Hicks on Holiday 2 - Done Brung the Kin Folk-Sept. 07 w/pics UPDATE 12/10/08 pg 41

Laundry Quandry...

Since we have discussed laundry before, I thought I'd give you a sneak peak of what it takes to get ready for a trip like this.

Yesterday I managed to do 4 loads of laundry, and today I am doing at least one. (We have to be gone most of the afternoon.)

While packing the other day, I started to do the math:

45 pairs of socks
45 pairs of underwear
32 pairs of shorts
4 pairs of pants (Daddy doesn't do shorts.)
36 t-shirts
18 pairs of pjs
9 bathing suits
9 pairs of sandals
And that's with doing laundry at Pop. Whew.

With my mom's stuff we will have 4 large suitcases, and 2 carry-ons.
7 backpacks and 2 tote bags of travel activities. (the kids each get to pack their own, plus I bring stuff.)
Hard sided cooler for in the van
Small soft sided cooler for in the parks
1 back pack/diaper bag for in the parks.
2 Fanny packs and one purse for in the parks
Several cameras
several pillows

We DON'T have personal gaming systems, mp3 players, or a dvd system.
We feel if the books and games we bring along are not entertaining enough, they can always look out the window, because that picture changes all the time. :lmao:

We're planning on leaving at 4 am on Saturday. John is used to going to work at that time, so we might as well get up and get moving. We're hoping to get to our first's night stop by supper time.

Then dinner, hit the pool, get some sleep, up by 6 am, and we're off for a short 8-10 hour drive to WDW!!! :woohoo:

I'll probably check in once more before we leave.
Off to pack more! :thumbsup2


That's too bad your inlaws can't go with you. Come on, it's ONLY an 18-19 hour drive, why do you need to stop? Just keep driving, just keep driving....

We once did the drive in 16 hours, but I'm still not sure how that happened.
 
Thanks, now I have that stupid song running through my mind.......it's the final countdown.........................................:eek:

I'm excited for you that your trip is so close!
 
I was just trying to catch up with your pretrippy, and I knew this part was coming, and I started crying before I started reading. :hug: Geesh, I keep trying to write something, but nothing really conveys my feelings, so let just put another hug here,:hug: and know I'm crying and hugging my babies! :hug:

Ya know, we're ok now. Thanks for the extra hugs though! The further away we get from it, the better it is.

I know that you can't compare people's pain, but I feel much worse about people I care about losing babies than I do about ds getting hurt. :hug:
We still have him, so it's all good.

That's too bad your inlaws can't go with you. Come on, it's ONLY an 18-19 hour drive, why do you need to stop? Just keep driving, just keep driving....

We once did the drive in 16 hours, but I'm still not sure how that happened.

I am blessed with a dh who sees the benefits of stopping now and again.
[He even lets us sit in restaurants and eat food that's served to us!]
My dad was all about "making time" when we would travel. Sandwiches in the back seat. Yikes!

Thanks, now I have that stupid song running through my mind.......it's the final countdown.........................................:eek:

I'm excited for you that your trip is so close!

So am I. You have no idea. Good thing our needing a vacation and our actual vacation are coinciding!
:banana:
 
It's the final countdown...doo do doo doo....
(hard to do 80's rock with only words)

Well...the time has come...to start that final countdown from 10 to WDW!

In 10 days, God willing, we will be leaving for WDW.

Actually it's 9 days, 7 hours, and 35 minutes. But whose counting? :lmao:

Our crew has been reduced by three from our original 16. As I mentioned earlier, BIL could not get the time off of work. Now MIL and FIL have cancelled due to MIL's illness. We are bummed.
We are also thankful that her condition is stable enough that at this point we feel comfortable in still going.

We are waiting with baited breath to find out if my mom can still go, as she has had some health issues the past week also. I guess we should have tried this year's ago, when we all were a bit younger!

Also, SIL decided to fly, so although she will be leaving a day after we do, she will arrive in Orlando approximately 4 hours before we do. Lucky girl!
She is only staying the first week, and then she has to get her kids back to school.
(Again, may I expound upon the virtues of homeschooling, and the flexibility it lends to travel? But I digres....)

So our new cast of characters are:
Me (Sarah) - Mom and trip planner

DH (John, aka Ninja Boy, aka Indiana Jones) - hubby and trip payer.

Disney Girl - My 13yo dd.

The Chef - My 11yo ds.

Danger Boy - My ds, 8.

The Inquisitor- My 6yo ds.

Princess K - 4yo dd.

Bitsy - DD, 3yo.

