The Boss is Back on Board, Sept 19th!! Castaway Cay updated Jan 12!

[pierresgirl]

Oh my gosh, it's that time again! The “L” Family excursion, trip of the year, shennanigans galore, trouble abounds..... Basically “The Boss” is back and with additional people to boss around, yay me!!!

This particular excursion came about as the result of an afternoon laying around the pool (drinkingandsuch) with my friend listening to me babble on and on about going away and how she has not yet taken her dd, 6, on vacay to the great DisneyWorld yet . I mean, seriously, how can she live with herself? I had done the Disney Cruise the year before and totally fell in lurrrrrve with it, my kids also decided they'd rather do DCL than WDW. Now, since they have a habit of complaining 75% of the time we are not within 5 feet of a pool whilst on vacation, going to the parks can be slightly annoying. I have a difficult time with annoying. As well as a few other things. You'll see I'm sure.

So we checked out a few prices and figured Sept would be a good time to go, less expensive, less crowded, pretty much sounds like a recipe for fun! My friend, Jen, had JUST started dating her man, after sweating him for 5 years, so the original plan was for my fam of 4, my friend and her dd, her mom, stepdad and sister. We booked through the travel agent I used before cause she offered pretty good OBC and since there aren't really any discounts for DCL this is what you have to look out for. Jen's mother payed for her and her dd, Kylie, to go. Um, SCORE!!!

Fast forward a few months and due to unseen financial bizniz Jen's mom had to cancel (waaah, she used to work with my dh and it would have been a gigglefest) (mmm, it still will be) BUT since Jen and her bf, Chris are 2 seconds away from getting married he's coming instead. SO, she's been cutting his hair for 5 years and by chance I got an email from my brother and noticed his name was right in front of mine. I knew how much she liked him so I told my brother and apparently Chris felt the same way. For 5 years. Awwwwww! No wonder he got a haircut every 2 weeks...... It's happily been a year and everyone at our salon is convinced they are going to go ring shopping in the islands! Hmmm, I WONDER?!

Ok so that's the background, lets get some pics and intro's going!

I'm Leyla, I wrote 2 other trip reports and loved doing them. Mostly so I can print them out and use as ammo when my kids say I ruined their lives and never did squat for them. Dh is Pierre, he pretty much lets me run this show which is very nice of him. Seriously, he's not the most organized person so I'd have to pretty much be dead to let him handle it. And I don't mean just the vacation. Here we are with our ahem, Dasani water.





Bella is 10 ½. She's pretty much always been a tomboy but has been making the transition to tweenhood. Help me now! Nah, she's a great kid, I'm lucky!




Cooper is 7 ½. He's fun, great sense of humor like his Dad but has little hissy fits like his Mom when he doesn't get his way.



He looks like the kid from Christmas Story here, haha!



Here is a picture of Kylie, 6. She's a hot ticket and also a tomboy! She's made her countdown calendar and keeps me updated on the # of days we have left! In this picture Cooper had just lost his top front tooth while they were wrestling and playing. Kylie's top front was also loose so I gave it a poke (musta been harder then I thought. Ooops) and out it popped. She was kind of mad but Chris and Jen took her for icecream afterwards so not bad tradeoff. Plus, HELLO, toothfairy?!?! Seriously, when I was 6 I took rocks to my teefs so I could get money. Sat there and tried to knock them right out, what is wrong with me?





I've yet to get some pic of Jen but this is her first time to experience Disney so she's gonna love it and become addicted. I wish she had time to take Kylie to WDW while she's down there but she's already used up vacation time. About 10 times over....


So here are the deets so far:

~Driving (help me now!!!!!) more discussion on this to come, help and advice needed, leaving home on the 16th of Sept. Woohoo 16 days!!!

~stopping here and there on our very long drive down

~hoping to get to Orlando late on the 17th. We have some friends there and would like to possibly crash for the night. Guess I should let them know, huh?

~booked a hotel room in Port Canaveral for the 18th. I'd like a night to recover and getting psyched up for the CRRRRRRUISE!

~Sept 19th. Rock on mah baybeees, time to hop on the wonderous WONDER!!!!!

~drink, drink, spa, beach, drink, hottub, eat, drink and drink. Rinse and repeat.

MORE TO COME PEEPS!
Day 1 link! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...0&postcount=31
Day 1, part 2 link! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...3&postcount=43
Day 1, part 3 link! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...7&postcount=45
Day 2, part 1 link! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...9&postcount=52
Day 2, part 2 link! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...9&postcount=53
Day 3, part 1 link!http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...7&postcount=57
Day 3 &4 part 1 link!http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...4&postcount=62
Day 4 part 2 link!http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...2&postcount=64
Day 5 part 1 linkhttp://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...0&postcount=67

[pierresgirl]

Just to add a few pictures onto this trainride

Miss Kylie!



