21 Days till Disney World - A Project a Day! #9 - Autograph Book Bag

[Jiminy'sGirl]

This morning I realized we have exactly ONE MONTH until our November 1-8, 2012 trip to Disney World.... how did this happen? Usually I'm counting down like crazy, but lately these trips sneak up on me. To force myself to prepare and enjoy the anticipation, I am going to bring you all along with me for the next 31 days (the entire month of October, people!) as I plan, create, iron-on, sew, freak out, and shop!

Some deets....

When? November 1-8
Where? Caribbean Beach Resort
Who? Myself, the Hubs, and our three precious angels, my parents (Gram and Pawp) and my brother, J, and his fiancee, S
Why? The hubs and I take the kids on the trek from Texas to the World frequently. In March 2010 we declared November 2012 to be the trip we drag along my parents and brother, who have not been since 1986. In October 2011, the aforementioned brother popped the question to his aforementioned fiancee. And you won't believe their next announcement... They planned to go ahead and tie the knot while we are in WDW. I tried very hard to love this idea and not mourn the loss of an entire park day.

Some visual references...

The Hubs and I last month:

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Our big kids, AJ (10) and Leah (8):

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Our little stinker, Paige (3.5):

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And, all together:

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Up Next: Wedding Details and Gram Rents an ECV

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

Wedding Details and Gram Rents an ECV
Itinerary
Project #1 - The Countdown Calendar
Project #2 - Matching name tees
Project #3 - MNSSHP "costumes"
Project #4 -- Minnie Mouse-inspired Plllowcase dress
Project #5 -- Mickey Mail and Clearance Finds
Project #6 - Princess dress and A Cinderella Party
Project #7 - Goody Bags (and a Park Crap Retrospective)
Project #8 - Kid Itineraries
Project #9 -- Autograph Book Bag

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

This post will cover some basic wedding details, and the decision to rent an ECV for Gram (my 64 year old mother). It might be kind of boring. In fact, if you scroll ahead right now I won't be offended. Promise.

My brother will be getting married at the Swan on Monday, November 5.

There. Those are the details I have.

Ha! Well, it is pretty much true. The wedding is very small, just us and my parents and a few members of the bride's family, who are coming from exotic places such as London and Dubai. They are all staying in a "villa" off property. No one knows much about this villa, but it seems to be completely fabulous. Yes, we will devote one entire day of our Dis-nay Va-cay to the wedding. Yes we are ok with this because we love my brother, J, and his fiancee, S. We honestly don't know how much time we will spend with them and their posse aside from the wedding day.

In non-related news, my Mom has bad knees. Very bad. After a recent trip home in which we went to the mall and Gram had to stop and rest her knees not once but twice, I said, hey -- we need an ECV. There is no way she could hang all day in the parks. Or even half a day. Or even an hour. So she rented one for the week. Wow I really hope those CBR peeps take my request for a ground floor room seriously. Getting the ECV up the stairs would be a real drag. I mean, I workout but that's redic.

Gram practiced on a scooter-cart combo at Target and declared herself ECV-ready. Time will tell. I expect this to be equal parts hilarious, efficient, and frustrating. Gram is not so good at driving a car. Don't tell her I said that.

For our viewing pleasure, the whole crew....

R to L: Fiancee S, Pawp, Me, AJ, Uncle J, Leah (8), Hubs, Paige, and Gram

Totally gratuitous shot of my fave park in March 2010:

Up next: Our Itinerary and the First Project!

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

We had originally booked this trip for Nov 3-10. We booked adjoining rooms at CBR for Gram and Pawp and our Fab 5. J and S wanted to stay offsite. But sometime in August I became aware of FD and bumped the trip up a few days to check in on the very very last day of free dining.

The change affected ADRs, and I ended up more or less grabbing what I could and I think it turned out pretty ok.

