"We're following Dad to work....SURPRISE!!!" Secret's out Trip - May/June 2013

[shell8558]

Love reading your reports. Your Christmas story of the little boy made me cry- I am so glad that his family got adopted for Christmas!!! So Wonderful!!! (Also glad to see a fellow Louisiana girl on Dis)

 

[BridgetR3]

Love reading your reports. Your Christmas story of the little boy made me cry- I am so glad that his family got adopted for Christmas!!! So Wonderful!!! (Also glad to see a fellow Louisiana girl on Dis)

Thank you for joining in!!! I'm glad to hear that others are reading my trip reports! Yes isn't that the sweetest Christmas story ever?!!?!? I took the erasers he gave me and put them into ornaments so that I'll always remember this Christmas with him.

I was very thankful that so many people adopted the family. We were able to deliver over $300 worth of food, toys, gifts, and gift cards yesterday to a very appreciative family. The mom cried a lot while she thanked us for the stuff. It was one of those moments that reminds us of the true reason for Christmas!

I'll be back a little later to share a pic of the ornaments with my small life update.

I sent you a PM, Shell, just a few minutes ago. Please stay safe in the bad weather tonight!

 

[BridgetR3]

This past weekend my hubby and I attended a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert as our Christmas gift to ourselves. We were able to convince his parents (Nannia and Poppa from our trip report) that they really wanted the kiddos for two nights so that we could do a little last minute Christmas shopping as well. I was able to go to Ikea!! I love that place!! We also stopped by the Galleria and went down to Galveston to look around a bit.

Here are a few pics from our trip - Please excuse the quality as they were taken with my phone.

The stage from the TSO concert.

There is a musician at the top of each platform. The platforms were VERY high in the air.

I'm not sure if I can link it here so I'll just tell ya'll. If you are interested, go to youtube and search trans siberian orchestra carol of the bells. That will give you a taste of what we saw.

Dee, I'm not sure you would have liked it with all the lights, noise, and fire. We loved it but I can see how it could mess with someone's sensory issues.

One of the many red lights in Galveston that you DON'T want to run.... only thing to stop you is the Gulf of Mexico.

A picture I took from the ferry of the other ferry

A brown pelican in the water

Lastly, I wanted to share a pic of the ornament I put together with the erasers. I purchased two small plastic ornaments that I put "snow" in. Then I placed two erasers in each ornament. On the front of each ornament I wrote his name and the year 2012. Here's a photo of the back of the ornament...

Lastly tonight I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! All of my friends in the southern states PLEASE stay safe tonight and tomorrow!!!

 

[shell8558]

Love the pics! Was that at the Woodlands? (One of my favorite places to see a concert!! We were there last month to see Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean)

Have you seen the house that is lit up and is synchronized with the music from the Trans Siberian Orchestra? It is located on Alder Street. You would love it- I believe they have a website. ( lakearealightshow.com)

 

[BridgetR3]

Love the pics! Was that at the Woodlands? (One of my favorite places to see a concert!! We were there last month to see Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean)

Have you seen the house that is lit up and is synchronized with the music from the Trans Siberian Orchestra? It is located on Alder Street. You would love it- I believe they have a website. ( lakearealightshow.com)

Nope it was at the Toyota Center although we love the Woodlands too. We went to see the house on Alder Street last night after church and the traffic was not moving and backed up far down Ham Reid Rd. so we decided to go back another night. I'm hoping they do it a little while after Christmas too so that we can see it! Thanks for letting me know about it!!!

 

[shell8558]

Try turning on Aspen or Birch instead of Alder and follow it down. T here is a connecting road at the end- Hawthorne. You can see the lights from the opposite side of the street. We have gone three times and we are always the first or second car in line. Perfect!

 

[cstorm65]

I followed over from your last trip report as I sit here snowed in on Christmas day. We are going in June of 2013 as well. am a high school teacher/coach and DW is a elementary counselor so we are taking advantage of the end of school as well. We leave June 1!

We went to TSO a couple of years ago...it was awesome. Looking forward to reading about your preparations.

Merry Christmas!

 

[BridgetR3]

I followed over from your last trip report as I sit here snowed in on Christmas day. We are going in June of 2013 as well. am a high school teacher/coach and DW is a elementary counselor so we are taking advantage of the end of school as well. We leave June 1!

