Four Families, One World: A Mome Rath Meets Beverly! May 29-June 5, 2011

kwitcherkicken99

Sleep keeps me pretty. Caffeine keeps me nice!
Joined
Mar 5, 2009

I decided on Sunday May 22, 2011 that I had had enough. I endured the carppiest weekend of my life, topped off by DD being diagnosed with a double case of pink eye and a side of sinus infection. I was tired and about to embark upon the final week of school and possible unemployment. As a student aide, AKA paraprofessional, the student I had been with for the last four years was graduating. I already lost it (emotionally) when his sister graduated the year before, and though I am much closer to her, his graduation was exceptionally hard for me to grasp. Also, not having a student anymore leads to me not knowing where/if I would have a job the following fall.

Stick a fork in me… I.WAS.DONE.

Then I recalled that one of my dearest friends and her mother were headed to WDW in a few days. I had been invited along at least twice and turned down both offers since my family was in Disney the previous September for a fantastic trip and MNSSHP (which was AWESOME!!!). I had spoken to my friend days before and was reminded yet again that there would still be room in the condo if I would like to join them.

So after the kids went to bed that night, I asked DH if I could go. I can’t recall the EXACT conversation, but it went something like this:

ME: “I think I want to go to Disney with Norma and the family”
DH: “You’d have to take the kids”
ME: “Okay”
DH: “How long would you be gone?”
ME: “About ten days”
DH: “TEN DAYS!!!!”
ME: “Well, we would drive”
DH: “You will have to take the kids”
ME: “Are you sure??”
DH: “I’ll have time to relax and clean the house”


Over the next couple days I schemed and calculated. Thought and mapped. And figured out that I could get us there and back for around $1000. Not too terrible for gas being $3.85 in Indiana, driving, paying OOP for meals, paying for 6 days of park tickets, and picking up a few souvenirs. [My fatal flaw in this calculation was neglecting to account for paid parking. I’ll touch on that later…]

So Wednesday rolls around and my friend’s son, Prince Philip, spills the beans to DS that we were going to Disney World together. DS didn’t believe him at first. There is no way we would be leaving for a trip in a couple days – we had planning and traditions to complete before a trip! I told both kids the truth once I got home from my photography assignment and was met with a less than excited response. DS said, “Yeah, I know… Prince Philip told me!”

Oy!
 
The next day I’m off to buy ponchos, glow sticks, and 2 gallon zip lock bags at the dollar store. Then I spent the next few hours packing up my car and making new autograph books. The beastly stroller fit, as did our luggage. A conversation with my friend, Princess Leia, later and our game plan was set. I was to go to work, her family would pick up her sister down south of Indianapolis, and we would meet up somewhere along the way.

On Friday, we finished school a little late, and by the time I got through the line at the bank, I was already 45 minutes behind schedule!

The other half of the group was already three hours ahead of me on the road. They took their time, and I drove **ahem** slightly above the speed limit. We eventually met up in Elizabethtown, KY, swapped kids to the little girls were in the van with the DVD players, and Princess Leia and I had the boys in my car.

We would then drive through the night to reach Orlando and hoped and prayed that we would have a room available when we got there!

We took our time getting to Florida, taking many stops to stretch and swap drivers. We only had 4 licensed drivers on board so we knew we would have to be very careful! Getting through the Tennessee mountains in the middle of the night was a PITA. :sad2:

Oh heck… I just realized I’ve neglected to give you all proper introductions!

Family 1: Grandma Norma. Resident pin trader and certified Disney nut. Son is a former CM, so Norma and her husband bought into a time share company that offers condos 2 miles from the Disney apartments just off SR 535. That allowed them to take at least 2 trips per year to go down for a visit.

Family 2: Princess Leia, Prince Philip, and Bella. My dearest friend and close confidant. Her son is 2 months older than my DS, her daughter is 2 months younger than DD.

Family 3: Debbie and Linzie. Norma’s step-daughter and Princess Leia’s half sister. Linzie is her pre-teen daughter.

