A Trip Sure to be FULL of Surprises! Updates - day 1 & 2 w/ pics!

[newtodis]

DH - You are NOT allowed to read this at all!! No Peeking!


I mean it! No peeking at all!


Alright. Now that we've gotten rid of him, we can get on with the details! :rotfl:

Let me first introduce the travelers for those of you who haven't been lucky enough to tag along on any of my other PTRs or TRs.

DH - Dan - During this trip we are celebrating Dan's 32nd birthday. He works at the fire department in our town and this will be his second birthday since we've moved away from all of our family and friends back in MI.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures065.jpg

DS4 - Corbin - We're also celebrating Corbin's birthday this trip. He shares a birthday with his Daddy and thinks it's cool that Daddy's "numbers" make his number. :goodvibes

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures098.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures153.jpg

DS2 - Carter - Carter is my VERY laid back (most of the time!) child. Pretty much everything is "otay" with him which is great!! He loves all things Disney and has the same excitement each visit as he had his first time (if not moreso!).

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures279.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures147.jpg

Me - Lynn - I'm the "planner" and love that job! I try hard to make sure every minute at Disney is the happiest and most productive (maybe that's not the right word) possible so we're not "wasting" time. I work at the fire department as well.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures205.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures371.jpg

DF (Dear Friend) - Sandy (aka Uncle Sandy)- Sandy works with my DH Dan at the fire department. Sandy and his wife have been wonderful to us since we've moved here and couldn't be more happy to have them as friends.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures203.jpg

DF - Angie (AKA Auntie Ang - Auntie Ang is Uncle Sandy's husband. They share our love for Disney which is great. This will be our first trip all together. We tried to plan one together last year but plans changed for the newest member of their family.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures201.jpg

Samantha Joyce (AKA Sami Jo) - This will be Sami Jo's first trip to Disney. Ang and Sandy adopted her from a dear friend of mine back in MI at the end of Febraury. She will be five months old on her first trip and we're so excited to be a part of that!!!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures200.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures019.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures058.jpg

So...now you know who's coming on the trip. I guess I should tell you when we're going. We're going July 14-19,2009. I've already talked to Dan's boss about the time off. Why did I talk to Dan's boss??? Because NO ONE but Ang and Sandy know about this trip besides me!!!! It's a SURPRISE!!!! I can count on you to keep the secret right??

Right???

Ok good! That's what I thought!

So my "plan" at this time is to have help from our wonderful nanny (who's taking time off to get married the week after our trip!) to get everything packed during the day without Dan knowing a lick of ANYTHING going on!! I think I can get this done! I plan on coming home on my lunch hours the couple of weeks before to try and get things done without him knowing about anything going on.

Then, the day of the 14th, I'll take my lunch and come home to pack our van. I'm going to cover everything with a blanket in the back of the van and tell him it's part of his birthday present. Hopefully this will keep him guessing and throughly confused on our drive. We're about four and a half hours from Disney so it isn't too bad of a drive for us.

He'll be home a little after 5 and I'll have "plans" for us to go to dinner in Savannah or Jacksonville for the night (Sav is about half an hour away and Jax is about 2 hours - both are in our direction of Disney which is perfect!). This way he won't worry about where we're going or hopefully figure anything out too quickly.

Knowing my children, we'll have to stop someplace for dinner and to go to the bathroom along the way. I'm going to make a little certificate to give him when we actually stop for dinner (probably drive through to save time) showing that he has three days off!! I think that's when he'll put everything together about where we're actually headed!!!

Thanks to Tracy, we're renting a three bedroom condo for us to all stay in. I'm thinking we're going to go check in and get into our room. Then there will be a knock on the door from our visitors. Not only will we be AT Disney on their actual birthday (7/15), we'll be with Auntie Ang and Uncle Sandy AND Sami Jo!! Does it get any better than that?????

Now, I plan on doing most of the work while Dan's out of town at the NASCAR race over Memorial Day weekend in Charlotte, NC with Sandy. I'm hoping to pull lots of snacks and stuff like that out and get them packed into totes. I know I can't do too much since we'll still have about six weeks before our trip. Uncle Sandy might have to take Dan golfing or something before we leave so I can try to get packing done.

I think I'll be able to pull this all off. We have a free dining trip planned for Sept (PTR coming soon for that one!) so he won't think it's weird that I'm picking things up along the way for Disney. I'm most worried about getting him in the car and on the road without him figuring it out! The drive is going to feel like 20 hours!! The boys are pretty easy going and won't realize, until we're like into FL, where we're headed. I expect a full out freak out session once they realize where we're going for their birthday!!

I also have to have Corbin's "friend party" the weekend before we leave so that he doesn't miss out. He's decided on a sports theme this year and I already bought all the treat bag stuff at Walmart on clearance after Easter. The only other things I need are the paper products, juice and cake and we'll be good to go with that! We've talked about having the party here at the house so that's the perfect excuse to have the house all sparkly clean before we leave (a vacation "tradition" in our house!).

We've never been in July before but do live in the South so we're getting used to the hot and humid weather. This trip I'm trying to take it a little more slowly, spending time at the pool and possibly a water park.

Because I'm just a budget shopper in general, I try to make our Disney trips as reasonable as possible as well! I already mentioned that we're staying in a condo so we'll eat there for some meals. My boys are up generally by 5:30 in the morning so they eat early breakfasts thus making the condo very helpful. We have APs so no tickets needed. Other than the condo and gas to get there, our only other expense will be food while we're there.

Up next, our tentative schedule!!!!


Here's the "Table of Contents" for the lists right now...
Page 7
Post 105 Trip Plan - Current
Page 8
Post 106 To Do List
Post 107 To Buy List
Post 108 Time Line
Page 10
Post 140 Updated Trip Plan
Post 141 Updated "To Do" List by Day!
Post 142 Updated "To Buy" List
Post 143 Updated Time Line
Page 11
Post 160 Surprise revealed!
Page 14
Post 197 Arriving at the Condo
Post 198 Breakfast at Chef Mickey's
Post 199 Birthday Morning at MK
Post 200 Tom Sawyer Island
Post 201 Afternoon at EPCOT
Post 204 Countries at EPCOT
Post 206 Morning at DHS

[newtodis]

Alright....I've only been working on this a couple of days so here's what I've got right now. Like every trip, everything's subject to change! We've never been in July before so I don't know how far into the day we'll make it. I've also never been with an infant before so I don't know how that will affect our travel plans either!

7/14 Leave South Carolina headed for a Disney birthday surprise!!!!; check into condo and try to get some rest!!!

7/15 CMs 7:15 for birthday breakfast; head to MK to see the rope drop (we've never seen it before!). We'll head back to the condo for rest - swimming, playing or actual rest. I think we'll head to Epcot for the afternoon.

7/16 Heading to DHS in the morning to get FPs for TSM and trying to get a ride in. We'll do our thing there for a while then head back for rest. We'll spend the afternoon/evening at MK to catch Wishes (my favorite Disney thing to do!!)

7/17 Since the safari is one of Dan's favorite rides, we have an ADR at TH at 8:00. By the time the park opens at 9, we'll be well on our way to the safari to get that in before it's too warm out! Once we're done at AK, we'll head back for some rest. I think we'll spend some time at Epcot in the evening.

7/18 Another morning at DHS to get in TSM rides since this is our family's favorite ride - something we can all have fun and do together. After some rest, back to MK for the evening (I told you I love Wishes!!).

7/19 Either hit MK or DHS in the morning - whatever the birthday boys want to do! We need to be on the road in the early afternoon since Dan has a class starting Monday that he has to be back for!

It's going to be a busy, fun, exciting surprise!! I'm so looking forward to this!! I have to say, if it wasn't for our nanny needing time off for her wedding and Disney offering the gift card on your birthday, I don't know that we'd be able to pull this off. But, the stars are in line right now and that's AWESOME!!

Of course we need to add time in our schedule to make sure that Dan and Corbin have time to spend their $75 gift cards their going to get on our first day at the parks. That gives them the entire trip to spend their money. It should be interesting to see what they choose.

Alright....I need to find something else to do for the time being before anyone gets suspicious!! :goodvibes

More updates to come soon!!

[wigdoutdismom]

Just followed your link from lmillercrew's report!:thumbsup2

[wigdoutdismom]

Ohhhh, so many birthdays to celebrate! How awesome :goodvibes I LOVE the fact that you are pulling off such a fabulous surprise.:banana: The plans look great! Spending both of those gift cards will be a blast!

[shordiebecka]

aw what a fun surprise!!!! can't wait to hear more...I'm going soon after you in July also!

[englishrose47]

What a birthday present!! I'm in for the ride !!!!

[lmillercrew]

What a great wife you are!!! I know that Dan will love it! Who wouldn't love being in Disney with family and friends.

[Grace and Mickey]

YEA!!!!:cheer2::cheer2:another Newtodis PRT:cheer2::cheer2:
I soooo enjoy your planning and I learn so much from them:thumbsup2
Looking for forward to learning about the birthday suprises:)

When is your Sept trip planned for?
Have a great day
Grace

[newtodis]

Ohhhh, so many birthdays to celebrate! How awesome :goodvibes I LOVE the fact that you are pulling off such a fabulous surprise.:banana: The plans look great! Spending both of those gift cards will be a blast!

Welcome!! Yes daddy and my baby share a birthday thanks to Dan's dad jynxing us! :rotfl: I was due 7/10 and threw a HUGE cookout/birthday party for Dan hoping if I had these big plans I wouldn't be able to attend the party due to having a baby. No such luck. Dan's dad kept saying there wouldn't be a baby until Dan's birthday....low and behold he was right. (maybe he wouldn't have been if I hadn't been so stubborn but we'll save that story for another time!).

aw what a fun surprise!!!! can't wait to hear more...I'm going soon after you in July also!

YAY! When in July are you going?? Have you ever been in July? We've never been in July so this is going to be interesting for us! I'm preparing myself for lots of heat and crowds. I don't have big plans of trying to get lots of things done - I really don't. I think it helps to know that we're going again in Septembe and I can get things "done" on that trip! :goodvibes

What a birthday present!! I'm in for the ride !!!!

Welcome!! Yeah....I don't know what I'm going to do next year to top this! :rotfl:

What a great wife you are!!! I know that Dan will love it! Who wouldn't love being in Disney with family and friends.

HA! Great wife....well darn it I try very hard! I'm sure he and Corbin will love this trip more than anything! Thankfully everything seems to be working out so we can pull it off!

YEA!!!!:cheer2::cheer2:another Newtodis PRT:cheer2::cheer2:
I soooo enjoy your planning and I learn so much from them:thumbsup2
Looking for forward to learning about the birthday suprises:)

When is your Sept trip planned for?
Have a great day
Grace

Hey Grace! Thank you so much for the kind words. They are certainly appreciated!

We don't have a date just yet for the Sept trip. Dan may be going to MD for a class for two weeks at the beginning of Oct so we're trying to hold off just a bit longer before actually picking a date to see when will work best for us.

More plans to come soon hopefully! Lots still needs to be decided and figured out. For those who've tagged along before, you'll know I've got many more lists to make before we embark on this trip! :goodvibes

[englishrose47]

Good Morning!!!

[newtodis]

Good Morning!

I must say everyone, it felt so great having you all have already stopped by this morning! I felt special! Thanks everyone!!! :grouphug:

[newtodis]

Another morning closer to Disney! :cool1:

We got good news this morning that friends of ours that Dan has known for forever are adopting next month and we're so very happy for them!!

As for the trip plans, I contacted Besty (memoriesbybetsy.com) about a basket - I have to have something for their birthdays right??? :rolleyes1 So I have to decide what to put in the basket on a budget. With this being a surprise and all, I have to be careful about how I do this. I've already figured out that I will pay for the condo next month when I pay the bills - I don't think he'll notice if everything comes out around the same time. :thumbsup2 Then if I can do the same with the basket in June, the biggest parts should be taken care of.

The only things I'll have to keep saving for are the ADRs and custom cake I have planned and the gas to get there and back. I really think I'll be able to do it. For those who want to know, the easiest way for me to "save" money is to do "cash back" when I get groceries or go to Target or whatever. Decide the amount (either by figuring out how much you need to save and how many times you'll go to the store or a set amount just to save in general) and get $xx amount back each time (example, $10 back each time you're at the store). That way it's not in the account for you to actually see. I keep mine either stashed in my purse where I don't come across it often so I'm not tempted to spend it or at the house so it's just not with me to spend. It also helps when I've got something that I'm saving for. Dan generally doesn't realize the total from the bank account it $10 higher than what was on the receipt and we generally have cash on hand in case we need it for something.

So, with my "stash" I'll either put it back into the bank before we leave or keep it - more than likely I'll keep some out "just in case" and put the rest in the bank so I'm not taking a bunch of cash into Disney for me to loose.

I've also got our closet filled up. I've been working on couponing for the past month or so. Generally, I'm buying things when they're on sale and when I have a coupon for them. I "stock up" depending on the price and what coupons I have and store everything in the closet. Example: yesterday I went to Target and bought poptarts. They were on sale for $2.50 for the big box (regular $2.89) and if you bought 2 big boxes, you got a small box free ($1.99 each). I also had five coupons for $1 off 2 boxes and a Target coupon for 75 cents off one box. That made 2 big boxes and a small box of poptarts for $4. Then I got teddy grahams because Target had a coupon on their website for $1 off a box (priced at $2) and I had a coupon for $1 off 2 boxes. (had I been really smart, I would have printed off another coupon from the Target website and saved even more but I was in a hurry!) So for two boxes of teddy grahams, I paid $2. I also got huggies wipes that were on sale for $1.99 and had two 75 cent off coupons so I got them for like $1.24 each which is pretty good for wipes! I spent $24 and saved $25 which isn't too bad in the end! I think the cashier thought I was crazy but I don't care - I like using my coupons and saving money!! :rotfl: And I am crazy so it's ok if she thinks that! :rotfl2:

Alright....so I think I'm going to start trying to make my lists. I've started a packing list for the boys since I'll probably leave most of their packing to our nanny to do during the day. I've got to figure out a "safe" place to keep everything while we're in the process of actually packing bags and getting everything ready to go.

Ok I need to get to work this morning...more later! :goodvibes

[Grace and Mickey]

HI
Lists are a good thing:dance3::dance3:

I making lists too!!!!!:dance3::dance3: l


What are some of the places you are thinking about making ADR'S at?
Are you staying at the same codo as before?

I like the Target coupon saving GOOD JOB:thumbsup2
I just looked at 'MEMORIES BY BESTY yesterday she really has some nice things:)
I wish I could do one of these but I want to try a cake for our anniversary and don't think I can afford both.

Looking forward to more updates
Grace

[shordiebecka]

Nothing wrong with lists. Another list addict here :)

I'm going July 25-August 2, staying at AKL. Never been in July before, but I have TONS of plans, joined TGM....it's DBF's first real trip to Disney- I want him to LOVE it (he hates heat, crowds, and is insistant that there is no inner child in him). So i'm planning like crazy to make it magical for him :)

[newtodis]

HI
Lists are a good thing:dance3::dance3:

I making lists too!!!!!:dance3::dance3: l


What are some of the places you are thinking about making ADR'S at?
Are you staying at the same codo as before?

I like the Target coupon saving GOOD JOB:thumbsup2
I just looked at 'MEMORIES BY BESTY yesterday she really has some nice things:)
I wish I could do one of these but I want to try a cake for our anniversary and don't think I can afford both.

Looking forward to more updates
Grace

I live by my lists. If I didn't have them, I'd forget half of the things I need to do every day! :goodvibes

I have an ADR on 7/15 at 7:15 (HA HA! I just noticed that!) at Chef Mickey's then to MK to see rope drop (we've never seen it!). I also have one 7/17 at 8:00 at Tusker House because we love it there and Dan likes the safari ride. I may make one more for dinner so I can get a custom cake done for the boy's birthdays.

Thanks - I do love using my coupons! :goodvibes It's really gotten to be a game at this point!

Betsy is WONDERFUL! I think she's done basket for two trips now and I would use her over and over again. If you shoot her an email and let her know what you're looking to spend or what you're wanting in the baskets, she's very good at working with you to find things within your budget. You're also able to mail her things to include in the basket as well (I've done this twice and it's worked out great each time!!).

For us, we use our Tables in Wonderland card to save the 20% off the cake (which pretty much covers the automatic 18% tip the add to the cost of the cake!) to help with the cost of that. If you're doing a character breakfast, you could get one of the small cakes (treasure chest shaped I think) and that's only like $15 for Landon to help keep that cost down. There's always more than enough food at Disney thankfully. If he's not a big cake kid (my boys could really take it or leave it generally), you could always "treat" him to something else (ice cream, popcorn, whatever) in place of a cake. If you're driving, you can get a cake at Publix (VERY good!!!) and it's WAY cheaper than Disney. We have Publix here and that's where I buy cakes when I need one (birthday or whatever). I've heard of people having Publix do their wedding cakes - they're that good! And I know Publix does Disney themes - they've done Nemo and Cars for the boys and princesses for Angie's surprise party last year. You could also get cookies from Cookies by Design (you'd have to see how close they are to Disney). We have one here in Bluffton and I got my boys and our friend's son Mickey head cookies in Feb - too cute! (I'll post pictures for Feb soon!) I *think* (not 100% sure!) that Edible Arrangements might also have Disney bowls that they arrange the fruit in. Just some other options for you. If you really want something at Disney though, hit one of the bakeries (MK Bakery or Boardwalk Bakery) and pick out something in there that might fit better with your budget if a cake won't work. Then everyone gets what they like and they can all get their own or some can share or whatever.

For the baskets, I try to pick up some things too and mail those to her to include in the baskets. Maybe you could do one or two things from Disney (a t-shirt and plush for Landon) and send some other things that you'd have gotten anyways for him (fan, books, water bottle, whatever). I know she cannot include food at all due to FL laws.

Boy do I love planning! :goodvibes Hope I didn't overwhelm you!:flower3:

[newtodis]

Nothing wrong with lists. Another list addict here :)

I'm going July 25-August 2, staying at AKL. Never been in July before, but I have TONS of plans, joined TGM....it's DBF's first real trip to Disney- I want him to LOVE it (he hates heat, crowds, and is insistant that there is no inner child in him). So i'm planning like crazy to make it magical for him :)

I love my lists and live by them! :goodvibes

I would love to stay at AKL!! We had plans to stay there for my birthday last Dec but I cancelled and we got a condo off site. I just couldn't go knowing how much we were paying for AKL CL. :eek: We still had a great time and some day I really want to get to AKL!! I'll have to stop over on your PTR and see what you have up your sleeve! Don't plan too much (coming from the over-planner herself!). It's amazing what the Disney air will do to anyone - Disney lover or not - and create it's own magic! :goodvibes

[OhMari]

Hey welcome back to the Pre-trip boards,
I followed your link from the J&K8 thread.
I actually moderate this board, LOL,
but no one ever gets in trouble.
Just an occasional stalker or 2 with Disney Brides,
what is with those girls.

[newtodis]

Hey welcome back to the Pre-trip boards,
I followed your link from the J&K8 thread.
I actually moderate this board, LOL,
but no one ever gets in trouble.
Just an occasional stalker or 2 with Disney Brides,
what is with those girls.

Hi! Welcome! It's not much yet but hopefully I'll have more time to plan soon! :goodvibes Yup I do love discussing J&K :rolleyes1 (one of my few guilty pleasures!). Glad to hear no one's getting in trouble. People stalk the Disney brides??? Really?? That's just unreal!!

[newtodis]

Good Morning!

So first I have to share that I almost let my surprise out of the bag last night. I haven't been feeling that great and had just taken some meds after getting home from the big t-ball game (where Corbin was proud of himself for getting "hurt and dirty" :rotfl:) and Dan says "so if the house in MI sells (yup we're still tied to yet another house and at least two pieces of property in MI:headache:) before we leave for the trip how about we stay at AKL?". Of couse he's thinking in Sept and I'm thinking July because that's where my brain is right now. So I told him that was crazy staying in the middle of nowhere in the hottest part of the year. He got a very puzzled look on his face and was like what?? So I told him that maybe it wouldn't be *that* bad in Sept but it would still be pretty hot.....:rolleyes1 I also pointed out that it would probably be more to stay there than at the Poly (where I'm pulling for). Granted, we still have no dates (waiting on Dan's class to be announced and Dan's mom to determine dates) and had decided to stay at the family suites because of the two bathrooms.

So, I still don't think he's got any idea at all about what's going on. We watched the planning dvd over the weekend and Corbin asked if we go "trick or treat" with Mickey again! :cloud9: So I guess that means we need to save for another MNSSHP this year. If we stay at the Poly maybe Grammy can take both boys back on the monorail by herself givning mommy and daddy more park time! :woohoo: (Can you tell I'm really wanting the Poly but just can't swallow spending that amount of money on a hotel????)

So back to the surprise trip!

Anyone want to share their list of things to pack????? Here's what I have right now. I would love to hear what else I'm missing. I have a tote in my closet that I plan on slowly sneaking things into as I prepare for the trip. I'm also going to try and send some things down to Betsy to include in baskets so I have less to pack. :thumbsup2

Sunscreen
Bug spray
Corbin's medicine
Med Bag (AKA blue bag)
Soap
Shampoo
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Beach Towels
Cups
Laundry Detergent
Dish Soap
Diaper bag for park
Pool Toys
Sunglasses
Hats
Fans for parks
Strollers
Snack containers (I usually just take a big bag of something instead of buying the more expensive invidual bags)
Autograph book
Pens
Kid camera (we have Fisher Price Kid Tough Camera) - should get some great shots from 2 -3 feet tall! :rotfl:
Games for Car (Leapster and Corbin's birthday gift - tag reading system)
DVDs for car
Batteries
Wipes
Zip top bags


Alright....what am I missing???? Aside from clothes of course - I have that list down! :thumbsup2 I also have a small list started with food to stock the condo so we're making progress there as well. I just want to make sure I'm not forgetting the obvious since I'm not doing it all myself this time!

[englishrose47]

I always bring moleskin for those blisters !! Ponchos for the rain! An umbrella for sun and rain!! Off hand that's all I can think of that you don't have !!

[newtodis]

Thanks! I have the ponchos in the tote but forgot to put them on my list! I also have a small Disney umbrella that I keep in my purse (which pretty much gets dumped into the bag we take to the park). Need to add those so I don't forget. Never tried the moleskin....of course I don't recall any of us ever getting blisters! :goodvibes

[Grace and Mickey]

I live by my lists. If I didn't have them, I'd forget half of the things I need to do every day! :goodvibes

I have an ADR on 7/15 at 7:15 (HA HA! I just noticed that!) at Chef Mickey's then to MK to see rope drop (we've never seen it!). I also have one 7/17 at 8:00 at Tusker House because we love it there and Dan likes the safari ride. I may make one more for dinner so I can get a custom cake done for the boy's birthdays.

Thanks - I do love using my coupons! :goodvibes It's really gotten to be a game at this point!

Betsy is WONDERFUL! I think she's done basket for two trips now and I would use her over and over again. If you shoot her an email and let her know what you're looking to spend or what you're wanting in the baskets, she's very good at working with you to find things within your budget. You're also able to mail her things to include in the basket as well (I've done this twice and it's worked out great each time!!).

For us, we use our Tables in Wonderland card to save the 20% off the cake (which pretty much covers the automatic 18% tip the add to the cost of the cake!) to help with the cost of that. If you're doing a character breakfast, you could get one of the small cakes (treasure chest shaped I think) and that's only like $15 for Landon to help keep that cost down. There's always more than enough food at Disney thankfully. If he's not a big cake kid (my boys could really take it or leave it generally), you could always "treat" him to something else (ice cream, popcorn, whatever) in place of a cake. If you're driving, you can get a cake at Publix (VERY good!!!) and it's WAY cheaper than Disney. We have Publix here and that's where I buy cakes when I need one (birthday or whatever). I've heard of people having Publix do their wedding cakes - they're that good! And I know Publix does Disney themes - they've done Nemo and Cars for the boys and princesses for Angie's surprise party last year. You could also get cookies from Cookies by Design (you'd have to see how close they are to Disney). We have one here in Bluffton and I got my boys and our friend's son Mickey head cookies in Feb - too cute! (I'll post pictures for Feb soon!) I *think* (not 100% sure!) that Edible Arrangements might also have Disney bowls that they arrange the fruit in. Just some other options for you. If you really want something at Disney though, hit one of the bakeries (MK Bakery or Boardwalk Bakery) and pick out something in there that might fit better with your budget if a cake won't work. Then everyone gets what they like and they can all get their own or some can share or whatever.

For the baskets, I try to pick up some things too and mail those to her to include in the baskets. Maybe you could do one or two things from Disney (a t-shirt and plush for Landon) and send some other things that you'd have gotten anyways for him (fan, books, water bottle, whatever). I know she cannot include food at all due to FL laws.

Boy do I love planning! :goodvibes Hope I didn't overwhelm you!:flower3:

Good evening:)
Have you eaten at Chef Mickey's before?
It was our 1st meal on our 1st day:cool1:I will never forget it. We are planning to do this on our 1st day again, hoping to make this a tradtation each time we go.

One of the I things I REALLY wanted to do on our 1st trip was to see Mickey come in on the train. It took us to 3 tries to get the timing right but finailly saw it. My family stood behind me and just watch as I waved to Mickey and took pictures of me so excited. They even picked up some of the confetti that was thrown. I will never forget it:)

I might just try e-mail to Besty is see what I could do for the gift basket.
The cake would be for our anniversary. I was planning a dinner at Nacoresses's but that might be changing.

You have not overwhelmed,me I am soo grateful for your help. I don't have alot of readers on my PTR, ( just you. Lisa and Rosie) and it nice to have help with plans.

Have a good evening. looking forward to see what dates you choose for Sept.

Grace

[lmillercrew]

Your plans are looking great! Good thing your drug induced episode didn't let the cat out of the bag!! That would've been awful. Good cover though!

We love you Grace!!

[newtodis]

Good evening:)
Have you eaten at Chef Mickey's before?
It was our 1st meal on our 1st day:cool1:I will never forget it. We are planning to do this on our 1st day again, hoping to make this a tradtation each time we go.

One of the I things I REALLY wanted to do on our 1st trip was to see Mickey come in on the train. It took us to 3 tries to get the timing right but finailly saw it. My family stood behind me and just watch as I waved to Mickey and took pictures of me so excited. They even picked up some of the confetti that was thrown. I will never forget it:)

I might just try e-mail to Besty is see what I could do for the gift basket.
The cake would be for our anniversary. I was planning a dinner at Nacoresses's but that might be changing.

You have not overwhelmed,me I am soo grateful for your help. I don't have alot of readers on my PTR, ( just you. Lisa and Rosie) and it nice to have help with plans.

Have a good evening. looking forward to see what dates you choose for Sept.

Grace

Yes we've been to CM's before (on our first trip). I haven't been able to get back in there though so it was kind of ironic that it worked out! I'd love to do CP one morning we're going to do the MK just to get in early. Corbin does love the food there though so I'm going to keep trying. I also need to find a good spot for dinner to get a birthday cake at!

Your plans are looking great! Good thing your drug induced episode didn't let the cat out of the bag!! That would've been awful. Good cover though!

We love you Grace!!

HA! Yeah...would not have been good! :goodvibes


So I registered Dan and Corbin on the Disney site yesterday. Now I need to bring Corbin's birth certificate and make a copy to get it notarized so I don't have to take the original to the parks with us. I would hate to lose the original.

It's only been me at work the past two days....boring! :surfweb: Thankfully I've been able to look at some different stuff and finish my class I was taking. I got a 97% on my final exam so that's good. I printed the stuff off this morning and already turned it in so it can be in my file forever. :rotfl:

We have another big t-ball game in the morning and Corbin's very excited! I'm hoping to have pictures up here this weekend. Miss Sami Jo will be at the game so you'll (hopefully) get a very recent picture of her! :goodvibes Angie and Sandy celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary Wednesday night so that's cool. Yet another thing to celebrate while we're at Disney! :cool1:

Alright...off to try and convince someone it's time to go home now! :rolleyes1

[OhMari]

Good Morning!

So first I have to share that I almost let my surprise out of the bag last night. I haven't been feeling that great and had just taken some meds after getting home from the big t-ball game (where Corbin was proud of himself for getting "hurt and dirty" :rotfl:) and Dan says "so if the house in MI sells (yup we're still tied to yet another house and at least two pieces of property in MI:headache:) before we leave for the trip how about we stay at AKL?". Of couse he's thinking in Sept and I'm thinking July because that's where my brain is right now. So I told him that was crazy staying in the middle of nowhere in the hottest part of the year. He got a very puzzled look on his face and was like what?? So I told him that maybe it wouldn't be *that* bad in Sept but it would still be pretty hot.....:rolleyes1 I also pointed out that it would probably be more to stay there than at the Poly (where I'm pulling for). Granted, we still have no dates (waiting on Dan's class to be announced and Dan's mom to determine dates) and had decided to stay at the family suites because of the two bathrooms.

So, I still don't think he's got any idea at all about what's going on. We watched the planning dvd over the weekend and Corbin asked if we go "trick or treat" with Mickey again! :cloud9: So I guess that means we need to save for another MNSSHP this year. If we stay at the Poly maybe Grammy can take both boys back on the monorail by herself givning mommy and daddy more park time! :woohoo: (Can you tell I'm really wanting the Poly but just can't swallow spending that amount of money on a hotel????)

So back to the surprise trip!

Anyone want to share their list of things to pack????? Here's what I have right now. I would love to hear what else I'm missing. I have a tote in my closet that I plan on slowly sneaking things into as I prepare for the trip. I'm also going to try and send some things down to Betsy to include in baskets so I have less to pack. :thumbsup2

Sunscreen
Bug spray
Corbin's medicine
Med Bag (AKA blue bag)
Soap
Shampoo
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Beach Towels
Cups
Laundry Detergent
Dish Soap
Diaper bag for park
Pool Toys
Sunglasses
Hats
Fans for parks
Strollers
Snack containers (I usually just take a big bag of something instead of buying the more expensive invidual bags)
Autograph book
Pens
Kid camera (we have Fisher Price Kid Tough Camera) - should get some great shots from 2 -3 feet tall! :rotfl:
Games for Car (Leapster and Corbin's birthday gift - tag reading system)
DVDs for car
Batteries
Wipes
Zip top bags


Alright....what am I missing???? Aside from clothes of course - I have that list down! :thumbsup2 I also have a small list started with food to stock the condo so we're making progress there as well. I just want to make sure I'm not forgetting the obvious since I'm not doing it all myself this time!

Do you have an organizer, for ADR's, phone numbers. Some people get a Passporter, I actually go to Target and get a business organizer. It has one clear pocket and then a page with a pocket for each day.
I write down all my adr's, and then have a little slip of paper, that I can tear off, so if we are at a resturant and they don't have our #, I can pull it up. I'm a list maker, and I actually down loaded it to my dh blackberry and that works really good too.

Have you heard about Garden grocer? they will deliver just about anything to your room. Even alcohol.

[lmillercrew]

Here's to wishing Corbin good luck at his big game tomorrow. I hope you have good weather. It was actually almost 80 today!! :woohoo: I had the windows open and Abby had shorts and a tank on. It was such a nice change.
I didn't know you were taking classes? What kind of classes and for what?

[newtodis]

Do you have an organizer, for ADR's, phone numbers. Some people get a Passporter, I actually go to Target and get a business organizer. It has one clear pocket and then a page with a pocket for each day.
I write down all my adr's, and then have a little slip of paper, that I can tear off, so if we are at a resturant and they don't have our #, I can pull it up. I'm a list maker, and I actually down loaded it to my dh blackberry and that works really good too.

Have you heard about Garden grocer? they will deliver just about anything to your room. Even alcohol.

Thanks for the organizer idea!! I have a big binder that I need to pull out and try to get organized without DH realizing that I'm updating it for this trip. I made our friends an AWESOME Disney binder before their last trip and had every intention of updating mine at the same time but I never got around to it. :rolleyes1 I like having the ADRs on a slip of paper - I've needed the numbers before so that would be handy. I wish I had a blackberry...no fancy phone for me! :sad2:

Yeah I've heard of garden grocer but never actually used them. I'm thinking the majority of stuff I'm going to try and stuff into out friend's car so my husband doesn't see a bunch of stuff sitting around. I'm trying to be as sneaky as I can - something I'm not always good at! :headache:

Here's to wishing Corbin good luck at his big game tomorrow. I hope you have good weather. It was actually almost 80 today!! :woohoo: I had the windows open and Abby had shorts and a tank on. It was such a nice change.
I didn't know you were taking classes? What kind of classes and for what?

Thanks for the luck. He hit great today! Even the coaches on the other team said he shouldn't be in tball that he should be in the next level! :rotfl: It was 94 here yesterday and I think the van said 86 on the way home at 11:30 this morning. Yikes! I bit hotter than I prefer. :goodvibes I actually turned the AC on yesterday - I hate having it on if we can "tough it out" being a little warm for a couple of hours.

Glad it's finally warming up there! That's great!!

