~ A 21 month old, a celebrity sighting, & a whole lotta food~2 week trip~ 2/28 update

I moved home without breaking anything, but before I could unpack my stuff the dog peed all over it!! Guess he wanted to mark his territory!?

Anyways, what an awesome celebrity sighting!! That's awesome that he was a good sport and went up there to do the warthog sound. I wonder if the person who picked him knew who it was?

Love the pictures from DHS with Goofy and Pluto! And I loooooove the AI Experience but have only seen the male host and male "mean judge"!
 
ToT is the best ride. Don't you think part of the fun is that you get to experience it with everyone in the elevator with you? It's fun to see everyone else's expressions during the drops.

Okay, have to see American Idol now. Do you suggest seeing one show during the day and then the finale or just the finale?

Last full day:sad2:
 
What a wonderful day you had Alison. I hope your DLC experience was grand too. We love Kurt Warner even tho the Rams got rid of him. It was probably the best move for him and his career. He is a wonderful family man and Christian and not afraid to show that side of himself. That had to be fun.

I love ToT. I wasn't quite sure I would but it was fantastic. Oh well, I think I have decided I like all the rides. They must make more.

Have a good and wonderful Christmas if we don't chat before.

Ginny
 
Great updates!

It's so neat you got to see Kurt Warner; he and his wife met in the town I live in, and he went to college here and played for our college in town (the University of Northern Iowa). He's kind of our "hometown hero" guy. They are very neat people; they were just in the area not too long ago, helping to build houses for Habitat for Humanity.

Oh, sad for the last day! :sad1: But your TR has been so great, looking forward to reading your last posts!

Have a good one!
 

I can't wait to hear what your thoughts are about the Brown Derby. Are you going on the dining plan next time? I think it always seems so expensive to pay OOP, so that is why we haven't been there yet.

Yep, we're going to be on the Dining Plan. :yay:
 
GREAT update Alison!! I noticed that you were calling HS, MGM--that's what I know it as, too!! :) It will always be MGM to me! My favorite part of your update was the pics with Pluto and Goofy!! How precious was Dylan interacting with them!! Sooo cute!! Glad you enjoyed ToT--neither Brent nor I will step foot on that ride!
 
I moved home without breaking anything, but before I could unpack my stuff the dog peed all over it!! Guess he wanted to mark his territory!?

Anyways, what an awesome celebrity sighting!! That's awesome that he was a good sport and went up there to do the warthog sound. I wonder if the person who picked him knew who it was?

Love the pictures from DHS with Goofy and Pluto! And I loooooove the AI Experience but have only seen the male host and male "mean judge"!

I'm so glad that you made it home safely and with your stuff intact. Too bad your dog had other plans. :laughing: I completely understand. One of my dogs is not the most angelic either. :littleangel: What are you gonna do? :confused3

Yes, I was really impressed that Kurt Warner didn't care how goofy he looked. I'm sure a lot of people didn't realize who he was but it takes a lot of guts to get up and do that. I don't know if I could!

I'm glad that we saw AI twice during our trip. It was fun to compare the 2 shows, but we really enjoyed both of them. I think this is going to stay popular for a long time.

ToT is the best ride. Don't you think part of the fun is that you get to experience it with everyone in the elevator with you? It's fun to see everyone else's expressions during the drops.

Okay, have to see American Idol now. Do you suggest seeing one show during the day and then the finale or just the finale?

Last full day:sad2:

I definitely feel like there is a community feeling on each elevator ride. It's rare that you ride with a group of people who have all been on it before. And the rookies are easy to spot. ;) But that makes it so much more fun.

Yes, I really think you are going to need to go to AI on your next trip (which is so soon!!). If you only have time to see it once, I would see what is most convenient (just so you get to experience it). If you have time, I would see one earlier and then go to the finale. I think it would be so much fun to go see the person from earlier in the day in the finale so that you can root for them.

What a wonderful day you had Alison. I hope your DLC experience was grand too. We love Kurt Warner even tho the Rams got rid of him. It was probably the best move for him and his career. He is a wonderful family man and Christian and not afraid to show that side of himself. That had to be fun.

I love ToT. I wasn't quite sure I would but it was fantastic. Oh well, I think I have decided I like all the rides. They must make more.

Have a good and wonderful Christmas if we don't chat before.