Family 4: Mine. Me, DS4 and DD2.

We finally arrived at the Fountains on I-Drive around noon on Saturday. They didn’t have a room available, so we slapped on our swim suits and hung out at the gigantic pool.
 
OK........ I haven't read a word yet, but couldn't resist trying to be first! :cool1:

........ but then I've always been an overachiever like that. :rotfl:
 



So Wednesday rolls around and my friend’s son, Prince Philip, spills the beans to DS that we were going to Disney World together. DS didn’t believe him at first. There is no way we would be leaving for a trip in a couple days – we had planning and traditions to complete before a trip! I told both kids the truth once I got home from my photography assignment and was met with a less than excited response. DS said, “Yeah, I know… Prince Philip told me!”

Oy!

LOL! Katie would just say "No way are we going in 2 days. My mom didn't do any sewing!" :rotfl2:
 
Welcome aboard you!

I got my photos edited and sized, I just need to get them online. Still waiting for Photopass to get here... need to post our group shots so that I can prove I was ACTUALLY there. :)
 
I bet it just seems like a dream.

We didn't take the boys to Disney until they were 4 and 6. That of course seems a lifetime ago to me. And now I have 2 Disney haters on my hands. I'm glad to see you're doing better with your 2!
 


Ok... I'm waiting to hear the whole story.... Don't leave anything out. I still can't understand how you can be over Disney for a while....
 
LOL! Katie would just say "No way are we going in 2 days. My mom didn't do any sewing!" :rotfl2:
Oh... I feel ya! We didn't complete any of our pre-trip rituals... no barage of movies, no countdown chain... we barely had time to talk about what we wanted to do on the trip! I like to get the kids involved in our planning - it makes them feel so special that they have a say. DD doesn't buy into it too much, but DS certainly has opinions!

I bet it just seems like a dream.

We didn't take the boys to Disney until they were 4 and 6. That of course seems a lifetime ago to me. And now I have 2 Disney haters on my hands. I'm glad to see you're doing better with your 2!
I couldn't wait, and having both kids be included in our first trip... it wasn't a hard sell. Part of the reason DH was okay with this trip was that DD was still included. It would have probably been a big fat no if I would have had to pay for a ticket.

My ILs are helping too. They keep finding really cool vintage Disney merch at flea markets and buy it for me. Like last night, my FIL hands me this 20x20" bit of cardboard with Walt, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and some of the other early characters on it. It had previously been framed, but not now. I've got to get it framed and find somewhere to hang it. It's really neat. :cloud9:

Ok... I'm waiting to hear the whole story.... Don't leave anything out. I still can't understand how you can be over Disney for a while....
I made sure to type out everything we did in a laundry list right after we got back so I didn't forget anything!

I'll have to say, I'm not technically over Disney, more content that I've done what I wanted to get done with the kids for their ages. Now, a year ago... no way - I was fighting to get back (and I forced it to happen). Now I feel okay with us waiting for DS to turn 9 and DD to be 7 before we return. Before, I thought I was going to melt having to wait that long.

I'm here...now to go back and read
:wave:

Wow--that was a sudden decision!
It was. I hit my wall and I needed a break. I tell ya, I didn't expect the boy's graduation to hit so hard. He's such a special kid and I can't say enough good things about he and his sister. I think we stumbled into each other's lives when we really needed each other. It's been a long road.
 
I'm in!
I don't understand the 'no time to plan" method......My head would have exploded!:lmao:
Our 10 day trip had a whole year of planning, and I still felt anxious.
 
YEAH!!!!

I will be expecting daily updates to keep me happy or I will post awful college pictures of you once a day until said requested update occurs :rotfl:
 
I'm working ahead in case I get swamped with life.

As for no plan included, Care, our recent trip was September 2010, so I wasn't too far out of the loop. Besides, I was practically doing the planning for that trip for my friend. All we did was insert ourselves. :teeth:

Oh and E... I've got a couple pictures too. [in my best Kuzco voice] "Bring it on!"
 

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