8/17/08 Captain Jack's Repossession Repo Cruise to PC thru TPC Part 8

[bellelinus]

Congrats!!!!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Almost, but not quite, Andrew . . .

Yes close!

 

[micmse2003]

Congrats!! Always late. Story of my life,

 

[mtt-swd]

Okay, I'm caught up for now. I do need to finish up a little work.
Congrats on the
Be back later.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Julie continuing on the Med thread ( to confuse everyone here) who many are going in your party, two/four? to the med?

 

[lbgraves]

Lisa, the pictures of your first visit with the kids, and the first cruise, are precious. But why was DD wearing a knit cap at CC??

It wasn't knit. It was one of those floppy straw hats...rafia I guess? Just to keep the sun out of her eyes. She has always worn hats.

 

[bellelinus]

Sounds good I have private tours booked for the main sightseeing at all ports bar Sardina (train DCL) and Siclly undecided, posted the websites on our cruise thread recently

I like winging it a little more than the private guide deal allows -- let's hope my daughters agree once we finish this trip! When I went to Europe the summer after I turned 18, all I had was a 21 day Eurailpass and money -- no set plans, no hotel reservations. It was fun turning up in a city and figuring out where to stay (a lot of times I would meet someone on the train who could give me some good recommendations). Now as a mother I do plan a lot more than that -- we do have hotel reservations! -- but I do like the process of figuring out how to get somewhere and talking to locals on trains, buses, etc.

 

[pyramid2000]

This is a pic of my Dante when he was a puppy. I planned 6 weeks before I got him from Alabama. He is spoiled and is my 3rd child. He is 17 months old now.

Awwwww!!!

 

[bellelinus]

Julie continuing on the Med thread ( to confuse everyone here) who many are going in your party, two/four? to the med?

Myself and my three daughters, who will be 15, 12, and 10 by the time the Med cruise rolls around. They have all been to England before, my oldest daughter went with me last March to Germany and the Czech Republic, and the oldest will have done a foreign exchange program in Cadiz(Spain) by then, but none of them have been to any of these places before. I have been to some but not all.

 

[lbgraves]

Posting Summary 35001 - 36000:

- There is an increased posting output today because Judy has been uncovered in the witness protection program.
- When did you have your kids?
- Do your kids invade your bedroom in the middle of the night?
- What do you want done with your remains?
- Jimmies vs. sprinkles debate.
- Blah, blah, blah your first car.
- Sub or Hoagie or Grinder.
- Tell us about your first trip to Disney & Mickey Bars.
- GoofyontheHiSeas nabbed the first pirate for the swabbies in a while with 36000.
- Score: Wenches 25 Jack 3 Swabbies 7 Evil Twins 1

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I like winging it a little more than the private guide deal allows -- let's hope my daughters agree once we finish this trip! When I went to Europe the summer after I turned 18, all I had was a 21 day Eurailpass and money -- no set plans, no hotel reservations. It was fun turning up in a city and figuring out where to stay (a lot of times I would meet someone on the train who could give me some good recommendations). Now as a mother I do plan a lot more than that -- we do have hotel reservations! -- but I do like the process of figuring out how to get somewhere and talking to locals on trains, buses, etc.

Basically I have given the tour guides on my tours a plan of what I want to do but its totally flexible on the day its our car and for Rome I have my own private guide for two hours. So if the kids moan, bored or feet, I can adjust, we have paid for the total hours, your trip when you were 18 sounds fun!

 

[buckifan]

thanks so much for that!! that made me chuckle!!



i sometimes wish i could say "i USED to work in childcare"!! ugh...this is one week i just want to end!! DH just got home, and he's taken the screamer away from me...yippee! and told me to go relax...so here i sit on the dis! i'm soooo ready for this vacation...well, not really, cuz i've not researched enough! guess i'm ready for any vacation right now!

Shannon....I'm really feeling for you right now. I remember feeling totally spent some days. I just couldn't wait for dh to come home to help out. I know that it's 10 times as hard when it's not your child. God Bless you for keeping your cool. And to look at the bright side.....the day is almost over......you will be alone with just your family this evening. Hopefully you will be able to get a good night's rest tonight. That will make all the difference in the world.

 

[pyramid2000]

Gotta pick up DD from marching band, head to piano, then off to GS. Later!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Myself and my three daughters, who will be 15, 12, and 10 by the time the Med cruise rolls around. They have all been to England before, my oldest daughter went with me last March to Germany and the Czech Republic, and the oldest will have done a foreign exchange program in Cadiz(Spain) by then, but none of them have been to any of these places before. I have been to some but not all.

Your youngest two will be in the kids club with Alice (11 now).

 

[lbgraves]

..like i said before J.-man, you're true to life!

ooohhhh, ms. Lb. gr-girl?... enquiring minds are wondering iF
your lent promise still intact? [ my guess, seeing the principle
was a real test]

The principal wasn't in the meeting with us so that wasn't a problem...but I have slipped a couple times so far.

 

[bellelinus]

Basically I have given the tour guides on my tours a plan of what I want to do but its totally flexible on the day its our car and for Rome I have my own private guide for two hours. So if the kids moan, bored or feet, I can adjust, we have paid for the total hours, your trip when you were 18 sounds fun!

It was tremendous fun! It gave me a lot of confidence to do that on my own, too. My mother had died not a year earlier, and that trip was just what I needed.

When I was a child my parents were always travelling (Europe, even Egypt) but always left me home. Now I like to take my girls everywhere I can so that I can give them that experience of seeing other places and meeting new people.

 

[bellelinus]

Your youngest two will be in the kids club with Alice (11 now).

Great! They are friendly girls (especially the youngest who is full of energy and enthusiasm and will live in the kids club if I let her) and should get on beautifully with Alice.

 

[lbgraves]

Just remembered that I had a picture of that first VW after it burned up out in the garage.

YIKES!!!!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

It was tremendous fun! It gave me a lot of confidence to do that on my own, too. My mother had died not a year earlier, and that trip was just what I needed.

When I was a child my parents were always travelling (Europe, even Egypt) but always left me home. Now I like to take my girls everywhere I can so that I can give them that experience of seeing other places and meeting new people.

Its a great way to expand their knowldge far better than school in my mind, I didnt travel much outside the UK until I was 17 then after a skiing trip I was off!

Yours sounds great

 

[captaincrash]

Thanks for the incentive.. now if I can keep this up for 18 months. Tomorrow we are going to join the YMCA again.. I loved it when we went there.. Got away from it after the cruise last summer..

I think I've found a way to challenge my kids (and spouse) for less money!

We have just discovered the Parks & Recreation programs... and we're enrolled to begin with a full array of activities come late March and April. We used to spend about $180-200 for either a month or two of an activity for our kids.... and with parks and recreation we cover all the expenses for 4 activities involving 2 kids and one parent on one joint mommy daughter activity. That included Gymnastics for 2, Karate for 2, Soccor and T-ball. So that is like havhing reduced our expenses by 83%.... so I am curious to see if we get at least 3/4s of the expected result for this kind of savings.

Well... I have to assume we are losing something for the savings... and that may very well be OK... as I figure if we had paid for 4 of the 6 activities then we are saving about $300-500 a month (depending on how we would have mixed it) and over the next 18 months that saves us $5,400~$9,000... and THAT is enough to pay for most if not all of PC cruise expenses. And in truth... we would have economized and just done 3 of the less costly activities or 2 costly ones.... so I am really looking forward to seeing what comes of the parks and recreation activities.