A Daily Lesson Part II: The CampbellScot's take on Animal Kingdom Lodge*update 6/5* [Archive] - Page 2 - The DIS Discussion Forums

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WDW Fan

01-18-2009, 08:30 AM

Just got caught up with your TR Miss Cammie, and it is of course very entertaining so far!!! Hope life has slowed down a bit for you now and you can start updating. We miss you.:wave2:

ZOOMAMA

01-26-2009, 05:34 PM

:donald: Miss Cammie- can hardly wait to read more soon!

SeaShelley

01-29-2009, 12:01 PM

:confused3

CampbellScot

01-29-2009, 12:38 PM

hey everybody...

okay, seriously...I cannot find my passporter...or the little notebook I obsessively write in all day while we are on vacation.

this is bad.

I'm looking for it! I have a sneaking suspicion that the husband was being his OCD self and "tidied" it away somewhere and can't remember now where he tidied it to. I may have to get violent...

kidding...

or am I?

;)

I'm looking for it I promise!!!

Bibbidi

01-29-2009, 12:42 PM

Yeah! You're back and it sounds like if you can find that sneaky planner you'll be back to writing your trip report--can't wait.

Applemomma

01-29-2009, 01:11 PM

Yay! Miss Cammie!!! Keep looking!!! ...just good to know you're around though. How are the kids doing?

hey everybody...

okay, seriously...I cannot find my passporter...or the little notebook I obsessively write in all day while we are on vacation.

this is bad.

I'm looking for it! I have a sneaking suspicion that the husband was being his OCD self and "tidied" it away somewhere and can't remember now where he tidied it to. I may have to get violent...

kidding...

or am I?

;)

I'm looking for it I promise!!!

micandminforever

01-29-2009, 02:09 PM

Welcome back thoughts are with you. Looking forward to your report. :surfweb:

KittyKat08

01-29-2009, 04:33 PM

popcorn:: I read your first TR and it was great, I even read most of it out loud to my DH. I cannot wait to hear about the adventures from this trip.

Katieinwonderland

01-30-2009, 08:45 AM

Miss Cammie you're baaaaaaaaaaack!!! Yay!!!

Hope you find the notebook, I can't WAIT for your updates!!!

Dreamer & Wisher

01-30-2009, 10:06 AM

Sleeping*Beauty

01-30-2009, 06:33 PM

Yay!! Miss Cammie is back!!

You're going to have to interagate him.

PrncessA

01-31-2009, 07:50 AM

Good Luck in finding it!! I can't wait to hear more!!

jenjolt

01-31-2009, 11:32 AM

Welcome Back MissCammie!! Can't wait to hear about your AKL Adventure!!!! Hope you find your passporter soon!!

SeaShelley

02-02-2009, 08:27 AM

I'm just glad to hear that you are ok. Good luck finding the Passporter!

NYPDwife

02-02-2009, 02:07 PM

I have a sneaking suspicion that the husband was being his OCD self and "tidied" it away somewhere and can't remember now where he tidied it to. I may have to get violent...

kidding...

or am I?

;)

I'm looking for it I promise!!!

Now, now, you can't blame him for the same things you yourself have no control over!!:thumbsup2

ZOOMAMA

02-03-2009, 11:46 AM

Yay! A Miss Cammie and fam fix! :woohoo: You may have to slap hubby around a bit with an eyebrow arch until the Passporter reappears!

ClaraBug

02-03-2009, 12:15 PM

Yea, Miss Cammie has returned!

LindaBabe

02-03-2009, 06:56 PM

Oh, by the way - NEVER take SallyRally in January - the world is littered with rule breakers! She'd be in a state of constant distress.

Twitterpated Dad

02-03-2009, 09:23 PM

Oh, by the way - NEVER take SallyRally in January - the world is littered with rule breakers! She'd be in a state of constant distress.

:lmao:

Just2DisneyKids

02-09-2009, 10:09 AM

Can't wait to hear all about it! :goodvibes

Hope you're all staying warm!

GreyStr0ke

02-17-2009, 05:02 PM

Hi MissCammie!

I can't wait any longer.

I need some quality reading material while I'm at work. :lmao: Your last TR saved my afternoons from boredom at the office.

CampbellScot

02-17-2009, 05:12 PM

jenjolt

02-17-2009, 05:18 PM

YAY for finding your Passporter!! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!! I know its going to be fabulous!

Backstage_Gal

02-17-2009, 05:18 PM

KittyKat08

02-17-2009, 05:31 PM

Woohoo! I can't wait. :cool1: :banana: :dance3:

acejka

02-17-2009, 06:03 PM

You can't break a promise promise!

I've been anxiously lurking waiting for more adventures from the CampbellScots!

micandminforever

02-17-2009, 07:02 PM

Great News about the passporter.:dance3:

CoP Luv

02-17-2009, 07:38 PM

Glad you found it!!! :thumbsup2 :cool1: :thumbsup2 :cool1:

Can't wait to read more!popcorn::

Hedy

02-17-2009, 07:47 PM

:dance3: :dance3:

Applemomma

02-17-2009, 07:51 PM

:thumbsup2 :surfweb: Can't wait!!

DumboPrincess

02-17-2009, 10:39 PM

:banana: :banana: WOOT!!!:banana: :banana:

Bibbidi

02-18-2009, 06:50 AM

Yes! We've been waiting so patiently for the next installment--bring it on Miss Cammie and put that Passporter in a safe place this time :)

Loafmastermom

02-18-2009, 09:18 AM

Yay! I came across your last TR a few months ago and loved it. I am actually re-reading it now as I await an update. :3dglasses

2ScottishPrincesses

02-18-2009, 01:23 PM

I am bound and determined to write some this week.

promise promise...

:goodvibes

:cool1: :cool1: popcorn:: popcorn::

pezheadmeg

02-18-2009, 06:09 PM

*DisMom*

02-19-2009, 03:14 PM

:cool1: hurry, hurry, hurry! i have been waiting far too long to read your TR. i am so excited that your notebook was found....i need my Disney fix!!!!:cool1:

carri5317

02-19-2009, 06:01 PM

PLEASE tell us more. Your reports are great, we need another fix sooooon!:goodvibes

Twitterpated Dad

02-19-2009, 06:44 PM

Okay y'all...I fOUND my passporter!!!:cool1:

well...Jay found it...b/c he is the one who TIDIED it...:rolleyes: even though he INSISTED he didn't...then he tried to tell me that I am the one who put my passporter in that drawer...where passporters do NOT belong.

yes...he got slapped around a bit by an eyebrow arch.

men.

;)

I am bound and determined to write some this week.

promise promise...

:goodvibes

First of all, that's wonderful news! :banana: :woohoo: :yay:

But, second, so what if he did put it in the drawer? :confused3 Didn't you know a uterus, besides being the cradle of life, is the most powerful tracking device in the world? You didn't. Well, it's a scientific fact. We voted on it at my house, 3 to 1. ;)

(Before anyone goes :scared1: or :headache:, my DW actually thinks it's cute that the boys and I consider her to be omnipotent. Well, most of the time. :love:)

And, third, you are going to let him make it up to you, right? :rolleyes1

And, fourth, :banana: :woohoo: :yay:

Lovemy3babes

02-23-2009, 11:16 AM

I'm excitedly waiting for an update. :)

CampbellScot

02-24-2009, 11:14 PM

Okay everybody...if there is still anybody waiting...I found my passporter, I found my little notebook...I think I'm ready to start trip reporting on a somewhat regular schedule...although don't hold me to that...clearly I am one who is capable of massive absence!

I know that some people were waiting for and AKL review before their trips...that have come and gone by now. I'm really sorry for being such a slowpoke. I do so solemnly swear to put some scoot in my boot and get going!

This next chapter may be just a lot of ramblings...I suppose it all is. But I apologize in advance if this chapter is lacking...or has bad grammar...or poor sentence structure...or is missing words...

HERE GOES!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2: We have ARRIVED!!!

When last we met, the Campbellscot’s had just gotten safely off the plane with no injuries to speak of. :woohoo:

I was a bit disappointed to see the rain falling rather steadily outside. It had been my most fervent wish that the hurricane would have magically cleared up and the sun would be out.

No such luck.

Big fat rain.

I have to say…I was in a funk over this rain. I really was. It was reading all those posts on the Disboards written by people who live in and around Orlando and their dire predictions…about the hurricane being stalled right directly over DisneyWorld…parked for the entire ten days we were there…pouring rain on us and extinguishing the flame of our perfectly planned and long awaited vacation!!!

There was a constant and steady Donald Duck tantrum in my head…it was quiet, but it was there. I was not feeling the Disney magic.

*NOTE* do NOT read the Disboards when looking for completely reliable and accurate information on hurricanes. Unless the Diser giving the information is Sam Champion...in that case believe everything he says! :love:

where was I? OH YES...trip report...

*ahem*

As usual…Teddy was his bouncy tiggery little self. He was thrilled to death to be at the airport “with the pretend monorail”!

As we were walking towards the pretend monorail, I became aware of how my Eeyore state of mind was affecting Sally. Where Teddy was mirroring his father’s eternal optimism, Sally was mirroring my extreme grouchiness. This would just not do. Sally had been extremely emotional this summer as it was. I didn’t want to add fuel to her fire and I knew she was looking to me for her emotional cues. So…I gave myself a talking to, told myself to straighten up and threatened myself with a trip to Fist City if I didn’t get my attitude adjusted right quick.

And while some may think that such a conversation warrants a trip to the padded room with a huggy jacket securely in place…which may in fact be exactly what I needed, but is completely beside the point…the talking to worked! I found my best Disney smile and plastered it on my face. Literally. I was smiling…not speaking…just smiling…trying to improve my mood…as smiling is supposed to do…even if you don’t feel like it. It's true...it's medical. It is. I heard it on Oprah...

*ahem*

As I was attempting to improve my mood, my husband happened to look over at me.

We had a little conversation that went like this:

Jay: Are you okay?

Me: Yes. I’m smiling aren’t I?

Jay: I know…you look a little crazed and it’s freaking me out.

:lmao:

Leave it to your family to tell you the honest truth.

I did laugh though.

Which helped.

Darling Teddy chimed in with “We don’t need to TRY to be happy right MissCammie…because Disney IS happy!

And a child shall lead them…

...and shame their step mother into getting her Disney groove on.

Of course Sally felt it necessary to point out that…”We’re NOT at Disney yet Teddy…and STOP shouting.”

Same old Sal.

:rolleyes:

We had the good fortune of hitting the pretend monorail arrival just right and hopped on without a wait. *YAY*

I made the kids sit on the little platform in the back…which annoyed Sally…b/c it’s dirty and germy…and she IS nine years old and perfectly capable of holding on to a standing bar...and STOP being so bossy…

she said all of this with her eyes.

It only took half an eyebrow raise on my end to get her seated…

Vacation Battle of Wills #1- The round goes to MissCammie!

wooHOO!!

The pretend monorail ZOOMED off at the speed of light…and since I wasn’t holding the bar as tightly as I should have…b/c I was busy lecturing the children on the importance of safety on the pretend monorail…and b/c it's ME...I was, of course, thrown to the ground thanks to the force at which the pretend monorail moves. It wasn’t very graceful. I ended up in a bit of a heap against Sally’s legs.

Sweet Sally immediately wanted to know if I was okay, and reminded me that the floor was VERY dirty. I was trying to get back on my feet gracefully…which so wasn’t happening. There was no grace to be had. I landed right smack on my dignity and the G-forces were keeping me plastered against the platform…and since Jay’s back was slightly turned...as of course he made a new friend in .5 seconds and they were talking about the price of fuel…or something male and conversation worthy…he missed the whole thing.

When he turned toward the sound of the thumping and scrambling…and saw me on the floor…he said,

“Cam, what are you doing on the floor?”

:rolleyes:

I’m RESTING…obviously.

I nailed him with a dirty look and he laughed heartily as he hauled me to my feet.

Sally reached into her bag and primly handed me an anti bacterial wipe…and took the opportunity to share her sympathy with me…and slap me around a little bit…

“Poor you MissCammie…that you fell down…because you weren’t holding on...and being safe...”

:rotfl2:

It must have done her soul good to say that. Her mood improved greatly afterward.

Nothing like payback to bring on a smile!

As the pretend monorail came to a screeching halt, I braced myself for impact. I didn’t go flying this time b/c I was paying better attention!.

Teddy congratulated me with “Good job hanging on tight MissCammie. Good job not falling down…”

:laughing:

As Teddy is usually the victim of gravity and tripping over his feet, he knew that staying upright deserved congratulations. At least in his book!

As we boarded the down escalator, I had my usual panic over the kids crocs being eaten and reminded them to watch their toes. ( I saw a VERY alarming picture once of a croc that had had it's toe portion RIPPED off by an escalator...an image forever imprinted upon my neurotic mind!:scared1:) Sally's small sigh reminded me that she WAS nine years old and did NOT need reminding! Teddy made sure to shout “JUMP” when we got to the bottom.

Well trained that kid is!

I was very pleasantly surprised to see the driver holding the sign…with JAY’s last name…after the hyphen…and my last name…that wasn’t his last name.

:confused3

what? I compromised.;)

The second nice surprise was Lucinda!! Who is Lucinda you ask? She was the same driver that Jay and I had when we came to Disney on our honeymoon!

She remembered us and gave us a very big smile…and welcomed us to Orlando!

We were very happy to see Lucinda and she chatted with us about the Hurricane and how things had been for the last few days.

Bless that sweet woman, she told me not to worry…that things were most certainly dying down and the rain we had at the moment was just the tail end of Fay.

:dance3:

So THERE everybody who said that we would be rained out. Lucinda said we would NOT!

I chose to believe!:angel:

Our luggage was nearly first on the conveyor belt…and not soaked…and we were in our Tiffany Town Car in no time flat!

We waved happily at all the people still waiting for Disney’s Magical Express…

b/c we’re a teensy bit mean that way.

pirate:

We were off to Publix!!!!

The official beginning of Disney spending!!!!

*wooHOO*

After a dreary drive on the highway we arrived at Publix.

I must say…that I heart Publix Grocery stores.

They are just so much fun…and so Disney-fied!

And THIS Publix was the GODFATHER of cool Publix stores! It was HUGE!!! And bright and brand new. Let’s spend some MONEY!!!

We hopped out of the car and into the velvety wet air...leaped over puddles and headed into the grocery store!

Jay put Teddy in the cart…to keep him corralled…and Sally held my hand...but not before she found the nearest Diet Coke cooler and brought me a fresh one! Good girl Sally!!! Now that MissCammie had a fresh hit of caffiene we were ready to start our vacation!!! I got the first real smiles from miss SallyRally at Publix!!

such LOVE...and paranoia...on my part. But seriously, how cute are those smiles?!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2794-1.jpg

We walked up and down the aisles, trying to decide what we would need for a ten day stay at Disney. Of course we got caught up in that beginning of vacation feeling and got more than we probably needed…but we were on a high!!

Every few feet Teddy would squeal “LOOKIT!!! DISNEY STUFF!!!”

And how!

This place was a mini MouseGears I’m telling y’all what! We saw mouse ears and goofy ears and tee-shirts and PINS!!! So many pins!!

There were princess flip flops!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2796.jpg

Postcards Galore!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2795.jpg

yes. I am the dork who takes pictures while in the grocery store.

Seeing all that Disney stuff really got the magic flowing. We were all filled with that happy anticipation of being right at the beginning of our Disney vacation. The BIG one…the long vacation. The one that got away last year was now firmly in our grasp and we were READY!!

Sally reminded her daddy several times that we had to get Diet Coke…lots of Diet Coke.

:rotfl:

We found the soda aisle and Jay put three six pack bottles into the cart…Sally gave him a look that said “Are you KIDDING me with that?! The woman is addicted!!!” What she said was “Daddy, I think we need AT least one more…just in case!”

::yes::

How I loved this child. She feeds my addiction with such dedication.

*ahem*

We were nearing the end of our 20 minute stop time so we hurried to the checkout.

The damage wasn’t that bad.

According to me.

We headed out to the waiting car and I was thrilled to see that the raining had ceased…for a moment. I was grateful for even that small reprieve.

