12th November 2016

Well a very early start, alarm off at 420 as I like to come to gradually and we were at the village by 6 am. Today was a big fundraising day for GKTW as it is their annual Gingerbread Run and over 1,400  took part in the event. We had to be on site before 6 am as the roads were closed between our villa and the Village between 7 and 10 am. There were tons of volunteers there helping with it all including Ms Robyn Rothermel who was the first wish child at the village in January 1988, Debbie
and I chatted to her afterwards in the Castle of Miracles where she was taking a photo of her star. All the characters were out too. The Mayor and his wife Ms Merry, the Gingerbread Man, a Penguin and lots of Princesses and Pirates. The place was buzzing.

A chat to another volunteer this morning made both of us cry, so moving as so very true. It was something Pamela Landwirth said at the Veterans lunch on Wednesday. Seems a child who had stayed at the village earlier this year had taken very ill after she got home, a minister was called to the house so they could discuss God and Heaven. The child told the minister she knew about heaven as she had already spent a week there so she wasn't afraid ... what a lovely thought that a child could imagine that GKTW was like heaven .

Today's shift was a first for me and for Debbie too, we were on Express Breakfasts, exciting stuff as we, sorry me, made fresh pancakes. Okay it only meant pressing the start button and dialling in the number of pancakes required but it was fun, shame we only had a few families wanting our services.. made 8 pancakes though! Debbie cooked another tray of bacon and some more omelettes but we really weren't busy. We did help out the ladies on the ice cream, a few banana splits, a few cones and a few cups but we also kept the tables and chairs clean and sanitised

My beautiful Bayleigh came in with Ember, her .Mum, to say their goodbyes. Poor Bayleigh had a rough night so was in her chair and looked exhausted, a bit of ice cream bought her sugars up though and we soon had her smiling again. Ember said to me wow you are famous, I queried this and she said she had found out all the things I had done including my Sky Tower jump... how I asked as you don't know my surname or where I live. Scarily she said, oh I put in google 'Lorna U.K'  and found me, must have taken all night scrolling through the pages! We are now Facebook friends 😘 Not only that but they bought me a gift that I will always treasure an Alex and Ani, sweet treats bracelet, which has on it an ice cream cone 🍦. Thank you so much xxxx

Another lad that I had met the night before came in and reminded me that it was his 11th birthday, we sang to him happy birthday three times. The first time we rallied the troops to sing, we had to go fetch his .mum, thought we had cracked it the second time, but no, his Dad had not arrived with the video camera. Third time lucky. I also took lots of pictures of family groups using their phones.

 Next came the goodbyes , our time here at GKTW 2016 has come to an end, this year in 3 weeks I logged 120.21 volunteer hours, up on all previous years. A total of  384.54 hours in my 4 visits. I have enjoyed every second of it!!

We were home by one and I spoke to Allan too which was lovely.rental back

Icing on the cake, Tigers won

Poor .Lolly was feeling unwell so Debbie and I want with Pauline to taker her car back to Avis
In Old Town m Kissimmee where we all also took the opportunity to look at the many old time cars. They were immaculate and great to see.

Right last nights sleep here, really tired so once again night, night 😘

11 th November 2016

A slightly different start to the day as Debbie and I had no shifts until 12 midday in the Ice Cream Parlour. I was expecting to meet up with Carol and Rick for a cup of coffee but unfortunately they had to meet with their property management agent before they left for the U.K, so we had a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms and toast for breakfast,delicious! We weren't sure if this was going to be a reverse meal sort of day i.e. dinner for breakfast or breakfast for dinner but we enjoyed it either way.

Pauline and Lolly went off at 7am to drive to Clearwater and the beach, we are not sure if they will  make it back to the villa tonight or stay in the hotel and do more sightseeing tomorrow before returning the red beast to the car hire company.

Different timing shift today, midday which meant that there were fewer families on site as they were all off to the Disney parks. We did get a few customers  and even got to speak to Pamela Landwirth who is the President and CEO of GKTW, she is a charming lady and was showing some gentlemen around the Village. Pamela is an ex wife of the founder, the wonderful Mr Henri
Landwirth.

This morning was the official ribbon cutting to open phase one of some new villas...Banyan Park. I was hoping to get a look inside but have not yet been able to manage it. This phase will house 24 new villas and mean 1,000 more families will be able to stay on site each year. Phase 2 and 3 will begin soon. From the outside they look wonderful and I am sure they will be equally beautiful inside. Again it is worth looking at the website get a better idea. www.gktw.org

Despite our healthy breakfast Debbie and I were feeling hungry as our shift finished so made a decision to go and get a meal, back to the Longhorn Steak House as we only had 2 hours before starting our next shift so didn't have time to try anywhere new. It was a great meal.

Heard from Pauline that they were having a good day but had decided they would be coming back this evening to the villa.

Now Debbie and I were on different shifts this evening, she on dinners in Nancy's kitchen and I was with Jim as photographers assistant. This meant keeping very close to him as he took pictures of the children around the carousel and at the pool party, I had to get the villa number and write down the number of shots he took, it was fun and I also got to see Bayleigh and her brother who are leaving the village tomorrow morning, they both gave me massive hugs and told me they would miss me so much 😪.

We got back to the villa at about 9, had our usual drink and unwind but an early night for us all as we have an early start because of the Gingerbread Run tomorrow, our road will be closed to traffic so we must be on site for 6 am.

😴💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤

10th November 2016


Well this morning was Pauline and Lolly's last shift at the village and they were on Express Breakfasts which is available in the Ice  Cream Parlour, not a shift I have done yet but coincidentally it will be mine and Debbie's last shift too on Saturday. Looking forward to making the fresh pancakes, bagels and toasts to either go or eat in with their 'Ice Cream' for breakfast treat

Debbie was on breakfast in Nancy's kitchen, serving food, she was on omelettes and scrambled eggs with Tony,. Lots of families in and the usual if sausages are on, they want bacon and vica versa - they actually ran out of both today it seems! Jeffrey was her runner , he worked with us a few days ago and was very efficient.

My morning shift was on the carousel with the lovely Wendy. Wendy and I met two years ago, she was brilliant by offering to take me to the .British Embassy in Orlando because she recognised that it might be tricky for me looking for a place  while driving on the wrong side of the road. Wendy and her husband Dave are from Quebec but spend 5 months over here in their winter in Orlando as Snow Birds and volunteer lots too. We were fairly busy, over 40 different switch ons for the families , which actually means more children as we only log on the times we press the button to make the ride go, not how many children ride. Managed several wheelchair rides too, great that they can have a ride as well.

Now I can't remember if I wrote lyrsterday that I spoke to the couple across the road who are in the villa I rented last year, they said they were not letting it out anymore so guessed they were the owners. I was right, they live in Yaxley which is where Lucy teaches. Seems they know very little about the Village so I offered to take them to have a look, which I did this afternoon before my evening shift with Santa 🎅 . It was a bit of a rush but think they enjoyed and were amazed at the feel of it... may even recruited some more volunteers!

Now my shift tonight was as one of Santa's Elves,. This event is held in the Hoppeniing Place. This event is organised by Leidy and she gave me the job of the 'Mean Elf'!!!!!!! I was put at the end of the stage and the children had to do a task before I would let them leave to collect their present. Santa told them they had to make me smile by various ways... give me a cuddle, say hi , or hop . No way could I not smile and be mean but I did get lots of cuddles! Santa is truly the most magnificent person and spends a long time with the children while the photographer takes photographs. Jim is the photographer and is usually without a smile but tonight he smiles lots too. A dad came in and said his boy was not feeling good and was very upset that he couldn't get to see .Santa, this was not a problem as his brother chose a gift for him, the villa number was taken and Santa delivered it personally at the end of the shift. He must have been very late for his parade through the village tonight.

There were so many special moments tonight
Santa bought a child to the front of the stage and got us all to cheer for a lad beating stage 4 Kidney Cancer
Another birthday song for another child
The beautiful Bayleigh gave me the most special hugs and smiles - she really is wonderful
Brinkley, the daughter of another volunteer, who has type 1 diabetes and is doing the Gingerbread Run on Saturday came up to me with her mum and gave me a present of a Sparkle Tshirt because I had sponsored her
Another volunteer gave English 4 of us a pin for doing what we do and Shannon in volunteer services gave us a GKTW Angel pin
So many cuddles from parents and children tonight as well

Admit to having a few tears during the evening.

Got back to find Pauline and Lolly had just got back from their trip to Old Town Kissimmee where they had had a great afternoon/evening.

Some toast with marmite and cream cheese for dinner and then off to my bed. Allan home fro his adventure at 1030 pm UK time but was in bed before I got back to the villa. Will speak to him tomorrow as not spoken for a few days.

Night

9th November 2016

Well a very early start due to my waking up at 3am to peek at what was happening with the Presidential election and my subsequent shock at the result which prevented me from dropping off again. My shift today, however was as a conductor on the train that drives around the village picking up families and taking them to and from their villas. My driver very was the lovely Dick, an almost nonagenarian, who is considering retirement next year as his bones are getting old!  Today, in the village they were holding a Veterans Luncheon for all their volunteers who have served in the military, this is an annual event for them and they were expecting 100 guests who were all very smartly turned out wearing their medals. I too, wore my big knitted poppy and my poppy earrings as my tribute to our military heroes.

