17 Days of Wishes Come to Life- A Sept. 08 WDW and DCL Adventure 3/27 new link posted

[jaycns]

Thanks, I ended up having a great Valentine's Day. Dh and I went out with Mr. and Mrs. Friend to a local winery while kids all stayed home playing games and watching our LP. It's nice that Snow White is 14 now and loves to watch him. After sharing a five course meal and a bottle of wine we came home and played games until late into the night. It was a whole lot of Valentine's Day fun!

How fantastic you won Jay, great prize too

I just love all your photos, beautiful

I was so excited! Dh had to remind me to calm down a few times. How is the Mom's Panel going? Are you having a lot of fun helping people out?

I am in the midst of planning a birthday surprise for Stitch. The surprise (yet again) involves the GF bakery. Do you think they have meetings for that sort of an addiction?

another lurker coming out to say what an awesome job you did planning this whole trip!! I am in awe and now I know we have to try a Disney Cruise!!!!!!
Your boys are handsome and adorable!!

I think the cruise is fun that shouldn't be missed. It's Disney in a whole new way. Disney is great on land or at sea!

OMGosh Jay....I just noticed your THREE new TICKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TWO WEEKS, 5 days and you will be back at the WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(That means another amazing TR for all of us to read...YIPPPEEEE)

I was wondering when someone would notice those. The first one is for sure, the others are still up in the air. I am letting the boys plan what they want and the other two may yet chose something else. Dh didn't want to go back to WDW this year (WHAT is wrong with him?!) so instead, I am taking the boys for 'birthday trips' and he picked our big family vacation (Washington D.C.). This way, everyone is happy (especially me, I will get to be at WDW *if the other two say to plan that for sure* three times this year! AND get to go on a wonderful family vacation to D.C. as well. I am one happy DISer.

I am really excited about my trip with Stitch...2 and a half weeks until I am back 'home'.

Hey Jay..where is your PTR for this upcoming trip??? lol

HA HA HA, I won't let myself start one until I finish this trip report up. I will get this one done before my next trip (I have promised myself that). Who ever would have thought that having four boys and teaching three of them would keep a person so busy?

That sounds like a great idea! Henry has just begun coloring and his first piece of 'artwork' was done in the nursery at church. When they handed over his masterpiece I almost cried! I am very much looking forward to the art work in the future and I will be framing some for sure! I think it's precious!

I hope your hallway is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally long though with all that art!




YES, WE NEED DETAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is a long hallway, but more than that, I am going to hang them from about two feet from the floor to two feet from the ceiling in 'artful displays' so that I get more than one long line (I would never have the room for that).

I promise details will be forthcoming as soon as I get done with this trip report.

I'm so glad you had fun at the auction. I just love the beast castle. Congratulaions on winning the bid on it. You are so lucky to get your name drawn for the other. I bet no one could wipe that big sick grin off your face for quite a while.

I was wearing an ear to ear grin for the entire rest of the day.

 

[MouseTriper]

Hi Molly! Thanks for coming 'out of lurk'. I must say, if you could see my face, it would be bright red after reading your comments. You are far too kind! And although I do think our boys are wonderful, they too can have their moments. Being a parent was not a goal of mine until I was pregnant with, our first, Aladdin. I wasn't even sure my life would include children (I thought I wanted an important career instead). However, my goals all changed while I was pregnant with him. Now, I desire nothing more than to be the best parent I can be. If I do that, I will consider my life worthwhile. I know being a stay at home mom (and a home schooling mom on top of that) is NOT for everyone, but it is just what completes me. So...maybe it is a bit selfish that I pour so much time into parenting. I am in love with being a mother. I can think of nothing better.

And as far as dh, he does have a pretty high stress job, but he says that none of his business accomplishments even compare with raising our boys. I love him for that. But it's another example of the time we pour into our boys being a bit selfish...they truly are the best part of our lives now. And...as long as they are in need of parenting, dh and I are both commited to be there for them first (before carrers or hobbies or anything else). This time is already passing way too quickly and I know that one day I will have time to do anything I want (and although I can already imagine the ways to spend my me time I know I will spend at least part of it wishing for the years I spent parenting the boys again ).

Aweeee! I love this!!!

I was wondering when someone would notice those. The first one is for sure, the others are still up in the air. I am letting the boys plan what they want and the other two may yet chose something else. Dh didn't want to go back to WDW this year (WHAT is wrong with him?!) so instead, I am taking the boys for 'birthday trips' and he picked our big family vacation (Washington D.C.). This way, everyone is happy (especially me, I will get to be at WDW *if the other two say to plan that for sure* three times this year! AND get to go on a wonderful family vacation to D.C. as well. I am one happy DISer.

