Hope the camera gets better soon!By the way, LOVE the polka dot finger nails!
We have been wicked busy! Elsa started soccer preseason the day we got back from Disney. She actually missed the 1st morning session while we were flying home. She walked in the door from the airport, dressed and went to try-outs. She made the JV a year early and has also dressed for all the Varsity games. She has played in 4 of them.
Traveling to Our Favorite Place
***********DISCLAIMER***********I am a very detail oriented person, so during this trip I used a neat app on my iPhone to document the main points of each day, the order in which we visited each attraction, and any funny situations that arose. A month ago my phone stopped working on the way to the big city (we live 1.5 hours from the closest real mall and Apple Store). I decided to take it in that day without backing it up. They replaced the phone and I lost all of my extra trip info.Now that I am 2+ months out from the trip, I hope I can do it justice. Maybe as I get trucking through this TR I will magically remember more than just the basics. So...the following TR is how I remember the trip, it's as accurate as I can be without my notes, and with 400+ photos there might just be a reason to stick around!
********END OF DISCLAIMER********
Leaving the boys behind is always hard, but the thought of trying to attend to the needs of everyone while pushing a triple stroller around Disney is insane! We had a wonderful lady come and stay with Easton, Chase, Noah, Tallulah (cat), Charlie (puggle), and Herman (fish) here in our home while we were away. She loves the boys so much, is an EMT, an overachiever, and an overall amazing young lady. If I have to leave them behind, I am leaving them in good, good hands!
Maegan offered to drop us off at the airport so we wouldn't need to park our car and pay the big bucks. I am all about saving a bit of $!! Our van was packed up and ready by 9:30am so we could relax and not rush to make it to our 12:50pm flight to Orlando. We left around 10am, and Maegan patiently listened for the 1.5 hour drive as I reminded her of every single detail she already knows about the boys. Routines, medications, habits, sleeping schedules, favorite foods...you name it, I jabbered about it. Hahahaha! Last Disney trip it seemed to be a little easier to leave them behind. I don't know if that was because they were younger, or if they were still technically "foster babies", but this year Easton knew we were leaving for somewhere special and desperately wanted to come. Thankfully he loves Miss Meagan so much, and I think he thought he was getting the better of the two deals.
The time finally came to quickly pull our bags from the back of the van, say goodbye, and leave the boys. Easier said than done. I was so sad I felt sick. I wasn't expecting this. I had been pretty excited for a break with just the biggers, but leaving the littles was proving to be problematic. As we walked away and watched the van pull out, I had to reassure myself that the boys would be fine, actually super fine, as Maegan intended to take them blueberry picking, to a local fair, a great family oriented play place with their Aunt and Uncle, and an interactive agriculture center. They were indeed in good loving hands!
I pulled myself together and we headed off to the airline check-in with Southwest. Never flew with them before, but since we spent less than $100 on 3 round trip tickets they were our choice of transportation! We usually pack light, and stow away our carry-ons above our seats, but today we got to check our luggage for free (all but the one with my computer and camera...I am less than trusting when it comes to valuables)! Security was a breeze and we hurried off to find a place to eat. I'd been preparing myself for this moment ever since I knew we wouldn't have free dining this trip. Our last trip 3 trips have been free dining and I wasn't excited to be paying out of pocket for all of our meals.I know I would've paid for this meal even if we had gotten FD, but it was the beginning of many, many, many meals and I wanted to work hard and not make Michael and Elsa feel poorly every time I handed over the money for our meals. It didn't work. Hahahahaha! We paid $30+ for a meal that was just ok. I knew I was going to have to work on this, considering I had 9 days to make peace with this.
I was finally starting to get over the fact that we had just abandoned the boys (dramatic, I know) and now my "vacation" camera was producing blurry shots. Ugghhh. It didn't matter what kind of setting we put it on, the pictures were lousy. The camera is my right hand man on these trips. I love documenting everything I can, and this was unacceptable. I had brought my Sony A550 DSLR on this trip, but only because Michael was taking a photography class in the morning at EPCOT, and he begged me to bring it so he could use it. I don't carry it around on trips because I can't handle the weight around my neck. Within an hour or so my back will keep me from doing anything. (2 previous back surgeries, for those just joining us). I was super frustrated, but we finished our meal and headed out to find our gate. Camera or not, this group is heading to DISNEY!