It was an easy job , hopping on and off the train helping the families onto the train and make sure the children had an adult either side of them and putting the chain across. I was trained in how to get a wheelchair in and off the truck but it wasn't needed this morning. Missed doing my driving as I did last years would have been a doddle in daylight.

I enjoyed my morning and met some volunteer young ladies who are in Orlando and are members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, they are in this region from their homes in Utah and are here for 18 months promoting their ministry. Here they are just volunteering and come once a week on a Tuesday morning and do what shifts are needed.

Debbie was in the Castle of Miracles and was kept quite busy, she had a few poignant moments, one child looked at all the stars and asked if these were all the people who had passed away, she was able to say no, these were just all the people that had stayed here and lots come back to see their stars many times.

After we finished Debbie and I popped to Tarjai (Target to those who don't know), it really is so much better than Walmarts and not much further either. We may just have got enough to last now until we come home.

Spoke to Allan this morning, he is on the final leg of his trip and when I post this later should be on the plane on the way back to the  to the UK and hopefully will be clean, shaven and his washing done before I get home.

Tonight was another Village Idol, every week this is different, no Let It Go tonight but did have Let it Snow instead .

Pauline and Lolly were front of house, in charge of holding the signs to clap and do a standing ovation, while Debbie and I were in charge of  VIP passes. There were so many highlights to tonight but my very special moment was a young girl of around 9 or 10 who was there on her Make A Wish visit, her wish was to volunteer at GKTW. As her Mum said she could have asked for anything for herself, bur no, she wanted to help others. Between the family and  Make A Wish  it has been arranged that the family stay at the village  for 1 week and then move off the site and will come back in to volunteer for some more before she goes back home. Her favourite shift so far has been in the Spa, closely followed by Noah's Nook, which is where the families can get drinks and ice cream wile they swim. Bayleigh, is her name and she was as beautiful outside as she was inside, a really pretty girl.

Think we had about 15 acts tonight, all wonderful in there own unique way. Only one song from Frozen and it wasn't Let It Go!

Another great day.

8th November 2016

Well today is an historic day, not only for the USA but possibly for the whole world. Yes, it is the Presidential elections and the two candidates are Trump v Clinton. Is is now 22.45 and it is scarily looking like Mr Donald Trump may get it. I am sorry but it does worry me!

Back to the more pleasant parts of the day now. A breakfast shift for myself and Debbie. Now considered to be pro's, we were put on hot food serving. There were only 4 of us to start with as a group of volunteers were late in arriving and their training was pretty limited so we had to just get stuck in. Our runner today, that is the guy who keeps us stocked up with food items that were on offer was fantastic, so much better than mardy pants last week. He had bought along a group of volunteers from Fairbanks, yes Fairbanks, Alaska! For those who are not geographically aware, that is a long way away from Florida, almost as far as the UK. Jeffrey was his name and he had bought along his son to volunteer also, his son had been here as a Wish child 4 years ago . The group are doing a few shifts before joining in the bid fundraising Gingerbread Run which is taking place on Saturday. They have already got over $10,000 dollars in sponsorship!  A great group to work with. We were pretty busy the whole time.

After finishing our shift we had decided to go to the Premium Outlet Mall to do a bit of shopping. We were reasonably successful and went on to have lunch at a seafood restaurant close by. Arrived at 1430 to find the door locked, opening hours was 1500 so we decided to wait outside and we were indeed, their first customers of the day. A good meal with enough in our take out boxes to feed us tomorrow as well.

We had a brief time back at the villa before leaving for Mayor Clayton's surprise birthday party. Well Pauline and Lolly were asked to be the Candy Floss ladies, Debbie was on the metal bottle skittles and I was on the dartboard. Well I had such a great time,  magnetic darts thrown at a board by the children. They were so funny, some aimed and threw. Some just got a little closer and put the dart on the board. The best bit was after I taught them how to concentrate their aim by sticking their tongue out and wiggling it about was that they ALL did. It was the funniest thing ever but it really worked- you should all try it. They kept coming back and trying again, everyone of them wiggling their tongue. I will never forget it. A most lovely Mum came up to be and gave me a huge hug and thanked me for being so kind to her daughter and making her feel so special. It really is not difficult to love these children.

Back to the villa for our unwinding session and to see the election results unfolding. Went to bed and slept until about 3 am when I looked at what was happening again. Words now fail me.... Trump is to be the next President of the USA.  This thought scares me more than anything ever before. Let's hope they can keep him on a very tight rein and keep that briefcase with the scary buttons away from him.

The World has gone mad.

7th November 2016

Off to the village this morning on my ownsome as Debbie had a bit of a sore throat and wasn't actually scheduled for a shift so she decided to stay at home alone, at least until I got back. Pauline and Lolly apparently left about 9.40 to take the Red Devil out for another spin, they will back, I think for this evenings shift.

My shift this morning was in the Hoppening Place where some of the Disney Characters came to see the families. Mickey was there of course, as was Mary Poppins, Pluto and Goofy. Most of the children were delighted but one or two of the younger ones find the characters quite scary. I took lots of photographs on the families devices, even manage to get one of me with Pluto and Miss Mary Poppins.

Got back to the villa and jones Debbie around the pool for a couple of hours before we Pauline and Lolly returned from their trip to The Eye. We all then went to GKTW for our various evening shifts. Pauline and Lolly were in the La Ti Da Spa which they were really looking forward to. It was a little quiet tonight but they did get the face paints out, the air spray tattoos, the nail varnish and inevitably, a little bit of the must have ✨

Debbie and I were in Nancy's kitchen, at first we thought we were the only ones but a school orchestra group arrived , literally just as we opened for dinner. This was their first time at the village and they really had no idea and we had no time to train them either but we managed. Tonight was Mexican with soft and hard shell tacos and all the extras. One young lass was so nervous that we had to be very gentle with her and ply her with lots of encouragement. Another young lady was amazing, so confident and so on the ball, she was an absolute star. It was pretty quiet tonight though, maybe they were all at Halloween?

Back to the villa for our usual wind down chat and glass of preferred refreshment before retiring for the night. 

6th November.2016

WHAT A DAY!

Actually, as I write this, it is what a yesterday. I had almost finished my daily post and must have inadvertently deleted it so am writing again on Monday morning.

The day started off early as we went to wave the two blonde bombshells off on their brand new red Mustang , what a loud throaty noise it made as they pulled off the driveway to begin their days exploring in St Augustine. They left at 7 and were back at 8 ish, having had a great day doing what tourists do, some beautiful pictures were taken too.

Debbie and myself have a lazy breakfast before being picked up by Maria to make our way to The Heritage Stadium where Mr Barack Obama was to lead a political rally to support Hillary Clinton!s bid for the Presidency.

The traffic was busy and as we got near it crawled to almost a standstill, no obvious signs of any police controlling the flow. In the end we parked the car at the 711 garage and walked/hobbled  the mile to the stadium with fingers crossed we would not be towed away before our return. Once we reached the park there were crowds of people in line waiting to enter through the gates. Debbie brilliantly asked if there was another entrance for disabled people, yes, for me as I was using the crutches provided by Maria. Luckily we were directed to another line that weaved i s way to the security entrance. This still took about an hour but there was entertainment in the form of a Hispanic
parade...cars, motorcycles, horses, trucks, all dancing and 🎤.

We also met Mr Patrick Murphy, a charismatic gentleman who is standing as a senator for Florida. Even posed for a picture with him.... I did manage to ask him to come visit GKTW and he said 'sure'.

As we passed through the scanner we were directed to a lift which took us up to the top area of the arena where we found 4 seats together. Maria's friend, Colleen, an lady who hailed from Manchester some 30 plus years ago joined us, she has been door knocking, canvassing for Hillary for months.

The atmosphere was electric, we stood for the Star Spangled Banner and then sat back down to be entertained by none other that Mr Stevie Wonder! Brilliant, he stirred up the crowd with lots of Hillary, Hillary , Hillary  finishing off with a great rendition of one of his chart topper hits... Superstition.

We watched as Air Force 1 passed overhead to bring Mr Obama to land at close by Kissimmee airport from where he was transported in a limo along with a few of his friends. Bet the road was kept clear for him though.  When Barack began his speech the audience went mad, he is such a charismatic man, really inspiring too. I would vote for him if he was going to do a third term for sure!
About 4pm we made the walk back to the car, which was still there thank goodness. The traffic on the  road to join the 92 was motionless but the 92 was empty, what was going on we wondered...yes, the Presidential motorcade was passing, lots of them. As soon as they had passed we quickly got on the road and made our way to Bonefish Grill for a lovely meal.

It was an amazing day and we saw history being made:-

We saw the 1st Black President supporting the hopefully, first Female President .

In the words of Max Boyce " and we were there'!!

5th November 2016

Bonfire night in the UK but obviously not here as they had no Houses of Parliament to blow up... however let's see what happens after the election next week!

