Make-A-Wish

Our family was blessed with a Make-A-Wish trip for Lilliana this year. (Thank you for nominating her, Nurse Colleen!) Make-A-Wish grants wishes for children with critical illnesses. In 2020, Lilliana was diagnosed with lupus nephritis. This is an autoimmune disease. In her case, it has caused damage to her kidneys. While she is doing well, and has a super positive attitude, it has been challenging for her. Make-A-Wish gives children, and their families, a chance to spend time making happy memories. We will be forever thankful for their kindness and generosity!

Lilliana has loved baking since she was young

Lilliana wished to take a cooking class at Walt Disney World. While we waited for that to happen, she was generously given the chance to work with 2 incredible chefs in Denver, Colorado.

Maggiano's

Her first experience was with Executive Chef Colin Lavery, at Maggiano's (Denver Tech Center). If you have never tried Maggiano's, you are missing out! They have the best Italian food, and it's all made from scratch in their kitchen. 

Chef Colin and Lilliana

Lilliana and Chef Colin made our lunch. Aby, our friend from Make-A-Wish was able to join us. Harrison ordered the seafood bowl, and it did not disappoint him!

We were able to tour the whole building. They have space for private parties and events like wedding receptions. Their kitchen is modern, wonderful, and clean! So, so clean. The whole building was immaculate. Their staff is friendly, and they have a warm environment. Some of the things Lilliana was able to make were tiramisu, meatballs, steak, noodles, mozzarella sticks, and four cheese ravioli. Their mashed potatoes are what dreams are made of. :) It was so kind of them to invite our family to share in Lilliana's wish. You can tell by everyone's big smiles how much we enjoyed our lunch!

Casa Bonita

The second chef Lilliana was able to join was Chef Andrew Silas at Casa Bonita in Denver. It was our first time visiting this iconic restaurant. Incase you haven't heard about it, Casa Bonita opened in 1974. It became famous for it's fun environment, including cliff divers! Rumor has it that the food they used to serve was not good, but everyone loved their sopapillas! The restaurant shut down in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually the owner filed for bankruptcy. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, eventually bought the restaurant, and gave it a restoration. They also hired Chef Dana Rodriguez to create a new menu. Home run! The food is excellent, and if you are lucky enough to visit, I highly recommend trying the flan for dessert. Incredible! 

Chef Andrew and Lilliana

Lilliana and Chef Andrew making homemade corn tortillas

Lilliana making salsa

In Casa Bonita's new kitchen, they make all the food from scratch. It is super clean and really big! We loved everything we tried there, and can't wait to go back and try it all again!

 

We had the best time at Casa Bonita. They have an artist who will draw your picture, a puppet show, a magic show, a photo jail, a haunted cave, an arcade, a close-up magician, a live mariachi band, a gift shop, a balloon artist, and the cliff diving show! Wow! I hope I didn't forget something. You can spend hours there, and we did. We left with enormous smiles on our faces, and we felt so grateful for their generosity! (Thank you to Jennifer Kenline for spending the day with us, and making sure we felt special!)

Give Kids The World

Families who make a wish to go to central Florida are invited to stay at a resort called Give Kids The World. This place is very special. I will tell you all about it, but first, a peek at how we got there.

The day started off great! We made the first flight, and had a layover in Texas. In Texas, we learned that our 1 hour layover was now a 7 hour layover! Oh no!  We prepared for a long day at the airport and sat at a random gate. I heard the agent say, "We have 56 extra seats on this flight, so go ahead and spread out." I had no idea where that plane was going, but I told Kimball, "We should just get on that flight. I don't even care where we end up." He saw they were flying to Sarasota, and literally ran to the desk to change our flights! Shout out to Southwest for making it happen! I learned that Sarasota, FLORIDA, is only about a 2 hour drive from Orlando. Kimball felt sure we could find a car rental, and we hustled the kids onto the plane. Even with the drive, it saved us 4 hours of airport time!

This car was at the car rental in Sarasota

Too bad we needed a minivan ;)

Happy to be in a van, instead of an airport!

We made it! House number 289, the same number of our van rental from Sarasota! It was meant to be. We were delighted to arrive, and felt immediately welcome.

We began to look around, and the boys found a castle.

Merry-go-round

Sitting by the pool, in October, on a Florida night with a slushy, time to relax!

At GKTW, families get to stay in their own condo. 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, with a pullout couch and a kitchen. We barely used the kitchen, because they have a cafeteria with a buffet of delicious food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks!

Ready for fun!

Lilliana's dream whisk :)

Incredible details

Character meet-and-greet

Briar Rose (Princess Aroura), and little Luke Skywalker.