[lmillercrew]

YAY CORBIN!!!!:yay::yay::yay: You rock little dude!
Travis is at a tournament in Akron and his team is not doing so well. They've only won 2 games out of the last 8 games that they've played in two weekends. Stinks cuz I'm paying a lot of money for him to play on this team and they're not winning. It would be different if they were winning and losing evenly, but ugh!
Anyway, another gorgeous day here. There's a great breeze, so we're not sweatin to death. Don't know how I feel a bout 94 in April. But, I wouldn't complain. ;)
Gotta go get Abby from cheerleading. Have a great weekend!!!

[meanmom121]

Nothing wrong with lists. Another list addict here :)

I'm going July 25-August 2, staying at AKL. Never been in July before, but I have TONS of plans, joined TGM....it's DBF's first real trip to Disney- I want him to LOVE it (he hates heat, crowds, and is insistant that there is no inner child in him). So i'm planning like crazy to make it magical for him :)

okay all you list freaks. i can't even get my passporter closed because I have so many lists and computer print outs in there.:rotfl:

[tinytreasures]

along for the ride
I can't wait to hear if you pull this off

[meanmom121]

Okay I'm caught up with the rest of you know and ready to follow along faithfuilly because like tinytreasures I'm dying to see how you pull all this off. You will be my hero if you can do it.:laughing:.
Now tell me about the baskets again - who does them? what's and avarage price? I was planning on using the Disney florist to do two baskets for my kids with autograph books, pens, camera mickey ears etc - they run about $47.00.
Can I do better somewhere else? The one other place I looked for baskets had a $28.00 delivery fee on top of the price of the basket. I was wanting the basketsto be waiting in my room when we get there; as special surprise, as this is the first trip for my DS11 and DD9 (No run on sentence there)
hugs, Karen

[newtodis]

YAY CORBIN!!!!:yay::yay::yay: You rock little dude!
Travis is at a tournament in Akron and his team is not doing so well. They've only won 2 games out of the last 8 games that they've played in two weekends. Stinks cuz I'm paying a lot of money for him to play on this team and they're not winning. It would be different if they were winning and losing evenly, but ugh!
Anyway, another gorgeous day here. There's a great breeze, so we're not sweatin to death. Don't know how I feel a bout 94 in April. But, I wouldn't complain. ;)
Gotta go get Abby from cheerleading. Have a great weekend!!!

Awww thanks! He now refers to himself as "the t-ball star"! :rotfl2::lmao:

Sorry your son's not doing so well! I'd be upset too. Corbin's team doesn't keep score so he'll always ask if he wins or not at the end of the game. I always tell him I forgot to count so he'll tell me if they won or lost. He said they lost on Saturday "but you can't win them all Mom!" :rotfl: Yup you're right about that kid! Gosh sometimes he just makes me laugh!!

okay all you list freaks. i can't even get my passporter closed because I have so many lists and computer print outs in there.:rotfl:

That's why I graduated to a binder!! One of these days I'll have to take a picture of my binder! I need to work on it a bit first then I promise I'll take and post pictures! I love my lists!

along for the ride
I can't wait to hear if you pull this off

Thanks! I'm hoping it all goes smoothly!

Okay I'm caught up with the rest of you know and ready to follow along faithfuilly because like tinytreasures I'm dying to see how you pull all this off. You will be my hero if you can do it.:laughing:.
Now tell me about the baskets again - who does them? what's and avarage price? I was planning on using the Disney florist to do two baskets for my kids with autograph books, pens, camera mickey ears etc - they run about $47.00.
Can I do better somewhere else? The one other place I looked for baskets had a $28.00 delivery fee on top of the price of the basket. I was wanting the basketsto be waiting in my room when we get there; as special surprise, as this is the first trip for my DS11 and DD9 (No run on sentence there)
hugs, Karen

Glad you're caught up!! Now I'm no hero but I'll be pretty excited if I can manage to pull it all off!! :goodvibes

Baskets - I've only used Memories by Besty (memoriesbybetsy.com). You can send her an email through her website and let her know what you're looking to spend or what you're looking to put into the basket. Now I'm the first to say I'm cheap and she knows that now (this will be the third time she's done baskets for us!) so she suggests things according to what we've done in the past as well as within my preferred price range. I like that I can also buy things here (or make or whatever) and mail them to her to be included in the baskets. I did this last Sept when Disney Shopping had their huge sale. It really helped keep the cost of the baskets down. I've never had the baskets actually waiting in the room - last Sept when we stayed on site they were delivered to our room after we'd checked in which worked out. I've read that they can't put anything in your room until they actually give you the key to the room in case they have to change something but I don't know about that. Let her know the day you want it there (maybe the day after you check in if you want them actually in the room???) and she'll let you know what time they'll be there at the resort. I've never had a problem with getting the packages ever and they've always looked great!

Check out below for a mini - update!

[newtodis]

So....I was getting ready for the big tball game on Saturday morning and Dan was trying to get on to the computer to check the schedule. He noticed that a couple of the keys didn't work and of course we had to "speak" about that. :rolleyes1 So when we got home I tried to look at it and realized some keys had been superglued back on. :eek: Well, they weren't important keys so I went about my day thinking I would take the computer in with me on Monday to work and have one of our IT guys look at it.

In the meantime, our nanny got the flu over the weekend and was out yesterday. So Dan took the laptop and desktop to work to see if either were fixable at this point. He called me about 10:00 to tell me it looked like someone had dropped the laptop (hence the keys coming off!) and not being able to charge the battery. :scared: That's gonna cost about $300 just to fix the insides to keep the battery charged....PLUS trying to get the keys fixed! He's still looking at the other computer but I'm thinking that one's a lost cause because it's about six years old which is really old in computer terms. :headache: So, now we're saving for a computer as well! Here's hoping we come across a REALLY good deal. :surfweb:

As for trip plans, all weekend my wonderful husband kept asking what we were doing for his birthday. I explained we were having Corbin's party the weekend before their birthday and having dinner with friends the weekend after his birthday (while we're at Disney). He wanted to know why we had to have dinner with friends (he's not the party type he says!) and I told him that's just how it's going to be! :rotfl:

Sunday we went to the pool with Angie and Sandy so I got to fill Sandy in on my plans to this point. I'm going to have everything packed and pack the van Tuesday when I come home for lunch. Once I have that all disguised, I'm going to tell him that we're going to someplace in Savannah to see someone very special (my guess is he'll think we're going to Paula Deen's place in Savannah since he likes that and wants to meet Paula herself). That will keep him entertained for a little while in the car. I figure we'll stop around Jacksonville at a McDonald's or something so the boys can go in and go to the bathroom and I'll grab dinner while we're there. Then, they can get back in the car and open their birthday presents (Corbin's getting a TAG reading system so that will keep him quiet in the car and Dan's getting a card with a certificate for three days off and his print out for free admission for his birthday). That's the point that the surprise will be out of the bag. We'll have been in the car for about two or three hours at that point and they'll all be asking some questions. That's also about half way for us and I'll have run out of things to say in the car by that time! :rotfl:

Now some of you know that Dan also works at another fire department when they need extra help. Well, it works out that he's working the Saturday before we leave!!!! I will have the ENTIRE day (about 7:00 Saturday morning until about 8:00 Sunday morning) to myself to pack everything and get ready!!!! Boy that couldn't work out more perfectly!:goodvibes I'll just have to find a place to stash everything (probably in my closet or the garage) as I'm packing it so he won't notice the additional stuff around or anything missing.

Dan and Sandy are going to the NASCAR race in Charlotte next month and Angie and I are going to get together and try to get some planning done to figure out what we're going to do and where we're going to go while we're there. It should be fun for sure! I cannot wait for July!

Alright...I need to get to work now. I will keep updating as much as I possibly can while only having a computer at work. Unfortunetly that means pictures will have to wait a little longer.... :sad2: I'm really sorry! I can only do so much with this computer though.

Have a super duper Tuesday!

[lmillercrew]

So. Forget that something was dropped on the computer. Who super glued the keys back on??? That would be my question!!:confused3:rolleyes1 All I can say is, it wasn't me!
You have your surprise in the bag sister. You've got your plans down to a science!!

[shordiebecka]

I would want to know who superglued the keys back on too! Kind of like a little mystery, huh?

great news that your plans are coming together :)

[meanmom121]

I've already got things packed in the suitcase and back under the bed where we store them, so no one knows that there is even anything in there. Not that our trip is any kind of surprise. But no one looks in the suitcases ever. That's where I hide a lot of Christmas presents also. Sometimes It better to hide things in plain site.

Now Paula Dean! I want to meet her too!!:woohoo: So if you happen to plan a surprise birthday for your husband to meet Paula; please send me an invite.
Ya just gotta love a woman who cooks from the 4 Southern food groups (fat, sugar, salt and alcohol:rotfl2:)

[newtodis]

So. Forget that something was dropped on the computer. Who super glued the keys back on??? That would be my question!!:confused3:rolleyes1 All I can say is, it wasn't me!
You have your surprise in the bag sister. You've got your plans down to a science!!

Yeah I'd like to know too! I really don't want to assume anything or point any fingers but there are really only three adults in our house that use the computer on a "regular" basis and I'm thinking it happened during the day while Dan and I were at work. I don't know. I'm to the point that it's happened and someone confessing won't get me a new computer so I'm kind of over it. It'd be great to know but it's not going to help anything. So....here's hoping Dan can work some extra hours at the other fire department. I was going to start doing ChaCha or some other on line stuff for money at home (to help fund the surprise!) but now that's shot until we get another computer.

Thanks! I so hope it all works out and I don't spill the beans! I've been known to have a big mouth!:rolleyes1

I would want to know who superglued the keys back on too! Kind of like a little mystery, huh?

great news that your plans are coming together :)

Yeah we've always got a mystery in our house! :rotfl:

Thanks! I'm so glad things seem to be coming together!!

I've already got things packed in the suitcase and back under the bed where we store them, so no one knows that there is even anything in there. Not that our trip is any kind of surprise. But no one looks in the suitcases ever. That's where I hide a lot of Christmas presents also. Sometimes It better to hide things in plain site.

Now Paula Dean! I want to meet her too!!:woohoo: So if you happen to plan a surprise birthday for your husband to meet Paula; please send me an invite.
Ya just gotta love a woman who cooks from the 4 Southern food groups (fat, sugar, salt and alcohol:rotfl2:)

Love that you're hiding stuff in the suitcases under the bed! I think our suitcases are up in the attic. My "excuse" for him getting them down will be that I want to start working on getting ready to go to MI (we're leaving on 7/26 for MI) so he won't really think it's too weird that there are suitcases out and around. I'll have to see if they'll fit under the beds! As a bonus, we'll already be half packed for MI! :cool1: I'll just have to pull out the dirty clothes and pack a nice outfit for the wedding and we'll be ready to pack the van back up and hit the road!

I do love Paula Deen! My mom, kids and I have actually met her! My mom and step dad came down for Thanksgiving last year. We hit Savannah (it's about 30 minutes from our house) and my mom and I had talked about eating there but didn't really make any plans (hard to believe she's my mom - we're total opposites!). So I decided I would at least take her to the store and we could check that out. So I asked the hostess as we were walking by if there was any availability and there was in about 15 minutes (we were there just before they opened) so we decided to stay for lunch (poor Corbin can only eat cheese from the salad bar there because they cook everything in peanut oil!! he does love his cheese though! :rotfl:). We were shopping before it was time for her place to open and the cashier told my mom Paula would be in around 11:00 (when our ressies were for). We hung out a little longer but were called for lunch. After lunch we went back to the store just to see if she was on the off chance there. YUP! She, Michael and her two boys were there. I have pictures with her on my blasted computer but I'll see if I can get some in here for you to see. My mom and I stood in line and got a picture with her (there were NOT many people in line, there weren't many people there because, as I understand it, she didn't "schedule" this appearance, just happened to mention stopping in that morning) then I went and grabbed my boys and had them get their picture with her as well. Michael just stood off to the side watching and Jamie and Bobby were playing football in the street behind the restruarant. It was so great to meet her. She's SO beautiful in person!!

So then I had to call my DH, who didn't want to take the day off work and tell him that we met Paula Deen and he missed out! Boy was he ticked!! And to top it off, DS2 said as soon as we got home, "Me see Deen!!". :rotfl2::lmao: He still gets excited when he sees her on tv! "Deen! Deen!" It's like a cartoon for him - he sits and watches very well. :rotfl:

If we ever get an invite to meet her though, I'll so let you know! :thumbsup2 I would love to see her in Atlanta at the food show they have there but all that money is a bit crazy just to watch her cook. :upsidedow

I also have another tie to the food network. Two weeks ago now, a production company was here filming a pilot for a new series on the Food Network. Hopefully they'll have the show on soon. If it ever makes it to "real" tv, I'll be sure to let all of you know!! :happytv: It was unreal how much "junk" they needed to bring in just to make a tv show.:scared: I can't imagine how much work it takes to make an actual show - not just 10 good minutes.

Alright....I don't really have any updates. I'm so glad I used my email address to register for their birthday stuff from Disney. I've gotten two or three emails since I've registered them! That would have blown my cover for sure!

I just need to get through this week and hopefully next week won't be quite as crazy. Then I can sit down and turn in my time off for the rest of the year and get that approved and moving forward. I'm sure some of it will be unpaid because of the two Disney trips and MI for the wedding. Oh well....that's all the more reason to go over Labor Day in September so we'll have more time off without taking more days off.

Ok I have to get some work done today. Our application deadline is tomorrow for our upcoming testing for firefighters so it's been a madhouse here the last couple of days. We already have 130 applications and that's not counting what's come in the mail the past two days or dropped off today. :eek: Corbin also has another t-ball game tonight at 5:30 so I've got to go be sweet and see if I can leave a few minutes early since I only took about half an hour of my lunch hour and was here half an hour early this morning.....:rolleyes:

[meanmom121]

Hope corbin's game went well:goodvibes

[lmillercrew]

So what is ChaCha??? Can you make some good $$ doing it?

[newtodis]

Hope corbin's game went well:goodvibes

Thanks! It was good! I'm uploading pictures (should be working!) :rolleyes1 and will be updating here as soon as I can with some of the new pictures!

So what is ChaCha??? Can you make some good $$ doing it?

My understanding of it is (I got interrupted while singing up for it) that you pretty much do research for people. Kind of like ask.com where you can type in your question and ask.com finds websites with the answer, well, you're like of like ask.com. Someone texts or emails or somehow submits a question and you answer it. That's honestly all I know at this point. I know there's something with google/amazon (maybe mturk??) that's kind of the same thing. You do research for people. Different people/companies whoever submit questions they need answers to, you find the answer and paste it into the box and copy the link so they know you didn't just make it up. Then they pay you if the answers are what they were looking for. Now, I think you'd have to work at this for quite awhile to make it worth it since each question it a few cents each, but when I had the time it was fine to log in for a couple of hours and make some extra money. I'll try and see if I can find out more info for you. :goodvibes

[newtodis]

Alright....I finally got to add some pictures! :goodvibes In case you couldn't tell, I do love taking pictures! Hopefully I'll be able to continue adding them throughout the report. Less words, more pictures - or at least more pictures! :rotfl:

[newtodis]

Here's what we worked on this weekend:

I explained that we were going to make a "count down chain" to count down until Corbin's birthday (and something very special!!). :thumbsup2 So we counted out how many days we have (I think we're at 71 today) and I cut up some paper. The boys got to decorate the strips with stickers (I did have to limit to 5 stickers/strip as some at the beginning were COVERED in stickers!). :rotfl:

Here's working on the strips:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures271.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures272.jpg

Carter personally prefers to make lists (just like his mama!!). It also looks like he might be a lefty (again, just like mama!!):

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures270.jpg

So we put the stickers and list making on hold and headed off to t-ball for the morning. When we got back, it was time for a nap so Dan and I proceeded to make the actual chain part.

Partway through the process, Dan looked at me and said "This can't be right. There aren't enough strips here". I told him I didn't know what he was talking about and went through how many days each month has.

To that he answers "oh yeah...I thought we were counting down until Disney!". I immediately tried to rethink everything in my head to try and remember if I'd slipped and said something earlier. While trying to think, I quickly said "No we have a lot longer until we go to Disney!".

WHEW! I thought I blew that one!

Here's the end result (sorry it's a bad picture!):

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures293.jpg

So that was Saturday.

Sunday Corbin got up and took his first link off the chain. He was so excited to do this!!! He asked if he could take two because it's "just too many".

No, sorry just one. I've been in talks with Corbin to try and not turn 5 this year. I'm trying to sell him on just being 4 for another year...what's it gonna hurt?? He's not buying it and wants to "Just be 5 so I can go to school PLEASE". Now I understand (and think it's funny) that he's beggin to go to school because I'm sure this will change all too quickly. Soon enough it'll be "no I don't want to" or "is it Friday yet?". I'm not giving up on skipping #5 - I did promise he could have #5 next year though!

We also started to try and make a birthday "wish list" yesterday. What a disaster! First he asked for a Spiderman cake and Spiderman. I told him I thought we'd decided on sports to which he replied "yeah for my first birthday. Spiderman's for my second birthday".

WHAT??? When did we go to having two birthdays???? Last year, he had a party here with friends then we went to MI about a month later and he pretty much had another party there and got more presents so I'm thinking that's what he's talking about. Little does he know, we're going to MI two weeks after his birthday this year so it'll probably happen again! :rotfl:

So, while the boys napped (Corbin not so much yesterday...more pestering than napping), I went through my Disney books to update my binder. I made a list of everything I would like copied so when I have the time, money and energy, I'll be ready.

I then tried to start figuring out how this was all going to work. I *think* Auntie Ang and Uncle Sandy are coming down Thursday night and staying until Sunday so we'll have two days to fit in whatever we really want to get done. (I'm not telling them that we have more people coming until our guests show up!!!) Depending on how everything works out, we may go to the water park one of those days if it's warm enough and I save enough.

Other than that, not too much planning happening this weekend. Our nanny's getting married and will be out of town (leaving the same time we're going to Disney) so we're looking for something to do with the boys. Neither of us can really take two weeks off work nor could we afford to if we still wanted to go to MI. So now we're discussing flying one of Dan's cousins down to watch the boys for the week then bringing her back to MI with us when we go up for the wedding. I mentioned that flying into Jacksonville or Orlando is cheaper and closer than Atlanta! If she flies in, it would have to be the day we're driving back from Disney. It would be perfect to swing by the airport on the way home and pick her up! Hopefully all works out. If not, we'll have to find a summer camp or something that will take them. It's not hard finding a place for Corbin, it's Carter because he's not potty trained and just not old enough. I have a couple of places that I need to check on.

Ok I should try and get some work done this morning!!

[lmillercrew]

:rotfl: Corbin!!! I want to turn 5 too!! Can I just stay 38??? Then I wouldn't have to turn 40!:scared1: It looks like you got quite a bit done on Sat. What a great way to help Corbin keep track of days until his birthday. Helps him not to have to ask 50 times a day.
I don't envy the babysitting dilema. I hated having to go through that when I worked full time. It's just so hard! I'm working almost 35 hours this week, and I'm part time. I don't mind, more money in my pocket, right?
When do you go to MI? Will you guys have a fairly busy summer with your mini vacations?

[newtodis]

:rotfl: Corbin!!! I want to turn 5 too!! Can I just stay 38??? Then I wouldn't have to turn 40!:scared1: It looks like you got quite a bit done on Sat. What a great way to help Corbin keep track of days until his birthday. Helps him not to have to ask 50 times a day.
I don't envy the babysitting dilema. I hated having to go through that when I worked full time. It's just so hard! I'm working almost 35 hours this week, and I'm part time. I don't mind, more money in my pocket, right?
When do you go to MI? Will you guys have a fairly busy summer with your mini vacations?

Come on down! You can come for the #5 party then hang out and go on the real birthday present with us! :thumbsup2 We have the Disney resort on the Island. You could always stay there too for a bit of Disney!

Yeah I think we got stuff done. If you look at my house, you wouldn't think so! :rotfl:I have got to try and get some stuff done. It's supposed to be 90 on Saturday so we'll either head to the beach to cool off or hang out inside trying to get everything cleaned up so we can do something fun on Sunday. It's hard because I want to start making sure we've got stuff for vacation but I can't be quite so obvious. I think my "plan" for the weekend will be to tell Dan I've got to make sure the boys have something nice for the wedding in August...they do have to look cute as ever (probably in matching outfits because I am weird like that!). :rolleyes1

Yeah I need to get in the habit of having him take a ring off. Good example - I totally forgot this morning. I get too busy with trying to get other things going that it slips my mind. I'll have to remember to have him take one off tonight. :goodvibes

Well we have another babysitting option too that we've talked about. One of Dan's co-workers is a teacher so obviously she won't be working in July and I'm sure would be willing to make a little extra money. Hoepfully we can talk her into coming over during the day. We'll figure out something - it always manages to work out in the end.:upsidedow

Yay for working more hours! That's awesome! More money is always good! We're in the middle of budget season here at work since our fiscal year ends June 30...ugh! No one's getting more money next year unfortunetly! At least it looks like everyone will keep their jobs though and that's what's important!

Our summer's going to be fairly busy this year (as it always seems to be!):
May
6 Tball
8 Tball
9 Mayfest (local town celebration thingy)
10 Mother's Day and friend's birthday
14 Auxiliary Meeting, Tball and Michelle (nanny) leaves for MI for her bridal shower (Dan's taking this day off!)
15 I'm taking off this day since Michelle will be on her way to MI..not sure what's planned just yet
18 Michelle's off again so I'll be off this day too since Dan has class that he can't miss (maybe I'll actually get caught up on housework!)
19 Tball game
20 My next Admin class starts so back to the books for me for 6 weeks!
23 Dan and Sandy leave for Charlotte. They're spending the weekend at the race!
28 I have a conference to go to and our testing cycle starts - 4 days of physical and written tests as well as interviews. What a LONG weekend!
30 Last tball game and awards ceremony!

June
13 Dan works
20 Dan works

July
3 We're OFF for the holiday!
11 Dan works
12 Probably have Corbin's birthday party at the house
14 Leave for DISNEY!!!!:cheer2:
19 Come back from DISNEY!!! :sad2:
25 Michelle's wedding and Dan works
26 Leave for MI

August
1 Wedding!
2 Drive back to SC - I have to be back to work on Monday
11 1 year since I started working full time!!

September
7 Off for holiday

That's pretty much it for the rest of the year at this point thankfully. I'm sure we'll have some visitors in the fall if not before that. And there's always things being added to our schedule which will fill it up very quickly! :goodvibes

I've already committed to being more involved with tball next year and Dan laughs that I'll be PTO president before the year's over! :rotfl: So kids, work, auxiliary, tball and pto...that should keep me pretty busy!

Alright...I have to go shopping this morning. I do love when they pay me to go shopping! :cool1:

[Grace and Mickey]

Good afternoon Lynn:)
I hope your having a good day:)

Check out my PTR I have a surprise!!!:thumbsup2
Love Grace

[Grace and Mickey]

Hi Lynn
:flower3::flower3:Happy Day after Mother's Day:flower3::flower3:
I hope you had a wonderful day!!!!!!

I had a great one,
THe girls cleaned out my flowers bed for me and got me 2 new rose bushes.How about you?
Any new plans for your trip? have you decided on date for Sept yet?

Have you ever stoped at a place called "South of the Border" in Dillion . South Carolina? I found in a book I got from the library about tourist attractions. The book in call "Fun along the Road" I have looked it up on the internet. It's about 8 hrs from here, thought it might be a place to stop to give everyone a break. Any thoughts, or suggustions on a good to stop for little while.
Have a good evening
Dancing with the Stars is on the night:dance3:
Grace

[newtodis]

Hey Everyone!

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!! Our weekend was nice. Dan worked on Saturday while I stayed home with the boys. I had planned on cleaning and such but never found enough motivation to actually do it! :rotfl: Sunday I cleaned in the morning and tried to get laundry and stuff caught up. Dan took the boys to Publix so they could decorate a cake for me (I'll have to post pictures once I can get them on a computer!). It was free so that was even better (the decorating part - they had to pay for the cake). Once I got my cleaning done, we decided to head to the beach for a little while. We spent a couple of hours at the ocean and it was a perfect day for it! It was just breezy enough to make it cool enough to be able to enjoy. The water's finally warm enough for me to tolerate (yes I'm picky and yes I realize it's the ocean!). I only go just far enough to get my ankles or so wet. I'm not a fan of swimming in water that I can't see the bottom and that nothing's living in - in other words, give me a pool with lots of chemicals to kill everything and I'm a hapy woman! :rotfl: I do love sitting on the beach and listening to the ocean (who doesn't really?) I'm just not a fan of not knowing what's in the water with me.

So once we were done there, Corbin requested tacos for dinner (this is now his favorite dinner despite previous protests that he "does NOT like" them!) so we decided to stop at the store on the way home. Corbin again requested (you'd think this was his day or something!) that we go to Piggly Wiggly. Now, I'm not a Pig shopper. I told Dan when we moved here I would not shop in a store with a Pig on it. Well, it was on the way home so we stopped. I do detest this store because their prices are much higher than other stores that we have so I don't generally shop here. Corbin's drawn to the store because of the pig and because they have small, kid-sized shopping carts, which he LOVES to fill!

We grabbed the stuff for tacos (plus some!) and headed home. On the way home, we realized we'd forgotten meat for the tacos! :eek: This meant stopping at Publix to grab some hamburger. I ran into Publix and walked out with only some coupons because the hamburger was $3.59/pound! :scared: Nope sorry that's way too much! So we went home and the boys took a shower while I ran to Kroger (this is where I generally shop for everything - Kroger and Target!). I picked up my hamburger, bologna that was on sale and some vitamin waters for Dan (they were on sale plus I had coupons!). I got back and Dan was going through the fridge. He couldn't find the tortilla shells (mind you I just bought a huge pack at Sam's Club). Well I searched that darned fridge and couldn't find them to save my life. So, Dan went back to Publix (thankfully they're just down the street from us!) to get tortilla shells! :headache: What a mess just for dinner!

Well, between no naps, playing at the beach and just being worn out, the boys and I were in bed and sleep by 8:45 last night! Granted, I'm sunburned today but it was worth it!

As for my weekly shopping, I spent $158.68 at Kroger and saved $212.78. I spent $4.92 at Target and saved $38.32!!!! :cool1: My total savings was $251.10!!! WOOHOO!


Now onto the trip update:

Dan wanted to know what we were doing for his birthday yesterday on the car ride home. I told him he was going to meet someone famous and that he would like it more than his 30th birthday (surprise again - we had a picnic lunch with about 50 close friends and family then went to a local baseball game!). He's so lost. He doesn't think we can afford to go anywhere so his guesses are so funny! I'm trying to collect clues to give him one each week. I want them to be very tough clues so he doesn't figure it out until we're actually on the way to Disney! Another DISer suggested getting a picture of the WDW enterance and cut it up like a puzzle. I'm thinking I will use that idea to reveal the surprise once we're on the way. Maybe give them another piece every so often and see if they can figure it out.

My goal is to get the actual surprise part caught on tape. I think that will just be priceless once they realize where we're going. popcorn::

Alright...it's starting to storm here so I guess I should finish up my work and get home! More updates soon!!

[newtodis]

Hi Lynn
:flower3::flower3:Happy Day after Mother's Day:flower3::flower3:
I hope you had a wonderful day!!!!!!

I had a great one,
THe girls cleaned out my flowers bed for me and got me 2 new rose bushes.How about you?
Any new plans for your trip? have you decided on date for Sept yet?

Have you ever stoped at a place called "South of the Border" in Dillion . South Carolina? I found in a book I got from the library about tourist attractions. The book in call "Fun along the Road" I have looked it up on the internet. It's about 8 hrs from here, thought it might be a place to stop to give everyone a break. Any thoughts, or suggustions on a good to stop for little while.
Have a good evening
Dancing with the Stars is on the night:dance3:
Grace

Thanks Grace - we're updating at the same time! :goodvibes

No dates decided on yet :sad2: We're still waiting to hear back about Dan's class. Hopefully he'll hear soon. We actually have some more property that's for sale back in MI with two interested buyers so hopefully that will sell soon. If so, we've already promised each other that we'll be staying at the Poly in Sept!! :cool1:

No we've never stopped there. I'll have to ask the guys - maybe one of them has been there. What way are you planning on coming down? If you're going to be closer to Atlanta there's a ton of stuff to do that way. Or Columbia is a good place to stop (lots of choices as far as places to stop) here in SC. We're way over on the coast or I'd invite you over! :goodvibes We're only about 4 1/2 - 5 hours which is great.

I love Dancing with the Stars but there weren't really any "stars" that I liked this time. I like Julieann the most but she's gone now so not as exciting for me! I'll still watch just to see who wins but I'm not as crazy about watching as other seasons. I do like Shawn Johnson though so at least I have someone to root for.

[lmillercrew]

Dontcha just love it when you have to go to the store multiple times in the same day? Especially when it's for ONE meal! AGHHHH

[englishrose47]

The puzzle sounds like a neat idea !!!

[newtodis]

Dontcha just love it when you have to go to the store multiple times in the same day? Especially when it's for ONE meal! AGHHHH

Not so much really! :rotfl: All to make my kids happy!

The puzzle sounds like a neat idea !!!

I hope it works out! :goodvibes

[newtodis]

Jill? Jill??? Jill?????? Did you forget about the DIS???? Would love to have you check in with us every once in awhile! :goodvibes

Hey to everyone else - life has been BUSY the past couple of days. I'm filling in for someone else while they're out on FMLA so I'm doing two jobs and it's been crazy! Hopefully I'll be back to one job soon! :goodvibes

I can't believe it's getting so close!! I so hope this all works out in the end. We're still waiting to hear if the house sold in MI yet or not. We were supposed to have an answer by the end of this week one way or the other. I've got my fingers crossed that we'll be closing on it before the month's over! :rolleyes1

[meanmom121]

Whew I finally got caught up. DH sick, DS home sick for 3 days. Dog to the vet three time in 4 days. Just an FYI when you have to call the vet in at 5:ooam you immediately become the surgical assistant as there is no one else there. I'm a nurse so I'd love to share all the gory details but for those of you who are not I'll refrain. Just suffice it to say that DH almost didn't make it througfhthe surgery. The vet sent him out for air so we wouldn't have to deal with saving him too.
Girl if I had to make that many trips to the store for one meal - Well let's just say tacos would have been out for that night. I guess it's a good thing You have that many stores around. We live in a rural area - 30 minutes to closest major chain grocery. So if you forget it, too bad,:sad2: You just have to wait until next trrip.
Thanks for updating us on your PTR.
Do you think he'll figure it out before you go?

[lmillercrew]

Oh my GOODNESS!!! After not being on my computer for 4-5 days I have over 300 unread emails. :eek: :scared1: I'm so tired at night that when I sit down to read, I can only get through about 6-7. Here's to hoping that your house in MI will sell.

[Grace and Mickey]

Oh my GOODNESS!!! After not being on my computer for 4-5 days I have over 300 unread emails. :eek: :scared1: I'm so tired at night that when I sit down to read, I can only get through about 6-7. Here's to hoping that your house in MI will sell.
WOW that a lot of emails. I hope your getting some rest:thumbsup2

Hi Lynn
I hope your house in MI sell soon too:goodvibes:goodvibesl
Have your got your computer fixed yet?
Any new plans for the surprise trip?
Hope to talk soon.

Have a nice day
grace

[newtodis]

Whew I finally got caught up. DH sick, DS home sick for 3 days. Dog to the vet three time in 4 days. Just an FYI when you have to call the vet in at 5:ooam you immediately become the surgical assistant as there is no one else there. I'm a nurse so I'd love to share all the gory details but for those of you who are not I'll refrain. Just suffice it to say that DH almost didn't make it througfhthe surgery. The vet sent him out for air so we wouldn't have to deal with saving him too.
Girl if I had to make that many trips to the store for one meal - Well let's just say tacos would have been out for that night. I guess it's a good thing You have that many stores around. We live in a rural area - 30 minutes to closest major chain grocery. So if you forget it, too bad,:sad2: You just have to wait until next trrip.
Thanks for updating us on your PTR.
Do you think he'll figure it out before you go?

Thanks for sparing us the details - personally I think that kind of thing is "cool" (I guess that's why I work at the fire station!) so it wouldn't bother me but we'll be respectful of the others! :goodvibes

Yeah I'm generally not that "nice" and go to that many places....usually we open up the fridge/freezer/pantry and pick something and that's what you get.

I don't think he'll figure it out! He keeps asking where we're going and who we're having dinner with. I honestly don't think he has an idea at all which is awesome!!

Oh my GOODNESS!!! After not being on my computer for 4-5 days I have over 300 unread emails. :eek: :scared1: I'm so tired at night that when I sit down to read, I can only get through about 6-7. Here's to hoping that your house in MI will sell.

YIKES! I'm glad I'm not that popular! :goodvibes

Thanks! Dan's got to call and check on it again this week so we at least have an idea what's going on with it.


Hi Lynn
I hope your house in MI sell soon too:goodvibes:goodvibesl
Have your got your computer fixed yet?
Any new plans for the surprise trip?
Hope to talk soon.

Have a nice day
grace

Oh I so hope it does too! One less thing to juggle and worry about!!