This morning Pauline and Lolly were leading JoJo and Ginger, the two horses again. The had 69 riders this morning so were kept busy and there were lots of yee haas and cowboy hats around. Lolly's highlight was collecting the rear end deposits from the two horses.!

Debbie had a great time on Waffle making, it was fabulous, she even put her own twist on it as in her opinion they were far too pale so cooked them an extra 20 seconds which made them crispy. Marilyn she even used up 4 cans of whipped cream too!!

My shift was on the carousel with Bob and Jake. Bob is a regular and Jake was a reasonably new volunteer who was still at college. He is studying science subjects and wants to go in to medicine, probably as a heart surgeon.  Bob took a lot of time telling us the best days and time of day to go the the volunteers refreshment room for Pizza, muffins etc, etc. Bob comes in 4 mornings a week so knows his food stuffs!

It was reasonably busy but Debbie and I managed a ride too during a spell without any families about and Jake took lots of pictures on my phone for me.

Back to the villa for an hour around the pool before driving to the Avis car rental as Pauline and Lolly  had booked a little Ford Focus so that they could do a bit of exploring next week while Debbie and I did our shifts and possible other things. We dropped them on off and visited Publix for a few BITS and bobs before driving back to our villa... or was it ours we wondered as there, sitting there on our drive were two blonde ladies in a bright red, brand new,  V8  5 litre, Ford  Mustang draped across the bonnet. I parked my white Kia next to it and as I carefully opened my door I was told, mind our car!! Hmm as if I would do it any harm.

The trip to Publix was also interesting as I went to have a look at the fresh fish counter and a young male store person said "hello Miss Lorna, can I help you" Thought he was clairvoyant until I realised I still have my GKTW name tag on, we then went to the check out where sitting at the till was .Natalie, a FB friend and a fellow GKTW volunteer. Bit like Tesco's knowing everyone there.

Off to do Ready, Steady, Think Quiz that we had so much fun with last week. Nothing had been set out so I went to the stock cupboard to find the essential Pom Poms to carry off the stage but unfortunately I missed the step and went down on my ankle. Ouch and double ouch.... ice put on, accident report filled in and I missed the party as was sitting with my foot elevated. Ouch and double ouch again. Taken anti inflammatories, arnica tablets and more ice packs but still very painful. The thing that was upsetting me most was that I have no shifts tomorrow as we are going to the President Obama rally and I am not sure how far we will have to walk or how long we will have to stand. I really want to be part of this historical occasion, despite have no faith in politics.

Brainwave just happened, I remembered that .Maria who is the lovely lady who got us the tickets and who is picking us up tomorrow has recently had foot surgery... I do need support to walk , so just messaged her and, yes, she is bringing a pair of crutches for me. Lorna will go to the rally.

Clocks change here tonight so will geta lie in beyond 5 am.

Night x

5th November 2016

Bonfire night in the UK but obviously not here as they had no Houses of Parliament to blow up... however let's see what happens after the election next week!

This morning Pauline and Lolly were leading JoJo and Ginger, the two horses again. The had 69 riders this morning so were kept busy and there were lots of yee haas and cowboy hats around. Lolly's highlight was collecting the rear end deposits from the two horses.!

Debbie had a great time on Waffle making, it was fabulous, she even put her own twist on it as in her opinion they were far too pale so cooked them an extra 20 seconds which made them crispy. Marilyn she even used up 4 cans of whipped cream too!!

My shift was on the carousel with Bob and Jake. Bob is a regular and Jake was a reasonably new volunteer who was still at college. He is studying science subjects and wants to go in to medicine, probably as a heart surgeon.  Bob took a lot of time telling us the best days and time of day to go the the volunteers refreshment room for Pizza, muffins etc, etc. Bob comes in 4 mornings a week so knows his food stuffs!

It was reasonably busy but Debbie and I managed a ride too during a spell without any families about and Jake took lots of pictures on my phone for me.

Back to the villa for an hour around the pool before driving to the Avis car rental as Pauline and Lolly  had booked a little Ford Focus so that they could do a bit of exploring next week while Debbie and I did our shifts and possible other things. We dropped them on off and visited Publix for a few BITS and bobs before driving back to our villa... or was it ours we wondered as there, sitting there on our drive were two blonde ladies in a bright red, brand new,  V8  5 litre, Ford  Mustang draped across the bonnet. I parked my white Kia next to it and as I carefully opened my door I was told, mind our car!! Hmm as if I would do it any harm.

The trip to Publix was also interesting as I went to have a look at the fresh fish counter and a young male store person said "hello Miss Lorna, can I help you" Thought he was clairvoyant until I realised I still have my GKTW name tag on, we then went to the check out where sitting at the till was .Natalie, a FB friend and a fellow GKTW volunteer. Bit like Tesco's knowing everyone there.

Off to do Ready, Steady, Think Quiz that we had so much fun with last week. Nothing had been set out so I went to the stock cupboard to find the essential Pom Poms to carry off the stage but unfortunately I missed the step and went down on my ankle. Ouch and double ouch.... ice put on, accident report filled in and I missed the party as was sitting with my foot elevated. Ouch and double ouch again. Taken anti inflammatories, arnica tablets and more ice packs but still very painful. The thing that was upsetting me most was that I have no shifts tomorrow as we are going to the President Obama rally and I am not sure how far we will have to walk or how long we will have to stand. I really want to be part of this historical occasion, despite have no faith in politics.

Brainwave just happened, I remembered that .Maria who is the lovely lady who got us the tickets and who is picking us up tomorrow has recently had foot surgery... I do need support to walk , so just messaged her and, yes, she is bringing a pair of crutches for me. Lorna will go to the rally.

Clocks change here tonight so will geta lie in beyond 5 am.

Night x

4th November 2016

Just Debbie and I for this mornings shift which was with a Universal Studio Character which this morning was Curious George. Our jobs today were pretty simple, guide the families in, take pictures with their phone/camera/videos . The whole thing lasted little over 40 minutes as 'Curious George', had another engagement. They were a little late arriving as apparently their had been a car smash on the interstate which had held the traffic up.  We had lots of smiles again and all but one of the children were happy to see him. Debbie and I did get out pictures taken too of course?

Once back at the villa we got changed to sit round the pool when Lolly had popped into the kitchen and heard the door bell, she bought .Maria through- it had slipped my mind completely that we were off out for lunch with Maria and hopefully Sonya. A quick change and we were off to the Red Lobster for lunch which was delicious. Unfortunately Sonya couldn't make it as she was sorting out one of her clients unpaid water bill before the family who were renting arrived.

Now how do I know Sonya and Maria.? Well Sonya was the property manager of the villa I rented for my 1st  two visits here and we chatted a few times over a cup of tea, she was great too as she kindly provided me with a food box for my arrival.  Now Maria, that happened because Sonya put me in touch with her after my post on Facebook saying that I was doing a visit to a non .English speaking Hungarian wish child.. we were very 21st century and via messenger and iPad, we had a 3 way conversation between Nottingham, Florida and my iPad to determine the child's wish which proved very successful.

Now, not only was it good to meet Maria face to face but she has also managed to get Debbie and myself tickets to go to a political rally on .Sunday where Mr .Barack Obama will be campaigning for Hillary in an attempt to tilt the .Florida vote the democrats way. Florida is a marginal seat. Wonder if Katie and .June my Trumpers from the carousel shift the other day will approve? Will be an interesting day though .

A note for my grandchildren when I am no longer around. The significance of this, is Mr Barack Obama is the current .president of the USA until the 8th November so will be a once in a lifetime  occasion for me.

Our shift this evening was Once Upon a Time,  what was Pirates and Princess party. I chose not to be on Makeovers this time like Debbie, Pauline and Lolly, they are far more talented in that direction than myself. I was on Treasure maps with .another Marilyn., she makes up treasure bags to give to each child which she donates herself every week. A lot of children took part and it was a great evening.

Back to the villa about 9 pm for our usual wind down session. I was the first to give up and go to bed..

Night x

4th November 2016

Just Debbie and I for this mornings shift which was with a Universal Studio Character which this morning was Curious George. Our jobs today were pretty simple, guide the families in, take pictures with their phone/camera/videos . The whole thing lasted little over 40 minutes as 'Curious George', had another engagement. They were a little late arriving as apparently their had been a car smash on the interstate which had held the traffic up.  We had lots of smiles again and all but one of the children were happy to see him. Debbie and I did get out pictures taken too of course?

Once back at the villa we got changed to sit round the pool when Lolly had popped into the kitchen and heard the door bell, she bought .Maria through- it had slipped my mind completely that we were off out for lunch with Maria and hopefully Sonya. A quick change and we were off to the Red Lobster for lunch which was delicious. Unfortunately Sonya couldn't make it as she was sorting out one of her clients unpaid water bill before the family who were renting arrived.

Now how do I know Sonya and Maria.? Well Sonya was the property manager of the villa I rented for my 1st  two visits here and we chatted a few times over a cup of tea, she was great too as she kindly provided me with a food box for my arrival.  Now Maria, that happened because Sonya put me in touch with her after my post on Facebook saying that I was doing a visit to a non .English speaking Hungarian wish child.. we were very 21st century and via messenger and iPad, we had a 3 way conversation between Nottingham, Florida and my iPad to determine the child's wish which proved very successful.

