DDA Chapter 27

[tmfranlk]

Did anyone else see the pictures from the rooms at Art of Animations? They look really nice! I'm excited about the fact that the family suites look to me like their a murphy bed and then a pullout couch. Sounds like a better option than the couch and chairs. I'm thinking maybe this will be our goal when we take Rachel and her friend for their graduation in a few years. Of course, if deals still don't apply to the suites, you know my frugal side is going to win out and we'll book two standards somewhere.

eta: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blo...FY11Q4FBDM0021

[tmfranlk]

Originally Posted by my3princes

Since I'm captive in my home today I finally bit the bullet and started to look at pricing for our Hawaii trip We're getting close to the window for airfare opening up. I may actually need to use a travel agent this time. I wonder if Channon does Hawaii trips? We have the cruise booked, but we want to stay in Honolulu a few days before we move to Aulani then to the cruise then back to Honolulu then stop at DL on the way back. Between the cruise and DVC aspects it seems like a mess for a travel agent.

Sounds like the kind of trip I'd have so much fun figuring out! But yeah a travel agent would probably make it easier - especially with your schedule lately. What a fun plan though! I'm totally jealous!

[Tammi67]

Good morning.

Yes, Tia, I looked at those suites yesterday. They are cute!

Lots to do today. The kids have yearly physicals at 9. Poor Nicholas needs a booster shot for middle school, so he's not happy about that. Then Alyssa has a ballet lesson at 12:30. Her ballet and modern companies are dancing at a local assisted living home tonight. Sometime today I need to start thinking about packing, or at least laying things out in the staging room.

Have a great day!

[Blueeyes101817]

Good morning! I may head back to my classroom today ..other than that, not much planned...I cant beleive I go back to work so soon!

[bethbuchall]

Originally Posted by tmfranlk

Did anyone else see the pictures from the rooms at Art of Animations? They look really nice! I'm excited about the fact that the family suites look to me like their a murphy bed and then a pullout couch. Sounds like a better option than the couch and chairs. I'm thinking maybe this will be our goal when we take Rachel and her friend for their graduation in a few years. Of course, if deals still don't apply to the suites, you know my frugal side is going to win out and we'll book two standards somewhere.

eta: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blo...FY11Q4FBDM0021

I did see those. Laura wants to go stay in a Little Mermaid. I think that will probably be our next place to stay, but I have no idea when.

Originally Posted by Tammi67

Good morning.

Yes, Tia, I looked at those suites yesterday. They are cute!

Lots to do today. The kids have yearly physicals at 9. Poor Nicholas needs a booster shot for middle school, so he's not happy about that. Then Alyssa has a ballet lesson at 12:30. Her ballet and modern companies are dancing at a local assisted living home tonight. Sometime today I need to start thinking about packing, or at least laying things out in the staging room.

Have a great day!

You are getting so close to your trip! Laura needed another meningitis shot this year, and she was ticked. They gave it to her a couple of years ago and said that it would last through college. Now they have decided that they don't last as long as initial reports, so she needed a new one.

Originally Posted by Blueeyes101817

Good morning! I may head back to my classroom today ..other than that, not much planned...I cant beleive I go back to work so soon!

I can't believe how quickly this summer disappeared! I am not ready for my kids to go to school, and I am not feeling ready to go back myself.

Originally Posted by tinker1bell

Stephanie and I each got our cruise documents yesterday!!!

Best of all is that Steve and Michelle took Caleb home from the hospital yesterday and he is doing just fine.

Originally Posted by my3princes

We did another 3 plus cord of wood today. My parents are all set for this year We still have more to do here, but no big rush. We hit Staples this afternoon and stocked up on 1 cent notebooks.

I've been searching for campground near Lake George that charge a reasonable rate. Most campgrounds have a base rate then charge extra for holidays and extra for each kid, etc. We wanted to bring our camper there for Labor Day weekend as we have a white water rafting trip booked. We need to be there the following weekend for a car show so it made sense to find a campground that we could book for 9 nights. Some campgrounds run specials in the fall where you can camp on the weekends and leave the camper there during the week. So I search and kept coming up with $750 for 9 nights That obviously wasn't going to happen. Somehow I stumbled on a campground just outside of Lake George (in the town that we are white water rafting in) that had fabulous fall rates with the option to leave the camper there during the week. I called to inquire and it turns out that their web administrator made a few mistakes on the website, but they are honoring the rates. I ended up paying $142 for the 9 nights, 5 of which we will actually be at the campground I don't have to pay an upcharge for the holiday weekend or the charge for kids. I'm feeling lucky tonight

Great deal on the campground! I never realized how much it cost for a camp site until Matthew did some tent camping this summer.