No computer yet....I don't think either are worth fixing at this point so we're going to try and have our IT friends wipe everything off them and sell them for parts (told we can get a decent amount doing this) and hopefully sock that money away for this trip or a new computer...not sure which just yet! :goodvibes

I was at home Friday and Monday and worked on cleaning the house a bit. I've got a box of stuff for a garage sale in my livingroom so that's good. I'll either actually have the garage sale or list the stuff on Craig's List and get rid of it that way. I just hate storing it while it's on Craig's List and hate the hassle of having a garage sale! :headache: I also made a list of bigger stuff that we need to put on Craig's List (like the elptical machine Dan bought last year after we moved here or the wedding band that he bought in the wrong size that we never got resized four years ago! - stuff like that) in hopes that we'll get more money for things like that than at a garage sale. Not only will we make some extra money but we'll get a cleaner house - awesome!

Dan and Sandy are going to the race in Charlotte this weekend so I'll have the weekend to work on my planning which should be fun! I start another class tomorrow for work so that will also help to keep me busy. I've been filling in for a girl who's out on FMLA so work's certainly been busy to say the least the past couple of weeks. Dan's in class this week to become an instructor so he's busy with that. Tonight's yet another t-ball game so I've got to get the kids there and meet Dan there when he's done with class.

No more real surprise details at this point. I'm hoping after this weekend though! Saturday we went to an air show and the boys enjoyed that quite a bit. Other than that we pretty much stayed home and were lazy all weekend (totally out of character for me!). Other than that, no updates really. Sorry guys....I know I'm a slacker. I've also been following Jon and Kate's thread on the Community Board and the craziness that's been associated with that family....yikes!

Alright...I need to try and get some work done today! :goodvibes

[newtodis]

Hey All!

There's been a bit of change of plans for July.....If we go (yes I said "if"), it will just be our family. Angie and Sandy have some stuff to take care of for the adoption so Disney's not in the picture right now for them. BUT they booked their timeshare for Sept 18-25 so that's probably when we'll go in Sept for free dining. They did offer us the option to stay with them off site but that kind of defeats the "free dining" purpose of us going. I just have to see if those dates work out for everyone (Dan's mom is probably going in Sept).

Now the "if". I've got to arrange for everyone to get off work (which shouldn't be a problem). I also don't see us having a problem being able to afford it now since we'll need a smaller condo (sad but a blessing at the same time). I don't forsee any problems but it's still in the back of my mind that we won't be able to pull it off for some reason. I need to be positive and excited but for some reason I'm having a really hard time. Maybe I've just got too many other things going on. Maybe it's because I can't talk about anything. Who knows....I need to "move my groove" as Corbin would say and get excited.

Carter now wakes up on the weekends and requests "watch DisNEE" before we can do anything. We have a Disney show from the travel channel dvr'd so he watches that or the planning dvd pretty much every weekend! :goodvibes He's excited to say the least and he doesn't even know we're going!

I think things will relax a little bit once I get the condo paid for. The rest will all come with time. :surfweb:

OH!! I also have two cards for the AP discount if anyone needs them. Feel free to PM me your address and I'll get them right out in the mail. Those will give us our spending money for Sept when we go which is great!

Alright...back to work. Boy am I wishing it was Friday already. I'm so hoping to get out early tomorrow!! I took last Friday and Monday off to try and get stuff done with the boys and get the house cleaned up and stuff. Well, we stopped at a consignment store and I found a sand/water table that Corbin fell in love with. I told him it was still there this Friday (tomorrow) that I would get it for them. Target also has the little Cozy Coupe on sale that we've talked about getting Carter for almost two years now. I'm going to take the ad to Walmart and use my gift card there so $30 for a new car AND sand/water table is pretty good if I do say so myself! :goodvibes That's the plan - I so hope it works out that way!!!

[wigdoutdismom]

Good luck on getting the travel arrangements all ironed out! I hope the sand/water table is there waiting for you, it sounds like some good fun for your little guys and cozy coupes are the best. My girls about wore the wheels out on theirs a million years ago!

[Grace and Mickey]

Good evening Lynn

Your know that we are all ready to listen to you share your plans.:thumbsup2
So share the excitment with us. It will all work out:goodvibes


Your dates for Sept for free dining begin on our last day Sept 18th.

Where do you think you might stay?
I can made my ARD's in 21 days:yay:
And I pick out a 1st trip disign for Landen.

Have a good FRIDAY.
Grace

[lmillercrew]

Well, you're probably right about the excitement factor. You can't talk about it to anyone, and I think that's half the fun of getting ready to go on vacation. I think as it gets closer, you'll find the excitement.
Sorry to hear that Angie won't be able to make it this trip, but Sept isn't too far off and the baby will be older, might make it a little easier.

[newtodis]

Hey All!

Sept dates changed again so now Angie and Sandy are going 9/11-18. We haven't gotten ahold of Dan's mom to see what days will work for her. I don't know that I'm up for Disney for an entire week (yes I love Disney but I like being able to take lots of little trips instead of just one bigger one!). The weekend before is Labor Day and we were previously debating going that weekend and staying into the week so we wouldn't have to use so much time off from work...I don't know. We're still trying to work out the details. As for where we'll stay, it'll be either All Star Music Family Suite or Poly - it will all depend on if the dreaded house sells in MI! :headache: Hopefully we'll be there at the same time Grace - maybe we'll just run into each other!

As for the surprise trip, I spent some time working on it this weekend and have since gotten a little bit more excited again. :cool1: You're right Lisa - talking to people is half the excitement!

I worked out more of what our "must sees" are for the different days. I'm really trying to have low expectations not knowing how hot or crowded it will be. I'm debating signing up for the Tour Guide Mike or a site like that only because we've never been at this time of the year before.

I'm also trying to keep time in our plans if we want to give one of the water parks a try this trip. If we do, it would be Typhoon Lagoon from the reading/watching I've done on it. Seems like the "right" place for us and I want to check out the snorkeling with the sharks! :thumbsup2 If we wind up staying longer in Sept maybe we'll head over then if we don't have time on this trip.

I also pulled snacks out of the snack cupboard and put them into the Disney tote. Dan knows about the tote but not about the contents. He thinks it's just my regular Disney stuff (which it is plus some!). I just pulled some snacky stuff so he wouldn't miss it from the closet. I'm really starting to think a lot more about how it's all going to work out while I'm packing and stuff to have it all done in time.

I've got to come up with a good way to "hide" everything in the van. Thankfully we have "stow and go" seating so I'm going to try and hide as much as I can in those compartments. I also plan on trying to cover everything else up with a big blanket and making it all bumpy and stuff so he won't guess it's just suitcases back there!

I've figured out that I can't let him into our bedroom or the kid's room the day we leave. If he goes through the dressers (to find different clothes for him to wear) he'll know something's up when half of his clothes are missing. What I think I'm going to do is take half a day off work, pack the van and get the kids around when they get up from nap. This will be the hardest because Corbin's old enough and smart enough to know something's going on and I will need him to keep his mouth shut and not give up any of the details! :scared: So basically, I'll have his clothes in the front bathroom (the boy's bathroom) and tell him we're late, he needs to get changed so we can get on the road right away. I think he'll comply because by that point he'll want to know what the fuss is all about! :rotfl:

Then, we'll stop at McDonald's (or Wendy's or whatever) once we get past Savannah (maybe closer to Jacksonville because he thinks that's where we're going) to take a potty break. While he runs inside with the boys (update on that in a minute!) I'll grab some food, get out their cards and be back in the van. Maybe I'll give them their cards first then get the food. I just know I want to be there when they open the cards and figure it all out! :yay::yay: Then Corbin can open his gift (a new Leapster) and keep him quiet. I think once Carter (out of all of them) figures out we're going to Disney it will be hard to keep them quiet! :rotfl:

At that point, Dan will probably want to drive (I hate driving so that's fine with me!) and we'll be on our way to DISNEY!!! :cool1: I don't plan on sharing any of the reservations or anything like that with them at all. I have to keep some surprises! I'd like to call Chef Mickey's before we go to make sure they know that our reservation day is actually their birthday in hopes that they might get a little extra magic.

Once we're done at breakfast our first morning, we'll hit the MK and get the boys their gift cards!! :cool1: I'm hoping they'll be able to spread this out over our four days while we're there. We generally do our shopping on the last day at DTD but I'm not opposed to buying something on our way out of the parks - I just don't like to lug things around all day! I think this honestly will be the best part for Corbin. I CANNOT wait to look at him in a store and tell him he can pick out WHATEVER he wants! That's like a dream come true for me. Now, my luck he'll either pick out a $2 pen or a $200 toy. :rotfl2: Whatever they don't use on this trip we'll just bring back in Sept.

We have about $125 in gift cards from previous visits that we need to use on this trip so that will for sure cover at least one meal and part of the TH meal which is great! Then we also have some Disney dollars that we have to use so that will help to keep things affordable as well. We sent out three of our AP referral cards (still have another one if anyone needs one!) so hopefully we'll get some gift cards from those to use towards our September trip. It's much more fun spending other people's money! :thumbsup2

General updates: Friday night I went shopping with the boys - all three of them in tow! I ran to the consignment shop on my lunch and they'd sold the sand table the day before! :headache: I could've cried right there in the store! I was going to call and ask them to hold it for me since I couldn't get there until Friday - I should have and I'm still kicking myself for that! Then when I went to Walmart they didn't have the car that Target had on sale so I had to go back to Target, wait for them to dig one out of the back and get that. It was just a long day in general!

Ok - potty update. Dan wen to the race in Charlotte this weekend (he got home about 7:15 last night!) so Carter, Corbin and I worked on Carter's potty training!! Saturday he had three accidents, Sunday NONE!!!! and Monday four. The exciting part is that he stayed dry through nap every day!!! :cool1: Hopefully he'll get this down very soon and we won't need diapers/pull ups/anything any more!!! I cannot wait for that!

Other than that, it was a quiet weekend! I cleaned the house and van out (looking for hiding spots!). I worked on Disney planning a bit trying to get a plan together in my head. I think the toughest part right now is that there are so many unknowns....I'm not good with that. I like to know what's happening and how things will flow. :rolleyes1

Ok I should probably get to work this morning! Between updating here and reading the Jon and Kate thread, I haven't gotten much done this morning!

[Grace and Mickey]

Doing the happy dance:dance3:I just might get to meet You:yay::yay:
When I read that dates might have changed I thought That MY DATES TOO:cheer2::cheer2:and then you said"Hopefully will be there the same time as Grace-maybe we'll just run into each other!! I would SOOO LOVE to meet you:thumbsup2:love::thumbsup2

I worry about the heat , I get sick from the heat if I don't watch.
One of the tips I learned her is the slip and Ice in the Cushion behind the seat to keep the kids cool.

Tour Guide Mike might be a good idea, could you use it for both trips?

You are really thinking things thur, With how to pack the van so no one notices it suitcase to puting his clothes in the bathroom.

I hope you have a viedo camera to catch their reacations.:thumbsup2

GOOD JOB on the potty training. Corri is working with Landen too!
She would like to have him trained by our trip, some days are better than others.
:grouphug:Here's a BIG HUG, for dealing with the unknows I know that that can be hard, I too like to Know whats happening and how to deal with them!!!:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:
I think that why we Are Diser's and like to plan:thumbsup2

Have a great day
Grace

[newtodis]

Hey Grace!

50 days until Disney! 49 days until we're in FL! :banana::cool1::woohoo::yay:

I'm putting in my weather request for it to be nice and sunny and warm without being too hot and humid. I don't think that's too much to ask! :thumbsup2

Well Saturday is Corbin's last t-ball game so I've got to keep working on the team party and get his birthday invites made because he wants to invite his t-ball friends to his party. Thankfully we're having it at the house so it's not a huge deal how many kids show up. My only concern is I already bought stuff for the treat bags so hopefully no more than what I've already bought for will show up! :headache:

Oh yes I'm so a planner. I have to be. I will be so incredibly proud of myself if I can pull this off! It will be a freaking miracle. Yes we have a video camera and I'm hoping to get the whole thing on tape when we stop for the potty break.

I really need to work on the "telling" part. I think I'm going to give them a little box/envelope thingy with puzzle pieces that I'm going to make that will make a picture of something Disney (not something too obvious, but something Disney). Corbin and Dan can work on the puzzle and if they don't get it from the puzzle, I'll give them their cards with the certificate that they get in free on their birthdays. Hopefully at that point Dan will get it and say something so Corbin understands where we're going. Then, once Carter hears what they're talking about, he'll get it and be excited too. At least that's how I'm hoping it goes down! I guess I just have this picture of Corbin and Dan freaking out in the parking lot, jumping up and down saying "we're going to Disney!". I'm trying not to be too set on the reaction because you never really know how anyone will react but if they don't have any reaction I think that will really make me sad. So here's to hoping for a HUGE reaction - a good one of course! :goodvibes

[newtodis]

Well it was another busy weekend at the our household! Corbin's last t-ball game was on Saturday which meant the team party. We had all the parents sign up for bringing something which helped a lot. Dan went and got pizza after the game and the kids all ate pizza and chips then hit the cupcakes. Then it was time for the awards that Coach Dan and Coach Sandy made (anyone who knows either of them knew Coach Lynn made them :thumbsup2). The kids all liked them a lot and they got their little trophies. Then we headed off to the ice cream store! It was a fun morning that's for sure!

Saturday night was Sandy's birthday so they came over for dinner which was nice. Got to spend some time with Samantha which is always fun - it's amazing how quickly she's growing up. I think I must have forgotten that! :rotfl:

Sunday we headed off to the pool for a couple of hours with the boys and everyone had a good time. Corbin practiced swimming without his floaties since he can touch in the "little" end of the pool this year without going under. :thumbsup2 Carter had a great time just hanging out in the water all morning. Thankfully everyone (all the boys) took a good nap and mommy got some peace and quiet!

My goal today is to call Chef Mickey's and make sure the birthdays are noted on the reservation. I'm hopig for lots of pixie dust for that morning for a little extra attention from Mickey and gang as well as at the MK when we head over there. I'm hoping to have the birthday buttons the night before so they'll have those first thing in the morning. My "dream" would be that they're picked to ride the train in with Mickey that morning but I know that's reaching for the stars. We'll see what happens! At the least, we'll be at Disney, have had breakfast with Mickey and the gang and seeing MK rope drop for the first time ever. Can't be a bad day right??? :goodvibes

I'm starting to get my excitement back for the trip. I spent all afternoon Saturday stressing about everything and praying no one would find out before they're "supposed" to. I had several chances to tell others about the trip and I've just kept my lips zipped. The less people to know right now - the better off we'll be. That way no one can slip and say something they shouldn't. :goodvibes Of course, then it's pretty much my fault if they find out! :rotfl:

I was also trying to figure out how I was going to make sure we didn't have a ton of leftovers in the fridge while we're gone. We generally have a decent selection of "stuff" in there. I'm thinking I might just tell Dan I'm trying to cut back since I know we're going to MI soon and don't want a bunch of stuff still in there....hopefully he'll buy that!

I'm also working on stuff that I can fit into Corbin's birthday party shopping food-wise so he won't wonder why I'm buying weird stuff that just doesn't fit with the party shopping. I'm planning on taking hot dogs and chips for one night, mac and cheese for one night, bread and meat for sandwiches, probably making pasta with sauce AKA snake pasta (spagetti) for one night. I've got pop tarts for breakfasts and will take some cinnamon rolls - an extra special treat! Tuesday night we'll eat on the way down, Wednesday morning we've got breakfast at CM's, Friday morning we have breakfast at TH (I think that's the right day....) and Sunday we'll probably grab lunch somewhere on the way home. That only leaves me three breakfasts, four lunches and four dinners to figure out. That's not too bad. We can always find counter service at Disney (I'm sure we'll have snacks at Disney too!) or eat there (if we can find a spot) or off site if we want to. I just want to make sure that we've got stuff at the condo in case we don't feel like going anywhere once we're back there. I'm open to any other easy meal suggestions anyone might have! popcorn:: I'm just trying to keep it to things that I'd normally make or that I can make (or remake) there as quickly/easily as possible. I'm sure it will all work out in the end whatever happens and whatever I take.

I've got the BIGGEST cold sore ("super herpes" as the guys at work call it!) on my lip from stress between work and home stuff....I'm so ready for this vacation. (I get cold sores and hives when I stress) We all truly need a couple of days where we can just lay back and relax and not have to worry about anything! Another bonus, I'll have a great tan for the wedding when we go to MI! :rotfl:

Alright...I get to go home on my lunch and work on my planning since no one will be there (Dan's at work and the kids went to Michelle's this morning!) so hopefully I can make my phone calls and lists in peace and quiet! :goodvibes

[Grace and Mickey]

Good morning Lynn:)
Wow ! you had a busy weekend. I'm glad your award/end of t-ball pary was fun. I always enjoyed the awards party for the girls.

I bet the little princess is getting big, time for a new picture.

Have your Figure out your dates for Sept yet? Hey. I just realized I might get to meet to the little Princess princess:yay:
Waiting for Sept hours they might be out today:thumbsup2
Tomorrow (tuesday) is our 100 day mark:woohoo::woohoo:
Landen and I going to make our countdown chain:thumbsup2:thumbsup2

I'm sooo looking forward to eating a Chef' Mickey:dance3:
and I LOVE watching Mickey come in on the train, if give me such a magical feeling.lwhat a awesome why to start the day:love:
Here's some pixie dust pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:that your dream comes of being picked as the Family of the day!!!!

Have your check out the "picnic the park" at Ak, where you order and pick it up later to eat around the park, or you could take it back to the codo.

Good job on not spilling the beans about the trip this weekend / Remember I'm ready to listen to plans and share I ideas, actually I really enjoy reading about your trips and all the great ideas you have and they help me with my plans too.

Well got to go get some work done soo I can sit patiently and wait for Sept hours to be realased:rolleyes1popcorn::
Grace

[newtodis]

Hey Grace!

Wow - only 100 days huh? It's amazing when you count in days how close/far away something sounds! 44 days until we're at Disney!!! :cool1: I only have to keep my mouth shut for another 43 days - I think I can do it! :rotfl:

I haven't read up on the "picnic at the park" - sounds like I need to! :goodvibes

I did call attempt to call CM's this afternoon. I could not get a CM to give me the number there at all - I was told they don't have a direct line there. Ugh! I just wanted to call and make sure the birthdays were on the reservation in hopes that they'd get some "happy birthday"s that morning from the characters....now I've got to try and find the number. Google is my friend. :rolleyes1

Dan works the next two Saturdays on Daufuskie so that gives me at least two days this month to work on trip planning and trying to go through what clothes he's got and what he needs. He's been banished from looking at the bank account so he won't know what I pay for when at this point until we get back from our trip. :goodvibes By then it will be too late for him to do anything about any of it! :woohoo:

I also need to go through the boy's stuff and make sure we've got everything there. I keep bringing up our MI trip and trying to make sure everything's in place with that so he's not suspicious of my cleaning and buying stuff. :idea: Hopefully I'll be recovered in our week back at home to be repacked to go to MI the next weekend! :scared:

I so hope I can pull this off! I really do. I love planning surprises but this one's been pretty difficult for some strange reason! I think it's because I've done surprise stuff in the past and it's always been easier than this. I've never tried to take anyone to another state and pull off a vacation with two kids. I know once they all figure out where we're going and what we're doing they won't care about any plans at all which is good - they'll just be happy to be at DISNEY!! :cool1:

I need to sit down and get a list together of what still needs to be done and start tackling stuff on my lunch hours while I can be at home and he's not.

I'm also trying to figure out in my head how Tuesday's going to go (the day we're leaving). I've got two boys who will spill the beans if they see me packing suitcases and stuff. I'm hoping Michelle (our nanny) can take the boys to her house for the morning so I can pack the clothes and get everything into the van. Then she can have the afternoon off and I can take the boys with me to run the rest of the errands like putting gas in the van and stuff like that.

I know I keep saying it but we all really just need this break. Things have been piling up and we're so ready for something fun and exciting where we can all relax and have a good time. We can celebrate Dan and Corbin's birthdays and Carter being potty trained (we're well on our way - yesterday was another dry day!!!) and just be happy together. Things haven't been the best with Dan and I for a while now and I'm hoping this trip will kind of give us a chance to "start over" and try to make things better.

Alright...I've got a pile of work staring at me so I need to get back to it.

TTFN! :goodvibes

[Grace and Mickey]

Hi Lynn

pixiedust:pixiedust:Here's some pixie dust for you and Dan sounds like you can use some:grouphug::grouphug: Sometimes life get so busy with kids, work and the house, and maybe a trip to WDW to spend some time together is what you both need.

You don't have your lists stated yet???:scared1:
You the QUEEN OF LISTS!!

Your homework tonite is to start making lists, I will be looking for one tommorrow:lmao:Beside I need to start on my packing list and if you do one I be half way there:thumbsup2

We got our countdown chain done see pictures on my PTR.
we hung it over Corri living room window, just like you ,could not get a picture of it to much light have to try later.

I'm sure you will pull off the surprise and all your worring will be for nothing.
I'm really enjoying being able to share in the plans for your suprise trip. I look forward each day to see what new.

I have 2 questions?????


Did the house in MI sell yet?
Are you going in Sept and what are your dates?

:banana::banana:For Carter on staying dry:banana::banana:Way To Go:banana::banana:
Have a good evening.
Grace

[newtodis]

Hey Grace! Looks like it's just you and me! :rotfl:

Thanks for the pixie dust. We've got our good days and bad...here's to hoping for more good in the future.

I have some lists but not nearly my "regular" lists that I would normally make. I have a wonderful packing list that I keep in my Disney book and just copy when it's getting close to trip time. I think I have the email or link to where I printed it from. I'll look and see if I have it for you. :goodvibes It's really a good one - three pages long! :rolleyes1

I will certainly head over and check out the pictures - things have been busy and I have lots to catch up on! :headache:

I hope the worrying is all for nothing...I really do! I know I'll get a good reaction from Carter and it's not even from him! :rotfl2: Corbin it will honestly be hit or miss - if he's tired he'll probably just ask to go back home....if he's in a good mood, he'll be all wound up and won't be able to sleep! :cool1: Dan....he'll probably be excited too if he doesn't find out before hand...

No house in MI still hasn't sold that we've heard...hopefully soon! One less thing to take care of would be awesome!

I want to go in Sept but we're trying to work on dates and see how things pan out here at work with time off and stuff like that. That will probably be our last Disney trip this year :sad1: I'd love to go for a weekend to go to MVMCP but I don't see that happening just with things getting so busy with the holidays and all. Dan told his mom last night that we're not going to MI for Christmas this year and we would like everyone to come down either over Christmas or in January (some of his family is already planning on coming down then) so we'll see how that works out....

Alright...I've been plugging away since 7:30 this morning and need to get back at it....

[newtodis]

Hey Grace!

I posted the links to the packing lists I use on your PTR...hopefully one of them will work for you. I don't take everything on either of the lists but it's a really good start. I always wind up adding stuff like Corbin's Leapster and stuff really specific to our family but like I said, it's a good list (either one) to start with. Hopefully one of them works out! :goodvibes

[Grace and Mickey]

Hey Grace! Looks like it's just you and me! :rotfl:Hey Lynn! It's new song ''just you and me!!!
Thanks for the pixie dust. We've got our good days and bad...here's to hoping for more good in the future.Your welcome :thumbsup2

I have some lists but not nearly my "regular" lists that I would normally make. I have a wonderful packing list that I keep in my Disney book and just copy when it's getting close to trip time. I think I have the email or link to where I printed it from. I'll look and see if I have it for you. :goodvibes It's really a good one - three pages long! :rolleyes1

I will certainly head over and check out the pictures - things have been busy and I have lots to catch up on! :headache:Im always trying to catch up:lmao:

I hope the worrying is all for nothing...I really do! I know I'll get a good reaction from Carter and it's not even from him! :rotfl2: Corbin it will honestly be hit or miss - if he's tired he'll probably just ask to go back home....if he's in a good mood, he'll be all wound up and won't be able to sleep! :cool1: Dan....he'll probably be excited too if he doesn't find out before hand...

No house in MI still hasn't sold that we've heard...hopefully soon! One less thing to take care of would be awesome!

I want to go in Sept but we're trying to work on dates and see how things pan out here at work with time off and stuff like that. That will probably be our last Disney trip this year :sad1: I'd love to go for a weekend to go to MVMCP but I don't see that happening just with things getting so busy with the holidays and all. Dan told his mom last night that we're not going to MI for Christmas this year and we would like everyone to come down either over Christmas or in January (some of his family is already planning on coming down then) so we'll see how that works out.... Ihope you can go in Sept:goodvibes I would really like to get to meet you:)

Alright...I've been plugging away since 7:30 this morning and need to get back at it....

Hey Grace!

I posted the links to the packing lists I use on your PTR...hopefully one of them will work for you. I don't take everything on either of the lists but it's a really good start. I always wind up adding stuff like Corbin's Leapster and stuff really specific to our family but like I said, it's a good list (either one) to start with. Hopefully one of them works out! :goodvibes
Thanks I'm going to check them out:thumbsup2 It;s always good to have things in writing and more yhings for my planning binder:woohoo:

Have a good evening and remember it Just me and you!!

Grace

[lmillercrew]

YOU'RE NOT ALONE YOU TWO!!!:yay: Just been not on here very much. SO sorry I've been a bad DIS friend Lynn!!! :lovestruc I'm too tired to read all of your posts even, tonight anyway. I did however read some of one of your posts and read that your Sept dates have changed. AND! AND! How can you say that you don't think you could stay a week at Disney? Don't you normally stay like 5 days? What's two more days anyway? :rotfl: (Oh yeah, only a couple more hundred dollars) :rotfl:
I thought that you had a possible buyer for your dumb Michigan house? Housing market in Ohio stinks. If you're a buyer it's good, but not if you're a seller.
Okay, so I WILL finish catching up on your report tomorrow.

[lmillercrew]

WOW I have missed a lot! Sheesh!
SO, how is the potty training going? That is my least favorite, well one of my least favorite, parts of being mommy. SO much laundry!
You are like one of the best planners that I know! Good for you. I hope that this trip gives you and Dan what you need. Life's stresses get in the way of the happiness in marriage sometimes. It really can stink. I'll pray for you guys.
You are going to have a great time this summer. It would be nice if you could meet Grace and her crew.
I can't believe that your t-ball season is over! Our summer baseball season doesn't get over until about the second week in July.

[Grace and Mickey]

YOU'RE NOT ALONE YOU TWO!!!:yay: Just been not on here very much. SO sorry I've been a bad DIS friend Lynn!!! :lovestruc I'm too tired to read all of your posts even, tonight anyway. I did however read some of one of your posts and read that your Sept dates have changed. AND! AND! How can you say that you don't think you could stay a week at Disney? Don't you normally stay like 5 days? What's two more days anyway? :rotfl: (Oh yeah, only a couple more hundred dollars) :rotfl:
I thought that you had a possible buyer for your dumb Michigan house? Housing market in Ohio stinks. If you're a buyer it's good, but not if you're a seller.
Okay, so I WILL finish catching up on your report tomorrow.
Oh Goody we are a trio! You and You and Me
and your not a bad DIS friend.






quote=lmillercrew;32125074]WOW I have missed a lot! Sheesh!
SO, how is the potty training going? That is my least favorite, well one of my least favorite, parts of being mommy. SO much laundry!
You are like one of the best planners that I know! Good for you. I hope that this trip gives you and Dan what you need. Life's stresses get in the way of the happiness in marriage sometimes. It really can stink. I'll pray for you guys.
You are going to have a great time this summer. It would be nice if you could meet Grace and her crew.
I can't believe that your t-ball season is over! Our summer baseball season doesn't get over until about the second week in July.[/quote]

And we have missed you:)
Laundry does it ever get done?
Your are so RIGHT "Life stresses get in the way of the happiness in marriage" Well say, Lisa, something we all need to remember.

Yes it would be nice is we could meet, I wish we could all meet sometime:thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2:grouphug:Fo r Lynn:grouphug:for Lisa.





Well got to go do some:laundy::laundy::laundy:


Have a good night.

Grace

[newtodis]

YOU'RE NOT ALONE YOU TWO!!!:yay: Just been not on here very much. SO sorry I've been a bad DIS friend Lynn!!! :lovestruc I'm too tired to read all of your posts even, tonight anyway. I did however read some of one of your posts and read that your Sept dates have changed. AND! AND! How can you say that you don't think you could stay a week at Disney? Don't you normally stay like 5 days? What's two more days anyway? :rotfl: (Oh yeah, only a couple more hundred dollars) :rotfl:
I thought that you had a possible buyer for your dumb Michigan house? Housing market in Ohio stinks. If you're a buyer it's good, but not if you're a seller.
Okay, so I WILL finish catching up on your report tomorrow.

Hey! I knew you were busy - it's ok. You can also check in on Jill here: http://leonsmom.wordpress.com/. She's been having some "problems" with Leon to put it mildly. :grouphug: You're not a bad DIS friend at all!

Yes Sept dates changed and yes I said I didn't think I could spend a week at Disney....I think if we spent a couple more days, I'd want to do things that cost more like La Noba or a water park or something like that. Those two days could cost me like another $500! :scared:

Thanks I'm going to check them out:thumbsup2 It;s always good to have things in writing and more yhings for my planning binder:woohoo:

Have a good evening and remember it Just me and you!!

Grace

LOL I'm glad you have things to ad to your binder! That's always fun!!

WOW I have missed a lot! Sheesh!
SO, how is the potty training going? That is my least favorite, well one of my least favorite, parts of being mommy. SO much laundry!
You are like one of the best planners that I know! Good for you. I hope that this trip gives you and Dan what you need. Life's stresses get in the way of the happiness in marriage sometimes. It really can stink. I'll pray for you guys.
You are going to have a great time this summer. It would be nice if you could meet Grace and her crew.
I can't believe that your t-ball season is over! Our summer baseball season doesn't get over until about the second week in July.

Potty training's going well actually! He's doing great and staying dry all day - even though nap - and even over night the past couple of nights! :cool1: Not too much more laundry than normal thankfully!

HA! Thank you for the nice words! I do appreciate that. I do love planning - it's almost fun to me.

Yes they're having closing ceremonies tonight (unless it rains like forecasted!). It's funny to think it's already done when in MI we'd be maybe just starting...

Oh Goody we are a trio! You and You and Me

Yes we're a trio for sure!

And we have missed you:)
Laundry does it ever get done?


Have a wonderful and great weekend!

[newtodis]

I was just checking my email (I've lost my motivation to work this afternoon!) and



WE GOT A PIN!!!! :cool1::woohoo::yay:

40% off!!!


WOOHOO!!!

Just had to share!!

I've already emailed Tracy (our Disney travel agent) to see if it's cheaper to stay 40% off at the Poly and pay for dinning or stay free dinning in Sept and maybe sneak in another trip around my birthday!!!! WOOHOO!!

That was so what I needed today!!! Hopefully we'll be able to make it all work out....stay All Start Family Suite for free dining then go back for my birthday in December and stay at the Poly 40% off!!! Happy Birthday to me! :rolleyes1

[lmillercrew]

I was just checking my email (I've lost my motivation to work this afternoon!) and



WE GOT A PIN!!!! :cool1::woohoo::yay:

40% off!!!


WOOHOO!!!

Just had to share!!

I've already emailed Tracy (our Disney travel agent) to see if it's cheaper to stay 40% off at the Poly and pay for dinning or stay free dinning in Sept and maybe sneak in another trip around my birthday!!!! WOOHOO!!

That was so what I needed today!!! Hopefully we'll be able to make it all work out....stay All Start Family Suite for free dining then go back for my birthday in December and stay at the Poly 40% off!!! Happy Birthday to me! :rolleyes1
WOOHOOO!!! Congrats on the code sister! You'll have to fill us all in on how things turn out. I'm going to check out Jill. I was wondering where she was. I knew she hadn't update her TR for a VERY long time. That's too bad about Leon.

[Grace and Mickey]

I was just checking my email (I've lost my motivation to work this afternoon!) and



WE GOT A PIN!!!! :cool1::woohoo::yay:

40% off!!!


WOOHOO!!!

Just had to share!!

I've already emailed Tracy (our Disney travel agent) to see if it's cheaper to stay 40% off at the Poly and pay for dinning or stay free dinning in Sept and maybe sneak in another trip around my birthday!!!! WOOHOO!!

That was so what I needed today!!! Hopefully we'll be able to make it all work out....stay All Start Family Suite for free dining then go back for my birthday in December and stay at the Poly 40% off!!! Happy Birthday to me! :rolleyes1
:yay::yay:Yea for the 40% pin:yay::yay:

That's GREAT news:yay::yay:

We got a 40% too, but the free dining was a better deal for us.
When we check the Family suites it was cheaper for us to get to 2 rooms. for 4 adults, but that was with out any pin or code.

I hope you can make it ALL work out!!!Here some magic PIXIE DUST
pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:

Have a good day:)
Grace

[newtodis]

Thanks guys for the well wishes! We so appreciate it! :goodvibes I so hope it will all work out. I have a feeling Dan will make a birthday trip happen once he gets his birthday surprise! :rotfl:

So my next post I'm going to start a list of everything I need to get done so I can go back and edit and print as needed throughout this process.