We went to TSO a couple of years ago...it was awesome. Looking forward to reading about your preparations.

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for joining us!!! Ahhh to be snowed in.....I think I would enjoy that once! Instead we had storms for Christmas but luckily we fared really well and no tornadoes where we live or where we were spending Christmas. Snow would have been awesome but I hate the cold so I'm thankful that most winters here are mild.

Looks like we will be neighbors for part of our trips!!! Boardwalk Villas were also a choice for us but I'm not sure about the slide. Geez....the clown scares me! Anyways, silly I know but that's the truth.

Yes we loved TSO this past weekend. It's definitely something we will have to do again!

Merry belated Christmas to you as well!!!

 

[BridgetR3]

So here's the problem except that it's not really a problem at all......more of a choice......

We are going to buy AP's for our June trip. We couldn't decide between adding the days at Universal since it's buy 2 get one free right now OR just adding water parks and more to our AP's (I think that makes them premium if I used the right word). It all works out to about the same in the end. I'm voting for water parks and more. Here's why.....

We would at most spend only two days at UO so the buy 2 get one free doesn't help since you still have to buy two at regular price. Also, if we do UO during this trip, we would miss out on an opportunity to do the water parks this time. There is no way I'll do water parks in Nov./Dec. but I would go to UO in Nov./Dec.

Lastly, we were talking this weekend on our long car ride home and talked about squeezing in a third trip on these AP's to "get our monies worth" in late May 2014. If we buy the premium AP's we could possibly do water parks on that trip too.

So after ALL that babbling, I'm saving enough money for the Premium Passes. I wish DH would take advantage of the golf part of this pass as he loves to golf but won't go alone. I know he would love to use the trails at Disney. I just wish we had friends who were going the same time we were.

So I leave you all with this - Tell me about Quest. Do you pay to play inside once you are in the building or is it all free since you pay to get in? What kind of games are inside? Would my 10 and 6 year old enjoy it? Would they never want to leave? (This seems to be a problem with them.)

 

[cstorm65]

Thanks for joining us!!! Ahhh to be snowed in.....I think I would enjoy that once! Instead we had storms for Christmas but luckily we fared really well and no tornadoes where we live or where we were spending Christmas. Snow would have been awesome but I hate the cold so I'm thankful that most winters here are mild.

Looks like we will be neighbors for part of our trips!!! Boardwalk Villas were also a choice for us but I'm not sure about the slide. Geez....the clown scares me! Anyways, silly I know but that's the truth.

Yes we loved TSO this past weekend. It's definitely something we will have to do again!

Merry belated Christmas to you as well!!!

We have the same thought about the clown, but i saw that they are renovating the Boardwalk pool from January to March. We are definitely hoping that means they are getting rid of the clown in favor of a new slide. I am trying to figure out what all is being done if the renovation takes 3 months. That seems like a long time if they are just replacing only a slide. At least we will get to see pictures before we leave.

 

[BridgetR3]

We have the same thought about the clown, but i saw that they are renovating the Boardwalk pool from January to March. We are definitely hoping that means they are getting rid of the clown in favor of a new slide. I am trying to figure out what all is being done if the renovation takes 3 months. That seems like a long time if they are just replacing only a slide. At least we will get to see pictures before we leave.

A new pool would be awesome!!!! That is DH's favorite DVC place so far (Boardwalk Villas) but I just can't do it yet. Now if they have a new pool, we may be in for a deal!!!

 

[Deesknee]

TSO, my husband loves them. What a treat! looks like it was amazing!

About swimming in November. We've done it. But, keep in mind when we leave home it is usually about 40degrees and Orlando is usually about 80, which makes Orlando seem like it is about 100!
We've only been to Quest once. It was too much for me to handle, and that was before the vertigo. It is an AMAZING video arcade, but a video arcade none the less, so we tend to skip it. (not that I could EVER do it now). If I remember correctly, we are talking about 14 years ago, there was no extra charge for the games, but there was food available inside. DH seems to think there was 1 "video game" that there was an extra charge for, but we didn't do it. Here is my biggest complaint with Disney Quest... it is so easy to get lost in, or more importantly to loose a child in. I was nervous. But that is just my personality. I'm sure there are others who would say I am crazy. Hopefully, someone with more experience with Disney Quest will speak up.