Ginny

We had a great time at DL. I have barely had any time to the on the Dis lately, so I haven't even started that TR yet. I am trying to upload all the pictures today so that I can get going.

Like I said in my update, I was already a fan of Kurt Warner's because of the reasons that you listed, but this just heightened my level of being his fan because he seemed to be a really genuine person. I'm glad, because it would have been such a letdown if he had been the opposite.

I'm glad that you rode ToT. I remember riding it for the first time and feeling like if I could ride that ride, then no other ride should feel as scary.

I hope that you have a Merry Christmas as well!!

Great updates!

It's so neat you got to see Kurt Warner; he and his wife met in the town I live in, and he went to college here and played for our college in town (the University of Northern Iowa). He's kind of our "hometown hero" guy. They are very neat people; they were just in the area not too long ago, helping to build houses for Habitat for Humanity.

Oh, sad for the last day! :sad1: But your TR has been so great, looking forward to reading your last posts!

Have a good one!

Wow, that's really cool about Kurt Warner living in your town. He would be a good person to claim as your "hometown hero".

Thank you so much for reading! I'm sad that this is almost over... :sad2:

Yep, we're going to be on the Dining Plan. :yay:

That is so nice because it gives you so much freedom to try new places. I wish that we could try it someday, but we have never stayed on property, so that probably won't happen any time soon. :confused3

GREAT update Alison!! I noticed that you were calling HS, MGM--that's what I know it as, too!! :) It will always be MGM to me! My favorite part of your update was the pics with Pluto and Goofy!! How precious was Dylan interacting with them!! Sooo cute!! Glad you enjoyed ToT--neither Brent nor I will step foot on that ride!

I can't help it. It is an old habit that will never die. It will always be MGM to me. (My apologies to the Disney marketing people). The pictures with Pluto are so special because he is one of Dylan's favorites (other than Mickey Mouse). And this was one of his best of the trip, as far as interaction goes. He was more excited than scared, so he seemed to be enjoying it more.

I can't believe you haven't been on ToT! You really should try it sometime. I bet you will become addicted! BTW - I just noticed that you have started a PTR. I will try to make it over there soon and get caught up!
 
I can't help it. It is an old habit that will never die. It will always be MGM to me. (My apologies to the Disney marketing people). The pictures with Pluto are so special because he is one of Dylan's favorites (other than Mickey Mouse). And this was one of his best of the trip, as far as interaction goes. He was more excited than scared, so he seemed to be enjoying it more.

I can't believe you haven't been on ToT! You really should try it sometime. I bet you will become addicted! BTW - I just noticed that you have started a PTR. I will try to make it over there soon and get caught up!

Yeah--it freaks me out a bit PLUS Brent is afraid of heights so we just avoid it! :lmao: Yes!! I did start a PTR! You should come check it out!! :goodvibes
 
Yeah--it freaks me out a bit PLUS Brent is afraid of heights so we just avoid it! :lmao: Yes!! I did start a PTR! You should come check it out!! :goodvibes

Maybe someday you both will decide to just go for it. I understand the fear of heights. I used to HATE free-fall rides. I'm not scared of heights, but I was scared of those rides. I finally did ToT and I loved it, but I still won't do a free-fall ride at any other theme park. It's like I trust Disney not to screw up the ride, but I don't trust any other park. :cutie:
 
That is exactly what made me ride all the rides. I know Disney isn't out to get anyone hurt. So if children can do them so can I. They were all wonderful
 
Life has been so busy as we have been getting ready for Christmas. Due to our trip at Thanksgiving to Disneyland, we have been trying to get ready in bits & pieces. Before we left on our trip, I asked Todd to bring our tree into the house so that Dylan could get used to it being there. We bought a fake tree about 3 years ago, and I love it. I didn’t think that I would but it is really convenient to just pull it out when you are ready to start decorating. The only thing that I miss is the smell that comes from a fresh tree.

We pulled it out of the box and stood it up. At first Dylan was really excited about the tree…

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…but then it became all about playing with the box that it came in. Isn’t that what it always comes down to? My mom said she was just going to get him a big refrigerator box for Christmas. I’m sure he would have been totally happy with it too!

