A Gem of a trip-quality, clarity, color and "Cut that out!" completed 8/4

[Diamondintheruff]

Thursday August 16, 2007

We slept in this morning after our late night at the P&PP. Around 9am Poppa knocked on our door to see if any of the kids were up and wanted to go swimming with him. The boys were still out cold but Cindy DD6 jumped out of bed lickity split and went with him. I'm not supposed to know but she whispered to me later that Poppa bought her some breakfast bakery treat while he refilled his mug at the food court.

We all eventually made our way to the piano pool and hung out there until noon. I did some laundry. The piano pool is known as the quiet pool and we all enjoyed having the pool basically to ourselves. Even my Mom (Nanny) went in and played and she never usually goes in the water. We really could have spent all day hanging out there but there were parks to visit so we had to get moving.

Today's plan included a date for DH and myself at le cellier tonight and a lunch for my parents by themselves at Rose and Crown. Poppa loves English fish and chips and ale so I thought it was the perfect choice for them. They had come to WDW without any kids in the early 90's for a convention and stayed at the Swan. They only had one day at Epcot that trip and had wanted to eat there but it didn't work out. So the one thing Poppa wanted to do was visit there. They had ADR's for 1:20 so off they went to Epcot without us.

DH and I took the kids ourselves to try and do some of the world showcase too. We had lunch at the take out fish and chips place in the UK. Lunch was almost a disaster. It was almost 2pm when we feed the kids (oops!) and they were already tired (pool and late night) and of course we were all HOT. DH waited with a table while I grabbed the food. I struck up a conversation with an off duty CM from Canada. I was wearing a Canadian Mickey pin and we discovered that she and I went to the same high school. She was super bubbly and helped me carry our tray of steaming fried food out to the tables. By this time DH and the kids were in melt down mode. Luckily this CM's happy energy was infectious as she was able to actually make all my kids smile and dare I say even laugh. I managed to get some food into them while she was visiting with us and soon everyone was good to go again.

After lunch we explored the UK and Canadian pavilion and ran into Nanny and Poppa.

Here is the happy crew outside the UK

Somehow Nanny was talked into purchasing a new pin for each of the kids lanyards. They were going to do some exploring on their own before they had to baby-sit tonight. We tried out "Honey I shrunk the kids". This was DH's idea. It should be noted that I did object but not strongly enough. DH was still not convinced we needed "plans" and wanted to put some spontaneity back into our trip. A mini argument which was really just a "deadly glare" from me took place. The glare works on my children but apparently my DH is immune to it. He feelings were that since we were right here and there was no line up we should "just do it". Now readers have I struck you as a "just do it" kind of girl? Do my offspring seem like they enjoy the "just do it" kind of experiences?

"Honey I shrunk the kids" wasn't on my original plan and I remember nixing it when I first read the original guide but I couldn't remember why. We all found out why. I hate to give away any secrets as they really belong to Disney so lets just say that DS4 was too small to fit in the seats properly so he really wasn't affected by the special effects. But DS8 and DD6 were completely freaked out and in full force flight or fright mode.

They had to be removed from the show mostly because DD6 wouldn't stop screaming and no one else around us could hear anything. I carried DD6 out and DS8 would only walk on the seats as we made out way out. This took some time to exit and I imagine would be funny to watch if you weren't

1) involved in the exit
and
2) trying to watch the attraction.


I needed a drink after that. I wanted alcohol but settled for a cold diet coke from the snack stand. We got all the kids another ice cream snack. DH and DS4 kept telling us how much they enjoyed the ride and how silly we were for leaving. Not the best approach in my opinion. I bit my tongue and tried to steer the topic onto happier and safer subjects. The kids voted to go back on Nemo.

"Nemo?" I asked. "With the moving sidewalks?"

"YEAH!!" they all shouted.

So off we went. During the walk and the wait I was pondering what you are probably pondering right now and that is what the heck was I doing married to this jerk? We do bang heads regularly about how much to push the kids. When approaching a new idea or experience with the kids I prefer the educational approach and to take some time out to talk to them about it, show them pictures or as in the case with Disney watch Youtube with them. I had spent alot of time educating them on what to expect on certain aspects of Disney. About a year and half to be exact. My DH is not a planner. He leaves that to me. He wants to know pertinent information just before we do it. So while I was asking him questions and planning our Disney vacation he wasn't really retaining any of the information. Now that the vacation was happening, now he wanted to voice an opinion on things and well, that ship had already sailed and hence that is the real argument that was going on between us. I see that now. I did not see it then.