Life update - Weekend was ok. Spent $209 at Kroger, CVS and Publix. I spent (please keep in mind I haven't been shopping in three weeks) $209 and SAVED $248!!! :cool1: Then Saturday I went shopping at Oshkosh and Carter's outlet and spent about $40 in each store (with coupons of course!) to finish up some Christmas/birthday gift shopping I need to do. Sunday we went to Target and I spent $110 dollars and saved about $125 with my coupons! Happy to say the Christmas shopping is well on it's way to being complete! Now I just need the Target toy clearance and I think I'll be good!

Other than that, it was really a quiet weekend! I spent a lot of time with the boys which is always fun. It rained on and off all weekend (and will not pretty much every day because it is hurricane season now) but Corbin was still able to get outside and play! :goodvibes

I've got to get to work on a Father's Day present for Dan too...I'm trying to be cheap but I want it to be something really good too. I just don't know yet. I need to start working on it though. Dan's working the next two Saturdays so whatever I do, I'll have at least two days to work on it. :goodvibes

I was able to spend a little bit of time working on plans this weekend for the trip. I'm more than confident now that I'll be able to pull this off. Dan thinks we're going to a dinner with someone "famous" (he just does't know it's McDonald's and the famous person is Ronald! :rotfl2: ) so I asked him if he wanted beef, chicken or fish (all McDonald's options!) as I had to plan ahead for this dinner. He chose beef (not that it matters at all!) so I told him I needed to let "them" (I don't know who "them" is but it sounded good) know. He's become quite interested in this - he does love surprises and I love torturing him! :lmao:

I did tell him that I plan on taping his reaction once we get to the place we're going (confusing huh?). I also told him our reservations were at 7:45 which meant he had to be right home from work and we had to be on the road by 5:30. I told him he was to drive in, park his truck, go straight to the boys bathroom, change and get in the van. He asked why he couldn't go any further into the house and I told him he's too slow and we CANNOT be late for this reservation! :rolleyes1 So he knows what to expect. I also told him he cannot be home early that day. I'll make sure that doesn't happen - I have connections! :cool2: I'll probably have his secretary text or call me when he leaves so I'll have an idea of when he'll be home. If I need more time, I'll have him stop and pick up something crazy at the store. I'm so worried that I won't be all packed and he'll come home to me packing the van or something and ruin the surprise! :scared1:

I talked to our HR person today (who happens to live across the street from us and is in on the surprise!) and she ok'd him signing the paperwork once he gets back from vacation so he won't know about the time off in advance. That's a bonus. I'm just going to talk to my boss tomorrow when he's back in the office and get everything ok'd with him before I do Dan's paperwork for him to be out of the office. Don't see any reason why I can't be gone but you never know....

I really want to save the money to go to the water park. I've been reading a lot about it and think the boys would just have a blast there! And with the potential to go twice more this year, I'm willing to give up a park day for a water park day! I just need to figure out the costs and save it up. I figured if I take $50 from each paycheck until we leave (or more depending on the "extra" money), I'll have enough cash on hand to pay for the basics (of course I'll put most of it back in the bank prior to us leaving instead of carrying around a bunch of cash :thumbsup2).

I haven't posted pictures in awhile so here are a few for you:

Carter with his big cheese and bunk on his head:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures001.jpg

Corbin hitting his "home run":

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures018.jpg

Samantha:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures052.jpg

Samantha getting some love from her boys:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/LynnsPictures060-1.jpg

Alright...off to the next post so I can get my lists going!! I've got things scattered all over my house and I need to get them all organized in one place. Hopefully I'll remember everything - if not, I'll be able to update this weekend.

[newtodis]

Alright...here's what needs to happen before we can leave:

*Dan's time off request
*Lynn's time off request
*fill van with gas
*Oil change for van
*Change batteries in dvd player remote for van
*Clean out van
*Pack Dan
*pack Lynn
*pack Corbin
*pack Carter
*pack food
*Pack cooler
*Get ice from fire station
*Clean house
*laundry
*bake (muffins, cookies, birthday cake)
*pack van
*cover stuff in back of van
*make cards
*make puzzle to "tell" surprise
*charge camera battery
*pack cameras and extra batteries
*Copy and notarize Corbin's birth certificate
*pay for Condo (plan on doing this 6/19)
*save for water park tickets
*wrap birthday gifts to take
*Pack "bathroom"/medicine bag
*pack diaper bag
*finish buying things from list (see another post - to be added!)


Alright that's it for now....I'm sure I'll think of more or find it on a list at home and come add it :goodvibes

[Grace and Mickey]

Hi Great up date:)

I think that your next job beside being a Disney planner:thumbsup2would be a party planner:thumbsup2 You really have thought things out:goodvibes

Great job on the saving. How do you save soon much at Targert?

LOVE the pictures:love:
Sammatha is getting big, what pretty blue eyes. My baby (Kyleen) is 28 today:)

Good list!!! Got to get working on mine:thumbsup2
I did print the one of the ones you sent me, could not get the other one to load right.

Did see a Stoller tag on the mouse for less site I like, just would like to be put Landen name on it.

I have and idea for a father's gift for Dan How about an Incrediblide Dad tee-shirt,I'm sure you could find some here on the DIS.
Looking forward to the next list.

have a good day

Grace

[Grace and Mickey]

Lynn
check out this thread on the Budget Board.

"work from home Disney planners Oppunitiny'"

There looking for people to help plan disney trips and I thought of you:)


http:/myfavoritemouse com/jobopp
Grace

[lmillercrew]

You have a big list of things to do my sista! And my oh my are you sneaky with your secret "menu"!! :rotfl:
Aww what happened to the poor little buddy's head??

[englishrose47]

Love your plans for surprising Dan !! I am a huge couponer too !! I get my best deals at CVS!! I have enough toothpaste that I got for almost nothing to last 5 years !! Glade Spray is another those BOGOs plus store sales make them free!!!!!I find Target tends to give me a hard time with coupons !!!

[newtodis]

Hi Great up date:)

I think that your next job beside being a Disney planner:thumbsup2would be a party planner:thumbsup2 You really have thought things out:goodvibes

Great job on the saving. How do you save soon much at Targert?

LOVE the pictures:love:
Sammatha is getting big, what pretty blue eyes. My baby (Kyleen) is 28 today:)

Good list!!! Got to get working on mine:thumbsup2
I did print the one of the ones you sent me, could not get the other one to load right.

Did see a Stoller tag on the mouse for less site I like, just would like to be put Landen name on it.

I have and idea for a father's gift for Dan How about an Incrediblide Dad tee-shirt,I'm sure you could find some here on the DIS.
Looking forward to the next list.

have a good day

Grace

I wuold love to be a Disney and/or party planner. That and a photographer are probably my "dream" jobs. :goodvibes Thank you for the compliment.

Target savings were all coupons. I even had to go back in because she missed $11 worth of coupons. Thankfully the customer service people rescanned all of them and I got that money back. Always check your receipt! :thumbsup2

She's getting big way too quickly! Makes me want another one. My friend knows another girl who's pregnant and considering adoption so we're contemplating again....I love babies and kids but also love the lack of buying diapers with the potty training in full swing!

Happy Birthday to your baby!

Glad you were able to use one of the lists. I've seen the stroller tags before. I don't think I've ever used one - our strollers are "weird" in the sense that we don't see many of them while we're there so they tend to stick out on their own. It helps that you can usually spot my bag o' junk from a mile away because I pack for every scenario possible! :rotfl:

Lynn
check out this thread on the Budget Board.

"work from home Disney planners Oppunitiny'"

There looking for people to help plan disney trips and I thought of you:)


http:/myfavoritemouse com/jobopp
Grace
I saw that yesterday too! I'm all for it but the "sales" part makes me nervous. I emailed the link to a friend who's a travel agent and she's never heard of them before so that makes me even more leary to send my information in to them....yes it would be awesome but I'm not the selling type. I need to do some more research before I give them my personal information. :goodvibes

You have a big list of things to do my sista! And my oh my are you sneaky with your secret "menu"!! :rotfl:
Aww what happened to the poor little buddy's head??

Oh yes I always have a huge list! This time it seems to be moving so slowly because I can't work on anything at home. And at work I'm filling in for someone else so I don't have a lot of time during the day to work on things either.... Dan works this Saturday and next Saturday so that will help me to have some planning time at home. :thumbsup2

Yeah I'm trying to be sneaky. I don't want to "lie" and I don't want him to be excited for something then disappointed (if he could be) when he finds out what we're really doing.

Who knows with Carter....he hits his head on EVERYTHING! When he's mad at you'll, he'll just come up and head butt you HARD! He also likes to be "upside down" (he locks his feet in the back of the rocking chair and hangs his head down like your feet would hang down) so he could hang like a bat. Yes my kids are weird! :rotfl:

Love your plans for surprising Dan !! I am a huge couponer too !! I get my best deals at CVS!! I have enough toothpaste that I got for almost nothing to last 5 years !! Glade Spray is another those BOGOs plus store sales make them free!!!!!I find Target tends to give me a hard time with coupons !!!

Aww thank you! Hopefully I'll be able to pull everything off!

Coupons are awesome! I'm trying to get a list together to have a "coupon class" at my house for my friends to teach them. So many people ask how I do it and I'd love to share - everyone should save money!

CVS was good for quite a while. Then they quit being so "generous" with the extra bucks and that turned me off. I've been getting a lot of free toothpaste and stuff from Kroger. Target has lots of coupons you can print from their website and "stack" with a manufacturer coupon which helps to save even more.

Ok guys...I hope that sounds ok...I started writing it at about 9 this morning and am just now finishing at 2 this afternoon. :scared1:

[newtodis]

Hey All!

I put in my and Dan's time off requests this morning. The Assistant Chief (my boss) signed both of them so we're all good as far as time off!! :cool1: I'm just so darned paranoid about something coming up finacially that keeps me from paying for the condo and making it "official". I'm a worrier like that!

I'm just so ready for it to be here and enjoy the time that I can't tell you!! I so need the break with everything that's going on in my little life - and I know the rest of the family does too. :grouphug: I've been juggling my stuff, another co-workers stuff and for the rest of the week, yet another co-workers stuff. Yup, me doing three people's work this week. That ought to be just loads of fun for everyone! :rotfl: I'm already a crabby witch now...just wait until Friday! :rotfl2: Maybe they'll rethink things a little bit.

No I'm sure it will all be fine. Really...it will be. :goodvibes

My goal tonight is to go through my box of Christmas gifts and figure that out and how much I have done vs what I still need to buy. I'm waiting on Dan's family to decide if we're getting everyone gifts or drawing names again this year or how that's going to work out. We'd just love to skip the gifts honestly and have everyone come down here for a long weekend. That would be the best. WARNING - I'm going to get sappy for a minute!! I love having people over and we were NEVER able to at our house in MI because it was so small. We always had Dan and Corbin's birthday in our garage and people went swimming in our pool. It worked because it was outside and we had a huge yard. Well, we were going to buy the other house (the one we're trying to sell) in MI and that had enough room for me to have like Thanksgiving or Christmas or something at our house. Well, we obviously didn't buy that house and wound up moving to SC with no chance of ever having a big holiday meal or celebration like that. It would mean a lot to me to have them all here at one time and have something at our house...will it happen? I'm betting not as it's nearly impossible to get everyone in one place these days let alone 1,000 miles from their homes. Oh well.....maybe some day with Corbin and Carter's little families. :goodvibes

Some day I'll just pour my guts out about everything and maybe I'll just feel better having it all out there. That's one of Dan and my biggest problems honestly because we grew up so very differently. Although we're both kids of divorce, my childhood was very ugly to put it kindly where his parents divorced when he was older and still talk to each other. That's a story for another day and time though....sorry to be on a tagent. I'm bad about that!

Ok...enough sappy!

I'm going to head home a few minutes early to get Corbin some allergy medicine. The poor kid can hardly breathe and he's snuffing all the time....gotta love allergies!

Have a wonderful night everyone!!

[Grace and Mickey]

Hi Lynn
Hope you're having a good daY:goodvibes

You're doing 3 people work. Do You get 3 people pay:confused3:confused3:confused3

It hard to figure out money stuff when you can't talk to Dan about it.
Just eat peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches for a week and see how much you save :lmao:(just kidding)
I know how you feeling about having family together, I feel the same way. and our house is to little to. Maybe try inviting those that can come and have a wonderful get together. Besides who won"t want to spend the holiday where it warm:)

And before you know it Corbin and Carter WILL be grown up. So enjoy the time and make llots of memories. Like "SURPRISE" and FREE DINING trip to WDW:yay::yay:
Any news on the Sept trip or the 40% pin trip yet?

Have a GOOD nite

Grace

[newtodis]

Hey Grace!

I so wish I got the pay of three people! :rotfl: Considering the two I'm filling in for make a lot more than I do! :headache: Oh well...hopefully it will be rewarded in the end. It's got to get done and I'll make sure it does so it's ok. :goodvibes

Yeah...Dan's not so good with the money anyways but sometimes it's for him to understand why I'm trying to scrimp and save when we're both on the same page with a common goal. :upsidedow But the surprise will be so worth it that I'll make it work out in the end! :goodvibes

No PB&J at our house - Corbin's allergic to peanuts so he'd "get dead" (that's what he says!). He does eat jelly sandwiches though and cheese and bologna and cheese. :rotfl: Praying hard that something happens here with my job in the near future and if it does I'll certainly update everyone as soon as I can (sorry...that's all I can really say right now I think.... :rolleyes:)

I found a super cute stamp at a scrapbook store with a palm tree wrapped in Christmas lights and was thinking I would make invitations for everyone to come down for Christmas with that. I want to give people enough notice to save up to be able to afford to come down and request time off or whatever if they need to. I don't know - I guess it's the "old" me that I'm so used to getting rejected that I wonder a lot "why bother" to go to the trouble of asking them - they're going to say no so why put out the energy. I think if they knew how important it was to me to have them all here, they'd honestly make an effort to come but I'm not good at all about putting myself out there. I've been hurt way too many times and just don't let myself anymore. I just tend to take things very personally and have never been able to "get over" that.... :confused3

Oh I know they're growing up far too quickly!! I hate it! Corbin told me last night I had 20 years until I was 77! :scared1: Um no! Not even close - sorry buddy! :rotfl:

Still no definitive news on the free dining or Dec trip. Dan asked this morning who was going to "someplace special" for their birthday. I raised my hand and said "ME! I'm going to Disney!" and he said "probably". :confused3 Who knows. We'll see what happens. I hope but it will depend on a lot of things. As much as I want to stay at the Poly, if we've got 20 people coming down to stay with us over Christmas, I'll be at home cleaning my house and trying to make room for everyone! :goodvibes

Alright....enough of my "junk"....next post I'm hoping to get a "time line" for 7/14 (surprise day!) to make sure I've got enough time for everything during the day. I'm sure I'll whip through things so quickly that I'll be all done by 10. :rotfl: I'm terrified that he'll come home and catch me doing something and figure it out. I'm also worried the boys will realize I'm packing things and figure out we're going somewhere. I need to get the MI packing in full swing but don't want a bunch of suitcases and stuff around the day of Corbin's birthday party (7/12) which is at our house. :upsidedow You can't have everything! LOL Maybe I'll have him get them down on Sunday night or I'll crawl up there on Tuesday morning and get them down.....

I also need to figure out how he's not going to figure out I'm not going to work on Tuesday. My friend that works with me will be out of town the same day so it will only be our neighbor here to answer the phones :headache: He's bound to call up here or stop up here at the station and walk past my desk....I need to get them all on board with me for a story as to why I'm not here. I think I'm going to let him go to work first that morning and I'll stay home and wait for the nanny. :rolleyes1 Or, I can take the boys and drop them off at her house (of course that would require me to be dressed in my work clothes)...need to get the plan together! These are the things I stress over - the little details. I'm sure he probably won't care where I am or whatever but I have to have an answer "just in case". That's just how I am. :goodvibes

[newtodis]

Alright...it's Friday afternoon and my mind's drifting to Disney! :goodvibes

Dan sent me an email yesterday (yes that's how we communicate these days :sad2: ) saying he doesn't want to go for free dinning in Sept that he'd rather go in Dec for my birthday. I guess I'm ok with that. I did let him know that I wanted to go for at least a couple of days to see Samantha on her first Disney trip! princess: I can't miss out on that! So, who knows...it's up in the air right now - we'll see how it all pans out in the end... :upsidedow

I've printed out my "tentative" plan from post #2 here on this thread and my "to do" list from post 79 here to begin working off of. My goal this weekend is to get everything I possibly can organized so I'm not as stressed about everything! Way too much anxiety over everything and I need to get organized to reduce that.

Saturday morning we'll drop Dan off over on the Island and head home (we might stop at the beach for an hour or so if it's nice - I LOVE listening to the waves and the boys love running when it's not crowded). They have a birthday party to go to Saturday at 1 so we'll have to be gone for a couple of hours for that...should be fun though. The boys are looking forward to it so that's always good. There's supposed to be a water slide which is what they're really looking forward to. :rotfl: Any excuse to get wet when it's this hot!

Tonight we're supposed to take the boys to the pool - that's the plan anyways. Hopefully it works out. Corbin's really looking forward to it. Both boys love water - which is why I really want to try out Typhoon Lagoon when we go in July! I'm seriously thinking we'll be there when they open and probably stay until at least lunch time. I want to plan a couple of days where we'll bring lunch and I'm thinking this might be one of those days! They're not going to want to leave once we get in there. I need to read the "rules" about what's allowed and what's not in there. I'd love to just throw some stuff in the cooler and haul the cooler in but I'm thinking it won't be that easy. :rolleyes1

I also have to find out what time the TTC opens. I'd like to drop the van off at the TTC, ride the monorail to CMs on 7/15 for our 7:15 ADR (I just think that's too funny!) then ride the monorail back to MK for the morning and of course back to the van when we're ready to head out.

I'm so worried that parks are going to be too full and once we leave we won't be able to get back in...I don't even know if that's something I need to be worried about, but I am right now just because we've never been in the summer so I have no freaking clue what to expect. I'm honestly considering subscribing to TGM or something like that for this trip just so I can prepare myself mentally.....I need to think about that though. I didn't love TGM last time I used it so I might have to try and find something else to use instead to give me an idea for crowds.

See? Every time I think about this trip I think of more things to try and figure out! :rotfl: Who knew a freakin vacation was this much work???? Only to us DISers and planners! :thumbsup2 Hopefully I'll be able to work it all out tonight and tomorrow and get lots of answers. I'll have time tomorrow night too to work on this stuff and get it all squared away!

Alright...I'm trying to look busy this afternoon but I honestly have nothing to do! I guess I'll be working on my Disney lists! :cloud9:

[wigdoutdismom]

It's so true about planning a Disney trip, it's an art to be sure. I feel so bad for the people that show up and had no clue about all the homework involved. They seem so overwhelmed!
A well planned trip always pays off and it looks like you are going to be just fine!:goodvibes

[Grace and Mickey]

Good Morning:)
Did you have a nice weekend?

You Said "allright its Friday afternoon and my mind's drifting to DISNEY":goodvibes:goodvibes Must be me to I Always seem to be difting OFF to Disney:goodvibes:goodvibes

I hope You do get to spend a few day with Samantha on her 1st Disney trip, it would be soo much fun:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Did you get to the beach on Sat? Little Boys sure do like water:)

I be interested to know if you sign up for Tour Guide Mike, and how it works? would you be able to use it for more than one trip?

Do you remeber what time the Fireworks are at during a MHSSP?
I have a dinner planed at Narcossee's at 7:35 p.m on Sept 11th and want to be able to see the fireworks during dinner.

Maybe you should bet the 7/15 number on 7/15:thumbsup2

I too spend some hours trying to figure out which parks on which days,
EHM and Which nights Specto and Fantasmic:confused::confused3:rolleyes1
and I might be changing some ADR's again!!!

If I counted right 30 days from today you should right now be strolling right down the middle of main street::MickeyMo::MinnieMo

Have a good day:goodvibes
Grace

[newtodis]

It's so true about planning a Disney trip, it's an art to be sure. I feel so bad for the people that show up and had no clue about all the homework involved. They seem so overwhelmed!
A well planned trip always pays off and it looks like you are going to be just fine!:goodvibes

I could never go somewhere like that (Disney) and not plan! I couldn't imagine! :scared1: Even when I only had a couple of days notice before our first trip, I googled and found the DIS and read as much as I could before we left. It certainly makes for a much better trip for us - having plans.

Good Morning:)
Did you have a nice weekend?

You Said "allright its Friday afternoon and my mind's drifting to DISNEY" Must be me to I Always seem to be difting OFF to Disney

I hope You do get to spend a few day with Samantha on her 1st Disney trip, it would be soo much fun:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Did you get to the beach on Sat? Little Boys sure do like water:)

I be interested to know if you sign up for Tour Guide Mike, and how it works? would you be able to use it for more than one trip?

Do you remeber what time the Fireworks are at during a MHSSP?
I have a dinner planed at Narcossee's at 7:35 p.m on Sept 11th and want to be able to see the fireworks during dinner.

Maybe you should bet the 7/15 number on 7/15

I too spend some hours trying to figure out which parks on which days,
EHM and Which nights Specto and Fantasmic
and I might be changing some ADR's again!!!

If I counted right 30 days from today you should right now be strolling right down the middle of main street

Have a good day:goodvibes
Grace

Weekend was good. Dropped Dan off Saturday morning, hit the beach for an hour or so, went home to nap, headed to my bosses grandson's birthday party then came home and watched Spy Kids and had a "sleep over" on the air matress in the livingroom. Carter was out before 7:30! We picked Dan up Sunday morning and headed back to the beach for a couple of hours before we headed home. Everyone took a nap which was awesome and I just lost all motivation for the rest of the afternoon! Dan's trying hard to figure out the surprise...more on that later!

I hope we'll get to go with Sami Jo on her first trip too - I'm thinking even for a long weekend (like Fri - Sun even would be ok with me!). Dan wants to skip Sept altogether and just stay longer in Dec...I don't want to - I want to do both! :rotfl:

I used TGM for our Sept trip last year. I really only used it for the "best/worst" days because we'd never been at that time of the year and I didn't want to be stuck in long lines with the boys and Dan's mom. I thought it was kind of a confusing site and couldn't really figure it all out so I quit trying after a week or so....I don't know if I'll use it again or not....still thinking about it. I don't know that you can use it for more than one trip but I think, for an example, I could put our Dec trip dates in there and use whatever I wanted until our Dec trip. I think - not 100% sure on that one...

No I don't remember the time exactly. I'm sure I have the stuff at home and I'll look and see if I can find it for you. The Hallowishes was super cool! I would just tell them when you check in (and your server when you're seated) that you'd like to see the fireworks. Maybe they'll make sure your table is closer to a window if you're willing to wait a little longer. The server will also hopefully be understanding that you're eating more slowly because you're waiting for the fireworks. I'm sure they would also appreciate knowing you won't be a "regular" table that's in to eat and be out quickly so they can plan accordingly. Hopefully it will all work out for you! :goodvibes

I think I should bet on that number! :rotfl: I didn't even realize it when I made the reservations honestly!

Good luck with the changing of ADRs...it's never been fun or easy for me. Hopefully you'll have good luck! :grouphug:

Yes, today is 30 days!!! I cannot wait!!


So....on the way home yesterday Dan said he'd figured out his surprise. He was "sure" we were going to the Jacksonville Zoo to have dinner with someone because Jacksonville is two hours from our house. He was so confident that he'd figured it out...so I said "don't you think I'd be upset - like crying - right now if you really figured it out?". He said yes and was more frustrated because he really thought he'd figured it out! :rotfl: So then when we were folding clothes, we were talking about Disney in Dec and I asked if they water parks would be open because I really want to go to Typhoon Lagoon and swim with the sharks. He thought I said "summer" instead of "December" and I told him it's too hot to go in the summer! :rotfl2: So then he says "so there goes my other idea". I was like "what? you think I could take you Disney and you wouldn't notice that?? By the time we got there we'd have to turn around and come back - what a tease to just drive past." :lmao: So he says that he could call in sick the next day so we could stay for "just a day"....right the boys would be ok to leave after just a day??? :rotfl: So now he's off the Disney kick too! I think I really have him confused but pulling this off is even more important now! :thumbsup2 I need to be tricky and sneaky and everything else!

I have to pull this off!

Well I have updated lists to post but couldn't get them out with Dan around to bring to work today. Hopefully I'll be able to get them out tonight and update tomorrow. :surfweb: I'm thinking I might get an Orlando Entertainment Book if I can find a list of the coupons in there. I've read there's a Publix (grocery store) coupon in there so that alone might make it worth it to me. We'll see if I can find a good deal on the book. Coupons for meals off site would certainly help if we decide to eat out any place.

I also worked on Corbin's birthday party this weekend...I've got a lot of things to pick up for that yet as well but I'm trying to tie picking up stuff for our surprise trip in with the birthday party shopping so Dan won't notice.

I also managed to go through my "overstocked" closet (where I keep all of my "surplus" stuff until we need it) and put some stuff aside in a tote with the Disney stuff and shoved the tote in the closet.

I so want this to be a good trip and want to really try to stay on a budget just to see how "cheap" we can do it so we'll have an idea for the future...I read over the weekend that coolers are allowed in TL which will be awesome! I also read that they fill up by 11 (open at 9 or 10) so we'll need to be there first thing in the morning and stay until we're ready to leave for the day (bringing lunch/snacks/drinks with us for the day). I plan on being there when they open (the boys get up early) and staying until afternoon if possible. That will give us the evening to either explore DTD or just go back to the condo and rest for a little bit before hitting the parks again the next morning. Bringing in all the stuff with us will be an amazing budget saver but I'm sure we'll manage to find something they "need" while we're there! :rolleyes1

The other thing I want to do is the "Characters in Flight" balloon in DTD. If we don't do it this trip, Dec for sure. It looks really cool. I don't know if the boys will be up for it but they can always stay with Daddy while Mommy goes. :idea:

Alright...I should probably try to find some "real" work to do this morning. :rotfl: Hopefully more updates soon!

[newtodis]

Good Afternoon All!

Super quick update here....I spent the morning at the doctor. I woke up again this morning and my lips were all swollen and just gross. So, thankfully my doctor opens at 6 am. I gave him a call about 6:30 and was in his office by 7:30 and finished by 7:40. That was the best part of the day! :rotfl: To say it was a rough morning is putting it mildly....I would up "loosing it" and just crying for most of the morning....I've been holding it in far too long and knew one of these days that I'd crack...well, today was the day! :headache: So I laughed in the doctor's face when he asked how much stress I was under (because of all of my cold sores - aka "super herpes"). I just told him he had no idea but I knew it would get better (hopefully!). :rolleyes1 He gave me some medicine and hopefully I'll be rid of them in the next couple of days! :cool1: I just have to stay OUT of the sun for a little while! I guess that's bad when you have a cold sore - don't go outside! So then he asks if he can write a prescription for a weight loss pill....just what I needed to hear! :sad2: Yes I know I'm overweight but I've already been told by more than one doctor that I'll "never" get rid of my belly because of all of the scar tissue unless I have about $10,000 for a tummy tuck...well, that's not happening any time soon. So I guess I've kind of given up. I generally eat dinner and maybe something during the day. I can't tell you the last time I ate three meals during the day. I used to exercise like crazy pre-kids. I'd spend an hour and a half at the gym every night and was about 100 pounds lighter. Would I like to be back there? Heck yeah. Do I have that kind of time now? Heck no! :rotfl: So, I'm holding a prescription for "appitite suppressants" (sp?) now...I know this little pill isn't going to be the answer and I'm terrified to start taking it....still haven't decided if I'm going to or not. Heck yeah I'd like to loose some weight before we to go to MI and Disney next month but I just don't know. We'll see how that works out. It's supposed to make me very focused too....I don't know if that's a plus or negative! :rotfl2: (for those wondering, it's some medicine they give to people with ADD...)

Then, I go home to get Carter for his doctor's appointment. He got hurt at a birthday party (the "Monkey party" called that because of the monkey on the invitation). He was in a bouncy thing and a bigger kid fell on him. He cried for a minute or two but I thought he was ok. Well, he's still limping and won't walk on his right toes - he walks on the side of his foot instead. So, I spent about an hour with his doctor trying to get that figured out. She sent us for x-rays (another $175 I didn't budget for!! :headache: ) and I'm waiting on a call. She doesn't think it's broken because he let her hold his foot and look at it but you just never know. Hopefully I'll have an answer soon so it can be taken care of if it is broken. If not, he'll just limp a little bit until he gets better. :goodvibes

So I finally strolled into work about three hours late this morning apologing like crazy. The party Carter got hurt at is my bosses grandson's party so he was more than understanding (they always are here which is awesome!). Everyone's kind of waiting to hear what's going on and if he's ok.....Now I just have to run tonight and get my prescriptions filled and get rid of these cold sores. They hurt and my lips are all swelled up - it looks like I tried to get those fake lip injection thingys...it's just bad I tell ya! :sad2:

Alright.....I have a ton of crap to do before our meeting starts at 4 this afternoon.....back to work! I will update if I hear anything! :grouphug:

[lmillercrew]

I haven't been on here for so long that I stopped getting emails on the updates about two days ago!
O.K., so I have the diagnosis for your lip. It is your twin!! I was growing my twin on my cheek last week! Good thing that I birthed it this weekend, because it was starting to take over my face!!! :rotfl:
And, I'm still in shock that your doctor would, just out of the blue, ask you if you wanted a weight loss pill! I wish that my doctor would do that for me. I've now just stopped getting on the scale at the doc's office. I just say that I'm fat and that I don't need the scale to tell me.
I'm thinking that maybe you shouldn't let Dan guess anymore. If that were me and he guessed it, I'm not sure that I could keep a straight face! You ARE good sister!
I think you should absolutely invite people down for Christmas. There's plenty of time for saving some gas money. If you put the invitation out there, then it's up to them to decide to come or not. And, the stamp sounds perfect!
I LOVE LOVE LOVEY Typhoon Lagoon! You guys are going to have a blast. We get there EARLY, set up "camp" under some trees over by the clock tower/wave pool and start having some fun. We ALWAYS pack food and a small cooler. PB&J is what we have for every lunch when we're at Disney. Budget can be done at Disney, so I know that you can do it!
I hope that Carter's foot is going to be o.k. (I hope that I remember which boy you said)
You are getting close. I hope that your job starts to slow down a little. It's gotta be stressful when you're doing the work of three people.

[newtodis]

Hey Lisa! :hug:

I don't really want a twin! :rotfl: One of me is enough for sure! They were better this morning with the medicine I took last night. I took it again this morning so hopefully they will be gone soon. Corbin was so sweet - he got up this morning and said "I'm sorry you have sores. No sun for you. None." :rotfl2: Gotta love that kid! He's gonna be a good DH someday!

Yeah he threw me with the pills. I'm sure the Target pharmacy guy thought I had problems last night when I picked up my prescriptions - one for genital herpes (that's what the label says that they print - and by the way, that's NOT why I needed the prescription - cold sores I promise!) and ADHD meds. :rotfl: I'm one hot mess! I took the ADHD stuff this morning and I feel weird - not sure how else to describe it. I had a slight melt down at work this morning but pulled myself together quickly and seem to be ok now. I have to take the other half of the pill at noon - we'll see what that does to me! :upsidedow

He loves the guessing game. I think I'm gonig to have to find him another hint to throw him in another direction. If he really guesses before we leave, I will not be happy with him!

I'm heading to Beaufort this weekend (to K-mart for some Cars thing - the Disney Cars - since Dan has to work Saturday) and plan on hitting the scrapbook store. That should be fun with my two boys! :headache: Thankfully I think I recall them having some Grinch stickers or something - something for the boys to get if they're good. :thumbsup2

I think we'll like TL too! The boys LOVE water so it sounds good. So long as I'm ok to go in the sun (praying these cold sores go away soon!!!), I think it will be a good time for everyone. The bonus? I'll have an awesome tan when we go to MI for the wedding!

Carter Update - he's not broken as far as they can tell. If he's still limping next week, they want to do another x-ray to see if they can figure out what's wrong with him.

Yes - we're counting down the days until Corbin's birthday.

28 days!!

27 days until I have to pull this surprise off and pack like a mad woman!
25 days until Corbin's party at the house. I'm hoping to clean this weekend and next weekend so 4th of July weekend we can just worry about having fun and getting ready for the party the next weekend.


I brought my lists this morning to update too! As soon as I get my "real" work finished, I'll be back to update those!

[wigdoutdismom]

I'm really curious about this weight loss medication. Does it make you feel hyper at all?

[lmillercrew]

Hey Lisa! :hug:

I don't really want a twin! :rotfl: One of me is enough for sure! They were better this morning with the medicine I took last night. I took it again this morning so hopefully they will be gone soon. Corbin was so sweet - he got up this morning and said "I'm sorry you have sores. No sun for you. None." :rotfl2: Gotta love that kid! He's gonna be a good DH someday!

Yeah he threw me with the pills. I'm sure the Target pharmacy guy thought I had problems last night when I picked up my prescriptions - one for genital herpes (that's what the label says that they print - and by the way, that's NOT why I needed the prescription - cold sores I promise!) and ADHD meds. :rotfl: I'm one hot mess! I took the ADHD stuff this morning and I feel weird - not sure how else to describe it. I had a slight melt down at work this morning but pulled myself together quickly and seem to be ok now. I have to take the other half of the pill at noon - we'll see what that does to me! :upsidedow

He loves the guessing game. I think I'm gonig to have to find him another hint to throw him in another direction. If he really guesses before we leave, I will not be happy with him!