Babycakes - DD1, this is her first trip.

Mom - My mom, who has never gone on any such excursion before, and will be with us for the whole 14 days (11 nights at WDW.)
IF she gets back up to speed where health issues are concerned!
(These parents are giving ME heart attacks!)

SIL - Hmmm, I haven't come up with a good nickname. Maybe she'll earn one on the trip.
She's the one that fell down and hurt her knee a couple of weeks ago.
She's feeling much better, and if we need to get her a wheelchair some days, we'll do it.

Nephew - Almost 9 yo. I'll call him Stitch, because that is his favorite character.

And last but not least, Niece - 10.5 yo. I'll call her Pocohontas. That's her fav too.

So there ya go. Suitcases are almost packed, new camera purchase, photopass pre-purchased, SIL's flight booked, LGMH pilferred from Home Depot....

Thanks for sticking with us this far!

Hey! I'm so excited for you all!:dance3: I know you all are counting down also!1:banana: We are too! we have 11 days to POP free dining!:dance3:
Hey I don't know if I told you,?? We are flying!:thumbsup2 .
Do you know anything about the magic bus? I was told that the bus will stop at the store? is that true?
Please e-mail me back. Thank you,Kathy:flower3:
 


Hey! I'm so excited for you all!:dance3: I know you all are counting down also!1:banana: We are too! we have 11 days to POP free dining!:dance3:
Hey I don't know if I told you,?? We are flying!:thumbsup2 .
Do you know anything about the magic bus? I was told that the bus will stop at the store? is that true?
Please e-mail me back. Thank you,Kathy:flower3:

I heard you got a great deal on a flight. Congrats! :banana:

As far as I know the Disney Magical Express Bus does not make stops at stores. But that's probably because it would take too long for everyone to shop.
A lot of people use some sort of shopping service where you order stuff and they deliver it. I would ask around the board and see how much that costs and if you still have time.

Have fun packing! LOL
 
YAY!! I'm so excited that it's almost time for you to go away!! Oh, wait, scratch that... I'm so excited for you!! I'm also a little jealous *sigh*. We went to Chicago last week, but it wasn't quite Disney, know what I mean? I can't wait to hear how your trip went when you get back!
 
YAY!! I'm so excited that it's almost time for you to go away!! Oh, wait, scratch that... I'm so excited for you!! I'm also a little jealous *sigh*. We went to Chicago last week, but it wasn't quite Disney, know what I mean? I can't wait to hear how your trip went when you get back!

[Abby says "Ah, Mrs. Heather."]

Oh sure, you're just trying to get rid of us so there's more room at Walmart. Well ha-ha on you, we don't go to Walmart! :faint: LOL

Yup, just 3 more days and we'll be loading the bus.
Here's John :drive:

Here's the rest of us :crowded:

But when we get there it will be party:

And a lot of pixiedust:

But until Saturday it's just going to be a lot of :laundy:

:lmao:

I'll try to post more before we leave....Off to pack...again!
 


Dear Sarah
Good Luck on travel and Have a great time...... God bless you and your family(7 KIDS:scared1: ) in Disney. Or should I say god bless you and your sanity on that trip!:) I have a hard time driving to Boston on a five hour trip with three kids (sometimes four) I am really jealous that you are going now and I still have THREE MONTHS TO GO!:confused3. I have loved your pre-trippie and can't wait to read you trip report! Please let us all know where you ate and how they were etc etc. I really would love to see pics of the CM when you tell them how many of people there are!:yay:
So have a safe trip and have a pixiedust: MAGICACL TIME! pixiedust:

How did you get that other ticker? i really like that one!!!
 
Dear Sarah
Good Luck on travel and Have a great time...... God bless you and your family(7 KIDS:scared1: ) in Disney. Or should I say god bless you and your sanity on that trip!:) I have a hard time driving to Boston on a five hour trip with three kids (sometimes four) I am really jealous that you are going now and I still have THREE MONTHS TO GO!:confused3. I have loved your pre-trippie and can't wait to read you trip report! Please let us all know where you ate and how they were etc etc. I really would love to see pics of the CM when you tell them how many of people there are!:yay:
So have a safe trip and have a pixiedust: MAGICACL TIME! pixiedust:

How did you get that other ticker? i really like that one!!!


Thanks Stephanie! :goodvibes
Are you staying at the Cabins this time? I LOVE FW! Maybe someday we'll go back there. Sigh.

Thanks for reading!
 