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I think it was a good idea to do it this way because after we got back from our DL trip, Dylan was not that interested in touching the tree at all. It was old news. We hung up some ornaments a couple of weeks later, and it was obvious that this was going to be a bigger issue for Dylan than the tree itself. Everything is shiny and has Mickey Mouse on it (yeah, we didn’t think that through), so it all was really appealing to him.

We decided to only put out about ½ of the ornaments and put all of the fragile ones on top. That way if he did get tempted to touch anything, it wouldn’t be easy to break. The tree is a little lopsided, but that’s ok. I took a picture of Dylan’s new ornament that we bought him on our trip to WDW. It looks so great on the tree, and I know that it will always remind us of that special time in his life when we took him on his first trip to WDW.

These are pictures from our next decorating session. Dylan was trying to snuggle with one of our dogs (his name is Pluto), but unfortunately there is a bit of a love/hate thing with him and our dogs. Pluto was not being very cooperative!

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Of course he needs to climb up the step stool, just like dad…

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The tree. It’s still in progress, but I wanted to show some of our Disney ornaments. Todd & I went to WDW for our honeymoon and we found the Christmas store in DTD. Needless to say, we went a little nuts buying ornaments for our first tree together. So, we decided pretty early on that we were going to have a Disney tree every year. We have a tradition that on every Disney trip, we buy an ornament for our tree (or 2 or 3 if we can’t choose). We really do try to control ourselves but it has turned in to a very sentimental thing for us each year when we set up the tree. I love that we will be able to tell Dylan stories of our vacations together each year as he gets older.

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This is Dylan’s ornament from his first trip. I love it!

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His first ornament from the year he was born.

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Ornaments from some of our favorite resorts. These are some of my favorites, even though they are so simple.

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This is the ornament that we bought on our most recent trip to DL (for Thanksgiving).

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Our dog’s names are Mickey & Pluto, so we had to get this one.

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I hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. We have been fortunate enough to spend time with my whole family (parents, sister, brother & their families) this week and they will all be at our house for Christmas this year. It is such a blessing to be together, since the last time that has happened was a couple of years ago at my brother’s wedding. I am so happy that they all are able to spend time with Dylan while he is at such a fun age. He will be so different by the next time that they see him, so I am glad for the extended time that we all have together. Tonight we are going to go to a King’s game in Sacramento. They are playing the Cleveland Cavalier’s, so we will get to see LeBron James playing live. So fun!! I will post some pictures of the game soon.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your holidays are everything that you want them to be!

~Alison
 
That is exactly what made me ride all the rides. I know Disney isn't out to get anyone hurt. So if children can do them so can I. They were all wonderful

I'm so glad that you chose to do it Ginny! I bet your family got a big kick out of it as well. You have turned into a roller coaster person!!

A few years ago we were at WDW w/ Todd's parents and we were in line for ToT. Todd's mom was scared to go on it, but she did it. Afterwards we were following a dad out of the ride and he was carrying his 5 year old daughter. He kept saying to her, "You did it! You went on a big girl ride!" and she was so proud. So that's what we started saying to Todd's mom when she went on a thrill ride. :laughing: We call her a "big girl" and she thinks it's so funny.
 
I'm so glad that you chose to do it Ginny! I bet your family got a big kick out of it as well. You have turned into a roller coaster person!!

A few years ago we were at WDW w/ Todd's parents and we were in line for ToT. Todd's mom was scared to go on it, but she did it. Afterwards we were following a dad out of the ride and he was carrying his 5 year old daughter. He kept saying to her, "You did it! You went on a big girl ride!" and she was so proud. So that's what we started saying to Todd's mom when she went on a thrill ride. :laughing: We call her a "big girl" and she thinks it's so funny.

I know exactly how she feels. I was very proud of myself. It is hard to let 60 years of fear go. Still can't stand clowns but rides are way bettery anyway. Luckily no one had to carry me out. That would have been a hoot. I'm not sure if I went to another amusement park if I would have that comfort level. It was being there at Disney, the family, the whole combiination of what Disney is about that made me relax and do these things that are so against my nature. I am looking forward to going back to do it all again tho. So that in itself was worth it all.

Love your tree. That Dylan is so cute. Your ornaments are so pretty. You are very fortunate to be able to get those. They will become treasures for sure.
 
I love your tree! I've never seen the resort ornaments before but I really like them. When I get my own place I am totally going to have a Disney tree! Glad your whole family will be spending Christmas together. I just saw my aunt who doesn't live here and she sent an e-mail that said she can't believe how much we've grown up over the years since she has been away! That's what Christmas is all about I think...family and old friends.