Her magnificent countdown calendar!!!!!



Chris, Jen and Kylie



For reals, I'm going with these people?.....




Um, did I mention 19 days?!?!?! Or maybe 18

[verygfy]

Great start!! Only 12 more days until we leave, woohoo

[hlrababy]

Leyla!!!!!! Exactly what I have been waiting for!!! Another TR from you lady!!!

I am so excited and can't wait to read all about your trip!!!!

I am loving your, ahem, dasani water!!

[UGAFan0829]

Hey, Leyla!

I just saw the link to your report over on our cruise thread, so I had to come check it out! It sounds like you're going to be cruising with a fun bunch!!

I've started a Pre-TR as well, if you care to check it out! I can't wait to meet everyone onboard!!

[pierresgirl]

Originally Posted by verygfy

Great start!! Only 12 more days until we leave, woohoo

Thanks! Can't wait!

Originally Posted by hlrababy

Leyla!!!!!! Exactly what I have been waiting for!!! Another TR from you lady!!!

I am so excited and can't wait to read all about your trip!!!!

I am loving your, ahem, dasani water!!

Hiya! I look rather cheerful with the Dasani, huh Hows the baby and big sister?

Originally Posted by UGAFan0829

Hey, Leyla!

I just saw the link to your report over on our cruise thread, so I had to come check it out! It sounds like you're going to be cruising with a fun bunch!!

I've started a Pre-TR as well, if you care to check it out! I can't wait to meet everyone onboard!!

They are a fun bunch I have today and tomorrow off so I can check out your TR!

[pierresgirl]

Hee's an old pic I came across of the kids trying on their pirate gear before our last cruise, conveniently holding DCL luggage tickets. Now THAT'S called product placement, people!



Now that we are leaving next week Jen and I are most likely driving everyone crazy at work. We know this because the jealousy daggers are coming out kidding! well, not totally but.... Not too many people take vacays at the same time and lets just say my boss doesn't really say no to me. Or is it that I don't take no for an answer? Probably answer #2. I informed her (after said cruise was booked) that we were going on the Disney Cruise together. At least we gave her plenty of notice! And if that didn't work you ask?

There's always this:



Yeah. Dancing on the table at our Christmas party. I believe that seals the deal

SOOOOOO, Jen told me last week they hadn't gotten their cruise documents or anything yet and she emailed the travel agent but no response. I got my papers about 3 weeks ago and we are leaving next week so that can't be right! I called DCL yesterday and the cast member told me they were mailed to her on Aug 11. So weird, especially since the address was correct BUT they will remail them via UPS so we can breathe a sigh of relief. You see Pierre works for UPS!

OMGosh I can't believe how lazy I've been regarding this trip, I'm usually nutty about everything and this is the first time I haven't planned it down to the last minute. I don't know what time we are leaving, where we are stopping, who's driving what leg, etc., etc. I do have a room booked for the night before the cruise at the Sheraton on Cocoa Beach. I think we may check out the Kennedy Space Center since it's pretty much next door and the kids will probably enjoy it.

I've already booked Palo and am excited to try it, we didn't get to last time. I booked the Rasullllll treatment



The Spa is fantastic! We also got a couples massage and facial treatment. Who doesn't like a little luxury? Is there a 'Like it' button on here?! Nothing planned for Nassau except a little purse shopping for Jen and I and maybe some drinkadoodles!




On Castaway Cay I scheduled the 4 pack, as in: bike, inner tube, and snorkle rental with the stingray adventure. Should be fun!!!

[pierresgirl]

What I'm working on now is our drive down there. We are pretty undecided as to what time we should leave home We are in CT so would like to miss NYC traffic (duh, who doesn't?!?!), DC traffic (another duh) and want to try going straight through to FL. It should take about 20 hours according to Mapquest but we aren't certain where and when we'll take food/rest stops and how long they'll last. I want to leave home about 5 pm so the kids won't be awake too, too long cause it takes nothing to get on my nerves. Ugh, such a downfall but I'm happily a work in progress! Pierre wants to leave at 1 so maybe 3 Bella can go on and on with running commentaries , after a while it makes me want to drive nails into my ears..... Cooper likes to inform us of boredom or he could go the opposite and bounce off the walls so this will all be VERY interesting!

Last year I ran in the San Antonio marathon (my time wasn't great but who cares, I did it! ) I ran it with a girl I went to boarding school with in England and we hadn't seen each other in 19 years, SO awesome!! She lives in San Antonio and Pierre's nephew and wife live there as well so I stayed with the family. I LOVE S.A. and the marathon route is fantab! The Expo was super cool and we pretending to rock out Elvis style



Anyways..... while training I bought myself an iTouch and LOVE that thing! If you don't have an Ipod I totally recommend that one Now, I'm a recycle, reuse queen and not big on electrical waste etc so I purchased a refurbished iTouch from Apple since it came with a 1 year warrantee. Good thing there's that warrantee !!!!!! The screen froze 2 days ago and support was unable to do anything, he determined it to be a software problem and I had to mail it in. um, hello, 5 days left on the my warrantee! Can you believe how lucky I got?!?!?! I flew a hundred miles an hour to the UPS store and am keeping fingers crossed that I get it back in time Keep your crossed with me!