As we piled our supplies into the trunk and our bodies into the car, Teddy bounced with joy in his seat and said,

“This is IT!! HERE WE GO TO DISNEY!!”

Then it started raining.

:headache:

HARD.

:headache:

Oh well. We were still officially on the lookout for the first Disney bus! Both kids were looking intently out the windows.

I handed Jay the camera so he'd be ready. (he was in the front seat and therefore in the best position to picture take!)

For some reason the man felt the need to remind me...once again...that we already HAD pictures of Disney Buses...lots of them.

I then felt the need to remind him that he KNEW I was like this when he married me...so zip it and make sure the flash is on!

He certainly couldn't argue with that logic...so he shook his head and rolled his eyes a bit as he took the camera from me.

so I lovingly gave his ear a tug...

Disney traditions!!! Gotta love em!!!

Not too long after, Sally spotted the Disney bus!!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2804.jpg

I'd say that picture definitely lacked passion...

*ahem*

Our next sighting tradition was of course....the arch...the big sign...Mickey and Minnie welcoming us to Disney...the happiest place on earth!!!

And before Jay could say ONE word, I told him that I KNOW we already have this picture several times over...but we don't have it from THIS vacation...

Lucinda laughed at us.

It's the place where dreams come true...I needed to memorialize the moment...for THIS trip!

look at that sky! The sign still looks fabulous...big black rain clouds or NOT!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2803.jpg

As we passed under the arch signifying our actual arrival at Disney, I took a deep breath. I could feel the Disney air clearing out the cobwebs...giving me that high that I only get here, at Disney. I wanted to soak in the moment as much as I could. We were here. We made it. Our emotional life raft was about to reach the shore! Sally was humming "It's a Small World" to herself. Teddy was bouncing in his seat. Jay was keeping an eye out for the signs that would lead us to Animal Kingdom Lodge...it just doesn't get any better than this!

In no time at all we were making the turn that would take us to our resort. The resort we had talked about for months. I hoped that it would be everything we imagined it would be.

sappy I know...but that's me...and that's really what I was hoping.

We stopped at the gate and I took the camera back from Jay so I could take this picture:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2809.jpg

and this one:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2813.jpg

It was wet...but it didn't matter.

The Campbellscot's had arrived!!

Up Next: The long wait and the hunt for the watering hole...

addictedtothemouse

02-25-2009, 01:39 AM

Yea! Misscammie, you're back.:hug: Thia installment was well worth the wait. But please don't keep us waiting so long for the next one.:rotfl:

2ScottishPrincesses

02-25-2009, 02:57 AM

:woohoo: Woohoo, you're back and letting the good times roll:cool1:

mcz0714

02-25-2009, 04:58 AM

Glad you're back Miss Cammie:)

luckylady

02-25-2009, 06:12 AM

Ahhh now I can have some good reading and laughter. Welcome back.

Bibbidi

02-25-2009, 06:14 AM

yippee! an update. Thank you! And yes, I think lots of us are still here waiting for the rest :)

my2princessgirls

02-25-2009, 06:37 AM

Yay! I'm so excited to see that you are back! I loved your last TR, and can't wait to read this one!! We are headed to AKL as a surprise to our 2 girls this spring, looking forward to hearing what you have to say about it!!

:cheer2: Wahoo! Miss Cammie's back!!:cheer2:

thelittlemermaid83

02-25-2009, 06:58 AM

Wooohoooo, Miss Cammie you are back!!!!

LindaBabe

02-25-2009, 07:22 AM

YEAH! You're BACK! And haven't lost your touch, either!

JillianLeigh

02-25-2009, 07:59 AM

Oh I am soooo excited!! You post totally just made my Wednesday!!! :goodvibes

jenjolt

02-25-2009, 08:23 AM

YAY what a great update!!! Glad you are back Miss Cammie!!! Can't wait for more!

aidansmommy

02-25-2009, 08:25 AM

I'm so excited that you're writing again!:cool1: I already can't wait for more!popcorn::

redsox721

02-25-2009, 08:32 AM

YIPPEE! You're back. Looking forward to the rest.

tonga

02-25-2009, 08:33 AM

Yayyy!! So glad you're back!

Loafmastermom

02-25-2009, 09:15 AM

Great update! Makes me feel like I'm arriving at Disneyworld. :goodvibes

I really enjoyed your last TR; we are going to WL in Sept so the info was also helpful. AK will be our next hotel after while we work our way up the deluxe hotel food chain.

Do you think you could stay at Beach Club next? ;) That would be so helpful. :laughing:

Lovemy3babes

02-25-2009, 09:23 AM

Welcome back! :) Love those kiddos' smiles. I hope the rain clears for you all.

Hedy

02-25-2009, 09:29 AM

Oh, man, it's like I was back, landing in Fay all over again. :)

micandminforever

02-25-2009, 09:36 AM

Great start on your new report. I looking forward to the hunt for the watering hole. :surfweb:

cheap traveler

02-25-2009, 10:02 AM

Woo-Hoo Miss Cammie is back!!!:cool1: Can't wait to read more.

jillyb

02-25-2009, 10:04 AM

When I saw you had posted Chapter 2 I heard the Hallejuah Chorus! I loved your last TR and can't wait to hear more about your long awaited and well deserved trip.

Vacation Lover

02-25-2009, 10:30 AM

As we were walking towards the pretend monorail, I became aware of how my Eeyore state of mind was affecting Sally. Where Teddy was mirroring his father’s eternal optimism, Sally was mirroring my extreme grouchiness. This would just not do. Sally had been extremely emotional this summer as it was. I didn’t want to add fuel to her fire and I knew she was looking to me for her emotional cues. So…I gave myself a talking to, told myself to straighten up and threatened myself with a trip to Fist City if I didn’t get my attitude adjusted right quick.

Good for you for being able to straighten yourself up. I know exactly where you're coming from and I've had to tell myself the same thing on past vacations. I think that happens to a lot of us "planners" when the vacation rolls around and something is not exactly as perfect as we'd planned.

D&R love Disney

02-25-2009, 10:58 AM

Hey an updat! MissCammie is back. Looking forward to reading more of the adventure!

mejkjj97

02-25-2009, 12:12 PM

Welcome Back!!!!

We were in Disney the same time you were down there. We have some great pictures of us in our Poncho, soaking wet etc but it was great time still. that is the fun of traveling in August. I can't wait to hear more.

Northern Disney Girl

02-25-2009, 12:19 PM

Fluffypants

02-25-2009, 12:23 PM

Hooray! Miss Cammie is writing again! :cool1:

I can't even begin to explain how much I needed to read another of your chapters. I haven't been able to spend any time on the dis for months . . . and now today . . . I was finally able to check . . . and I was rewarded! :wizard:

Looking forward to reading more! And hoping that you loved AKL as much as we did! And hoping that the rain cleared up! Sounds like you are off to a good start!

jenb1023

02-25-2009, 12:40 PM

Woo-hoo an update! Reading your TR made me smile which I needed - it has been a stressful week. You know we all will wait as long as it takes for you to write this TR. In fact, I am reading a lot of the Boutiquers TR's so if you all go too fast I won't be able to keep up.

I love Sally's continuing dedication to your Diet Coke addiction and Teddy's joyful self as always. My DH does not understand the need to photo the same things either - - it is a new trip and must be documented accordingly. Men!

Looking forward to the next chapter. . .we will be waiting whenever you have the time to write it (no matter how long it takes).

Crystal824

02-25-2009, 12:45 PM

Yay, I'm so glad you are back. Love the update.

starrzone

02-25-2009, 01:08 PM

:cool1: Yay, Miss Cammie is back! I read your last TR and loved it. I'm especially interested in this one because I just started seeing a man who has two young kids, 5.5 and almost 7. If things go well, we'll be going on vacations someday just like your clan. I admire how you deal with problems with repect and dignity, and how you keep your head up high and keep your wits about you (at least from our perspective!). Great job, and can't wait to read more. :cutie:

tinkermamaof2

02-25-2009, 01:23 PM

Yay Miss Cammie is back!:cool1: Can't wait to see if the Campbell-Scotts enjoyed AKL as much as we did. Love your reports and can't wait for more!:goodvibes

CoP Luv

02-25-2009, 01:30 PM

After the morning that I had, seeing a new installment cheered me right up! You can always make me laugh!!! :thumbsup2

Glad that Sally hasn't grown up THAT much and still thinks her younger brother is annoying and loud!:lmao:

Can't wait to read more! Welcome back!

Sleeping*Beauty

02-25-2009, 03:01 PM

I'm so happy you found your Passporter. I can't wait to hear more!!

Christy LOVES Disney

02-25-2009, 03:42 PM

[QUOTE=CampbellScot;30484505]...
We had the good fortune of hitting the pretend monorail arrival just right and hopped on without a wait. *YAY*

I made the kids sit on the little platform in the back…which annoyed Sally…b/c it’s dirty and germy…and she IS nine years old and perfectly capable of holding on to a standing bar...and STOP being so bossy…

wow I kept thinking what is the pretend monorail and how come I didn't see it when I was there. Then boom it hit me. Holy cow I wanted to sit down on that thing because it is the pretend monorail in wharp speed. I thought I was going to fall the first time it took off. now that that's over I'm so glad you're back and I get to read your TR again. I've been to AKL and were going back next June (21 of us) so anyone's experience there I just have to read.

Christy LOVES Disney

02-25-2009, 03:44 PM

okay maybe i should read everything in your post before i post. as i read on you talk about how fast it is.. sorry. Im going to shut up until the end of the post now

Christy LOVES Disney

02-25-2009, 03:56 PM

oh my how sally has grown. teddy too but he is harder to see because he is sitting in the cart. wow they're growing up.

shannn

02-25-2009, 04:04 PM

Woo Hoo!! You're back! And worth every minute...um, day... of the wait I'd say! :)

jham

02-25-2009, 04:07 PM

Yay! I missed you! I love the update and can't wait to hear about AKL! I love the photo of the kids big grins and Sally holding Stitch :lmao:

29apr00

02-25-2009, 04:08 PM

:cool1: :cool1: :cool1: Yay You are back!!

What a great update! I love your writing, it's just like being with you!! And my how the kids have grown!! Teddy looks huge in that shopping cart!!

can't wait for more!!

NMW

02-25-2009, 05:46 PM

So glad you are back! :goodvibes

Stephres

02-25-2009, 07:12 PM

*NOTE* do NOT read the Disboards when looking for completely reliable and accurate information on hurricanes. Unless the Diser giving the information is Sam Champion...in that case believe everything he says! :love:

:snooty:

:lovestruc Publix!

:thumbsup2 Keep it up!

Dixielady908

02-25-2009, 07:22 PM

Yea Miss Cammie....glad your back and hoping that you dont keep us waiting so long for the rest:goodvibes

Angelrose

02-25-2009, 08:41 PM

Great update. Those kids are just so cute. Can't wait for more!

Backstage_Gal

02-25-2009, 08:44 PM

Publix- where shopping is a pleasure!

I know that slogan well, I worked there about 37 years ago, LOL! But it still is, we still shop there. However, the stores near me do not cater to tourists by flaunting Disnye toys or crocs. Which is understanderbable.

Fay was a major annoyance with rain, but luckily nothing bad.

Happy to see you back!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mousecrazy2006

02-25-2009, 09:07 PM

The trip has finally begun, and what a wonderful beginning . Hopefully only your "dignity" got bruised in the pretend mono-rail lightspeed takeoff :rotfl: Loved the pictures of Publix , as we have never stopped there. Pretty cool. Look forward to more Campbell - Scot adventures. popcorn:: As always best wishes and :wizard: magic to you and yours.

DisneyJoo2008

02-26-2009, 06:33 AM

I've not been on the Disboards in ages so it was lovely to come on and read an update!!!
More please!
xxx

redsox721

02-26-2009, 10:44 AM

Just noticed that you have a short ticker. Is there a new PTR in the works? Or did I miss something.

saralexander97

02-26-2009, 11:53 AM

Lovin the TR. Cant wait to hear about the AKL. Sally sounds just like me, I'm totally freaked out by germs to.

katdunn

02-26-2009, 01:19 PM

Can't wait to hear more! I was so excited to see that you were back online and writing again! You are so gifted - you make us all just wish we were there again! Keep it comin!

NYPDwife

02-27-2009, 01:20 PM

I'm happy that you didn't have any incidents on the plane!!

The kids have grown so much!:goodvibes

Can't wait to hear more!!

teresajoy

02-27-2009, 01:43 PM

ALL RIGHT!!! The Camster is BACK!!! (like your new nickname??) :cool1: :cool1: :cool1: :cool1:

I must say that was so very nice of you to fall down on the fake monorail to cheer Sally up!! Such a devoted stepmother you are!

And Jay's pictures really did lack passion! I could tell right away when you took the camera back! Really!

It's good to have you back writing girl!! I can't wait to read more.

Now, SPEED IT UP!!! I leave in May, I want you finished BEFORE I finish mine!

CampbellScot

02-27-2009, 03:15 PM

As the the car pulled up to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I felt Teddy literally vibrating with excitement. We had been talking for months about all the animals he would see, right outside his window. Teddy is insanely crazy about animals in general. He finds them endlessly fascinating. With his insane ability to memorize facts about every animal he sees, we all learned a lot about animals that might be found in Africa, India, South America, North America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada...y'all get what i'm saying. The child went crazy with fact memorizing this summer!

(thanks in part to that poor excuse for a "camp" that the kids had briefly attended. As they were plunked in front of a DVD for most of the day...at least the camp director had chosen something semi-educational.)

:rolleyes2

I'm still annoyed about that whole thing. It created a lot of unnecessary drama for Sally...who SO does not need help with that particular area of her life. For the rest of the summer Sally held a big grudge against the camp experience. To make matters worse when we withdrew the kids from camp rather abruptly, this woman felt it necessary to tell all the other parents...most of whom ALSO pulled their kids not long after we did...that HER feelings were hurt...so when we inevitably bumped into one of the little girls from camp, she asked Sally "why don't you like us anymore?"

Sally was horrified as she hates to hurt anyone's feelings. That little encounter led to weeks of Sally worrying that the kids from camp thought she was mean.

Needless to say, Jay made a phone call.

I wanted to take her on a trip to Fist City.

JUST KIDDING...

sort of...

;)

I'm sorry...where were we? OH YES...Trip report...

Teddy bounced out of the car, and before he could sprint off in search of animals, I attached his little hand to my bag strap. It gives him a little bit of reference as to where his body is and where it needs to stay. (I didn't actually attach him...I just told him to strap up...which means "do NOT leave my side". He knows this. Mostly b/c he tested the boundaries of this direction once. So I threatened him with an actual kid harness...went so far as to take him to Target with me to buy one. Teddy sees these kid harnesses as babyish. He got the point. We haven't had another problem with that particular issue. He knows the kid harness is in the house and he knows that I will most certainly follow through if he chooses to test me again. I'm mean that way!) :cool2:

and let me just say that I am in no way against the kid harness. I think they are extremely useful for children that have an aversion to holding hands. They eliminate power struggles, give the kiddo some freedom, and keep mom and dad in ultimate control. Win-win!

anyhow...I keep digressing...I do apologize!

I went around the back of the car with Teddy in tow. I found Sally clinging to Jay with her face pressed into his belly. I didn't know if she was crying or just really getting into a hug. Then I got a whiff of the smoke smell and understood. Sally learned all about second hand smoke in detail in her third grade class. Got to see all sorts of graphic pictures of smokers lungs...and facial cancers. (WAY too graphic for third graders in my opinion...but anti smoking campaigns are trying to get them young...which I can appreciate.) ANYHOW...Sally took the information a little TOO MUCH to heart. Where she was merely annoyed with smokers before...she now felt that smokers were truly out to harm her little lungs...on purpose. It had been a theme this summer. I swear y'all...as she heads to ten, she's getting more and more moody...like PMS moody...I shudder to think.

Normally I don't have a lot of tolerance for this kind of thing from Sally. It's over dramatic and unnecessary and attention seeking in a negative way. She doesn't like cigarette smoke...we get it. But as this was the beginning of vacation neither Jay nor I wanted to start it off with a lecture.