Now, not only was it good to meet Maria face to face but she has also managed to get Debbie and myself tickets to go to a political rally on .Sunday where Mr .Barack Obama will be campaigning for Hillary in an attempt to tilt the .Florida vote the democrats way. Florida is a marginal seat. Wonder if Katie and .June my Trumpers from the carousel shift the other day will approve? Will be an interesting day though .

A note for my grandchildren when I am no longer around. The significance of this, is Mr Barack Obama is the current .president of the USA until the 8th November so will be a once in a lifetime  occasion for me.

Our shift this evening was Once Upon a Time,  what was Pirates and Princess party. I chose not to be on Makeovers this time like Debbie, Pauline and Lolly, they are far more talented in that direction than myself. I was on Treasure maps with .another Marilyn., she makes up treasure bags to give to each child which she donates herself every week. A lot of children took part and it was a great evening.

Back to the villa about 9 pm for our usual wind down session. I was the first to give up and go to bed..

Night x

4th November 2016

Just Debbie and I for this mornings shift which was with a Universal Studio Character which this morning was Curious George. Our jobs today were pretty simple, guide the families in, take pictures with their phone/camera/videos . The whole thing lasted little over 40 minutes as 'Curious George', had another engagement. They were a little late arriving as apparently their had been a car smash on the interstate which had held the traffic up.  We had lots of smiles again and all but one of the children were happy to see him. Debbie and I did get out pictures taken too of course?

Once back at the villa we got changed to sit round the pool when Lolly had popped into the kitchen and heard the door bell, she bought .Maria through- it had slipped my mind completely that we were off out for lunch with Maria and hopefully Sonya. A quick change and we were off to the Red Lobster for lunch which was delicious. Unfortunately Sonya couldn't make it as she was sorting out one of her clients unpaid water bill before the family who were renting arrived.

Now how do I know Sonya and Maria.? Well Sonya was the property manager of the villa I rented for my 1st  two visits here and we chatted a few times over a cup of tea, she was great too as she kindly provided me with a food box for my arrival.  Now Maria, that happened because Sonya put me in touch with her after my post on Facebook saying that I was doing a visit to a non .English speaking Hungarian wish child.. we were very 21st century and via messenger and iPad, we had a 3 way conversation between Nottingham, Florida and my iPad to determine the child's wish which proved very successful.

Now, not only was it good to meet Maria face to face but she has also managed to get Debbie and myself tickets to go to a political rally on .Sunday where Mr .Barack Obama will be campaigning for Hillary in an attempt to tilt the .Florida vote the democrats way. Florida is a marginal seat. Wonder if Katie and .June my Trumpers from the carousel shift the other day will approve? Will be an interesting day though .

A note for my grandchildren when I am no longer around. The significance of this, is Mr Barack Obama is the current .president of the USA until the 8th November so will be a once in a lifetime  occasion for me.

Our shift this evening was Once Upon a Time,  what was Pirates and Princess party. I chose not to be on Makeovers this time like Debbie, Pauline and Lolly, they are far more talented in that direction than myself. I was on Treasure maps with .another Marilyn., she makes up treasure bags to give to each child which she donates herself every week. A lot of children took part and it was a great evening.

Back to the villa about 9 pm for our usual wind down session. I was the first to give up and go to bed..

Night x

3rd November 2016

All up and raring to go this morning. Well all up on time at least.

Today we were all moved shifts to do Lori's Magical Flight, seems they were short handed and we were moved from breakfast duties. When we got there Debbie asked if she could still do breakfast which was fine. Now those who remember by stories from last year about .Debbie's skills as a scraper then you might like to know how horrified she was that the system has now changed and it seems scraping is now longer done as last but the plates and all the leftovers are just stacked on top of one another  where they are then scraped in the back kitchen. This was not to be Debbie's way this morning, nor Lollys the other day... without each other's knowledge they came up with a much better way of doing things. I am not surprised!

Pauline, Lolly and myself were kept reasonably busy on the Magical Flight, with two wheel chairs.   Riders as our shift ended. It is something special to see a child who normally is excluded from rides such as this and the carousel  be able to join in the fun.

Lunch was out today at Logan's, everyone seemed to enjoy it but my favourite is still Longhorns for the flavour of the meat.

A quick turn around as Debbie and I were back at the Village for 430, Pauline dropped us off as her and Lolly weren't on until 6 as we were doing different Christmas things. Debbie and I were with Santa on Meet 'n' Greet, we were with the wonderful Leidy as our team leader and she immediately told us we were to be at the beginning and the end of the 'line' so we could talk to all the families. It was so very rewarding, I asked all the parents if their children had been good and then repeated the question to the children about their parents. Fortunately they had all behaved so they all got to see Santa and receive a wonderful gift from him too.

Now the people I spoke to, how amazing are these families. One couple, early 40's at a guess had 8 adopted children, all with special needs, and from different countries too. The love and care they lavished on their children was humbling.

We have been told that we are not allowed to take pictures of the children but that if were asked to be in one of their pictures we should be honoured (or honored as they spell it here) Well I am really honoured as this evening, not 1 but 5 families took my picture with their child. It may be because I was wearing an elf hat,with added reindeer ears, a flashing lights Christmas garland and the ever favourite Mickey and Minnie Mouse earrings, which jingle and are actually Christmas tree decorations. They hurt my ears by the end of the evening as they are very heavy but it was worth it because of the smiles the produced.

Think tonight was the best so far, certainly for the chance to speak to the families.

More tomorrow xx

2nd November 2016

Yeh, today Debbie returns! Last year Debbie spent 12 days volunteering with me and loved it too so is returning again for the rest of our stay. Lucky girl is sharing her room with Tinkerbelle as well. Just checked her flight and she has landed. Unfortunately we are all working tonight so won't see her until  we get back. Have left wine and beer in the fridge though so she will be fine 🍸🍸🍸🍾🍾

Right this mornings shifts were enjoyed by us all. Pauline and Lolly had their best shift yet as they were guiding the horses and children in Keaton's Korral. These horses,  JoJo and Ginger are amazing so placid and gentle with the children, some of whom will have never had the opportunity to sit on a horse before. Even children in wheelchairs are lift on to the horse and have Miss Pam sitting. Behind them to keep them safe. I know both Pauline and Lolly were entranced with it all and loved talking to the children as they walked along side them and the horse.

I was moved from breakfast duty to the Castle of Miracles, was the busiest shift I have ever done in there. Fairy Stellar received a lot of stars today so she will be busy tonight putting them up in the Star Tower for the children and their families to come and visit tomorrow.

Had a couple of incidents, for some reason Fairy Stellar failed to collect a star so we had to call for assistance. Then Hermes the Pillow tree owl decided he needed a break too as he had been working so hard, Laurence came to rescue him and did such a great job that I took his picture which will be added at a later date. The last incident was an French .Canadian child came up to me quite distressed speaking in French that he couldn't find his parents. We called for help again but while we waited the great volunteer Rick  sat down with him to do some colouring. His distraught .Mum came in looking for him and was so relieved to see him sitting calmly colourful.

We went off to the wonderful Walmart for a spot of shopping on finishing our morning shift and then had a spot of lunch before returning for tonight's Village Idol..... 23 acts in total, at least 5 versions of Let It .Go, some good and some not so good acts but fun was had by everyone . The evening finished later than normal and after we had taken the set down we got back to our villa to find a very tired .Debbie, we will catch up in the morning.

Good night xx

2nd November 2016

Yeh, today Debbie returns! Last year Debbie spent 12 days volunteering with me and loved it too so is returning again for the rest of our stay. Lucky girl is sharing her room with Tinkerbelle as well. Just checked her flight and she has landed. Unfortunately we are all working tonight so won't see her until  we get back. Have left wine and beer in the fridge though so she will be fine 🍸🍸🍸🍾🍾

Right this mornings shifts were enjoyed by us all. Pauline and Lolly had their best shift yet as they were guiding the horses and children in Keaton's Korral. These horses,  JoJo and Ginger are amazing so placid and gentle with the children, some of whom will have never had the opportunity to sit on a horse before. Even children in wheelchairs are lift on to the horse and have Miss Pam sitting. Behind them to keep them safe. I know both Pauline and Lolly were entranced with it all and loved talking to the children as they walked along side them and the horse.

I was moved from breakfast duty to the Castle of Miracles, was the busiest shift I have ever done in there. Fairy Stellar received a lot of stars today so she will be busy tonight putting them up in the Star Tower for the children and their families to come and visit tomorrow.

Had a couple of incidents, for some reason Fairy Stellar failed to collect a star so we had to call for assistance. Then Hermes the Pillow tree owl decided he needed a break too as he had been working so hard, Laurence came to rescue him and did such a great job that I took his picture which will be added at a later date. The last incident was an French .Canadian child came up to me quite distressed speaking in French that he couldn't find his parents. We called for help again but while we waited the great volunteer Rick  sat down with him to do some colouring. His distraught .Mum came in looking for him and was so relieved to see him sitting calmly colourful.

