Day 1: Lori's Magical Ride & Candyland

We woke up bright and early in the already humid Florida heat and made our way to Give Kids the World, which luckily was only about a 5 minute drive from our house. We split into our sepearte duties, some at the ice cream parlor, some at the castle, some at Amberland, JJ Express, and Taylor, Seth and me headed to Lori's Magical Ride.

We recieved about 30 minutes total of training on both the Express and Lori's, which is a wheel-chair accessable version of Disney's Dumbo ride with pedals that can make you go up and down. Throughout our 8:30-12:30 shift, we had about 11 rides. It felt so great to be able to allow the kids to ride as many times in a row as they wanted. Watching their faces light up as the ride circled around warmed my heart!

After we got off, it was time to grocery shop. That stress-fest went about as expected, and when we got home we stuck in some pizzas and headed to the pool. It was about 2:30 by the time we got lunch, and we were all a little hangry! We spent a little time sunning at the pool before it was already time to head pack for our 6:30 shift at the life-size Candyland!

Unfortunately, the weather was a little rainy, so we had to improvise inside. Us Bearcats were "Riddlers", and we just walked around with riddles around our necks that we would check off a bingo mark if the kids got our Candy Riddle correct. That meant that when we weren't quizzing the kiddos, we could walk around and do pretty much what we wanted inside of the castle, SO WE DANCED!

I met little Eva during one of the group dances, and five songs later we were still going at it head to head. I would make up the dances that she would follow, and then I'd let her to the same. I spent probably an hour and a half jumping and swinging my arms, and I certainly worked up a good sweat! Eva told me that the doctor told her she would never walk or talk and that she was only seven pounds when she was six months old, but today you'd never know that she ever had a health problem! She was the loudest, sassiest, most energetic little girl I ever met, and watching her wave to me and smile from across the room made me so happy I didn't want to go home. Before she left, she gave me a big hug and told me that I was her first best friend outside of school. I hope I see my little best friend again this week! THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!

#GKTW