So...I decided to tickle the back of her knee...which brought about the desired reaction of screeching and jumping around.

"MissCAMMIEEEEEEE...you tickled me!"

"I did indeed Sally...I couldn't help myself...my hand was possessed..."

*ahem*

I got a smile.

yay!

crisis averted!!

Jay took up the task of getting the bags organized. THIS year I had made sure to just use Jay's last name...my now married name...without the hyphen...Jay likes that. Caveman...KIDDING!

sort of.

;)

either way, i didn't want the same bag fiasco that we had last summer. That's called "learning from my mistakes!".

:teacher:

Once we had all the baggage on the cart...along with the grocery bags...it was finally time to head into the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Teddy had an idea of how our grand entrance should go! He said:

"We all have to hold hands now, like a family, b/c it's a tradition! Right MissCammie? Because we like traditions in our family!"

:lovestruc

love that Teddy.

We all linked up and headed in for our first glimpse of AKL!

I have to say...it was pretty cool. Not *quite* as cavernous and awe inspiring as Wilderness Lodge...but it was impressive in a different way! Teddy was thrilled to see that there was a FIRE PIT!!! And LOOKIT MISSCAMMIE!!! THERE'S ROCKING CHAIRS TOO!!! LIKE LAST YEAR!!!"

Sally was of course mortified that Teddy was shouting out his joy. She squeezed my hand very tightly to convey her annoyance and embarrassment. I squeezed back to say "breathe sweetpea...it's Teddy being Teddy".

I did remind him to use his indoor voice...

Then Jay's phone rang...:headache: and he said he HAD to answer this one...

okay...fine. But I reminded him that he was using up his one call a day awfully early.

I don't think he heard me...he was already heading towards the door...

*SIGH*

I looked at Sally, who was being very quiet and taking inventory.

"So Sally Rally...what do you think?"

"It's good. I like it. I like the windows...it's different from Wilderness Lodge, but that's okay...b/c we'll stay at Wilderness Lodge again...right MissCammie?"

I had to laugh and give Sally a squeeze.

I assured her that yes, we would most likely see our beloved Wilderness Lodge once more.

Before Sally had the chance to ruminate any further on the evil of change...I sent both kids off to the lobby television area...(which is really quite charming by the way!) while I checked us in. Sally didn't want to...she wanted to stay with me...so I bribed her with my camera and told her to please take some amazing pictures. Thanks.

she took the bait. She loves it when I entrust her with things that I am usually pretty bossy and controlling about. She put the strap around her neck and headed off the fulfill her mission. Good Girl!!

I got in line.

which was oddly long.

and not moving...

at all.

Here y'all can look at some of Sally's pictures while we wait!

Dramatic Windows!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2815.jpg

Smile Teddy!!! (Sally "posed" Teddy for this one!)
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2820-1.jpg

Fire Pit!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2827.jpg

seriously...still in the unmoving line.

quack.

Jay came back in and was surprised to find me in the exact place I had been when he left. There was something going on behind the counter. There was a lot scurrying about and five or six cm's crowded around one computer.

either way...I wasn't feeling the magic quite so much at the moment. I could feel those little stabs of migraine obnoxiousness starting up. I was very prepared this time and gulped a couple of heavy duty migraine stoppers. I was annoyed with my brain for being difficult at this very moment. I didn't need a blinding headache right NOW.

and that darn line would not BUDGE. So I told Jay to go and hang out with the kiddies...I had the line standing covered!

There was an elderly couple in front of me. The man was sitting in a little personal scooter thingie. His wife was getting very anxious about standing here all this time. I think she was also bored...b/c she started picking on her husband.

The conversation went like this:

wife: I STILL can't believe you ran over my toe this morning. That contraption is dangerous!

Husband: Your foot stepped right in front of the wheel!

Wife: You really need to be more careful!

Husband: You should watch where you are walking honey...

Wife: where else was I supposed to walk?!

Husband: Not in front of moving wheels!

:rotfl:

On and on it went. It was funny mostly b/c they were speaking in such loving tones to each other. The husband kept patting her hand, and calling her honey. I suppose if you are going to fuss with your spouse, at least try and do it in a sweet way!

FINALLY the line got moving. It went pretty quickly after that. I was up at the desk and being welcomed home before I knew it!

I love being welcomed home. It gives me the ultimate beginning of vacation at Disney high! y'all know what I mean?

The CM, Marguerite, was from South Africa. She had the BLONDEST hair I have EVER seen...her eyes were extremely blue and her skin was very very pale. She looked like a porcelain doll. Woofty...people must stare at her wherever she goes. Beautiful! I had to wonder why they had her behind a desk at a resort when she could have been princessing it up at the parks!

any road, CM Marguerite was also extremely nice and very efficient!

I was quickly in possession of all of my necessary Disney World documents. It was rather early still...probably around noon-ish...but Marguerite told me that if we wanted to go to our room now, that it was ready!

WOOHOO!!! I couldn't wait to see what animals might be hanging out right under our balcony!!

I called the troops over and we headed to our room.

We were a happy bunch as we wound our way own the corridors to our room. This is one of my favorite moments on vacation...the anticipation of the room. We had gotten bunk beds again for the kids and I knew they'd be thrilled. Jay and I held hands and the kids ran ahead of us. They were excited too!

When we found the hallway where our room was located, I kept thinking that I was smelling cigar smoke...which is a fairly distinct smell...which could not be possible as smoking inside the resort was strictly forbidden.

must be in my head...I am HIGHLY sensitive to strong smells. Nose like a bloodhound let me tell y'all what!

no matter...wasn't possible...

(y'all know where this is leading right? uh-huh...)

Soon enough Sally announced that she had found the door!!! We all gathered around her and I handed her the room key card. I tried to ignore the fact that the cigar smell was even stronger...right here...in front of our door...I was hoping that Sally wouldn't notice.

fat chance.

Sure enough, just before Sally was about to put the card in the lock she started up the bunny nose thing and said,

"MissCammie, do you smell stinky smoke? Because I do."

think fast think fast...

"No sweetpea, we are hallucinating."

I didn't really say that...but I hoped it was true!

I told Sally not worry about it and to get that door open!

When the little light turned green, Sally opened the door.

And we were hit smack in the face with what can only be described as a hazy cloud of SMOG!

Sally stepped rather forcefully backwards, with her arms straight out to keep us from moving forward,

"DADDY DON'T BREATHE IT!! YOU'RE ALLERGIC!!!!! DON'T BREATHE!!!"

As she backed away the door shut...Sally kept backing up until she hit the wall. She put both hands over her face and held her breath.

:rolleyes:

slightly dramatic our Sally.

Although I can't say I blame her...what in the holy heck was going on in our room?! It smelled like a Cigar convention had set up camp in there!

Jay took the key card and keyed back into the room. Sally took a breathe long enough to say "Don't BREATHE IT DADDY!!" Hands went back over the mouth and nose and she sat down with a thump.

What was Teddy doing during this massive drama? He was singing Yellow Submarine and playing with some cars that had been in his backpack!

Teddy gets points for being self sufficient!

Jay came back out a second later. He looked less than pleased.

"There are cigar butts out on the balcony."

WHAT?!

I ran in to look for myself.

Sure enough, there were three burned down bits of cigar. They looked like dirty roaches to me! ick.

I was really and truly astonished.

How did Mousekeeping miss this? Not only in regards to today...but during the time the cigar smokers were here?! Why had it been allowed?

I was baffled.

I joined everyone in the hallway. By this time Sally was crying. This was just too much. I felt bad for her...she had been trying to get her Disney groove on, and she'd been rewarded with her arch enemy...SMOKE!

(remember how I said that Sally had been emotional this summer...I wasn't kidding. )

Jay was furious. He was upset that his daughter was crying, not to mention that he is, in fact, allergic to cigar and cigarette smoke. Like anaphylactic allergic...and like me, he is also asthmatic. (we have so much in common!:love: )This was not a good way to start off.

Before I could say a word, Jay was off. He was walking in that hard, take charge, someone is fixin to get an earful way. It's fairly intimidating!

We scurried along behind him. As we scurried...which I really hate doing as I am NOT a mouse...but I didn't think now would be a good time to tell Jay to slow down...I had a talk with Sally who was FUMING as she walked. I let her fume for a little bit before I stopped her.

"There is NO SMOKING AT DISNEY MissCammie! That paper said so! There is no smoking! People are not supposed to smoke inside! It's gross and it stinks and makes people get cancer and starts forest fires AND now I stink like smoke! That's NOT FAIR THAT SOMEBODY BROKE A RULE! AND I'm REALLY REALLY MAD!"

indeed.

Now it was my turn.

I put on my best social worker voice and repeated a version of a dialogue I've had several times with Mistress Mary Quite Contrary (sally!) this summer.

"Sally I can hear that you are very angry right now. It's frustrating when people don't follow the rules. I'm really glad you are using your words. But now you need to dry up the tears and let the mad go. We are NOT going to spend the next ten days letting this ruin our vacation. We're not even going to let the next ten minutes get ruined by this. It's upsetting that it happened. You are totally right to be angry and disappointed. But Daddy is dealing with it. We will get a different room. Then we'll do what?"

silence.

"Sally...what will we do?"

silence.

I eye brow arched her pretty good.

*sigh*

"We'll let it go and move on.”

"Say it like you mean it!"

Teddy's little voice joined Sally's...he was being helpful...which was less than appreciated by his sister...

:lmao:

"One more time just for fun...LET IT GO AND MOVE ON!"

She said it with slightly more oomph than the first go. She was still plenty ticked off, but she got the point...and she knew I'd make her say it until I was satisfied with her dedication to letting the issue go. Because I'm mean.

:thumbsup2

I then pretended to take the scowl off of her face and hand it to her. She pretended to crumple it up. I held out a pretend garbage can. And Sally pretended through her scowl in the garbage. Then she pretended to take a smile out of her pocket and put it on her face!

:rotfl:

sometimes this works with Sally and sometimes it doesn't.

it dang well better work now...b/c I wasn't even close to kidding. I wasn't even trying to hear fussing and or put up with any attention seeking nonsense of any kind while we were at Disney.

at all.

Because I’m wicked and the boss of everyone.

My favorite thing.

*ahem*

When we joined Jay, he was at the desk using the "voice of authority.” There were several CM's gathered and someone in a suit. I sent the kids off back to the TV. Distraction is AWESOME!!!

In the interest of attempting not to ramble…ha ha…I’ll give the short(er) version of what happened: Jay made the front desk and the hotel manager aware of what we encountered in our room. The manager was appropriately horrified. As were the front desk staff. They apologized profusely and told us they would investigate the situation immediately. The unfortunate part about it all was that the Savannah view rooms were totally booked for the next five days. The entire hotel was in a bit of a crunch b/c of the conversion of some of the club level rooms to DVC rooms. (as I understood it. I could be wrong…it happens!) There were rooms available for three days…then different rooms would open up. It sounded like a game of musical chairs. Even though the manager was offering club level rooms…which was very nice…we would have had to move a total of three times before we could stay put. That is not relaxing to my OCD husband, or to OCD germ phobic me…it would be unsettling for the kids AND who wanted to waste even one second of our vacation schlepping our stuff around the resort? Not the CampbellScots! End result…Jay told them he appreciated their attention to the matter and the offer for an upgrade, but it would really be better for us to be put in a room that was available for ten days. Our only request was that the room had bunk beds. And that is what they gave us. (although THAT room would not be available until 3pm) grr. Oh well.

Was that really a short version?

:lmao:

I must say that I was really rather disappointed by the loss of our Savannah view. I knew how excited Teddy was about seeing animals outside his window. This wrinkle in my carefully mapped out plans was digging at the control freak in me. But I told her to hush, that the view is not why we come to Disney...and smile like you mean it!

The kids were sitting at the television area, waiting very patiently. Sally looked like she had recovered somewhat. Jay simply told them that we were going to get a new room. End of story. He didn't mention the change of view. Getting a new room was all that mattered to Sally. Teddy was oblivious to the concept of a room and where it was situated. He might not even notice the lack of wild animals out his window...

fingers crossed!

All in all, the adults were much more annoyed with the room change than the kids.

I realized right about that time, Sally's tears probably had a lot to do with the fact that she was hungry. I know I was. So we decided to find Mara and have our very first Disney meal!

If only it was that easy.

I think we circled around and went up and down stairs several times before we found the right door that would lead us to sustenance! As we had all been up since 4:30 that morning our directional abilities were not at their best. We did finally make it outside. Teddy and Sally both had been THRILLED at their first sighting of the pool. I swear if I hadn’t had a hold of Teddy's hand, he’d have jumped right in clothes and all!

I was VERY cheered that the rain had stopped while we were dealing with the room crisis!

wooHOO.

When we FINALLY found Mara, we made quite and entrance thanks to Teddy and his extreme exuberance at the “ LOOKIT!!! DISNEY CARTOONS PLAYING ON A TV AND ANIMAL PAINTINGS ON THE WALLS!!!”

:laughing:

Sally told him to PLEASE be quiet and stop SHOUTING so everyone can stare at us TEDDY…

:rotfl:

Sally’s really good about interjecting “please” into sentences that aren’t meant to be polite in the least…but it covers her if her step mama is in ear shot.

Indeed.

We washed down the tables…okay, AND the chairs…what? GERMS! :confused3 The kids were then seated and happily watching Disney magic on television. Jay and I went to get food.

I am so glad that the kids have finally gotten to the age that we can be a few feet from them, put Sally “in charge” which she loves, and be reasonably sure that everyone will be in one piece by the time we get back.

Besides… Jay and I could see them from where we were.

Win-win!

Overall, we really enjoyed Mara. The food was pretty good. The Zebra domes were HEAVEN…and there was a decent variety of food choices. Last year we had never set foot in Roaring Fork…which is like…a closet…compared to Mara. Jay and I found this to be very convenient and helpful during our stay at AKL. The set up is fairly open and we never felt it was too crowded. ( of course this is at the end of August…it may get squishy during other times of the year!)

We ended up getting the kids some rotisserie chicken and apple sauce and grapes and carrots (how’s THAT for healthy?!) and some water for Teddy and milk for Sally. Jay and I got a chicken something or other…at that point Jay was so starving he would have eaten pretty much anything. (I was surprised that he held his temper in check over the room thing considering that he was way past starving and well into homicidal at the time. Good job Jay!! ;) )

We got everyone situated…purelled our hands, got napkins in laps, and reminded the kids (teddy) that manners rules still applied while at Disney. I’m sure they were thinking “LET US EAT ALREADY YOU OBSESSIVE WOMAN!!!” But they listened to my before eating spiel like little angels. Hey, I’ve already admitted to be bossy and obsessive. No surprise here!

*ahem*

Once we declared everyone ready to eat, the kiddies dived into their food with gusto! Sally’s spirits improved with every bite. She is so very much like her daddy in that respect. She gets flat out crabby when her blood sugar dips. Teddy gets a headache…and then passes out…never tells anybody he’s hungry…just turns into a rag doll out of the blue. Man, these kiddos keep us hopping I’ll tell y’all what! We have to be one step ahead to keep them upright and grouch free!

Funny how kids will do that to you!

notice all the napkins in front of Teddy!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2841.jpg

Sally took this one. She LOVED the giraffe!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2842.jpg

So…we ate and improved our dispositions. I love to people watch in these situations. It’s not hard to tell who has been there for a while and who is just arriving. I get a kick out of watching families interact. Jay laughs at me when I people watch. He says I eyebrow arch from time to time b/c I’m “mentally parenting”.

Moi? Never…

:flower3:

After we gorged, everyone felt tremendously better. Teddy was rarin to swim. Unfortunately we had nearly two hours to wait before our room would be ready. No matter. We had a lot to explore in that time!! We needed to get the lay of the land!

So we cleaned up our table…(Sally wiped both tables down AGAIN with one of her anti bacterial wipes…I don’t know WHERE the child gets that…:rolleyes1 ) and headed off in search of adventure!

up next: A hunting expedition, retail therapy and a whole new view!

Normangirls

02-27-2009, 03:45 PM

Thanks for the fix before the weekend, MissCammie!