We went off to the wonderful Walmart for a spot of shopping on finishing our morning shift and then had a spot of lunch before returning for tonight's Village Idol..... 23 acts in total, at least 5 versions of Let It .Go, some good and some not so good acts but fun was had by everyone . The evening finished later than normal and after we had taken the set down we got back to our villa to find a very tired .Debbie, we will catch up in the morning.

Good night xx

1st November 2016

A day off today, no not for me but for Pauline and Lolly so Pauline dropped me off for my shift on the carousel again today. Two other ladies were with me, Katie and June, both have been doing this shift for some years but they were very welcoming to me. Katie brings modelling balloons with her and makes swords or little dogs for each child that would like one...that was all of them naturally. I was asked to make sure the parents were happy for their child to have a balloon and to warn them that they must not be bitten. Today I did all three aspects of the carousel role...I was a gate keeper, a loader and the most important role of the key turner and button presser.  I was greeted by one child as the kitty lady who looked after her last night., I did my Mary Poppins song to start the thing going, normally it is 1,2,3 and off we go, but I did Super, calli, fragi,listick, expi, alladocious and off we go. It worked as well. We also sang happy birthday to a little girl.

Marilyn, I am rather glad you weren't on the shift with me as Katie, is an ardent Trumpster and thought the sun shone out of his bottom. He is a much maligned gentleman, don't you know!

I have just remembered something I forgot to write yesterday, it was another birthday in Nancy's kitchen to not one, not twins but triplets girls who were 8, they also had a 6 year old brother too! Lucy be amazed.

Got back to the villa about 1130am and joined Pauline and Lolly aripound the pool before having a spot of lunch. They have hired a car from Saturday so that go do some .Florida exploring. Debbie, who arrives tomorrow evening will both be doing two shifts a day so need a form of transport to get us to and from the village so this seemed best solution.

I had a couple of hours around the pool b before leaving for my evening shift which was Mayor Claytons surprise birthday party, now you know that this happens regularly when it pops up as a suggestion in your predictive text, how Mayor Clayton hasn't worked it out yet is beyond me 🤔
There was a small group in tonight from Disney Glitter, mostly newbies. It is funny being being an old hand but also lovely being recognised by lots of the families. I was on the birthday garland inviting the children to write a message on a piece of cut paper a birthday message, not to Mayor Clayton but to GKTW as it is their 30th birthday this year . Each message is made part of the garland which I stapled together and will be hung in the Castle of Miracles. This was quite straightforward so gave me time to chat to the families. Several of the families are leaving tomorrow and gave me lots of hugs and thanks to all the volunteers. One family in particular were so thankful about their stay as Mum said that she could never have done for her children herself and what a great time they'd all had. Her son did refuse my proposal of marriage though which when I said that was just as well as my husband might not have been very happy made them roar with laughter. He did sweeten his refusal though by giving me several hugs, not bad for a teenage young man.

When the guy from volunteer services came sidling up tome asking what shift I was doing in the morning. I knew they were short of a volunteer somewhere and i was right. I was to be in Nancy's Kitchen but am now going to be in the Castle of Miracles, I agreed but as I am to be with a new volunteer I asked to be retrained at 1mph and not at 200mph, this is a special place to the families so needs to be done properly.

We were all in bed before 11 tonight as tired from our late night yesterday.

An early good night 💤😘

1st November 2016

A day off today, no not for me but for Pauline and Lolly so Pauline dropped me off for my shift on the carousel again today. Two other ladies were with me, Katie and June, both have been doing this shift for some years but they were very welcoming to me. Katie brings modelling balloons with her and makes swords or little dogs for each child that would like one...that was all of them naturally. I was asked to make sure the parents were happy for their child to have a balloon and to warn them that they must not be bitten. Today I did all three aspects of the carousel role...I was a gate keeper, a loader and the most important role of the key turner and button presser.  I was greeted by one child as the kitty lady who looked after her last night., I did my Mary Poppins song to start the thing going, normally it is 1,2,3 and off we go, but I did Super, calli, fragi,listick, expi, alladocious and off we go. It worked as well. We also sang happy birthday to a little girl.

Marilyn, I am rather glad you weren't on the shift with me as Katie, is an ardent Trumpster and thought the sun shone out of his bottom. He is a much maligned gentleman, don't you know!

I have just remembered something I forgot to write yesterday, it was another birthday in Nancy's kitchen to not one, not twins but triplets girls who were 8, they also had a 6 year old brother too! Lucy be amazed.

Got back to the villa about 1130am and joined Pauline and Lolly aripound the pool before having a spot of lunch. They have hired a car from Saturday so that go do some .Florida exploring. Debbie, who arrives tomorrow evening will both be doing two shifts a day so need a form of transport to get us to and from the village so this seemed best solution.

I had a couple of hours around the pool b before leaving for my evening shift which was Mayor Claytons surprise birthday party, now you know that this happens regularly when it pops up as a suggestion in your predictive text, how Mayor Clayton hasn't worked it out yet is beyond me 🤔
There was a small group in tonight from Disney Glitter, mostly newbies. It is funny being being an old hand but also lovely being recognised by lots of the families. I was on the birthday garland inviting the children to write a message on a piece of cut paper a birthday message, not to Mayor Clayton but to GKTW as it is their 30th birthday this year . Each message is made part of the garland which I stapled together and will be hung in the Castle of Miracles. This was quite straightforward so gave me time to chat to the families. Several of the families are leaving tomorrow and gave me lots of hugs and thanks to all the volunteers. One family in particular were so thankful about their stay as Mum said that she could never have done for her children herself and what a great time they'd all had. Her son did refuse my proposal of marriage though which when I said that was just as well as my husband might not have been very happy made them roar with laughter. He did sweeten his refusal though by giving me several hugs, not bad for a teenage young man.

When the guy from volunteer services came sidling up tome asking what shift I was doing in the morning. I knew they were short of a volunteer somewhere and i was right. I was to be in Nancy's Kitchen but am now going to be in the Castle of Miracles, I agreed but as I am to be with a new volunteer I asked to be retrained at 1mph and not at 200mph, this is a special place to the families so needs to be done properly.

We were all in bed before 11 tonight as tired from our late night yesterday.

An early good night 💤😘

31st October 2016


It's Hallowe'en!!!!

Up at 6, ready to go on YouTube to research at face painting, now I am not artistic at all but it did look pretty straightforward, I was done and dusted when Marilyn came in to use the bathroom, would you believe she actually laughed at me, not a little laugh but a big belly laugh. It was strange that I forgot all about it during the morning, even when we got back to the villa, I changed into my sun dress and came outside to the pool forgetting

Our shift for us all this morning was with the Disney Characters, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto and the really beautiful and very charming Miss Mary Poppins. There did seem to be a surplus of volunteers in there though so Lolly and I went across into the dining room and offered our services there where we were tray carriers and then Lolly moved on to bussing. Families were still coming in to breakfast in quite high numbers until after 10 when we normally close service so by the time they had eaten and we had Sandra tired the tables etc, it wasn't far off 11 am, as we went to get a coffee ourselves they were setting up for lunch!!

First person I saw as I went into Nancy's kitchen was Robert, a guy I have met here before but who is also a MAW volunteer in the UK and who lives in Coventry . It was great to see him and chat over a coffee afterwards.

On our way back to the car park we chatted with Papa and Mama Bear, I am now a little unnerved as Papa Bear was on Express Breakfasts. And Ice Cream parlour and he told us of an unexpected guest.............. a snake, he said it was black with a yellow neck, he wasn't sure if it was poisonous or not so he calmly told us he threw a cloth over its head so it couldn't see him and picked it up and threw it out the door. Hmm we have a shift in there again next week 🤔

Sad today as tonight is Marilyn's last shift for this time, we are all going out after our shift tonight to The Bonefish Grill to meet up with Ted, we are all going to miss her so much. Absolutely bonkers but so much fun. We  ❤️ Marilyn. Thank you for being part of our adventure xxxxx

Well our evening shift has finished, the whole thing was a bit of a mishmash in the end as the shifts we had signed up for.  they kept wanting to change. For once I stood my ground, mainly because I had a booked a table for dinner, but also. I had booked my shift 3 months ago. On this occasion I won and yes, I was on Papa John Pizzas. Now  I am not a Pizza person but they did look good. There was a bit of an irritation though I think his name was Dave! Oh yes and he was from  England, you won't be surprised to know I gave as good as I got.

A major catastrophe happened to me as I went to leave which delayed our departure to Bonefish and Ted but when we got there we all enjoyed our meals and even more enjoyed our session bCk at he villa with Marilyn and Ted tonight, more laughter and stories. Pauline, Lolly and .I felt really sad waving our goodbyes a little after midnight.😢

A couple of add ons to our day.....

We made our faces up as magnificent cats for Halloween, admired by those at the village

We decided that we would have even more fun by going Trick or Treating ourselves, we have passed several houses with all kinds of Halloween paraphernalia in their front garden and we stopped off at their houses tonight not to ask for treats but to deliver ones we had bought for them. A bit different I know but we have a great response from them. The best decorated one was an ex fireman and his wife, she had volunteered at the village and even remembered me from previous years.


Oh Marilyn we are missing you 😘

31st October 2016


It's Hallowe'en!!!!

