1 Mom, 2 Daughters and 3 Days of Wonder! **Completed 6/29!** About This Page:

[MontiMouse]

I love Emily's reaction!!! Sounds like everyone was pretty surprised - what a priceless Christmas morning. I am jealous of Kevan's 40th birthday cruise to Alaska and can't wait to hear all about it!

Looking forward to "getting to know the girls".

[LouigiAnne]

Great Trip's on the Way for All! I love the Big Surprise on Christmas Day!! And can't wait for all the Tr's and up coming Tr's. LouigiAnne

[belle0517]

Great reveal!

[statelady01]

Pre Trip Report- Part III: Meet The Girls!

Writing this pre trip report is like therapy for the agonizing wait for this trip. As I write this, 7 evenings from now I will be in Port Canaveral with the girls for our overnight before boarding the ship. So as to help me work through the wait, I will give you a very nice insight into each of the crazy Austin girls one by one, so you can get to know each of us well and in your own way, come along for the ride.

Many of you who are reading I've known for years and may have already met us but some of you have not- either way I hope you will enjoy reading about my precious Katie.

Katie is our eldest daughter and is 12. When she was 2, she was diagnosed with autism. We knew very early on that she had developmental delay because our older son had already been diagnosed and she had many of the hallmarks. At her time of diagnosis, we were disappointed yes but surprised hardly at all. As I tell many people who ask what's like to have two children with special needs- I just don't know my life any other way- and I am plenty OK with that. I've met and worked other autistic kids. I've met families with kids who are terminally ill. Believe me, I am incredibly, incredibly lucky.

As Katie grew, her personality started to come through. It's unique and special but requires patience from time to time. She's extremely independent- the girl insists on making her own lunch for school and dinner at home. She draws the most amazing pictures. In the past year though, I've seen the onset of adolescence creep in. Many of my friends with autistic girls warned us when she was little- repeatedly- adolescence is not kind to autistic girls. And it's not. There are times where she's hard to manage, understand and is plain frustrating. But that's from my end. I can only imagine how difficult it is for her.

That being said, I remain grateful every day for those little glimpses of normal that we get from time to time. She likes to pick out her own clothes at the store, loves to lay out by our pool (but despises my rule of sunscreen on at all times) and listening to her iPod which has the most diverse playlist ever- everything from Madonna to the Beatles to the Muppets. A few nights ago I told her to get her room cleaned up. She screamed, "Whatever!" and shut her door. I had to fight from laughing and crying out of happiness to get such a normal, albeit very adolescent reaction. (And nope, she didn't get away with it either!)

Her Disney history is relevant to her cruise experience of course- so let me say a little about that. When she was about 6, she became fond of Minnie Mouse and it's been all about "her girl" as we call Minnie around here, ever since. We asked alot of Katie on her first trip to Walt Disney World- huge changes in her schedule, first trip on a plane, sensory issues but I know meeting Minnie was what got her through all of that.

Here's a picture of that first meeting back in October 2005 at Chef Mickey's:



We headed back to Disney in December of 2006- here's a picture of Katie and Dad on the Walt Disney World Railroad..



She's definitely a Disney girl through and through. After I went on my first Disney Cruise with Lynn and Angie in 2006- she spent many a night pouring over my photo albums of that trip. I am hoping that she enjoys it and relaxes enough that she can kind of go with the flow. She's mentioned the cruise line many times since I went so I know she's very happy and excited- and is looking forward to spending time with Emily and I. Out of all her siblings, I'm pretty sure Emily is her favorite. They spend alot of time in the pool together.

To say I am not somewhat nervous about taking Katie somewhere by myself would be a complete fabrication. The fact is I am very nervous about it. Katie has a connection with her father that is very deep and when she's having a rough time, it's usually Kevan who diffuses that situation. I'll be out in the middle of Atlantic Ocean, with 2000 strangers and no husband if an outburst occurs. But I am hoping that Disney magic will ward off trouble and just provide Katie with happy memories and wonderful times. I'll take it minute by minute.