KittyKat08

02-27-2009, 03:48 PM

Ahhh! The real adventures of your family finally begins. :thumbsup2

Sorry about the "Drama" with the room, I felt like I was right there with you guys when you opened the door. Your writing is fantastic and I get totally absorbed in your TR's.

Can't wait for more and lots more pictures as well! "hint, hint" ;)

SomedayI'llBe

02-27-2009, 04:03 PM

Ah! A Miss Cammie trip report! My weekend just improved...

Fluffypants

02-27-2009, 04:21 PM

OH NO! Not icky smoke in the room!!!! In the immortal words of my favorite writer . . . QUACK!!!! :mad:

So sorry to hear about your loss of savanna view. But I am such a believer in Disney Magic, I am going to hold out hope that somehow they found one for you, or that they made it up in a similarly fabulous way. :wizard:

Had to laugh at your quest for Mara. Reminds me of our stay there last year - we did the same thing! On the first day, it seems like you'll never find it! :rotfl:

Looking forward to the next chapter!!! It's refreshing to see that, even though they look so much more grown up this year, Sally & Teddy are still Sally & Teddy. popcorn::

SunnieRN

02-27-2009, 06:28 PM

Sally is quite the photographer! The picture she took of the window was very artsy! Way to go Sally!
So, just curious. Since you are going back earlier this year did you buy into DVC?

Dixielady908

02-27-2009, 06:35 PM

Thanks for the installment....looking forward to the rest of your trip!:goodvibes

Northern Disney Girl

02-27-2009, 06:35 PM

Wow! You were serious about getting this TR going, weren't you? :thumbsup2 Awesome chapter MissCammie! I am on the edge of my seat wanting more! :cool1:

Backstage_Gal

02-27-2009, 07:09 PM

Love your writing. So sorry about the room mess. Thanks for another chapter so quickly!:thumbsup2
Looking forward to the whole ten day report. popcorn::

carri5317

02-27-2009, 07:09 PM

Yea! Another Installment! I can't wait to hear how the room turns out!

addictedtothemouse

02-28-2009, 05:51 AM

I hope that since you didn't get a SV room you got refunded the amount that you paid.

Hedy

02-28-2009, 08:33 AM

I'm sorry about the room, I know how you were looking forward to the Savannah view.

PrncessA

02-28-2009, 09:16 AM

I love you photo editing!!!

Sorry about the room mess!! Great update!

Loafmastermom

02-28-2009, 11:33 AM

Very nice! popcorn::

saralexander97

02-28-2009, 11:36 AM

Playing musical rooms dosen't sound fun at all!! Glad they were able to accomodate you guys with a new room. Lovin the TR you are a very descriptive writer, I feel like I'm there with you. Can't wait to hear more.

figment52

02-28-2009, 07:17 PM

YIPPEE!!!!!!!

Miss Cammie is back.

I can't wait for more.

I love reading your TR's. Keep it coming.

twob4him

02-28-2009, 08:49 PM

Hey, you started again! :cool1: I was already laughing by line 4! Enjoying it all! Sorry about the room situation but it appears you handled it well...better than me I tell ya! :hug:

SplashMom

03-01-2009, 08:56 AM

I'm so happy you are back! We loved AKL and I'm sure you will enjoy it--but I can't wait to read more. :goodvibes

thelittlemermaid83

03-01-2009, 09:00 AM

More More..... ;)

PrincessCaitlin

03-01-2009, 10:55 AM

I'm in popcorn::

CoP Luv

03-01-2009, 02:31 PM

Great installment! Love the pictures from Sally's view! I love that you were "mentally parenting"! I think I already do that I have no children to speak of! :rotfl:

Sleeping*Beauty

03-01-2009, 03:26 PM

Wow! That was a very interesting check-in. I can't wait to try some zebra domes.

29apr00

03-01-2009, 07:15 PM

wow how crappy about the smoky room! that would have ruined the start of my vacation too! Good for Jay for letting them have it! :mad:

As to Sally's emotional roller coaster ride lately.... :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: POor girl can't catch a break. (but i sooooo feel for you when she hits PMS time! :rotfl: )

GRUMPY D

03-01-2009, 08:32 PM

first glad you back and sorry you had a check in we hope your trip got better and second I know what your going throw with sally :scared1: trust me tell jay to build teddy a tree house or fort in the back yard so he has a safe place to go to get away from his sister I did it and it made my life sooo much better, you just can't explain things like this to little brothers

scrapbookingpro

03-02-2009, 01:21 PM

Miss Cammie, I just checked in and I was so thrilled to find two new chapters!!! I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip :)

Lovemy3babes

03-02-2009, 01:52 PM

The cigar smoke would have had me fuming too. Gag. I hope the room they moved you too is even better!

I have a soon to be 10 year old too. We are really dealing with emotions and drama as of late. Gotta love it. ;)

luckylady

03-02-2009, 02:24 PM

EWww I really hope someone got a heafty bill in the mail for having to clean that room of the smell. We stayed at AKL concierge (hmmtalk about good food)and loved it. Ready to read some more.

sherry_car

03-02-2009, 02:39 PM

Great writing! I can feel your excitement! And your mood! (I'm from Houston, so I definately understand the fear of hurricanes). Can't wait to read the rest of your story. We are planning to stay at AKV in the fall, so I'm really anxious to see what you thought of the resort.

triplejen

03-02-2009, 04:18 PM

The cigar smoke would have had me fuming too.

Love it!

bedillamouse

03-02-2009, 06:15 PM

Ugghhhh....I'm subbed to this thread and it didn't send me an email saying you had posted. So I find this out and find out not only have you posted...you've done two!!! As you say QUACK!!!! But it's a nice way to spend Monday evening!

Sorry about the room! that's awful! If it stilled smelled and the butts were still there then??? hmm whatelse was still there? Yikes! I hope they gave you guys a refund on loosing the view!!!

Looking forward to more!

sunnyday123

03-03-2009, 01:08 PM

so sorry to hear about the room.....I def think they should've still got you into a Savannah room, with out moving 84 hundred times!

And if you think 10 is bad.....:scared1:

Wait till 11. It's one giant PMS fest. You never know how they are going to react.

Brer Shay

03-03-2009, 01:52 PM

So glad to see the beginning of your report (really glad you found your notes!) Can't wait to hear more of your adventures.

One small request, if possible. Could you please put a link on your first post to each of the updates you put in? You have many fans here and sometimes it's hard to find the pages with your posts.

jenb1023

03-03-2009, 04:11 PM

You are flying through this TR now!

I am so glad to know that I am not the only one that thinks Roaring Forks at WL is a tiny little cave. We were much happier at Mara!

That is horrible about the smoky room! I can just picture how mad/upset Sally must have been. You must have been so disappointed to lose your savannah view - I know I would have been. We really enjoyed AKL - I hope everything there got better.

Looking forward to the next update whenever you have time to write it!

CampbellScot

03-03-2009, 04:16 PM

okay seriously...this chapter is a snore. I apologize. It's mostly pictures. But in my defense I was so tired during this time that I didn't take in nearly as much I ordinarily might have. so...sorry. yawn snore. I will do my utmost to get a more fun chapter up soon.

:goodvibes

-----------------------------------------------------------------
When last we met, the Campbellscot's had just finished up their lunch and headed out into the wilderness that is Animal Kingdom Lodge!

We needed to scout out the place that was to be our home for the next ten days!

The best part was...it was NOT raining. At all.

LOOKIT!!! Blue SKY!!! I have PROOF!!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2957.jpg

I don't think we really had any particular destination in mind. We just wandered and saw what we saw. Which kind of worked for us...b/c we were tired...and it was good to let Teddy run hither and yon exclaiming over everything.

That is one thing about Teddy that I hope he never loses. Every new discovery is so exciting...I can't tell you how many times that child has run up to me with a rock in his hand exclaiming "MissCammie! Look at THIS rock...isn't it so cool?" To me it's a rock...like the dozens I remove from his pockets DAILY before they go into the laundry.:rolleyes: To Teddy it's an amazing discovery with a story behind it...he'll elaborate on the cool rock with something like "Look at the way it's shaped...and colored...and it looks like it got broken over here and maybe a Mammoth STEPPED on it and it's a PREHISTORIC rock..."

:lmao:

He's all about the journey that boy!

Sally was content to hold her daddy's hand while we walked. She was checking things out...cautious and careful to the very end!

Our first discovery was...guess what...my FAVORITE...yep...DUCKS!!

Teddy was the first to spot them and called out "Lookit MissCAMMIE!!! It's WILD DUCKS!!! Your FAVORITE!!!"

Wild indeed.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2846.jpg

they looked a lot like the fatty fat ducks that live in the park near our house...the ones who are so wild that they will come over and sit on your shoe until you give them some bread.

:lmao:

Sally cracked me up a bit b/c she rolled her eyes and said "Those are just regular ducks...that probably just flew in here b/c they smelled the food or something..."

still letting go of the grouchies it seems...

Sally was a bit more jazzed about the next animal we saw. She heard Teddy shout "GIRAFFES!!!!" and that was it...she looked up at her dad and Jay said "GO, check it out!" She was off and running. The Disney magic was starting to seep in.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2854.jpg

after that Sally was romping around like she owned the place!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2947.jpg

I love this picture of Teddy...little man on a long journey!:laughing:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2945.jpg

I gotta say...I was really digging Animal Kingdom Lodge so far! In terms of theme...this place rocked our socks off! I hope everyone stays at AKL at least once in their Disney adventures...it's a sight to see!

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2937.jpg

Rocking Chairs!!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2935.jpg

Flamingos...or Flamindos as Teddy pronounces it...even though he THINKS he is saying Flamingo. It drives Sally crazy that he can't hear the difference. It's just another darling Teddy-ism.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2844.jpg

The kiddies really were enjoying their explorations. It was a new Disney experience for Jay and me as well. We'd never been down to these parts before. Cool as it was though...it was HUMID as all get out. I was starting to wilt. I really wanted our room. Time was really crawling along. We had an ADR for Chef Mickey's...our first night Tradition!! I wanted to have time to get settled...let the kids swim...get everyone showered and gorgeous...without having to rush around like crazy people!

I asked Jay how much longer.

another hour and a half...

:headache:

Little bits of rain started to fall here and there. We decided to head inside before Fay made another appearance and soaked us all. I was already struggling to keep my Disney smile in place...having to walk around in wet jeans would be the end of me!

As we herded the kids back towards the resort, Teddy had to stop and exclaim over a little frog..."Lookit my frog! His name is Steve...He's an amphibian! Do you think he knows he lives at Disney? Like if his family moved here when he was little because they like it b/c it's wet here?"

undoubtedly.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2960-1.jpg

Before Teddy had the opportunity to even contemplate putting that little frog in his pocket, I informed him that he needed to let Steve return to his family...they were probably waiting for him to get home so that they could go swimming...or take the monorail to Magic Kingdom...

"MissCammie...Frogs don't TAKE the monorail to places. They hop."

obviously...

:teacher:

Teddy searched for the perfect spot to return Steve to the wild. Along the way he spotted a lizard...and worried that the lizard might EAT Steve. So he settled on an out of the way of lizards area to let him go...but just couldn't decide...

JUST before I had to start counting...as I am NOT a fan of hemming and hawing...at all...Sally saved the day. She generously offered to let the frog go FOR Teddy.

He agreed. He so hates to let go of new friends.

As sweet as Sally was being...I know that she also wanted to go inside and figured she'd just take over...in a nice way...which I actually appreciated b/c I was ready to head inside as well.

Thanks Sal!

Sally freeing Steve...up high...hope he wasn't afraid of heights!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2965.jpg

sad as Teddy was to see Steve go...he was immediately revived as we walked by the pool!

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2835.jpg

The rain drops got fatter as we headed towards the Lodge. It was time to go inside and engage in some retail therapy!

but before I go, a couple more pictures...b/c I SO meant for this chapter to be mostly pictures...it was all part of the plan.

it was.

seriously.

*ahem*

;)

Teddy wondered if that was the "KINGS room"...:confused3 :lmao:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2936.jpg

MORE rocking chairs!!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2933-1.jpg

okay...new chapter up soon...hopefully more fun.

:goodvibes

jham

03-03-2009, 04:38 PM

Lovely chapter! I enjoyed all the photos! I have only been to AKL for a dinner at Boma and wish I'd taken more time to explore! I :love: the rocking chairs! That Teddy is too funny with all his wisdom and knowledge. Retail therapy is good for the soul! Well, that and a Diet Coke! (or Diet Pepsi) :thumbsup2

Lovemy3babes

03-03-2009, 04:38 PM

I love pictures so bring 'em on Miss Cammie! I hope you guys get into your room soon. :)

jenb1023

03-03-2009, 04:41 PM

I finally posted my reply to the last update and here you go updating again. I did not think it was a boring chapter at all! I loved all of the AKL photos - they reminded me of our trip and I agree everyone should try to stay there once if they can - it is an amazing resort. Teddy and Steve cracked me up!

WDW Fan

03-03-2009, 05:34 PM

As usual, two great updates Miss Cammie!!! Sorry you had such a bad experience with the first room.:sad2: We had a cigarette smell in our room at Pop Century back in 2004. At that time I think they allowed cigarettes to be smoked in rooms that were designated as "Smoking" rooms. When we opened the door to our "Non-smoking" room a blast of stale cigarette smell hit us. We were traveling with another couple and wanted the rooms next to each other, and since there were no other available rooms close to theirs, we agreed to keep it if they could get rid of the smell. They put this fan in our room for the three nights that we were there and the smell was pretty much gone by the second day. It was very disappointing though that we had to have that fan in the room. I was so annoyed that someone hadn't followed the rule of not smoking in this "non-smoking" room. (rant over):rolleyes: I hope it all worked in your favor in the end. I can't wait to hear what happened next.:thumbsup2

Sleeping*Beauty

03-03-2009, 05:44 PM

I have to agree with Sally giraffees are very exciting.

arielchickenofthesea

03-04-2009, 09:56 AM

Lovin' the trip report! We leave for WDW April 13th...I can't wait...living vicariously through your report until then! :)

nessz79

03-04-2009, 11:27 AM

Just found your report and I'm loving it! Darling kids :)

29apr00

03-04-2009, 03:42 PM

Aw!! :lovestruc Teddy's so sweet with his frog Steve! :rotfl:

twob4him

03-04-2009, 04:26 PM

It's so exciting to arrive in Disney and just walk around and breath the air and be amazed that the trip is finally upon you!! Love all of the wildlife! I noticed that the fence doesn't go all the way around by the lodge. It technically looks as if the animals could walk right upto the balconies! Wow. Can you imagine a giraffe sticking his head in your room??? :rotfl2:

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2937.jpg

Love that the kids are warming up to the sights. And I hate to say it, but I said the exact same thing to my friend about the ducks in MK. I said, I wonder if they know they are in Disney and come here on purpose! I think Teddy is a kindred spirit!!! :goodvibes

Loafmastermom

03-04-2009, 09:59 PM

Did you ever notice that the giraffes at Disneyworld look so much cleaner than the ones at the zoo? They look so faded at the zoo in comparison.

coffeehousemom

03-05-2009, 09:58 AM

Ya Miss Cammie gave us 3 updates!! Totally made my week!!

I feel your pain with the "prepms" with Sally I am haveing my own issues w DD10. I swear she is on an emotional rollercoaster & merry go round at the exact same time.

Can't wait for more!!:cool1: :cool1:

karriemouse

03-05-2009, 10:33 AM

I wasn't registered when you did your last trip report so I lurked and enjoyed it sooooo much. :thumbsup2

Now I find a new one - yippee!!!!! :yay:

Love Teddy and Steve - I can just see my animal loving DD9 doing the same thing!

Fluffypants

03-06-2009, 01:33 PM

I loved this chapter! The pictures were great! I swear, reading about Sally & Teddy brightens up even the crabbiest day. A frog named Steve - priceless! :lovestruc

CampbellScot

03-06-2009, 03:18 PM

Hey y'all!! I am trying to be a bit more prompt with the chapters! I so appreciated all the nice comments. I read them all I just haven't had the time to reply just yet. The schedule hasn't slowed down *THAT* much! soon I hope!!! Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once we set Steve free, it was time head indoors...to the air conditioning. i was fixing to fall down dead if we didn't get out of the sticky ick air that I could feel sliding past my face as I walked. Ick. That kind of air makes everything feel damp...which is almost as irritating as being wet...which I do NOT like.

didn't Florida know I was coming?!