I'm heading to Beaufort this weekend (to K-mart for some Cars thing - the Disney Cars - since Dan has to work Saturday) and plan on hitting the scrapbook store. That should be fun with my two boys! :headache: Thankfully I think I recall them having some Grinch stickers or something - something for the boys to get if they're good. :thumbsup2

I think we'll like TL too! The boys LOVE water so it sounds good. So long as I'm ok to go in the sun (praying these cold sores go away soon!!!), I think it will be a good time for everyone. The bonus? I'll have an awesome tan when we go to MI for the wedding!

Carter Update - he's not broken as far as they can tell. If he's still limping next week, they want to do another x-ray to see if they can figure out what's wrong with him.

Yes - we're counting down the days until Corbin's birthday.

28 days!!

27 days until I have to pull this surprise off and pack like a mad woman!
25 days until Corbin's party at the house. I'm hoping to clean this weekend and next weekend so 4th of July weekend we can just worry about having fun and getting ready for the party the next weekend.


I brought my lists this morning to update too! As soon as I get my "real" work finished, I'll be back to update those!
You have a lot going on my friend!
You are going to have a rockin tan for the wedding!
I'm glad nothing is broken in Carter's foot.

[newtodis]

I'm really curious about this weight loss medication. Does it make you feel hyper at all?

Hey There! Yesterday I felt "weird" - I know I should be able to describe it better but I honestly can't....today I do feel more like myself. I'm thinking yesterday could have been a combinitaion of the Motrin, cold sore meds, weight loss meds and having a monthly visitor (sorry -TMI I know....). Today, like I said, feeling better - more like me. It did take me a little bit to get to sleep last night but I've been having problems giong to sleep for a couple of weeks now so I can't say it's the meds. I was also up at 5 this morning (before my boys - that doesn't happen often!!) and couldn't go back to sleep. Now I say couldn't because again my mind was going - logistics of paying for things, organizing things, things I have to get done. Like I said, that's been going on for a couple of weeks though so I can't say it's the meds that are doing that as yesterday was the first day I took them.

I'll certainly keep you posted though! Now generally I only eat a meal a day (dinner generally) because I just don't usually do breakfast and work through lunch (that's my busiest part of the day!) so by the time it comes down to dinner, I'm usually hungry but am ok with kind of snacking on something when I get home so I can sit for a few minutes before making dinner. Yesterday - not hungry at all. I ate poptarts for breakfast (because I was worried about taking all those meds on an empty stomach!), ate no lunch (took no lunch) and ate dinner (ham sandwich and some shells and cheese) which is normal for me. I guess that's the most frustrating part - I don't sit and eat all day. Heck yeah, some days I eat more than others but my life honestly doesn't revolve around food (if you see our MI list of things "to do" you might think otherwise! we miss our "favorites" from MI and will have to eat out a LOT that week to fit everything in!). Yes I'm heavy...I always have been. I was a lot happier with my weight pre-kids. I gained like 60 pounds with Corbin and had a HUGE stomach (the doctor thought I was having twins he was so big!). They had to reopen my incision and had problems when they did the surgery so it was a mess and there was a lot of scar tissue and nerve damage. I decided (bad choice on my part!) not to put a lot of effort into loosing that baby weight because we knew we wanted another one. Well, then came Carter and I didn't gain nearly as much with him but was already heavy. Well, here I am six years later and 100 pounds heavier and have been told that there's too much scar tissue to ever get this flap of skin (again TMI - sorry!) that hangs down (former baby belly!) to go away without a tummy tuck. That's so not in our budget. If these meds help to get some weight off, I may persue with the doctor seeing if they can deem a tummy tuck "medically necessary" to see if my insurance will cover it. Getting rid of that skin alone is probably 5 pounds and I honestly hate it.

Sorry for the rambling and TMI but I will keep everyone updated for sure!! I'm hoping for good results but am honestly not expecting anything at this point.

You have a lot going on my friend!
You are going to have a rockin tan for the wedding!
I'm glad nothing is broken in Carter's foot.

Yes - like always it seems. Always something going on at our house! :rotfl:

I hope so! I do love being tan and hopefully that won't kill me when I'm older. At least I don't fake bake any more like I did pre-kids!

Yes- he's still limping around so hopefully it'll get better over the weekend. If he's still limping on Monday, I'm going to call and ask what they think I should do at that point and I guess go from there. I know it's not killing him - he doesn't seem to be in pain - but I'm sure he's not feeling his best if he's still walking around limping. Boy will I feel like Mom of the Year if his poor little foot is broken and we don't figure it out until next week! :headache:



27 days!!

[lmillercrew]

Hey sister! Here's my thing. Tan fat looks better than white fat. That's what I tell myself every summer! I need to get my fatness outside this weekend and get some more sun.

[newtodis]

Hey sister! Here's my thing. Tan fat looks better than white fat. That's what I tell myself every summer! I need to get my fatness outside this weekend and get some more sun.

:rotfl2::lmao: Stop it! You're too funny! I agree though - I think I look much better when tan than when not! Why do you think we moved to the South? Year 'round tans! :lmao: No sun for me until these danged cold sores are gone! It's suppoed to be 100 degrees the next three days with the heat index up to like 110....I wouldn't be outside anyways!

Tomorrow I have to drop Dan off at his "ship" then run the boys to Beaufort (about half an hour from our house but closer to an hour tomorrow because I'll be out on the Island) to get to Kmart for this Cars thing they're having. Corbin's very much looking forward to it. I'm hoping to get the grocery shopping done tonight so we don't have to add that to tomorrow's list too....yuck! That will pretty much take up our Saturday.

Sunday morning we'll have to go pick Dan up. He'd mentioned Outback opening early a couple of times so maybe we'll head over there and have an early lunch. I've got to get to work on getting the house clean before Corbin's party and our trips (Disney and MI).

I also need to work on our trip plan for MI :rotfl: We've got a lot to fit in and just not enough time. I'm waiting on some things from work to finazlie when we'll be there for sure. Right now the plan is the last week of July since the wedding is 8/1.

Alright...it's Friday and pay day and there's really no one here. Just a couple of us girls (and the guys in back of course but there are always boys here!)...maybe we'll figure out a way for us to all head out in about half an hour. :rotfl: We may all become very sick! Wouldn't want to pass on any germs! Must go home and rest! :thumbsup2

26 Days!

[lmillercrew]

HEHEHE!!!
Hey, have fun with your busy weekend. I'm going to Columbus to watch DS in a football tournament. I'm hoping to see him score a touchdown. He's scored two for the past two weekends and I haven't been able to watch. Here's to hoping he gets one!
So, my youngest DD got contacts and is doing really well with putting them in and taking them out. I just have to remember that she's only 9 and still a child. She dropped one of them in her room and then brought the other one out on her finger and dropped it too! AUGHHH!! Anyway, it'll get better. Sorry to hijack your thread. ;)
I would love to live in Florida, at this moment. Anywhere in the south. If DH didn't have a stable job, we would move.

[Grace and Mickey]

Good morning:goodvibes
Hope you had a good weekend.
hope you are feeling better too!!:)
Been working on printing autograph pages, for our books:thumbsup2

I picked some disigns for t-shirts. will need your tips and help on puting them on the shirts.

We are going to the Columbus Zoo today.

Have a great day!!

You should be at 24 days:cool1:and 80 for me:yay:

[englishrose47]

Just poppinginto see how the SURPRISE is going !!! Sounds like you have him guessing !!!

[newtodis]

Good Morning Everyone! :goodvibes Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

HEHEHE!!!
Hey, have fun with your busy weekend. I'm going to Columbus to watch DS in a football tournament. I'm hoping to see him score a touchdown. He's scored two for the past two weekends and I haven't been able to watch. Here's to hoping he gets one!
So, my youngest DD got contacts and is doing really well with putting them in and taking them out. I just have to remember that she's only 9 and still a child. She dropped one of them in her room and then brought the other one out on her finger and dropped it too! AUGHHH!! Anyway, it'll get better. Sorry to hijack your thread. ;)
I would love to live in Florida, at this moment. Anywhere in the south. If DH didn't have a stable job, we would move.

Hey Lisa! Hope your trip was great and you were able to see DS score that touchdown!

How are the contacts going?? Did they give you like a "trial" pair knowing she's still little and you'd probably loose a couple of them??? Maybe they'd help you out with that...

Don't worry about hijacking - hijack away!! :goodvibes

Can't blame you for not moving - stable employment is hard to come by for many these days and you certainly can't pass it up if you're offered it and can't give up on it if you've got it!

Good morning:goodvibes
Hope you had a good weekend.
hope you are feeling better too!!:)
Been working on printing autograph pages, for our books:thumbsup2

I picked some disigns for t-shirts. will need your tips and help on puting them on the shirts.

We are going to the Columbus Zoo today.

Have a great day!!

You should be at 24 days:cool1:and 80 for me:yay:

Good Morning! Feeling ok. I've got a yucky cold-ish thing going on the past couple of days.

How are the autograph pages coming??? I'm sure they're adorable!

Yay for picking the DISigns. I'd be more than happy to help if I can! I'm not good at explaining it at all but I'll help however I can! :goodvibes The last shirts I made I got at Walmart super cheap and they've held up really well actually. I don't wash mine first (I've read that some people do) and I buy the paper at Walmart too because it's SOOOO much cheaper than Staples.

How was the zoo??

Yes, today we're at 23 days!! Corbin's so into counting down until his birthday. I didn't realize he could figure out the counting down from the higher numbers (he can do it from like 10 counting to 1) but he piped up in the car this weekend that "tomorrow will be 23 days until MY birthday and then 22 and then 21 and then 20....". So glad he's excited!!

Just poppinginto see how the SURPRISE is going !!! Sounds like you have him guessing !!!

Aww thanks for stopping by! No he hasn't figured it out yet. Corbin was laying with me last night and Corbin said something about his birthday wish was to go to Disney or something like that. I just smiled and Dan said something about he wasn't sure if we'd be able to pull off two trips this year so close in Sept and Dec. And of course, I said that we have to go in Sept for a couple of days to see Sami Jo on her first trip and we'll probably go for Dec and that will be the kid's Christmas present since we usually just wind up getting rid of their toys since they're lucky enough to be spoiled and have so many.

I'm so freaking nervous about everything. I'm finally getting rid of my cold sores and just hoping they don't come back next month. I know my sleeping issues are a result of having a birthday party, surprise vacation and MI trip all coming up in the next six weeks. I'm hoping to have some time today to just sit down, write everything out and know in my little brain that everything's going to work out just fine and I don't need to worry any more.

Ok...today's shaping up to be pretty be very busy. Hopefully I'll be back to update more later. :goodvibes

[newtodis]

22 days!!

Three weeks from today we'll be on our way driving to Disney!!! :cool1:

I just woke up this morning and thought about that and it all seems so real now!! The whole "22 days" thing just makes it seem so far away!!

This weekend I have to clean the house. Next weekend Dan's working Friday on the Island (we have off from work) and Saturday night at fire works (over time for the "regular" job) so I'll have a bit of time next weekend to get things together. Then it's birthday party weekend! Dan works on Saturday and the party's on Sunday. Sunday and Monday will be the most hard days! Tuesday won't be too bad - once he's out of the house! :rotfl: I just have to make sure he stays at his office and doesn't come home until I'm ready! I also have to keep the kids quiet so they don't realize I'm packing their clothes and loading the van - leave it to them to be observant! :rotfl2:

I'm planning on getting all of the laundry done on Saturday while Dan's working and finishing cleaning (on 7/11). I'll also throw together all the last minute stuff and do as much running around as I can possibly get done. I can't pack anything until Tuesday (at least of Dan or the kids) or he'll notice things are missing I think so I'll pack like a crazy woman Tuesday morning. I'm planning on turning on a show (a super special treat in our house) and bringing the suitcases out of their hiding spot in the closet and pack them - that way the boys won't see them and hopefully won't ask any questions. I'm hoping I can keep myself at a reasonable pace. I'm worried I'll either have everything done by noon and sitting around waiting for him to get home or be running around until 5:30 when he walks in the door....

Alright....I have a ton to get done today and need some ambition to get it done! :goodvibes

[newtodis]

Ok I'm taking a "Disney lunch" today. :goodvibes

Here's the updated plan for our time at the park as it stands right now:

7/14 Leave SC and head to FL. NO ONE will know at this point! I plan on stopping about Jacksonville area (FL welcome center if I really can't keep the secret in any longer!) to give them their birthday cards to "reveal" the surprise!!! Let the fun begin!

7/15 BIRTHDAY DAY for DH and DS4/5 7:15 ADRS at CM for breakfast then hit the MK (we've never seen the rope drop there) for as long as we can stand it (heat and crowds). Back to the condo for some rest then to Epcot for the evening to try and watch Illuminations

7/16 This day I'm not sure on......the choices are either TL (never been but thought it would be a good idea due to it being the middle of summer) or DHS in the morning and MK in the evening for Wishes (or watch it from the beach at the Poly). I'm worried about getting our money's worth from TL (we don't currently have tickets for this but would get a discount with our APs and not sure how long the kids would be entertained there) and about crowd levels (generally throughout the entire trip!).

7/17 ADR at TH at 8:00 then AK for as long as we can stand it. After heading back to the condo for some rest and lunch, we'll head to DHS in the evening to try and see Fantasmic.

7/18 DHS in the morning for TSM and whatever else the kids want to do. After getting some lunch and resting at the condo, we'll head to MK to watch Wishes (my favorite!).

7/19 Either MK or DHS in the morning then time to hit the road and get back to reality...

[newtodis]

Alright...here's what needs to happen before we can leave:

*Dan's time off request Done and approved!
*Lynn's time off request Done and approved!
*fill van with gas
*Oil change for van (this might not need to be done before we leave but before we go to MI for sure!)
*Change batteries in dvd player remote for van
*Clean out van
*Pack Dan
*pack Lynn
*pack Corbin
*pack Carter
*pack food
*Pack cooler
*Get ice from fire station
*Clean house
*laundry
*bake (muffins, cookies, birthday cake)
*pack van
*cover stuff in back of van
*make cards
*make puzzle to "tell" surprise
*charge camera battery
*pack cameras and extra batteries
*Copy and notarize Corbin's birth certificate
*pay for Condo (plan on doing this 6/19) (waiting on this to see what happens with Carter's foot before we 100% committ to anything!)
*save for water park tickets
*wrap birthday gifts to take
*Pack "bathroom"/medicine bag
*pack diaper bag
*finish buying things from list (see another post - to be added!)
*basket stuff (cancelled this due to not knowing what's going on with Carter's foot....I can't ask someone to run around Disney a week before we get there and buy stuff for my kids - that just doesn't seem right at all!)
*finalize trip plans
*list of food to pack in cooler
*get a plan together on how to pack the van
*get luggage down Done and hidden in the closet!

[newtodis]

Here's the current list of things I need to pick up before we leave:

*sliced cheese
*bread
*milk
*chicken nuggets
*mister fans (these aren't needed but I'm thinking might be good in the heat)
*visor for Carter (so they don't fight over the one we have!)
*sunglasses for me
*juice boxes
*bottled water
*ham slices (like the bigger slices - not lunch meat)
*lunch meat
*cinnamon rolls
*syrup
*granola bars
*fruit snacks
*laundry soap - travel sized
*dishwasher detergent - I don't remember if they left it last time or not in the condo - I think they did


Alright...that's the list. Nothing major that we couldn't live without if I forget it so I'm not all too worried. I'm hoping to knock most of it out this weekend (or during lunches this week). That way Dan won't notice because he'll think it's all pretty much birthday party stuff and won't really notice anything which is good!

[newtodis]

Here's how things will go down on Tuesday (I hope!)

7:30 Get Dan out of the house for work - I'm pretty sure I can do this without a problem!
8:30 Start packing and getting any other laundry done that I'll need
10:30 Snack time for the kids; get stuff from pantry that's not already packed in the tote
11:00 Hit the road for the running to begin - fill the van with gas, head to the library to get books and stop at the fire station for some ice
12:30 NAP! (if I can keep them up this long....poor Carter's usually ready to crash about 11:30 so I'm going to work on keeping him up and happy!); I need to pack the van while they're sleeping so they don't see anything!
2:30 Wake up boys (no later than 3:00 I think!)
4:00 Get the boys dressed - thinking khaki shorts and a t-shirt. Nothing too fancy or casual. Don't want them or Dan to figure anything out before I'm ready.
4:30 Another snack for the boys (if I can hold them off this long!); get cups ready for the car for them; set out Dan's clothes
5:00 Potty break for the boys before we hit the road; load them into the van so we're all ready and waiting when he gets home
5:30 Hit the road!
7:30 Stop for a potty break and reveal the surprise (if I can hold out that long!)

Sounds like a busy day but I'm really betting that I'm going to be moving pretty quickly - just because that's how I am when I do things like this. I always overestimate how much time I'm going to need and get things done ahead of schedule. I just don't want to be sitting around at noon waiting for Dan to come home so we can leave....

[newtodis]

That's pretty much the latest and the greatest as of right now.

We're still waiting on poor Carterbug's little foot. He's still limping around so we're trying to hold off on another x-ray until a bit later this week (hoping we won't need it!). I just can't see dragging him around Disney with a cast on the poor little guys foot! Of course, now would be the time to go (age wise) if that were to happen since he's ok with sitting in the stroller. Hopefully he'll stop limping around and all my stress and worrying will be for nothing.

I've been trying to pay attention to the laundry and what Dan's been wearing so I'll know for sure what to pack. I'm worried that we'll get there and he'll have no clothes that he "likes" (he's picky about his clothes like that sometimes!) and he'll be grouchy. Hopefully I'll pack the right things and all will be well.

My brain's just working in over drive right now. I've got a tote in my bedroom with birthday party stuff, a tote for MI stuff and two totes in my closet with Disney stuff....too much going on all at once! :rotfl: I'm so ready for the vacation - it's going to be great. Hopefully my cold sores will be fully gone by then and I'll be able to be out in the sun without going through all this madness again.

As for everything else in life, things seem to be going ok. I'm still taking my "crazy pills" as they're being called in my house. I haven't really noticed much difference honestly in mysef as far as not eating as much. I pretty much usually only eat dinner and I'm trying to make more of an effort to actually eat breakfast before I leave and dinner at night and drink more water so we'll see what happens with that. The biggest "downfall" (if you call it that) is that I can't "keep it together". I'm generally (I think) a pretty good person about checking everything at the door and keeping it all inside. Let me tell you, not so easy with these little pills... I came to work one day last week and was talking about some stuff with a friend and just lost it and started crying right there in her office. Thankfully she's a good friend and it was a "safe" place to have my little mini-breakdown, but I much more like being able to keep it together. I'm sure it's not healthy and it's probably much better for me to get it out...it's just not always that easy.

We had a HUGE snake on our front porch on Sunday - seriously the biggest snake I've ever seen in my life! It was so freaking gross and the worst part is I walked right past it and didn't even realize it was there. Our front porch is kind of "L" shaped and it was on the bottom of the "L" that goes around the corner of the house. We have a chair there that we usually hang out in when the kids are outside and it was under the chair. Corbin saw it and told us thankfully and that's when I screamed and hustled everyone to the van. Thankfully Dan was behind me to grab Carter! :rotfl: Dan says it was 5 feet and I'd have to probably agree with that. I'm so not a snake fan at all. The scariest part is that it didn't move when all of us walked out - it just laid there. I would have been happier had it just went away. YUCK! It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!

I think we finally have all of Corbin's birthday party invites out....it seems like just when I think we're done, we forgot someone else! It's not so much forgetting as I didn't have a list of who we were inviting to mark off who he gave the invites to so now I'm trying to straighten it out and get them to the people who didn't get an invite yet. We bought a little pool (I say little but I can lay down in the thing!) so we'll put that and his slip and slide out for the kids to play in and keep themselves busy during the party. Dan's going to grill hotdogs and of course they'll have cake (cupcakes) and popsicles. I think we're going to skip opening the presents at the party itself. It will be too hot outside to open them and I really don't want a bunch of wet little kids in my house running around. He opened his gifts last year after the party was over because we paid a lot of money to have a party at one of those bouncy places (a huge room pretty much that's filled with those bouncy things inside in the AC instead of outside in the heat) and I was getting my money out of the kids playing! :rolleyes1 So, I have the hotdogs and chips. I have some pop and water bottles and juice boxes but I'm sure I'll need more water and juice boxes. It's hard not knowing how many people to expect....

That's really the "jist" of it all right now....taking everything day by day and trying to get as much done as I can to make everything run as smoothly as possible. Lots of juggling and balancing but it will all pay off in the end for sure!

Alright...now to try and get some real work done. :upsidedow

[newtodis]

Oh! And for those who are interested, Jill mentioned yesterday that they're going back to Disney at the end of the summer (end of August beginning of Sept I think)!! I don't think she'd mind me sharing that. :goodvibes

And since its been awhile since I've posted some pictures....here you go!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/NewPictures077.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/NewPictures083.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/NewPictures049.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/NewPictures101.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/NewPictures215.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/NewPictures198.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/NewPictures120.jpg

This is at the infamous "Monkey party:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/NewPictures149.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/NewPictures150.jpg

[newtodis]

when I typed party in the post above this, it turned into the little picture.....weird!

[newtodis]

Alright....I added new lists and cute pictures hoping it would entice someone to stop by, comment and/or read.....hmmm. What do I need to do people??!?!?



Just kidding of course! :goodvibes

Three weeks from today my baby will be 5 years old! :sad2:

[wigdoutdismom]

Alright....I added new lists and cute pictures hoping it would entice someone to stop by, comment and/or read.....hmmm. What do I need to do people??!?!?



Just kidding of course! :goodvibes

Three weeks from today my baby will be 5 years old! :sad2:

I was over here reading yesterday and should have left a comment. You are super organized with your lists, but without them how could you ever get it all done? I know I couldn't!
I think the surprise will be so awesome, but man it seems like a lot of work to pull it off. My hats off to you!
Your kids are soooo dang cute, loved the pictures!
I can't wait to read how this all progresses, you are getting closer and closer!

[Grace and Mickey]

Alright....I added new lists and cute pictures hoping it would entice someone to stop by, comment and/or read.....hmmm. What do I need to do people??!?!?



Just kidding of course! :goodvibes

Three weeks from today my baby will be 5 years old! :sad2:


Sometimes I feel this way too.
Nobody has stop my PTR in days:sad2: How do people get so many readers?

You list are looking good:thumbsup2 I love how
have thought out the time line for 7/14 including potty breaks.

Does Carter say his foot hurts? Is it black and Blue? When I hurt my foot and the black and blue went aways it was much better and I didn't limp.
I hope it get better real quick:grouphug:

SNAKE:scared1::scared1::scared1:I do not Like SNAKE:scared1::scared1: End of Disscusion:scared1::scared1::scared1:

How did you find out Jill was going to WDW?
I miss reading her post here on the DIS,and wonder how she is?

I was going to post here last nite while I was watching Landen. but didn't get a chance.
Landen was sitiing on my lap while i was reading you post and saw the pictures of Corbin and Carter, and when we came to picture of Carter in pool, he says THAT"S ME!!!!! he and Carter do look a little alike.

I soo wish that they could meet some time:goodvibes Do you think you might still go in Sept to spend a few days with you friends?

The picture of the boys walking hand and hand on the beach is so sweet. you need to make a big one of this for you house.
I think the time is going fast while waiting for our tip.
Only 78 more days for me!!!:woohoo:
Got to go print some autographs pages.
Have a Magicial Thursdaypixiedust:

Grace

[newtodis]

I was over here reading yesterday and should have left a comment. You are super organized with your lists, but without them how could you ever get it all done? I know I couldn't!
I think the surprise will be so awesome, but man it seems like a lot of work to pull it off. My hats off to you!
Your kids are soooo dang cute, loved the pictures!
I can't wait to read how this all progresses, you are getting closer and closer!

Oh no - not trying to make anyone feel bad at all! I know lots of people read along and don't always comment. :goodvibes

I can't live without my lists - I would forget WAY too much! My job is a crazy one during the day - dropping everything at the drop of a hat so I work well off lists and determining what's important and what order things should get done in. If it's not on the list, it's not going to get done any time soon - generally speaking.

Thanks - I think they're cute too!

Yes it's getting close which is awesome!

Sometimes I feel this way too.
Nobody has stop my PTR in days:sad2: How do people get so many readers?

You list are looking good:thumbsup2 I love how
have thought out the time line for 7/14 including potty breaks.

Does Carter say his foot hurts? Is it black and Blue? When I hurt my foot and the black and blue went aways it was much better and I didn't limp.
I hope it get better real quick:grouphug:

SNAKE:scared1::scared1::scared1:I do not Like SNAKE:scared1::scared1: End of Disscusion:scared1::scared1::scared1:

How did you find out Jill was going to WDW?
I miss reading her post here on the DIS,and wonder how she is?

I was going to post here last nite while I was watching Landen. but didn't get a chance.
Landen was sitiing on my lap while i was reading you post and saw the pictures of Corbin and Carter, and when we came to picture of Carter in pool, he says THAT"S ME!!!!! he and Carter do look a little alike.

I soo wish that they could meet some time:goodvibes Do you think you might still go in Sept to spend a few days with you friends?

The picture of the boys walking hand and hand on the beach is so sweet. you need to make a big one of this for you house.
I think the time is going fast while waiting for our tip.
Only 78 more days for me!!!:woohoo:
Got to go print some autographs pages.
Have a Magicial Thursdaypixiedust:

Grace

I'm sorry - I stopped over the other day but got called away and by the time I got back to my desk it was time to go....ugh! :upsidedow I'm hoping to have time today to pop over and really comment!

Yeah Carter tells me he has a "boo boo on my toe toe". :rotfl: It's not black and blue so if it's just bruised, it's a really deep bruise and it hasn't come to the surface yet....hopefully all will be well. Every time I think he's getting better running around or whatever, he's back to limping around so I'm not even sure what's wrong now.....

I hate snakes. I didn't realize until we moved here that our County that we live in is one of the places they collect the poisonoius snakes to make the anti-venum (sp?)....that's a comforting thought. :scared:

Jill posted that on her facebook page - that's how I heard about the trip. I asked her if she was going to do a TR from the last trip and PTR for this one but I haven't been back over there to check out.....life's been busy to say the least!

Aww that's so cute! The boys love looking at different pictures too.

We're still debating September. I really want to go at least for a weekend...hopefully it will all work out! :goodvibes

Alright...I honestly started typing this about 9:30ish this morning and am just know sneaking back to finish it! I've been working my "second job" as we call it here filling in for someone else while they're out.

Back to work! :surfweb:

[Grace and Mickey]

Good morning Lynn:goodvibes

Yea!!!:cheer2:It's Friday:cheer2:

and one day closer to our DISNEY VACATION:cheer2::cheer2:

I have not posted on my own PTR in a few days I'm been busy trying to finish the autograph book I'am making for my friends' son for their DisneyMoon.


Hope you have a good day at work today, I'm going to be a little late for work today, my dryer didn't work last nite and my clothes for work are wet. Oh well!!! it least it FRIDAY!

Hope Carter foot is feeling better.
And stay away from those :scared1::scared1:SNAKES:scared1::scared1:
Grace

[newtodis]

Good morning Lynn:goodvibes

Yea!!!:cheer2:It's Friday:cheer2:

and one day closer to our DISNEY VACATION:cheer2::cheer2:

I have not posted on my own PTR in a few days I'm been busy trying to finish the autograph book I'am making for my friends' son for their DisneyMoon.


Hope you have a good day at work today, I'm going to be a little late for work today, my dryer didn't work last nite and my clothes for work are wet. Oh well!!! it least it FRIDAY!

Hope Carter foot is feeling better.
And stay away from those :scared1::scared1:SNAKES:scared1::scared1:
Grace

How sweet of you to make them an autograph book! You'll be a pro by the time you're ready to make yours! :goodvibes

Yes! So thankful today's Friday! Now if the day would just get done with so my weekend can start! LOL It's been dragging today!

You don’t have to go somewhere else just to experience a fruitful and memorable vacation or break, being with your family on your own house is something you need to be thankful for.

Welcome! :goodvibes

[mrsksomeday]

Hi, I followed you over from your link on the J&K thread. I just got done reading your entire PTR and am going to comment on some stuff.

You have such a beautiful family. It is wonderful that you are planning all this for them. I am in awe of your coupon skills!! That is great. I am a list person too, I can’t remember anything without my lists.

Your children are adorable!! This surprise sounds fantastic.

You are so right about them wanting to go to school so much when they are little, then not wanting to go when they get bigger.

so I asked him if he wanted beef, chicken or fish (all McDonald's options!) as I had to plan ahead for this dinner. He chose beef (not that it matters at all!) so I told him I needed to let "them" (I don't know who "them" is but it sounded good) know. He's become quite interested in this - he does love surprises and I love torturing him!

This is hilarious, I love it!!

OMG the label on the cold sore prescription, why can’t they call it something else?

I tend to keep things inside until a mini meltdown happens too.

I hope Carter's foot gets better very soon. I am in awe of your organizational skills :worship:. I wish I was like that. I can't wait to see how all this works out.

[Grace and Mickey]

Hi Lynn

Hope all is well?

Carter and I are in the same boat. Yesterday at the wedding I sliped a off a small curb and fell. So i'm limping around here too.
It's and starting to trun black and blue, I give it a few days and if it not better I'll go see the Dr.

Did you have a Good weekend , get any more Surprise plans done?
How the puzzle coming?

Tommorow we going to Kennywood ( amusement park near Pittsiburg PA)
to see how Landen does.


Guess Gramma will have to take it slow with the foot.
Have a good week:)
Grace

[Grace and Mickey]

Hey Lynn:)
Just checkin to see if everthing is O. K.
I know your busy finishing up last mintute plans.:thumbsup2
Hope to talk soon:goodvibes
Take care
Grace

Happy July 1st:yay::yay:

[newtodis]

Hi, I followed you over from your link on the J&K thread. I just got done reading your entire PTR and am going to comment on some stuff.

You have such a beautiful family. It is wonderful that you are planning all this for them. I am in awe of your coupon skills!! That is great. I am a list person too, I can’t remember anything without my lists.

Your children are adorable!! This surprise sounds fantastic.

You are so right about them wanting to go to school so much when they are little, then not wanting to go when they get bigger.



This is hilarious, I love it!!

OMG the label on the cold sore prescription, why can’t they call it something else?

I tend to keep things inside until a mini meltdown happens too.

I hope Carter's foot gets better very soon. I am in awe of your organizational skills :worship:. I wish I was like that. I can't wait to see how all this works out.

Welcome! :goodvibes

Thanks so much for the comments and kind words about the family. :goodvibes


Hi Lynn

Hope all is well?

Carter and I are in the same boat. Yesterday at the wedding I sliped a off a small curb and fell. So i'm limping around here too.
It's and starting to trun black and blue, I give it a few days and if it not better I'll go see the Dr.

Did you have a Good weekend , get any more Surprise plans done?
How the puzzle coming?

Tommorow we going to Kennywood ( amusement park near Pittsiburg PA)
to see how Landen does.


Guess Gramma will have to take it slow with the foot.
Have a good week:)
Grace

Oh Grace I hope you're alright!

How was the amusement park?? Did everyone do well???

Hey Lynn:)
Just checkin to see if everthing is O. K.
I know your busy finishing up last mintute plans.:thumbsup2
Hope to talk soon:goodvibes
Take care
Grace

Happy July 1st:yay::yay:

Thanks for checking in! 13 days until we leave for Disney!!! Dan works tomorrow so I'm hoping to start sneaking some stuff into the van.

Sorry for the absence - it's our "year end" this week and it all fell on me since I was filling in for the person who usually does that.... :scared1: It's been a long week to say the very least! I'm almost at 40 hours this week and it's only Thursday afternoon!! :headache: I'm so ready to go home!

Alright...I have a list of things to finish up today and need to get moving. Here's to hoping they send us home early today since tomorrow's a holiday and all! :cool2:

[wigdoutdismom]

Good luck on your sneaking!:goodvibes

[Grace and Mickey]

Welcome! :goodvibes

Thanks so much for the comments and kind words about the family. :goodvibes




Oh Grace I hope you're alright!

How was the amusement park?? Did everyone do well???
My foot is getting better, just black and blue.
Kennywood was great, Landen did Good, he not sure of the rides, Guess we just take it slow at WDW

Thanks for checking in! 13 days until we leave for Disney!!! Dan works tomorrow so I'm hoping to start sneaking some stuff into the van.

Sorry for the absence - it's our "year end" this week and it all fell on me since I was filling in for the person who usually does that.... :scared1: It's been a long week to say the very least! I'm almost at 40 hours this week and it's only Thursday afternoon!! :headache: I'm so ready to go home!

Alright...I have a list of things to finish up today and need to get moving. Here's to hoping they send us home early today since tomorrow's a holiday and all! :cool2:
Your Welcome:goodvibes
Soon you will doing the single diget dance:yay:
Hope all goes well getting things hidden in the van.

Going camping with the family for the weekend.
Happy 4th of July
have a great weekend and get some rest befire the big trip:goodvibes
Grace

[newtodis]

Good luck on your sneaking!:goodvibes

Thanks! I'm so hoping it all pays off!

