How much Christmas can we squeeze into 3 days? Nov/Dec 2015 TR *NEW TR Link 5/18!*

[Pluto0809]

I'm here! I"m probably just going to forget about trying to go back and catch up on your PTR and start fresh here.

Great start and I can't wait to see the reveal!

 

[missjackiemcg]

The boys look just happy as can be with their mini-vacation hotel trip I love Jake in the tray playing!! Hotel picnic dinners are some of my favs Can't wait to hear about the big reveal!!!!

 

[KathyM2]

Great trip so far!! Can't wait to hear about the reveal! I find it so funny though how kids seem to love staying in hotels so much that even if they really were just going to check into a hotel for the night that would have been awesome lol

 

[NJlauren]

Glad you're following along! Are you doing a TR

I am! Bonus Holiday 2015 Would love to have you join me over there too !

I am so excited to see how the surprise went!!!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[MissMaryQC]

Woohoo! secret Disney night one looks good!!

Can't wait to see those sweet little grins for the reveal!

 

[buteraa]

signing up....ready to hear more!

 

[hokieinpa]

That picture is just adorable!

Thanks! I think he's pretty cute most of the time, too!

Fingers crossed you get to book it this year. A solo trip to POFQ sounds like great fun

I'm so excited about this trip for so many reasons. Most of my Disney daydreaming is spent thinking about solo time in Epcot!

Driving to the airport the night before is smart. My family is terrible and we never plan our travel day(s) that well.

It makes life easier overall for us - the boys are very slow movers in the morning and I think the rush would just be too much for us!

Smart thinking on the fly!

Macgyver Mommy to the rescue!

I'm here!!!

Part 1 of travelling seemed to go very smoothly! I love all the pics of the boys in the hotel, they seemed to be having such fun. Little did they know what was to come!

Thanks for joining in!

It was so much fun that night. Jim and I kept looking at each other and whispering "They have no idea what is happening tomorrow!"

I'm here! I"m probably just going to forget about trying to go back and catch up on your PTR and start fresh here.

Great start and I can't wait to see the reveal!

Thanks for following along!

We did have a really fun little night - just enough to make them believe that it really was a mini-vacation! Little did they know...

The boys look just happy as can be with their mini-vacation hotel trip I love Jake in the tray playing!! Hotel picnic dinners are some of my favs Can't wait to hear about the big reveal!!!!

They really did have a great time that night! It makes me think we should plan more relaxing weekend getaways like that. But then they would always be expecting a Disney vacation on the other end!!

Great trip so far!! Can't wait to hear about the reveal! I find it so funny though how kids seem to love staying in hotels so much that even if they really were just going to check into a hotel for the night that would have been awesome lol

The hotel was an adventure for them! We only stay in hotels once or twice a year so it really was a special treat. And it was a good way to pass those few hours when I was so ready to spill the secret!

I am! Bonus Holiday 2015 Would love to have you join me over there too !

I am so excited to see how the surprise went!!!

Found you and following along!

Thanks - it went just as I imagined it would!

Here! I'd even love a one day getaway at this point in the Christmas season!

Thanks for following along!

I agree - a little vacation would be nice right about now!

Woohoo! secret Disney night one looks good!!

Can't wait to see those sweet little grins for the reveal!

Thanks for joining in!

We had a really fun night! Little did they know what was coming the next morning!!

 

[hokieinpa]

signing up....ready to hear more!

Thanks for following along!!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Travel Day 0 sounded like fun. I take my kids to Portland (closest city with major airport) all the time for shopping weekends. I might be able to spring a surprise trip on them. I did that a couple of years ago to Disneyland (but we were driving). Told them we were going to the cabin. They were kind of upset that they weren't going to the cabin, although they love Disneyland. Last summer, we couldn't go to Disney, but did a vacation to Seattle. I think the kids got a little excited every time I ended up driving near the airport. Nope, not a surprise trip to Disney kids.

Can't wait to hear how the surprise went.

 

[purplelover88]

I can't wait to read about the surprise! This trip sounds great, Christmas is my favorite time to go to Disney so I'm glad you were able to sneak in a quick trip to experience it. Can't wait to read more.

