Not exactly the way it all began- Sept.2010 TR

[princess&her4princes]

Hi and welcome to my September 21-29, 2010 Grand Gathering trip report!! I'm glad you're here!! For those who don't know me, I'm Kristen, a 37 year old Disney addict, part time Realtor and stay at home Mommy to 3 beautiful boys! This was our families third trip to the world, my 8 or 9th trip, but our second Grand Gathering with our best friends!

Let me introduce the rest of the gang.....

My husband, Todd, he is 35 and this was his 4th trip, his 1st was our honeymoon in 2000, he likes Disney and is okay supporting my addiction and spending our family vacations at the World.

This vacation week was our 10 year wedding anniversary! We honeymooned at WDW, so it was only appropriate for us to go back! Here are a couple of pics from our honeymoon!

Here is a more recent pic of us, this was at a friends wedding this past August, so you know what we look like now and aren't in shock when you see the more recent pics on how much we have aged since our honeymoon!

Here are our boys, our Disney addicts in training.....
Lucas (5), Ethan (7) and Cole (3)

Here are are a few more details: we were flying from Boston 9/21, staying at PORS (where we honeymooned 10 years earlier when it was Dixie Landings), on the dining plan and meeting our best friends on the 22nd. Here is a picture of all of us from our last Grand Gathering from December of 2008, our most favorite trip ever!

Tracey, Adam, Hailey, Zach and Emmi would be joining us from Philadelphia, since we live in MA, we only get to see them a couple of times a year, our families are close the kids call us "Aunt and Uncle" and the kids consider each other cousins, so we couldn't wait to see them and get to spend a whole week playing with them at WDW!

Day one coming up soon!

Glad you are here!!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Intro-- you are here!
Traveling day 9/21
....still traveling
We're finally there!!
Day of RNR!
Together again!
HDDR!
Our 1st Real Day 9/23
CM
CM continued....
Happy Anniversary!

 

[princess&her4princes]

If you're interested, here is the link to my PTR for this trip!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2527244

 

[aksunshine]

I'm HERE!!!!!! And first Wooo hooo!!!! Probably won't be around too much untl I get back though. Can't wait!

 

[princess&her4princes]

So day 1 is our traveling day, it was a "normal" day for us, we had a night flight scheduled so everyone went about their business while I ran around like a maniac. Todd went to work in Boston, the boys all had school, Ethan goes full day, Lucas is in 1/2 day Kindergarten and Cole goes to preschool or 2.5 hours. So basically I had 2.5 hours to get most everything done before juggling the kids and the last minute things. We packed the minivan the night before, I just had the last minute essentials/carry ons that needed to be packed, had to bring the dog to my parents, about 45 minutes away, make sure the house was in order, get the key to the cat sitter, and tie up any last minute work things before heading out for the week.

I picked Ethan up at school about 3:15 p.m. and headed right to Boston to pick Todd up from work. The boys were SO excited (and so was MOMMY!!)!! I did hit some traffic heading into the city but it moved quickly and before we knew it, all of 5 of us were ready to start our vacation adventure!! We headed to the Park n' Shuttle which took us right to Logan. We got there about 5 or so, had no issues checking our bags and moved pretty quickly through security. Our flight was for 8:15 p.m. so we had plenty of time to grab a bite to eat and settle in some before boarding the plane. We stopped at "Johnny Rockets" where Todd and I had a quick cheeseburger and the boys all had hot dogs....$35 later, we had enough to get us by.

After a quick potty break, we headed towards our gate, it was about 6:45 p.m at this time, we realized there was a 7:30 flight our to Orlando, so Todd inquired if there was any room, no such luck, we had to wait until 8:15 p.m. It was worth a try!

The boys were pretty ansy, we were pretty tired and knew we had a loooong night ahead of us, yet. Here are a couple of pics of us waiting! Can you tell how excited we were or what?!!

Todd & the boys

and me and my boys!

We pulled out the boys Disney Mixsticks in hopes they'd chill for a bit...that didn't last long! It did give Todd and I a chance to catch our breath!

Lucas

Ethan

and Cole

Finally our plane arrived at our gate, the kids were so excited to see it! Our view:

At this point we had more time to wait, I had to pull our the "goody bags" to entertain the kids, they were getting wild. I didn't take a pic of giving them to them, but here was what I packed for them:

Before too much longer, it was time to board! We were on our way...FINALLY!!!!!

 

[princess&her4princes]

I'm HERE!!!!!! And first Wooo hooo!!!! Probably won't be around too much untl I get back though. Can't wait!

SO glad you're here!!! I can't believe how close your trip is....YAY!!!!

 

[aksunshine]

Lovin it so far! What is that Mickey toyon the left side of the picture from bags?

 

[princess&her4princes]

Lovin it so far! What is that Mickey toyon the left side of the picture from bags?

Thanks Alicia!! Oh! They were little Mickey fans we bought at the Disney store...they are so cute but we never used them while we were there! Completely forgot!! LOL! oops!!

 

[Lil Bo Peep]

I'm here

 

[princess&her4princes]

I'm here

YAY!!!!! Thanks for being here, Anna!!!

 

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

I'm here. Off to a great start! Can't wait to hear/see more!!! I must say just the pics of the plane and you guys boarding it are making my heart race though (you know, since I'm living vicariously through your trip,lol......BIG CHICKEN of flying)

 

[Dancegrl624]

I'm here!

 

[Tickanee]

I'm here! Yay!

 

[Tickanee]

Okay...went back and read. Great start! Too bad you guys didn't get to jump on that earlier flight. Your boys are sooo cute!

 

[Belle_princess]

:bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce2:

Oh, oh! I'm here, Kristen! Great start! Very anxious to read more!!!!! Can't wait to see how many times we crossed paths and didn't know it!

 

[SoonerGirl]

You're off to a great start Kristen! Bummer that you couldn't catch the earlier flight, I'm sure you were more than ready to get out of that airport. It can be sooooo hard to keep excited kids wrangled in while waiting for a flight! You're on your way though

 

[heathers4um]

OMIGOODNESS!!! Im here!!!

YAY I was waiting for this and so happy I get to start it before I leave in 11 days...11 hours...and 30 minutes!

Great beignning...I was literally bouncing in my seat when I was reading the airport part...I'm a flight snob and only fly Jetblue so for some reason that made me extra excited!

Cant wait to read more!!!

 

[sbprincess]

I'm joining in!

Great start! Your boys are all so cute, especially the youngest - ADORABLE! Subscribing!

 

[pinkxray]

I'm joining in. Your kids are so cute!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Thanks for the message on Facebook!! I'm glad I found your TR.

Sounds like you are off to a great start, I can't wait to read more.

 

[cjnix29]

Ok...I'm in on your TR. We were at WDW the same time this year. We were also married in 2000, spent our honeymoon (well, actually wedding too) at WDW, and I have a 7 year old named Ethan! Can't wait to read more!