Disneyland Day 1

We slept in !!!!!

After such a long flight with no sleep, my parents and brother spent the morning banging on our door, searching the hotel for us and ringing our mobiles.
NONE of us woke up until 10:30am.
So the day started a lot later than originally planned !!

But lets REWIND ..........

Yesterday afternoon a "welcoming package" arrived for us, ordered by someone else.
Mum, dad and Stuart did not get it, so if it was someone on here.....thank you. It consisted of lots of chocolate, biscuits and a free inhouse movie.

Then my friend Ann arrived (who lives in California) with a huge amount of groceries. Lots of soft drink, snacks, bread, water and juice. She even gave us vegemite and snap lock bags !!!!
We needed it this morning seeing we missed Breakfast in the hotel !!!
Asleep by 9pm.
That means we ALL had 13 hours sleep !!!

When we finally arrived at Disneyland it was overwhelming.
The place is awesome.
But I think we may have only adjusted to the atmosphere today and will be more ready for the amazement next time.
We only went on 1 ride because of the heat and the queues.
But we still did SO MUCH.
We left at 12pm and arrived back at 7pm !!!!

Tom had MANY meltdowns and I think he was just more outward about what we were all feeling inside.
Amelia and I settled after we did some MAJOR shopping.
You could (and we will) go crazy in purchases there.

As the day continued more and more people arrived, so you definately have to get there for the 10am open.

Tonight we have had Mexican for dinner where the kids had balloon crowns made.

Tomorrow Ann is taking us all to San Diego where we will go to their Sea World.

I have also just finished booking all of our character dining over the next week. 5 bookings !!!!

I will finish off tonight with lots of photo's.
Thank you for all of the beautiful messages.

xxx

Entrance to Disneyland

Once again at the entrance

The entrance to Fantasy Land (where the Princesses are !!)

The Princess part of the parade (there was heaps !!)

Amelia buying her AWESOME Minnie Mouse Slippers !!

And to ALL the Langwarrin Primary people LOOK who we happened to cross paths with. Of all the millions (and there are alot!) of people inside Disneyland we happened to pass Mrs Pepper and her family !!!!

Dinner time and still smiling !!

And at 7pm as we headed home for bath and bed look at how very HAPPY these two were.

We are here !!!!!

The first blog from America .......

The hotel, weather and customer service in Los Angeles has been amazing all day.
After taking so long to choose a hotel that "ticked all of the boxes" we are extremely happy with our final choice.
It is beautiful.

But lets rewind back to the 4am alarm on Thursday 6th October.
Not much sleep THAT night.

Then our Limo arrived and it was AWESOME.
And our magnificent neighbours came out to wave us off.
Everyone loved the experience.
Scott and I just questioned each other the whole way about anything we may have forgotten !!!

Here is photo of Amelia and Tom with our gorgeous limo driver.

The 14.5 hours on the plane I am going to appreviate.
Short and simple because I am already starting to forget about it.
- worst seats on the plane.
- couldn't move AT ALL.
- 4 hours into the trip Tom projectile vomits all over himself, me, Scott, his seat and the floor.
- no new t-shirt for Tom so he wears one of mine for the next 16 hours. (gets a lot of looks for the looooong pink t-shirt.)
- children get cranky because they are so tired.
- Amelia wakes up crying every 45 minutes saying "I want to go home".

So it is now 4pm and I have been awake for 30 hours straight.
No sleep.
Scott, Amelia and Tom got a few hours on the plane.

We always knew we were going to have to grin and bare the plane trip.
We just did not realise how bad it was going to be !!!

Moving on .....
arrived to a 10 seater limo at LAX Airport.

had to wait 90 minutes for our room, but we did not care (even though we all smelt like vomit !!).
We had sunshine, starbucks coffee and the most beautiful hotel lobby to wait in.
But most of all.......
The plane trip was over !!!!!!

We have all been out for lunch and tomorrow is HUGE.
Our first visit to Disneyland.

xxx

(and I have just finished typing to discover everyone around me sleeping!!)

A message from Amelia and Tom.

I have just tried to upload a video of Amelia and Tom to this blog.
Unfortunately I cannot upload video's on here.
But I can on the Amelia's Project page on Facebook.
Please join that page to see any video's over the next few weeks.

There is now one on there of Amelia and Tom saying goodbye.

If you have an iphone download the world clock application AND add Los Angeles into your weather application. Both are free.
Then you can see real time a bit more !!!