At the gate, while waiting for our flight, we all fiddled with the camera, and no one was able to produce anything that wasn't blurry. Oh well, we would figure it out later, because now it was time to board the plane!
We were a little disappointed that Southwest doesn't have personal TV's, but we sucked it up and pulled out our electronics. We are a bit of a gadget family:
The flight was uneventful, and before we knew it, we were landing in Baltimore!
(My Trip Nails)
UP NEXT: Our 1st Layover
We ended up stopping at a Costco before heading to the rental house and I bought a new camera.My Trip Nails
Last trip I had intended to fancy up Elsa's and my nails, but ended up with a serious migraine before we left and it was easily forgotten. Well, this year I was feeling 100% so I knocked them out the day before we left. They were a hit wherever we went! The nails only lasted 2 days, but the piggies stayed strong!
Congrats Elsa!! High School soccer is in the spring here. I think my 15 yr old is planning to tryout this year. He's currently playing on an advanced team and I am so not looking forward to that 8AM game tomorrow morning! (Because of the chilliness, not the time! LOL!)
Sounds like the little boys had lots of fun stuff planned! Sorry about the camera issues. I had my camera but realized at about 7 hours into the drive that I left the charger on my desk.
Cute pics ~ especially Michael's pic with the soda cup. I have a similar pic of my 15 & 17 yr olds! And, of course, I'm partial to the salute the troops pic!
Cute nails!!
On our way to our new gate, I pulled the kids into an electronics store and I found a nice looking camera that the guy behind the register allowed me to test out before making a decision. I took two pictures, one with the flash and one without:
This was last years model that had just been reduced from $300+ to $110. Ughhhh. I hate wasting money!!! But we must soldier on, and be thankful we have a fully functioning camera to document our trip with!
We try to contain ourselves, but our excitement still seeps out!
I was really hoping for a room in the 1960s, and had even called a few days before to request one, but all the planning didn't matter as they had us WAAAAAYYYY over in the 1990s. Not the end of the world, of course, but a disappointment when you have two kiddos hoping to be a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Hippy Dippy Pool. We thought it might not be that bad so we checked out our new room. It's a bit of a hike, to say the least. 
We were pretty excited!
I know that must have been so tough for you to leave the babies but at least they had some fun stuff planned to do. I know this didn't make up the fact that you were already missing them. I hope things got better for you once you were in the air and knew once you landed you would soon be at Disney!
I luv your pedi/mani!
Can't wait to hear about the next installment.
I can't wait to read more of your TR and find out the locations you ate and the prices that were paid. I'm all for a Disney trip on a dime lol. Your children are beautiful, my girls and I love your nails and no matter how many times we land in Orlando we get excited like it's the first time.
I was hoping that being in a new state would magically fix the camera.
I was wrong.
LOL!! Love the big Ladies Room icon...wonder how many people still go into the wrong one!
They weren't blurry!!! I swallowed my "second-hand, only-bargain-shopping, search-for-the-best-deal" pride, and paid $200 for this camera. I thought it was a decent price considering I was purchasing electronics in an airport. We made it to our gate and settled in to wait for our next flight. Michael and Elsa went off to find a bathroom and I worked on learning the new camera. It was very straight forward and I got bored, so I did something I knew I shouldn't. I pulled out my computer, took advantage of the free wi-fi, and searched amazon for prices on the camera I just bought. A.knife.to.the.heart.
Michael and Elsa came back and had to listen to me gripe about the money spent on the camera. They were gracious, but ended up telling me to get over it, so I tried.
UGH! That's painful! At least it was worth the $200 to have a camera that takes good pics!
Our wait time was over and we got to board again! I thought it would be nice to get another pic of them touching the outside of the plane while we were boarding, but the line started moving fast. I rushed the kids forward, and as I went to take the picture my carry-on tipped over and fell on the foot of the man behind us. Michael watched the whole thing and his face makes me laugh so hard!
Too funny!! Elsa is ever the actress just smiling away and going on with the show (or pic in this case!) and Michael looks like he can't believe that just happened!
I don't think it will matter how many times I go to WDW, the excitement of landing in Orlando NEVER gets old. I want to scream and shout and make people move so we can run to Magical Express!
Yay!
Pulling into POP just seems to amp up our excitement!
