A Happy Dog's Summer of Sea and Shore - *cough,cough, nudge nudge* 7/11

[teachermommy78]

Joining in! We took a trip on the wonder for our honeymoon in 1999 and had so much fun! I would like to do a cruise with the kids in the next few years. Do you have a Griffin? I have a 3 year old Griffin that we call "Finn."

 

[Happydog]

Joining in! We took a trip on the wonder for our honeymoon in 1999 and had so much fun! I would like to do a cruise with the kids in the next few years. Do you have a Griffin? I have a 3 year old Griffin that we call "Finn."

Hello! Yes, I have a Mythological beast in my household...

He is 8 soon to be 9

WELCOME to my random PTR/TR with a lot in between!

We are looking forward to going on the cruise with them. It should be a great trip. I am sure you are excited for yours, too!

 

[Becc1]

Hi, I'm joining in! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hi, HD! Happy Saturday!

I will update this weekend, if you update this weekend!

 

[Native NYer]

Hi HD!

How has the weather been in the MD/DC area?

 

[MeMom]

I'd sleep in the steamer chairs on deck, too, MeMom!!! I think you are wanting the ROY or WALT Disney Suite... BIG and very luxurious!!!

Most definitely.

 

[Happydog]

Hi, HD! Happy Saturday!

I will update this weekend, if you update this weekend!

Oh okay okay!!!!

It has been a NUTTY week.. never mind it has been the first 5 day week in a month!!!

Tonight, or tomorrow. DEAL!

 

[Happydog]

Hi, I'm joining in! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

Great! Welcome! Hope you enjoy reading along!!!

Hi, HD! Happy Saturday!

I will update this weekend, if you update this weekend!

YOUR TURN...

Hi HD!

How has the weather been in the MD/DC area?

MEH.... rain rain, ick. IF it were just a few degrees colder we'd been in trouble today. They say some weather is coming mid-week. I don't think it will be cold enough to do any damage here... you on the otherhand, I guess you had a little reprieve, but more is on the way, right?!!

Most definitely.

Yeah, ME too!!! That would be pretty cool....

 

[Native NYer]

MEH.... rain rain, ick. IF it were just a few degrees colder we'd been in trouble today. They say some weather is coming mid-week. I don't think it will be cold enough to do any damage here... you on the otherhand, I guess you had a little reprieve, but more is on the way, right?!!

Luckily no ice or sleet!

It has rained all day. I'll take a little rain over snow at this point.
We're supposed to get snow Thursday. I'm hoping it holds out a little longer. It's elementary school admissions season in NYC and we're busy busy busy at school. Offers have to be mailed prior to President's week and decisions have to be made by March 1st. If we miss a day, it will push us behind schedule.

 

[Happydog]

The countdown continues!! TWO weeks now, just TWO weeks from today, we will be boarding the Dream for our four night getaway, AFTER spending one lovely night at the Bay Lake Towers in WDW!!

So to celebrate, as promised, I will share some of our cruise plans, and along the way a little this and a little that.

First the “THIS”…

So as you can imagine, I have been gearing up for packing and planning what I am going to bring with me on this vacation. I have made a few purchases which I plan to sport while on the cruise! A new pool cover-up and flip flops for one… I chose something bright pink because I have one swimsuit I plan to bring which is black with magenta trim. So this will go nicely…

I have a brown cover-up and brown sequined flip flops which I broke in last year (purchased at the same time, actually! ) and I will be bringing those as well… they go with a new suit I bought myself this past summer, which I just love.

So that will pretty much be my daytime attire!!!

CRUISE PLANNING…

For this cruise, I have pre-purchased the Rain forest room spa passes for DH and I, as well as a pack of bottled water to have on board. I am looking forward to checking out the spa area on the new ship! We didn't do that last year, so with the extra night, I see us wanting to spend some time at the spa, if only to see what it is like. I think it will be fun!