Oh, on the drive back I'm meeting up with another girl I went to boarding school with. She lives in NC which is my halfway point and I'm excited to see her! She is also a MASSIVE Disney Fan, DVC member, been on maybe 5 cruises with the next one being in Oct.

I really want to download some books onto it for the drive down. I'm a HUGE reader and always want Pierre, who is, um, not a reader to enjoy good reads with me. I'm into books that really make me think and tend to go for book club reads. A few favs are Water for Elephants, Glass Castle, The Ride of Our Lives, The Art of Racing in the Rain, The Help, Snowflower and the Secret Fan.... Any suggestions based on those?

So Jen told me yesterday that Chris surprised her and Kylie with the dolphin swim in Nassau! Lucky..... yeah, totally jel here. It's just way too much money for me this time and thankfully Bella is being understanding about it. Man she's such a good kid Jen completely deserves to be spoiled, trust! I'm happy for them!

[verygfy]

20 hours in a car with 2 kids, your a better person than I. I have the two and thankfully my DD4 is such a good girl 90% of the time you don't even know she is in the car, DS12 is a whole other story. He feels that silence is a killer and must interrupt it if it lasts more than 2 minutes. The curious part about that is he is a huge reader, you would think he would enjoy the silence , kids!!

[pierresgirl]

Originally Posted by verygfy

20 hours in a car with 2 kids, your a better person than I. I have the two and thankfully my DD4 is such a good girl 90% of the time you don't even know she is in the car, DS12 is a whole other story. He feels that silence is a killer and must interrupt it if it lasts more than 2 minutes. The curious part about that is he is a huge reader, you would think he would enjoy the silence , kids!!

Maybe he needs an audiobook that's so funny! Sounds just like my dd "hey mom- guess what. hey mom- you know what. hey mom- can you get me." etc etc

I got 2 books yesterday by authors I enjoy so I'm sure they'll be good! Nanny Returns (same girls who wrote Nanny Diaries which is funny yet so sad) and The Ape House by Sara Gruen and she did Water For Elephants which is just about my all time fav!

One of my clients told me yesterday that it's best to leave early in the morning so we are refreshed after a good nights sleep so now I'm leaning that way~ arrrggghhh desicions! Maybe I should Bing it?

Off to Boston today/tomorrow for a hair show and class Should be fun esp. since my boss and I are going to sit around and drink martini's while the other stylists work on the model. 10 stylists and only 1 model that's just stupid! I offered to be another model but was shot down. We were sent wigs to work with and seriously, the only options are Amy Winehouse or Medusa


I'd just like to mention 7 days!!!!!!!!

[postalcop]

hey Leyla,
okay the DISboards fixed my problem..
okay looking fwd to reading your report!

[pierresgirl]

Originally Posted by postalcop

hey Leyla,
okay the DISboards fixed my problem..
okay looking fwd to reading your report!

Hi Sue! Glad the problem was resolved, what a pain!

[pierresgirl]

Oh. My. Gleek.

What was I thinking when I booked this week?!?! I should have gone last week! The new season of my beloved TV is starting so this will be me:

popco rn::


PLEASE tell me there are regular channels, I can't remember! There are only 2 shows that I actually REFUSE to miss and that's Glee and Survivor buti'msurei'llthinkofafewothers

your loving Gleekness, Leyla

BTW- what's up with the storms? Are we going to be affected or what?

[Merman]

Too funny!!! I've had to postpone vacations/dinners so my wife wouldn't miss Glee and Survivor as well!!! Hate to admit it but I'm starting to watch Glee myself! Anyway, not going on our cruise for another 6 months so looking forward to your TR to hold me over. Don't worry about the storms ... in the past we had a couple of storms and the ships just went around them ... may end up in a different port then what was scheduled but still had a great time and it was just a different adventure than what was planned. Enjoy!

[pierresgirl]

Originally Posted by Merman

Too funny!!! I've had to postpone vacations/dinners so my wife wouldn't miss Glee and Survivor as well!!! Hate to admit it but I'm starting to watch Glee myself! Anyway, not going on our cruise for another 6 months so looking forward to your TR to hold me over. Don't worry about the storms ... in the past we had a couple of storms and the ships just went around them ... may end up in a different port then what was scheduled but still had a great time and it was just a different adventure than what was planned. Enjoy!

Hey Merman how the heck are ya?! Thanks for ready and not making feel like a idiot bc of my TV addiction!