About your DH golfing..... how about taking this opportunity to teach your oldest? They have a 9 hole course, which I hear is very nice.

Boy, 3 trips in 1 year? That's the way to swim in that cool aid! We did that once & it was awesome. We had 1 trip with friend of the triplets and her mom, 1 trip with our dear friend who is now passed way, and 1 trip just us! It was a wonderful year!!!

I keeps saying we have to bring our youngest to Universal, but it has yet to happen. Maybe the next trip.

Hope you are enjoying school vacation!

 

[BridgetR3]

TSO, my husband loves them. What a treat! looks like it was amazing!

About swimming in November. We've done it. But, keep in mind when we leave home it is usually about 40degrees and Orlando is usually about 80, which makes Orlando seem like it is about 100!
We've only been to Quest once. It was too much for me to handle, and that was before the vertigo. It is an AMAZING video arcade, but a video arcade none the less, so we tend to skip it. (not that I could EVER do it now). If I remember correctly, we are talking about 14 years ago, there was no extra charge for the games, but there was food available inside. DH seems to think there was 1 "video game" that there was an extra charge for, but we didn't do it. Here is my biggest complaint with Disney Quest... it is so easy to get lost in, or more importantly to loose a child in. I was nervous. But that is just my personality. I'm sure there are others who would say I am crazy. Hopefully, someone with more experience with Disney Quest will speak up.

About your DH golfing..... how about taking this opportunity to teach your oldest? They have a 9 hole course, which I hear is very nice.

Boy, 3 trips in 1 year? That's the way to swim in that cool aid! We did that once & it was awesome. We had 1 trip with friend of the triplets and her mom, 1 trip with our dear friend who is now passed way, and 1 trip just us! It was a wonderful year!!!

I keeps saying we have to bring our youngest to Universal, but it has yet to happen. Maybe the next trip.

Hope you are enjoying school vacation!

Yay!!! Good morning D!!! Hope you had a merry ! Thanks for the information on Quest! I did look into it some on the Disney website. I definitely wouldn't upgrade just for that but figured it may be a little something to do on our "rest day".

My oldest actually loves to play but my husband lacks the patience to work with him. I'm thinking that maybe I can convince him to go with oldest DS to "make memories". I also play but I'm TERRIBLE!!! More to consider....

I am enjoying my vacation A LOT!! I wish I could just stay home permanently but that would take away all the fun Disney trips so off to work I go in a week.

In the meantime back to the sewing room. I FINALLY cut out those two bibs that I want to create but I haven't been able to find any embroidery designs that I love so I have to figure out what I'm going to do on them.

About the three trips in one year.....we plan to do Disney as our summer vacation for the next few years and DH wants to go next Christmas so it would help save money if we go before our AP's expire. I'm thinking we could do all of our Disney stuff in 2014 before the last day on our AP's and then do our Universal days. Sounds like a plan to me......but that's a long way off!!

 

[WizardLarz]

Try Pop for your pre-planned day(s). You'll be able to Walk over to Art of Animation and check it out. I'm pretty sure your boys would love the Cars section.

 

[BridgetR3]

Try Pop for your pre-planned day(s). You'll be able to Walk over to Art of Animation and check it out. I'm pretty sure your boys would love the Cars section.

Thanks for the suggestion!!! I think that sounds great!! I would love to see AOA!! We may have to stop by there even if we stay somewhere else.

 

[Deesknee]

Yay!!! Good morning D!!! Hope you had a merry ! Thanks for the information on Quest! I did look into it some on the Disney website. I definitely wouldn't upgrade just for that but figured it may be a little something to do on our "rest day".

My oldest actually loves to play but my husband lacks the patience to work with him. I'm thinking that maybe I can convince him to go with oldest DS to "make memories". I also play but I'm TERRIBLE!!! More to consider....

I am enjoying my vacation A LOT!! I wish I could just stay home permanently but that would take away all the fun Disney trips so off to work I go in a week.

In the meantime back to the sewing room. I FINALLY cut out those two bibs that I want to create but I haven't been able to find any embroidery designs that I love so I have to figure out what I'm going to do on them.

