A Princess, Pirates and Pixie Dust!

[Thumper_Man's Wife]

I made it! I'm here! and I'm excited for the magic to begin! Great introduction on your family by the way. It is so wonderful that your son and daughter in law are fostering to adopt, They are making an amazing difference in these children's lives! Congratulations to them, and to you as grandma of these special kids! Can't wait to read more!

 

[jedijill]

Wow, you guys have a full house of grands! Can't wait to hear all about the trip.

Jill in CO

 

[eandesmom]

I am here and I love love love the introductions! Very much looking forward to reading about your trip.

 

[englishrose47]

Welcome Christine! Nice to have you here!



Rosie! You found me! I had a little trouble with the link when I did finally make one. Thanks for coming over, and thanks for the compliments! I'm working on another installment - like Marv says, I'll have it up "soon."

Don't ever say you are like Marv, his updates coming soon are a year apart!!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Good day to you Magic.

I hope this is the right TR you were referring to over on our TR.

TMan! So happy you're here! This is the place!

I made it! I'm here! and I'm excited for the magic to begin! Great introduction on your family by the way. It is so wonderful that your son and daughter in law are fostering to adopt, They are making an amazing difference in these children's lives! Congratulations to them, and to you as grandma of these special kids! Can't wait to read more!

Heather! Welcome! Thanks so much for being here! Thank you for the kind words. We are very proud of all of them!

Wow, you guys have a full house of grands! Can't wait to hear all about the trip.

Jill in CO

Jill! You made it over - thanks for coming along!

I am here and I love love love the introductions! Very much looking forward to reading about your trip.

Hello my friend! So glad you're here Thank you, I wasn't sure if I would write one, so my notes and pictures are a little lacking, but we made some great memories and I love to re-live them.

Don't ever say you are like Marv, his updates coming soon are a year apart!!!

I hope to be a littler quicker than that. He's just waiting until the next trip so he can write NeverEnding Story!

I have the first installment finished, but I need to upload some pictures to Photobucket. Stay tuned everyone! Here's a snack for ya

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Sometimes life makes some crazy twists and turns. You can spend a lot of time and energy trying to create a life and making plans. You can think you have it all under control, but guess what? You are not in control.
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. – John Lennon

My dream was that we would all get our schedules to work together, and that we would take a Disney vacation all together and everyone would get along and have a wonderful time together. I wanted to just soak in all the memories of my grandkids experiencing the Mouse and the Magic!
We tried it in 2008 for a DCL cruise, and it turned into just a land vacation in Mexico with Ryan and Dana and Mason.
We tried for 2011, moved it to 2012 and FINALLY booked it for 2013. I held my breath right up until we boarded the planes that everyone would really come. There were various budget concerns for all of us, but somehow we pulled it off!


Jim’s retirement came into play in a big way. His brother in Arizona was a COO and called and offered Jim a great job if he would retire a few years early. Without going into a very long story, the job in Arizona did not turn out to be what was promised, and Jim was miserable there. One of the first things out of my mouth when we realized things were not quite right was “We have to cancel our trip!!” Jim’s reply was that we would make it work out, no matter what. After several months of trying to cope with our situation, we packed up and moved to Texas where Mark and his family live. At least here, we have a real family and the economy is good. God has taken good care of us, and I know there is a purpose here. Jim is working in loss prevention at a large store and I am doing medical billing at home for my old office in Oregon and just picked up two days a week for a local doctor. We have found a nice little home in a good neighborhood and we get to spend lots of time with our grandkids here!!! We are blessed in many ways.
The next thing that happened was the sequester. Ryan was hit by a 20% loss of pay due to mandatory days off. They felt like they just couldn’t go at first and then we all decided to pull together and do whatever it took to make this dream happen! So with grit and determination and DVC points we managed to pull it off!
Our dates – July 9-16 staying at SSR, our home resort. With the available points, we considered a two bedroom villa for all the kids and their parents and a studio for us, and then we realized that there can be too much “togetherness” for two families who have different styles – can anyone relate to that? So it was decided that we would book three studios so everyone could have their own space at the end of the day. This turned out to be a great option.
We love our SSR. We always consider staying somewhere else more exotic, but once we’ve booked at the 11 mo. window, thinking we’ll change at the 7 mo. mark, we always end up just staying put. We love the quiet, elegance at the end of the day for our “down time.” With the new Paddock pool area, the kids all loved our resort, too!

