The Changing of the Wish

As many of you know, Annalise's Make-A-Wish trip was last week.  We enjoyed a wonderful week in Florida staying at Give Kids the World Village and visiting the Amusement Parks of Orlando.  I have had many people asking for pictures and trust me, there are many and they are coming.  I could say that I haven't gotten to them because of the unpacking, or appointments, or cleaning that has had to take place since we got home and although that is all a part of it, that is not the full story.  At the last minute there were a few things that did not go quite as planned on this trip and I am still trying to figure out exactly how to deal with all of the emotions around all that happened. 

I mean how is it okay to feel down about what didn't happen when there were so many amazing, good, wonderful things that did happen.   I want to just think about the good and be thankful for what we did receive, and I am, but I realize that the disappointments that we faced on our trip were a true part of it as well.  So, I will just briefly mention the biggest shock of the trip now, get that out of my system, and then get on to the good stuff!

Annalise did not get to swim with dolphins for her wish trip.  We started to feel that this may happen only a few days before we left for her trip.  Even at that time though, we still hoped it was going to happen because no one was telling us for sure, but do to some information we received, it sounded like it might not happen.  Since we didn't know for sure and it didn't make any sense that it wouldn't be happening because of things we have been told since February when we found out that Make A Wish had found a way to make it happen, we chose not to say anything in case it was truly still in the plans.  Annalise continued to tell everyone she saw that she was going to get her wish and swim with the dolphins.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that may not be the case.

We discovered on Friday while on our trip that having Annalise swim with the dolphins was truly not in the plans.  In fact, it wasn't even in the plans to have her touch or be near the real dolphins.  (We took care of that...but more on that story soon!)   Her wish to swim with dolphins at Discovery Cove had been switched to a Disney World Wish trip and we were never told about it.   We still don't know when or why it was switched.  It was a tough blow.  Although it still would have been a disappointment, I don't think it would have been as big of a deal if someone would have let us know a little sooner.  When we asked the Make-A-Wish coordinator about this, she responded with a text that said "swimming with dolphins is not part of a Disney Wish, but I will see what I can do." We never heard from her again.  Annalise has been talking about swimming with dolphins for over a year now...especially over the past few months.   So that was a huge bummer.  Honestly it still is.  We are still trying to figure out how to make that part of the wish a reality for Annalise.  It will happen some day. 

Also our trip was cut a few days shorter then we had planned due to some miscommunication somewhere along the lines.  We had arranged to stay a few extra days, but found out that due to the type of tickets that had been used for our flight we could not change them.  The mix-up with the rental van issues once we arrived in Florida made it so that John had to return to the airport twice the following day to pick up our cars.  Not life shattering things, but things that definitely made for a bumpy start to the trip. 

But, that is enough of that kind of news for one day.  It is late and I must go to sleep.  Tomorrow I will begin to write and share pictures of all the amazing, memory making events that occurred on Annalise's Make-A-Wish trip!  There were many.  Here are a few pictures to hold you over until tomorrow.   Enjoy!