Make-A-Wish... Nintendo World Store!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has enjoyed this time of celebration with family and friends over the birth of Jesus! I know we have had a wonderful few days, but more on that to come soon!

For now, I want to apologize for leaving everyone hanging for so many days since my last post! It's been over a week that you've been patiently waiting to hear about Chase's big day at the Nintendo World Store in New York! And your patience has paid off, my friends, because here we go with all of the fun details!

Last Wednesday, December 17th, we all woke up waaaaay earlier than usual so we would be ready for Chase's big day once the limo arrived at 7:45 AM to take us to the Nintendo World Store. As you may recall, the Nintendo World Store (I will refer to it as the NWS just for simplicity's sake) opened an hour early JUST FOR CHASE to enjoy as part of his Make-A-Wish trip. There were some complications with the limo, but our Make-A-Wish representative worked everything out and we had a large luxury van arrive around 8:00 AM to take us to the store.

Chase was very excited, as you might imagine...

We arrived at the NWS and this guy was ready to check it all out! And of course you'll notice he insisted on dressing as Mario for the big day! LOVE.

He didn't make it more than 10 feet into the store before he had a 3DS in his hands, playing Mario Kart.

The downstairs of the NWS is dedicated to their handheld units (the 2DS and 3DS), and the upstairs level is dedicated to the Wii U. I was able to grab a quick pic of these two before they raced upstairs to the Wii floor.

Upstairs we were greeted by this awesome Super Mario Amiibo. It rotated around on its base and was so cool!

There were also SEVERAL Wii gaming stations set up, and it didn't take long for both Chase and LO to get involved on the GamePads.

Even Baby Luigi was happy to get in on the fun, although he had no idea what was going on around him. He just looked so cute!! ;)

See? Adorbs.

Not sure what was happening here, but her face is just awesomesauce. :o}

Here is "Mario" deeply engrossed in playing Super Smash Bros. He loved it! The NWS store employees that were there with us were amazing and had a great time playing the games with Chase.

Both of these kids... such concentration!

A quick break for a smile, but not at the camera, of course!

Aaaaaand... back to the game!

I just loved all of the facial expressions Chase was making while he played the Wii U.

This. Just. Slays. Me. These two REALLY enjoyed Super Smash Bros.!

Here is the super awesome NWS employee, Rey, getting in on the gaming action! What a fun day job, huh? ;)

The second floor of the NWS had an amazing compilation of historic Nintendo items, none more so intriguing than this guy--Mario!!!

So! Much! Mario!! Could it get any better??

You bet it can!!! Look who showed up JUST to see Super Chase!?

Mario himself showed up to spend a few moments with Chase. It was so neat to see him again after we just had the honor of spending time with him back at home the previous week!

Even LO was super happy to see Mario again. So sweet!!!

Mario wasn't used to being so much taller than Luigi! LOL!

Mario + Mario = LOVE.

Mario + Mario + Luigi photobomb = Priceless.

And here's the best shot I could get of ALL of them together. Such a precious memory of an incredible time for my family!

Awwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!! Hugs!

Back to getting some gaming on! This kid was having the most magical time having the NWS all to himself!*

Even the NWS employees thought it was pretty awesome to watch Mario vs. Mario in Super Smash Bros.!

It was absolutely hilarious to watch these two Marios battling against each other on the Wii U!

Seriously. It was epic!

As if having the store all to himself for an hour AND playing Super Smash Bros. against THE one and only Mario weren't enough, the NWS folks had a gift bag full of goodies for Chase, too!

One final hug for good measure. I think Chase was pretty happy with his experience at the NWS.

Somebody else was a wee bit tired from the early morning festivities. ;)

And back to these two. They would've stayed there ALL. DAY. LONG. had they been given the opportunity. It was so much fun and I truly believe Chase will always remember the sheer amazingness of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he was blessed with.

I have plenty of video from this big day, but I'm afraid I haven't had time to even watch it yet --- much less edit it for sharing online! I figured I'd rather post this now while the details are (relatively) fresh in my mind and so I wouldn't have to keep you waiting any longer than I already have.

We are so so so so so so so so so so very grateful to Make-A-Wish and Nintendo for making this special day happen for Chase---and LO, too! She's been through her own share of struggles in adjusting to life not only with a little brother, but one with a special heart that required a LOT more of Mommy & Daddy's attention than a typical baby brother. But she's been SUCH a champ. We love her so much and are so grateful for the amazing, sweet girl she is!

I plan to share the details from the rest of our trip soon. And then a post about Christmas. But, one thing at a time. For now, it's late and I'm going to bed!

*NOTE: I didn't necessarily realize what an incredibly amazing treat it truly was to have the NWS all to ourselves until we went back the following day during regular business hours... along with the other thousands of New York City shoppers out during the week before Christmas! WHEW.