PS I am from Cleveland and go to Cavs games all the time. In fact, my dog Andy (that peed on my stuff!) is named after #17, Anderson Varejao. He's really fun to watch play so make sure you look for him. Also fun to watch is #13 Delonte West. He's had some personal problems recently but he is awesome on the court. Have fun and GO CAVS ;)
 
Thanks for the advice about American Idol!:thumbsup2

I didn't attend our family Thanksgiving so I'm looking forward to Christmas. 40 relatives including most of my immediate family:thumbsup2

Hope your Christmas is joyous and a time to reflect on all the Lord has done this last year.

King James (lebron version;)) how cool!
 
I love the tree!!! too cute. I have started a Disney tree as well this yr and cant wait to get to the christmas store at DTD in 3 weeks to stock up for next yr. I really like the one you acquired on your DL trip.
 
Awww..looks like Dylan's going to have a blast on Christmas. :goodvibes

I hope so. Fingers crossed that he is a happy boy and well behaved while all of the family is around.

I know exactly how she feels. I was very proud of myself. It is hard to let 60 years of fear go. Still can't stand clowns but rides are way bettery anyway. Luckily no one had to carry me out. That would have been a hoot. I'm not sure if I went to another amusement park if I would have that comfort level. It was being there at Disney, the family, the whole combiination of what Disney is about that made me relax and do these things that are so against my nature. I am looking forward to going back to do it all again tho. So that in itself was worth it all.

Love your tree. That Dylan is so cute. Your ornaments are so pretty. You are very fortunate to be able to get those. They will become treasures for sure.

They definitely are treasures to us. I'm glad that we decided to do a Disney tree because it's special to our family. Disney is our thing (obviously!).

I love your tree! I've never seen the resort ornaments before but I really like them. When I get my own place I am totally going to have a Disney tree! Glad your whole family will be spending Christmas together. I just saw my aunt who doesn't live here and she sent an e-mail that said she can't believe how much we've grown up over the years since she has been away! That's what Christmas is all about I think...family and old friends.

PS I am from Cleveland and go to Cavs games all the time. In fact, my dog Andy (that peed on my stuff!) is named after #17, Anderson Varejao. He's really fun to watch play so make sure you look for him. Also fun to watch is #13 Delonte West. He's had some personal problems recently but he is awesome on the court. Have fun and GO CAVS ;)

We got the resort ornaments at the Disney discount place at the Premium Outlets. I had never seen them before either, and they were on clearance. I love Thanksgiving & Christmas for so many reasons, but seeing family is up on the top of my list.

That's so cool that you go to the Cavs games. We are big time Kings fans, and we try to get to a few games a year. Todd's cousin is Coby Karl (on the Cavs) and we are hoping that we will get a chance to see him tonight. Varejao is a very fun player to watch. Lots of energy. And Delante West is always a killer against the Kings for some reason. I'll post any pictures that I take in the enxt few days.

Thanks for the advice about American Idol!:thumbsup2

I didn't attend our family Thanksgiving so I'm looking forward to Christmas. 40 relatives including most of my immediate family:thumbsup2

Hope your Christmas is joyous and a time to reflect on all the Lord has done this last year.

King James (lebron version;)) how cool!

Wow! 40 people!! That sounds amazing (and a little overwhelming!). I bet you will have such a fun time. Our family is spread out throughout California, so it has been nice to all be together for a few days. We are so blessed!

We are very excited about the game tonight. Seeing LeBron in person is going to be so much fun. He is a freak of nature and is always entertaining. Have a very Merry Christmas!
 
I love the tree!!! too cute. I have started a Disney tree as well this yr and cant wait to get to the christmas store at DTD in 3 weeks to stock up for next yr. I really like the one you acquired on your DL trip.

Thanks so much! I guarantee that you will have a hard time not buying the whole store in DTD if you are going to have a whole Disney tree. :laughing: We kept saying, "But the whole tree is Disney. We HAVE to have that one." We have a lot of the ornaments that are whole collections (like Snow White, Little Mermaid, etc) that come in the big books. Those are nice because you get a lot of ornaments for one price. We didn't put those up this year because there were too many small (& tempting) for Dylan. Have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful trip!
 





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