Bernadette, your sewing projects are all amazing! I'll take one of the Partners bags. Have a magical trip, and I hope that the tooth is feeling better!

Originally Posted by my3princes

Since I'm captive in my home today I finally bit the bullet and started to look at pricing for our Hawaii trip We're getting close to the window for airfare opening up. I may actually need to use a travel agent this time. I wonder if Channon does Hawaii trips? We have the cruise booked, but we want to stay in Honolulu a few days before we move to Aulani then to the cruise then back to Honolulu then stop at DL on the way back. Between the cruise and DVC aspects it seems like a mess for a travel agent.

I hope that you are feeling better! It sounds like an exciting trip, but I can definitely see how the planning could be overwhelming. It's so hard to plan for somewhere you have never been.

[Tammi67]

Good morning.

Originally Posted by bethbuchall

You are getting so close to your trip! Laura needed another meningitis shot this year, and she was ticked. They gave it to her a couple of years ago and said that it would last through college. Now they have decided that they don't last as long as initial reports, so she needed a new one.

They told us if I opted for the shot that Nicholas would need a booster down the road. I told her I'd research it and if I decided to do it he can get it when we're come in in the fall for our flu shots. I suspect more and more colleges are now requiring it, so it will probably be inevitable that he'll have to have it someday.

[bethbuchall]

Originally Posted by Tammi67

Good morning.



They told us if I opted for the shot that Nicholas would need a booster down the road. I told her I'd research it and if I decided to do it he can get it when we're come in in the fall for our flu shots. I suspect more and more colleges are now requiring it, so it will probably be inevitable that he'll have to have it someday.

The CDC is still recommending the shot around 10-12 and then a booster when going off to college. When Laura was 12, they said that it was effective for 10 years and would get her through college. Now they are saying it's more like 5-6 years. Matthew went for his physical on Tuesday, and the doctor said that he didn't recommend the booster for him, since he is in an apartment, not the dorms now. The good news about it is that Laura said that it didn't really hurt going in and didn't cause any soreness in her arm (unlike the DTap).

Has anyone done any research on the HPV for boys? That was offered to Matthew, but he hadn't done any research and didn't even know if our insurance covered it, so he declined for now. I don't know if they will offer it for Miles on Friday, but I think I have a few years to think about it for him.

[bethbuchall]

I was reading some board that I don't usually read late the other night waiting for Laura to get home, and someone had this in their signature:



It was really weird to see, because that is one that I made a while ago not one that I had found somewhere. It was copied to their Photobucket account, not linked from mine. I don't mind, but it just felt a little strange. I wish that I could remember what I was reading at the time.

[PNO4TE]

Good afternoon, DDA!

Life is a whirlwind right now, so I am not on here as much. Nothing is wrong, just REALLY busy.

[Blueeyes101817]

Originally Posted by bethbuchall

I can't believe how quickly this summer disappeared! I am not ready for my kids to go to school, and I am not feeling ready to go back myself.

.

I know, it has FLOWN by! Im really excited to start the year as I get tenured on Sept 1st, but I am not quite ready. This summer has been go hectic between my brother and I both moving...Things are finally starting to settle down a bit and Im not looking forward to it being over!

[Tammi67]

Originally Posted by PNO4TE

Good afternoon, DDA!

Life is a whirlwind right now, so I am not on here as much. Nothing is wrong, just REALLY busy.

Good. I was about ready to text you and ask if everything was okay.

Last minute errands have been run. Kids clothes are laid out. Last load of laundry is in the dryer. Confirmations have been printed. Owner's Locker has been inventoried.

Tomorrow I will put everything in the suitcases and get the house readied for the cat sitter. I think that about covers it, but for some reason I feel really disjointed about this trip. Maybe because it's becoming so natural that there really isn't a lot TO do.

[my3princes]

Originally Posted by Blueeyes101817

I know, it has FLOWN by! Im really excited to start the year as I get tenured on Sept 1st, but I am not quite ready. This summer has been go hectic between my brother and I both moving...Things are finally starting to settle down a bit and Im not looking forward to it being over!