BENEFITS according to Disney…

This cruise was booked on board the Wonder last year, so already we received a discount, and in addition they gave us an $150.00 OBC, which we will certainly put to use!
Additionally, because we have saild DCL before, we are in the Castaway Club. (Those who are repeat Disney cruisers are automatically members, it is a great marketing gimmick, and incentive to keep cruising with Disney). Anyhow as CC members one perk we received was a gift in our state room, the Castaway Club bag with some goodies… This is last year’s…

I have read that they are still giving these out, not something different, so I will probably pack this bag, just the bag, and that way DH and I each have our own beach/pool side bag…

EXCURSIONS…

We are very much on the fence about spending time in Nassau. We have been before, and we don’t really see a need to shop for things that we can get at home (not really convinced about a great savings for items we would be in the market for). I don’t see myself wanting to go to the Straw Market, and I don’t want to go to Atlantis. Last year, we stayed on the boat and relaxed. I suspect that will be us again. We did leave the ship towards the end of the afternoon and walk around, but I am not sure we will be so compelled again. Not sure, yet. : This is when we may use our spa pass, b/c I worry the other day at sea will be very very crowded… I didn’t sign up for any spa treatments, not in advance, anyway. I think because it is so short, I will want to have all the available time I can have to explore!!
I did check on their pedicures and manicures, but I realized that I will have just had this done before we board, so that isn’t the best way to spend my Disney dollars!

Regarding DINING…

Fortunately we do have at least one reservation at Palo’s to start. I plan to be on board and in line as early as I can be to negotiate a better time, and/or a new night! I want to see two of the dining rooms for sure, and then there is the Pirate night menu… it makes sense to have that evening the same as one of the restaurants we wish to eat at, so at least we will be able to go check it out if we are able to get Palo’s a second night.
As I have been planning, I have read lots of reviews on the new restaurants on the Dream. There are three dining rooms: The Royal Palace, The Enchanted Garden, and Animator’s Palate. If need be, I think we will skip Animator’s since we have more or less been to this restaurant, and will save going there with the kids in June. It is the most family-oriented restaurant on the ship, so I know we can pass on it until they are with us if we need to. Of course this all depends on whether or not we get a second night at Palo’s. If we can’t then hopefully we can get brunch. I would hate to miss a restaurant if that is the case, so I will be vying to see if I can move our reservation to the night we “repeat” a restaurant (Basically you go to one restaurant twice).

Hope that wasn’t too confusing!!!!

In the next two weeks I plan to begin the packing, confirm I have everything I need for the trip, do online check-in! and watch the weather!!! I have a hair appointment at the end of next week, BOY do I need some highlights!!! And I will get my nails and toes done the week after that.

Now on to the “THAT” other news and such… WE did something really rather random. Hey, would it really be a Happy Dog PTR without a little twist here or there???


So, allow me to reveal the twist….


We bought plane tickets for next year. Plane tickets for the week of Thanksgiving, actually, Friday to Saturday, Thanksgiving 2011.

WHY, you ask? Because we are planning to spend Thanksgiving week down in Florida… WHY are we thinking about Thanksgiving??!! Well, it came down to time, and days off, and this coming school year we are sorely lacking in the random holiday time off category!!! Usually we get days off for Jewish holidays, for elections, etc. This year we had several, thus we were able to get away to CA for a week. However this coming year there isn’t an option like that. SO, we decided to bite the bullet and make some plans over Thanksgiving.

Okay, Okay, "WHY not Christmas!!!???" I hear you all whining…. (yeah, yeah, me too ) WELL, we *may* be going to Costa Rica! It isn’t for certain, but if we do, we would have wasted these airline tickets, so it made better sense not to gamble. Don't worry, you know I WILL get to Disney for Christmas again, trust me!!!

Now, before you all get super excited, as I suggested, we are NOT going to Disneyworld.

Well, we could, but at the moment, we are planning on the 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Magic! Yes, I know, I know, ANOTHER cruise. But we kept saying we wanted a warm vacation destination, and one where we knew we would get reasonably nice weather. As you know we were just in WDW over Thanksgiving (well right after) and while it happened to be great weather, it was unseasonably warm, or so that was said, and the weather is still highly unpredictable. We want to be able to bask in the sun… the only way we could guarantee this, was to head even further south…

Now, we did *toy* with the idea of going to Universal … we thought about Key West, as well… but, let’s face it, If I am going to fly to Orlando, I am going to have me SOME Disney magic, whether for part of the time or all of the time, and so the cruise was an interesting idea for us both. If we book it onboard in a few weeks, we get a discount and a great OBC… If we really HATE cruising with the kids, which I highly doubt, but who knows, we can cancel and go with our other plans… but we think it will work out well, and will be a great way to spend the week. I will of course MISS Black Friday, but hey, if I have a tan, I can get over it.