I am really excited about my trip with Stitch...2 and a half weeks until I am back 'home'.

HA HA HA, I won't let myself start one until I finish this trip report up. I will get this one done before my next trip (I have promised myself that). Who ever would have thought that having four boys and teaching three of them would keep a person so busy?

LOL I noticed right away!!!! I am so excited for you and for the boys!!! I bet little Stitch is getting excited!!!

Oh and you know you ROCK Jay....I don't know how you do it all. Parenting, teaching and trip planning!!!! LIke I said you ROCK and I am in awe at how you get it all done!!!!

 

[jaycns]

DCL Day 6...Lobsters, Castles and Stars!


Dinner tonight was the Captain's Gala Dinner. We once again found ourselves back in the Parrot Cay dining room to enjoy it.

Our Little Prince once again ate (or tore and then dropped) an entire basket of bread).

He wasn't the only one enjoying the meal. Goofy LOVED the menu this evening. I couldn't believe how much he ate during this meal. **TIP-Remember that kids (of any age) can eat off of the main "adult" menu. So, if your son or daughter would rather have steak, shrimp or lobster than chicken nuggets or pizza...let them have at it! Also, remember that adults can request anything on the children's menu if you would rather have that **BUT WHY!?**

Fun times.

Check out the ketchup Mickey head. This was Stitch's plate.

And Goofy's more 'adult' version of the same thing. The shrimp weren't automatically served with the steak, but our servers had no problem bringing them out as a side.

My appetizer. YUM! The grilled shrimp were tasty.

Aladdin had roast pork, corn bread and per his request, his sauce was served on the side.

As for my main course? Why, I had TWO lobster tails of course! I had skipped the soup, salad, bread and requested that Sameer bring out two lobster tails. Mrs. and Mr. Friend did the same thing. And when he heard that Goofy was a lobster lover as well, he (without being asked) brought out yet another lobster tail so that Goofy and Aladdin could share it (neither had room for an entire one by themselves).

This was my favorite meal of the cruise.

Dessert was also good. Aladdin once again left before dessert...he was too antsy to get to Ocean Quest. Haha. And our middle boys did not disappoint. Once again, they chose to have Mickey Bars for dessert. Do you see the smiley face?

My dessert was another favorite. Cherries jubilee served with vanilla ice cream, sprinkled with slivered almonds and flambéed by our head server in the dining room.

Dh's chocolate lava cake.

After dinner I rolled back to our stateroom and found this towel friend awaiting us. The boys did a quick change to get ready for our next activity. Dh took our Little Prince to Flounder's Nursery and dropped Goofy off at his the Oceaneer's Lab. Stitch came with me to take care of some very important business. It was time to take my pick of lithographs (my prize!!) and pay for my auction win. Harrison Ellenshaw was also on hand to pose for pictures and sign dedication plates for anyone who purchased one of his pieces. Here he is with Stitch and the art we purchased.

And this is a terrible picture, but you can see just how happy I was with our dedication plate. We were talking about how beautiful I thought the castle was while taking pictures so he drew me 'another castle'. I was thrilled to have another quick sketch of his.

Here is an up close picture.

After my very happy art moment, dh met up with us and we (we were lucky enough to have Stitch with us for this part of the evening)made our way to the Walt Disney Theatre to see the Disney Dreams show. We also met up with our friends. It was fun to enjoy the show with them. After the show, Mr. Friend and dh ran Stitch and Cinderella up to the kid's club while Mrs. Friend and I did a little bit of shopping and then made our way to Shutters to pick up some more of the photos we had taken during the week.

When our husbands returned, we said goodbye to our friends. Dh and I, then, made our way to the deck and held hands while strolling along in the salty ocean breeze. After a bit, we stopped and sat talking until it was time to get ready for the premiere of Beverly Hills Chihuahua. We picked up our Little Prince, Stitch and Goofy (Aladdin had already begged out of the movie in favor of remaining with his Ocean Quest friends for a pool party, followed by a pizza party and finally a Hollywood themed bash) and headed back to the Walt Disney Theatre (where the movie was showing). IT WAS PACKED!! But, we were able to get good seats together and while dh and the boys settled in, I ran to grab us some snacks and drinks from outside the theatre. By the time the movie started, LP was fast asleep and the rest of us were snuggled in (the boys wore their pajamas, we brought sweatshirts and the boys had their stuffed animals). We even saw people with pillows and blankets in the theatre. It was a really relaxed and fun movie showing.

When the movie ended, everyone clapped and hollered. You could definitely tell you were among BIG Disney fans. Haha.