Your Welcome:goodvibes
Soon you will doing the single diget dance:yay:
Hope all goes well getting things hidden in the van.

Going camping with the family for the weekend.
Happy 4th of July
have a great weekend and get some rest befire the big trip:goodvibes
Grace

Hey Grace! Hope camping was great!

Well, I've spent most of my morning reading about the monorail crash yesterday at Disney so I don't have much time for an update right now. Hopefully I'll be back soon. I need to bring my camera in tomorrow to post some pictures with my updates.

The monorail driver who lost his life is in our thoughts and prayers as well as his family and everyone affected by this tragedy. :sad1:

Brief Updates: We have a condo - granted a one bedroom condo but I'll have to fill in the details on that later. It was a "dangerous" weekend at our house - we watched Jeff the alligator try and cross the street Saturday afternoon, Corbin burnt his arm with a sparkler on Saturday afternoon and I burnt my arm on the oven yesterday. :sad2: I've got a tote all packed up, a bag of beach towels and such and a bag of our "disney" stuff all stashed in my closet. I have to get the house cleaned this week for the party on Sunday then scramble on Tuesday to get everything packed!

Alright....I really need to get to work this morning. The accident really scared me and to hear Dan say "good thing we're not going to Disney any time soon" didn't help matters! Corbin and Dan hounded me ALL WEEKEND (they were "Super Spies" and tried to figure out the secret) about our birthday dinner! I haven't crakced yet though which is awesome! Carter fell asleep Saturday night with a Disney book in hand (a picture book I picked up at the outlet on one of our trips). I tried to get it away from him and he woke from a DEAD sleep, grabbed it back and went back to sleep with his book that he held on to all night long! :rotfl: He's got Disney on the brain for sure! I think he's going to be the most excited!!

Ok...must pry myself away from the DIS boards....must do work today!

[lmillercrew]

So PROUD of you for keeping your secret! I SO cannot wait to hear the report on the suprise! :eek: (That's going to be Dan's face when he sees where u are taking him for his birthday)

[Grace and Mickey]

Good morning Lynn:goodvibes
ONE week form today you will be on your way to WDW:)
only 7 more days to keep the surprise!!!!!!!
:cool1::yay::banana::cheer2::dance3::woohoo::dance r:

Camping was lots of FUN, Landen was Great!! Ate LOTS of GOOD food!
hope to be able post on PTR about it today:thumbsup2

I hope that the burns are not to bad, those dare spaklers sure do get hot.
How Carter foot? I going to have to get something for mine when we are WDW as too much walking brother it.
So did Jeff the alligator get across the road safetly?
Looking forward to seeing your pictures with updates.
You are doing a amazing job keeping the big secert. I remember how hard it was not to tell everyone about Kylie engagment plans, we knew about itfor 3 months before it was going to happened.:)
How's the puzzle coming?

I too had been praying for the monrail driver and his family . I'm sure that God will watch over them and help them thur this tragedy.:grouphug:



Nice to see Lisa stopped by I missed her/:goodvibes
Grace

[newtodis]

So PROUD of you for keeping your secret! I SO cannot wait to hear the report on the suprise! :eek: (That's going to be Dan's face when he sees where u are taking him for his birthday)

Hey Lisa!! How are you???

Aww thanks! It's a lot of work to keep the secret a secret! I've wanted to tell so many times so they'll stop bugging but wanting to see their reaction is what's keeping me going. I so hope his face looks like that! :rotfl: I cannot WAIT for this surprise!!

I said that last night in the car and Dan was like "why are YOU so excited about OUR birthday dinner??". :rolleyes1 I can't say right now! :rotfl:I so cannot wait! This WILL BE a great vacation. Better yet - I'm thinking it's going to come in under $500 in the end which will be AWESOME!!!

Good morning Lynn:goodvibes
ONE week form today you will be on your way to WDW:)
only 7 more days to keep the surprise!!!!!!!
:cool1::yay::banana::cheer2::dance3::woohoo::dance r:

Camping was lots of FUN, Landen was Great!! Ate LOTS of GOOD food!
hope to be able post on PTR about it today:thumbsup2

I hope that the burns are not to bad, those dare spaklers sure do get hot.
How Carter foot? I going to have to get something for mine when we are WDW as too much walking brother it.
So did Jeff the alligator get across the road safetly?
Looking forward to seeing your pictures with updates.
You are doing a amazing job keeping the big secert. I remember how hard it was not to tell everyone about Kylie engagment plans, we knew about itfor 3 months before it was going to happened.:)
How's the puzzle coming?

I too had been praying for the monrail driver and his family . I'm sure that God will watch over them and help them thur this tragedy.:grouphug:



Nice to see Lisa stopped by I missed her/:goodvibes
Grace

Hey - I cannot wait to be headed to Disney!!!

Glad camping was good. I'll have to check your PTR for the details!

Corbin's burn isn't too bad but it's worse than the one I got. He says it doesn't hurt so I guess that's good. We've been keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get infected or anything.

Carter's foot seems to be getting better. He still limps every now and again but not nearly as badly. I'm hoping to find him a cheap pair of tennis shoes for the trip just so he'll have a little more support if he wants to walk around a little bit instead of flip flops or crocs. At least you know now that you need something while you're there. I think it's good to know in advance so you can plan for it.

No Jeff never crossed the street that we saw at least. He scooted back into the lagoon when a guy and his dog came walking down the road and a car passed. Before too long, fireworks were going off so I figured with all that, he wouldn't try again that night.

This secret thing is terrible!! I love surprised but hate keeping the secret! I cannot wait until next week and I can let it all out!!!

My goal this week is to get Dan and Corbin's cards and puzzles done. I'm going to send Dan one night this week with Carter so Carter can pick "mu own Torbin's birfday present." (that's how Carter talks- the "c" becomes the "t" sound and EVERYTHING is "my own" right now - my own Mommy, my own Daddy, my own Torbin!)

My cold sores are FINALLY going away!!! :cool1: I so hope they're gone before we leave! I'm worried about being out in the sun and getting them back if they're not totally gone! I'm taking a refill of my prescription with me so I'll have the pills and can start talking them right away if I need to.

Alright...I need to take a lunch today (Dan's home with the kids - nanny's sick) so that's it for the update for now. I'll hopefully be back with more later this afternoon or tomorrow! :goodvibes

[newtodis]

Ok I forgot my camera this morning but for good reason.....every year, we have physicals here at the office (have to make sure all the guys are ok). Well, another girl and I decided we're going to do ours today (they're here for three days). We get our blood drawn for some kind of screening and because of our insurance, we get a $75 check back for the screening which is good motivation for getting the blood drawn!! Then we do a stress test and all kinds of other fun stuff....:scared: Not looking forward to it but it'll be worth it in the end. And, it's not going to be as bad since my friend and I are going to do our stuff together.....

Alright - condo info. A well meaning friend happened to hear that we were in need of a condo for the trip. Well, before I knew it, she was back on the phone with me saying she'd used some timeshare points or something and had booked us a condo and we could just pay her instead. :headache: (this is why I don't "chat" with people....bad things always happen!) I'd already been working with my wonderful Tracy trying to get a condo together and was researching a couple of places through her. Now, I'm trying to cancel the timeshare thing and book through Tracy. Of course the condo people won't talk to me so I'm at the mercy of someone else right now and feel awful because of all the work I did researching and all the work Tracy our travel agent did to find something that would work for us. I've decided that if it's not resolved by Friday, I've got to go with what's booked because the options are thinning out more and more each day with what's available.

So here's what we've got right now: a 1 bedroom condo at Celebrity Resorts Lake Buenva Vista. http://www.celebrityresorts.com/locations/lbv/index.php In addition to having something booked for me, I've read some less than favorable reviews of the place so I'm so nervous. I'm trying not to stress over anything to help get rid of these cold sores but I don't know how well I'm doing. Hopefully all will work out for the best in the end - that's all I can ask for at this point. I've already emailed the hotel/resort/condo to ask some questions and am waiting on an answer from them.

Other than that, Dan and Corbin are still guessing like crazy! Last night, Dan and Carter went to get "Torbin's birfday present" from Target (Hotwheels cars!) and when they got home, Dan and Corbin were hitting it HARD to try and guess about where we were going.

Dan: "have we been here before?"
Me: "yes and no" (not sure how to answer - yes we've been to the welcome center in FL - which is where I think I'm going to tell them!-but no I don't know that we've been to the same McDonald's that we'd stop at for dinner!)
Dan: "can anyone go?"
Me: "What do you mean?" (trying to be sneaky and have some time to think of a good answer without lying!)
Dan: "is anyone going with us?"
Me: "yes there will be other people there"
Dan: "did you invite anyone?"
Me: "no but anyone can go" (that REALLY confused him!!)

So Dan guessed that we're going to Charleston for a carriage tour then having dinner. Good guess but so not happening!

Then Corbin said he had a guess but wanted to be a secret. We "hid" behind the chair and he said "I know we're going to Disney because that's where Carter and I really want to have a birthday dinner!". :eek: And that's when I lied to my child in a round-about way: "no honey we're not having your birthday dinner at Disney. I'm sorry". It's not really "lying" - we're not having dinner at Disney, but we'll be there the next morning! :cool1:

That was pretty much the end of the guessing for the night because it was almost bed time. Of course, they started right up again this morning. Thankfully I had to get to work! :rotfl:

I've got so much stuff to get done and feel like I'm not going to get it all done! I'm trying so hard not to stress and keep telling myself I can work on things Saturday while Dan's at work but I need to get the birthday party done first (right now, we're at about 35 people - adults and kids ) then I can worry about Tuesday.

I did tell Dan that he could leave work early on Tuesday if his boss will let him but it cannot be earlier than noon and he MUST call 30 minutes prior so I'll have time to get the boys ready!

I need to go back and update my "to do" and "to buy" lists.....I've made some progress but not a ton which is ok at this point. I just need to make sure I have everything in line to get it all done in time. I'll also need to adjust my "timeline" too to make sure everything's done by noon. I told Dan that I'd need to know if he was planning on leaving early so I could make some calls to make sure we could get our reservations and stuff moved around so hopefully he'll work on that this week.

So far I've got juice boxes and gatorade stashed in the van. I bought another case of water (for the birthday party of course! :rotfl:) and that's in the back of the van. If we need it for the party that's fine, but if not, it's staying in the van for Tuesday. I also think I have most of the food already in the freezer so I just need to put it in the cooler Tuesday morning once we get some ice in there. I did a load of laundry last night and will probably do another tonight so everything will be folded and put away this week. That will give me some time on Saturday to pull out some clothes to start packing the boy's stuff.

I've also got a tote of stuff for the condo ("dry" goods like cereal and stuff, paper products, room temperature food), a big bag of blankets and beach towels and a bag of "disney stuff" already packed from last weekend. That's a pretty good head start! I've got the suitcases hidden in the closet and they should be fine in there once they're packed. I know one will fit in the stow and go part of the van in front of Corbin's seat so if I get the boy's stuff packed this weekend, I might just pack that right into the van since no one would notice that. Once less thing to stash in the house.

I also need to pack the air matress since we're only staying in a one bedroom condo (as of right now). There's a pull out couch but that makes me nervous with the boys. I'd rather they sleep on the air matress. I'm planning on taking two big quilts to cover everything in the back of the van so they can't see what's back there until the time is "right". That will give the boys a blanket for the air matress and an extra blanket to cover up with if they need it which works out good.

I hope all of this rambling makes some kind of sense! :rotfl: I've got too much going on in my little head and too many distractions here today. I'm off to update my lists!

[englishrose47]

Wow you hae quite a goodplan going !!!! Can't wait to hear what they say when they find out !!!

[newtodis]

Wow you hae quite a goodplan going !!!! Can't wait to hear what they say when they find out !!!

Aww thank you! I'm sure it will be great once they realize where they're going! A couple of Dan's co-workers are in on the surprise and are working with me to convince him we're going someplace other than Disney. Should be fun!! :cool1:

[wigdoutdismom]

Are you planning to have the video going when you spill the beans?

[Grace and Mickey]

Good evening Lynn
IT's getting SOOOO close
At time you been next week you be at the MOst magicical place in the World WDW:goodvibes:goodvibes
Doing the 6 day dance!!!!!!:yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay:
That's a new way to make money for Disney Blood money that is:lmao:
I glad you getting a check up though. preventive medicine is a good thing.

Hope that the condo things works out, I too would be stress out about this. Try to remember that it just a place to sleep, because you be spending most of your time at Disney.
I love the quessing the boys are doing and you should get a acadmey award for been such a good actress.
A little white lie is O.K. if it for a good reason.
You really have things planed out well, the hidden totes and plans of where to stash stuff in the van.

I hope you able cross a few thing off your list today.
Take care and don't stress, you planed a awesome surprise for you boys and everthing will work out magical. You'll see:goodvibes
Grace

[newtodis]

Are you planning to have the video going when you spill the beans?

That's my plan. See the update below as things are changing due to a ANXIOUS DH! :scared:

Good evening Lynn
IT's getting SOOOO close
At time you been next week you be at the MOst magicical place in the World WDW:goodvibes:goodvibes
Doing the 6 day dance!!!!!!:yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay:
That's a new way to make money for Disney Blood money that is:lmao:
I glad you getting a check up though. preventive medicine is a good thing.

Hope that the condo things works out, I too would be stress out about this. Try to remember that it just a place to sleep, because you be spending most of your time at Disney.
I love the quessing the boys are doing and you should get a acadmey award for been such a good actress.
A little white lie is O.K. if it for a good reason.
You really have things planed out well, the hidden totes and plans of where to stash stuff in the van.

I hope you able cross a few thing off your list today.
Take care and don't stress, you planed a awesome surprise for you boys and everthing will work out magical. You'll see:goodvibes
Grace

Thank you so much for the pixie dust and well wishes everyone!!!

I hate getting blood work done. I had SO much done when I was pregnant because they were worried about some different stuff that I almost pass out now when they have to do it. My friend stood there and talked to me the entire time which helped and I'm alive today so that's good. I've learned to just spit out whatever I can if I think I'm not going to make it so she can try and pull the needle out before I slide out of the chair! :rotfl: I've got a burn on bruise from blood draw on my left arm and a bruise from my TB test and a bruised knucle on my right arm/hand...I look rough today! :rotfl: I was terrified to do the physical because I'm totally a worst case scenario person. If it's terrible, I've thought of it. I just know they're going to come back and tell me there's something terribly wrong with me. That's why I didn't want to do it - if I don't know then I can't worry about it right? :rolleyes1 But I worry either way so at least in about a month I'll know if all these terrible things are wrong with me or if I've been worrying for no reason (which I'm sure is the case!).

Yeah I hope the condo works out. I got an email back from them this morning but their info and the info I was given don't match so now I'm trying to get everything straightened out or cancel so I can book with Tracy if there's anything still left for me to book that I can afford.

I don't know about an award...I hope it all works out in the end - that's what really matters! :goodvibes

I went over my lists again last night and reworked the time line to make sure that I had a plan if Dan asked to leave at noon and if he was still leaving at 4. I was really hoping he'd just work through lunch and leave at 4. Well, I talked to his boss today and he asked to take half a day off this morning! Of course his boss is in on the surprise so he gave Dan a hard time and asked me about it when he got to my office! :cool2: I told Dan's boss it was fine but now I'm starting to stress about getting everything done in time before he gets home!

I think I can pack most of the boy's stuff on Saturday while he's at work. So long as I turn on a Disney show (they LOVE the Travel Channel shows about Disney!), I can pretty much do anything. It's hillarious though to watch with them because (I hate to admit this!) they know the words and can say exactly what the show's saying! :rotfl2: It is funny but I think it's a sign that we watch Disney shows WAY too much at our house!

I've got my "To Buy" list down quite a bit actually which is great! There are only a couple of things I really HAVE TO get - milk and bread - before we leave. I'm pretty sure I can pick that stuff up on Saturday and stick the milk in the back of the fridge and stick the bread with the other stuff I'm taking.

I've also got to get the boy's hair cuts before we leave too. They really need them so I'm thinking that's going to have to happen on Saturday as well. Dan's taking the boy's to the library Friday night to get their stamp for reading so they'll get new books then - one less thing for me to have to worry about!

With Dan leaving work at noon, I'm going to have to have everything finished and in the van by 11:30 so he doesn't see anything! That only gives me three and a half hours Tuesday morning to get everything finished. I want to make the birthday cake Saturday so I don't have to take everything to make it there but I'm afraid it will be yucky by Tuesday when we leave. That's going to have to go in the oven first thing Tuesday morning as soon as Dan's out the door! I'm going to have to make sure I get everything all done tonight when I get home and that everything I need is on my list so I don't forget anything! My memory's terrible so I need it all to be on the lists!

I have two stubborn cold sores that I cannot get rid of! I'm on my third refill of the drugs and they're still hanging on so hopefully they'll be gone soon! I'm thinking I might have to go to the dr tomorrow or Monday to get something else so I'm not fighting with them the entire time we're away. I don't want a bunch of pictures of me with my "super herpes!".

I've decided (I think!) against photopass this time. I'd love to as I love photopass but with the price increase it's just not reasonable anymore at all. I'll still do the card while we're there and probably claim them on line but also ask for pictures with my camera too so I'll have them both ways.

I'm thinking I might have to go get another SD card for my camera. I have three but there's something wrong with 2 of them and I know one won't last me since I generally go through about one every half day. We've always taken our laptop and transferred them off but we still don't have a laptop so that won't work this time. There's a "business center" at the resort so I'm hoping I can transfer the pictures from my camera to my portable hard drive thing - that would be ideal! I can stop in there once a day and do that. Then I'd only need like one more memory card for the camera. I'm also going to bring my "broken" cards in. One of our computer guys (like I don't bug them enough already) is a photographer so he might be able to tell me what's wrong with the cards and reformat them or something so they'll work for me without having to buy new ones.....add it to my list! :rotfl:

Tonight's our Auxiliary meeting so nothing will get done at home tonight! Tomorrow Dan's taking the boys to the library so I'll be able to clean and do what needs to be done (hopefully!). My saving grace will be Saturday while Dan's at work for sure. I'll hopefully get the boy's stuff packed, groceries picked up, fill the van with gas and clean it out and hair cuts done. Those are the big things that I need to check off the list. The more I can get done the better! That will leave me to pack Dan and myself Tuesday morning (I can start on my stuff on Saturday and put the rest in Tuesday), pack the van and get ice for the cooler basically. And bake the cake of course! I found super cute Cars sprinkles and candles at Publix yesterday so I've got those packed up to decorate the cake with. Should be great! I'll be a nervous wreck Tuesday I'm sure!

So the plan, as it stands is to leave about 12:30 on Tuesday. I think we'll stop at the FL visitor's center for a potty break and when they come back out to the car (weather permitting), we'll stop at a picnic table so they can open their cards and see where we're going. (I need to make the puzzles for this!) I'll "tape" them on the camera while they're opening the cards so I'll have their reactions forever! (they better be good!) Then, I'm sure Dan will drive like a mad man to get us to Disney as quickly as possible! That's a little sooner than our 2 hour time frame previously given but I think I'll be ready to burst at that point!! When we get back to the van, I'll uncover the stuff in the back and let Dan know he wont' be back at work until Monday! :yay: He might be a little ticked off that I did all this without him knowing a stitch of what's going on but that's ok. (see I told you "worst case" - that's me!) This morning I actually thought about if he's going to be mad that I spent the money to go to Disney instead of buy a computer......who'd be mad they got to go to Disney for their birthday???? But that's the things I think of! :rolleyes1 I'm a little strange like that!

Dan will be totally perplexed because he thinks we're going to Charleston which is the total opposite direction from where we're actually going! Then we'll probably stop for lunch and get back on the road!

Alright....I need to try and find some motivation. It's hard to work when you know you're leaving in 5 days for DISNEY!!!! :woohoo::yay::cool1:

I'll probably be back....it's so very hard to work. Monday's going to be torture!! :surfweb:

[mrsksomeday]

I've decided (I think!) against photopass this time. I'd love to as I love photopass but with the price increase it's just not reasonable anymore at all. I'll still do the card while we're there and probably claim them on line but also ask for pictures with my camera too so I'll have them both ways.



I am pretty sure if you pre order the CD the price is still $99.95. Here is the link (http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx). Sounds like you have a great plan, make sure to breathe though ok?

[newtodis]

I am pretty sure if you pre order the CD the price is still $99.95. Here is the link (http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx). Sounds like you have a great plan, make sure to breathe though ok?

Well YAY!! I'll just have to check that out! :goodvibes I'll try to remember to breathe! I'll have to add it to the list! :rotfl:

There was a small "issue" with the condo but I believe it's been resolved at this time. I was given one set of information from the "broker" (I guess that's what it's called) and yet another set from the property. Well, some emails and time on hold and it looks like everything's resolved in my favor which is good! I've got the emails so there should be NO problems when we check in.

Well the calls keep coming in for Corbin's birthday party! We've got about 22 kids RSVP'd and about 45 people in all (parents and kiddos). Should be one heck of a party! I've decided (because I can) that we're going to open gifts once everyone's gone. That many gifts (assuming everyone brings one - which they don't need to; I've went out of my way to make sure they knew they didn't need to and it was about getting the kids together not gifts) it will take forever and they won't want to sit through all that fuss. I also know a couple of kids are not bringing gifts and don't want to have any hurt feelings. The kids will be more interested in playing so that's what we'll do! We have hot dogs and chips for lunch/dinner and cupcakes and popsicles for dessert. That should be good! Other than that, they're free to roam and do whatever. I've got to clean out the pool and refill that so they can play and I'm going to put the slip and slide out so they'll have that to play in. (I should have bought two of the pools when they were on sale!) I'm also going to pull out the tote with tatoos and the kids can go crazy with those (so long as it's ok with their mom and dad) and probably the bubbles and side walk chalk. Hopefully a couple of hours outside will tire them all out and all us parents will have a nice easy night Sunday night! :rotfl::rotfl2: That's my goal of course! :thumbsup2

[lmillercrew]

How could Dan be mad about his sweet wife being so thoughtful on his birthday? :confused3
If he gets mad, you can plan my birthday at Disney next year!!! :rotfl:
You are going to be a busy woman on Tues. Just try and keep your cool. It'll work out. If you don't get the cake made, you can stop at a store and buy one. All you need is a small one.
I'm curious about a friend/acquantance who just goes ahead and books a condo for you without your permission? What?? I hope everything with the accomodations works out.

[newtodis]

How could Dan be mad about his sweet wife being so thoughtful on his birthday? :confused3
If he gets mad, you can plan my birthday at Disney next year!!! :rotfl:
You are going to be a busy woman on Tues. Just try and keep your cool. It'll work out. If you don't get the cake made, you can stop at a store and buy one. All you need is a small one.
I'm curious about a friend/acquantance who just goes ahead and books a condo for you without your permission? What?? I hope everything with the accomodations works out.

I would so plan your party! :goodvibes AND, we'd have a GREAT time! I'll tell Dan to call you if he complains! :rotfl:

Oh yes it's gonna be busy! I re-worked my list last night and tried to make sure I get as much done on Saturday as I possibly can. I want to leave on the "must do" things for Tuesday if possible. It's gonna be busy from here on out I think - until next Tuesday night at least!

HA! I can't say too much without probably getting myself into some trouble but I mentioned something while the woman was waiting for a co-worker. Within an hour or so of her leaving, she'd called me back to say she was able to "help us out".....I think that's about all I can say (I just don't want hurt feelings or anything.....I really think they were trying to "help" but it wasn't the "right" thing to do in the situation - at least IMO). Hopefully that makes the mud a little more clear! :rotfl:

Alright.....pictures below since we only have

4 more days!! :cool1::banana::banana::banana::dance3::yay::wooho o:

[newtodis]

Here's Daddy and his boys on Father's Day:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/Morenewpictures008.jpg

Tell me this face doesn't SCREAM trouble!!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/Morenewpictures026.jpg

Smores!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/Morenewpictures056.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/Morenewpictures058.jpg

Carter trying to blow out his sparkler:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/Morenewpictures076.jpg

Corbin - before the burn!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/Morenewpictures078.jpg

Yes he's really sleeping.....yes my child's obsessed with Disney!!!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/Morenewpictures081.jpg

The boys LOVE to wear their "snowy hats".....they hated them in MI!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Personal/Morenewpictures083.jpg

[newtodis]

So I had to "break in" to the safe last night - I can never remember how to open it! So, I just push buttons until it opens and keep turning the key...it usually eventually works in the end! :rotfl: (which should scare me that someone could just get into it if they wanted....the boys have actually gotten it open when trying to get their "treasure" out - now that's safe! :scared1: )

Once I broke in as quietly as I could (so Dan wouldn't wonder what I was trying to get out of the safe), I started digging around for our tickets, gift cards and Corbin's birth certificate. Well, I found the tickets, tables in wonderland card and 2 gift cards! :cool1: What I cannot find......Corbin's birth certificate!

I literally pulled EVERYTHING out of that crazy safe and looked at every piece of paper. Then I put it all back in and thought about what to do now...... :headache:

:idea:

Then an idea....I asked Dan what happened to it! :rotfl: I'd recalled him having it out when we were in the midst of trying to register Corbin for school and now it's missing. He, of course, didn't remember what he did with it.

Back to the safe to crack it again! I went through every piece of paper again and it was not there. So, I went back out and asked Dan if he could PLEASE find it. He assured me he'd find it in the morning (today). So, I woke up and asked if he'd found it yet.....that didn't go so well! :scared:

I calmly explained that I NEED the birth certificate for a discount on the special birthday dinner and if not, we'll have to pay full price which is something I don't do! :rotfl2:

The current "plan" is to rip the house apart tonight and find that darned piece of paper. Dan's also going to call his mom and see if it's possible that she go and pick up a copy from the courthouse and over night it to me here at work so I'll have it on Monday....what a freaking disaster! I'm sure that will cost us an arm and a leg at this point. I think last time we needed a copy (we never got the original one they mailed) Dan or I had to pick it up and it took weeks and it was like $35....what a rip off! I hope Dan's mom can get soemthing today....

It's not a HUGE loss if we can't find it. He'll still be at Disney and be happy. We just won't have his gift card which was a huge reason for us to go since we wouldn't really need "spending money" he and Dan would have the cards.

Ugh! So I'm praying and bathing in pixie dust hoping I'll be able to find it. I'm sure I just over looked it in the safe or something and Dan will open it and find it the first thing he looks at. That's usually how it works!

Ok I have a ton of work to get done today and no motivation - my brain is in other places for sure today! Hopefully I'll get through it all and Tuesday will be here before I know it!

[newtodis]

Ok I'm taking a "Disney lunch" today. :goodvibes

Here's the updated plan for our time at the park as it stands right now:

7/14 Leave SC and head to FL. NO ONE will know at this point! I plan on stopping about Jacksonville area (FL welcome center if I really can't keep the secret in any longer!) to give them their birthday cards to "reveal" the surprise!!! Let the fun begin!

7/15 BIRTHDAY DAY for DH and DS4/5 7:15 ADRS at CM for breakfast then hit the MK (we've never seen the rope drop there) for as long as we can stand it (heat and crowds). Back to the condo for some rest then to Epcot for the evening to try and watch Illuminations

7/16 This day I'm not sure on......the choices are either TL (never been but thought it would be a good idea due to it being the middle of summer) or DHS in the morning and MK in the evening for Wishes (or watch it from the beach at the Poly). I'm worried about getting our money's worth from TL (we don't currently have tickets for this but would get a discount with our APs and not sure how long the kids would be entertained there) and about crowd levels (generally throughout the entire trip!).

7/17 ADR at TH at 8:00 then AK for as long as we can stand it. After heading back to the condo for some rest and lunch, we'll head to DHS in the evening to try and see Fantasmic.

7/18 DHS in the morning for TSM and whatever else the kids want to do. After getting some lunch and resting at the condo, we'll head to MK to watch Wishes (my favorite!).

7/19 Either MK or DHS in the morning then time to hit the road and get back to reality...

Here's the "plan" as it stands right now! (knowing that things could change at any minute! :rotfl: )

7/14 Leave SC by 12:30 and hit the road! Stop at FL Welcome Center and break the news of the "special dinner" and plans for the rest of the week! :cool1: Check in to the condo about 5:30 or 6. Start something for dinner while Dan works on unpacking the van (it's his turn to work now!). Dinner and bed for everyone as we have an early morning!

7/15 BIRTHDAY DAY for DH and DS4/5 7:15 ADRS at CM for breakfast then hit the MK (we've never seen the rope drop there) for as long as we can stand it (heat and crowds). Back to the condo for some rest then to Epcot for the evening to try and watch Illuminations

7/16 DHS in the morning and MK in the evening for Wishes (or watch it from the beach at the Poly). I think we're going to skip TL this time due to my stupid cold sores that I cannot get rid of! But in Dec, I'm going darn it!

7/17 ADR at TH at 8:00 then AK for as long as we can stand it. After heading back to the condo for some rest and lunch, we'll head to DHS in the evening to try and see Fantasmic.

7/18 DHS in the morning for TSM and whatever else the kids want to do. After getting some lunch and resting at the condo, we'll head to MK to watch Wishes (my favorite!).

7/19 Either MK or DHS in the morning. I'm thinking probably MK since the boys love the rides there the most and I want to leave on a REALLY happy note since it's a happy trip! We'll probably also hit DTD as the boys might have money on their gift cards left to spend! We'll probably be back on the road by about 2 at the latest so we're back at a reasonable time to get everything out of the van and try to get some sleep before heading to work the next morning!

That's how it stands right now....again, not saying it can't/won't change but that's my plan! :goodvibes

[newtodis]

Alright...here's what needs to happen before we can leave:

TO DO SATURDAY
*fill van with gas
*Change batteries in dvd player remote for van
*Clean out van
*get a plan together on how to pack the van
*finish buying things from list (see another post - to be added!)
*charge camera battery
*hair cuts
*wrap birthday gifts to take
*make cards
*make puzzle to "tell" surprise (hopefully doing this today!)
*Clean house
*laundry
*pack Lynn
*pack Corbin
*pack Carter

TO DO TUESDAY
*Pack "bathroom"/medicine bag
*pack diaper bag
*Copy and notarize Corbin's birth certificate
*pack cameras and extra batteries
*bake (muffins, cookies, birthday cake)
*pack van
*cover stuff in back of van
*pack food
*Pack cooler
*Get ice from fire station
*Pack Dan

DONE!!
*finalize trip plans hopefully that's done - see previous post!
*list of food to pack in cooler list made!
*get luggage down Done and hidden in the closet!
*pay for Condo (plan on doing this 6/19) (waiting on this to see what happens with Carter's foot before we 100% committ to anything!) DONE!
*Dan's time off request Done and approved!
*Lynn's time off request Done and approved!

[newtodis]

Here's the current list of things I need to pick up before we leave:

*bread
*milk
*visor for Carter (so they don't fight over the one we have!)
*sunglasses for me
*lunch meat
*fruit snacks

Like I said, nothing major at all and we can always run to the store while we're down there if we need something!

[newtodis]

Here's how things will go down on Tuesday (I hope!). Everything's really gotten moved forward with Dan now leaving at noon! (now this is just from my memory -I'll have to confirm once I check my list at home! :rotfl: )

7:30 Get Dan out of the house for work - I'm pretty sure I can do this without a problem!
8:00 Start baking so things have time to cool off before they're packed
Start any laundry
Run dish washer
Trash day! Get all trash out
9:00 Show and snack for the boys to keep them busy and from asking questions
Pack condo tote, Dan's clothes, any other "last minute" stuff we'll need
10:30 Pack cooler and get ice from station
Pick up anything else while we're out that we'll need
11:00 Lunch for the boys then cleaned up, changed and into pull ups
12:00 Boys in van, cups and snacks in hand, set out Dan's clothes
12:30 Hit the road!
2:00 Stop at FL welcome center and give the boys their birthday cards! The cat will be let out of the bag at this point and I'm expecting some happy boys who are ready to go to DISNEY!!!! :cool1:

[newtodis]

I still have a lot of work to get done....but am lacking motivation to get it done. We have an important meeting this afternoon so I'm trying to make sure I've got some work to "keep busy" during the meeting! :rotfl:


:surfweb:

I think that's all the updates for now! The funniest part about the surprise is that Dan asked to leave at noon. Well his boss asked if it was ok since he knew about the surprise. I told him it was fine and appreciated his help! So Dan got home last night and was complaining about what a hard time he'd gotten about taking half a day off! :rotfl2: I just smiled and told him to quit taking so much time off...he only needed to leave at 4 - not at noon! :lmao: Boy is he gonna be SHOCKED when he figures out how many people knew and just didn't tell him!

I'm so suprised it's still a secret. I seriously thought just with the sheer number of people who know about what's happening that someone would say something to him.....if they have, he's certainly not saying.

Can't wait for Tuesday!!!!!

[Monny2AE]

I must say both your little guys are very handsome. Carter definitely has that look of mischief in his eye:stir:

[Monny2AE]

Oh my goodness...I don't know how you are pulling this off but HUGE kudos to you!!!!!:worship:

Your stress level must be through the roof right about now.