Michael and I needed to get on a bus and go to EPCOT to pick up our YES ticket package, as we had an early, early class in the morning. Elsa headed off to the pool while we were gone, and as soon as we returned from getting our park tickets, we ordered a pizza and while we waited for our number to be called, we inquired at the concierge desk to see if we might be able to move rooms. It amazes me how helpful they are. They didn't have a room for that night, but they said we could leave our suitcases by the door in the morning when we left for the parks, and they would move us to the 60's tomorrow!
Awesome!!
We ate our yummy pizza, watched the Olympics Prime Time and got a great nights sleep to be prepared for our day at EPCOT early in the morning!
UP NEXT: EPCOT and the YES Program
I'm all caught up and wanted to say I'm here for the ride
We only ate counter service, always our cheapest route! 
first trip might be?
Just read your last TR, too (better late than never!) -
As a mom of 4 with an on-site partner, I can barely imagine how you handle 5!! You must have major energy, major patience, and major sense of humor!
Looking forward to hearing more, and wondering when the little boys'
You are very sweet, but don't rush out to nominate me for sainthood or anything. I do the best I can, but it isn't always sunshine and roses. 
Elsa and I shared a bed and we found it is getting more and more difficult to sleep well under those circumstances, but I'd rather have a lousy nights sleep here than a great one at home! 6:45am was our wake-up call, and Elsa and I bounded out of bed to get showers done, breakfast eaten, and ready to make it for the 1st bus to EPCOT at 8am. Michael and Elsa were both scheduled to take YES classes at 8:30 and I was so afraid we were going to miss it and be charged the full price of the tickets that we got at such a great discount. 
EPCOT and the YES Program
Early mornings don't feel quite so early when you are at DISNEY!
We finally rolled Michael out of bed and were all ready and waiting at the bus stop by 7:50am. While standing there, pleased as punch that we were soooooooooooooooo not going to miss it, Michael decides there is no way he is going to be able to carry the DSLR around for his photography class and then the rest of the day.
Hold it. What? You mean the DSLR I lugged all the way from home because you were sure you needed it? The one I bought a special neoprene protective sleeve for, just for this trip, because there was no way you could be without the DSLR for the class? The very camera I bought a new memory card for so I could have the point and shoot while you had the camera that you ABSOLUTELY had to have, and couldn't talk you out of even 3 days ago?!!!
Yes, that camera.
LOL!!
I tried to put on a smile, but gave Michael and Elsa direct instructions to run back to the room, hide it in our luggage that would be transferred to our new room sometime today, and to sprint back to the bus stop. There could be no walking or we would miss our bus. Off they went, and thankfully they returned just as the bus was pulling up. Lesson learned. Michael doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to what he HAS to have. I breathed a sigh of relief when that bus pulled out of POP with us in it. This is what I had worried about the most since signing up for YES. Finding our classes wasn't very hard. Out by ticketing were a lot of excited teens and preteens standing in circle groups waiting to see what was going to happen. Michael would be taking his Captivating Moments: Images with Impact class on his own, while I would accompany Elsa on her Making Waves with a Marine Career class. Elsa missed the age deadline by 2 weeks to be able to do this on her own, but I thought it would be fun to do this together!
Michael headed out for his class with strict instructions to meet us at back at Spaceship Earth when he was done. After getting outfitted with little headset units, Elsa and I were ready to go through the gates with her class and head off to the aquarium. It was neat to be in the group with the headsets. Our director was able to quietly speak into her microphone and we all knew just where to go. When we got to Nemo and Friends, we had to hand over all of or belongings except for the headsets. They locked them up for us and assured us that no one would have access to it except for our director. I thought it was a bit lame to be camera-less, but I had NO idea how much behind the scenes we would be doing.
3 hours later and I can tell you if you have the chance to participate in a YES class, DO IT! We really enjoyed it. We got to go behind the scenes and see where the manatees escape to, up above the aquariums to look straight down at the dolphins, back to see food prep for the animals and much, much more! The time just flew by. We chose to do the YES program to save $ and for the experience. After catching back up with Michael, they both decided they would want to do it again, even if it wasn't for money saving purposes. We peppered Michael with questions about what they did, what they learned, and how he liked it etc... and he could only answer one. He really liked it but couldn't tell us why or anything they did.
Glad they enjoyed their classes! My husband and 11 yr old enjoyed his class (Ocean Discoveries) and he said he'd definitely take a class again.
Some pictures from Michael's class:
We decided to ride Spaceship Earth before lunch, and enjoyed it like always!
UP NEXT: A Shortened EPCOT DAY