Up at 6, ready to go on YouTube to research at face painting, now I am not artistic at all but it did look pretty straightforward, I was done and dusted when Marilyn came in to use the bathroom, would you believe she actually laughed at me, not a little laugh but a big belly laugh. It was strange that I forgot all about it during the morning, even when we got back to the villa, I changed into my sun dress and came outside to the pool forgetting

Our shift for us all this morning was with the Disney Characters, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto and the really beautiful and very charming Miss Mary Poppins. There did seem to be a surplus of volunteers in there though so Lolly and I went across into the dining room and offered our services there where we were tray carriers and then Lolly moved on to bussing. Families were still coming in to breakfast in quite high numbers until after 10 when we normally close service so by the time they had eaten and we had Sandra tired the tables etc, it wasn't far off 11 am, as we went to get a coffee ourselves they were setting up for lunch!!

First person I saw as I went into Nancy's kitchen was Robert, a guy I have met here before but who is also a MAW volunteer in the UK and who lives in Coventry . It was great to see him and chat over a coffee afterwards.

On our way back to the car park we chatted with Papa and Mama Bear, I am now a little unnerved as Papa Bear was on Express Breakfasts. And Ice Cream parlour and he told us of an unexpected guest.............. a snake, he said it was black with a yellow neck, he wasn't sure if it was poisonous or not so he calmly told us he threw a cloth over its head so it couldn't see him and picked it up and threw it out the door. Hmm we have a shift in there again next week 🤔

Sad today as tonight is Marilyn's last shift for this time, we are all going out after our shift tonight to The Bonefish Grill to meet up with Ted, we are all going to miss her so much. Absolutely bonkers but so much fun. We  ❤️ Marilyn. Thank you for being part of our adventure xxxxx

Well our evening shift has finished, the whole thing was a bit of a mishmash in the end as the shifts we had signed up for.  they kept wanting to change. For once I stood my ground, mainly because I had a booked a table for dinner, but also. I had booked my shift 3 months ago. On this occasion I won and yes, I was on Papa John Pizzas. Now  I am not a Pizza person but they did look good. There was a bit of an irritation though I think his name was Dave! Oh yes and he was from  England, you won't be surprised to know I gave as good as I got.

A major catastrophe happened to me as I went to leave which delayed our departure to Bonefish and Ted but when we got there we all enjoyed our meals and even more enjoyed our session bCk at he villa with Marilyn and Ted tonight, more laughter and stories. Pauline, Lolly and .I felt really sad waving our goodbyes a little after midnight.😢

A couple of add ons to our day.....

We made our faces up as magnificent cats for Halloween, admired by those at the village

We decided that we would have even more fun by going Trick or Treating ourselves, we have passed several houses with all kinds of Halloween paraphernalia in their front garden and we stopped off at their houses tonight not to ask for treats but to deliver ones we had bought for them. A bit different I know but we have a great response from them. The best decorated one was an ex fireman and his wife, she had volunteered at the village and even remembered me from previous years.


Oh Marilyn we are missing you 😘

30th October 2016

This morning was a lot less rushed as have taken the morning off so that we could visit Celebration, a pretty town about 20 minutes away from here. They hold a Sunday Farmers Market which I thought the others might enjoy for a change. The journey there is along the uninspiring 92 road which is fairly awful but Celebration itself is lovely.

Before I left I rang my Mum and had a great chat and then rang Allan's Dad who told me he couldn't talk as he was just about to eat his dinner... I had misjudged the time as forgot the clocks had changed in the .U.K. last night as they don't until next week here. Seems he has been fretting about it all day so have just rung him again to put his mind at rest!

We arrived about 10.35 and made our way to .Starbucks for a coffee and even more importantly to meet up with Ted, Marilyn's husband who have driven down the scenic route from Boston in his Porsche. He has booked into a hotel for two nights as I think the thought of spending too much time with the four of us might make him crazy! A stroll around the craft market followed where
Lolly bought a coupl of bits of jewellery and Pauline and Marilyn had a BIT of fn and games with some melons. Photos will follow.

I had booked a table at a The Colombia restaurant where I have had two very good meals before, it was.okay. This time was slightly disappointed but it was edible and of course the company was great.

Dessert was taken up the road a little at an ice cream parlour, very nice it was too.

Not long returned from tonight's shift which was Candyland, basically it was let the children play games, solve riddles and fill their bags with as many 'candies' as possible. We had fun as always

The best moment of tonight when a returning family, that means their child has had a wish granted previously and the village welcomes them back anytime to use the facilities but not stay at the village. They had with them some printed cards which they gave to Marilyn and myself,... it had a picture of their child, who was a twin, that said.... Make A Wish, Thank You for making Mr T' s Wish Extra Special... it was a hug moment and wash my eyeball moment too.

I think at this point it might be pertinent to tell people that it may sound that we are having a good time, we are but we are also helping to make memories for families. Mr T is a fine example of this.

It is difficult to explain our feelings to be honest but we are 4 ladies who are both having and making fun and that is giving us an enormous amount of pleasure. 

29th October 2016

Yet again an early start for both Marilyn and myself as we both had an early shift.....or had we? Well after a very bleary eyed  visit to the bathroom  this morning I was doubtful she would make the morning shift, but no, Marilyn is a trooper and she was showered, dressed and ready to go in time to leave for our 8 am start.  Just before we were about to leave a little plaintiff  voice could be heard from her room " oh no, I haven't got a shift this morning, and I checked last night as well"

Can I apologise most profusely Marilyn for my shockingly unkind laughter at your error!!! A decision was then made that we would both go as we were sure something could be offered. Velvetann was in volunteer services and a job was found in the Castle of Miracles where Stellar the Star Fairy resides and where she places the wish children's star in her tower where it stays  for eternity. Marilyn loved this and enthused about the stars and Fairy Stellar all day

My shift was as the photographer,s assistant (no change there then) at Keaton's  Korral. Twice a week, Larry and Pam bring their horses and skill plus lots of cowboy hats so that every child has the opportunity to ride on either JoJo or Ginger for two laps around the Korral and receives a cowboy hat. Larry, it is said where's his dark sunglasses so that no one can see the tears that sometimes fall. Pam will sit behind the saddle holding very carefully  any child who needs support. Children in wheelchairs can ride too, it was wonderful watching their smiles and at times, their giggles! Not that I had much time as  I had to take down each child's vill number and then the number of the shots that had been taken by Billy, my photographer. It did need a lot of concentration and my brain hurt by the finish, but I did it, I hope correctly.

Returning to the villa we sat by the pool for a while with Pauline and Lolly before going to Walmart for a few BITS ( that is for Marilyn as she finds my use of the word very amusing, seems I use it quite a BIT) Another lovely lunch, a bit of quiet time and then it was back for the evening shift.

Tonight we were all together and along with Papa Bear and Mama Bear we were the only volunteers for the show which is a new one one called Ready, Set, Think.  We had such fun, even though we outnumbered the contestants and audience for the majority of the time. It was a press the buzzer game answering questions from film and music. One lad, a wish child, knew most of the answers and when I spoke to his lovely Mum she told me he had a photographic memory and attended a top Art and Drama school. He was great!

After the game finished we had almost as much fun helping get set up for tomorrow's Ms Merry's Tea party. Pretty cups and saucers, plates, Tea Pots, tiaras all mismatched but all very pretty were taken through to the .Tearoom, we sang  lots of  'cuppa ' tea songs and laughed a lot.

I do have photographs but have not worked out how to add them on here yet but there are some on Facebook.

Back to villa for our evening wind down over a drink, not tea, and cheeses and biscuits before bed. I did not manage any of the blog last night but woke at 438 am to write this, might have a cup of coffee now and then try to get back to sleep for a BIT as we are all taking the morning off to go to Celebration to the Farmers market, have a spot ( that's like a bit Marilyn) of lunch and then meet up with the lovely Ted for lunch at the Columbia restaurant. Ted is .Marilyn's husband who thinks he is going to whisk her away from us tomorrow afternoon, but we are not going to let her go!

28th October

Continued

5.10 am now but continuing blog unfinished last night as sleep was needed.

Party tonight was called Once Upon A Village but to me it was almost identical to the
Pirates and Princess party of previous trips so I must confess to choosing what I thought was the best job on the previous evening as Derek was the host for both parties, think it was called gentle persuasion, alright it was begging! The four of us were doing make-overs, Marilyn and I worked on Princesses, Pauline on Pirates and Lolly on Mermaids.. . I think the prize for the best artist has to go to Lolly with Pauline a very close second, amazing work with the equipment we had available. Myself, I think might put my hand up for a different job next week! This year my tattoos were fine and I did not have to put one on a Mums chest as I did last year.

I missed seeing some of the volunteers that were usually there on this shift. 2 of the fantastic pirates were not there, they did really make it fun, but things sometimes have to change I suppose.

Pauline and Lolly tonight were awarded their ' official ' volunteers lanyard so it is official that we are all now official! Much to celebrate

Once back at the villa we sat outside talking and laughing  about all sorts of things for a couple of hours and I am so delighted that my three companions love this place as much as I do and feel the magic of it as much as I do.

