A Smile in my Heart–Magical Week of Friends,Fun & Freezing-10/28-COMPLETE!

Wow! Those photopass pictures are so, so fun!!! What fantastic memories of your trip!!!:goodvibes
 
Oh my goodness! I didn't realize how great those photopass pictures turned out. That first one is definitely going to get a home in a frame on my wall. :goodvibes That whole photoshoot was one of those unexpected things that we just happened upon and turned out to be so much fun.

Love the picture of Katie on Dino Dumbo with her big wide eyes :laughing:, she is adorable.

Great update as usual. Only you (and I mean this as a compliment) can get a whole post about less than an hour's time in AK. :cloud9:

Looking forward to more! popcorn::

LOL Michelle - thanks for the compliment....I think! :laughing: Sometimes I get ready to post and I'm like geez....that all happened in like 15 minutes....no wonder it takes me so long to do these things! It's my subliminal way of keeping the magic alive until I have a trip to plan!

I love those photopass pics too! I can't wait to do a photobook of all our pics from this trip! You can imagine how long it takes for me to do one of those! :rotfl:

Awesome group photos... plural!!

So glad you got pixie-dusted with a great photographer!

Hmmm.... SuperBowl Sunday.... time for the men to disappear!! I had similar issues with the World Series on my trip!! :lmao:


Kathy

Thanks Kathy! What was funny is Shawn didn't even realize at first that it was going to be Superbowl weekend when we decided on these trip dates! :eek: Oops! I did, but figured he would realize it sooner or later and as long as his team wasn't in it (ha - his team is the Redskins) - he would be fine! Of course, his 2nd favorite team is the Colts! :headache:

LOVE LOVE LOVE the photopass pic!!! What an incredible photo, you are so lucky :goodvibes You know the difference is that the kids were truly having fun and it shows.

I laughed outloud at the Everest pictures. Shawn's "rock star" hands and the boys looked like they were having so much fun riding alone. :lmao:

I can't wait to hear about your next day. Wondering where Shawn was :confused3

And Superbowl Sunday...WHO DAT? WHO DAT? WHO DAT SAY THEY'RE GONNA BEAT THEM SAINTS?! :cheer2:
Katie - I hope you don't think I'm weird when I say that I was thinking about you that night of the Superbowl (I was very happy for you and knew you were celebrating....:yay:)

Sara,
Those pics turned out awesome! Nice to get a good photopass photographer once in a while :goodvibes. The ride pics are funny too. Looking forward to more popcorn:: .
Well, there are a couple of people missing from those shots - then they would be perfect! Might have to get Shawn to do some photoshopping!;)

Wow the photopass shots are amazing every one looks happy and is looking at the camera. Just prefect. I love boma. Cant wait to here what happens next

Thanks! Boma is coming up next! :thumbsup2

Oops, missed two updates!! I guess I need to catch up on my report so I can tell all about Ms. Lilo and my son! :lmao: Sara, your memory is truely amazing! I don't feel like I'm reading about a trip that I was on!! My mom got a shot of the birds in the trees. If you need a scenery shot or some obscure shot ask me. My mom most likely got it! I LOVE our group Photopass shots! Why didn't you post the zoomed in shot of you and Shawn making your silly faces? I made that on Photopass just for you!! Great updates. I can't wait to read about Boma and see what I forgot!:rolleyes1
LOL Monica! I think my memory is always best for the first day and the last day of a trip for some reason. The middle few days are a bit more mushy! We'll see how I do when I get to Tuesday at DHS - I may be referring to you for some help! :confused:

Wow! Those photopass pictures are so, so fun!!! What fantastic memories of your trip!!!:goodvibes
Thanks! We did luck out with a good photographer for those! He made it a lot of fun! :cool1:

Sara
 
All Caught up! :) Love the photopass pics of the group! It was great and brought a tear to my eye :thumbsup2 We have never been to AK for very long. Someone has a breakdown, or it is just way too hot and we have to leave for whatever reason. So we are going to make AK our first park this year, in hopes we can see more of it. I would love to see FOTLK and Finding Nemo! Can't Wait! :goodvibes Looking forward to more.
 
NO WAY!!! I am so happy you were thinking of me! You just knew that we were all going crazy :woohoo: :laughing:

Can't wait to hear about your next day popcorn::
 

All Caught up! :) Love the photopass pics of the group! It was great and brought a tear to my eye :thumbsup2 We have never been to AK for very long. Someone has a breakdown, or it is just way too hot and we have to leave for whatever reason. So we are going to make AK our first park this year, in hopes we can see mor:thumbsup2e of it. I would love to see FOTLK and Finding Nemo! Can't Wait! :goodvibes Looking forward to more.