 

[hokieinpa]

Travel Day 0 sounded like fun. I take my kids to Portland (closest city with major airport) all the time for shopping weekends. I might be able to spring a surprise trip on them. I did that a couple of years ago to Disneyland (but we were driving). Told them we were going to the cabin. They were kind of upset that they weren't going to the cabin, although they love Disneyland. Last summer, we couldn't go to Disney, but did a vacation to Seattle. I think the kids got a little excited every time I ended up driving near the airport. Nope, not a surprise trip to Disney kids.

Can't wait to hear how the surprise went.

Sounds like you had a fun surprise trip to Disneyland! Nate has already told me that he wants all of our trips (Disney and non-Disney) to be surprises from now on. That is just not happening!

I can't wait to read about the surprise! This trip sounds great, Christmas is my favorite time to go to Disney so I'm glad you were able to sneak in a quick trip to experience it. Can't wait to read more.

I loved Christmas at Disney! It was really amazing. We were really lucky to get the chance for this quick trip, especially with it being the last year for the Osborne Lights!

 

[kastoney]

Hey Jamie. Followed you over from Billie's thread and subbing in. Looks like the mini vacation was a great start to your vacation. Can't wait to see how the surprise goes and see all the Christmas beauty.

By the way gotta ask if you all went to VT? My hubby and I both did and I wasn't sure if you're just "hokie" or a "hokie." Love it either way ; )

 

[Elevationist]

I'm here, I'm here!

Me (Jamie)

I see one of your cute new bows! I so need to do those for my next trip!

If you remember events from previous vacations with my in-laws, last minute plans and changes don't exactly thrill me...so more on this later.

Oy vey.

This trip was somewhat "last minute" in that I only planned it 6.5 months in advance.

ONLY 6.5 months in advance. You're SO SPONTANEOUS.

Jake decided he needed some peace and quiet for a nap.

That is a child after my own nap-loving heart.

That's chocolate milk in those disposable coffee ups. I was worried about spills with open bottles (thus the towel) and I didn't have cups in our overnight bag so this is what it was!

Seems legit. I mean, if you think about it, disposable coffee cups are nothing but sippie cups for grown-ups anyhow.

Jake found a comfortable spot, obviously.

Kids are so weird.

 

[hokieinpa]

Hey Jamie. Followed you over from Billie's thread and subbing in. Looks like the mini vacation was a great start to your vacation. Can't wait to see how the surprise goes and see all the Christmas beauty.

Thanks for joining in! It was a really fun night and had them totally fooled for the big surprise!

By the way gotta ask if you all went to VT? My hubby and I both did and I wasn't sure if you're just "hokie" or a "hokie." Love it either way ; )

YES! GO HOKIES! Both my husband and I went to VT. I graduated in 2006 with my BA and 2007 with my MAEd. My husband graduated in 2008. I miss Blacksburg! So good to meet another Hokie on here!!

I'm here, I'm here!

Yay!! Now the party can really get started!

I see one of your cute new bows! I so need to do those for my next trip!

They were super cute! I need to pick out a few new ones for May and October. They took about 6 weeks after I ordered them and it took her about 2 weeks to modify my ears so plan accordingly!

Oy vey.

Seriously. How hard is it to plan and give someone more than a few days notice?

ONLY 6.5 months in advance. You're SO SPONTANEOUS.

I do like to walk on the wild side!

That is a child after my own nap-loving heart.

I do love them all dearly...but I just may love the one that still naps a little more.

Seems legit. I mean, if you think about it, disposable coffee cups are nothing but sippie cups for grown-ups anyhow.

Not such a bad idea for Food & Wine in the fall...

Kids are so weird.

Totally agree.

 

[hokieinpa]

"I'm so excited that I punched my eye out by accident!"

Today was the big day!! Months of planning and keeping the secret locked up tight were finally about to pay off.



But we still had a few more hours to get through before the big reveal!

I woke up at 6 and Nate was already awake. We went into the living room and chatted some before I went in and woke the others up. We all got ready and I headed downstairs to grab some breakfast. We all had a combination of cereal, yogurt, and some fruit pouches for the boys that I had brought from home. We packed up our overnight bag and Jim took it all down to the car.

The plan was for Jim to take the boys into the bedroom for a final sweep to make sure we didn't leave anything behind. While he had them in the other room, I grabbed Mickey and our letter from my bag and got it set up.