I'm keeping mine a secret from my kids but it's 100 times more difficult to keep it from the hubby. :scared1:

Sending pixie dust that you get everything done on your lists, pull off the surprise without a hitch, and find that darn birth certificate!

pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust: pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:

[mrsksomeday]

I love your lists, it feels so good to check things off doesn't it? It looks like you have a great plan, just remember to breathe and relax from time to time :goodvibes.

[newtodis]

I must say both your little guys are very handsome. Carter definitely has that look of mischief in his eye:stir:

He is FULL of it! :rotfl: I always ask him "Who loves you more?" and his answer - with his big toothy smile and mischevious look - is "My very own Daddy!". But if you ask him who HE loves, "my mommy". :confused3 I told him I love him more because I take him to Disney! :rotfl: Now I can REALLY give him a hard time about it next week! (not that I try to "guilt" my kids into loving me more.....we just pick on them!)

Oh my goodness...I don't know how you are pulling this off but HUGE kudos to you!!!!!:worship:

Your stress level must be through the roof right about now.

I'm keeping mine a secret from my kids but it's 100 times more difficult to keep it from the hubby. :scared1:

Sending pixie dust that you get everything done on your lists, pull off the surprise without a hitch, and find that darn birth certificate!

pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust: pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:pixiedust:

I'm not sure how I'm pulling it all off either honestly! It's working out which is AWESOME! I only have 4 more days to keep it inside. Friends and co-workers know so I'm able to talk to them and here on the DIS so I don't have to keep it all inside which helps a LOT!

Not too much stress right now about the trip. I have the stress related cold sores more from my job (unfortunetly!) but hopefully they'll go away soon. This week has been a lesson in looking for the silver lining in EVERYTHING because there has to be one so I'm not stressed! :rotfl:

Thank you for the pixie dust! It never hurts to have some extra! :goodvibes Dan's mom went to the court house today and got another birth certificate and is over nighting it in case we don't find it thankfully! (Of course it's another thing added to our "tab" so we're going to owe her a ton when we go to MI in two weeks!)

I love your lists, it feels so good to check things off doesn't it? It looks like you have a great plan, just remember to breathe and relax from time to time :goodvibes.

Thank you! I love my lists too. With it all being "hush hush" I'm relying on them WAY more than I normally do. I think about something at work, write it on a sticky and add it to the list at home when I can so I don't forget things. I have lists for things I have to do, things I've done (so I don't worry about them and check to see if they're done), it's crazy. Thankfully it's all tucked away in my Disney binder that Dan doesn't touch so there's no way of him finding anything at all in there!

Alright.....the big meeting is done and we're just waiting for the magical "let's go home" from the big chief.......

Have an awesome weekend everyone!

[newtodis]

Good Morning!

Today's my last day of working!!!! Tomorrow it's running around and getting everything packed!

I brought my camera so I could post some pictures from yesterday's party so hopefully I'll have time to do that today. I need them off my camera before I leave anyways :goodvibes I don't want them to be accidentally deleted or anything.

Tonight's plan is to wash up the odds and ends dishes and laundry from over the weekend and try to rest tonight. I'm whipped from the party but I think everyone had a good time.

Alright....I have a TON of work to get done today and need to get a move on.


WE LEAVE TOMORROW!!! :yay::banana::banana::banana::cool1:

[Grace and Mickey]

Good Morning Lynn:goodvibes

Doing The ONE Day DANCE:dance3:

Sorry I did not post earlier about youe plans, I have been trying to catch up on some tings around here, BUT I never seem to get caught up:confused3

Your plans for the trip which days in which parks look GREAT
:):thumbsup2:goodvibes

even though we have only been once we have decide that Chef Mickey's will be our tradational star of every WDW trip.

And starting the birthday day with that and being at rope drop to see Mickey come in on the train is a awesome way to start the trip:yay:

Looking forward to seeing your review of TH will be eating there on 9/18

How did the party go? Looking forward to see the pictures

I bet it was hard not talking about the surprise, when i sure it all you can think about:)
Did you get the puzzles done yet?

Did you get Corbin birth certifate yet? don't you hate it when you know/think something is at and then you can't finf it. It can drive you crazy
I love you saying about the silver lining:love: my mother always said this. You can find a Silver lining in everything you do ever if not what you looking for.

I bet it hard to work today today with so much on your mind.
Try to get some sleep tonite, it will be hard becasue
Tommorrow you're going to DISNEY and you be TOO excited to sleep::MickeyMo::MinnieMopluto:pooh:

Take care and I will be thinking of you:goodvibes
Grace

[englishrose47]

Good luck TOMORROW!!!!!!

[Monny2AE]

Good Morning!

Today's my last day of working!!!! Tomorrow it's running around and getting everything packed!

I brought my camera so I could post some pictures from yesterday's party so hopefully I'll have time to do that today. I need them off my camera before I leave anyways :goodvibes I don't want them to be accidentally deleted or anything.

Tonight's plan is to wash up the odds and ends dishes and laundry from over the weekend and try to rest tonight. I'm whipped from the party but I think everyone had a good time.

Alright....I have a TON of work to get done today and need to get a move on.


WE LEAVE TOMORROW!!! :yay::banana::banana::banana::cool1:

I'm glad the party was a success!
I can't believe you are pulling this off!!! :woohoo: You've got to be ready to burst at the seams with excitement! :banana:

Hope all goes well tomorrow and your DH doesn't leave work any earlier than noon. :eek:

[newtodis]

Good Morning Lynn:goodvibes

Doing The ONE Day DANCE:dance3:

Sorry I did not post earlier about youe plans, I have been trying to catch up on some tings around here, BUT I never seem to get caught up:confused3

Your plans for the trip which days in which parks look GREAT
:):thumbsup2:goodvibes

even though we have only been once we have decide that Chef Mickey's will be our tradational star of every WDW trip.

And starting the birthday day with that and being at rope drop to see Mickey come in on the train is a awesome way to start the trip:yay:

Looking forward to seeing your review of TH will be eating there on 9/18

How did the party go? Looking forward to see the pictures

I bet it was hard not talking about the surprise, when i sure it all you can think about:)
Did you get the puzzles done yet?

Did you get Corbin birth certifate yet? don't you hate it when you know/think something is at and then you can't finf it. It can drive you crazy
I love you saying about the silver lining:love: my mother always said this. You can find a Silver lining in everything you do ever if not what you looking for.

I bet it hard to work today today with so much on your mind.
Try to get some sleep tonite, it will be hard becasue
Tommorrow you're going to DISNEY and you be TOO excited to sleep::MickeyMo::MinnieMopluto:pooh:

Take care and I will be thinking of you:goodvibes
Grace

Hey Grace

No I can never manage to get caught up either! I try but it just never happens! Then I have days like Saturday where I clean from sun up to sun down and get as close to caught up as I'll ever get! :rotfl:

We love TH - I think that's the one place we've been on every trip - or almost every trip! It's awesome. Can't say enough good things about it!

I got Corbin's birth certificate in the mail today. Thank God for Dan's mom! She saved the day for sure!!

Party was good. A couple people knew about the surprise and asked about it and we were able to chat so long as Dan wasn't around. I hid in the house most of the time to keep out of the sun but still managed to "repower" these stupid cold sores!! I went to the dr this morning (don't have enough time in the day today!!) but there's nothing right this minute that I can do. So I grabbed a refill on my prescription and dropped our deposit for work off at the bank and am trying to get my HUGE to do list done here so I can go home!

I cannot wait for the morning to get here. I'm exhausted from cleaning all day (as Corbin said "why do we have to clean and clean and clean???" :rotfl2: Welcome to being a Mommy! I ask myself that all the time!!) and the party yesterday, I'm ready for some sleep tonight! I'm sure I'll be up bright and early tomorrow and ready for Dan to get to work so I can get everything done.

Good luck TOMORROW!!!!!!

Thank you so much!!

I'm glad the party was a success!
I can't believe you are pulling this off!!! :woohoo: You've got to be ready to burst at the seams with excitement! :banana:

Hope all goes well tomorrow and your DH doesn't leave work any earlier than noon. :eek:

The party was quite good - better than I'd thought which is great!

I can't believe it either honestly!! Dan was talking with his "other" boys (at the Island) and they told him it had to be Columbia or Jacksonville that we're going to. I cannot believe he hasn't figured ANYTHING out yet.

I'm so ready to burst it's not funny!! I've been debating all morning "should I tell them tonight?", "should I tell them before we get on the road tomorrow?"....I'm thinking I really want to stick with my plan about telling them at the FL welcome center! I *might* give Dan one piece to his puzzle tonight just to keep him guessing! I need to take a picture of the puzzle too. I tried to put it into photobucket and post it here but it won't....

Oh he won't leave earlier. And I told him he has to call me half an hour before he leaves. His secretary will text me when he leaves I'm sure to give me a head's up. :goodvibes Must be prepared! I plan on having it all done by noon so even if he does leave a few minutes early, I'll still be ready for him!

Alright.....I'm going to try and provide as many updates as I can along the way without having the laptop this time. I'll do my very best but can't make any promises! I will take lots of pictures and good notes so I can fill you all in when we get back. ( and finish my other TRs :rolleyes1)


OOOHHHHH!!!! I think I forgot to tell you guys.....we finally have another agreement on the MI house. Hopefully all will go well and it will close within the month!!!! That would be AWESOME - we would be totally debt free, have some money to put down on a new house and be able to go to the Poly in Dec! I'm so hoping it all works out!!!!

If I'm not able to make it back, have an AWESOME week everyone!!! I must get my work done today!

[wigdoutdismom]

Wishing you safe travels, surprising surprises, and many magical memories!

[lmillercrew]

HAPPY SUPRISE LYNN!!!! We'll all be here waiting to hear all about how it went down. I still don't get how you'll get all the way to the Florida border without him figuring it out sooner. Maybe you should blind fold him. :confused3:confused3
Think of me on Fri. It's my B-day and would love to spend the day with you there. If I had a "flat" me, I would have a picture taken of me with you at the parks. :rotfl:

[Grace and Mickey]

[=newtodis;32647438]Here's how things will go down on Tuesday (I hope!). Everything's really gotten moved forward with Dan now leaving at noon! (now this is just from my memory -I'll have to confirm once I check my list at home! :rotfl: )

7:30 Get Dan out of the house for work - I'm pretty sure I can do this without a problem!
8:00 Start baking so things have time to cool off before they're packed
Start any laundry
Run dish washer
Trash day! Get all trash out
9:00 Show and snack for the boys to keep them busy and from asking questions
Pack condo tote, Dan's clothes, any other "last minute" stuff we'll need
10:30 Pack cooler and get ice from station
Pick up anything else while we're out that we'll need
11:00 Lunch for the boys then cleaned up, changed and into pull ups
12:00 Boys in van, cups and snacks in hand, set out Dan's clothes
12:30 Hit the road!
2:00 Stop at FL welcome center and give the boys their birthday cards! The cat will be let out of the bag at this point and I'm expecting some happy boys who are ready to go to DISNEY!!!! :cool1:[/quote]


It's Tuesday July 16th 2009
SO what Are Lynn, Dan Corbin, Carter
going to do today:confused3:confused3:confused3



Their GOING TO

WALT
DISNEY
WORLD
:mickeyjum:donald::goofy::tigger::sulley::dumbo::s imba::stitch::figment:

Have a Magical time:tinker:
Give Mickey a:grouphug:For me, Say:wave:To Donald for me
Have a dole whip:thumbsup2Take a ride on "It's a small world"

Take Lots of pictures for us to see:yay:
Make Lots of Magical Memories to enjoy FOREVER.

I be thinking of you around 2oclock sending you vibes:goodvibes
as you let the 'Cat out of the bag" about the SURPRISE!!

Love ya
Grace

[lmillercrew]

They should almost be there! It's 4:45 p.m.

[Grace and Mickey]

Welcome Home :)

I hope you had a magical trip:goodvibes
can't wait to hear about the the reation the the surprise.

Looking forward to seeing ALL the pictures:thumbsup2
and reading about all the awesome and wonderful things you did.


my mission for today is the find my "pal mickey'
He missing:scared1: and I really need him for my trip.
Have a good day, it hard to go back to work after vacation.
Grace

[newtodis]

We're BACK! More details soon I promise. I DID manage to pull it off!!! Thank you all so much for the sweet little notes while we were gone - I so appreciate it!

Wishing you safe travels, surprising surprises, and many magical memories!

Thank you! It was a great time!

HAPPY SUPRISE LYNN!!!! We'll all be here waiting to hear all about how it went down. I still don't get how you'll get all the way to the Florida border without him figuring it out sooner. Maybe you should blind fold him. :confused3:confused3
Think of me on Fri. It's my B-day and would love to spend the day with you there. If I had a "flat" me, I would have a picture taken of me with you at the parks. :rotfl:

Aww!! Happy Birthday to YOU!! I wish I would have seen this before I left - I so would have taken you with me - even a "flat" you! :rotfl: I hope it was a great birthday!!

It's Tuesday July 16th 2009
SO what Are Lynn, Dan Corbin, Carter
going to do today
Their GOING TO
WALT
DISNEY
WORLD

Have a Magical time:tinker:
Give Mickey a:grouphug:For me, Say:wave:To Donald for me
Have a dole whip:thumbsup2Take a ride on "It's a small world"

Take Lots of pictures for us to see:yay:
Make Lots of Magical Memories to enjoy FOREVER.

I be thinking of you around 2oclock sending you vibes:goodvibes
as you let the 'Cat out of the bag" about the SURPRISE!!

Love ya
Grace

Hey Grace! It was an awesome time!! We did see Mickey and Donald. No Dole Whip and no it's a small world - believe it or not! I did take about 800 pictures and I brought my camera today so I'm hoping to get at least a couple up here for everyone today!

They should almost be there! It's 4:45 p.m.

Right on! We were there just a little bit after 5 on Tuesday!!

Welcome Home :)

I hope you had a magical trip:goodvibes
can't wait to hear about the the reation the the surprise.

Looking forward to seeing ALL the pictures:thumbsup2
and reading about all the awesome and wonderful things you did.


my mission for today is the find my "pal mickey'
He missing:scared1: and I really need him for my trip.
Have a good day, it hard to go back to work after vacation.
Grace

Good Morning - good luck with the pal Mickey! We didn't take ours this time. I know they were phasing him out so I'm not sure if he works in the parks anymore or not. I would hope he still would!

[newtodis]

So, I'm going to give you the real basics of what went down the day we left since I have a huge stack of work waiting for me!

Dan hit the road for work about 7:30 Tuesday morning which was perfect!! I got to work baking the cake and muffins so they'd have time to cool and bake before I had to pack them. While they were baking, I spread my lists out all over my bed and started to pull stuff out of the closet. The boys were playing quietly thanks to the new toys from the birthday party on Sunday!

Once the cake and muffins were done, I pulled them out and had them cool on the counter. The "quiet" playing had long stopped so on came Lilo and Stitch. Corbin had been in and out of my bedroom and was getting into the suitcases so I knew I had to do something. He even told me "I see you packing for MI on your bed!". :rotfl2: Packing but not for MI dude!

Once I got everything packed and the van loaded, I had to run to the library since no one did it Monday night. I also had to put gas in the van since I'd been running around. And, when I went to Target, they didn't have all of the pills for my prescription so I had to go back (I'd tasked Dan with that to make sure I had enough time after he left work even though I was in the Target parking lot to get gas) to get the rest.

Well, all went well at the library. We got our stamps for being great readers and Carter got his sticker. Corbin got playdough this week which he was thrilled with. Then it was off to the gas station. The freaking card reader thing at the pump didn't work so I gave up since I couldn't leave my kids in the van full of stuff while I ran in to pay. On the way home we stopped at my fire station to get ice from the ice machine and the boys were teasing me (big boys - firefighters) about packing everything up and no one knowing what was going on! :goodvibes

Then I called Dan to see if he was going to be able to stop and get my pills since it was almost noon and time for him to leave work. He said he was going to be able to and was done at Target by noon. We literally had to have been driving home at the same time. Thankfully I'd had everything already packed!

We pulled in the drive way and I had the boys get into their pull ups and I grabbed Dan's clothes that I'd kept out. Just as the boys were changed, Dan pulled in the drive way. I sent him to the bathroom to change his clothes and we were off!

He insisted that I'd bought him a big screen tv and that's what was under the blankets in the back of the van. I just smiled and told him "if that's what you think". It was a pretty quiet ride to the FL welcome center. We had to stop there because I'd drank a HUGE glass of water and couldn't sit in the car any more! :rotfl: So we all piled out. Dan and Carter went to the boy's room and Corbin and I went to the girl's room. I told Corbin if he was good I'd tell him where we were going when we got back to the van. He hustled through going potty and was right back out at the van. Then we had to wait for Daddy and Carter.

Corbin couldn't wait for Dan to get back. He was yelling in the parking lot "hurry up! she's going to tell us where we're going!!" :lmao: People thought we were crazy I'm sure.

So there they stood in the grass at the FL welcome center thinking we were going to Jacksonville. I gave them their papers (I didn't cut them up because it was windy that day and I didn't want to loose any pieces) and told them on the count of three they could turn them over.

1


2


3

Turn it over!!!! Where are we going?????


DISNEY!!!!

No one had any clue! I pulled the blankets off the stuff in the back and revealed that everything was ready and we were already on our way!!! :cool1: Corbin and Carter had less than stellar reactions - I don't think they got it at that point honestly. They just knew we'd been in the car awhile and were ready for some dinner or a snack. (everything seems to revolve around food in our house!)

We piled back in the car and headed to DISNEY!!! As we got closer, the boys got more and more excited!!

(If any of you have ever watched The Real Housewives of Orange County, think Vicki. Corbin likes his "wooohoooos" as much as she does!)

We left by 12:30, I revealed the secret about 2:15ish and we were at the condo by about 6. It was perfect!!

Alright....more pictures and details to come!!!

[englishrose47]

So, I'm going to give you the real basics of what went down the day we left since I have a huge stack of work waiting for me!

Dan hit the road for work about 7:30 Tuesday morning which was perfect!! I got to work baking the cake and muffins so they'd have time to cool and bake before I had to pack them. While they were baking, I spread my lists out all over my bed and started to pull stuff out of the closet. The boys were playing quietly thanks to the new toys from the birthday party on Sunday!

Once the cake and muffins were done, I pulled them out and had them cool on the counter. The "quiet" playing had long stopped so on came Lilo and Stitch. Corbin had been in and out of my bedroom and was getting into the suitcases so I knew I had to do something. He even told me "I see you packing for MI on your bed!". :rotfl2: Packing but not for MI dude!

Once I got everything packed and the van loaded, I had to run to the library since no one did it Monday night. I also had to put gas in the van since I'd been running around. And, when I went to Target, they didn't have all of the pills for my prescription so I had to go back (I'd tasked Dan with that to make sure I had enough time after he left work even though I was in the Target parking lot to get gas) to get the rest.

Well, all went well at the library. We got our stamps for being great readers and Carter got his sticker. Corbin got playdough this week which he was thrilled with. Then it was off to the gas station. The freaking card reader thing at the pump didn't work so I gave up since I couldn't leave my kids in the van full of stuff while I ran in to pay. On the way home we stopped at my fire station to get ice from the ice machine and the boys were teasing me (big boys - firefighters) about packing everything up and no one knowing what was going on! :goodvibes

Then I called Dan to see if he was going to be able to stop and get my pills since it was almost noon and time for him to leave work. He said he was going to be able to and was done at Target by noon. We literally had to have been driving home at the same time. Thankfully I'd had everything already packed!

We pulled in the drive way and I had the boys get into their pull ups and I grabbed Dan's clothes that I'd kept out. Just as the boys were changed, Dan pulled in the drive way. I sent him to the bathroom to change his clothes and we were off!

He insisted that I'd bought him a big screen tv and that's what was under the blankets in the back of the van. I just smiled and told him "if that's what you think". It was a pretty quiet ride to the FL welcome center. We had to stop there because I'd drank a HUGE glass of water and couldn't sit in the car any more! :rotfl: So we all piled out. Dan and Carter went to the boy's room and Corbin and I went to the girl's room. I told Corbin if he was good I'd tell him where we were going when we got back to the van. He hustled through going potty and was right back out at the van. Then we had to wait for Daddy and Carter.

Corbin couldn't wait for Dan to get back. He was yelling in the parking lot "hurry up! she's going to tell us where we're going!!" :lmao: People thought we were crazy I'm sure.

So there they stood in the grass at the FL welcome center thinking we were going to Jacksonville. I gave them their papers (I didn't cut them up because it was windy that day and I didn't want to loose any pieces) and told them on the count of three they could turn them over.

1


2


3

Turn it over!!!! Where are we going?????


DISNEY!!!!

No one had any clue! I pulled the blankets off the stuff in the back and revealed that everything was ready and we were already on our way!!! :cool1: Corbin and Carter had less than stellar reactions - I don't think they got it at that point honestly. They just knew we'd been in the car awhile and were ready for some dinner or a snack. (everything seems to revolve around food in our house!)

We piled back in the car and headed to DISNEY!!! As we got closer, the boys got more and more excited!!

(If any of you have ever watched The Real Housewives of Orange County, think Vicki. Corbin likes his "wooohoooos" as much as she does!)

We left by 12:30, I revealed the secret about 2:15ish and we were at the condo by about 6. It was perfect!!

Alright....more pictures and details to come!!!

I'm waiting !! Sounds like everything went well !!:cool1::thumbsup2

[Grace and Mickey]

Lynn

I so glad the surprise went well, I bet the boys thought you where kidding, Dan thought you brought him a big screen TV , you did take to see the biggest screen tV as in the 3-d movies at WDW.

How was the Condo? Was it better than you thought, how far from WDW?

Looking forward to hearing more and SEEing lots of pictures.

Have a good evening and get some rest from your vacation,

Grace

[mrsksomeday]

Congrats on pulling off the surprise!! I can't wait to read all about your trip popcorn::.

[newtodis]

I'm waiting !! Sounds like everything went well !!:cool1::thumbsup2

It did go well. Thank you!

Lynn

I so glad the surprise went well, I bet the boys thought you where kidding, Dan thought you brought him a big screen TV , you did take to see the biggest screen tV as in the 3-d movies at WDW.

How was the Condo? Was it better than you thought, how far from WDW?

Looking forward to hearing more and SEEing lots of pictures.

Have a good evening and get some rest from your vacation,

Grace

Hey Grace!

Yes surprise went well for sure.

Condo was good actually. I was pleasantly surprised. It wound up being about $51/night for a 1 bedroom condo the stop light away from Disney property. We probably could have walked to DTD if we wanted but never gave that a try. We did see lots of people doing that though.

Yes I have lots of pictures for sure - can't wait to share them!

Thanks! I need the rest for sure! I've got a nasty cold that Carter and Dan gave me so I'm trying to recover from that before leaving for MI. I can't wait for next month to have a weekend off and just do nothing at all but lay on the couch. School starts in about three weeks so there's not much "rest" time for our house.

Congrats on pulling off the surprise!! I can't wait to read all about your trip popcorn::.

Thank you! I can't wait to share! :goodvibes

[lmillercrew]

Well, I posted a reply to your update a couple days ago, and it has disappeared! :confused3 Or maybe I didn't hit the submit button... :rolleyes1
Anyway, I'm glad that you made it there and back safely and that the suprise went well. What was Dan's reaction? You mentioned the boys, but not the man!
I am SO ready to hear about the festivities! I hope you start feeling better soon. It's no fun traveling when you are feeling like crap! Just be prepared that it's not very warm up here. It was 69 today at NOON!!! Hello! Aren't we in the middle of July???? :confused3 I've been in my pool three times this summer. My kids won't even swim in it, even with the solar heater.

[englishrose47]

Still waiting!!!popcorn::

[wigdoutdismom]

Congratulations on pulling off the surprise! I'm glad they finally got excited, you worked, planned and schemed to pull this baby off for them!

[newtodis]

Well, I posted a reply to your update a couple days ago, and it has disappeared! :confused3 Or maybe I didn't hit the submit button... :rolleyes1
Anyway, I'm glad that you made it there and back safely and that the suprise went well. What was Dan's reaction? You mentioned the boys, but not the man!
I am SO ready to hear about the festivities! I hope you start feeling better soon. It's no fun traveling when you are feeling like crap! Just be prepared that it's not very warm up here. It was 69 today at NOON!!! Hello! Aren't we in the middle of July???? :confused3 I've been in my pool three times this summer. My kids won't even swim in it, even with the solar heater.

Hey Lisa!

I had to go out and buy jeans last night because I'm afraid of freezing while we're up there! It was 98 here yesterday when I got in the car at 5 to go home.....I'm already sick. I can't go up there and get even more sick! :sick:

Dan's reaction was good too. He was in total shock which was great! :rotfl: He kept telling me how something was wrong with his co-workers because they gave him a cake that morning but his birthday wasn't until the next day! :rotfl2:

Still waiting!!!popcorn::

Sorry between being sick, trying to catch up on Jon and Kate and actually get some work done this week....I haven't made much progress here. :sad2:

Congratulations on pulling off the surprise! I'm glad they finally got excited, you worked, planned and schemed to pull this baby off for them!

Thank you! It all worked out which is great!

[newtodis]

Alright because I've kept you waiting so long (and will have to continue to since we're leaving for MI in two days), here are some pictures to tide you over.

The van all packed and covered up:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney001.jpg

Corbin's Picture Puzzle that he got at the rest stop:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney002.jpg

Dan's picture puzzle:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney003.jpg

Traffic in Orlando:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney007.jpg

I think this is my favorite Disney icon:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney082.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney100.jpg

Chef Mickey dancing for us (he came to the table with a birthday surprise for Corbin but Corbin wanted no part of going to dance with him...more on that later!):

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney031.jpg

[lmillercrew]

You're a big tease Lynn!!! How can you just leave us hangin here??? We had a lot of rain here today, but was able to shut the air off. Hope you have a good trip up here!

[englishrose47]

Okay I'll be patient but not for long !!!:rotfl2:

[Grace and Mickey]

Hi Lynn
Missing you.
Hope you 're having fun in MI
Looking forward to seeing more Pictures and hearing more about the trip,

And I also need your help on how to print my tee- shirt design please

Talk soon. take care
Grace

[mrsksomeday]

Your killing us! :eek:

Great pictures, I hope we get a huge trip installment when you get back.

[englishrose47]

Your killing us! :eek:

Great pictures, I hope we get a huge trip installment when you get back.

Are you Back?????:rotfl2:

[lmillercrew]

Hope you enjoyed MI as much as I enjoy MI!!! heheheee :rotfl2:
I only enjoy it enough to drive to the airport and back. ;)

[Grace and Mickey]

Oh where in the world in Lynn????:rolleyes1

Just checking to see if everthing is O.K.:goodvibes

Hope you can come out and play soon:lmao:


Miss you:love:
Grace

[mrsksomeday]

popcorn:: I swear I just say you on the J & K thread, I hope we get an update soon :goodvibes.

[newtodis]

You're a big tease Lynn!!! How can you just leave us hangin here??? We had a lot of rain here today, but was able to shut the air off. Hope you have a good trip up here!

Sorry for being such a tease! I plan on doing a big update this weekend for everyone!

Okay I'll be patient but not for long !!!:rotfl2:

I'm sorry!

Hi Lynn
Missing you.
Hope you 're having fun in MI
Looking forward to seeing more Pictures and hearing more about the trip,

And I also need your help on how to print my tee- shirt design please

Talk soon. take care
Grace

MI was good :) I can help with your shirts - let me know what you need and I'll do my best!

Your killing us! :eek:

Great pictures, I hope we get a huge trip installment when you get back.

Yes I'm planning a big update this weekend actually!! :goodvibes

Are you Back?????:rotfl2:

No the wedding was the 1st - didn't get back until very late on the 2nd....

Hope you enjoyed MI as much as I enjoy MI!!! heheheee :rotfl2:
I only enjoy it enough to drive to the airport and back. ;)

LOL MI was ok - VERY cold compared to here. It was nice but it's a long time for the kids to be away from their house - especially following being gone for a week at Disney and everything else too...it was a lot of stuff in a short amount of time!

Oh where in the world in Lynn????:rolleyes1

Just checking to see if everthing is O.K.:goodvibes

Hope you can come out and play soon:lmao:


Miss you:love:
Grace


Hey I'm here - just trying so hard to get caught up on everything!

popcorn:: I swear I just say you on the J & K thread, I hope we get an update soon :goodvibes.

I was - I had to catch up on my gossip... :rolleyes1 Update coming this weekend!

Dan works on Saturday so I've got to get the house and everything all cleaned up. It's "tax free weekend" this weekend so it's going to be crazy busy with people buying stuff and not having to pay tax on it so I'm trying to stay out of the stores unless I need something. Sunday I'm hoping to do a huge update on the MI trip and rest of Disney AND finish my last TR....hopefully I can make it all happen! :goodvibes

Next week is our last week of summer....Corbin starts school on the 17th so he's bouncing off the walls excited for school to start.

Alright...I have minutes from two meetings to type today and I'm praying we'll go home early today - I'm exhausted! I'm also supposed to hear more info on my job Monday but that's all I can say about that right now.....hopefully lots of news next week! :goodvibes

[newtodis]

popcorn:: I swear I just say you on the J & K thread, I hope we get an update soon :goodvibes.

I just have to say I LOVE your tickers in your signature! They're so cool!!!!

[lmillercrew]

Welcome home Lynn! I know you are probable feeling that overwhelming, just got back from vacation feeling. It's o.k. that you haven't updated. We all understand. Just don't wait too long ;)

[englishrose47]

Welcome back again !!! I'll be patient a little longer !!!!:lmao:

[Grace and Mickey]

Hi Lynn
Hope all is well:goodvibes

Looking forward to your update:thumbsup2
I need help with printing the tee-shirts:confused3
I have the designs saved in my word, and have brought tee shirts tranfer paper, what else do I need? and of course the tee shirts:)

You have not seen my "big news" we are going to be able to leave for our trip sooner:yay:We now wil be leaving on Sept 6 around 2:30 a.m. which is Sunday so now we don't have to drive STRAIGHT thur.
So my trip is 26 days away:dance3::woohoo:

Have a magical day:thumbsup2
Grace

[newtodis]

Welcome home Lynn! I know you are probable feeling that overwhelming, just got back from vacation feeling. It's o.k. that you haven't updated. We all understand. Just don't wait too long ;)

Aww thanks! You guys are my Labor Day project! I want to finish this TR, the last TR and maybe do a PTR if we decide to go for a long weekend in Sept before our APs expire. I should be able to catch that all up in three days! :rotfl:

Welcome back again !!! I'll be patient a little longer !!!!:lmao:

Thanks - sorry I know I've been a slacker!!

Hi Lynn
Hope all is well:goodvibes

Looking forward to your update:thumbsup2
I need help with printing the tee-shirts:confused3
I have the designs saved in my word, and have brought tee shirts tranfer paper, what else do I need? and of course the tee shirts:)

You have not seen my "big news" we are going to be able to leave for our trip sooner:yay:We now wil be leaving on Sept 6 around 2:30 a.m. which is Sunday so now we don't have to drive STRAIGHT thur.
So my trip is 26 days away:dance3::woohoo:

Have a magical day:thumbsup2
Grace

Looks like you've got everything you need. Read the directions on the paper (it will tell you what side you're trying to print on). Some people wash their shirts first and some don't (I personally don't). Print them on the paper and let them sit a good long time - a day or two or longer. Then, iron away! Trim off whatever parts you don't want to show up on your shirts before you iron.

YAY for leaving sooner! That's always good news! And that's a good time too. It won't be busy and hopefully you'll miss the morning traffic in the bigger cities that you might drive through/around.

Well, I got a promotion since the last update. Not officially yet (I'm doing the job just not getting paid anymore) until 8/22 so that's great (thinking a Disney trip is a great way to celebrate! LOL). I spent this morning cleaning my new (officially mine on Saturday) office and moved the furnature which was a lot of work. It's organized now (for me) so that's a great start!

This was also Corbin's first week of school. Yesterday morning I pretty much sat here and cried but today I'm much better! :rotfl: I was a mess at the Meet the Teacher Day last week and the first morning of school. I can't believe the five years have gone by so quickly!!! I have to post some pictures for you guys!

I've also been cleaning the house as we're going to have a garage sale next weekend to try and get rid of some junk. I have no storage space and a TON of crap we never use so it's time to clean it out. Might as well make some money while we're cleaning right??? Hopefully we'll make enough to get the boys the bunk beds they've been asking for. That's the goal.

We're debating spending a weekend at Disney with friends (Angie and Sandy) since it'll be Sami Jo's first trip to Disney. She'll be about six and a half months old so it should be awesome! Certainly great pictures!

Alright...well it's almost time to pick Corbin up from school (he doesn't ride the bus due to all of his 18 allergies!) and get ready for a meeting this afternoon...yay! :upsidedow

[Grace and Mickey]

Hi Lynn

I hope you are here today, Because I need some more help with the tee shirts.
I FINALLY figure out how to flip ( mirror image) the disign BUt the disign is only 1/2 of the 8 x 10 paper, I tried changes to 8 x 10 by it doesnt look any differnt Any ideas ?? I'm running out of time and I really wanted to have matching t- shirts. Soory to be such a pest.

Only 13 days to my trip:banana:

Congrats on the new Job :goodvibes:goodvibes.
Do you know when you might go in Sept to See Angie and Sandy?
How is Corbin liking school?