:confused3

*ahem*

Once inside there was really only one place to go to keep young minds stimulated without the use of a television...which I DO try to limit...especially on vacation. Never mind the fact that if we'd sat down, I'd have been OUT in seconds flat. I don't think any of y'all will be surprised to know that I am not a big fan of open air public sleeping. Talk about no control. It did not help that I went to a college in which fraternity brothers found it HILARIOUS to draw all over people when they made the most unfortunate choice to fall asleep anywhere but in a bedroom...with permanent marker...sharpies to be exact...usually green. Aren't fraternity pranks funny. ha ha. ha...

:rolleyes:

OR the time my older sister went to a slumber party and was the first one to fall asleep. The MEANEST girl in the WORLD...you know who you are...TABITHA LOUISE DAVIS...*ahem* stuffed potato chip crumbs up my sisters nose and she ended up with PNEUMONIA b/c she got a potato chip in her LUNG.

seriously...people are evil. I mean, who does things like that?! If my sisters or me had EVER treated a guest in our home that way...well we never would have. There would have been torture and bread and water involved...

wait...what were we talking about?

OH yes...trip report...SO...we did NOT sit...we found our way to the Zawadi Marketplace and got our shopping groove on!!!

:cool1:

This place was AWESOME. It was huge and colorful and filled with all the bright and wonderful things that so attract Sally and me to shopping! Sally is a Magpie and loves sparkles of any kind...lots of that here...there were framed paintings and prints and books (my fAVORITE thing to shop for EVER), tons of clothes and bags and all manner of African crafts and knickity knack stuff. Not to mention the abundance of Disney loveys (as I tend to call them...stuffed animals were loveys to me when I was little...I still call stuffed animals loveys...even though the children mock me...little urchins!). There were tons of Mickey Ears...and Minnie Ears...and hats of all shapes and sizes. There was also a very decent display of PINS!!! The kiddies did not know this yet, but Jay and I had gotten them both pin starter sets. We created a shrewd little pin trading monster in Sally by the time this trip was done. As I am also a packrat of the highest order, pin trading...well more collecting...was very much an activity I was happy engaging in!

The Zawadi Market was pretty much Disney HEAVEN!! Especially for weary travelers who only just arrived and needed a bright colorful shot of Disney Magic!

I am fairly sure I heard Jay groan as we entered the large space of shopping and browsing excess! He was a good sport though...and is actually VERY helpful on shopping trips!

Before I let anyone disperse, I reminded both the kids NOT to put hats on their heads...until MissCammie had done a once over with my pocket sticky roller.

what?

bugs are NOT our friend.

Doesn't everybody do this?

:confused3

*ahem*

The kids promised and Jay laughed. I also reminded both kids to stay where they could see me or Daddy. Another round of promises...

and away they went.

Sally giving Stitch a cuddle...apparently she's forgiven him for the chili dog burp incident from last summer...
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2878.jpg

Bags and tees!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2879.jpg

on this particular trip I took A LOT of pictures of the different shops. Pictures of the merchandise and pictures of the stores in general. I never realized just how much is going on over our heads in the stores. There are some amazing displays. It's a whole level of magic I missed b/c I was always looking around but never up! I highly recommend making it a point to really look at the displays that tend to be up near the ceiling when you are in the stores. It adds to the magic y'all! Really. I was amazed.

Fun animal print dishes!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2888.jpg

Wild animal loveys! The crocs and the tigers are pillow pals!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2890.jpg

Sally is a Disney Bride!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2898.jpg

and a princess...bride...:laughing:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2894.jpg

This excess of Disney marketing was the final push for cautious, careful Sally to become Disney Sally. Each minute that passed was another minute that Sally relaxed a little bit more. The room filled with cigar smoke was no longer THAT big a deal. She wasn't worrying about what would come next, what problems might arise, what bad thing may be lurking around the corner...she was just Sally...the carefree nine year old girl who delights in sparkly shoes and pretending to be a bride or a princess...and it's all okay. Whatever it is, it's okay...because we are at Disney...and it doesn't matter if it's raining or our plans aren't exactly perfect...we made it to Disney. We were all standing inside our dream, we were all together and it was okay to smile and breathe deep and just be.

I loved watching her. Sally is often the one who reminds me why we come here.

At one point I was taking a picture of Sally and Jay together...both facing the camera and smiling. At the last second she turned and threw her arms around Jay and said "Thank you Daddy for Disney. I am so happy here!"

I was glad to have captured the moment. (I know the glasses are wonky...couldn't un-wonk them!) Of course Jay is talking...when he is supposed to be smiling...and NOT talking...it's not a video Jay!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2931-1.jpg
notice too that Jay was wearing his anniversary button! He's very committed to the anniversary button!

Let's not forget about Teddy, who is always a joyful soul! He was greatly enjoying his findings. He proceeded to find the NOISIEST thing possible and he went. to. town.

I knew as soon as I heard the noise that it was Teddy. I let him make his noise...for about 10 seconds...about five seconds longer than I normally allow. I turned toward the noise with full intention to STOP it...but I saw that Jay was of a similar mindset as he was already on his way over to redirect Teddy to a less obnoxious pursuit.

Now y'all...don't judge. I know he's a little boy and they have a tendency to be noisy. And that's fine...but there is a time and a place for noise. Inside an enclosed space in a store or anywhere else there are other people is NOT the time or place. Even at Disney. After ten seconds, whatever noise that is being made is just obnoxious and unnecessary and inconsiderate to fellow shoppers. I realize in this day and age there is a "He's a child let him do as he pleases" philosophy. I don't buy that. At all. Neither does Jay. Kids need to be respectful of others...which they are capable of doing by age 3!

*MissCammie steps off her soapbox*

*ahem*

AND As Teddy's wicked step mother, it is my job to ruin all his fun and stop obnoxious noise making.

that's called setting limits.

and being wicked.

which is my favorite thing.

:thumbsup2

I was much pleased when Teddy decided on a much less noisy endeavor.

Being a lion!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2919.jpg

or Stitch! (which SO fits Teddy's personality. If he was a Disney cartoon he would be Stitch HANDS DOWN!) Notice Sally in the background!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2925.jpg

Sally got in on the act too...(my sticky roller was MUCH smaller by the time we left! But we didn't have any head bugs join us on our trip!) wooHOO!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2921.jpg

Seriously...Sally was a walking talking billboard for Disney merchandise! She walked around the store in princess ears and lion heads...she carried tote bags as she wandered. It was pretty cute. Mostly b/c in the real world Sally would NEVER ever do anything in public that would draw attention to her in any way. At all. Disney Sally can relax and just be a kid.

at one point Jay took the camera from me as Sally was presenting me with a pair of Minnie Bride ears. Hmmm...conspiracy...I like to be the BOSS of picture taking...I'm not a very good picture subject. I only include this picture b/c Sally looks so cute...and brown. Look at that child compared to my white Irish self...and that is with an airbrush spray tan that I paid way too much for! There is just no tanning this pale Irish girl. AT all.
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2927-1.jpg

The kids really had a wonderful time in Zawadi Marketplace. As much as we love and adore our precious Wilderness Lodge, even Sally had to agree that Zawadi Marketplace had one up on The Mercantile at WL.

Finally FINALLY it was time for our room...our new and better be smoke free room...was cleaned and ready for us!

Just in time too...b/c the kids Disney money was starting to burn a hole in their mental pockets (b/c Daddy carries the money!) and they were beginning the "Can I buy this...with my money or your money" dance. We'd made a rule when the trip started that our first few days we would LOOK and MissCammie would write down (Naturally!) whatever fabulous thing was desired. Later on we would come back to it if the object was still very much wanted.

Sally surprised me by asking if she could open the door again. It's that Disney air she was breathing...b/c I was 110% sure that Sally wouldn't go anywhere NEAR our room (never mind the door!) until we had all been issued HAZMAT suits and the place had been scouted and scoured and totally sanitized.

But Sally was feeling good. She was feeling brave. She was willing to forgive and ready to try again.

Jay handed her the room card and we set off in search of our room!

Marching bravely into the unknown!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2971.jpg

Disney feet in the elevator! (Jay gets after ME for poor posture...um hello pot, I'm Kettle...!)
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2973.jpg

Our room was a bit of a hike...long hallways...elevator ride...twists and turns...but it wasn't bad once we got the hang of our route. As we walked Teddy commented that this was like hiking...but inside...with no bugs!

:rotfl:

indeed Teddy!

finally finally we made it to our room. Sally literally got down on her knees and sniffed under the door!:rotfl2:

Once she was satisfied that there was no smoke, she put the card in the lock and opened the door.

then she jumped backwards like there was fire in the room and said,

"okay...MissCammie you can check. We'll wait in the hall."

thanks.

I did just that.

There was no smoke.

YAY!!

from the hallway Sally called out "Are you using the Lysol wipes now? And the spray? Don't forget the spray!"

seriously...I don't know WHERE she gets this odd germ phobia.

I don't.

at all.

*ahem*

Although I was fairly certain this room was super extra cleaned...less than five minutes ago, I did indeed wipe down...pretty much everything. I started with the remote for the TV and the phone. Ugh...y'all don't even want to IMAGINE the colonies of disgustingness that live on phones and tv remotes.

When I'd done a good once over, I declared the room ready to enter.

Teddy came bouncing in first.

He was thrilled to find a Towel Mickey Head on the big bed!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2977.jpg

Sally trailed in after her daddy...sniffing away at the air. I gave her half and eyebrow arch and said,

"Sally...this room is clean...like Daddy cleaned it clean. It is completely sanitized and germ free and no one has EVER ever smoked anything in this room. EVER. So that means you can stop worrying about what happened before...or even thinking about it. We're not going to give rule breaking smokers one second of our vacation. Got it?"

Sally thought it over.

Then gave a very bright smile and pretended to throw away her worry into the garbage can.

"Good Girl...now check out that bed kiddo!"

She scooted up the ladder onto the top bunk. She bounced around a little and declared it good.

Teddy was happy with his bed as well. Next thing I know, he's running over to the sliding glass doors. I was bracing myself for the disappointed questions of "Where are the animals?!"

What came out of his mouth was a high pitched squeal of excitement!!

"WE CAN SEE THE POOL!!!!!!"
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2980.jpg

seriously. He was over the moon happy to be able to see the pool. He did a little happy dance where he stood.

I love Teddy. He can always make lemonade out of lemons.

Sally followed after him and was equally delighted with the view of the pool! She whipped around and asked when they could go swimming!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2978.jpg

Teddy gave another cry of delight and said "A ZEBRA!!"

what? where?

I mean OF COURSE! Didn't I promise animals outside our room? No promises broken here! All was well. see how things work out? yay!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2981.jpg

I was incredibly relieved that the kids were so thrilled with our view of the pool. I honestly didn't care either way as long as there was no smoke in the room. We had been refunded for the loss of the view AND given an envelope that contained $100 Disney dollars. (which we had not opened until we got to the room. I thought it was more paperwork type stuff...boy was I wrong!) Wow. Jay is always really uncomfortable with that sort of thing. He is never looking to get more than he paid for or expected. He just wants things to be the way they are supposed to be. In his reasoning, Disney Dollars did not make up for the distress caused to his daughter...to all us. He doesn't want money for "our inconvenience". He doesn't want there to be any inconvenience in the first place! So, in all his Type A glory, he was about to leave the room to return the Disney dollars...but before he could get out the door I tackled him to the ground, put him in a headlock and ripped the envelope out of his hand. Then I thumped him on the head for being bull headed and shouted in his ear "ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

Okay...I didn't really do that. but I DID stand in front of the door and stomp a little bit on his foot...for emphasis.

here's why.

I understand Jay's thought process. I agree that Disney Dollars don't make up for the earlier distress...but dang it we lost our view of the animals through no fault of our own...there was disgusting smoke in our room...and the kids had been upset...but they had handled themselves and the disappointment very well. I thought it would go a long way with Sally to see that sometimes when people are flexible and able to handle change in a polite and controlled way...there can be pixie dust as a result. Not always...but sometimes being polite can have unexpected benefits. And really...if people are going to hand over a little pixie dust, I say we gather it up and use it while we are inside the magic!

Jay made a face at me...but he knew I was right.

naturally!

So...to recap...we arrived at Animal Kingdom Lodge. There was a nasty surprise...tears...animal explorations...a frog named Steve...some retail therapy...a pool view...lots of smiles...a teeny bit of violence...and some pixie dust.

I'd say our Disney vacation was officially started!

jham

03-06-2009, 03:44 PM

Aaaahh, thanks for the shopping trip! I LOVE shopping! Even if it is just through photos...on a TR. I love Teddy as a lion. He looks very cool! Sort of like a Lovey. A photo of Miss Cammie! :cool1: I'm glad the new room was up to par and with a pool view for the kids! I would've been worried about dissapointing kids with the loss of the animal view too, I'm pretty sure my kids would also have been just as thrilled with a pool view. They often see swimming as the highlight of a vacation!:rotfl:

ETA: Hey! I'm first again! I don't actually spend ALL day on the computer, I swear!

sss

03-06-2009, 03:51 PM

We call stuffed animals loveys too!

MickeyReeds

03-06-2009, 03:51 PM

Great update! You may have heard this before, but you have an incredible writing talent. I am a teacher, and I think you should write books! Your style is easy to read and very interesting! Have a great weekend!

kathymc

03-06-2009, 03:56 PM

Sorry you didnt get the view you wanted but happy that the kids were satisfied with the pool view

I LOVE Zawadi Marketplace and when we stayed at AKL everytime we got off a bus we would meander around there. I bought a wooden statue of a mother zebra and baby that is in my living room that reminds me of our stay there.

looking forward to more.

29apr00

03-06-2009, 04:00 PM

Yeah for getting a new smoke free room, great view of the pool, a Zebra chair :rotfl: and of course....PIXIE DUST!! Every vacation should start with pixie dust!

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

ProudMommyof2

03-06-2009, 04:28 PM

Awesome!!

LindaBabe

03-06-2009, 04:47 PM

Lovely - Thank you Miss Cammie!

addictedtothemouse

03-06-2009, 05:02 PM

Yea for pixie dust. pixiedust: And you're a great mom.

figment52

03-06-2009, 05:03 PM

I always love Miss Cammie's reports. I swear I am riding on their shoulders it becomes so real to me.

Life is good if Miss Cammie is writing. Can't wait for more.

Bibbidi

03-06-2009, 05:50 PM

Miss Cammie, I'm loving the frequent updates! I also love your germ phobia and the need to "wipe down" - I'm the same way--at least I'm not alone. Can't wait to read more.

Oh, and one thing I've wondered in the two times we've visited the AKL (never stayed there)---is there a way to get to the Mara restaurant without walking outside? We've loved how at WL you can take an elevator down and stay indoors to go to the Roaring Forks--but it seems at least at The Mara you have to go outside--am I crazy??

pezheadmeg

03-06-2009, 06:47 PM

Yay! :banana: :banana: :banana: 3 updates in a week, you rock Miss Cammie!

And no it's not strange to take pictures in stores I do it all the time. And it's not just the photos of set-ups that I do. I take pictures for artistic inspiration and reference.

triplejen

03-06-2009, 07:56 PM

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2927-1.jpg

AHEM. Would you care to explain the suspiciously YELLOW contents of the bottle in your hand?

Have I discovered an infidelity of a refreshment nature?

:-)

-Jen

Sleeping*Beauty

03-06-2009, 08:49 PM

Great update!!

I see that you have a new ticker. Do you care to elaborate??

lorispeck

03-06-2009, 10:37 PM

I love me some Sally 'n' Teddy! (and Steve!) :rotfl:

Thanks for brightening my days!

Backstage_Gal

03-06-2009, 11:31 PM

YAY for another great update, good shopping, and a good room!

Thanks for another update! Love your reports.

I do have ONE request though. Could you please add an update date to your title?