Fast Forward now to June 2013. We are going through the process with Mark and fam to get certified as support people for their foster endevour and getting their home ready for the inspection. There were classes for them to go to , TB tests for all of us, background checks for all of us, fire inspections, home inspections, interviews for all of us… it really was a process. As the month ended, all the boxes were checked, it started to come up that we would probably be taking a baby with us to Disney.. What?? Just pull a child out of a home and take them to a place with so much extreme stimulation??? How can that be good for them???? Well, I learned that the situations they are from are so extremely stressful and fluid, that once they feel cared for, the rest doesn’t really matter. That’s where little Mav comes in. He joined our family from a rescue on Friday night, we were told he was already approved to go on vacation and everything was fine. On Saturday, we learned that the judge would need to sign the paperwork on MONDAY so we could leave on TUESDAY morning.
Somehow with lots of texts and phone calls, we had our signatures in hand by 5pm on Monday evening. Lindsay had spent the weekend repacking the suitcases and finishing autograph books for all 5 children.

Tues, July 9th – The day was finally here! Suitcases packed, cars loaded, friends from church came over to drive our two vehicles to the airport for us. We made it through security with a little eyebrow raising about little Mr. Mav. The paperwork seemed in order, and the TSA people seemed to be familiar with the process. Little Mav just seemed curious as to what was happening next. He never asked for his mom or dad. He would just crane his neck to make eye contact so he could guage your mood. He had the look in his eyes of an “old soul.” You could tell he was used to surviving on his own and he rarely cried or asked for help with anything. There were some anger issues, but all of this is improving. We can see him become more and more just a baby boy as time goes on - even at the end of a week in Disney!
We were flying SWA, and Jim and I had purchased the priority check-in and we were rewarded with some nice exit row seats. We heard that Mav had a hard time settling down on the flight, but we didn’t hear him.
We landed about noon, and stopped in the airport food court for a little lunch for the little monsters before heading to ME for our magical ride! We had to stop and take our first character photos.





Happy to be front seat on the ME bus!


Soon we were on the bus and driving up to this wonderful sight!

I teared up a little, just thinking about how wonderful it was that we were really doing this!

We had done online check-in 10 days in advance to make the process “quick and easy.” I have to say, if that was “quick” I would have hated to do the regular check in.

Our CM was very very nice, but very thorough. Even though we had stayed there before, she felt the need to go through every amenity and every map and explain how our new touch to enter key worked and that I would need my pin number to make purchases. (I didn’t even remember that I had set a pin. Oh! Oh!) She just said, “well, you’ll have to reset it.” And moved on to the next topic of where the bridge was or where to find Bell Services. After she had checked me in, she wanted to do Mark separately so we waited another 20 minutes or so for that.
Ryan and Dana weren’t coming in until midnight so I told her to do theirs separately.
Okay, here’s the good part – Our Rooms were ready!!! Miss Information had told us to ride with Bell Services and waited for someone to come back only to be told they would bring our bags. So we went to the Bell Desk, and they said if you have ME, the bags will be here later but we can give you a ride.
We decided to just take a nice walk and burn off some energy. We headed over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house – Oh, well. Anyway we were in Paddock as requested and when we got there all of our requests were met! We were in Paddock on the first floor right next to the fabulous new pool area!!! (I realize I didn't take any pics of the pool - I was just playing in the water with my babies instead :0)) I tried to upload a pic and it's not working, so I'll keep looking for one.



Next: FORE!!!!

 

[jedijill]

Wow! What a soap opera leading up to the trip! So glad you pulled it off. After sharing a 2BR with my extended family, you did the right thing with multiple studios!

Jill in CO

 

[anewmac]

All the ups and downs I can totally understand how you guys felt about not feeling like it was going to happen till you were actually on the plane. I feel like that with every vacation thanks to the military. You know how that goes LOL. Sounds like you had a great start! And that Mav is starting to find a grove with you guys so glad to hear that!