The lineup for Nemo was long. It was around 4:30 at this time and you can't just sail through popular rides at this point. DH made note of the crowds many times. Score One for TGM.

They kids dealt with the moving sidewalks really well this time. As per usual for them. Once they know what to expect and have a strategy (in this case it was to hold on to parents hands and ask the CM's to slow down the sidewalk) they do fine. Which is why I know our next trip to Disney will be even better. I sat with DS8 and DH sat with the younger two. I think DS8 was still mad at his Dad for the "Honey I shrunk the Kids" experience. He is the child most like me and DH and him bang heads often as well.

We tried to spend some more time looking at the aquariums but found it was just too busy. It was about 5:30 now so we headed back to the hotel to drop off the kids before our date night. Not that I was wanting to spend any alone time with my DH at this point but I was looking forward to le cellier.

Here I am outside the restaurant. Notice the hair? I just smoothed out a few stray pieces and I was good to go.

Our reservations were for 7:50. Guess who was seated us? None other than the lovely CM from this afternoon. I asked out waiter for pen and paper to leave a note for the manager about her. He brought me a "shinning star" form that they use to document CM activity that goes above and beyond.

In typical newbie fashion I didn't take any pictures of our food that night. I remember every fantastic mouthful though. I highly advise you to try le cellier if you haven't before. It was everything everyone has raved about and more. I had the Cheddar Cheese soup, the salmon on a corncake with maple syrup and roasted walnuts, a side order of creamed spinach and the crème brulee for desert. DH had the beefsteak tomato appetizer and the New York Sirloin. He also had the crème brulee for desert.

We're taking everyone back this trip. My parents were disapointed with the Rose and Crown so we felt guilty about how great our solo dinning experience was.

During dinner DH and I talked. We both realized that our Disney vacation was not enhanced by our fighting. We both agreed that TGM knew what he was talking about and that arguing about what we were going to do next was wasting time and energy better spent elsewhere. DH voiced that he wanted some say into what we were going to do. He didn't want to just follow a list. I agreed to go through the plan the night before with him so we could "tweak" it together. I voiced that my feelings were being hurt because I had spent so many hours planning and that I felt he wasn't acknowledging all this information I had in my head. I told him I had asked him his opinions at home months ago and that I had made decisions based on the children and their interests. I got him to agree that we were there primarily for the children and that his needs and wants were sometimes going to have to be placed on the backburner. I also said that we could come back to Disney just the two of us anytime and do all the things he wanted to do. He apologized and I did too. By the time we left Epcot at 10:45 we were holding hands again.

Next day was our longest day in one park. Which one is it? There are two I haven't visited yet and your hint is-it is the hotest park in WDW. http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26353102&postcount=67

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Our littliest one DS5 the jedi-in-training seems to have come down with hand, foot and mouth disease. At least we hope that is what it is. We are new to this one.

He has been complaining about his feet since Saturday. He still hasn't broken out in blisters but he did have many red spots on his hands and feet. His throat is swollen. I don't see any blisters in there either but it is red and angry looking.

So I've been extra busy mothering him.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Nice update! Husbands...ugh!!! Sorry to hear about your littlest one. I hope that is what it is (oh that sounds wrong...i don't want anyone to have hand/foot/mouth) but I was going to mention that chicken pox is going around here (kids are getting it who had the varicella vaccination!) Well, it sounds like you will be dealing with that today. Good luck!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

The "blisters" have almost disapeared. There is only one left. They never actually blistered so I hesitate to call them blisters. His throat is definately inflamed. Today he woke up happy as a lark. So fingers crossed. He had a pretty severe case of chicken pox when he was just a year old. He came down with them the day before I was scheduled to go for his vacination.

We are off to the cottage for the first time today. Nanny and Poppa just bought a cottage this week. It is in haliburton Ontario. DH is loading the roof top carrier as I type. Cause in case you missed the luggage pictures at the beginning of the thread-I don't pack light!!!

 

[purplepeg]

I hope your Dh gets on board with the plans for the rest of the trip I'm sure enjoying the tr so far. Keep up the good work.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I hope your Dh gets on board with the plans for the rest of the trip

I certainly hope so too. If our ride up to the cottage is any indication than we could be in for a bumpy ride. DH announces that he is leaving the climate control up to me. Like he has to give me permission anyhow but I'm not going there right now. DH continues to adjust and turn on and off the climate control the whole trip. Especially after I have touched something. It seems as if he is doing this one purpose but according to him he is not aware I just adjusted something and doesn't mean anything by it all.