Very busy packing here.
So, must go and continue.

Tomorrow we leave for Disneyland because of so many people.

The word thank you does not seem enough........but I do not know what else to say.

"Believe in your dreams and they will come true"

xxx

The power of music

Sometimes when a person meets a divided road on their journey in life they can find something that makes them continue on.
I know some wonderful people in my life who are really struggling to stay afloat at the moment.
There have been many times this year where I have struggled to get out of bed, struggled to laugh or smile or find any element of fun in my day.

One thing that has helped on many occasions is MUSIC.

I have always said "my life should have been a musical".
One of my most favorite memories is when I was about 20, the whole resturaunt at a birthday dinner standing on their seats, singing American Pie.
Yes, we were full of alcohol.
But it was definately a memory to last forever.

I love listening to music, dancing to it and unfortunately for those around me, singing to it !!

But this year it has gone beyond Glee and Sound of Music.
I have found many songs that have settled me.
Many songs that made Amelia, Tom and I have so much fun dancing around the house.
I have been able to really stop and think of the words and relate to what they mean.

Let me give you some examples.

Amazing by Bruno Mars......
Her eyes make the stars look like their not shining..
She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday..
When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change.
Cause you're amazing, just the way you are.

(After Amelia was diagnosed with AT I kept looking at her and wondering "why her". She is always so happy, beautiful and caring. This song made me realise that she was still OUR Amelia. She was still amazing and I would not change a thing about her. She is still a beautiful little girl).

The Climb by Miley Cyrus........
I can almost see it, that dream I'm dreaming but there's a voice inside my head that says you'll never reach it.
Every step I'm taking, every move I'm making feels lost with no direction.
My faith is shaken.
But I gotta keep tryin, gotta keep my head held high..

(To get up everyday and face people. To see people for the first time and in the coming months after diagnosis. This song made me feel so much stronger. I needed to be strong for everyone else).

Forever Young by Youth Group......
Heaven can wait..
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst..
I want to be forever young..

(this song may appear depressing but I saw it as a turning point for my opinion on creating an amazing life for Amelia. Giving her a life of dreams coming true for her age).

I won't let go by Rascal Flatts
It’s like a storm
That cuts a path
It’s breaks your will
It feels like that

You think your lost
But your not lost on your own
Your not alone
I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you’ve done all you can do
If you can’t cope
I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I wont let go

It hurts my heart
To see you cry
I know it’s dark
This part of life
Oh it finds us all
And we’re too small
To stop the rain
Oh but when it rains

I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you’ve done all you can do
And you can’t cope
I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight

And I wont let you fall
Don’t be afraid to fall
I’m right here to catch you
I wont let you down
It wont get you down
Your gonna make it
Yea I know you can make it

Cause I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you’ve done all you can do
And you can’t cope
And I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I wont let go
Oh I’m gonna hold you
And I wont let go
Wont let you go
No I wont

(I apologise but I had to put almost the whole song. This song will be so important for me forever. It is on Amelia's DVD. This song says so much about what I feel about Amelia and AT. This song also represents Amelia's Project for me. It explains the amazing people around us, the new people we been so lucky to meet and the power of friendship. I will be eternally grateful to so many people for what they have done to help us this year).

Lucky by Jason Mraz......
Lucky I am in love with my best friend..

(I feel lucky to have Scott next to me while we deal with everything and parent our two gorgeous children).

Over the Rainbow......
Somewhere over the rainbow skies really are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

(Umm. Probably self explanatory).

Raise your glass by PINK.....
(we just love to dance and be extremely silly to this song - especially in the car - the dashboard is our drum kit!!!).

Songbird by Eva Cassidy (or GLEE)
For you there will be no more crying..
For you the sun will be shining..
To you I'll give the world..
And I love you, I love you, I love you like never before..
And I wish all the love in the world..
But most of all I wish it from myself..

Smile
Smile though your heart is aching..
Smile even though it is breaking..
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by.
If you smile through your pain and sorrow.

(Sometimes we need to be reminded to smile).

And finally, Lean On Me.....
Sometimes in our lives we all have pain, we all have sorrow..
Lean on me, when you're not strong, I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on.

Whether I need to laugh, cry, dance with my children or sit and contemplate, music has been my friend on many occasions.

3 sleeps...
(and the children are extremely hyperactive and excited. I have not seen Amelia so happy and full of energy - for so many days in succession - for a very long time).

xxx