Another day to look forward to now.

28th October 2016

Another early start as Marilyn and I were on breakfast in Nancy's Kitchen, both Marilyn and I put up our hands for hot food servers thinking we might be together, that didn't happen we were told where to go and what to do in no uncertain terms - funny how the different days shifts doing the same jobs are still very different. Today serving the hot breakfast was fine as far as the families were concerned but at one point I had to turn my face away as I was very close to tears - partly I guess due to anger but suspect it was more  due to a release of different emotions that you come across while at the village.

Now breaking news for Debbie, a gentleman of diminutive stature came into breakfast..... yes Tito was there and after I said hello and reminded him of our meeting last year he said 'yes', I do remember you. He also said he couldn't wait to see you next week Debbie. Now just how excited are you! shuffle, shuffle xxx😂

Early afternoon we went off shoe hunting and for a diblunch ( dinner/lunch). Unfortunately my blood sugar had a bit  of a dip so the shoe hunt went out of the window for me and we went back n search of diblunch. We went to Applebee's where Marilyn and I ate the other other evening  and enjoyed, but today in  3 words " it was rubbish , We waited far too little long  and 2 of the meals were absolutely dreadful . They were sent back but the replacements weren't a huge lot better. Ah well, you win some, you lose some...we lost?

This evenings shift was a re evolved version of Pirates and .princess party .

Okay more in the morning as sleep is need xxx

27 th October 2016

Another early start as had to finish yesterday's blog off before showering and washing my hair ready for our 8 o'clock start at the village. Had a good sleep too.

Today was Carousel operators for Marilyn and myself. P & L  were not on shift this morning but Pauline dropped us off so that she a Lolly could go and investigate helicopter flights.

We were fairly busy this morning as well probably due to the fact that Mickey, Minnie and Belle were in to meet the children,  One slight disappointment this morning was that we could not get one child onto the ride so his wheelchair was too big, we tried really hard but it wasn't safe, he apparently has a smaller chair with him so hopefully he does get his ride. The grandma of the little girl who sang 'my mothers broken heart'  was there with two of her grandchildren and we had a chat as the little girl had a fever and had been taken to the hospital, hopefully just for some antibiotics. I was told that last year had been very traumatic for the older two children as their mummy had passed away, literally overnight and their sister has a grade four cancer...... we hugged as words were not enough. Grandma had moved in with them and ckearly they adored her as much as she did them.

P & L came to pick us up  at 11 when me returned to the villa, they had been doing some research on helicopter rides and we all decided to give it a go in the afternoon. We left to go to the helipad at 3  where we had to go through the indignity of being weighed, fortunately nothing was announced! $35 pp didn't seem too bad and I did look to check their safety records first. Our trip was over Old Town, Disney, when Pauline asked how old was it, the pilot wasn't sure but guesses it must be as long ago as the 60's. Pretty ancient then.,!!  It wasn't a long ride... 7 minutes in fact.

It was just Marilyn and myself for the evening shift so as we left P & L sipping their gin and tonics, we went off to Winter Wonderland for another fun party. A shortage of volunteers tonight which was a shame because both Pauline and Lolly had asked if there was a shift available and were told no, I mentioned this to Shaun, who was running tonight's party and he said in  future just turn up. My job tonight was  the Igloo Game, hm yes I am still not sure what that meant but there were a ton  of blue rectangular boxes and the children built them to resemble igloos as snow was expected tonight. The best was done by a Mum, it was brilliant and when I told her so she said she had spent a lot of time playing lego with her boys. Marilyn was on Frames... the children used lots of glue and sparkles to make pictures in an made up frame, she was very busy but very successful. We had a lot of snow too tonight, made for a lot of custard pie type of fun and lots of laughs.

My usual job as Santa's big elf was no longer as they had changed the format of the party and Santa was in a different place and started at 430, fortunately I have managed to change Debbie and my shift to this for next week as Leidy insisted. I did have on my reindeer ears today and snowman earrings which the children seemed to enjoy.forgot my tinsel though, feel a trip to Target coming on.

Got back to the villa about 10 I think and we all sat outside round the pool to wind down before bed. Fully intended to write my blog before sleep but afraid this is a 530 am one. Must do better.

26th October 2016

It should have been an early start as my alarm was set for 545am but for some reason it did not off and I was woken at 620 by Marilyn tapping on the door, thank goodness she did! We made it in time, it was breakfast today, Marilyn was on waffles, which made me keep wanting to break out into song............ Birds Eye Potato Waffles, there waffelly versatile!! I was on trays which was lovely, helping the families to their tables which was great as there was mostly time to chat to the lovely people. Service started very slowly but by 9.30 it all picked up with a few stragglers still arriving just before10 as we closed.

There were a few birthdays today, one in particular choked us up. A little girl in a wheelchair with no obvious signs of understanding actually smiled as we sang to her it wasn't only me that noticed it either. Eye ball washing time again Debbie!

I showed Marilyn around the Castle of Miracles and a few other places before we made our way to Walmart to get more supplies and then back home to the villa where we sat round the pool and had a really tasty lunch made by P & L

Our shift tonight was the fabulous Village Idol which we all loved! The new venue for the show was so impressive, previous years it has been held in Julie's Safari theatre but now we are in the Town Hall which has a  very professional looking stage and even more professional  beautiful lighting. The children who performed could have their ' make-over' done, tattoos and spray hair colours using stencils- these last two points were a seller for a couple of reluctant young lads while we went round trying to recruit contestants and judges, they immediately signed up. The children could also make their back stage pass.

Every act was wonderful, how brave they all were! We only had the one Let it Go  tonight, there was also a hoopla Hooper, 2 bongo drummers, a couple of gymnasts, a dancer, and a couple of singers. One little girl sang a song called ' My Mothers Broken Heart,  no backing music because it was a song she had made up herself, seems she is always doing that. It was brilliant, it had words that flowed and a melodious tune, she couldn't have been more that 5 or 6..

P & L were stage ushers, getting the children on and off the stage safely and calming their nerves. Pauline told of one little girl who was very worried but she helped her by holding her hand and walking her up to the stage, it worked a treat too. Marilyn and I were also stage persons, we held up the prompt signs which had on them- Applause, Standing Ovation and Laugh, not that they were needed as all the audience did that anyway!! As always, everyone was a winner and I had the important nod of pressing a button to set off the streamers when this was announced. One young lady on the stage almost jumped out of her skin when this happened as it was right behind her.

A brilliant evening we all agreed and when we got back to the villa we sat outside with some cheese and biscuits and a glass of something and chatted away about all our feelings, not just from the evening but about how we all agreed that despite our fears that the village might be too sad, we were wrong, it really is one of the happiest places ever.

Night xx

25 th  October 201
Well as I said it was an early start this morning,  I checked in at volunteer services and then went straight to the dining room to see what was in store for me. We were very short of volunteers today it seems, a few regulars of which I was classed as one as did not need trading, the others were even to told to ask the regulars if they needed help.!

My job this morning was serving the delicious looking hot food, delicacies included....cheese omele, they lay in the dish slightly overlapping but it is not easy to separate them. Scrambled egg also proved popular today. Other accompaniments include salsa, a very orange cheese sauce, peppers with onions , mushrooms, pancakes with hot or cold syrup, biscuits with or without gravy, French toast fingers, fried potatoes, sausages, bacon and grits. Portion size was recommended and mostly adhered to but there were a few people who asked for and got extra.

Afraid I caused a bit of a stir when I accidentally sent a few melamine bowls crashing to the floor, it created quite a loud noise and people turned in my direction.... well what could I do apart from smile, wave and curtsy... this caused them to applaud me so I think I got away with it. Thank goodness it wasn't something that would smash into pieces as that would have made a mess.

Got back to the villa just before 11 and am now waiting (well as I am writing this at nearly 2 pm) for Marilyn to arrive. Marilyn and I met at the gates of a safari park in Zimbabwe and both Allan and I enjoy hers and Ted's company very much. We have had several get together s since, twice in the Uk and once in Boston MA. I know Marilyn will enjoy her week here volunteering with us and looking forward to seeing Ted also when he arrives here next week by car. Marilyn has flown down.

Now where have Pauline and Lolly gone this morning, answer is, off in search of some tonic water. What good is their 2 litres of gin without tonic water?? We did look the night of our arrival but maybe we were too tired to see it. Pauline, having mastered the art of getting the key out of the ignition of the hire car is in charge of the driving, the sat nav is set up for where they are exploring and the address of the villa is in there too, so fingers crossed they make it back .

Up date on a very successful trip by P & L , tonic water purchased and they had a great trip to what looked like a delightful park in Orlando, Lake Eola, saw their pictures of beautiful sculpture too, looked amazing.

Marilyn has arrived and it was like we see each other every day, slipping very comfortably into chat and friendship. How lucky are we 🤗

All four of us went to the village for our shift at Mayor Claytons surprise birthday party. P&L were on the skittles game, it looked a lot of fun and the children loved it. Marilyn was helping the children make  birthday cards for the mayor and I was on throwing ping pong balls in to the fish bowl, a bit backbreaking stuff as I had to keep picking up the balls off the floor for the children. Good fun though for us all. There was a fairly large group from Hasbro toys, who already do a lot to support the charity. A lot of toys are donated to give to the children, not just with the daily toy each child receives in their villa but also a large part of the weekly Christmas event. They came laden with goody bags filled with gifts tonight too.

