There were healthy choices, non-healthy choices, and everything in between!
Maggie had Fruit Loops, waffles drizzled with whipped cream and strawberries, hot chocolate with whipped cream, and a chocolate doughnut.
In the picture above, you can see one of the volunteers.The volunteers at GKTW come from Florida, and many other places.
We met some people from Douglasville, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and many other places.
Some groups come to volunteer for a few days than go to DisneyWorld after.
Others come on an 8 or 9 hour bus ride without air conditioning EVERY YEAR for a week, and with no promise of a great time at Disney afterwards, just because they enjoy serving others.
A Rhema ladybug.Rhema is a friend we made in Seattle.
She passed away earlier this summer.
Ladybugs were her thing.
The awesome flowers at Katie's Kitchen.Katie's Kitchen was a walk-up food place run by Boston Market, at GKTW.
They had yummy food, and it could either be ordered and picked up there, or it could be ordered on the phone and delivered to our villa. Awesome and amazing!
A memorial paver at GKTW.
One of our first sights at Sea World. This flamingo was cool because it was cleaning its feathers, so they were fluffing everywhere.
The Manta roller coaster.
The ladies room vending machine...yes, a diaper costs $4.
Aren't these flowers pretty?!It seemed like all the flowers that have to be grown indoors in Washington State for them to survive, do great outside in tropical Florida.
(We quickly learned to distinguish that we're from Washington State, not Washington [D.C.])
Journey to Atlantis ride
Maggie and her pucker powder.
...and her pucker powder tongue.
We hurried over to see the Shamu show.I was worried there wouldn't be any seats, but they had a whole row reserved, FRONT AND CENTER, for Wish families.
Anthony was sweating, along with us all.
Everyone was excited for the show to start.
Anthony was amazed at the whales.
He's pointing to them and squealing with delight!
Clapping...
Up close!
The boys were even enjoying themselves.
Anthony's gaze followed whales all around the tank.
Andy had fun too.
Anthony LOVED it all, except for getting splashed.He bawled when we got splashed a little...so the trainer didn't have our section get wet again.
(I think that's what happened) ;)
Kelly, Lilly, me, Maggie, the trainer, Josh, Andy, Anthony, Daniel
Riding the flamingosJosh and Daniel, Maggie and me
I pulled out my debit card to pay the $20 to ride these, and the attendant said, "What am I doing?! (meaning herself) I don't need to ring you up. You're a wish family. Enjoy!"
We experienced kindness like this all week. :)
Lilly and Kelly
Kelly and Anthony are our main tanners (skin).We had to get Kelly sandals in FL, and she bought a bracelet, then made it into an anklet.
She's such a fashion queen.
On our way back to the van. Check out Maggie's pucker powder again.Don't we look touristy?
The Universal bags were a gift from GKTW on that day.
We returned to gifts in our villa each day.
I was so grateful to have a van rental while in Florida.
Some wish families were not provided with a car rental and had to catch shuttles everywhere.
It was so much more convenient to have our own transportation.
And, Andy got practice driving a 12-passenger van.
Little palms
I loved seeing the trunks of this kind of tree. They look so smooth.
At dinner, Mayor Clayton and his wife were mingling with the diners.
Daniel was so embarrassed, but hugged her anyway.
Gasp! She kissed my Andy!
On a whim (we were planning to just go back to the villa and go to bed), we decided to go to the theater at GKTW for the night's activity.There was free popcorn, pucker powder, sodas, etc.
Andy was drawn to participate in the game show.
Kelly helped out at one point, putting on huge pants to catch rubber chickens for the kids team.
Andy getting pie in the face...we'll have a better picture of this when the cd comes in the mail. :)
Then, for round 2, Kelly was chosen, and so was Daniel!
Oh, and another side note here...Kelly met a family from Ireland at the Village.States I found represented were Texas, Massachusetts, Georgia, New Jersey, and New York.
I know there were many, many more.
Here's Kelly catching frisbees in a net.She was really good at it.
Daniel trying to bounce ping pong balls into the jar...didn't happen.
Kelly got to pie Daniel in the face.
Josh's pucker powder tongue.
Anthony loved to show the boy in the mirror his lego pieces in the container.His favorite game is putting things in/out of any container, whether it's a box, bag, or envelope, or anything else!
This second day, we discovered that our taste buds weren't crazy the first day. The water had so much nasty chemical taste/aftertaste in it. Now we know why people don't like to drink tap water.
The second day, I also found out that another friend has a child (7 years old) who was diagnosed that day with cancer in her leg. So sick of cancer, I am.