Just a friendly bump to welcome you home! Are you home yet? And are you writing yet? :thumbsup2

I hope the trip was magically excellent! We can't wait to hear all about it! :goodvibes
 
Part 1 - Just a few fireworks short of a Wishes Display

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Yes, that's us. Crazy. Setting out with 3 adults and 7 children for WDW.

Gonna tell ya'll a story of a man named John,
wife wanted Disneyworld so he got conned,
Mother in law was in the mix, so a real saint was he,
Loaded up the kinfolk, and they were off for Dis-nye-eee.

Day 1 - On the Road Again...
Notice the Hick shout out to Willie Nelson. It will most likely be the only one.
Oh wait, did I forget to mention that although dh and I are Hick-ish, we detest country music?
Well, hopefully y’all will forgive that and accept us as the flawed hicks we are.

So it was 4 am, and we were on the road to Florida.
We had gassed up the van the day before, but forgot to make DH a cup of coffee to go, so had to make a quick stop at the quickie mart for some joe.
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Properly jazzed, dh pointed the van south and we were off.

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I’m not including a pic of Grandma just yet, as she slept most of the way and the pic I snapped is not the most flattering.

Along the way we had three, yes count them, THREE bouts of car-sickness complete with wardrobe changes.
I was not properly prepared for this. I had only packed 4 days worth of clothes with a few extra pairs of pants for the littlest.
I never thought about extra shirts being an issue.
Note to self for the next trip – wear extra outfits in the van.

Or FLY.

Without children.

We made a quick lunch stop at a Wendy’s in KY or TN (can’t remember which side of the border we were on), which seemed to set everything right with the queasy tummy set, and were off for Chattanooga.
We love the ride through TN. It is a beautiful state and we hope to visit there some more in the future.

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Well, there must have been some sort of rift in the space time continuum, because we made it to Chattanooga by 2:30 pm.
It would never happen again on this trip. Apparently, if you cheat time and space, you have to pay it back, with interest. But more on that later.

We checked into the Lookout Mountain Comfort Inn and Suites [Off 24 on Browns Ferry Rd. We recommend it.
But not the pool. But more on that later.]

Somewhere between Michigan and Chattanooga I remembered that I had forgotten laundry detergent. Well we were needing it now.
At check in I asked for the nearest Walmart. I had done some internet research for a restaurant near by, and had settled on a Cracker Barrel and low and behold it was the same direction as the Walmart, so all was good.

We took a pre-dinner dip in the pool. The pool was very warm.
The hot tub was cold. :confused3
So we stuck with the pool.

It smelled A LOT like chlorine.
I mean a lot.
I mean open the bleach bottle and take a sniff. Ugh.
And the water was really salty also. Then we noticed that DS11's swimsuit had majorly changed color. And later, we noticed that dd13's brand new swimsuit had faded also. ARGH.
So I don’t recommend the pool facility.
We cleaned up and headed out for dinner.
Walmart found, detergent in hand, goooood [Hush puppies....DROOL....]southern meal under our belts (well, literally, and figuratively) we settled down for a good nights sleep.

Next up: Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...what do you do you swim swim swim...
 
Hooray, you've started your TR! :cheer2:

The picture are adorable, keep them coming.

By the way, I think you need to move over to the regular Trip Reports Area. I know this will be a hilarious report, we need to be able to find it! Can't wait to hear more! :goodvibes
 
Hooray, you've started your TR! :cheer2:

The picture are adorable, keep them coming.

By the way, I think you need to move over to the regular Trip Reports Area. I know this will be a hilarious report, we need to be able to find it! Can't wait to hear more! :goodvibes

How do I do that? I want to keep the whole thing intact, but I don't know how to do that? :confused3

Thanks for reading! :goodvibes
 
How do I do that? I want to keep the whole thing intact, but I don't know how to do that? :confused3

Thanks for reading! :goodvibes

Just send a PM to OhMari asking her to move this to the main TR board since you've returned from your trip. She's a mod on this board and she'll be able to take care of it for you.

Nice job so far, by the way. :goodvibes
 
Just send a PM to OhMari asking her to move this to the main TR board since you've returned from your trip. She's a mod on this board and she'll be able to take care of it for you.

Nice job so far, by the way. :goodvibes

Thanks oh omnicient one! LOL

I have to get started on a food report also. Thinking of calling it Vittles a Go-Go. :banana:
 
great report:surfweb:


Thanks! I've always gotten a giggle over that pic of your son sleeping on the bus. :thumbsup2

All Brooklyn-ites welcome. I have been to Manhattan (YEARS ago) but never Brooklyn. Quite a change from Hickville, I am sure! :)

Thanks for reading!
 

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