I have grown to love it more each time we go! I do think that it is an overall "hotter" park than the others due to the foliage, so it's nice to go early in those hotter months, then leave for a quick break, and come back for the afternoon....maybe in time for the parade and a show!

NO WAY!!! I am so happy you were thinking of me! You just knew that we were all going crazy :woohoo: :laughing:

Can't wait to hear about your next day popcorn::

Oh good...didn't want to come across as some kind of crazy DIS stalker! :laughing: I just knew that you were going nuts!! :banana:

Sara
 
February 7th - Animal Kingdom - Chapter 9....the FINAL Chapter!!!! (for this day anyway)


As we made our way out of the Animal Kingdom, we all said our good-byes to Charlene and her children, Kaitlyn, Rachel, and Luke. They were heading home that night and would not be joining us for dinner. Shawn took off JOGGING for some reason with the stroller (I think it was his attempt at working off a few more calories before BOMA so he could totally rock the buffet) and Emily and I pseudo-jogged behind him as a joke.

For like 10 seconds.

Then we came to our senses. :laughing:

Michelle and Sam hitched a ride with Monica and family and we followed behind them in our car. Once we got to the beautiful Animal Kingdom Lodge we made our way inside and used some of our extra time before our ADR to freshen up in the lobby bathrooms! Michelle and Sam went back to their room for a few minutes to put stuff down and then met us back downstairs along with Nichole and Kaylee! We were still a bit early but decided to go ahead and check in since Boma can sometimes take a while to get seated.

Shawn made a beeline for the bar area on our way down and bellied up to the bar for a martini and the start of the Superbowl. I’m pretty sure he was fairly content at that point! :drinking1


We initially had an ADR for 13 and Nichole and Kaylee had a separate one for 2 around the same time. Problem was....we were now neither a party of 13 OR 15, we were a party of 14. LOL! We just asked if they could add one to ours and that was fine.

The kids split up into little groups….Samantha and Kaylee, Michael and Hunter, and Emily, Katie, and Megan….and began to “socialize”! :hyper2:

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These pictures were all taken around 6:45 right around when we had our ADR scheduled. Unfortunately, Boma was not exactly swift with their table seating on this night and we proceeded to sit there for quite a while. Not their fault – we were a big group and you can never tell how long people are going to linger when eating their dinner. I find this to be especially true at dinner time. In the morning, and even in the afternoon for lunch, people just tend to move along because they have somewhere to go; somewhere to be. Dinner (especially at one of the resort restaurants) is usually going to be one of the last things people are doing for the day, and they just tend to really TAKE THEIR TIME!!!!!

No worries, the kids were being good and patient for the most part.

But I didn’t know how much longer Michael was going to last, when I turned around to see this:

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(this picture’s timestamp is 7:05, so we had been there for 20 minutes – and truth be told – we were there even earlier than our ADR time, so this was probably more like 30 minutes or so of waiting).

I sat down next to him and he looked miserable. :sad1:

Much to my dismay, it was his tooth that was bothering him. I was really starting to worry about what we might have to do to help him with his tooth pain. He was also looking very tired at that point. I gave him some Tylenol and we passed the time having a photoshoot with Megan and Katie.

Funny faces:
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More funny faces:
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And now some sweet faces:
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I was periodically getting text messages or voicemails (apparently I could not hear my phone when it rang) from Shawn wondering if we were all chowing down and failed to tell him. I reluctantly told him that we had not been buzzed yet and I would let him know when we were. He said he would order me a drink at the bar and bring it down to me! Woo-hoo!! (Although maybe he took my “buzz” comment literally….)

Shawn was still enjoying his own private Superbowl party with 50 of his closest strangers! LOL! He did manage to take a picture of his drink! I have trained him well.

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Back at the Boma waiting area, I continued to console Michael, and Emily took pictures of Megan and Katie!

I think it’s hilarious how girls this age assume they can pick any other kid up!

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We sat for a while longer and were finally called around 7:15 or so. Yikes. 30 minutes past our ADR time and we were there early, so all in all we probably waited more like 45 minutes.

But now our bountiful feast of African fare was awaiting us! :dance3: Shawn met us downstairs, updated us on the score of the game – Colts were ahead at that point – and brought me a yummy pina colada!


After the inevitable jockeying for seat positions so that “this kid could sit next to this kid” and so on…..we were ready to dig in! Good thing about buffets….you can eat right away…because we were all so starved.


I was sad that Michael’s tooth was bothering him because he is such a meat-eater and I knew he would love the meat stations at Boma! He loves steak – I mean LOVES it, so I told him to chew on the other side and to cut up his meat really small. Boma is such an awesome buffet, but as is usually the case with buffets, it is always a bit hectic with kids. I’m grateful that I now have a child who is old enough to handle going up and getting his own food without spilling it or tasting off the spoon! ;) That left Shawn and I to help with the girls.