Thanks!

redsox721

03-07-2009, 09:08 AM

Love the trip report. The pictures are great. As someone else mentioned--Diet Coke is not yellow.

CoP Luv

03-07-2009, 10:19 AM

AHEM. Would you care to explain the suspiciously YELLOW contents of the bottle in your hand?

Have I discovered an infidelity of a refreshment nature?

:-)

-Jen

I saw that too!!! Are you giving up Diet Coke this year???!!!

Another great installment. Can't wait to read more!:thumbsup2

CampbellScot

03-07-2009, 12:32 PM

AHEM. Would you care to explain the suspiciously YELLOW contents of the bottle in your hand?

Have I discovered an infidelity of a refreshment nature?

:-)

-Jen

Hey everyone! I was reading through the responses and I have a couple of minutes between patients and wanted to answer what appears to be an oft noted theme in terms of my diet coke and did I give it up!:lmao: Y'all are an observant bunch!

The bottle I am holding with the yellow (gross looking if I might add) liquid is most certainly NOT mine! Teddy was wilting a bit earlier in the day, his blood sugar was low so we got a lemonade for Teddy and Sally to share. It did the trick for Teddy after a few sips...had we allowed him any more he'd have gone from wilted to OVERdrive. So I took control of the bottle. I had every intention of throwing it away but I hate hate hate to waste things. So I sort of held on to it for a while...kept making Jay drink it until it was nearly gone...and it made HIM a bit hyped up. He finally said "Babe I'm going to be SICK if I drink any more of this!" :rotfl2:

so no...I am still eternally loyal (aka addicted) to my beloved Diet Coke. There is a freshly cracked diet coke right here on my desk as a matter of fact!

and here comes my next munchkin...

thanks everyone so much for reading and all y'alls kind comments!

:goodvibes :goodvibes :goodvibes

twob4him

03-07-2009, 08:08 PM

Hahahaha...very observant group! I am so glad you got pictures of the inside of the stores...I just love seeing the merchandise and how they display it! Glad the new room met with approval! I hope you all take a nap or something soon....you gotta be tired by now! :goodvibes

shannn

03-08-2009, 06:22 PM

Bless your heart. It makes me so happy to hear someone say what I think. Yes, they're children, but they definitely can be respectful of others when they're inside. And that includes no loud noises and no running through stores. I have been accused of being the meanest.mommy.ever. but that's okay. I got that label today even because I wouldn't let my youngest go run in the sprinklers outside with our unsupervised neighbor children. It was 70 degrees -- not warm enough in my opinion. But I digress....

Thanks for your latest update. I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one expecting good manners from my children!

Vacation Lover

03-08-2009, 07:21 PM

Before I let anyone disperse, I reminded both the kids NOT to put hats on their heads...until MissCammie had done a once over with my pocket sticky roller.

what?

bugs are NOT our friend.

Doesn't everybody do this?

:confused3

Can't blame you one bit here. When my DD9 was 3 she tried on a Little Mermaid wig at our local Disney store. 10 days later she had a full blown case of lice! Coincidence? I think not!

newtodis

03-09-2009, 11:00 AM

Hey Miss Cammie!

I was one of those waiting for your TR to help get excited for our trip in Dec. Well, plans changed a bit and we went from AKL CL to a condo off site. Now your TR is like the trip we "could have" had. Our trip was great! (really it was!) but hearing how great your trip started and seeing the pictures makes me just want to go right now and book a room! Too bad Disney doesn't do something for referrals!:rotfl:

Thanks for the great TR - I can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip!!

WDW Fan

03-09-2009, 03:04 PM

What a great view you got after all the problems! You can't beat some free Disney Dollars either! It all worked out in the end;) Can't wait for more.;)

Nyla

03-11-2009, 05:18 PM

MissCammie, you're back!!! :eek: :banana:

Silly me just noticed! Woo-hoo!!!

Dixielady908

03-13-2009, 07:59 PM

Another great installment.....

looking forward to the rest....

Denise

CampbellScot

03-17-2009, 04:14 PM

Hey all! Just wanted to let y'all know that I'm writing away, I'm just having trouble with photobucket.:mad: We've been having some internet issues around these parts. It's hard to know when it will work and when it will freeze up. I had a word with our provider. I have been assured that they are aware of the problem and working feverishly to fix it.

sure.

:rolleyes:

anyhow...I haven't disappeared...just waiting for the pics!

Happy St. Paddy's day to all!!!:shamrock: :shamrock: :shamrock:

micandminforever

03-17-2009, 04:35 PM

Happy St. Paddy's Day.:shamrock: :shamrock: :shamrock: Looking forward to your next report.:

Bibbidi

03-17-2009, 04:46 PM

maybe you'll get some luck of the Irish on St. Paddy's day to help with your photobucket troubles. Looking forward to the next installment.

WDW Fan

03-17-2009, 05:26 PM

Looking forward to your next installment!!!:woohoo: Happy St. Patrick's Day:shamrock: :shamrock: :shamrock:

Lovemy3babes

03-18-2009, 03:38 PM

I love the photo of you and Sally. What pretty girls. :) Yay for $100 Disney Dollars!

LindaBabe

03-19-2009, 03:46 PM

It would be ok to add the photos later, Miss Cammie! Really it would! (I need words, Babe, WORDS!)

kwbrad

03-19-2009, 08:51 PM

I am coming out of lurkdom to say hello and I love your report! My hubby and I are taking our DS Will, who is almost 5, in August and we are staying in a savannah room with bunk beds (but please no cigar smoke!:eek: ) so I am having the best time reading your report. These boards are great!

Kelli

CampbellScot

03-19-2009, 10:29 PM

sorry things have stalled out everyone. I got some worrisome family news and I have to head home to Texas for a bit. I'll do my best to get some stuff up from home.

if anyone has a spare moment, prayers for health and healing would be much appreciated.

:goodvibes

AshleyMWC

03-19-2009, 10:44 PM

Prayers to you and your family! I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers very night :goodvibes

micandminforever

03-20-2009, 12:17 AM

Sending Prayers for health and healing.

redsox721

03-20-2009, 06:27 AM

Prayers on their way to you and your family. God be with you all.

thelittlemermaid83

03-20-2009, 07:40 AM

Sending you lots of prayers and pixie dust.

Nyla

03-20-2009, 08:10 AM

Keeping you and your family in my thoughts. :hug:

CoP Luv

03-20-2009, 09:41 AM

Lots of prayers heading your way! Hope everything works out for the best! :grouphug:

Fluffypants

03-20-2009, 09:48 AM

Hope everything turns out ok for you and your family.

figment52

03-20-2009, 11:10 AM

:grouphug: :flower3:

I hope all goes well in TX

Loafmastermom

03-20-2009, 11:15 AM

:hug:

jenb1023

03-20-2009, 11:22 AM

Prayers, good thoughts and pixie dust pixiedust: sent.

jakenjess

03-20-2009, 11:42 AM

Sending prayers your way. I hope all goes well.:grouphug:

29apr00

03-20-2009, 01:03 PM

Many positive thoughts for your family Miss Cammie!!

CampbellScot

03-20-2009, 07:35 PM

Thanks everyone for your good thoughts and prayers!! We got good news today!! I'm incredibly relieved and so grateful! (family member was diagnosed with cancer...found out today that it's very small and has not spread and the prognosis is very good! Surgery next week...doctor said it was "a snap"...let's hope he can back that up! I will most definitely be holding him to it!!)

I'm working on my TR on my laptop! Hopefully I'll get a chapter out in the next day or so!!!

thanks again everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers. They are much appreciated. They most definitely helped!! Keep em coming!

jham

03-20-2009, 07:43 PM

Glad the news was good. Lots of hugs and prayers for you and your family! :hug:

Angelrose

03-20-2009, 08:26 PM

Oh I'm so happy the news was good. Sending prayers on Angel wings to Texas anyway.

Christy LOVES Disney

03-20-2009, 09:53 PM

glad the news was okay. i dont know where in texas yall went but there are some amazing cancer centers here and to top off the good news you got good weather while you were here.

MaryAz

03-20-2009, 10:33 PM

Great news, answered prayers!

redsox721

03-21-2009, 06:34 AM

Great news. Prayers will continue that all goes well with the surgery next week.

karriemouse

03-21-2009, 07:55 AM

Sooooo glad that the news was better than feared - prayers continue! :hug:

DumboPrincess

03-21-2009, 09:58 AM

So glad to hear the update! Still sending prayers and pixie dust--and my DD added a "Father, Son & Holy Spirit" for you! :grouphug:

Hugs!

mejkjj97

03-21-2009, 11:45 AM

Glad to hear everything is better than first anticipated. Still sending thoughts and prayers.:grouphug:

LindaBabe

03-21-2009, 12:33 PM

Prayers for your family member, Miss Cammie. Any time the C word is said, it's scarey, no matter if it's 'tiny' and surgery doesn't feel like "a snap" to those who wait, unanethestized. Hugs to you.

PrincessMomto2

03-21-2009, 07:17 PM

I'm so glad you got good news! Keeping the prayers coming!

WDW Fan

03-21-2009, 07:46 PM

Prayers for your family. Hope all goes well.

micandminforever

03-22-2009, 11:27 PM

Continued Prayer.

GRUMPY D

03-23-2009, 12:13 AM

lots of prayer and :hug: love up on your family member they will need your love , hope , and support more now then what you know and tell your family never give up the fight

Fluffypants

03-23-2009, 09:04 AM

So happy to hear that!!! :banana:

kafitty

03-23-2009, 01:35 PM

pixiedust:

KittyKat08

03-23-2009, 03:59 PM

I'm so glad to hear that everything is okay. :hug:

ProudMommyof2

03-23-2009, 07:31 PM

Massive thoughts of good health and recovery sent your way!

CampbellScot

03-25-2009, 06:30 PM

Hey everyone,
Thanks so much for the prayer and good thoughts. I can't remember if I already posted this, but my cousin has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. It's scary but it's stage one. The doctor is hopeful and the prognosis is good. He has surgery on April 14 to remove the cancerous nodules.

he's hanging tough though.

I appreciate all the prayer though. Every little bit helps!

ALSO--
I am trying to put up another chapter and the disboards are being persnickity with me about it.

i'm trying though!

a few minutes I think!

:goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes

Bibbidi

03-25-2009, 06:41 PM

Cancer is so horrible, my dad is a stage 4 lung cancer patient--still kicking it after 3 years--I am so glad to hear your cousin is only stage 1. Continued prayers and well wishes!

buzzmom3

03-25-2009, 06:49 PM

My uncle just had surgery for the same thing on Monday. He is doing great! I am sending prayers your way.:grouphug:

Loafmastermom

03-25-2009, 11:20 PM

my mom just finished chemo for breast cancer (had surgery in December). it's such a scary beast. so happy the outlook is good for your family (and mine). :hug:

now where is that pesky update? :badpc:

popcorn::

Mom2apirate&princess

03-26-2009, 04:39 AM

Many prayers for your cousin and family.

redsox721

03-26-2009, 06:57 AM

Prayers will continue for your cousin and your family.

CampbellScot

03-26-2009, 05:21 PM

When last we met the kids had just discovered the wonderful view of the pool! Teddy was so thrilled! He ran out on to the balcony to see what he could see! Jay followed after to him…to make sure everyone stayed on the balcony…as opposed to jumping off in his excitement. (For those of you who don't know, or don't remember... last summer Teddy jumped over a railing from a third floor balcony while on a trip with his grandparents…he’d jumped b/c he saw a quarter and just “wanted it”. :scared1: Impulse control much? Thank the good Lord for cushiony shrubs! Anyhow…We will probably watch him like a hawk in any high place until he’s 21…and beyond!) It was sweet to watch Teddy with Jay…he was so excited. They bonded over high places and lizard watching!

What's over there?! A LIZARD!!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3001.jpg

Daddy it was THIS BIG!!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3002.jpg

Teddy finding the comfiest spot in the world!:lovestruc
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3005.jpg

Sally had stayed inside with me. She was checking things out!

Oh LOOK! Hey...wasn't that supposed to be a flat panel tv?!!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2983.jpg

Exploration and discovery…what a joy!

After we’d gone through the “look at this, look at that” tradition, it was time to get down to getting organized! AND we had one more Disney tradition to take care of. I picked up the very clean and sanitized remote and turned on the television…and who do you think we saw?!

That’s right…STACY!!!!!

Something about Stacy is so riveting…seriously, the kids…okay and me…and even Jay…can watch Stacy over and over. We’ve all seen the Stacy loop a million times. Even when I think of Stacy now, I get that giddy “we’re on vacation” feeling. Such is the power of Stacy! (even though her clothing choices might be *slightly* questionable...:laughing:) Teddy’s favorite part is when she is talking about places to eat in Epcot and says “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy…” He LOVES that. :lmao: It elicits his best laugh…the high pitched baby laugh that is nearly gone these days. I always know when it’s coming and I start laughing in anticipation. Stacy brings joy to all!

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_2995.jpg

Jay laid down on the bed and the kids climbed on after him and they all settled down to watch Stacy. Which was great b/c I needed to get BUSY! I had clothes to hang, outfits to organize…by day…shoes to organize. So much to do…I love it! Organizing Disney clothing is one of my favorite activities. It means we are at the very beginning of our vacation. Everything is stretched out before us and we are filled with happy anticipation. I really do love those beginning moments…making the room home.

Speaking of the room…I will just say that it seemed a teensy bit small. I think perhaps it was b/c the room was fairly dark in décor. Don’t get me wrong…I liked the room…and it certainly didn’t seem any smaller than our Savannah view room. :headache: lettingitgolettingitgo…*ahem* It just wasn’t very generous in terms of space. Oh well…we wouldn’t be in the room all that much anyhow. We are commando park people after all!

After about fifteen minutes of Stacy watching, Teddy couldn’t stand it another moment and wanted to know when they could swim!!!

“It’s sunshining MissCammie!! Lookit? See outside…how it’s sunny…and that means swimming!”

:rotfl:

He had a point. We didn’t know how long the break in the clouds would last! Both Teddy and Sally so love to swim…my little sea otters. Teddy has become an amazing little swimmer. He has no fear whatsoever…which is terrifying in and of itself…but he’s really capable in the water.

So…the munchkins threw on their bathing suits...with no arguing about cover ups from Sally! (I realize now that she was saving her energy for arguing to come...*sigh*) Even better…both kids have taken quite well to wearing Rashguards when they swim. Which is great b/c rashguards protects their little bodies from the sun and everyone is sufficiently covered up for my prissy self! I even got a “Rashguard Tee” for Jay. He was not about to wear a regular surfer style rashguard as they are skin tight and danged uncomfortable. So I found him a "Surf Tee". Which is exactly what it sounds like…rashguard material cut to look like a regular tee with spf 50 protection! Yay protecting pale Scottish skin!!!

With everyone suitably sunscreened and covered up, they were ready to troop out to the pool…without me! wooHOO!!

What? I was busy…I had to organize stuff…seriously…I did!

*ahem*

Once alone, I got busy in earnest.

I unpacked clothes, folded them and put them in drawers. I hung up the things that needed hanging and I organized shoes. I have a little bit of a shoe problem. Flip flops in particular…

flip flops and diet coke...is there anything better?! is it weird that I took a picture of this? :confused3:lmao:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3006.jpg

In anticipation for our trip, I had put together goodie bags for the kids! I was so excited! I had gotten them both pin starter sets! I had also gotten Sally a bunch of High School Musical stuff…a bracelet that said “I love Troy” and a Troy locket. I’d also gotten her a HSM lanyard. (unfortunately it was a silky ribbon type thing and not good for pin holding!) I’d found a bunch of pirate stuff for Teddy. I had gotten them both new PJ’s as well. The BEST thing though, was the custom tee shirts I’d had made for them!! (Actually made by a fellow Dis’er! StephRes, you do you AWESOME work!!!) Jay and I had also wanted to get the kids binoculars…as we had anticipated having animals to look at from our balcony…:headache:…I debated whether or not I should add them to the bags. They were really nice binoculars…not plastic-y toy binoculars…real ones, with some heft to them and some fairly good distance seeing ability! I added them to the bags and figured they could use them at some point!