About the three trips in one year.....we plan to do Disney as our summer vacation for the next few years and DH wants to go next Christmas so it would help save money if we go before our AP's expire. I'm thinking we could do all of our Disney stuff in 2014 before the last day on our AP's and then do our Universal days. Sounds like a plan to me......but that's a long way off!!

We did have a merry Christmas! We didn't get hit with that other storm, well, other than rain. But today we are supposed to get hit with some snow. We usually make out okay. We are far enough from any shores to not get effects from any tides. Alot of what they show on TV is the shore towns. We live a couple towns away from any shores.

We lucked out with the premium AP. DVC was having a special and we fell into the time frame. We didn't use any of the premium options last trip, but plan on using Typhoon lagoon next trip.
I am so excited for you all to go during Christmas. I hope you are able to miss the crowds though.
Good for you for golfing. I have tried it. DH's family are big golfers, DMIL & DFIL tried to get me on the course many times. Like I say, I've tried it. HATE it. But, I also have no patience. I would rather tennis. Something that keeps me moving, or atleast my attention.

AP's ... sound like you have a wonderful plan in the works! My plan is to talk DH into renewing our AP's before they expire & get a couple trips a year out of them. Doubtful that will happen though.

 

[BridgetR3]

This is going to be both a life update and a Disney update. I'm trying out the font without the bold because I found the bold hard to read.

DH is still working seven days a week LONG LONG LONG hours each day. Basically he comes in, takes his shower and goes to bed. He is gone LONG before we get up in the morning and he is exhausted. If you have been following along, he's been doing this since right at Thanksgiving. While this is definitely helping to pay for whatever we are going to do this year with Disney/DVC/APs, we are all ready for a break. His boss called him Wednesday to let him know that he would be replaced on the job site so that he could go to a different site to start up a new project. DH was so excited that he immediately called us to tell us that he was done and would be able to take his time off. He told his boss on a second phone call that he planned to take his last two days of vacation for the year and his boss said something about well we can't do that......ummm....your replacement can't come so you will have to stay. I was furious. He was frustrated. Now the new "date" of getting off this job is January 1. Supposedly he even gets Jan. 1 off, yep OFF so that should be nice if it pans out. I just hope that it does.

While he's been gone I've been sewing and embroidering, here's a few of my creations.....

So sweet...too bad I didn't know how to do all of this when my boys were little....

I didn't realize that the baseball had moved while I was ironing it down. Ugh....lesson learned.....

So I redid it this morning and here's what I got. It's a tough applique for me. I think I'll try something girly this afternoon!

Now onto the Disney stuff.....
I have never had park hoppers before so we are trying to figure out how to "use" them best. I think I have our park days down but they could change on a whim if we want because for the first time our dinner reservations (yes we have some) don't really matter.

May 31 - Arrival Day - Magic Kingdom - Evening EMH
June 1 - Hollywood Studios for SWW
June 2 - Moving Day - Animal Kingdom, then Magic Kingdom Evening EMH
June 3 - Rest Day -
June 4 - Hollywood Studios (morning)/ Epcot (afternoon evening)
June 5 - This was a Universal day but now may be a water park day.
June 6 - Magic Kingdom
June 7 - Epcot
June 8 - This was a Universal Day as well but can not be a water day because we are leaving, so I'm sure we will find ourselves a place to go!

Also we may make June 3 a part water park/part rest day. That day is going to be a celebration day for our anniversary and Dh's birthday. The kids are going to the Sandcastle Club and we are going to dinner ALONE!!! Woohoo!!!

I am also thinking of moving Animal Kingdom to the day we leave and using our moving day as a water park day. So I really don't have it all set but I figured I would give you something to look at and think about.....

Up next.....Restaurants!!! What reservations do we have right now? Where are our MUST EATS?

 

[BridgetR3]

We did have a merry Christmas! We didn't get hit with that other storm, well, other than rain. But today we are supposed to get hit with some snow. We usually make out okay. We are far enough from any shores to not get effects from any tides. Alot of what they show on TV is the shore towns. We live a couple towns away from any shores.