I am, however, doing some things to make her voyage smoother and prepare her as best as I can. I'll detail some of those things in due time here in a few installments from now...

Coming Up Next: The Divine Miss Em....

[MontiMouse]

Katie sounds alot like Macy! She loves being in the sun and listening to her ipod, hates sunscreen and definately has that adolescent attitude from time to time.

I love your idea of introducing us to your girls - very cool idea. Can't wait to read more...

[belle0517]

Great update!

[iloverags2]

What a fun Christmas reveal for you! Katie sounds like an absolute doll (and I remember those days of a 12-year-old not wanting to clean their room!). As much as you are nervous about issues at sea, I'm thinking you all will be making the best memories together...so worth every minute of it!

Can't wait to "meet" Emily!

[Kenny]

A great beginning. The Christmas Reveal sounded perfect! I would have loved being there to see all the reactions to the different trips! Must have been fantastic!

Thanks for the in depth meeting of Katie. She sounds like a very special girl... and lucky to have such understanding parents.

Can't wait to meet "The Divine Miss Em"!

[DyanKJ130]

Just catching up! Sounds like you have some wonderful trips in the making! What a special set of gifts! Looking forward to hearing all about it

[lauren-roxy]

What a great start Maureen!!! I love Emily's reaction!! Katie is such a special girl and I can't wait to read more about her and her sister on this cruise!!

[OffKilter_Lynn]

Gosh, I remember those pictures from her first trip! How fun to look back at all the changes.

Katie and Emily are both loves - you'll have such a good time (maybe even miss having me there just a little )

[statelady01]

you'll have such a good time (maybe even miss having me there just a little )]

Is it too late????

So now, we move on to the most decidedly spunky Austin family member. If I've known you since the beginning of Passporter, you might remember Emily was a little over 1 when I joined. Now my Divine Miss Em, as I call her is on the brink of celebrating her 8th birthday.

Emily has quite the laugh and can be a bit dramatic but generally, I love every waking second I get to spend with her. She's an excellent student and loves to learn things- anything. As I write this, she and her Dad are watching a Discovery special on forest firefighting and she's asking so many questions her father can barely answer them all.

She used to be quite the tomboy but has come into her girly, girlness as of recent. She too, shares the Austin affinity for all things Disney and all things travel- so the Disney Cruise should be quite the fit for her. She's also been asking to go on a cruise since seeing my pics from my first DCL adventure... just like Katie.

She took her first trip to Disney when Katie did, in October 2005- and about 5 days prior to that, cut her own hair. It was quite the look let me tell you. When I walked into her room and found her with the scissors, she cried not because I freaked, but because she realized Mickey might think she was a boy.

However, when she first laid eyes on Mickey at well, Chef Mickey's that trip- all was forgotten...



Here she is at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique the next year:



As far as sisterhood goes, I am very much in admiration of her relationship with Katie. It's hard to be 7 and have an older sister that needs your patience and understanding, somehwat more than you need hers. Emily is acutely aware of autism and is extremely patient and respectful of her older sister's needs. Beyond that, I think she enjoys the sister pool time just as much as Katie does. We've talked about our game plan for the cruise should Katie get upset- we both promise we'll stay calm and make our focus of helping Katie work through any issue, should she have them.

Emily is ready, ready, ready to cruise and has made several interesting inquiries. One being the possibility of bumping into glaciers - although I assured her those were few and far between in the Wonder's neck of the woods. Also, the other night as we were drifting off to sleep, she interrupted perfect silence with the following remarks:

"Mom, I have another cruise question. Does the Captain have a peg leg?" and bursting into hysterical laughter- to which I promptly joined her.

This is just my anything-but-typical-girl Emily. She's simply, one of a kind and I her more than she'll ever know!

Coming Up Next: The "Cruiseful" Stylings of yours truly....

[Kenny]

Well, Miss Em sounds precious as well@! This should be a great cruise!

[iloverags2]

Another absolute doll on your hands! Love Emily's sense of humor...a "peg leg!" Too cute!

You and your girls are going to have such a wonderful time. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

[Colexis Mom]

What a great update!!