Have I mentioned that I am a teacher and therefore home for the summer and that my DH works from home so that we are now together 24/7? I'm thinking that this seasonal togetherness could have something to do with why he is driving me CRAZZZZZZY right now.

However DS9 Eeoyre and I are home alone for the night. Everyone else is still up at the cottage. Eeoyre had to come home for a dance performance. We're heading back up first thing tomorrow. Or not.....

I got a little lost trying to take the "back route" home. DH wrote it out for me. Since our cottage is new to us I had only been up there once before and therefore am not familiar with the route or the area. This shortcut was supposed to be faster and perhaps if I hadn't gotton lost it would have been. To quote Martha Stewart the fact that we are flying to Disney and not driving "is a good thing".

The cottage itself is great and I'm hoping to post some pictures when I get back. We had great weather today. DS9 Eeoyre has been saying for months that he is not going in the lake and that he hates the cottage. It took us two hours to convince him to go swimming and now he loves the cottage.

DS5 seems to have recovered. Still not sure what it was because only one spot actually sort of blistered on his foot. Now he is covered in bug bites from the cottage and I couldn't tell you where that one spot was if I tried.

29 days to go!!!!!!!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Friday August 17, 2007

We didn't make rope drop to Animal Kingdom today. My guys are great at staying up late but not at getting up early. We got the 8:40 bus to AK and I tried to let go of the nagging "you are already running behind" feeling. This was my first time to AK and I felt unprepared as it was. Now in case you have noticed my children are not comfortable with the unknown and it is not really a secret who they inherited this trait from now is it?

It was HOT HOT HOT today. I don't know if it was the hottest day of our trip or if what everyone says about AK being the hottest park is true. I had dressed us all in bathing suits and rashguard/dryfit t-shirts in preparation for Kali River Rapids. There are actually some pictures of me in just shorts and my bathing suit and you know it HAS to be super duper hot for me to walk around exposed like that.

Here we are at the entrance and you can see the moisture in the air.

You'll also notice that my hair is still in the BBB bun. It was like glue on my head. I had been swimming many times and the thing did not move. Cindy's had come out but since my hair was driving me crazy this trip I was happy to keep it up. I had committed to growing my hair for the organization "locks of love". My school does a big fundraising drive for Cancer each spring and I had declared I was growing mine at the last assembly. I made it through the year and am glad to have shorter hair now. I raffled off the chance for students to cut my hair off. I donated 15 inches. Three students were picked and I walked around all day with uneven hair at least until school was over and I could get to my hairdresser.

But back to the report. It was hot. We were stuck in the search your bag line for a bit. Nanny's backpack zipper got stuck and of course that nagging "We're running behind" feeling was still nipping at me. I left them at the entrance to grab fast passes for the safari while they got Nanny through and picked up the strollers.

I met them at Triceratops. Cindy was crying and walking even though they had rented not just a double stroller but Nanny rented a single as well. The crying was over who had to sit in the double. The arguing about where they were sitting in the strollers continued all day.

We managed to get them on Triceratops.

Cindy and I were going to ride the primeval whirl. There was no lineup. We got to the front and the CM told us to wait. The CM wanted to measure Cindy. Well, that got Cindy thinking about the ride and she ran to the exit. It took some coaxing by me but we got back in line. Because by now there was a line. This time Cindy and I got on the ride. Just as the vehicle moved Cindy started to scream. It is her way of dealing with the rides and really quite acceptable on a roller coaster. The CM stopped the ride. Cindy kept screaming because it was shocking to stop so close to beginning the ride. The CM came over to us and asked Cindy if she wanted to stay on the ride. Cindy screamed. I tried to assure the CM that if we could just get going on the ride she would be fine. The CM didn't believe me gave me a glare like I was the meanest Mom in the world and opened the door saying "There there missy, You don't have to ride if you don't want to " held out her hand to Cindy and basically took us off the ride.

Now I don't mean to be a mean Mother. I wasn't intending to make my child ride a ride she didn't want to. Months had gone into reading about the activities at Disney with my children to prepare them. Cindy had chosen primeval whirl just as she had chosen Space Mountain. We watched the ride before we entered the line-up. We talked about it on the bus on the way there. We had a strategy planned. She was going to scream and hold my hand. She wanted to ride it and yet she was afraid to ride it just as she felt about Space Mountain.

The trick I have learnt over years of experiencing it myself and spending time with my children is timing. If a ride operator hesitates or the lineup is too long my children's anxieties or" dragons" as we call it will win. But if there is preplanning involved and strategies devised (I will hold Mommy's hand, I will sit between two parents, I will remember this is just a movie) then their "wizard" (their ability to overcome their anxiety) has a fighting chance.

