A Hop, NO Skip, and Many Mishaps to a Disney Dream!

[Caretames1]

My favorite! I can't wait to go there and have Kadence sit in the cars & carriage! She will be a done up, so I hope for some nice photos!

 

[SoonerGirl]

You got some really great pictures of Claire at the GF, so pretty!

Where is that Mary Poppins topiary? I've never seen it!

Ugggg, sorry about your feet. That's no fun when your body doesn't want to keep up with all you want to do

 

[jenseib]

LOL! I just read your post. Many thanks for having my back. Apparently she wasn't one of my customers.......

Tell me you have her daughter's costume photo somewhere???????? I better go scour the background of your photos again......

I'm dying to get going on Katie's for this trip. But it all depends on whether the right fabric shows up in the store. At least we finally conquered the shoe issue by making white spats. However, we bought back to school shoes yesterday and her feet have taken a HUGE growths spurt. So my guess is that she'd finally fit a pair of adult boots, which are far easier to find than the child size ones. Hmm........ got some surfing to do!

No she wasn't. There are a few of her in the background, but not very good. Mostly just the top half of her or just her head.
Claire grew too. Last year we bought 12 1/2 and 13's. Even earlier this year the size was about 13, not they are 1 1/2's!

My favorite! I can't wait to go there and have Kadence sit in the cars & carriage! She will be a done up, so I hope for some nice photos!

You'll get some atastic shots I'm sure. It is such a neat place. I really haven't had a chance to fully explore it like I would like to.
I lovethat shot too.

You got some really great pictures of Claire at the GF, so pretty!

Where is that Mary Poppins topiary? I've never seen it!

Ugggg, sorry about your feet. That's no fun when your body doesn't want to keep up with all you want to do

Ot's back in a little courtyard. Comeing in at the front entrance to GF it's to the left. If you look out the windows in the waiting are of 1900 PF you can see it as well. I am starting to worry about this upcoming trip. I haven't been faithfully walking like I should to get prepared. I also haven't lost any of the weight I swore I would. So I'll be fat and out of shape.

 

[mom2rtk]

No she wasn't. There are a few of her in the background, but not very good. Mostly just the top half of her or just her head.
Claire grew too. Last year we bought 12 1/2 and 13's. Even earlier this year the size was about 13, not they are 1 1/2's!

The shoes I bought for Katie right before Christmas were 2 1/2's. When they measured her at the store and said she's a 4 1/2 now, I thought they were nuts. I said we'd just try some on. Guess what???? And when they told Katie she'd now fit the smaller women's sizes, I couldn't keep her out of the really high heels! Fortunately there were no broken bones involved. But I wish I had video of her wobbling......... I mean walking......... around on them........

 

[jenseib]

The shoes I bought for Katie right before Christmas were 2 1/2's. When they measured her at the store and said she's a 4 1/2 now, I thought they were nuts. I said we'd just try some on. Guess what???? And when they told Katie she'd now fit the smaller women's sizes, I couldn't keep her out of the really high heels! Fortunately there were no broken bones involved. But I wish I had video of her wobbling......... I mean walking......... around on them........

Claire wants heels too...and a bra...she got that from her cousin who is only 10 months older but keeps obsessing over getting a bra.

 

[mom2rtk]

Claire wants heels too...and a bra...she got that from her cousin who is only 10 months older but keeps obsessing over getting a bra.

We really just need to lock them up and keep them from the outside world Jen. It's the only answer!

 

[Caretames1]

Claire wants heels too...and a bra...she got that from her cousin who is only 10 months older but keeps obsessing over getting a bra.

We really just need to lock them up and keep them from the outside world Jen. It's the only answer!

Kadence wants a bra because her older cousin (older by 9 months) wears one! Her cousin also weighs 125 pounds and needs it, but Kadence isn't getting one until she "needs" it!

I agree Janet!

 

[annmarieda]

I love all the pictures you took in the cars! I have never strolled over to GF so I had no idea those were there. Very cool!

 

[Beth D]

Love the GF pics!

Thank god i have a boy and don't have to worry about heels, bra's and (ahem) other things!

 

[jenseib]

We really just need to lock them up and keep them from the outside world Jen. It's the only answer!

Yes and give them growth stunting pills!

Kadence wants a bra because her older cousin (older by 9 months) wears one! Her cousin also weighs 125 pounds and needs it, but Kadence isn't getting one until she "needs" it!