How is your brother adjusting? How are your parents adjusting to an empty house? Any news on the boyfriend front

[bethbuchall]

Laura got her driver's license today! She is so happy. She got her permit on her 16th birthday almost two years ago. For the first year, she drove a little but wasn't really interested. Then she started driving a lot more last summer, but by the time school started, she didn't have much time. This summer she has been driving everywhere, including a couple of ours on the Thruway and in torrential downpours. We have also spent countless nights out parallel parking. She had way more than the required hours (50 hours total with at least 15 after dark), and we knew that she was ready to test at the beginning of July. Unfortunately, the only time available before she had to leave for college was 8/15. Her test was Monday, and although a little nervous, she wasn't too worried. And then she had the examiner from H-E--double hockey sticks. Spectacular fail! She lost 55 points (max to lose is 30). She was absolutely sobbing by the end of the test, and one of the worst feelings was watching her cry and not being able to go comfort her, because he sat in the car for a long time going over everything she did wrong. She kept telling me that he was so mean to her. At first I thought she just felt that way because he was authoritative (and he failed her), but the more she told me that things that he said, the more I had to agree with her. We figured that was it until one of her breaks, but she came home and checked the system anyway. By some stroke of luck, she was able to get another appointment for today. Unfortunately, it was at the same test location, but she took it.

The skies opened up on our drive there. So much so that at one point the highway came to a standstill. She did a wonderful job of staying calm. We finally pulled into the line at the curb in a giant puddle while the rain poured down and lightning flashed all around us. We even saw a transformer get hit not far in front of us and the sparks shower down. It was scary and seemed like a bad omen. Finally, the skies lightened and the rain slowed to a drizzle. We moved up in line until we were the second from the front. The dreaded examiner went to the front car, so we thought we were safe, but they were having battery trouble, and the car couldn't move. So, the same "mean" man made his way to our car. My last words to Laura were, "You show him what you can do!" Miles and I had to leave the car and hope that the lightning stayed far away, because there wasn't much shelter. Laura said that the first thing he did was yell at her for parking too close to the car in front of her, because it couldn't move. (She also said that she had absolutely no problem getting around it.)

While we were waiting for her to finish the test, I met an older gentleman who told me that he was a driving instructor waiting for one of his clients. When I told him that my daughter was testing with the examiner who failed her so badly on Monday, he expressed sympathy and told me that he knew that one well. His fail rate is very high, and he regularly has girls sobbing. As a matter of fact, he was there earlier that morning with another client and witnessed a girl (not his client) crying so hard that she was hitting the dash. Then the examiner came from around the corner with a sour look on his face and mumbled to me to have a nice day. I could tell nothing from his expression and the driving instructor couldn't tell either. The only hope that I held was that on Monday he seemed to delight in telling me how poorly my daughter drove. I peeked around the corner to see Laura beaming in the driver's seat, and I felt such relief. She told me that he was still extremely mean, but she held it together and passed! He didn't make any mention of remembering her from the other day.

Whew! Sorry to be so long-winded, but what a day! In some ways, I'm glad that she had the same examiner, because it seems like a real win over Monday.

[tmfranlk]

Wow, what a tough test for her, Beth. Big congrats to Laura!!!! I would have been a nervous wreck in her position today, I'm sure.

[tmfranlk]

Good evening, DDA! Just a regular day in the neighborhood around here. Full load of kiddos is back up and running (well, almost - my 3yo hasn't been here everyday quite yet) and the new baby (3mo) is here so I've got my hands plenty full. Working on how to get things done around everything else so I can get back to some kind of productive schedule.

We're on a trip high this week since we past the 100 day mark. It's kind of funny because Terra has almost blown me off anytime I had tried talking about the trip since I booked in Jan. However, this week after I mentioned we were 99 days away she has been talking Disney stuff almost non-stop. (Okay, she's actually talked about pugs almost non-stop, but when she takes a brief break from that obsession, then it's all Disney! ) Yesterday she suggested we watch our recording of Samantha Brown's Favorite Things and then wanted to watch WDW Behind the Scenes as well. In getting to that, she discovered several of Samantha Brown's old Great Hotels episodes so we've watched some of those too. It's so nice to have her excited about the trip again (she was starting to worry me ). She's mentioned several times wishing she could go to AKL so I know she'll be excited about that surprise - though no mentioning there's even a surprise around her or I'll have break the news - she does not do surprises.