Hope to talk to you soon.
Grace

[lmillercrew]

Congrats friend on your promotion! I wish I could get a promotion. ;)
Awww... your little boy went to school. Is is all day???
My kids don't start school until Wed. The big kids don't go until Thursday. It can't WAIT! It's been a short summer and we really haven't been able to enjoy the pool. It's been an unusually cool summer, so it doesn't even feel like we had a summer. :mad: i
If you get a chance, visit Grace's PTR. She's having problems with making her T-shirts and I thought that you might be able to help her.

[newtodis]

Hi Lynn

I hope you are here today, Because I need some more help with the tee shirts.
I FINALLY figure out how to flip ( mirror image) the disign BUt the disign is only 1/2 of the 8 x 10 paper, I tried changes to 8 x 10 by it doesnt look any differnt Any ideas ?? I'm running out of time and I really wanted to have matching t- shirts. Soory to be such a pest.

Only 13 days to my trip:banana:

Congrats on the new Job :goodvibes:goodvibes.
Do you know when you might go in Sept to See Angie and Sandy?
How is Corbin liking school?

Hope to talk to you soon.
Grace

Hey - I'm sorry. Send me a PM so that I'll see it even if I don't stop over here. Things have been soooo busy. Are there lines around the picture that you can click on and drag to make it bigger?? If there aren't then I'm not sure how to make it bigger....I'm sorry! One thing to keep in mind - will a full sized picture fit on your shirt?? I don't think I've ever done one that was a full page because it's always looked too big on the shirt. Here's an easy way to "test" - print the picture on regular paper, tape it (or pin it) to the shirt on a hanger so you can hang it up and step back to look at it. Does any of that make sense at all? :goodvibes You're not a pest at all!

Wow - the trip's getting SO close!! YAY!!

Thanks for the congrats. It's a lot more work but it'll work itself out I'm sure!

We're going down at some point on 9/11 and staying with them Friday and Saturday night then coming home late Sunday afternoon. I don't really have any plans yet other than I guess kind of hanging out with them and doing whatever they want to do since it's Samantha's first trip. I'm hoping to get some cute pictures of the castle, Mickey, Minnie, general "cute" Disney pictures on her first trip. :goodvibes

Corbin LOVES school. He was so mad this weekend because he was SURE Ms. Jackson was at school waiting for him and he shouldn't be at home with me! :rotfl:

Congrats friend on your promotion! I wish I could get a promotion. ;)
Awww... your little boy went to school. Is is all day???
My kids don't start school until Wed. The big kids don't go until Thursday. It can't WAIT! It's been a short summer and we really haven't been able to enjoy the pool. It's been an unusually cool summer, so it doesn't even feel like we had a summer. :mad: i
If you get a chance, visit Grace's PTR. She's having problems with making her T-shirts and I thought that you might be able to help her.

Thanks!

Yes he's at school now and yup it's all day. He says to me on the way home (I pick him up), "please leave me alone I'm tired". Me too kid, me too! :rotfl2:

I'm gonna pop over today and see if I can help her out - hopefully I'm not too late! :surfweb:

[newtodis]

So in the midst of everything else going on right now, we're having a garage sale on Saturday. A friend is coming over to watch the boys (he's taking them fishing in our back yard) while I do the garage sale thing. I asked him to help me out because Dan wasn't sure if he was going to have to work this weekend or not. Turns out he doesn't have to so that's great! I've got like four totes, a huge garbage bag, big box and some big stuff to get rid of. I'm hoping to make about $200 on Saturday but if we make more that would be AWESOME!

Tonight is Corbin's "open house" so that should be interesting. Carter's VERY excited to see "Torbi's" school and school tackles Corbin with hugs when he gets home every day! :goodvibes He practically hyperventilates himself when he sees Corbin "My Torbi! My Torbi! I wuv you! I wuv you!". It's really sweet. I do love our rides home together after school. He is just one funny kid. I hear stories about girls chasing him at recess and how he has to show them how fast he can run and who got a yellow or red owl at school today (the owl is the school mascot and you're supposed to have a green owl all day - if you make a bad choice, you have to "flip your owl"). The funniest was when he was telling me that a little girl had made a bad choice and they weren't able to go outside. Well, we just happened to be driving past this little girl's car as her parents were buckling her in and Corbin screams - literally scream - out the window "you better behave tomorrow [little girl]". Seriously Corbin? I think her parents have it all under control! LOL Then he proceeds to tell me another day that his teacher said he has to pack his own lunch and snack every day because "that's the rules Mom". So I asked who made that rule and he says "That's how Miss Jackson rolls Mom". Seriously?? Again, you're freaking hillarious kid! Boy oh boy I tell ya - we're gonna have our hands full for sure!

Here are some pictures from the first day (had to open up another photobucket account because it said the other one is full :headache:):

Classroom from "Meet the Teacher" Day before school really started:

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/LynnsPictures013.jpg

All ready for school:

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/LynnsPictures024.jpg

Carter had to be part of the morning too!

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/LynnsPictures027.jpg

Corbin putting his stuff away with his teacher the first morning of school:

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/LynnsPictures037.jpg

Dan spent the night last night at our local "Doc in a Box" (kind of like a redi-med type thing) only to find out his ankle that's been swelled up for a couple of days is sprained. :headache: He's not thrilled about this but at least now he knows what's wrong with it and trying his best to get sympathy which doesn't work with me! LOL

Dan worked last weekend (Corbin tells people "Daddy works on the Island for Disney money" :rotfl: So true!) so the boys and I hit the beach despite a hurricane out in the ocean. The waves were VERY big - never seen them like that before - and it was really kind of cool. The boys had a good time so we decided to go back in the afternoon for a couple of hours to hang out and dig in the dirt.

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/SamiJo111.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/SamiJo112.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/SamiJo124.jpg

Corbin built a "hill" so "people will slip and fall and go home and it will be just us at the beach". Apparently (which is Corbin's new word by the way!) he didn't like everyone at the beach that day!

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/SamiJo121.jpg

Friday night Angie and Sandy and Samantha came over for dinner since it had been WAY too long since we'd all gotten together. Samantha's getting HUGE and growing way too quickly!


Carter "helping" me make dinner:

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/SamiJo042.jpg

Samantha is getting way too big!

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/SamiJo047.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/SamiJo056.jpg

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/SamiJo075.jpg

Alright...it's almost time to go get Corbin from school. He's been BEGGING to ride the bus home so we'll see how that goes. Tonight is the open house then we're heading to Walmart to buy a bunk bed frame. Tomorrow the mattresses are being delivered and a couple of friends are coming over to put them together so the "baby beds" can be sold in the yard sale on Saturday. It's a big week at our house! I'm so looking forward to Labor Day weekend to finish up some TRs - I love looking at the pictures and can't wait to share!

[lmillercrew]

You have been a very busy lady! Corbin looked so grown up in his little uniform! Thankfully, we don't have uniforms in our school system. There are other schools in the area that do though.
How fantastic that you live so close to the beach! How far of a drive is it??
Good luck on the garage sale this weekend!
Can't wait for you to have some time to update your TR!!!

[englishrose47]

Great Pix !! Our kids don'tstart school till Sept 8th!! Then we leave for Disney on the 12th!!!!!!!

[Grace and Mickey]

Good mornng Lynn

Glad you back I've missed you.

Enjoyed the pctures. School starts early there,
I'm still working on t=shirts. I did get it bigger, good ideas to pin to see if it O.K. I have to go get more ink. will work on printing out the designs on Sat, if I need more help I will PM you, Thanks for your help I really appreciate:)

You said that You are Meeting your friend Angie at WDW Sept 11 thur Sept 13th. If your not to busy Rosie and I our meeting to see Spectomagic on Sept 12 at about 8:30-or so by the Country bear jambroee if you would like to join us.

Landen has that same WDW shirt Carter is wearing in the pictures.
and baby Sam is getting big.
Talk soon
Only 14 days until I see My friend MICKEY:woohoo::yay::woohoo:
Have a very magical day
Grace

[newtodis]

You have been a very busy lady! Corbin looked so grown up in his little uniform! Thankfully, we don't have uniforms in our school system. There are other schools in the area that do though.
How fantastic that you live so close to the beach! How far of a drive is it??
Good luck on the garage sale this weekend!
Can't wait for you to have some time to update your TR!!!

Yeah the uniform really made it all "real". Not a fan of uniforms personally (especially since they change it so often it appears - twice since we've registered him for school a month or so ago!) and the teachers don't wear them so why should the kids??? It costs me WAY more money buying two sets of clothes.

We're about 20 minutes during tourist season and about 10 minutes the rest of the year. :goodvibes It's awesome! I'm excited to try and get out there again this weekend with the hurricane coming through again. There will be lots of surfers out on the waves from the storm. It was really cool last weekend to see all the waves.

Thanks - hopefully I won't need too much luck! We have a lot of stuff to get rid of so hopefully it goes well.

Me either! I love Disney :goodvibes

Great Pix !! Our kids don'tstart school till Sept 8th!! Then we leave for Disney on the 12th!!!!!!!

Thanks! Yeah school starts very early to us too since we're used to not going back until after Labor Day.

Good mornng Lynn

Glad you back I've missed you.

Enjoyed the pctures. School starts early there,
I'm still working on t=shirts. I did get it bigger, good ideas to pin to see if it O.K. I have to go get more ink. will work on printing out the designs on Sat, if I need more help I will PM you, Thanks for your help I really appreciate:)

You said that You are Meeting your friend Angie at WDW Sept 11 thur Sept 13th. If your not to busy Rosie and I our meeting to see Spectomagic on Sept 12 at about 8:30-or so by the Country bear jambroee if you would like to join us.

Landen has that same WDW shirt Carter is wearing in the pictures.
and baby Sam is getting big.
Talk soon
Only 14 days until I see My friend MICKEY:woohoo::yay::woohoo:
Have a very magical day
Grace

I'm glad you figured it out!

Yeah that's the plan right now. I don't have any plans in place (can you believe that!!) but am waiting to hear what Angie and Sandy want to do. I have to see Wishes one night and since we're only there two nights I don't have many options. I would love to go to the Poly on the Friday night to see the HalloWishes then see the "regular" Wishes on Saturday night but I don't know if that will happen or not.

YAY only two weeks until Disney!! Jill leaves in two days for another trip! I forget how long she'll be there this time with the family - I think until like the 9th maybe??

[lmillercrew]

Good luck with the hurricane coming.
I think that if I lived that close to the beach, we would be there whenever we could.

[newtodis]

Good luck with the hurricane coming.
I think that if I lived that close to the beach, we would be there whenever we could.

Thanks. Ironically it's named Danny! :rotfl: The boys have been calling it Hurricane Daddy! (hey, if the name fits!) I think Bill (last weekend) was closer to us. We went to the beach Saturday morning and the waves were HUGE. I'm hoping to head out there tonight but it's raining now so I'm thinking that won't work. It's so cool to see how much that storm that's so far away can stir things up here. I was hoping to find some cool stuff on the beach that had washed up too with all the waves...no luck though!

Yeah I try to get there often but that ONE trip - seriously, an hour and a half - gave me another bout of cold sores that are finally clearing up today! I need to invest in a good floopy hat for Disney to keep the sun off my face for some reason!

Alright...last night was bunk bed building night. It was a bit crazy as we had to try THREE Walmarts before I found one with the bunk beds (there must have been a run on them since Sunday when I was last at Walmart). It only took a couple of hours and I really like them. I think the boys do too:

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/bunkbeds015.jpg

Corbin also rode the bus to school this morning for the first time (and is riding home tonight for the first time!!). I don't think I could have done that the first morning of school! I still get teary thinking about it!

http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae298/lynnsc08/bunkbeds021.jpg

Carter was ticked again. He kept saying "I ride that bus!". I tried to explain he couldn't so he said "I wait here for Torbi! I wait HERE!". Poor kid! Thankfully our nanny was there by this time and we distracted him by having him show her his new beds! :cool2: That's when Mommy escaped!

Now I'm sitting here watching the day tick by....my work's done and I can't do anything else until they put a new printer on my computer and that won't be until after 2 so here I sit.....waiting to go home and price my garage sale stuff! I'm ready to sell, sell, sell!

[lmillercrew]

Good to hear that the storm will pass you by.
The bunkbeds look great, and judging by the look on Carters' face he thinks so too!

[mrsksomeday]

I hope you had a great garage sale! The pictures of the kids are great.

[newtodis]

Hey all! I am getting ready for disney and gettibg dans new blackberry ready for disney with the disboards. Hopefully that way I can give you some updates while we are at the parks. I guess that means I need to get this tr done so I can start the next one. Lol.


Grace - did you leave yet? Have a safe trip if you did not


Ok have a great night!

[newtodis]

Alright....I last left you at the rest stop at the FL Welcome Center. Sorry about that! Life's been busy and it shows no sign of slowing down any time soon!

Once I get some updates here, I'll either add on the PTR for next weekend's trip or start another so I don't get confused so I can share the details. It'll be my goal to have that TR done before Halloween!

So....hopefully we're all rested up from our stop at the Welcome Center and we can get back on the road to Orlando! (Note: I'm going to try and include more pictures this time since I've made y'all wait so long so be prepared!!)

Once we were back on the road, we were met with the 5:00 Orlando traffic:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney007.jpg

The boys started realizing where we were going when they started seeing billboards:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney008.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney009.jpg

It wasn't too long before we made it to the condo. I'd read some mixed reviews and was ready for a fight when we checked in if I didn't like the room we were given. I was greeted by like 25 - seriously - lizards on the sidewalk from the parking lot to the front door.

For those who don't know, those silly little lizards give me an anxiety attack like nothing else. I start to hyperventillate and get hives and cry...it's not pretty. Just typing this gives me goosebumps. I do not like them one bit.

So, I think I did fairly well despite the challenges - I made it to the front door without passing out while Dan sat in the van and laughed at me. Good thing it was his birthday!

I checked into the condo without a problem. They did ask me if I wanted to sit through their time share presentation which I declined as nicely as I could.

We followed the map around to our condo where I was greeted by a baby lizard (even more scary - smaller and faster!) on the wall with the stairs. After I screamed and picked up the stuff I'd dropped, I was back on my way up to the condo.

I was prepared for the worst but secretly hoping for the best. It was more towards the best - not perfect but certainly not as terrible as some of the reviews I'd read. It was pretty good sized one bedroom condo. Dan and I both agreed that we would stay there again if we found it on Hotwire or through our travel agent or something for a decent price.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney010.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney011.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney012.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney013.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney014.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney015.jpg

It was very weird to watch the news and such that night hearing about the monorail accident knowing we'd be at Disney the next morning and riding on the monorails....just a really weird feeling. I do think the accident had an impact on our trip - I certainly thought a lot more about safety on this trip than I had on previous trips. I don't think I went over board, but I certainly had safety on my mind more this time than any previous trips.

So we hit the bed because we were having breakfast with Mickey in the morning!!! It doesn't get any better than waking up at Disney and having breakfast with Mickey!!!

[newtodis]

We woke up bright and early on Birthday Day (for Dan and Corbin) and got ready for our Birthday Breakfast at Chef Mickey's! There was a bit of miscommunication or misunderstanding. I wanted to park at the TTC and ride the monorail over to CM's so we'd have a really good parking spot and not have to drive back after breakfast. Well, Dan didn't think they were open yet so we drove to breakfast, only to be passed by the monorail, and drove back to the park after breakfast.

We did the traditional family picture before we were seated for our breakfast:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney021.jpg

The brothers wanted to sit next to each other but Mommy put a quick hault on that little plan!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney022.jpg

I ran and got both boys their plates so they could start eating before the characters got to the table:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney023.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney024.jpg

Before long, Chef Goofy stopped by to say Good Morning!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney027.jpg

Then it was time for the CM song and dance and Corbin got a Birthday Cupcake from Chef Mickey himself! Chef Mickey invited Corbin to dance with him but it was a bit too early for him to take part in the dancing.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney030.jpg

Chef Mickey danced by Carter instead - he was a little more receptive:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney031.jpg

Corbin was very impressed with his gift from Mickey!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney032.jpg

Chef Mickey came back after all the dancing to say good morning to the birthday boys

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney034.jpg

Before anyone else could come visit, Corbin had dug into the chocolate cupcake!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney036.jpg

Then Donald, Minnie and Pluto were at our table to visit with us before we finished our breakfast and headed to the Magic Kingdom to get another birthday gift from Mickey!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney039.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney043.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn227/newtodis/Disney%20surprise/Disney050.jpg

[newtodis]

With full little bellies, we headed back to the van and over to the TTC. We decided to just get the birthday gift cards here instead of messing with it once we were inside the MK. We waited quite a while for our turn but boy was it worth it!

Dan and Corbin both got their birthday button AND their birthday gift cards from Mickey! WOOHOO!

From there we headed over to the monorail area and waited to get on. It was hard not to think about the accident as we were all standing there waiting. Several people around us were talking about the accident and I was just silently saying a prayer for the CMs - I can't imagine how hard it is to come back to work and have people ask/comment on the accident while you're trying to deal with it yourself.

Finally the monorail came and we were headed to the MK!!!! We had our bags inspected and I got my normal comments about how I'm prepared for anything I might encounter at the parks. You're darn right Mr. Security Man - I'm not buying your $4 bottle of water - I brought my own! Glass of pop? Not for us - I brought juice boxes! LOL I do pack a lot.

We went into the MK - missed rope drop due to the birthday gift cards - and saw Pinochio (sp?). The boys had just started getting into other Disney movies - besides Cars - so they wanted to stop. Generally we wouldn't stop for these characters but since they hadn't seen him before, we stopped.

Of course, once there was one more person in front of us, he had to take a break to get some water. It was a short break and before long, Pinochio was back out and ready to greet us!

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Now we didn't do autographs with Pinochio because we needed to get a new one and hadn't stopped yet. Actually, we didn't do any autographs because we never got a new autograph book this trip! I wasn't too bummed while we were there but looking back, I wish we would have stopped and grabbed a new one.

From Pinochio, we did our family picture with the castle - a must do for every family!

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We also got a little closer to the castle for another picture before heading off for the rides!

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I snuck around the side on our way to the first ride and snapped another picture - I love the castle!

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We headed back straight to Buzz Lightyear as this is Corbin's favorite ride at MK I think. Wonderfully, it was a walk on which was perfect!

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I think Corbin and I beat Daddy and Carter - like always!

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The boys were checking out Zurg in jail on our way out. Thankfully they did it this time because when we rode later, Zurg was closed for some reason.

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From Buzz we headed to Monster's Inc Laugh Factory because Carter loves him some Mike Wizowski (sp?). Carter was NOT a fan of Rozz in the waiting line for the ride. He kept saying "no wike her - I scurred". Dan held him but it didn't help a whole lot. He was still fidgeting around but there's no going back. Our family's rule is you will try everything once. You don't have to go back again if you don't like it, but you have to try once.

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It was a cute little show. I don't know that I'd sit through it again, but it was a great way to pass the time and be cool on a hot day or if you need to rest.

I had to grab another picture of the castle when we passed it!

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[newtodis]

From Monster's Inc, we headed to Tom Sawyer Island. Now this time I didn't have a plan as to what rides we were going to go on or anything like that. I tried to have it be a more relaxed trip and let the birthday boys figure out what they wanted to do. I don't know that I'd do this again as we did waste some time trying to figure out what to do next and kind of went back and forth sometimes, but it's ok to do every now and again.

We hopped on our raft and headed to the Island!

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We took a minute to check out the map to see what we'd be looking for while we were on the Island.

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Carter was done checking out the map and ready to explore the island.

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Corbin was not far behind him!

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There was a cute little playground on the island that the boys spent some time playing on. It was a nice little shaded spot.

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They relaxed in the rocking chairs and watched the crowds pass by back on the "mainland".

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After we got done exploring the island, we decided to head back to the condo to have some lunch. We weren't used to the crowds and were used to doing lots more in the morning than we got done this morning.

Back at the condo we had lunch

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then a special treat after lunch

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I guess it was pretty good!

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After some rest, we decided we were heading back out to the parks. Enough relaxing for us!

[newtodis]

After our rest, we headed over to EPCOT and see how things looked there.

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The boys were ready to take on the World!

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We headed to the Nemo ride per Carter's request. This is one of his favorites! Carter was in a mood on this trip - everything was "scurry" and he didn't want to ride anything once we were in the line. Now we'd been on this ride at least a handfull of times before so he had a good understanding of what to expect. I'm not sure what was the cause but it usually only lasted a few minutes.

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From there we checked out the tanks after the Nemo ride and watched the dolphins swim around.

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From there we went to Living with the Land. Daddy and Carter usually ride on this ride while Corbin and I ride on Soarin' and Carter was excited to share "his" ride with us.

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The boys started at the Kid Cot stations as this was something they wanted to do on this trip.

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We also did lots of pressed pennies this trip.

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[englishrose47]

Great Update !!! You have redeemed yourself:rotfl2:We leave fo Disny on Sturday!!!!:banana::banana::banana: Grace is on her way or at her mini preDisney vacation !! I will meet up with her sometime saturday!!!!!:banana::banana:

[newtodis]

Great Update !!! You have redeemed yourself:rotfl2:We leave fo Disny on Sturday!!!!:banana::banana::banana: Grace is on her way or at her mini preDisney vacation !! I will meet up with her sometime saturday!!!!!:banana::banana:

LOL Thanks! I'm glad I could. I love "reliving" the Disney trip!

Have a great time! Tell Grace I said HI! We're leaving Friday night and will be there for the weekend!!



Here's a link to the PTR for this weekend's trip:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=33466834#post33466834

I decided to start another one so maybe I can work on that while I'm waiting for pictures for this TR to upload. More updates to come as soon as I get the rest of the pictures on line.

[newtodis]

Once we were done with that KidCot station, we headed off to Canada with a mission to hit as many countries as we could that night.

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Then we headed to the United Kingdom and got a surprise while we were coloring our masks!

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Corbin was sure to get a picture with Tigger because he's Grandma Nancy's (my mom's) favorite! He made sure I emailed it to her as soon as we got home!

From there we headed to the next country - France. That one we simply colored our mask and moved to the next country.

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I had three hungry boys so we decided to stop and have dinner outside in EPCOT.

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Once we were done eating, we headed over to Morocco to see what we could find there.

From Morocco, we headed to Japan and the man there wrote the boy's names on their masks in Japanese which was very cool!

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We headed to America with the skies getting darker and darker and darker....we didn't know how many more countries we would get through before the rain started! We knew that we wouldn't make it to Illuminations tonight though thanks to the weather!

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Our last stop for the night was Italy with thunder rolling in the distance. We colored as fast as we could to get our grooves moving out of the park!

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From there we quick slipped on rain coats and headed for the hills before the downpour.

You can kind of see the clouds rolling in - it was looking pretty bad.

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Just as we got to the van the rain started - it was perfect timing!

Corbin wrapped up the night with a bath in the huge tub!

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Then it was off to bed to rest up for the next big day!!!


Alright - we're heading off to Angie and Sandy's to swim for the afternoon then Dan's coming home for some fantasy football thing. More updates later tonight or tomorrow. Have an awesome night!

[englishrose47]

I subbed to the PTR!!!!!

[newtodis]

Alright....swimming was nice yesterday but here I sit with a mouth full of cold sores again this morning. I cannot get rid of these blasted things! Tomorrow morning I will begin my hunt for a new doctor to try and get these things gone! I'll look wonderful for the PTO meeting tomorrow morning!

Alright...well, after our night of rest, we drove over to DHS. On the way, we saw the Characters in Flight balloon. They must "test" the balloon every morning because we saw it almost every morning and it was a great start to the day!

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Our first ride of the morning was TSM which is our family's favorite ride before the line got incredibly long! Carter is really becoming a fan of Toy Story and the characters. He LOVES "Tato Head" so we had to stop for a minute to talk with him before getting our glasses and getting on the ride!

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Once we were done with our ride, we found a penny machine and had to smush pennies while we were there

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From TSM, we headed over to Playhouse Disney Live on Stage after getting fast passes for the Little Mermaid. Carter was telling me to "Shhh!" while we were waiting for the show to start.

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The show was the same show we've seen every time but the kids never seem to tire of it. Mom and Dad may know the words by heart but we'll sit through it over and over.

As soon as the show was done, thanks to the hint from a helpful CM, we hustled over to the Little Mermaid fast pass line. The CM suggested we do Playhouse Disney instead of waiting in the line for the next Little Mermaid show which is what we did. Carter was still not a fan of having to wait the few minutes until the show started.

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We only had to wait a couple of minutes to be let into the show which was great!

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The show was good but not great. It was a good way to cool off on a hot day but not something we'd sit through again if we didn't need to.

From the show, it was off to lunch. We decided to sit in the ABC Commisary (sp?) for the air conditioning while we ate our packed lunches - well the boys ate a packed lunch. I forgot to pack the jelly (I didn't put it on the shelf with the other things to pack and in my rush I forgot it!) so I didn't have anything to make myself and wasn't about to get something from the counter service places while the rest of the family ate things from the condo. I'm glad my kids aren't as picky as I am!

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After lunch we headed over to see McQueen and Mater and in the line there's a penny machine!

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After we visited for a minute and made a couple of purchases with Mickey's birthday money, we headed out of the park. Carter was falling asleep so that was a good time to call it a morning. On the way out I wanted to get a picture of the birthday boys so we stopped in front of the big hat.

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Back at the condo we had lunch and Corbin showed off his birthday purchases.

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[newtodis]

The evening's activites took us to a place we'd never been before but are hoping to return to.....

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We would love to stay at the Poly some day. While we were visiting, I took lots of pictures around the property!

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After taking some pictures out at the beach, we were walking on the sidewalk and I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and fell on my hands and knees. We headed back to the Great Cerrimonial House (sp?) to try and see if I could get some ice. Anyone who travels with me knows I have more than enough stuff to take care of cuts and stuff and the irony is I'd looked at the ice packs that you can take with you at Target and never picked one up.

Well, after not finding a CM who would/could help me, I headed to the bathroom to get the blood and dirt off my hands and knees and took a break on a bench for a little bit. By this time my ankle had swelled up a little bit and it hurt to walk on. I didn't think anything was broken - I figured I just twisted it during the fall and didn't want to ruin the night.

Since we had a little bit of time before Wishes started, we took a ride on the monorail which the boys really liked.

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Once we were back at the Poly, Carter checked out the paths to figure out where we were going to go while Corbin found another picture spot.

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One thing you wouldn't have to worry about is getting lost. There were maps everywhere of the property to help guests figure out where they were and where they were going.

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The pool we walked past was very cool - I didn't think to take a picture. By this point I was just hobbling around. We found a chair for Wishes and I put my ankle up for a rest. Dan even commented on the size of it and the fact that I couldn't put any pressure on it at that point. I was honestly more upset that not a single CM offered any help - a band aid, ice pack, anything - when we and the couple that saw me fall asked for some help. I understand there are procedures and stuff but at least point me in the direction of a counter service place to buy a cup of ice or something.....

[newtodis]

Alright....uploading more pictures - sorry guys! 88 more pictures to go and we'll be done with this TR! Well, aside from the photopass picture but there weren't many on this trip unfortunetly! We'll have lots on our trip next weekend!

As soon as that's updated, I'll finish this up!

[lmillercrew]

FANTASTIC update Lynn! You really outdid yourself. I love Carter's look, on the Nemo ride, where his hands are covering his mouth! Too cute!
Can't wait to read more.
I'm glad that you're able to swim. We haven't been able to use the pool since the 3rd week of Aug due to the cold weather here. I think the most we've had to run the air was a week. The rest has been like a day or two here and there. Crazy weather!!

[newtodis]

FANTASTIC update Lynn! You really outdid yourself. I love Carter's look, on the Nemo ride, where his hands are covering his mouth! Too cute!
Can't wait to read more.
I'm glad that you're able to swim. We haven't been able to use the pool since the 3rd week of Aug due to the cold weather here. I think the most we've had to run the air was a week. The rest has been like a day or two here and there. Crazy weather!!

Thanks! About time huh? I just had to make some time for it.

Oh yes - both boys make hillarious facial expressions!

It's in the high 80s and low 90s here which is "cool" for us right now! The kids had a great time at the pool yesterday which was good.

Hope you're enjoying your long weekend!

[newtodis]

Alright....photobucket is giving me a tough time and won't let me upload more pictures so I think that's all the updates for today.....hopefully more updates soon guys!

[mrsksomeday]

Wow so many updates!! The boys are adorable. You take great pictures. The condo looked big. I am so sorry about your ankle. I hope you are ok.

[newtodis]

Wow so many updates!! The boys are adorable. You take great pictures. The condo looked big. I am so sorry about your ankle. I hope you are ok.

Thanks. Yeah I don't usually procrastinate quite so much. Hopefully more timely updates going forward! :goodvibes

Thank you - I think they're pretty cute! Corbin (the oldest) is really becoming a ham now for the camera so we should have some interesting pictures for this trip! Corbin's also VERY interested in taking pictures so I'm debating letting him take his camera for this short trip and see how that goes. He's got a Fisher Price Kid Tough camera. I think it would be really cute to see Disney how he sees it - with the characters and such.

Thank you again - I love taking pictures and would love to find the time to learn more about it. Some day I'll take a Disney trip - or find a day during a Disney trip - and just wander and take pictures. That would be a fun day to me. The problem is I don't want to miss the stuff my kids are doing to break away from the fun to take pictures and I don't think the family would let me out of the house if they knew I was going to Disney without them! :rotfl:

The condo was very good sized for only being a one bedroom. There was plenty of room for all of us!

Ankle is still very sore so I'm thinking it might be more than just a sprain. Today it feels ok but some days I can hardly move my foot....ugh!

[lmillercrew]

Thanks! About time huh? I just had to make some time for it.

Oh yes - both boys make hillarious facial expressions!

It's in the high 80s and low 90s here which is "cool" for us right now! The kids had a great time at the pool yesterday which was good.

Hope you're enjoying your long weekend!
:rotfl: You're just a busy mom! We all understand.
Sorry you biffed it in public. Glad you weren't hurt too badly. I biffed it in Wal-mart, down on all fours. TOTALLY embarassing. Nobody asked me if I was o.k. either. I was just like "fat girl down. fat girl down". :laughing:
My long weekend was uneventful until we had to call the RotoRooter man!!! :eek: I wish it was spent in a pool, in the sun!

[newtodis]

I'm sorry Lisa! That's a bummer! I would have asked if you were ok and Dan would have too since he has to (being an EMT and all...).

Well, I got another mouth full of sores from the pool on Sunday. After being completely frustrated, I went to a doctor yesterday (my previous dr went out of business :eek: ) and it was determined that I'm allergic to the sun! :scared1: The sores are an infection that hasn't been taken care of (first dr had been giving me the wrong meds). Now I've got a cream to get rid of the infection and waiting on a call from the dermatologist to see what to do from here and how to live with this. Disney this weekend will be my last time outside until the sores are gone so we can try and get a handle on this. Here's to hoping for nice, partly cloudy days this weekend!

[lmillercrew]

I'm sorry Lisa! That's a bummer! I would have asked if you were ok and Dan would have too since he has to (being an EMT and all...).

Well, I got another mouth full of sores from the pool on Sunday. After being completely frustrated, I went to a doctor yesterday (my previous dr went out of business :eek: ) and it was determined that I'm allergic to the sun! :scared1: The sores are an infection that hasn't been taken care of (first dr had been giving me the wrong meds). Now I've got a cream to get rid of the infection and waiting on a call from the dermatologist to see what to do from here and how to live with this. Disney this weekend will be my last time outside until the sores are gone so we can try and get a handle on this. Here's to hoping for nice, partly cloudy days this weekend!
Hmmm... maybe there was a reason, other than financial, that your other Dr went out of business. :rolleyes1 I'm glad that you are finally going to see a Dermatologist. My DBIL is allergic to the sun and he's a construction worker. He gets those blisters on his ears! I hope that you have fun this weekend at Disney and that the cream you get will work! Do you have another Disney trip this year? (I can't remember)

[pomlover]

This is a great thread with awesome pictures! Thanks for posting it and keeping it updated so well!

[lmillercrew]

Hi Lynn!!! I got a postcard from Grace yesterday! :yay: She sent me one from Sea World and then she said she is sending me one from Disney. It was such a nice suprise.

[MomsOf2boys]

Hello! I've enjoyed reading your PT and TR so far! I love how you suprised even your husband! That had to be so hard to keep it such a secret!

The boys are adorable! I love how they pose for the pictures but mostly I love the pictures of them walking away holding hands. :hug: That is so adorable! I remember when my boys did that too... they are now walking and tripping one another and bumping into one another and stuff. :confused3

[lmillercrew]

Hellooooo!!! Friend Lynn?????? Are you there? I would love to hear about the rest of your trip, but I'd really love to just hear that you're o.k.!!popcorn::

[Grace and Mickey]

Hellooooo!!! Friend Lynn?????? Are you there? I would love to hear about the rest of your trip, but I'd really love to just hear that you're o.k.!!popcorn::

I have been thinking the same thing!!! I hope your O.K. too.
Hi Lisa:goodvibes

[lmillercrew]

I have been thinking the same thing!!! I hope your O.K. too.
Hi Lisa:goodvibes
Hello Grace!!!