I called them out to the living room and Nate found the note right away. I told him to read it aloud and when he got to the end...nothing. Jim and I had to literally break it down for them but when they finally got it...pure magic! They were so excited! Here is the video link if you want to see the big moment!

If you watch to the end, you'll hear Nate say, "I'm so excited that I punched my eye out by accident!", and see him holding his hand over his eye. I have no idea how it happened, but he must have someone hit himself in the eye when he was jumping around. It was actually really red and he said things looked blurry. I was worried that we would need to visit an urgent care place but it cleared up and he said things looked normal on our drive to the airport. No eye trauma before a Disney trip!

After the excitement/injury, we grabbed the last things from the room and headed to the airport.

We were going to Disney World!


Up next - To the Airport!

 

[hokieinpa]

To the Airport!

The boys were literally bouncing off the walls with excitement...and maybe I was too! We did manage to wrangle them into the car and drove the 10 minutes to the Pittsburgh Airport.



Curbside check in was quick and easy. I already had boarding passes so we just needed to check our bags. I took the boys inside while Jim went to park the car.

We checked out a Christmas display near the door.



And visited our favorite bridge statue/transformer/robot - Arch.



The boys seriously love this guy.



Jim got back from parking the car and we headed down to security. It was quick and easy. Jake's car seat was the only hold up since it had to be inspected because it doesn't fit through the scanner.

Soon, we were on the mini monorail of Pittsburgh and over to the terminal. We headed straight over to the play area to let the boys run off some energy!







I finally got to put on my Magic Band. I got pink this time!



I went to get coffee and water at this point while the boys played some more. Soon, it was time to head to our gate. Nate liked this tree on the way to our gate and insisted that I take a picture.



It was PACKED, of course. The flight was full but we did family boarding and had no issues getting rows together.

Colin got down to business, reading up on emergency procedures.





Bye, rainy Pittsburgh! Orlando, here we come!



Jake fell asleep about 5 minutes after this picture was taken. It was a quiet, easy flight. Nate and Colin played games on the Leap Pad and watched shows on my phone. The flight was very fast and we landed at MCO a full 30 minutes early!

My parents flew into MCO from Richmond and landed just a little before us. They met us at our gate and we all headed on the Baby Monorail (as Colin calls it) to catch the Magical Express!





Happy to be there, finally!



The boys love sitting on the seat and looking our the window.

Soon, we were headed to our first magical ride!





Another big tree, another picture request from Nate.



Does seeing this sign make anyone else just smile?



Nate liked this astronaut at the NASA store. Photo op totally necessary.

Soon we were there! Ready for the magic to begin!




Next up - Magical Express and POP!

 

[NJlauren]

YEAH! That surprise was do fun! I don't know how you didn't mention it in front of them for so long, i would have such a hard time!

Play area in the airport! UMM love this!!!

Congrats on a quick, painless flight!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I called them out to the living room and Nate found the note right away. I told him to read it aloud and when he got to the end...nothing. Jim and I had to literally break it down for them but when they finally got it...pure magic! They were so excited! Here is the video link if you want to see the big moment!

I love how there was a complete non-reaction at first and then an explosion of happiness.

 

[kastoney]

YES! GO HOKIES! Both my husband and I went to VT. I graduated in 2006 with my BA and 2007 with my MAEd. My husband graduated in 2008. I miss Blacksburg! So good to meet another Hokie on here!!

GO HOKIES!!!!! Though I graduated a bit earlier than you, like ten years earlier, but graduated none the less ; ) I miss it too, it's been way too long (aka since my daughter was born) since we've been down there.

f you watch to the end, you'll hear Nate say, "I'm so excited that I punched my eye out by accident!", and see him holding his hand over his eye. I have no idea how it happened, but he must have someone hit himself in the eye when he was jumping around. It was actually really red and he said things looked blurry. I was worried that we would need to visit an urgent care place but it cleared up and he said things looked normal on our drive to the airport. No eye trauma before a Disney trip!

Eye punch aside, this is an awesome video. Surprises are so much fun.

Soon, we were on the mini monorail of Pittsburgh and over to the terminal. We headed straight over to the play area to let the boys run off some energy!

What a great thing to have at the airport. Ours has nothing for kids.

Does seeing this sign make anyone else just smile?

Gets me every time and my daughter always has to take a photo with it ; )