Now she was mad at herself. She didn't get the single stroller first thing and her dragon was roaring loudly. She shut down. If she wasn't happy well then by golly no one was going to be happy. We ran into Pooh on our way to Kali River rapids. Here is a picture that shows her displeasure.

Luckily once we got to Kali River rapids she managed to make a comeback. Nanny sat this one out and kept our belongings dry. We had to run unto this one. Thank goodness there was no hesitation to loading this ride because the circular moving sidewalk thing can flare up a dragon or two with my kids. We did get separated. Poppa and Eeoyre were in the tire two after ours. Again this could have had disastrous results but it was too fast for anyone to react.

Neither of us got really wet. No spectators sprayed us with water and there was no back up during the ride. All three kids loved it. Cindy was back in excited mode and I had to decide to grab a fastpass for later on it or let us ride once more. That nagging "we're behind" feeling was back again. But since Cindy was happy again and DH suggested "What harm could one more time hurt? The sign says 10 minutes wait." I was still holding on to the "I'm a mean Mom" taste in the back of my throat from the Primeval Whirl CM so I agreed to let us ride again.

It was a long wait this time. It was a long loading which was okay because my kids were prepared having already ridden it and we all got to sit together this time. There were also some traffic jams in the ride which meant that the crowd DID spray us. Perhaps I didn't make the right decision after all.

Sugar levels were getting low so we got pretzels and ate them during Flights of Wonder. Here are some pictures of us watching the show. Do we look hot or what?

All three kids gave this show a thumbs up.

Up next - extreme heat plus hunger plus DH equals cranky once again.

 

[Nemo32]

Sorry I fell behind! Great updates! Le Cellier is by far my favorite restaurant on WDW property.

And AK is very HOT, especially with the size of the park and amount of walking.

Waiting for more...

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Another fun update! I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to edit pics to get ride of "verge of a meltdown" pics of DD! Yes, AK is just that hot. Always is.

Oh and we never make it to rope drops either. DD loves to stay up late and sleep in as well! That's one of my goals for this trip. 9 days...I'm hoping we make at least one!

 

[Alysa]

Great updates!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Le Cellier is by far my favorite restaurant on WDW property.

I can't wait to go again. This time we are all going. I'm torn between ordering the same thing because it was soooo good or trying something new. I'm definatly getting the cheese soup again.

How's the new job Nemo32?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to edit pics to get ride of "verge of a meltdown" pics of DD!

I have some great ones of DD screaming/crying/having fits when she was a toddler. I figure I will blow them up for her wedding LOL.

Great updates!

Thanks, like most of us on these boards I could talk about disney 24/7. My friends and family have had enough so it's nice to find an outlet for it.

 

[stagemomx3]

Any news on ballet school?

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Any news on ballet school?

He comes home everyweekend. He absolutely loves it. He had a sad moment this weekend when he realized he was halfway done.

I'm working on his dancing for this upcoming year. His teacher has suggested he do a ballet duet with another girl in the company. DS9 likes this girl and would be thrilled to do a duet with her. Only the teacher wants me to approach the girl and her family. I feel like I'm "pimping" him out.

 

[stagemomx3]

He comes home everyweekend. He absolutely loves it. He had a sad moment this weekend when he realized he was halfway done.

I'm working on his dancing for this upcoming year. His teacher has suggested he do a ballet duet with another girl in the company. DS9 likes this girl and would be thrilled to do a duet with her. Only the teacher wants me to approach the girl and her family. I feel like I'm "pimping" him out.

Start with that it was the teacher's suggestion, then it will feel less "pimpish."

When are the tryouts for the school year?

 

[Nemo32]

How's the new job Nemo32?

It is fabulous! I love being at the museum every day.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

When are the tryouts for the school year?

Once you make it into the competitive program at this school you don't have to try out again. It is up to the director to decide if you can do a duet or solo though. I'm going to suggest to the director that she talk to the girl in question and her parents.

I looked into changing studios but DS is too attached and not really fond of change. I made him change schools last year to be at the school where I taught and this year he is changing schools again to attend the extended french immersion program. Luckily all his BFF's from both his old and my school are going so he is excited about this change. When I looked into changing studio's my DD7 was going to have to try out to be in the competitive program but the other two schools had heard about DS (small town and there was an article on the front page of the paper about him getting into this summer camp) so there was never any talk about him trying out just DD7.

I love being at the museum every day.