Here is how we chose CBR: I put my parents in front of the computer and said, choose whatever you want. My Dad has been dying for a beach vacation for 40 years but my Mom is afraid of the water so he wanted CBR. Done. He can pretend he is at the beach. I expect they'll spend lots of time in lounge chairs and hammocks. They're dreaming of this:

Without further ado, the schedule....

Thursday, Nov 1
Depart 8am, Arrive MCO 2:19
Hang on the beach, eat at OPR
8:50 - Chef Mickeys*
(*would love this to be earlier but this is what we could get and Chef Mickeys the first night is a must!)

Friday, Nov 2
MK
1:30 - Lunch at Tony's
Resort Rest
MNSSHP (Fab 5, no Gram and Pawp)

Saturday, Nov 3
AK
5:05 - Tusker House
DTD

Sunday, Nov 4
Epcot
11:55 - Akershus Princess Dining
6:30 - Biergarten

Monday, Nov 5
Wedding Day!

Tuesday, Nov 6
DHS
12:15 - Prime Time

Wednesday, Nov 7
MK
9:45 - WCC (just because we love WL and need to visit it)
6:30 - LTT

Coming soon: The First Project!

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

The Countdown Calendar

I've made the paint chip calendar before, and love it. But I was too lazy to drive to Home Depot and nick a bunch of paint chips today, so I went the old skool chain link route. I think it turned out cute enough to count.

Each night after dinner (starting tonight) we will rip one of those puppies off with relish. For added interest, I wrote a little objective on the inside of all 31 links. Some are things we have never gotten around to doing...

"Sit by the Goofy Statue"
"Find the dragon's breath under the bridge on the Camp Minnie-Mickey trail"

or didn't exist last time we were at the World...

"Collect SOTMK cards and defeat the bad guy"

And some are things we always do...

"Eat a Mickey Bar"

And some are silly...

"Beat Daddy's score at TSM"
"Convince Gram to ride Soarin'"

Just little things to get us excited about the trip. As if we aren't? Paige, 3.5 years, asks me daily if this is "Vember" and are we going to Disney World today?" and "Will Minnie kiss me at Disney World?"

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

My PTR needs love. Bad.

 

[Alysa]

Beautiful family!

Just little things to get us excited about the trip. As if we aren't? Paige, 3.5 years, asks me daily if this is "Vember" and are we going to Disney World today?" and "Will Minnie kiss me at Disney World?"

Funny little thing!

 

[Amandaka78]

I feel your excitement. We get there on the 1st as well and we can't wait. Hope your trip is as magical as I hope ours will be.

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

Beautiful family!





Funny little thing!

Aw, thanks!! And tanks a bajillion for being my first reader!!! <3

I feel your excitement. We get there on the 1st as well and we can't wait. Hope your trip is as magical as I hope ours will be.

Awesome!! We have been during this week about 5 times now and it's fabulous!!!!!!

 

[SillyFamily]

I love you old skool count down chain.

I'll be reading along.

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

Good morning, dear readers!! I am quite sure all three of you will find something to enjoy in this segment of my fun little PTR.

SO, before I get into today's project, let me share a pic of Leah (8) ripping off the first of the chain links last night before dinner...

(This is the "middle child..." After some discussion of who would take off the first link I told the middle child to do it. Poor middle children don't get to do many things first... It's true. Think about it.)

Yesterday's link read: You may pick out your favorite souvenir.

This means we will buy them whatever they choose. It sounds indulgent, but we did this on our last trip and realized that they spend so long finding the "perfect" souvenir that they aren't asking for every little thing all day everyday. It may not work with every kid, but it works with the three that live in my house. We also buy them a pin a day. My son collects Chip n Dale pins and my daughter Dumbo and Eeyore. This helps to focus us in when looking at the 9,004,502 pins Disney has on sale. We will also purchase them each a MNSSHP pin. The little stinker, Paige, is still in character meet/autograph mode -- no pins for her yet.

