercury 7 astronauts and newsmen covering their adventures made the Starlight their temporary residence. It was during this time that Henri forged lasting friendships with the astronauts and newsmen, including Senator John Glenn and Walter Cronkite; friendships that continue today.
Since his retirement in 1986 from a successful, innovative hotel industry career that spanned more than 50 years, Henri has devoted himself to improving the lives of those in need through numerous foundations and non-profit organizations he has founded in addition to Give Kids The World.
With the original astronauts, Henri founded the Mercury Seven Foundation, now known as the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which provides scholarships to promising young science students. Through the Fanny Landwirth Foundation, named for his mother, he has built a senior citizen center and a children’s school in Orlando and created a scholarship program for underprivileged children in Israel.
In 2000, Henri founded Dignity U Wear, an organization that provides hope to children and their families who are homeless, abused, abandoned, or neglected by providing them with new clothing. Today this organization supports shelters in nine states.
Henri has earned numerous honors, including being named in 1988 as one of the 12 Most Caring Individuals in America by the Caring Institute and the Parent’s Magazine Humanitarian of the Year and the Orlando Sentinel’s Floridian of the Year in 1994. On June 13, 1997, Henri received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Cincinnati. He has twice been invited to carry the Olympic Torch.
His latest initiative is called Hate Hurts, a program that shares the message of how important it is to forgive those who have hurt us, as well as ending our own acts of hatred, no matter how small. Henri now tours colleges and high schools speaking about the lessons he has learned about the virtues of forgiveness.
Henri’s life and the story of Give Kids The World are chronicled in his book, "Gift of Life," which was published in 1996.