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We were at Saint John’s to have a bone marrow biopsy to rule out Leukemia. Little did me know how much our lives would change. Lisa and I can remember waiting for Dr. Rob to come over and give us the news. It was taking awhile and when we saw both Dr. Rob and Dr. Jan walking down the hall we knew the news was not going to good.It has been a roller coaster and we still have 8 more months to go. Ally has been amazing through the whole process.  We are looking forward to some good news in August.

Benjamin turns 3 today! We are looking forward to his party this weekend.

Each night, I asked Ally what her favorite part of the day was.  Last night, she told Brad, “Being a princess!”  She had been to the Bippity Boppity Boutique that day (more on that in a minute) and her “fairy godmother” made her a princess!  Let me just say, she has been a princess all week – in a good way.  They call this place Give Kids the World, and they do that and more.  From the moment the wish begins, everything is about the wish child.  Everything was booked in Allyson’s name, and we were her guests.  We called our villa her house all week, and she LOVED that!  Each night when we’d return and go through the guard at the front of the property, the volunteer would always say, “Welcome home!”

That is exactly how you feel when you are here…home away from home. The staff here at GKTW bends over backwards to make sure you have everything you could want.  Once inside the parks, Ally was treated like royalty, especially at Disney World.  If you ever doubt the kindness of humans, spend the day with a wish child.  If you ever need to witness the strength of the human spirit, come spend the day walking around the village at Give Kids the World.

Tomorrow we return home.  I am sad Ally’s wish has come to an end.  Since her diagnosis, we have been looking forward to this week for almost two years.  While this is the end of her magical wish week, we look to the future when we hear the words, “Ally is cured!”

What a full day!! This morning right after breakfast, Ally rode Chance, a HUGE horse.  Can I just say she looked like the tiniest little thing on top of this huge animal!  She rode like a pro. 

It was off to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure today!  We didn’t realize we had to walk 17 miles to the entrance – YIKES.  It was so far from the parking garage!!  Ally has some kind of luck.  I think she got to meet every character that is in the park.  Honestly, we would just happen upon the characters as we were walking about.  WE had a line jumper pass at Universal too, so she didn’t have to wait in any lines to meet any of them.  It was awesome! 

Two milestones for Ally today.  She went into the Barney theater and sat through an entire show (loud singing and everything), in the FRONT row (again, the workers see you are from Make-A-Wish, and they put you right in front).  At first, she was a little agitated, but she settled and was fine!  She loved it!  She got a personal meeting with Barney after the show.  – Milestone number two…she rode her first roller coaster!  Yes, you heard it correctly…Ally rode a rollercoaster in the kiddie area at Universal.  It was pretty fast for it to be in the kiddie area. 

We ate an awesome lunch at a restaurant called Mythos (recommendation from Brad’s brother, Bert).  I highly recommend it if you happen to be at Universal/Island of Adventure and are looking for a place to eat.

We left the park and went to a brand new water park that opened this May.  Sea World has its own water park called Aquatica.  Ally was so excited to float around in the lazy river!  They have a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) kiddie playground in the water.  It was amazing.  Her favorite part was the water guns. 

Tonight was the Halloween party at Give Kids the World.  It was awesome!  Ally got to trick-or-treatng up and down the walkway as well as play several games.  They had a parade too. 

When asked Ally what her favorite part of today was…Halloween!

Today we woke up and went to early breakfast.  After we ate, we popped in and met Woody Woodpecker!  He was so good with Ally.  She was a little hesitant, but he sat right down on the floor.  She sat next to him.  That was the first autograph of the day. 

 We jumped into the car and made our way to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  Our neighbor’s, Gerry and Linda, told us to go straight back to the back of the park and get on the Safari jeep tour.  We did that, and really didn’t have to wait but a few minutes (the “god” pass is awesome).  Ally got right on and was so excited to see animals!!  We got some really good pics on that ride.  Ally also rode a kiddie dinosaur ride (just like Dumbo in Magic Kingdom).  She loved it! 

 We wandered down to Camp Mickey/Minnie Mouse and stumbled upon none other than Pocahontas herself!  She is one of the princesses Ally wanted to see!!  We took a little walk down the path, and there were many more characters.  We were looking for Donald Duck, but we didn’t see him.  I went up and asked one of the “cast members” where he was.  She said, “Hey, you are with Make-a-Wish.  You don’t wait in lines!  Go up the exits, and they’ll fit you guys right in.  Better yet, I’ll take you there.”  So, we got an escort to Donald, and then it was snack time for Ally.  That woman also told us that if we waited just 20 more minutes, Daisy would be coming out.  She only comes out once a day, and usually not there.  Too cool!  We walked up the exit and got right in to see her too!  Later that day, we also got to see Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. 

 We left Animal Kingdom and went to Epcot.  Ally was TIRED.  Thankfully, because Ally is a wish child, we had a VIP pass to the Siemans VIP lounge inside Spaceship Earth.  VERY NICE!!  We were in there for about a half hour.  When we were ready to leave, the receptionist told us to follow her.  Little did we know, we were going down the VIP entrance to the ride, Spaceship Earth.  It is about a five minute ride through that big sphere at Epcot!  If you know Ally, you are probably have some idea what we were thinking.  She jumped right in a car with Brad and rode the entire ride – even when it got REALLY dark!  What an accomplishmen!.  Later that day, Ally also rode the Finding Nemo ride.  – She never ceases to amaze us.  We never thought she’d take to rides like she has.  We’ve learned to never under-estimate her! 

 Brad and I have been able to ride some really cool rides!  With Ally’s line jumper pass, we bypass all the lines and go right to the front.  We got to ride Soarin’…AWESOME simulation ride.  We also got to ride Test Track (a not-to-be-missed ride according to Brad’s sister, Jessica).  It was really cool! 

 Ally is such a trooper.  She lasted all day long!  Tomorrow, we are off to Universal and Sea World’s new waterpark, Aquatica.