Btw when did they put seatbelts on the ME bus LOL.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Wow! What a soap opera leading up to the trip! So glad you pulled it off. After sharing a 2BR with my extended family, you did the right thing with multiple studios!

Jill in CO

Yes it was quite a journey.
So you understand where I was coming from. We've had a little drama in the past with adding girls to our family, so we just didn't want to take any chances - it really was a great move!

All the ups and downs I can totally understand how you guys felt about not feeling like it was going to happen till you were actually on the plane. I feel like that with every vacation thanks to the military. You know how that goes LOL. Sounds like you had a great start! And that Mav is starting to find a grove with you guys so glad to hear that!

Btw when did they put seatbelts on the ME bus LOL.

Yes, I totally get how the military can mess with your vacay! It is great to see him improve daily. It is fun that he loves to come to our house - he get so excited when they pull up! I think it's not to see us, though - he loves our dog!

I don't know when those seat belts showed up, but the kids were right on it!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I just remembered that I have a pic of the autograph books that Lindsay made for all 5 of the kids. She had character specific paper in them so when they ran into a character, the autograph could be on a paper that went with them. She laminated the covers and put plastic binding down the sides. Everyone loved them!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

always enjoy your trips, and looking forward to this one, thanks for the heads up

 

[MEK]

So glad you were able to pull off your trip. Sounds like the arrangements were a challenge. I do think the 2BR has some advantages, but a studio screams privacy and that's so important.

So glad Mav was able to travel with you. What a blessing for him.

Looks like you trip is off to an amazing start.

 

[Thumper_Man]

Ok. There is a good friend of ours, (Pkondz, who we've yet to meet in real life) that used to break down and cry on our TR. Oh wait. I meant do a breakdown of our chapters. I'll try that once here. If you and your readers like it, I'll try to continue doing them. If you don't like them, then I'll go back and sit in the corner again.

Here Goes.

My dream was that we would all get our schedules to work together,

That's an awfully big dream you have there.

and that we would take a Disney vacation all together and everyone would get along and have a wonderful time together.

Now you're really dreaming.

Or we'll just go I wanted to just soak in all the memories of my grandkids experiencing the Mouse and the Magic!

Or you can take Mr and Mrs. T_Man and we'll all have fun together. No!? Well I thought it was a good idea anyways.

We tried it in 2008 for a DCL cruise, and it turned into just a land vacation in Mexico with Ryan and Dana and Mason.
We tried for 2011, moved it to 2012 and FINALLY booked it for 2013. I held my breath right up until we boarded the planes that everyone would really come. There were various budget concerns for all of us, but somehow we pulled it off!

There have been a lot of bank robberies here lately. That wasn't you was it? Seeing as to how you needed to pull off this trip and all.

Jim’s retirement came into play in a big way.

His retirement is going to pay the way for everyone to stay and play all day?

God has taken good care of us, and I know there is a purpose here.

Well that's good to hear then. I guess there's no need to turn yourselves in to the authorities.

Jim is working in loss prevention at a large store and I am doing medical billing at home for my old office in Oregon and just picked up two days a week for a local doctor. We have found a nice little home in a good neighborhood and we get to spend lots of time with our grandkids here!!! We are blessed in many ways.

That's always a good thing.

Our dates – July 9-16 staying at SSR, our home resort. With the available points, we considered a two bedroom villa for all the kids and their parents and a studio for us, and then we realized that there can be too much “togetherness” for two families who have different styles – can anyone relate to that? So it was decided that we would book three studios so everyone could have their own space at the end of the day. This turned out to be a great option.

I guess this is one way to make sure everybody gets along. Plus if the parents are misbehaving, you can send them to their room.

Magic: "Ryan, quite mistreating the kids. Let them have Mickey Bars. Go to your room."
Ryan: "Mom I'm too old to go to my room."
Magic: Well I paid for them and you should always listen to your mother. Now Go!"
Ryan: "I never get to do anything." (as he throws a tantrum on Mainstreet.)