I'm so glad for you. We are off to Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum next week. We have visitors from Vancouver staying with us and it's one of the many sights we are taking them too.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

After the bird show DH and I had a small tiff about lunch. Not really a surprise as I had indicated in my last update that a cranky hubby was coming up next.

No one was hungry for a meal except him. He likes a hot lunch. A sandwich will NOT do. It has to be at least soup and a sandwich. I told him to go get counter service and we would meet him later. The pretzels were really enough for the rest of us. They were huge. But he was grumpy (I think the heat and low sugar levels) and wouldn't leave us. We all paid for that.

We did get frozen treats and explored the Maharajah Trail a bit. DH got a frozen banana. He kept grumbling to himself about how it was lunchtime and shouldn't we all be eating now as we headed to the Nemo show.

DD6 insisted on a picture all to herself. It was a consolation prize for not riding in the single stroller. UGHHH the whole stroller fight was really getting on my nerves.

Notice I am actually in public in a bathing suit. Something I swore I would never do (outside of a beach or water park) but apparently I am a liar because I did indeed walk around in my bathing suit and quick dry shorts and I just didn't care. That's how hot it is in August. It made a liar out of me.

We just made it into the 1pm show. As mentioned Nemo is one of my DS4 my Jedi in training's favorites characters. The air conditioning was heavenly. Poppa fell asleep. He's not really a show person. The rest of us enjoyed it.

Now we went to Pizzasafari and had lunch. The place was packed. Actually I was noticing that AK was getting quite busy. I was beginning to think that TGM was wrong making today a green day. But then I realized that it was almost 2 pm and we weren't usually in the parks in the afternoon.

We made our way to the Tree of life for our mandatory family photo.

We saw Lion King next. Poppa managed to stay awake but only because they have bench seating and the show is pretty loud. We all loved this one. I had a few teary eye moments watching this one and watching my kids watch this one.

Now it was time to hit the safari and head home. The safari was okay. We have a great zoo in Toronto and have annual memberships so in hindsight I think we could have skipped this and headed back to the hotel instead. But everyone makes such a big deal of the safari I thought we needed to do it.

Here we are on the safari.

The parade was on as we made our way back. It was the only afternoon parade we watched our whole trip. It was crowded.

Here we are walking to the bus stop. Maybe it was the heat or maybe it was that it was our longest day in a park but it seemed like AK has the farthest bus stops from the park gates.

I really love this picture of the kids with DH here. I love that they are all holding hands and attentive to each other. I toyed with making this one my avatar.

We had a late dinner at the hotel food court and went for a swim. Tomorrow was my "up for grabs" day. I had ADR's at Chef Mickey's so we could choose any park we wanted. Everyone wanted another rest morning so in the end we decided not to do a park at all and go to DTD. DH was happy because I seemed flexible with our plans.

"Of course I can be flexible" I told him. I had planned to be flexible. It was written into my schedule. I am just fine being flexible as long as I plan for it. Of course he thinks I was being spontaneous. That I have a problem with.

Next update http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26509708&postcount=86

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Just checked my messages and my TA called. She has something for me to pick up. Wonder what it could be?

I'm actually thinking of not attaching the magic express tags to my luggage. I think I would feel safer picking them up myself. I know it adds time on at the airport but I hated it when my bag was late/missing last year.

Anyone else pick up their own bags?

 

[Alysa]

My DH is miserable when he doesn't eat either.
I think after El Azizia, Lybia, the Animal Kingdom must be the hottest place on the planet. And we couldn't manage it in September or May - poor you!

The magical express people were not happy with the family that grabbed their bags for the bus on our last trip. I would just take a carry on for the stuff you will need that first day.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

"Of course I can be flexible" I told him. I had planned to be flexible. It was written into my schedule. I am just fine being flexible as long as I plan for it. Of course he thinks I was being spontaneous. That I have a problem with.

You could be my twin!!!

Just checked my messages and my TA called. She has something for me to pick up. Wonder what it could be?

I'm actually thinking of not attaching the magic express tags to my luggage. I think I would feel safer picking them up myself. I know it adds time on at the airport but I hated it when my bag was late/missing last year.

Anyone else pick up their own bags?

The first year they did the "no liquids" thing we flew right after they started that. It was at the time that they weren't allowing anything-Ziploc baggie or not. So what we did was bring one on those small suitcases that you could technically bring as a carryon. In that we put our toiletries, makeup, sunscreen, bathing suits, and pjs (just in case). We put tags on our other suitcases but left them off of that one. DH ran and got it at baggage claim while I checked in for ME. Worked perfect.