We were able to make it back to our room a few minutes before Aladdin did (and he closed down Ocean Quest at 1:00 AM). We all fell immediately asleep because we knew we had another day packed with magic to enjoy the next day. It was going to be our second day at Castaway Cay! It doesn't get much better than that!

To be continued...

 

[romtea]

hi there, i have not been on the DIS for long but have already found my favorite place to hang out - trip reports!!! I have really enjoyed reading about your family trip - it makes me very excited to plan my own family trips in the future. Right now I am sitting here typing with one hand while rocking one of my newborns ( I just had twins) and thinking of all of the fun Disney trips we will go on someday. When my baby gets really fussy I rock her while reading your report and she calms right down.

Also as a side note - I know this was way far back in your report - but about those lost shorts... my husband and I use to work at Disneyworld and my husband was a lifegaurd who also sometimes worked at the marinas. I was telling him the story of the lost shorts and as soon as I said that the first CM you talked to told that you would find them in central lost and found - he immediately cut me off and said, "NO! - We would have kept them at the marina for a couple of days before sending them over to the main lost and found!" I laughed and told him I was thinking the very same thing as soon as I read it.

Anyways - thanks for the fun read.

 

[mymainmouse]

Jay, your food pictures are making me so hungry!

Great update once again! I can't wait to read about and see more pictures of Castaway Cay.

 

[Illini4ever]

I don't know how I missed your ticker showing you are leaving in a couple weeks again. I was just thinking how much I was going to miss reading your adventures, but hopefully you will write another trip report for your special week with Stitch. He must be getting awfully excited!

Another day at the private island....I can't wait to read about it!

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

Yummo Lobster my fav!!!! That is really awesome you can order two if that is what you want. I love the little sketch you recieved; very nice. All of your desserts have looked so amazing. I cant wait to hear about the second day at Castaway that island looks so incredibly fun. This trip report has been so fun and packed full of very cool surprises.

 

[disneydusted]

Another fun update! It sounded like a great time, good food, new movie, AND your very own sketch from your favorite artist! I think that would be my favorite thing! He sounds like such a neat guy and now you have 3 pieces of art from him on this trip!
The desserts you and dh had looked so good! I'm not a huge food picture person but those two photos drew me in! Yummo!COLOR]

 

[momoftriplets]

hi there, i have not been on the DIS for long but have already found my favorite place to hang out - trip reports!!! I have really enjoyed reading about your family trip - it makes me very excited to plan my own family trips in the future. Right now I am sitting here typing with one hand while rocking one of my newborns ( I just had twins) and thinking of all of the fun Disney trips we will go on someday. When my baby gets really fussy I rock her while reading your report and she calms right down.

From one mother of multiples to another, !!

Barb

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great update as usual!

Reading about all the fun Aladdin had at Ocean's Quest tells me that if we ever take a Disney cruise, I have a feeling we would be childless as well!

I'm excited to hear about your plans for Stitch's birthday (and it's coming up so fast!). I noticed your ticker some time ago, but didn't realize that a trip to WDW was involved! You are going to write a TR on it, aren't you?!!

 

[jaycns]

hi there, i have not been on the DIS for long but have already found my favorite place to hang out - trip reports!!! I have really enjoyed reading about your family trip - it makes me very excited to plan my own family trips in the future. Right now I am sitting here typing with one hand while rocking one of my newborns ( I just had twins) and thinking of all of the fun Disney trips we will go on someday. When my baby gets really fussy I rock her while reading your report and she calms right down.

Also as a side note - I know this was way far back in your report - but about those lost shorts... my husband and I use to work at Disneyworld and my husband was a lifegaurd who also sometimes worked at the marinas. I was telling him the story of the lost shorts and as soon as I said that the first CM you talked to told that you would find them in central lost and found - he immediately cut me off and said, "NO! - We would have kept them at the marina for a couple of days before sending them over to the main lost and found!" I laughed and told him I was thinking the very same thing as soon as I read it.

Anyways - thanks for the fun read.

Awww, newborns. What a special time for you. I bet you are tired...but trust me, SOAK IT UP...they grow up oh so fast! I wish I could have bottled the bitty baby scent. Ahhhh.

Ha, I am so glad I did finally find those shorts. I 'needed' them for him to wear later in the trip. How fun to have worked at WDW! I bet you have so many good memories!

Congratulations on your babies!

Jay, your food pictures are making me so hungry!

Great update once again! I can't wait to read about and see more pictures of Castaway Cay.

Ha, I make myself hungry with those pictures too. I took WAY too many pictures of our second day at Castaway Cay, I will have a lot of them to post.