Ok, so as I have mentioned we are having a Grand Gathering of sorts this trip. We didn't officially qualify for that with J and S and their posse staying in "The Villa" offsite, but I still wanted to celebrate the extended fam hitting up WDW for the first time. So, I made T-shirts. I have all the designs completed and I will share a few with you now!

For Hubs...

For my Dad....

Note: everyone else chose their fav characters for their shirt, but I chose this for my Dad. I thought this little grumpy man with the soft heart inside fit him well. Also, one thing we are really lookig forward to tricking Pawp into doing is this....

AJ (10) has a great plan... offer Pawp some of that watermelon goodness first, so he thinks nothing but delicious nectar comes from those little spouts. Then and only then we will hook him up with some vile liquid -- Beverly! muahahahahahaha! We stroke our evil beards every time we discuss the plot.

Speaking of the little mastermind, here is his shirt....

A few of these were saved with the white box for use in my Etsy store, but on the shirts there is no box. Just the design.

More to come, sweet readers. Tell me your thoughts on matching tees: family fun or hopelessly geeky?

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

I love you old skool count down chain.

I'll be reading along.

So glad you are here!! Thanks for saying hey... And appreciating my ability to kick it old skool.

 

[Alysa]

I like the t-shirts! Bring on the geeky. My sister made a bunch for our whole family when we went two years ago but she made sure to put them smaller than usual on really nice t-shirts and polos so I still have mine and wear it on weekends.
And the "favourite souvenir" is a great idea too. We say you can pick one thing you love and one thing from the candy store. My daughter debates the whole trip and then always picks a stuffed animal and what she calls "a sucker as big as her head"

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

I like the t-shirts! Bring on the geeky. My sister made a bunch for our whole family when we went two years ago but she made sure to put them smaller than usual on really nice t-shirts and polos so I still have mine and wear it on weekends.
And the "favourite souvenir" is a great idea too. We say you can pick one thing you love and one thing from the candy store. My daughter debates the whole trip and then always picks a stuffed animal and what she calls "a sucker as big as her head"

I did polos a few trips back with just each person's fav character and their name underneath... About 3 inches by three inches where the "polo guy" would go on a Ralph lauren shirt. I still wear mine -- it features Jiminy of course. Hubster won't wear his and the kids outgrew theirs, but they wore them all the time until then!!!

 

[TMGosizk]

Aw, I'm loving your PTR! The shirt idea (and design) is beyond adorable!! I'll be doing something similar for our whole family for our trip next October--they may end up with a shirt for every day of the trip with so much time between now and then! You said you have an Etsy shop? With those types of designs? If so, I may need to check it out...because they're really neat!

Your countdown chain is so simple, but so great! I got so excited for you and your family looking at the picture of your little girl taking off the first link!! Nothing like pre-Disney excitement!!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

Aw, I'm loving your PTR! The shirt idea (and design) is beyond adorable!! I'll be doing something similar for our whole family for our trip next October--they may end up with a shirt for every day of the trip with so much time between now and then! You said you have an Etsy shop? With those types of designs? If so, I may need to check it out...because they're really neat!

Your countdown chain is so simple, but so great! I got so excited for you and your family looking at the picture of your little girl taking off the first link!! Nothing like pre-Disney excitement!!

Can't wait to read more!

You are the sweetest!! I know what you mean -- I start thinking of so many cute t-shirt ideas that I run out of days to make shirts for. I am currently cooking up something fun for MNSSHP. Since we will be at MK all day and it is 11/2, I think we might go with matching Halloween tees rather than full on costumes. We will see!!

I do have an Etsy shop... I just left eBay for Etsy. eBay was taking too much of my hard-earned money. haha. Seriously, my stuff so so cheap and eBay took a bigger percentage so it wasn't worth it. So glad to be on Etsy now! Feel free to check it out.. I have been known to give out BOGOs!!

Isn't the chain too funny? The kdis came home from school and said, THIS is our countdown this time? <silence> We love it!

