This morning we slept until 9am! Of course that sounds late, but we went to bed at midnight and it's all relative since back in California midnight is only 9pm...

This morning, we made it to breakfast, but barely! All the volunteers serve each family breakfast and dinner everyday so no one really has to cook even though each house has a full kitchen. This place is full of families who have had to deal with some sort of life-threatening illness to one of their children and because of that one can feel a sense of welcome from one another. As you move around the grounds, it's almost as if you can feel each family trying to sort out eachother's stories or situations. Some are a lot more obvious than others. There are a few families like ours who have children who have suffered the woes of cancer. There are others with children in wheelchairs and then others who may have undetectable illnesses. I wonder if that makes it any harder to endure your own situation, if others cannot really "see" what it is that you are going through. It is a type of ubiquitious feeling of communal curiosity that pervades the village.

We caught the 10am shuttle to Disney World and had a blast! We JUST returned about an hour ago, the kids are all asleep...SOUND asleep...as anyone would imagine after a crazy day with princesses, rides and fun!!

We had a fun pass that allowed us to move to the front of the line for everything! Oh how the girls marvelled in their ability to just walk right up to the front of the line, special treatment indeed! Autumn preferred the smaller rides of Fantasyland while the big girls loved TOmorrowland, so we made an effort to see it all, and that we did!

We awoke at 2:45 yesterday morning to wait for our luxurious limo style shuttle. However difficult that was, we have had the best day with the girls being treated like princesses!

We slept most of the way, but we also watched the Muppets movie and drank apple cider out of wine glasses :)

We arrived at the airport about 2 hours early and headed towards our gate with Virgin Atlantic with hardly an incident. While there we happened to see a friend of Uncle Adam's, what a small world even in LA!

If anyone has not had the pleasure of taking a Virgin Atlantic flight, I highly recommend it. Each seat has it's own television, the staff is quite friendly and the food you order isn't even half bad. The tickets are often cheaper too, what a deal!

The house staying in is beautiful, it is one of maybe 100 2-bedroom homes in the "Give Kids the World" village, all of which appear very comfortable. It amazes me how much money it must have taken just to build this place, let alone maintain it. It has a relaxed and inviting feeling and with the moist, humid temperature and the warm, friendly community, it reminds me so much of Lakeside Ohio, a place my brother and I spent many of our childhood summers.

Disney World here we come!!!!!

"Mommy, do I look like a boy? I just don't look like Autumn, my hair used to be longer." Autumn protested this evening after taking a shower this evening and visualizing her old self in the mirror. Oh it must be so frustrating that life just cannot return to "normal"...whatever that is! I told her what a beautiful princess she is!! I reminded her that she has gone through a lot in her little life, I can only imagine what she must think of on a daily basis. We are excited about our celebration tomorrow and our trip planned for next week! The girls will have a blast and Autumn will have the opportunity to be around children just like her, perhaps that can bring some comfort to her.

Autumn is set to have a little fiesta in celebration of her vacation to Orlando, Florida!! The wonderful couple who has helped grant Autumn her wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation is going to have an ice cream party to celebrate this coming Thursday at Doc Burnstein's. How FUN!!!!

A very brave Nanie and Grandpa are taking the girls to Arizona today!! I have to give a final exam in my saturday bio class and could not make the first leg of the journey with them. I will fly tomorrow directly after giving the exam, flying alone is something I haven't done in such a long time! The girls seemed to be in a great mood today, so happy and sweet! I hope that lasts for the majority of the trip, it's a LONG time to spend in the car! Nanie and Grandpa...I love you guys, thank you!!!

WE HAD A CLEAR SCAN!!!!! Oh what a beautiful day is was on Monday! Autumn had a chest x-ray and an abdominal ultrasound that were both clear! Life is good! :)