Ultimately, the airline tickets were something we didn’t want to sit on. We had two $250.00 vouchers with United, and so we used those, and used miles for two tickets. The tickets for that time of year were over $380.0o, so we felt we got our worth out of the vouchers, and our miles. The times we wanted were very particular, so DH is not one to wait on airfare and getting flights we want, especially with frequent flier miles. Because we could get the “supersaver” mileage seats, the # of miles we had to cash in were less, too.

So, there you go… something NEW on the horizon!

The NEXT big post I have will require your HELP!!! Flash forward to the Summer trip ... I am going to need some advice as I design my Fish Extender! I am going to purchase one from an Etsy crafter, but I can’t decide what to do!!! I will be posting some choices and hope you can help me come up with a combinations of appliqués and fabric colors, etc. It should be fun!!! More on the FE, and what a FE exchange is, in the next post!

JUST two weeks, and we’ll be walking through THESE arches…

I can't WAIT!


OH! I almost forgot. I had to share one… well TWO… final photos. I forgot to upload these, but I had to share. For those of you who have gotten used to my two boys and their antics, I know you'll get a little chuckle...
These were taken on New Year’s Eve… while we were waiting for our friends to show up for the evening… My two DS’s were “entertaining” themselves in the basement, then came up… I can’t wait to share these when they are twenty… If you look closely you can see the POC medallion in the rest of the “bling”… the revolvers are those we bought at Disney last Christmas when they boys went to the Pirate’s League. Just a sampling of what we have in our “Weapons bin”!!!

Oh, and tonight they insisted that we watch The Pirates of the Carribean AGAIN. Sigh… I really need to get the sequel…

TTFN!!!!

 

[MeMom]

It's hard to take pictures like this with a straight face.
Too cute.
I mean, serious, yeah... and scary.
I would feel very well protected, if I were you.
Nobody is gonna mess with those guys!

Stuff like that makes me miss having little boys around the house.

All of your travels sound fabulous. Costa Rica would be awesome!

I think all of us are probably more excited than normal about our spring trips, considering all of the cold weather we have had.
Everyone is ready to escape and find Mr. Sunshine!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Oh my gosh, those boys!
Never a dull moment around that house of yours....


Sounds like you have it all figured out for your cruise. Marc really wants the Palo brunch, I preferred dinner.

We'll see what we end up with.

 

[Charleston Princess]

That picture is classic! I love it! I would have been doubled over laughing when they appeared upstairs!

Love the cover-up and flip flops! Sparkly pink is one of my favorite colors. Where did you find the cover-up?

Looks like you have a great plan for the cruise -- what a relaxing time you will have! I will be eagerly anticipating your reviews of the new restaurants -- they sound really neat.

I was going to ask what a FE was, but I see you are planning to enlighten us in the next update.

Hurray for a Thanksgiving and Costa Rica trip on the horizon! So much fun!

I guess this means I need to come up with an update now...

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Your boys are just too cute!!

My goodness you have a lot of fun plans in the works! Yippee for 2 weeks!! Love the sparkly flip flops! And I am so jealous that you will be in a climate where a bathing suit and cover up can be your daytime attire!!

I don't blame you for thinking about staying on the ship in Nassau. I bet that will be a great time to explore. Can't wait to hear about the spa.

Thanksgiving and Costa Rica both sound like fun future trips (&, ahem, trip reports )

 

[Happydog]

It's hard to take pictures like this with a straight face.
Too cute.
I mean, serious, yeah... and scary.
I would feel very well protected, if I were you.
Nobody is gonna mess with those guys!

Stuff like that makes me miss having little boys around the house.

All of your travels sound fabulous. Costa Rica would be awesome!

I think all of us are probably more excited than normal about our spring trips, considering all of the cold weather we have had.
Everyone is ready to escape and find Mr. Sunshine!

I know they do keep life interesting!!!