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

Here we are again, faithful readers. Just 29 days to go.

I had Disney-somia last night. Raise your hand if you get this. It's where you can't stop thinking about what to pack and what to wear and don't forget the MNSSHP tickets whatever you do. I was up past 3am.

We tore another link off the ole chain last night. This one informed the kids that while staying at CBR, their lunches would come in a sand pail, which they could then use to dig in the sand. We live in TX, about 4 hours from the beach. We don't go much (it's not a very pretty beach) but when we do they LOVE digging in the sand. I HATE cleaning sand out of their ears, hair, and butt cracks. I'm just keeping it real, people. Now, this led to a lively discussion. See, AJ is now 10 and will be a "Disney adult.****" So all his free meals will be adult meals. He is a pretty adventurous eater and likes a lot of food (regardless of the fact that he doesn't weigh enough to play touch football... ) so he is ok with this, but when he realized he would get to choose an adult dessert following every meal and not that darn ubiquitous kids' sundae, he used that to tease his sister mercilessly. So, she quickly pointed out that as an "adult" who gets a "big dessert" he will NOT get the pail. The wind went out of his sails real quick. So his momma swooped in and said, I"ll buy you the pail lunch OOP our first day, precious angel boy. We like doing this anyway because then his adult credit buys the large breakfast which adds a little substance to our in-room breakfasts of cereal and NutriGrain bars.

Without further ado, the picture of the chain link ripping-off....

Now the moment you have all been waiting for, seriously, like all 4 of you... TODAY'S PROJECT....

I thought and thought about what to wear to MNSSHP... It is our first ever party. We are quite excited, and we have very few expectations. If the kids get some candy they will be happy. If I can get a decent view of Boo to You I am happy. If no one has a meltdown of epic proportions, hubster is happy. The kids have their "real" Halloween costumes all picked out - a ghoul with glowing red eyes, a zebra, and a butterfly. Guess who is what. HA! SO I contemplated dragging them around, but none are conducive to a day at the park (we will be at MK all day the day of the party). I also thought about making up a family costume, but found my energy lacking. Going to the last party, which is after Halloween, takes a bit of the fun out. So I decided iron-on tees were the solution. Here is AJ's:

The other four of us have a similar shirt with different characters inside... Paige has all Minnie and Leah has Tigger and Eeyore.

Now, if you are following along and hanging on my every word AND you are going to MNSSHP AND you want to wear a tee like this, PM me your email address! The first person to do so gets this tee design in their inbox as a special "thanks for reading" gift!!!!

*** Has anyone done the Dining Plan with a 10-12 year old? How did they like ordering off the adult menu?

Now, I'd like to include a few pictures from previous trips, just to get in the Disney mood.... There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to these choices. Enjoy, friends.

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[Jiminy'sGirl]

Just FYI:

Because I looked at Miyuki's picture, I will now be doing my "candy lady" voice all day.

"School. So nice. Learn learn."

"Dinner. Yum yum. Pork. Nice pork. Good for youuuuu."

"Room. Clean room. So pretty. Clean room for you. Dust dust."

I heart Miyuki.

 

[DMGeurts]

Joining in on your Craft a Day projects... What a cool idea! If only I was that ambitious. LOL

You have an adorable family! I would also mourn the loss of a park day for a wedding... I totally get that.

We are planning to go next year for our 3rd October WDW trip - nothing more awesome than MNSSHP... Praying hard for FD too.

Can't wait to see the next crafts you do.

D~

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

Joining in on your Craft a Day projects... What a cool idea! If only I was that ambitious. LOL

You have an adorable family! I would also mourn the loss of a park day for a wedding... I totally get that.

We are planning to go next year for our 3rd October WDW trip - nothing more awesome than MNSSHP... Praying hard for FD too.

Can't wait to see the next crafts you do.

D~

Welcome!!!!

I'm going to start sewing today, so go easy on me with that, Oh Master of the Sewing Machine.