I agree Janet!

It's so crazy. My niece was trying to tell my sister that if she didn't buy her one "Adda" (my Mom) would. My Mom said she said no such thing.

I love all the pictures you took in the cars! I have never strolled over to GF so I had no idea those were there. Very cool!

It is really pretty over there. I'm glad we took a little time after eating.

Love the GF pics!

Thank god i have a boy and don't have to worry about heels, bra's and (ahem) other things!

Boys can be a pain too. My son thought I was rich for some reason and wanted lots of expensive toys and clothing. Not happening buddy!

 

[jenseib]

We found our way easily enough and got off at the correct exit. As we approached the Residence Inn, I actually passed the road. As we went along with the flow of traffic through the light I realized it and pulled into a parking lot and made my way over to the correct road. As we turned around I made the comment that I really couldn’t see the traffic light well. When I had to make my left turn onto the correct road, again I noticed the light was so dim that I basically couldn’t see it. Traffic wasn’t bad and when I saw that no one was coming, I made the turn.
We pulled into Residence Inn and I was going to go and check us in. Dad was talking about his bathroom schedule again and said he would go in to use it after I got the all clear. I was going to take Claire into the bathroom and change her and we were going to go straight to Sea World then. Not even bothering to take our bags to our room.
Of course when I jumped out of the van again I forgot to put in park. I quickly caught it and said a few choice words. I don’t know why I had such a heck of a time getting this thing in park. LOL!
I went in and noticed that the door was propped open and the sliding doors were not working. It hit me then. Power was out in this area. No wonder I couldn’t see the traffic lights.

I walked in and asked if the power was out and they said yes. They also said they couldn’t check us in without power but took my phone number and name and said they would call us as soon as they could. I let them know that we were going to Sea World and would be back later then. I noticed that they still had a few emergency lights on, so I asked if we could use the bathrooms. They said yes, there was a little light in each one. I ran back out to the van and let the family know what was going on. Claire jumped out and we found her clothes to change her into. Dad made a beeline for the bathroom.

The bathroom was still pretty dark, but still enough light to actually get changed if you weren’t in a stall. Claire worried that someone would come in and “see” her. I assured it if someone did come in, it would be a girl. We got all dressed and then made a potty stop ourselves. The lights Popped back on as we were finishing up. Claire and I went to the desk and they were able to check us in at that point.

We headed back the van and waited for Dad…and waited…..and waited…..and waited.

I guess I took this picture while waiting because it’s the next one on my card.

Finally Dad emerged. We did the old joke (and disgusting joke at that) of “Did everything come out ok?” ….Well, no it did not!
This is going to be a little graphic, and I will write it as delicately as I can, but it is hilarious as well.

Dad came out and said the Men’s bathroom didn’t have any light. The emergency light had died. So he came out and asked a maintenance guy where another bathroom was. I questioned this right away. “You can’t go to the bathroom in the dark?” Dad said no, it was pitch black and couldn’t see his hand in front of his face….again I thought what do you really need to see….just go! LOL!
So he was directed to another bathroom. Again, the lights were out. So he came out and told the guy it was too dark in there as well. So the guy asks Dad if he would like him to shine a flashlight over the top of the stall while he went. And Dad said yes…..
OK, here I stopped him again….. “”What kind of guy offers to hold a flashlight while another guy is going to the bathroom?.. .and THEN what kind of guy says YES!” Well I guess I just found out!
So Dad proceeds to tell us how once he got in there the launch sequence became interrupted. He couldn’t go with the guy standing on the outside of the stall….well DUH…I could’ve told you that. So Dad told the guy it wasn’t going to work and came back out.
I have to say my Mom and I are dying with laughter at this point and time. I think we had tears streaming down our face. Claire even found it funny.
Dad thought we were crazy for laughing. He was mad now because he missed “his” time and things would be messed up now. And it was. He couldn’t go for a couple of days after. We began joking around each time he came out of a bathroom, asking if he was able to put in the launch code again, etc. We kept using space terms for everything and cracking ourselves up. Yes, we are happy with cheap and disgusting insults at my own Dads expense. When we got home I relayed the story to both of my sisters and both stopped me in the story at the same time “What? Wait, HUNH? Tell me you’re joking, He said yes to having a guy shine a flashlight while he went? AND what kind of guy offers to do that?”

