We are taking our first big family trip!
We're going to Disneyland in California!!!
Every year, Families of SMA (FSMA) holds a conference for the families who are affected by SMA; doctors, researchers and other professionals will also be there.
We were unable to attend the conference last year (it was held in Minneapolis, MN), but this year we started planning our trip last fall as soon as we heard that it was going to be at Disneyland!
At first, Michael and I thought it would be best for just Ella and us to go. After all, what would Ava and Henry do at an SMA conference?
But then, I was talking with our friend, Rachel Sepe, who is also going to the conference (her daughter, Scarlett, has SMA and is a good friend of Ella's), and she strongly encouraged us to bring Ava and Henry as well.
Rachel also has two older children (Isabella and Gavin, both unaffected by SMA), and they had a blast at the conference last year! Rachel told me that there are so many activities for all three of the kids to do while there!
So that settled it. We decided that our entire family of five would head to Disneyland :)
We'll be flying to Los Angeles. The conference runs four days at the Paradise Pier Hotel in Disneyland. We decided to stay three extra days after the conference so that we can spend more time at the parks, and then we'll fly home.
We've never taken a trip like this with the kids before. To say we're excited would be an understatement!
As excited as we have been, I was really stressed out at first. How do you travel with someone with needs such as Ella's? And all of her equipment???
But we've talked to a lot of people and we've made a lot of phone calls. And everything is falling into place.
We will have escorts when we arrive at the airport who will take us from the curb all the way to our gate, which will be a HUGE help. Some of Ella's equipment will be checked, while some will be going with us on the plane in case of an emergency. Luckily all five of our seats on the plane are in a row :)
We have a handicapped shuttle reserved for us for when we arrive in LA that will take us to the resort.
Our hotel room will have plenty of room to accomodate our family of five as well as all of Ella's equipment. We are so happy that FSMA booked the conference at the Disneyland Resort!
We've put a lot of effort into preparing for this trip, but I'm sure it will ALL be well worth it!
We're so excited to meet many other SMA families in person and to create memories that will last a lifetime!!