My highlight tonight was meeting a 22 year old Japanese guy, who has taught himself English since he arrived at GKTW 10 months ago. He has a vision and dream to build a village like at GKTW back in Japan. He was so enthusiastic that I truly believe he will one day achieve his dream.

Marilyn and I went off in search of something to eat after we finished our shift, trouble was I knew not of where to go, we ended up at Applebee's and had a burger which was quite tasty. We, however went a little than was necessary on our way home as I missed the Walmart turning! Sorry Marilyn.

Right, almost midnight now and Marilyn and I need to be out of the house a little after 7 for our breakfast shift,  so I shall say goodnight. Apologies for all the mistakes as too tired to check through.

24th October 2016


A brilliant day today!

We all woke fairly early, I was wide awake by 4 am so in essence I have slept 4 hours since 4am Sunday morning.

We left the villa to do the grand tour of the village just before 10am and to iron out Pauline and Lolly's shift. I think both the ladies loved the village and have just asked them did it meet their expectations or did exceed... Pauline thought it was very clean and beautifully maintained and better than she had expected, not at all tacky. Lolly it was lovely as she had expected. I am delighted as  always as bit of a worry that people won't enjoy it as much as I do.

Now this morning P&lL were going to drive back to the villa while I did my shift in the beautiful ice cream parlour but, guess what, they were asked if they could do the same shift too. We had a great time, slow patches but then all of a sudden there was a crowd. The Oreo Cookie machine is still not functioning properly, last year Debbie and I tried to fix but only managed to swamp the flooring with  Oreo crumbs, so today I didn't even try!

Our shift finished at 3 so well so we made an executive  not to return to the villa but to find instead the Longhorn Steak House to have a meal there, it was absolutely delicious  mainly because we were so hungry. A very quick turnaround happened and we were back for our evening shift for 455 pm.
Tonight was Halloween for me but helping with family's meals in Nancy!s Kitchen. I went over to say hello to Nancy too, the real one after whom the restaurant was named,.

One of the highlights  for me today was seeing lots of people who remembered me and who seemed pleased  to see me as well.

 My job this evening was as a greeter, it was very busy outside and all the families were delightful. I didn't recognise any of the entertainment staff that were made n tonight, think there has been a big change over time of staff.  Bumped in to a few from last year but they now have different roles at GKTW

We got back to the villa at around 930 and sat and talked through the day for ages, I was quite tired so went to bed around 1030 with the aim of finishing the blog but my eyes kept closing so I gave n a went to sleep so am finishing it this morning. Apologies for the delay xxx

We all shared  a few stories of the day

Pauline:- loved the ice cream parlour as the families could have whatever ice cream they desired . A lady asked her what the sweetener was in the sugar free ice cream.  Trying to find out from the big tubs labels was unsuccessful and worried the lady might have an allergy..but no, she went for the sugar free ice cream and then had whipped cream, caramel fudge sauce and chocolate sauce with M &M sprinkle on top.  Reminds me of the person who went into McDonalds , oredered. Big Mac with double fries  and a DIET coke

Lolly:- amazed at how many families were reluctant to accept help with carry their trays in Nancy's  kitchen. One lady protested that she could manage and when told, no that's what the volunteers were there to help, said back to her with a tremor in her voice......."but no one ever helps me".

When I was to,d that  I washed my eyeballs  Debbie!

Both the ladies loved the Castle of Miracles and the villa importance of the stars around the tower and ceiling

Well I am sure I have missed but still out but I need to get going as am on breakfast duty this morning and need to get a wriggle tomorrow on.

23rd October 2016

An early start this morning with a 545 pick up from Ian to drive to Uppingham to collect Pauline and Lolly, an easy trip down to Gatwick and fairly straightforward journey through to departures, time for coffee and toast and a stroll around before going to the lounge where we boarded straight away.

Upstairs again on the plane with myself in the emergency exit row by the window. Great as not always only plenty of legroom but also a convenient compartment by my side which took my bag full of bits and bobs. Pauline and Lolly 3 rows behind. Immediately on boarding I had a word - as I always do - to the stewardess and told her what we were travelling for and would of be possible for a glass of bubbly. It turns out that the young lady had a wish granted herself when she was 12 years old and went to Disney, Paris for her wish, she had a kidney disease but seemed very well now, must be to pass the medical to be an air stewardess. Small world isn't it!

 Sitting next to a guy from Essex who is travelling with his 3 children, wife, brother and in laws, they have been saving for 4 years to bring the children to Disney. Seems he comes from West Ham and knew the school I had taught at there, he also said he went to the next school which was for bad boys as he was one of those!!! Seems lovely now though as did his children, just goes to show, never tar a child as being a problem child.

Oh dear, just hit an air pocket while I was holding a glass in my hand, poor bloke and I got soaked in lager! Fortunately we both laughed, it was quite a dip though!

5 hours to go andI might just scream a little and possible throw the 3 children out of the plane! I have feet one side of me and I am being kicked to death, the little girl is crawling along the window locker space and the other child is spread on the floor using the leg space I paid extra for...... grrr, I do like children really but.........

2.00 am UK time now, have arrived, villa seems fine  been to Walmart for some food but by the time we got back decided we could not be bothered, a cup of tea for Pauline, a glass of wine and some bread a cheese for Lolly and some crisps and a glass, or maybe two of prosecco for me.

Major catastrophe though, I seem to have come without a lot of my insulin, have been in a state of panic but think I have a solution as am hoping the girls can post it to Debbie who is coming out of the 2nd so fingers crossed she will bring it for me.

My biggest worry was how could I possibly have made such a mistake but I think I have now worked how it may have happened, I had my bag searched at Heathrow, seems I should have put my mascara in my clear plastic bag. He threw my stuff around and I think that can be the only explanation because I would never have made a mistake like that.

Well truly tired now, so goodnight.off to the Village for first shift at 12  at the Ice  Cream Parlour.

22nd October 2016

Well what a busy day today and  yes, I finally managed to get packed, albeit not until about 2pm, finished by 3 pm though and my case is actually lighter than Allan's!

Can someone please explain to me why I cannot go away and leave anything unwashed or dirty.
This morning I got up early and cleaned the cooker, did some ironing. Allan changed and remade the bed for me, all washed and ironed now as well. Tonight we are in old clothes and everything has been washed and is ready for ironing

10.15 we met up with Lucy and our three beautiful granddaughters in Costa before I went off for,  a first for me...... a manicure with gel nail varnish, compliments of Hanna, thank you darling! I had such a great time in there as well. As usually happens in Oakham there were several people I knew in there so we talked a lot, difficult to imagine me doing that I know as I am so shy, I was so delighted with my nails that I popped in to a shop and got some nail gel base, gel and top coat that matches my nails perfectly so this evening have had a pedicure courtesy of Allan 😘❤️😘👍

An early start tomorrow, pick up for airport at 545 am for a great three weeks for both Allan and myself. Bhutan for Allan and Florida for me. 8,500 miles and 10 hours difference time wise apart but we will both have an amazing time of that I am sure .

Night

21st October 2016

Okay, two days before we are off and no, I still haven't packed!

I have however had my haircut...thank you Lindsay. Martha came around and had hers done too while Edith and Hattie both smiled their approval watching from their view points on the kitchen table

A trip to Costa was next on the agenda to meet up with Hanna, Mark and Evie as they were going away for the weekend  and I wouldn't be seeing them until my return.

Yes, I should have returned home to pack then but I didn't , I needed to get a letter from Make A Wish, thanking the people who donated the fantastic sum of £563 last weekend in my bucket collection as I wanted it displayed in Tesco's before I left- it should be up on Monday

Lots to do tomorrow, have a list and packing is on it somewhere, honestly!

20th October 2016

Still a couple of days left to pack so thought I would tell or remind those people who read this of the reason I am off to Give Kids The World - my fourth year in fact.

The title of my blog is not that I think I am an Angel - far from it in fact, but that is the name given to the people that volunteer at this wonderful place and probably the only time I can be referred to as an Angel.

Give Kids The World - from now on GKTW is a place where there has now been 30 Years of Happiness and Hope. A special place where whole families with a child suffering from a life-threatening illness can stay for 1 week.

I could write lots and  lots  but have a look at their website to find out lots more, its worth it!

 www.givekidstheworld.org

Give Kids The World Village is a 79-acre, nonprofit resort in Central Florida that provides weeklong, cost-free vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

The Village and its community partners provide children and their families accommodations in fully-furnished villas, transportation, tickets to theme parks, meals, daily entertainment and much more.

Each year 27,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Half of all children eligible for a wish through a partnering wish-granting organization choose to visit Central Florida and its collection of theme parks and other attractions.

Our goal, quite simply, is to provide everything these deserving families need to make their trip the vacation of a lifetime. Since 1986, more than 146,000 children and families have had their dreams fulfilled in a whimsical Village unlike any other place on earth.