He said the lights finally came on and he gave it one more try, but by that time it was too late!

We drove over to where our room was located and took out our bags and went to the elevator. For some reason Dad just looked at us like a deer in headlights and totally missed getting on the elevator. Mom was worried he would get lost and have no clue where to find our room. So Claire and I went back down to see if he was waiting. He wasn’t and I assumed he took the other elevator. When we got to the room, he was there, so I guess he found his way.
We freshened up a bit. I was feeling very tired at this point. I mentioned that for dinner this evening I wanted to do something very quick and get us to bed early. Mom said fine, but no fast food. I could already envision that we would be up later than I wanted to be.
I don’t know why we ended up taking our time, but for some reason I started looking at my pictures and organizing my cards. I realized one of my CF cards was missing. The one from the first few days. ….. With a LOT of cruise pictures.
I searched my camera bag, I searched my laptop bag…..I just couldn’t find it. I was panicking. Dad made some sarcastic remark about what a shame it would be for me to lose my millions of pictures. I said “it might not mean a lot to you, but to me it’s very important”. I was on the verge of tears (lack of sleep), so I grabbed Claire and took her down to the van. I was going to take a look through and see if it fell out. I looked and found nothing. I just sat on the van floor with the side door open, looking out and feeling so awful. I had my camera bag with me and I opened it up again, and low and behold that stupid card was there. In the spot I had already looked 3 times!!!! I was relieved and mad at myself.
We went back up to get Mom and Dad and told them the card was found. Mom said she was so happy because I would not be a very pleasant person to be around if it wasn’t found…and that is probably true….
We loaded back up in the van and FINALLY made our way to Sea World.

It was close to 2 PM before we got to Sea World. I had wanted to get there earlier than that. I knew time was limited there. The park was closing early that night for a private party.
We had absolutely NO wait to get into the parking lot. We paid and found a fairly decent spot not too far away. We headed up and presented our tickets and went in.
The sun was hot and bright and I was tired. I took a lot of pictures, but sometimes I wonder why I took some and why I didn’t take some of other things…like the entrance? LOL!

I did get this, and I believe this is when you walk in.

Dad was on a mission to buy a new hat. The hat he had with him wasn't very airy and his head was sweating. So we got that right away and worked our way into the park.

These are some of the 1st shots I have from Sea World.

We took a look at the map. This park layout was very confusing to me. We used to have a Sea World in Ohio and it was much easier to navigate. Of course I had been there several times growing up, so I was used to it as well.
We looked at the time guides and found that coming in the afternoon is not a good choice if you want to watch shows. Most of them are on in the morning with very limited showings in the afternoon. I decided we should head to the Sea Lion/otter show. This looked to be very similar to what they used to have in SW Ohio and my older 2 always loved this show, so I figured Claire would too.

I guess I took this in route.

We headed that way, pretty much getting lost on the way over and then climbed the MASSIVE hill to get to the seats. Yes, my feet were starting to scream at this point. I told the family to keep going and I was behind them and would call if I got lost. It kind of became a joke that day about how sore I was. I really think it was mostly due to shoe choice.

I took a quick shot.

Claire was thirsty and we still had time so I headed out and got some drinks.

I made it back with plenty of time to spare and started to take some pictures.

I took this one on my phone and sent it off to facebook.

I zoomed into another stadium across the way, I think it might be Shamu Stadium.

There is a pirate mime that comes out before the show. He is HILARIOUS. He will ask people how many in their party, but miming of course, and then act like he is going to seat them, only to lead them out to the exit on the other side. He did all sorts of funny things and I thought my Dad was going to fall over from laughing. I took this REALLY short video. I don’t know why I didn’t take more or why I didn’t get anything good.



Soon it was time for the show to start. It was good. Very similar story line to the one they used to have in Ohio, but a few things were changed or added. Claire was in awe. She had never seen a show like this and really enjoyed it.

Here is some short video of the show.

This otter kept running through and he was hard to actually capture on film. I would always see him last minute.

 

[chloe770]

I don't even know what to say about your Dad and the launch story other than it made me LOL
I'm glad you were able to find your CF card. I do that kind of stuff a lot and it's very frustrating.
Sea World looks like fun so far. I haven't been since I was a kid in Ohio. We aren't going this trip, but I think we might try to get there next trip.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Cracking up over the story about your dad!