I am looking forward to our excursion in two weeks, frankly! There is so much to do between then and now, but it will get done and make the time go fast. Work is nuts in the next two weeks...

Oh my gosh, those boys!
Never a dull moment around that house of yours....


Sounds like you have it all figured out for your cruise. Marc really wants the Palo brunch, I preferred dinner.

We'll see what we end up with.

Well, go with BOTH! You can do both. Just book the other when you get on board if you can't get both online!

Wait until BOTH those grandkids are running about, Anita, you will have your hands FULL, and plenty of entertainment I bet!!!! NO dull moments in the WigD house as it is

That picture is classic! I love it! I would have been doubled over laughing when they appeared upstairs!

Love the cover-up and flip flops! Sparkly pink is one of my favorite colors. Where did you find the cover-up?

Looks like you have a great plan for the cruise -- what a relaxing time you will have! I will be eagerly anticipating your reviews of the new restaurants -- they sound really neat.

I was going to ask what a FE was, but I see you are planning to enlighten us in the next update.

Hurray for a Thanksgiving and Costa Rica trip on the horizon! So much fun!

I guess this means I need to come up with an update now...

Oh we were laughing PLENTY. I had forgotten about this photo until I went to upload a few things last night...

I am looking forward to the trip, I am getting a new camera chip for the occasion...

I got the coverup on Athleta... it is a large, a little long in the sleeves, but they didn't have a medium. but coverups are not really fitted so I am fine with that. It was $15.99 or something like that so I couldn't pass it up. I get a lot of use out of these in the summer, walking back and forth from the pool in our neighborhood, etc. and it is perfect for the summer beach trip too!

Uh, YEAH, update expected!!

I am baking today. Let the flour fly!

 

[SoonerGirl]

How did I not realize you had started this? I'm such a bad DIS friend......OK, off to read now......

 

[Happydog]

Luckily no ice or sleet!

It has rained all day. I'll take a little rain over snow at this point.
We're supposed to get snow Thursday. I'm hoping it holds out a little longer. It's elementary school admissions season in NYC and we're busy busy busy at school. Offers have to be mailed prior to President's week and decisions have to be made by March 1st. If we miss a day, it will push us behind schedule.

I am right there with you. I have 900 envelopes to put in the mail on Monday. 170 will have smiles, 80 will have hopeful faces, and the rest.... I honestly hate this part of my job.

The next two weeks are a flury of registration meetings, open houses, and invited student meetings. NUTS. I will be ready for that cruise deck chair and a drink!

 

[Happydog]

How did I not realize you had started this? I'm such a bad DIS friend......OK, off to read now......

Hi YA! Well I DID put it on the regular PTR board...

JUST kidding!!! Glad you are here! I will be taking lots of photos for you and WigD!!!

 

[SoonerGirl]

OK - I'm back, so much to comment on I'm not sure I can even remember what I wanted to say!

I'll be curious to see what you think of the inside stateroom. The virtual portholes look so cool, but I think I would feel too closed in - like a sardine in a can I went with a verandah room for that exact reason.

I was getting a bit nervous reading some of the initial reports from the christening cruise & the maiden voyage, but the newer reports from the people that just got back are better, I think everyone just needed time to settle in, I can't wait to hear your experiences!

Love your sparkly pink flip flops & new coverup, very cute!

Congrats on taking the first step to next HD family adventure! The Eastern Caribbean cruise sounds awesome!

Love the pic of the boys, too funny, trying to be all serious and tough.

We took the hat on the cruise last year and Baylor wore it on Pirate's night but he informed me today that he didn't think he wanted to do that again....

Wigd, do you think Baylor will dress up at all for pirate night? My boys don't seem too interested, but if Baylor is going to I may be able to persuade them...

Marc really wants the Palo brunch, I preferred dinner.

If you do brunch, make the ressie for 4 please Yes, I'm inviting myself to have brunch with you & Marc

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hi YA! Well I DID put it on the regular PTR board...

JUST kidding!!! Glad you are here! I will be taking lots of photos for you and WigD!!!

I'm really bad about actually checking the board for new reports, I tend to look for links in the previous TR. Thankfully I saw your banter on CP's PTR and figured you must have started, then I saw the link your siggie