As I was organizing I thought I was hearing my name from outside…but in all seriousness I thought I was hallucinating a little bit…from being tired…not crazy…*ahem*...so I went over to the “porch” as I always call outdoor extensions of houses or rooms that are not the ground. :laughing:

When I looked out I could see Teddy jumping up and down waving furiously at me from the “no entry” area of the pool! Sally and Jay gave a wave as well. I waved back, said a silent prayer of thanks that I was not wet…(YAY!) and went back to getting the goodie bags all situated!

Finally I felt that everything was in place, so I sat down on the bed and closed my eyes. I was one tuckered cowgirl! I was able to squeeze in a 15 minute power nap before the rain started up and the kiddies and Jay headed inside!

As they came bouncing and dripping into the room, Sally was the first to spot the pink bag on the bed with her name on it.

She gave me a sideways look and said “We get presents? At Disney? Isn’t Disney our present?”

:lovestruc

Sally is a such a good girl!

:thumbsup2

As Teddy headed over to the blue bag on his bed, Jay told the kids that we loved them and this was part of the Disney magic!!

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3007.jpg

One a side note...the cover up Sally is wearing in that picture was down below her knees just a year ago. Funny how kids grow! I took note of the fact that this was the absolute last summer she could wear that thing. It was almost to a “What’s the Point” length…know what I mean?! She’d be fine for our trip but the cover up was headed to the donate pile! (b/c I know everyone is SO interested, I just got Sally a new cover up last night…it’s the exact same thing except that it’s light pink and it hangs well below her knees!)

Sally was thrilled with her new High School Musical PJ’s…(she’s in to nightgowns lately…she feels that nightgowns are more grown up! She was equally thrilled with all her HSM gear that proclaimed her love for Troy! Although Sally did point out “MissCammie, there should be bracelets that say “I love Zac”…b/c Troy is just a character and Zac is a real person and that’s the one I love…”

:lmao:

She and “Zac” are on a first name basis apparently.

The other really big hit was the Safari Minnie shirt I’d had made for her. Sally held it up and gave the shirt a once over. I told her that I’d had that shirt made especially for her. Her eyes lit up and she said, “You mean this shirt is exclusive…and no one but me has one…in the whole entire DisneyWorld?”

:lmao:

"Yes indeed sweetpea...it's the only one in the world!"

Exclusive is a newer concept for Sally. It all started with the Webkinz craze and the many and varied “exclusive” pets and accessories one can find and acquire in the virtual world of Webkinz.. The idea that something is special and hard to find or custom made is a concept Sally is down with. She was flat thrilled that she had an exclusive shirt just for her. It made her feel special. There was also a matching hat to go with her shirt that was absolutely adorable. The shirts and accessories went over went over well!

Teddy loved his new shark PJ’s that came with a big squishy bath shark. He was also extremely impressed with his new shirt and shorts! He LOVED the binoculars! I believe he said, “I can look for LIZARDS now!”

Wildlife out the window after all…

Lettingitgolettingitgolettingitgo

Grrrrrrrr.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3009.jpg

He too was excited about his new Mickey Safari shirt. So excited in fact that he started stripping down right then and there so he could try it on!

That child loves to be nekkid.

I quickly directed him towards the bathroom as Sally made a big to-do about covering her eyes b/c it’s not polite to be naked in public!

:teacher:

Teddy did a quick fashion show so he could show off his new Safari gear!
This is for you Steph!!! LOVE IT!!:thumbsup2
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3010-1.jpg

Oh my so much excitement all at once! And we hadn’t even done anything yet! That was about to change though. We had ADR’s for Chef Mickey’s and it was time to get ready!!

next up...The rain rain rain came down down DOWN! (on the way to Chef Mickey's!!)

arielchickenofthesea

03-26-2009, 06:41 PM

Loving the updates! Getting me excited for our trip coming up in 3 weeks!

*We will be at the Contemporary for a week, then a 4 day cruise on the Wonder, then back to WDW for a week at the Polynesian! We are also going to do a day at Discovery Cove with the Dolphins again :) (we did it in 2006, it was so unbelievably cool!) and a day at Seaworld and we are doing the Beluga Whale Experience.
This is our Trip of a Lifetime! After this one, I am afraid we are going to be doing very few trips to WDW for awhile and mostly little short ones to Disneyland.
But I have never been on a cruise of any kind and we wanted to add it to this WDW Spring trip. We go to WDW every Spring to catch the Flower and Garden Festival and we love the non crowded conditions of that time of year. It USUALLY is better than other times of the year, from our past experiences.
So your report is making me antsy to get there and start the Disney magic and fun.:yay:
And this is hubbys 45th birthday trip, he will have his birthday at WDW on April 23rd. We are doing a California Grill dinner for him with some cast member friends and it will be so nice. I had already registered him at Disney.com for the birthday deal. But we have our passes for all the days, so I guess he gets a gift card! Fun!:banana: *

Anyway, cannot wait to hear more about your trip! You always have the best trip reports! Full of smiles and laughter and magic!~
Waitng patiently for the next installment!!!:surfweb:

And lots of prayers for your family!
Chick of the sea ;)

scrapbookingpro

03-26-2009, 06:41 PM

Great chapter Miss Cammie!!!
I LOVE Teddy's safari outfit! I have an almost 2 year old son and I have a VERY hard time finding super cute clothes for boys.
I can't wait to hear about Chef Mickey's!

Backstage_Gal

03-26-2009, 07:10 PM

Another great update! I'm sure Teddy had lots of fun with the binoculars.
I see you have another trip scheduled soon. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dixielady908

03-26-2009, 07:27 PM

great chapter.....

keep um comin Miss Cammie!!!!:)

saralexander97

03-26-2009, 08:31 PM

I am truly sorry to hear about the cancer scare. I am a nurse who takes care of patients post operatively esophageal surgery, and am glad to hear that it was caught early because those patients do great. On a different note, I love reading your TR, you are such a wonderful writer. I see you guys like the Teva's. Are they comfy? Because I thought about buying my boys a pair for our upcoming Disney trip. Cant wait to hear more!!!!:thumbsup2

jham

03-27-2009, 12:04 AM

I love the pictures of Teddy on the balcony with his dad! How sweet! My kids' favorite part of a vacation is usually swimming! I bought one of those "surf tees" for my DH! He gets sunburned all the time. :headache: I love the rainbow of flip-flops with a pack of Diet Coke at the end! :cloud9: Stephres shirts???? LUCKY!!! She rocks!

I LOVE porches!

That's funny that Sally thinks nightgowns are more grown up. I love her take on the coolness of exclusivity! :lmao: She should be a disboutiquer too! :rotfl:

Can't wait to hear about Chef Mickey's!

addictedtothemouse

03-27-2009, 02:43 AM

Great update. I can't wait for the CM update because we're going there for the first time on our first night.

jakenjess

03-27-2009, 08:32 AM

Great update! Sending prayers for your cousin's complete recovery.:hug:

Sally and Teddy are just so cute! How sweet of Sally to say, isn't Disney our present! That's awesome that she's so appreciative of your trips. I hope Teddy had a great time with the binoculars and saw lots of wildlife. I know exactly the feeling about unpacking at Disney, with the whole trip ahead. It's such a wonderful time.:goodvibes

Could you tell me where you found the Rashguard tee for Jay? We just got a Rashguard for DH but he wasn't thrilled with the way it fit so I think it's going back. The tee sounds more his style.

Looking forward to more!:goodvibes

Nyla

03-27-2009, 09:07 AM

Awesome update! I'm sending good thoughts and prayers out to your family. :hug:

We have our honeymoon coming up in September, and we're staying at AKL. Your report is definitely getting me excited! :woohoo:

Fluffypants

03-27-2009, 09:23 AM

Just when I thought Friday couldn't get any better . . . a new chapter!!! :wizard:

The pics are great - love the ones of Jay & the kids together, so sweet. Teddy reminds me of me when we go to Disney . . . everything is YAY!:cheer2:

Keep 'em coming. I won't be back there until December of 2010, and I am already starting to get the shakes!!!:scared:

Hope all is well with your cousin.

29apr00

03-27-2009, 11:01 AM

your chapters are so wonderful Miss Cammie!! I love the kids excitement about everything! :laughing: Sally and my daughter would get along well in their love for Zac! And Teddy looks so cool in his Mickey Leopard outfit!! WOO HO!!

No more rain! :headache:

jenb1023

03-27-2009, 11:54 AM

Woo-hoo an update!

I love the photo of Teddy on his Dad's lap!

I find it very funny that you managed to avoid the swimming pool again and will be waiting to see if you make it the whole trip with stepping foot in the pool.

We had a pool view room at AKL and loved it!

Love the StephRes shirts and how much Sally enjoyed the exclusivity. If you combine her love of exclusivity, sewing and her compassionate nature, I see a future member of the Big Give in the making!

I hope the rain doesn't put a damper on what looks like the beginning of a wonderful family trip!

Northern Disney Girl

03-27-2009, 12:44 PM

Oh Thank you so very much MissCammie! :goodvibes I really needed a good jolt of some Disney today! :cool1: Methinks that today will be much better now! :thumbsup2

I absolutely love how excited Teddy was to see that big ole lizard! Too cute! :)

Our family too loved watching Stacey over and over an over and over! It was the thrill of a lifetime when they actually got to meet Miss Stacey on the last day of our trip! :yay:She and her crew were in the MK filming a new episode and she was kind enough to come over and sign our girls autograph books and have her picture taken with them! She was very kind and authentic! :)

Loved the Chapter and can't wait to hear all about Chef Mickey's! :goodvibes

2manyprincesses

03-27-2009, 06:10 PM

. I have a little bit of a shoe problem. Flip flops in particular…

flip flops and diet coke...is there anything better?! is it weird that I took a picture of this? :confused3:lmao:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3006.jpg

Ummmm...are you on the DIS??? Well,then the easy answer for that is NO! :rotfl::rotfl:

I have been a Miss Cammie lurker for a long time. I always really enjoy reading about the adventures of the CampbellScott family. I see glimpses of my own children in yours and love to relive and remember those times. Such fun!

And for Miss Sally Rally, do I not remember her getting her very own sewing machine for Christmas?:rolleyes1 I think a cute pair of CarlaC's easy fits with a contrast cuff would be a great first project for you two! Just breathe deep, take the plunge, and know you can always pop over to the Disboutiquer's thread if you get stuck.

I booked Chef Mickey's for our first night too, for our trip coming up. I'm anxious to see how it goes for you! :flower3:

redsox721

03-27-2009, 10:23 PM

Teddy finding the comfiest spot in the world!:lovestruc
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3005.jpg

Love this picture.

SomedayI'llBe

03-28-2009, 04:18 AM

All right Miss Cammie... I'm addicted to the trip report. I love it. I'm enough of a loser to go back and read the old one from time to time...

And I love the updates! The picture of the flip flops are so cute- and Sally seems to be darker than last year!

But I do have one nagging question: Which sorority were you in? You mentioned it in your trip report last year, and I just have to ask. I'm an Alpha Chi Omega!

twob4him

03-28-2009, 09:00 AM

Waaaahoooo....I love getting organized too! I really am a vacation junky...even if I am not in Disney, I pretend we are.... and its just so much fun to have the vacation stretching out before you. Sorry about the room change and the rain but I see you are making the best of it!

Steph...the AK top and shorts rock girl! Love it!!! I can't wait to see what you made for Sally!

Can't wait for more, as usual, Miss Cammie! :thumbsup2

Katieinwonderland

03-29-2009, 12:58 PM

Miss Cammie, loving your updates! And please tell Sally she is SO not alone in her crush on Zac! I'm 23 and everytime I watch High School Musical (which is more often than any 23 year old should!), I get giddy!!

micandminforever

03-29-2009, 06:06 PM

I understand the urge to have everything lines up. I have to unpack and know were everything is before I can conquer Disney fully.

I look forward to your next installment.

kwbrad

03-29-2009, 06:36 PM

I understand the urge to have everything lines up. I have to unpack and know were everything is before I can conquer Disney fully.

I look forward to your next installment.

I am the same way. I always feel better and ready to go enjoy my vacation once I have unpacked and have everything squared away. I even asked on the AKL picture thread if someone had pics of the closet, so I can see how they are arranged and how big they are. Where is the "how pathetic am I" smiley when you need it??? :)
Kelli

ZOOMAMA

03-30-2009, 01:11 PM

flip flops and diet coke...is there anything better?! is it weird that I took a picture of this? :confused3:lmao:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3006.jpg
I have 3 of the same pairs of Teva's! The second and fourth pairs on the top row and the snazzy greens on the bottom :cool1:! Of course, I do have more Teva Mush than I have fingers or toes which makes it a little harder to be exclusive!

*DisMom*

03-30-2009, 02:22 PM

Thanks for the great update! I can't wait to read more. I am in need of a Disney fix BAD and we don't go for another 7 months!!!!!! So just keep those updates a'comin!

torsie24

03-30-2009, 02:45 PM

Yay! Love your TR so far!! Can't wait to hear more!!

cheap traveler

03-31-2009, 11:25 AM

Oh no!! Miss Cammie has been pushed to the 2nd page!! How can I easily look for a new update when it's on page 2?!?!(since I SOMETIMES get an e-mail about updates)
Patiently waiting for a new chapter. Love the report

Lovemy3babes

03-31-2009, 01:56 PM

Great update! I love the flipflops pictures, since I too love flip flops. So comfy, so easy. The picture of Teddy and his daddy is just precious.

jillyb

03-31-2009, 03:24 PM

That's a serious flip flop collection! My SD was wearing a pair of slides last time we had her and she left them here...and they fit me. :rolleyes1 They are just really cute (I think) and are so comfortable. How crazy is it that when I saw them I 1) thought of you and your flip flops and 2) that they would be great for WDW. LOL I've got to find out where her Mom got them. I did a search on the brand but can't find any the look just like the ones SD has. The brand name is Grendene and they're made in Brazil. Anybody else have this brand?

karenell

03-31-2009, 08:56 PM

popcorn::

justplaingoofy

04-01-2009, 02:09 PM

So when I saw the flip flop picture I thought it was everyones shoes together. Then when I saw the pic of Teddy I noticed his shoes were under the bed...?

How many pairs of flip flops do you pack..girl? :rotfl:

Love the updates... thank you very much for taking the time:thumbsup2

castmemberb4

04-01-2009, 03:41 PM

Great update MissCammie :thumbsup2
I'm just back from vacation and was excited to see a new CampbellScott chapter.

Love the pic of Teddy and Jay on the balcony

I felt like the rooms at AKL were small too and there were just two of us.

When Teddy was wanting to go swimming I just knew you were going to get some alone organizing time, I could feel your bliss even before you confirmed it.

Can't wait for the next chapter and glad you're including more pictures this time.

Lynn

CampbellScot

04-04-2009, 12:16 PM

sorry for the delay everybody! Sally had surgery this week (very minor, she's totally fine!) so everything was a bit hectic! She was too cute when she woke up...grumpy grumpy and wanted "this STUFF off of me RIGHT NOW...please" :rotfl2: Even in her doped up state she was attempting to be polite!

I'm almost done with the next chapter...thanks for being patient everyone!

hope everyone is having a good Saturday so far!!!:goodvibes:goodvibes

29apr00

04-04-2009, 03:02 PM

Poor Sally! Many positive thoughs for a quick recovery coming to her!!

Northern Disney Girl

04-04-2009, 04:30 PM

Prayers and good vibes coming Miss Sally Rally's way! :goodvibes Surgery is never fun for kids. Hope she has a speedy recovery! Will wait ever so patiently for the next installment as you take care of your girly! :)

jenb1023

04-04-2009, 10:12 PM

Glad Sally is okay! Surgery no matter how minor is always scary. Looking forward to your next update whenever life is a little less hectic and you have time to get to it.

redsox721

04-05-2009, 07:09 AM

Hugs and best wishes to Sally. Hope she is doing well.

kafitty

04-05-2009, 09:48 AM

best wishes to Sally! :wizard:

micandminforever

04-05-2009, 02:05 PM

Thoughts and prayers are with Miss Sally.

jillyb

04-05-2009, 07:14 PM

Hope Sally Rally is feeling better soon.

catherines_mama

04-05-2009, 09:10 PM

Glad Sally is okay. Gotta love waking up from being under and she's still trying to be polite -so sweet!