The other thing I love about Boma is how it is set up in pods so to speak. You don’t have to wait at one end of the buffet line and go all the way through to the end to get to where you want to go. It makes it easier to get to the food YOU want!

Shawn was dreaming about the soup he had on our couples trip in May and I warned him that it might not be on the buffet this time since they change out things every so often. It was there and he was a happy man! :)

I think he had 3 bowls of it. It is some kind of clam/scallops/seafood stew.

I was most looking forward to the soup that I had on the trip I took with Monica and Michelle in Dec of 2008. It was the chicken corn chowder, and it was not on the menu in May, so I was keeping my fingers crossed that it too would be back on this night! It was and I was happy girl! :)

I swear I could make a meal of the soups alone. Truly delicious! But of course, I sampled quite a bit of the other stuff, too! Half the time I don't know what I'm eating at Boma, but I almost always end up loving it. It's probably a good thing that I don't know what all of the items are, because if I did, I probably wouldn't eat them! Which is sad, because it is all SO good! I don't find it too exotic at all and there are plenty of items on the buffet that are more main stream for those who are worried. My kids are not adventurous eaters so they pretty much got the standard kid fare; except for Michael who indulged (and was feeling better at this point) in some of the pork, the steak, and a lot of other meaty type options.


I apologize for my lack of pictures from INSIDE Boma but we were so starved that was all we could think to do….EAT!!! I did give my camera and/or my phone at times to the girls to entertain them and Emily snapped this picture of Shawn and Michelle which I think is hilarious! Shawn was showing Michelle some of the pics he had taken that day at the park, and Michelle (although I’m sure you weren’t) looks bored to tears!

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The desserts at Boma are to die for and we certainly got our fill of them. They did not have the pineapple upside down cheesecakes that they have always had before, but instead they had these caramel cheesecake things that were scrumptious! Those combined with a couple of zebra domes, some kind of chocolate mousse thing, cookies, lemon tarts, brownies….um, yeah…it was good!

I think I had given up control of my camera to Katie at this point, because all of my pictures for the next 10 minutes or so were of the napkins, the salt shaker, the drinking glass, the ketchup, you get the drift. Then she did take this good one of Dave with Hunter and Peggy in the background!

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I also like that you can see a bit of the “hut roof” in the background. Boma is a beautifully-designed restaurant with such an open market place type feel! It’s really stunning!

Then, Katie started in with the self-portraits. Oh brother. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure. She is a nut.

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Just so you know, you will be seeing more of those during the course of the week!

At some point, she must have handed off the camera to Michael and came to sit on my lap because Michael took this video. I think that I thought he was taking a still picture, but then he continued to carry it around with him and I realized he was taking a video. Aren’t you so glad I give my cameras to children??? It kept them entertained so that I could talk to my friends, so that’s all that mattered right then!




Our waiter was slow as molasses but eventually he came back and gave us our checks. It’s no wonder they are so slow to seat people…this guy really had no sense of urgency whatsoever to get us our checks, clear our dirty dishes, refill our drinks. Whenever we asked for something, he was quick to get it, and was always cheerful, but he was just low on initiative…we were the ones doing all of the asking, instead of him offering. It’s kind of aggravating when you automatically get 18% added to your check if you are in a big group, especially at a buffet. Sometimes we like to tip more than that (and then it gets confusing, what with the math involved…lol….)and sometimes (like was in this case) we would have liked to tip less. Oh well. Overall, Boma gets 2 very big thumbs up from our crowd!


I had left the table to take Emily to the bathroom and when I came back, we said goodbye to Nichole and Kaylee since they would be leaving the next morning. Michelle was gone, so we said our goodnights to the rest of the crew and went ahead and left to get the kids back to the hotel and in bed. I had originally planned for Epcot rope drop the next day, but after two late nights that was just not going to happen. We would be taking it easy in the morning and arriving at Epcot whenever we were able! We agreed to just call/text eachother the next day to try and meet up at Epcot.

I drove back and dropped Shawn and the kids at the front of the Poly and then went to park the car. I remembered to get the stroller out of the car since we would be using the monorail tomorrow to get around! Woo-hoo! Then I made my way inside the Poly lobby, out the back door, stared at the castle for a few seconds and then walked the short way to Samoa and back to our room! The Superbowl was just finishing up (Shawn managed to catch the last few minutes of the game when he got back with the kids), Michael and Katie were already in bed, and Emily was just about there but really wanted me to paint her nails. So in the quiet and semi-lit room I sat on her couch/bed in our room and helped Emily paint her nails in a Minnie Mouse dot-dot pattern. Then we took out our Guide to the Magic book and began to fill out all the details about the day. I really cherished this time with my “middlest,” as I like to call her. Just she and I re-living our great Animal Kingdom day and all the fun we had – riding new things, seeing great friends, exploring new places, lots of happy screaming, and tons of laughter!!