We love the quiet, elegance at the end of the day for our “down time.” With the new Paddock pool area, the kids all loved our resort, too!

Lady H and I don't own DVC, but we own a timeshare off-site. It's not too far from Disney and we always like the peace and quiet at night. Plus not a lot of people seem to use the pools here. Seems we can mostly get them to ourselves.

Fast Forward now to June 2013.

But right now it's August 15, 2013. Wouldn't that be traveling back in time?

There were classes for them to go to , TB tests for all of us, background checks for all of us, fire inspections, home inspections, interviews for all of us…

Physicals, X-Rays, MRI's, Cat Scans, psychological evaluations, blood tests.



Oh, sorry. You were saying?

it really was a process. As the month ended, all the boxes were checked, it started to come up that we would probably be taking a baby with us to Disney.. What?? Just pull a child out of a home and take them to a place with so much extreme stimulation??? How can that be good for them????

You do remember where you're going right? How bad can that be?

On Saturday, we learned that the judge would need to sign the paperwork on MONDAY so we could leave on TUESDAY morning.
Somehow with lots of texts and phone calls, we had our signatures in hand by 5pm on Monday evening.

For a minute there, I thought you were going to stalk the judge outside his chambers.

Lindsay had spent the weekend repacking the suitcases and finishing autograph books for all 5 children.

Repacking? The first time wasn't sufficient enough I'm guessing.

Tues, July 9th – The day was finally here!

And now it's gone forever. Never to be seen or heard from again.

Suitcases packed,

Did they get packed one more time for good measure? Did you remember the autograph books? Better repack them again just to be sure.

We were flying SWA, and Jim and I had purchased the priority check-in and we were rewarded with some nice exit row seats. We heard that Mav had a hard time settling down on the flight, but we didn’t hear him.

Or you heard him and pretended you didn't know those people in the back of the plane.

Soon we were on the bus and driving up to this wonderful sight!

I think this is one of the most popular pictures to take. Lady H and I had to take a picture of this as well.

I teared up a little, just thinking about how wonderful it was that we were really doing this!

Don't cry. I'll get you into see the Wizard some how.

We decided to just take a nice walk and burn off some energy. We headed over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house – Oh, well.

Just don't go into the house that is made of gingerbread and candy. And if grandma has such big teeth, RUN! That will burn off a lot of energy.

Anyway we were in Paddock as requested

Isn't a paddock a place for exercising animals? First you call the grandkids monsters, now you're putting them out in a paddock. What's next? Letting them ride Splash Mountain unsupervised.

Next: FORE!!!!

Great start Magic.

 

[anewmac]

Omg those covers are adorable love them she did a great job on those autograph books!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

always enjoy your trips, and looking forward to this one, thanks for the heads up

Dan! Thanks for coming over! I need to get caught up over on yours, too.

So glad you were able to pull off your trip. Sounds like the arrangements were a challenge. I do think the 2BR has some advantages, but a studio screams privacy and that's so important.

So glad Mav was able to travel with you. What a blessing for him.

Looks like you trip is off to an amazing start.

It was a challenge, but that made the victory that much sweeter! I was thinking a 2 BR would be good for making meals, playing games, a meeting spot if it was raining, etc. But it worked out fine anyway.
Thanks for reading!

Ok. There is a good friend of ours, (Pkondz, who we've yet to meet in real life) that used to break down and cry on our TR. Oh wait. I meant do a breakdown of our chapters. I'll try that once here. If you and your readers like it, I'll try to continue doing them. If you don't like them, then I'll go back and sit in the corner again.

Here Goes.

Please do! I love some good banter! It will make the journey that much more fun for all of us!

That's an awfully big dream you have there.



Now you're really dreaming.


Well, I do dream big!

Or you can take Mr and Mrs. T_Man and we'll all have fun together. No!? Well I thought it was a good idea anyways.

You never know, Mark and Lindz might adopt you!


There have been a lot of bank robberies here lately. That wasn't you was it? Seeing as to how you needed to pull off this trip and all.

I think it was a

His retirement is going to pay the way for everyone to stay and play all day?