Bibbidi

04-06-2009, 07:27 AM

So glad to hear that Sally is OK. Hope she is feeling much better.

WDW Fan

04-06-2009, 08:38 AM

Glad to hear Sally is ok from her surgery and hope that your cousin is doing well too. The pics of the kids are so cute and I love the safari shorts outfit Teddy is wearing! This stage is just so sweet because they love all gifts that you get them and are so agreeable when you go on vacation! Can't wait to hear all about your dinner at Chef Mickeys;)

catherines_mama

04-06-2009, 09:38 AM

So Cammie - how is Princess Sally doing? Will she let the Whicked StepMOM away for some therapy... err I mean trip-reporting LOL.

Hope all is well with ya'll. We are all [im]patiently awating the next chapter!

Fluffypants

04-06-2009, 10:16 AM

Sending Sally some "Quick Recovery" vibes! Glad it was nothing serious!

Christy LOVES Disney

04-09-2009, 09:44 PM

i am the most impatient person when it comes to waiting for miss cammie's trip reports. so i am waiting as patiently as an impatient person can wait. lol cause i know once it posts i will be like this. popcorn::

CampbellScot

04-10-2009, 02:25 PM

Hey everybody!!! Sorry this chapter took so darn long! Things have been hectic. The kids birthdays are coming up (four days apart!), Jay's parents are coming down for Easter, and Sally has to have surgery AGAIN. grr.

It's nothing life threatening. She has a cyst just above her upper lip...you can't see it but it causes her to bite her lip a lot. It's a tricky little thing and hard to get out completely in just one surgery. We were hoping, but the plastic surgeon wants to go in one more time before Sally heals up totally so he can get all of it. It's a bummer of a way to spend the last part of her spring break. The surgery is set for Thursday next week. Prayers would be much appreciated! General anesthesia scares the bejeebers out of me. (Sally handles it like a champ and wakes right up...but I'm a worry wart!)

Anyhow...sorry for being so late with this chapter!!!

Happy Easter Everybody!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the rain began to fall steadily, I fired both kids through the shower b/c it was time we got dressed and ready to go! It was time for Chef Mickeys! We needed to be there by 5:25…which meant we had to shake a tail feather if we were going to get to the bus by 4:15ish. That was still cutting it a bit close for my taste. We had always stayed at MK resorts in the past. Animal Kingdom Lodge was a quite a ways from the Contemporary and I did NOT want to be late! So I got into overdrive mode!!

Jay had to take *just one more* work call…rar. I burned a couple of holes into the back of his head as he was exiting the room.

I don’t think he noticed.

*grr*

Okay, getting the kiddies dressed…I laid out a cute pair of shorts and a tank for Sally and some denim shorts and a polo for Teddy. I sent Sally into the bathroom to get dressed and instructed Teddy to please change by his bed. This is always kind of funny to watch. Teddy is fully capable of getting dressed on his own…but the process takes FOREVER! He gets distracted. He needs prompting to get moving. Sure enough, when I went over to the sink area to grab Sally’s hairbrush, I came back to find Teddy laying on the bed, shirt off, one leg into his shorts the other leg dangling over the bed. He was staring at the top of the bunk bed.

“Teddy…what are you doing?”

“I’m looking at the wood grain.”

Obviously.

“Teddy what do you need to be doing right now?”

“MissCammie did you know that trees have rings that tell how old the tree is and if you cut the tree you can see it, but I don’t know if I can see the rings on this board or if it’s a real board and do you know….”

“TEDDY…get dressed. PRONTO…”

“and guess what else about trees…”

“Teddy, shorts on please”.

“they grow around stuff if you leave something in a tree and…”

“Teddy shirt now please…”

“things get stuck in the bark and…”

This is a newer thing for Teddy…he’ll prattle on about a subject with no awareness of how much or how loud he is talking. He's always been a chatty Charlie, but this was different. His teacher has said that Teddy “is very verbal with a tendency to monopolize conversation” read: your kid talks too much!

:rotfl:

We are currently working on polite conversation skills and “active” listening!

I ended up “helping” Teddy yank the shirt over his head. He talked and talked and talked...finally I had to nail him with an eyebrow.

He gave me an impish little smile and finished with "Trees are interesting..."

:teacher:

indeed.

Sally came out of the bathroom and I brushed her hair and pulled it back for her. If Sally had her way she would wear her hair hanging in her face. But we all know that MissCammie’s way is the only way that will do.

And my way is “Hair out your face sister!” I can’t abide a messy head of hair. It makes me crazy…er.

Neat and Tidy is always the way to go!

After both kids were bright and shiny and ready to go, I got myself ready.

Which took about ten seconds…I’m low maintenance that way believe it or not! Seriously…sundress, flip flops, hair up in a pony. Voila! Disney Glam.

princess:

FINALLY…rar…Jay came back from his phone call.

He hustled into his clothes…that I had laid out for him b/c his consequence for not being in the room to pick out his own clothes was I GET TO CHOOSE!

Jay doesn't mind... I have impeccable taste!

I do.

*ahem*

Once Jay was dressed we were ready freddy to head out! Our first bus ride from AKL was just around the corner. I grabbed my “Park Bag” and did a quick check through…

Wallet...check
Ponchos…check
First aid kit…check
Shammie towel…check
Camera…check
Pin lanyards…check
Autograph book and pen for Teddy…check (sally was carrying her book in her HSM bag!)
Sticky roller…check
Clorox wipes…check
Purell…check
Ibuprofen I would soon need b/c this bag was so heavy…CHECK!

Good…ready to go.

(unfortunately this park bag did NOT get an A. I should have stuck with the diaper dude…and we had ten days of this wretched thing…after two days it started SQUEAKING when I walked...:headache:oh well, lesson learned!)

We all exited the room and made our way down to the lobby at a rather quick clip…don’t want to be late!

On our way out of the building I noted with much dismay that it was POURING. Grr. Oh well. We are at Disney.

I hate rain.

*ahem*

We took a left turn. Then we stopped dead in our tracks.

Sally clamped her hands over her mouth.

*sigh*

A few yards away from the walkway there was a designated smoking area. There were about five people smoking(in the pouring rain :confused3)…and the wind was blowing all the smoke towards the walkway that we had to walk down to get to the bus.

Really? Was this good planning? I’m going to say no. There is no other way to get to the buses. If there is, we never did find it and believe me…we looked. The only walkway tromps right through the smoker’s area. This meant that every single solitary day we had to walk through a wall of smoke at LEAST twice. Again…did Disney not realize we were coming?!

:confused3;)

Before Sally could even get a head of steam going, I gave her a look that said “Do not start. I know you hate smoke”. Then I grabbed her hand and we RAN as quickly as flip flopped feet can run. Jay was laughing as he caught up to us. He also thought it wasn’t overly bright to put the smoker’s area in that particular place…but Jay was over dealing with smoke today.

Sally made a big to-do about sniffing her hoodie to make sure it didn’t smell like smoke.

:rolleyes:

Then we waited. We waited and we waited…every bus that came was not the bus we needed.

Jay was starting to get hungry. Hungry usually leads to grouchy. I knew he was good and grouchy when he started calculating how much each minute we waited was wasting in monetary terms. :laughing: Jay tends to do everything that way. Time is money. Being away from his practice is difficult for him. Every minute counts. And when he’s hungry and grouchy it counts even more.

To make matters worse, Teddy started singing. Normally this would not bother Jay…Teddy sings a lot. I am known to break into song at random moments…it’s just the way we roll…

It wasn’t the singing that annoyed Jay…it was the song.

I’m laughing as I write this. Jay would NOT be laughing.

Okay so…quick side story…while we wait for the bus…

This summer I worked with a program called Broadway Kids. A friend of mine from college was head of the choreography department and she asked if I would help. The kids were doing selected songs from Hair Spray. I had been in that particular musical in college so I knew a bit of the choreography for “You Can’t Stop the Beat”. (great song!) I was glad to help out…any opportunity to sing and dance, I’m THERE! :cool1:

On a number of occasions I took Teddy with me to practices. There were lots of kids and Teddy enjoys anything with music and lots of action. (Sally was usually at a play date with a friend during these particular times.) This song in particular is very fast paced and there are a lot of dancers and lots to watch. Plus the song is just darn catchy!

After about five or six practices, Teddy had the music down flat. He knew every word…he even picked up a lot of the choreography…which he would break into at random moments.

I personally found this ADORABLE. Jay not so much. I think he’d heard that song one too many times. Between practices at our house, the frequent request for the song in the car, and Teddy singing…he was up to HERE with that song! I also think the guy side of him did not so much appreciate his son singing a song with words like…”ever since this whole world began a woman found out if she shook it she could shake up a man…” :rotfl2: Poor Jay.

(If y’all aren’t familiar with the song, I would encourage you to maybe find it on YouTube. The movie version is my favorite and it’s the version that Teddy learned. Listen to the words and then imagine a six year old boy belting that out!)

SO…in addition to being hungry and grouchy and impatient…jay had to listen to a song he was sick to death of.

The mean part of me laughed a little bit.

But only a little bit and completely to myself…

*ahem*

FINALLY the dang bus arrived. I’m glad we came down to the bus stop when we did. Had we waited we might have been extremely late for our ADR!! A large crowd of VERY wet people exited the bus. Wow.

It was raining to beat the band as we climbed on to the bus. Scary raining…sideways raining. Uck.

Teddy took that particular moment to remind us all that Donald probably LOVES the rain!

I'll bet!

Without missing a beat, Sally headed to the back of the bus, checked to make sure her seat wasn’t wet, and plopped down. A smile made it’s way to her eyes and it said “The seats are still warm!” WooHOO!

I took my place beside Sally and Jay sat across from Teddy. Sitting next to Teddy can be a chore. As he has little body awareness he tends to bump into, climb onto, crash his elbow into anyone within a few feet of him! Of course in a packed bus situation Teddy would sit nicely and sit still…or suffer the dire consequences b/c his step mother is mean :cool2:…but the bus wasn’t packed. So we let him squirm and wiggle as he pleased!

At one point we played a little game of musical chairs…Jay got up to sit next to me and Sally decided she’d sit where daddy had been sitting so that “MissCammie and Daddy could be romantic…”:love:

Whatever that means!

Sally is checking her bag!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3014.jpg

Teddy is checking out "the rain patterns on the window!":laughing:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3013.jpg

Once we were well on our way, I started handing out the ponchos…as they would CLEARLY be necessary.

Quack.

The bus let us know that we were nearly there! Even in my annoyance over the rain, my heart skipped a beat. We were finally here! The Magic Kingdom was in our sights! Sally gave a happy little shake as the bus pulled up and stopped.

“We’re HERE!! We’re almost at Magic Kingdom and Chef Mickey’s!! Remember last summer when we went to the Pirate and Princess Party? Remember that? How you wore Snow White’s day outfit and I was Belle’s twin? That was fun!”

Teddy chimed in with “Yeah and I was Captain Jack in his summer outfit!”

:lmao:

I heard Sally mutter under her breath “But you didn’t look like Captain Jack as much as I looked like Belle…”

I gave her a sideways look and tried to keep myself from laughing. But Sally saw the smile and she responded with raised eyebrows and a shrug of her shoulders. Clearly she was saying “What? I speak the truth…”

:rolleyes:

Truth indeed.

We made a bit of a mad dash for the monorail...we might as well have left the ponchos off b/c we got WET thanks to the high winds! The inside of the ponchos got soaked as well as the outside.

*note to self: REAL rain coats next trip...long rain coats...that zip...and have real sleeves...and hoods that stay up...*

Once we made it to the monorail platform we stripped off the ponchos and handed them to Jay. I handed him the shammie towel and he soaked up the water. Then he began the "folding of the ponchos". It's really quite remarkable! Jay is the master poncho folder. It's his OCD nature that allows him to make such small perfect squares. A+ Jay!!

We were stuffing the ponchos back into the bag as the monorail pulled into the station!

We hopped on and took a seat. Teddy took a deep breath and said "It still smells like elephants and giraffes in here!"

:lmao:

It wasn't a complaint. Teddy was thrilled!

Sally wrinkled her little nose. She wasn't nearly so thrilled with the zoo smell! I will always find it an odd smell that is unique to the monorail at Disney...and animals parks.

*ahem*

It wasn't long before we were zooming in to the Contemporary. I said a silent prayer of thanks that we were getting off the monorail INSIDE. Seriously...it was absolutely out of control outside. I was getting the moodies back. This was so not the evening I had mapped out in my head. We quite literally watched a TREE blow over...snap and break and fall to the ground.

I think we all were feeling it b/c when the CM checked us in and asked if we wanted a family picture, we all said "No thanks" at once. :laughing: We just didn't have our Disney smiles on yet. Mostly b/c we were hungry and tired...and damp.

my word, everybody had their fussy britches on didn't they?!

We took our seats and waited for our pager to buzz.

Teddy was bouncing all around looking at everything. Sally had murder in her eyes b/c Teddy was "NOT respecting my personal SPACE!"

she's right...he's not!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3018-1.jpg

Sally was attempting to melt her little brother into a puddle with her eyes, so I grabbed my camera and said "Disney Smile Sal!"

That is a great Disney Smile!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3017-1.jpg

FINALLY our buzzer buzzed! We hopped to our feet and followed the nice CM to our table...that was rammed up against a temporary wall.

:headache:

Really...there were a ton of tables all smashed together next to a temporary wall. It looked odd more than anything.

Oh well...we're at Disney. And we're hungry...so lets get to EATING!!!

Teddy sat down next to me and Sally sat beside her daddy. Sally reached across the table and took my hands and said,

"I promise not to cry this year MissCammie. I'm not sad. I'm just excited to see Minnie, but not upset...so I promise that I'm not going to cry."

I'm not sure if she was trying to convince me or herself.

the fact that she felt the need to tell me that she wasn't going to cry meant that most likely she was already feeling emotional.

Y'all realize things are fixin to get SAPPY right? good...just checking!

The fact is, Sally WAS excited to see Minnie. She wasn't sad or anxious...but she was feeling something more than "Oh cool...Minnie Mouse..." It was a bit more complicated than that.

We placed our drink orders and Jay took Teddy to get his first round of food. I was having a bit of a deja vu moment. I was watching Sally and she was watching Minnie Mouse who had entered our section of the floor. I could see the emotions racing across Sally's face. She was trying with all her might to remain composed and unruffled. I was debating whether or not I should say something to her. I wanted to tell her to take a breath, that it was okay to feel however she wanted to feel. I wanted to free that child from all the emotional baggage she is entirely too young to have. But I didn't say any of that. I just reached across the table and patted her hand. That did it. The dam broke. The tears were falling and Sally, rather suddenly and forcefully, launched herself into my lap and buried her face in her hands. As we had done this several times already this summer, I knew that Sally just needed a minute to compose herself. (Heaven help us if this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of adolescent mood swings!)

I think Minnie had been waiting to see if it was okay to come over. I smiled at her and she swished herself up to Sally. Minnie reached out and patted Sally's head. Sally looked up and said "Hi Minnie..."

I really love Minnie Mouse. She's a kindred spirit. She kissed her hand and pressed it against Sally's face. Sally smiled and felt okay enough to stand up and give Minnie a hug. I heard her say "I love you Minnie".

There is a reason I rarely bother with mascara.

I took a few pictures and Sally held Minnie's hand and she smiled her Disney smile. The smile that lights up the room. She was smiling her daddy's smile. The emotional frenzy had settled itself and she felt better. She felt the relief that emotional outpouring often brings.

Regardless of the tears that the first sighting of Minnie Mouse invokes, we'll always be her biggest fans! She is the key holder to Sally's happiest moment in the world. I have no doubt that Sally will ALWAYS get teary eyed around Minnie Mouse...even when she's a grown up taking her own kids to Disney World. And that's okay.

They are happy tears after all.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u12/CampbellScot/100_3059-1.jpg

up next: Pop art and a WET Castle!