I haven't been to Sea World since Jared was 3, there is one in San Antonio about 7 hours from us. We really need to go again.

 

[Caretames1]

It's sad, but I do enjoy bathrom humor! Even worse, if Kadence happens to pass gas in public, (which I've told her to not make a scene out of) she get the uncontrolled giggles.
Your dads "issues" would been great material for an all day laugh fest for me as well!

We really enjoyed the Clyde and Seamore show too! The mime was hillarious!
I did find the park weird in it's layout.

I guess it's not Disney

 

[jenseib]

I don't even know what to say about your Dad and the launch story other than it made me LOL
I'm glad you were able to find your CF card. I do that kind of stuff a lot and it's very frustrating.
Sea World looks like fun so far. I haven't been since I was a kid in Ohio. We aren't going this trip, but I think we might try to get there next trip.

I couldn't even beleive it was true, but you can't make up stuff like that. He's a character at times.
I am so glad I found that card. I swear I had issues with cards the whole trip. I'm gonna have to bolt them to my bag this time around.

Cracking up over the story about your dad!

I haven't been to Sea World since Jared was 3, there is one in San Antonio about 7 hours from us. We really need to go again.

Yes, we are on classy family!
I wish Sea World in OH was still there. It was about 2 1/2 hours away and we could make a day trip out of it.

It's sad, but I do enjoy bathrom humor! Even worse, if Kadence happens to pass gas in public, (which I've told her to not make a scene out of) she get the uncontrolled giggles.
Your dads "issues" would been great material for an all day laugh fest for me as well!

We really enjoyed the Clyde and Seamore show too! The mime was hillarious!
I did find the park weird in it's layout.

I guess it's not Disney

I had a feeling you would love that story. Claire has no problem passing gas publically, but I keep telling her that she should say excuse me or just hold it till we are in provate. She hasn't learned that technique yet. And she will now laugh too, and even announce it sometimes...

I loved the Mime. He was really good. I wish I took more video because I have forgotten most of what he did now.

 

[mousetravel]

Love the pics of Claire at the GF.

That mime from Sea World is so funny! He was there when we went last year.

Since Claire is wanting a bra, you could get her one of those training bra things that is just like a "half" tank top thing. I bought DD a lot of those, in all colors & designs. She loved them!

 

[annmarieda]

Your dad and the flashlight...

I am glad you found your card. That would be just a sickening thing... loosing all those pictures.

We went to Seaworld in 2003. I remember that show... looks like they haven't change it.

 

[Kathy Jetson]

Our Mad Hatter seemed like he didn't want to be bothered with us. I think he was the same one you got. I kind of had to force him to interact with River and he was the reason I booked that breakfast and I really built him up to River. I just told him they were switching over to lunch and the Mad Hatter had to leave I can't believe I missed the Mary topiary I love those!

I felt so bad for you when you couldn't find the card I would have cried too. I'm so glad you found it!

That is one of the funniest bathroom stories I've ever heard

We've never been to Sea World and I don't know if we'll make it so I love seeing your pictures and hearing about it.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

LOVED all the Mary Poppins pictures!!! They were great. The GF is the perfect setting for those pictures! Claire looked just perfect!

Oh my goodness! You had me cracking up over your Dad's bathroom issues!! What the heck!?!?! I can hardly believe someone would offer to hold a flashlight for him! That's one of the funniest stories I've ever heard! Why didn't he just give the flashlight to your dad???

We saw Clyde and Seymore back in '08 and LOVED it! It is so funny and entertaining. We loved all the shows at Seaworld but I totally agree with you that the park is very confusing and so hard to find your way around. They were doing construction when we were there so the maps didn't match the park and that made it even worse! I was almost in tears out of pure frustration b/c we could not find our way around! Other than that though, we really enjoyed it and would love to go back.

 

[cass'mom]

So now you know the perfect Christmas present for your Dad-- a flashlight! I would so do that just to see the look on everyone's faces! I couldn't believe someone would want to hold it for him!! Must be an alternate universe!


I used to love Sea World in Aurora! I am so bummed my girls can't experience it being that close to us. We went every year when I was a kid and I rarely got bored with it. We even had our prom and after prom there when I was in high school! Although it was weird changing clothes in front of the penguins...