GKTW has a party every night. There is a pool party, a birthday party, Halloween, and a winter party, just to name a few. Lil and Harri took the opportunity to do some trick-or-treating at the party. 

Dog Skywalker

Lilliana in the Castle of Miracles

At Give Kids The World, they have a Castle of Miracles. In this castle, there is a star for nearly every single wish child who ever visited. There are thousands of stars, and now, there is one there for Lilliana.

Most Make-A-Wish kids go on to live long happy lives, but sometimes they don't. The stars represent a lasting memory, so families can return and remember the happy time they had. It's sad to think about, but it's also really beautiful and sacred.

GKTW motto: "Where Happiness Inspires Hope"

The boys got to take a horse ride

It's incredible how they make the whole wish family feel special!

All you care to eat ice cream from 9 am to 9 pm! Harrison's dream come true.

Old Elmer

Walt Disney World- Hollywood Studios

So excited to visit Disney!

Lincoln, bringing Vader to visit the droids

Cruising around Planet Batuu

Building droids

Building lightsabers

Benson carried around the droid like a baby :)

That is how I looked during the entire ride.

They don't look that scared :)


Benson keeping his baby droid safe

Rise of the Resistance is spectacular!

Just some boys and their sabers

WDW-Epcot

On our way to Epcot!

Lilliana's first idea for her wish was to take a cooking class in France. Unfortunately, out of the country travel was suspended, due to COVID-19. Luckily, she was able to visit France at Epcot. :) It was magical, and we were all so happy to be there!


She makes amazing macaroons. Maybe next time, she will make a tower out of them like this :)

Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind

The Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, at Epcot, is the best ride I have EVER been on! I would move to Florida, just to be closer to this ride. :) It is an enclosed roller coaster, but you don't just go forward... you go in all directions, and you feel like you are flying. You can't walk in a straight line when you disembark, even though the ride is very smooth! Dare I say this is life-changing?

WDW-Animal Kingdom

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Safari time

Tree of life ♥

The Avatar Flight of Passage is another favorite ride of mine!

Harrison's favorite move is the Lion King

Pandora

Mt Everest

Lilliana's brothers worshiping her for allowing them to come on the trip ;)

It's amazing how you can travel the world in a day at Disney

Kimball and I were celebrating our 21st anniversary!

Wish to cook with Disney Chef

Lilliana's wish was granted! She was able to decorate a Stitch Vampire cupcake with Chef Amber Vega, and Chef Stephanie Permuy. We met them at Disney's Polynesian resort, in the exclusive Trader Sam's bar. Ms. Vilma was instrumental in guiding the decoration. We had lunch from Capt. Cook's, and it was awesome!

Disney desserts are works of art

The boys got to join the fun

Lil, doing what she loves to do

Happiness all around

Incredible attention to detail

It takes months to plan and execute the perfect dessert, but Lil got the VIP preparation, so she could create the cupcake on the spot.

We got to ask how the chefs spend their days, and how they got to where they are today.

Each cupcake, the same, but different :)

Chef Lilliana with her proud parents ♥

WDW- Magic Kingdom

Rapunzel, Flynn Ryder, Briar Rose, Little Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker

The happiest place on earth

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

Visit from Tinkerbell

Keeping Disney safe

Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure

We absolutely loved Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure! Most of the family love thrill rides, and this is the place! Someone in the family, maybe the person who isn't in most of the pictures and who is always closing their eyes, doesn't like thrills as much as the others. :) Check out these action photos!

Ready for thrills

Nervous about what's next

Family favorite

Lilliana's favorite coaster

Hold on!

Mild enough for Momma

Some of us took this ride very seriously

This was so fast, so smooth, so fun!

Joy

Look at that kid, flying with no hands, and me... ... ...

Worth riding twice!

This looks real. The themes at Universal are incredible.

SeaWorld

We wish we would have had more time at SeaWorld. There is so much to see and do there. We just had half a day, and did all we could! They have a new coaster where you STAND! This had mixed reviews. :)

 

 

The Pipeline, I believe it's a one-of-a-kind ride!

YES!

NO!

Mako, another favorite... Lincoln is smiling :)

Manta, Lilliana's favorite. Benson... not so sure

We had the trip of a lifetime! We were able to see 7 major theme parks in 5 days, and made the best family memories. Lilliana was able to cook, chop, and decorate with some amazing chefs. Thank you to #Make-A-Wish, #GiveKidsTheWorld, #Disney, #Universal, #SeaWorld, #Maggiano's, #CasaBonita, #Southwest, Chef Colin, Chef Andrew, Jenny K, Chef Amber, Chef Stephanie, Ms. Vilma, Nurse Colleen, Aby, Jenny N, and everyone who helped make Lilliana's wish come true!