We lucked out with the premium AP. DVC was having a special and we fell into the time frame. We didn't use any of the premium options last trip, but plan on using Typhoon lagoon next trip.
I am so excited for you all to go during Christmas. I hope you are able to miss the crowds though.
Good for you for golfing. I have tried it. DH's family are big golfers, DMIL & DFIL tried to get me on the course many times. Like I say, I've tried it. HATE it. But, I also have no patience. I would rather tennis. Something that keeps me moving, or atleast my attention.

AP's ... sound like you have a wonderful plan in the works! My plan is to talk DH into renewing our AP's before they expire & get a couple trips a year out of them. Doubtful that will happen though.

Glad you didn't get hit by the storms. I would love to get some snow here. It would shut everything down but it would be nice to enjoy a little snow. Yes you all did luck out with that awesome DVC discount on the Premium Annual Passes. Dh and I were talking the other night about DVC and the regular DVC discount on APs is enough that he agreed to let me start looking for a small contract (25-50 points) just to get the discount and possibly use for our first two nights at Disney. I must say I'm pretty excited. I began looking at contracts and found one that I could do last night but of course I found it on a Friday night at 10:30 p.m. I sent the company a message but I don't know if I will get it. Someone may have messaged them before me.

I enjoy golf even though I'm not good at it. DH is better than me but not by much. I just can never find the time to get a sitter to go. By the time you pay the sitter and the green fees and/or cart fees, I've spent an arm and a leg when I could save it for Disney. I have that problem a LOT when deciding what to buy or do. I rather golf over tennis because it's not as strenuous and I am.....well, I am lazy......

I hope you are able to get a couple of trips in for your APs!! Maybe one day, we will be able to meet up at DW to say hi!

 

[Deesknee]

Anniversary dinner ...adults only??? OH, I am jealous. We keep considering it, but the one time we did it, the triplets were little, my mom was along to watch them. We ended up going to what was pleasure island, playing some games, went to the Adventurers Club, felt it was too busy and we left. Very romantic. Spent most of the night trying to win a 3rd coca cola polar bear for the 3rd triplet. Won the 1st 2 immediately, then had to work for the third! hahaha So, I am jealous. Can't wait to hear where you will enjoy that meal!!

Have you researched which days of the week are least crowded at the parks? We tend to plan our days around that. Usually it works out very well. Easier to get ADR's, lines are less, DH is happier.

Yes, it would be nice to meet and say

Your projects are adorable!!! are they the bibs? seem to adorable to have squash smushed all over them! I hope they are blankies.

 

[BridgetR3]

Anniversary dinner ...adults only??? OH, I am jealous. We keep considering it, but the one time we did it, the triplets were little, my mom was along to watch them. We ended up going to what was pleasure island, playing some games, went to the Adventurers Club, felt it was too busy and we left. Very romantic. Spent most of the night trying to win a 3rd coca cola polar bear for the 3rd triplet. Won the 1st 2 immediately, then had to work for the third! hahaha So, I am jealous. Can't wait to hear where you will enjoy that meal!!

Have you researched which days of the week are least crowded at the parks? We tend to plan our days around that. Usually it works out very well. Easier to get ADR's, lines are less, DH is happier.

Yes, it would be nice to meet and say

Your projects are adorable!!! are they the bibs? seem to adorable to have squash smushed all over them! I hope they are blankies.

Yep adults only!! I let DH make the plans for that night. He NEVER plans any parts of vacations or purchases with me. He's always afraid of messing it all up. I told him if he wanted to do something special he had to plan it. We are going back to his favorite restaurant at Disney and then possibly going into Epcot for a couple of drinks before coming back to grab the kiddos.

Too bad about the polar bear....did you ever get the third one?? We've, of course, never been to Pleasure Island (well the old one).

Yes I have researched the days online but a lot of what people say about them conflicts. One place has most of our days under 5 which is great while another place has most of them at 8. One place says to go to MK this day while another place says that it is the worst park. Who do ya'll use for touring?

Thanks!! My projects aren't really anything yet. I used a bib cut out but I was honestly just practicing. None of those little designs will be going to anyone. I just wanted to see how they sewed out.

I did make one finished piece last night. It's a lovey with tags. Here's a pic.....

Well back to work...have a great day!!!