San Diego bound

On Thursday, we will be headed to San Diego for Anya's Make-a-Wish trip.  She was referred to Make-a-Wish soon after we learned that she lost vision in her right eye.  If you are not already familiar with the organization, they grant wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses.  That is the part that is a bit hard to swallow for me.  Thankfully, we are in the clear of the life-threatening part, and so it is time to be thankful for all the wonderful organizations that help kids like Anya.

Back in the fall, a Make-a-Wish volunteer came to our house to hear Anya's wish.  Leading up to that visit, we had been explaining to her that she could wish to go almost anywhere, or meet someone famous, or do something outrageous.  We didn't want it to be our wish, but hers (although I did throw out the idea of eating sushi in Japan).  We also talked about meeting the princess of Sweden, who Anya was pretty infatuated with after seeing her wedding photos last summer.  In the end, she came up with her wish all on her own.  After visiting with the Make-a-Wish volunteer for about half and hour, Anya declared, "I am ready to make my wish now.  I wish to go to visit my cousins in San Diego and Oregon."  Just hearing her choose to visit family over any famous person in the world made me feel like we have done a few things right in raising her.

Make-a-Wish does some pretty spectacular trips, but two destinations are not possible.  San Diego was the winner because we have family both on my side and Will's side.  On top of all the travel expenses, Make-a-Wish gave us tickets to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World.  You can bet there will be some giraffes seen on this trip, and I hope that Sea World has a walrus to fulfill Reese's most recent obsession. (Honestly, how can a 17 month old get so fixated on Walruses?) There will also be boatloads of pictures, I am sure.  We'll try not to disappoint, as I am sure this trip will not.