If only! When he first retired, he got a notice that our cobra insurance was cancelled - when he called, they said they had him down as retiring from NASA. He offered to let it stay that way if he could have THAT check.

Well that's good to hear then. I guess there's no need to turn yourselves in to the authorities.



That's always a good thing.




I guess this is one way to make sure everybody gets along. Plus if the parents are misbehaving, you can send them to their room.

Magic: "Ryan, quite mistreating the kids. Let them have Mickey Bars. Go to your room."
Ryan: "Mom I'm too old to go to my room."
Magic: Well I paid for them and you should always listen to your mother. Now Go!"
Ryan: "I never get to do anything." (as he throws a tantrum on Mainstreet.)


That's about right! Are you sure you don't have kids? He would be pouting because he didn't get the turkey leg, though!
Lady H and I don't own DVC, but we own a timeshare off-site. It's not too far from Disney and we always like the peace and quiet at night. Plus not a lot of people seem to use the pools here. Seems we can mostly get them to ourselves.
A little time away from the parks is nice!

But right now it's August 15, 2013. Wouldn't that be traveling back in time?

Oh yeah, better fire up the Delorean!

Physicals, X-Rays, MRI's, Cat Scans, psychological evaluations, blood tests.



Oh, sorry. You were saying?



You do remember where you're going right? How bad can that be?

I should have had faith in the Mouse!

For a minute there, I thought you were going to stalk the judge outside his chambers.

I think Lindsay considered it.

Repacking? The first time wasn't sufficient enough I'm guessing.

She had to make room for diapers. Lots of them.

And now it's gone forever. Never to be seen or heard from again.



Did they get packed one more time for good measure? Did you remember the autograph books? Better repack them again just to be sure.

Yep. Pull everything out, count the books, and start all over!

Or you heard him and pretended you didn't know those people in the back of the plane.

How did you guess?

I think this is one of the most popular pictures to take. Lady H and I had to take a picture of this as well.

Someone else posted on a TR that they make this great landmark for you and then don't let you stop to take the picture!

Don't cry. I'll get you into see the Wizard some how.




Just don't go into the house that is made of gingerbread and candy. And if grandma has such big teeth, RUN! That will burn off a lot of energy.



Isn't a paddock a place for exercising animals? First you call the grandkids monsters, now you're putting them out in a paddock. What's next? Letting them ride Splash Mountain unsupervised.

Good idea! Actually some threats were made later in the trip!

Great start Magic.

Thank you, and thanks for your comments!

Omg those covers are adorable love them she did a great job on those autograph books!!

I know! It almost made me want to dig into the huge box of scrapbook stuff I brought to Texas that I will probably never really use.

 

[CRdisMom]

late but here. this whole working mom thing is really tiring. 16 hour days. Crazy stuff. I'll go back and read later

 

[ladylyons]

The autograph books look great!!

That's great that Maverick is adjusting to the family!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

late but here. this whole working mom thing is really tiring. 16 hour days. Crazy stuff. I'll go back and read later

I Laura!!! So happy you're here! Wow 16 hr days! I thought my ten hour days last week between two jobs was a lot. Try to take it easy or you'll get sick.

The autograph books look great!!

That's great that Maverick is adjusting to the family!!

Yes, they did turn out really great. I love what you can do with a Cricket.
He was doing really well. I guess he's having some troubles lately. The state makes him go to daycare in order to save a spot for the school year, so that is new, and then the new baby I think threw him over the edge. He has been back to biting himself and hitting his head on things. They are looking for a way to help him.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Okay, I have managed to upload some SSR photos from the web. Our rooms were refurbished, and they had more "horse" related touches than I remember, so this might not be the same building, but it was laid out like this one. The throw pillows had Maximus on them, and the drapes were tied back with bridle leads - very subtle and cute.

This is what our room was like - we had a sweet patio with an arched brick portico – our view was of the lawns and water – very pretty! Wish I had taken pics from outside. I really enjoyed my coffee out there in the mornings
These people are not us - just posers!



One of the lake with the fountains on, and the bridge back toward the carriage house

 

[englishrose47]

Nice room and posers