I don't know how I missed your ticker showing you are leaving in a couple weeks again. I was just thinking how much I was going to miss reading your adventures, but hopefully you will write another trip report for your special week with Stitch. He must be getting awfully excited!

Another day at the private island....I can't wait to read about it!

I am really excited to head to WDW with my little man, I am just not so sure how well I will do without the rest of my guys there. I will be so happy to be there but I also know I will be missing the ones that are not with us.

Yummo Lobster my fav!!!! That is really awesome you can order two if that is what you want. I love the little sketch you recieved; very nice. All of your desserts have looked so amazing. I cant wait to hear about the second day at Castaway that island looks so incredibly fun. This trip report has been so fun and packed full of very cool surprises.

You could order the entire menu if you wanted. On the first cruise we took, we did see a man who ordered every main entree every night.

Another fun update! It sounded like a great time, good food, new movie, AND your very own sketch from your favorite artist! I think that would be my favorite thing! He sounds like such a neat guy and now you have 3 pieces of art from him on this trip!
The desserts you and dh had looked so good! I'm not a huge food picture person but those two photos drew me in! Yummo!COLOR]

Dh's chocolate lava cake looked really good in those pictures but it looked even better in person!

Great update as usual!

Reading about all the fun Aladdin had at Ocean's Quest tells me that if we ever take a Disney cruise, I have a feeling we would be childless as well!

I'm excited to hear about your plans for Stitch's birthday (and it's coming up so fast!). I noticed your ticker some time ago, but didn't realize that a trip to WDW was involved! You are going to write a TR on it, aren't you?!!

Ha ha ha, YES, I do think I might write a trip report. As long as people aren't getting sick of WDW with us.

 

[MouseTriper]

Hey Jay..LOVE the painting you bought. So cool that you won too. Also love the quick cool sketch!!! Very, very cool.

Love all the food pics...definitely looks yummy!! I so wanna go on a cruise and it is all YOUR fault...LOL.

And YES you best be planning on writing a TR for each of the boys special birthday trips...your dedicated fans await. (And yes, I know the other two may try to plan a non-WDW trip but I am going to think POSITIVE for you Jay. Well unless they wanted to come visit my state...LOL...I am all for that too)!!! Hahahaahahahah!!!

 

[lazydoxy66]

That food looked divine! I can't get over how cute your kids are.
It was nice of Mr. Ellenshaw to pose for a picture and sign a ded. plate. A true treasure for you, beginning to end.

 

[marsa1969]

Oh my, what a month. And not in a good way. I feel your pain with the ice storm, we were without power for almost a week. It was not my favorite time of the year either. I too hope to go the rest of the year without that happening again. I am thankful that so many people like your dh were dedicated enough to work almost non-stop to get our power back on as quickly as it did come back. I know that a lot of sacrifices were made in order for that to happen.

I am so sorry to hear that your son was hurt. What a horrible thing. How is he doing after the surgery? Is he recovering quickly? 

I too wish I was back at Paradise Beach right now. Ahhh, I can almost hear the ocean.

DS is doing well. He is going to therapy 3 times a week. He is worried about being ready for pre-season football workouts in March since he will start playing junior varsity football.
Ahh, Paradise Beach!!!!! We have made reservations for a condo at Gulf Shores, AL, it's no Paradise Beach, but pretty nice. My goal is to loose some weight - no alot - and go a great beach in Mexico. So, no Disney for us this year. Boy if I could go I would be there in a heartbeat. I'm helping a co-worker from work plan his Disney vacy for June. I've turned him onto the DIS.

 

[troobabiee7]

I can't get over how amazing this trip is. You and your DH created some unbelievable memories for your boys that they'll never, ever forget! Looking forward to more!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Ha ha ha, YES, I do think I might write a trip report. As long as people aren't getting sick of WDW with us.

I don't think that's possible! Obviously, we all love hearing about your adventures!

 

[MouseTriper]

 

[CJsMom]

Another wonderful evening - the food looks SO good! I can't wait to hear about another day at Castaway Cay!

 

[brookelizabeth]

It is a long hallway, but more than that, I am going to hang them from about two feet from the floor to two feet from the ceiling in 'artful displays' so that I get more than one long line (I would never have the room for that).

Ahhhh, that makes sense! That will be beautiful!!

I am jealous that your LP falls asleep in your arms! There is ZERO way we could ever go see a movie with Henry, he would be so squirmy and everywhere!

What a great evening! I love that you and your DH took time alone too to stroll together and enjoy each other.

 

[DisneyJo]

The image of your boys watching the film in their PJ's is just so cute, sounds like a lovely evening