It was a great first day! :cloud9:


Phew – done with the first park day! It only took me a month!

Sara
 

I think I had given up control of my camera to Katie at this point, because all of my pictures for the next 10 minutes or so were of the napkins, the salt shaker, the drinking glass, the ketchup, you get the drift...



Then, Katie started in with the self-portraits. Oh brother. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure. She is a nut.



Phew – done with the first park day! It only took me a month!





You are so funny! :rotfl: I love your reports, Sara... although I cannot figure out how you keep everything straight since so many people are involved!!

Poor Michael... I hope he felt better. :hug:

On to Day Two!!



Kathy
 
I love those pics of the girls! So sweet!! Do you not know the REAL Boma seating story? I don't think Dave shared this much, but when he went up to see what the hold up was our ADR paper was just sitting there. Our table had been ready for who knows how long, but no one called us. Dave was a bit irritated. And that waiter ticked me off! Charged his tip to our card w/out asking how we wanted to pay. I just did not like him. It was a great night though.:thumbsup2 Funny video!
 
:lmao::lmao: Shawn is cracking me up!! Running to get his martini basically ;) SO awesome that you have him trained to take a pic of his drink arranged around the Disney napkin. I think my DH is almost there too!

Your meal sounds AWESOME! So sorry that Michael had a tooth ache. I know that hurts a Mommy's heart when they are not feeling good. Glad he got some meat, though! Seems like a wonderful dinner with friends.

Katie is a ham! I love all of her pics :lovestruc

Sounds like you guys had a GREAT time! I love how happy all of the kids seem and especially love the pic of all of them "socializing". Just love those ages!
 
What a great start to my morning!

I'm sorry Michael's tooth was bothering him but glad he was able to enjoy Boma. I hope it wasn't an issue all week for you guys (I can't remember...).

Those pictures of Megan and Katie had me cracking up, they look like a mini Monica and Sara making goofy faces. :rotfl:

I think you guys left while I was in the restroom. I came out and you were gone! :laughing: I know we were all exhausted after such a great day.

Bring on Epcot! popcorn::
 
You are so funny! :rotfl: I love your reports, Sara... although I cannot figure out how you keep everything straight since so many people are involved!!

Poor Michael... I hope he felt better. :hug:

On to Day Two!!



Kathy
It's funny, Kathy, because right now I feel like I have a better memory of the days when we were in a big group. I'm thinking in my head of some of the days where it was mainly just my family and I have a harder time remembering what the heck we did! :rotfl:

I love those pics of the girls! So sweet!! Do you not know the REAL Boma seating story? I don't think Dave shared this much, but when he went up to see what the hold up was our ADR paper was just sitting there. Our table had been ready for who knows how long, but no one called us. Dave was a bit irritated. And that waiter ticked me off! Charged his tip to our card w/out asking how we wanted to pay. I just did not like him. It was a great night though.:thumbsup2 Funny video!
I love those pics of Megan and Katie - those two are hilarious! I had NO idea that our table had been ready all that time. How frustrating! :headache:All I can say is I'm glad Shawn was up in the bar, drinking alcohol, and watching football, because he would have been Mr. Grumpy Pants had he been down there waiting and then found out that our table had been ready! Dave is very good at hiding his frustration because I had NO idea!

:lmao::lmao: Shawn is cracking me up!! Running to get his martini basically ;) SO awesome that you have him trained to take a pic of his drink arranged around the Disney napkin. I think my DH is almost there too!

Your meal sounds AWESOME! So sorry that Michael had a tooth ache. I know that hurts a Mommy's heart when they are not feeling good. Glad he got some meat, though! Seems like a wonderful dinner with friends.

Katie is a ham! I love all of her pics :lovestruc

Sounds like you guys had a GREAT time! I love how happy all of the kids seem and especially love the pic of all of them "socializing". Just love those ages!
Thanks Katie! :goodvibes The kids did all get along great and seem to really enjoy eachother's company! Boma is really good - just try to go early! ;) Dinners in resort restaurants are definitely the slowest moving tables.

What a great start to my morning!

I'm sorry Michael's tooth was bothering him but glad he was able to enjoy Boma. I hope it wasn't an issue all week for you guys (I can't remember...).

Those pictures of Megan and Katie had me cracking up, they look like a mini Monica and Sara making goofy faces. :rotfl:

I think you guys left while I was in the restroom. I came out and you were gone! :laughing: I know we were all exhausted after such a great day.

Bring on Epcot! popcorn::

LOL Michelle! I never thought of those pics looking like mini-Monica and mini-Sara! It's true! You should see some of the faces Katie makes later on in the trip - her self portraits are numerous!! :rotfl:

I'm sorry we missed you when we headed out. I thought you had gone back to your room already! :sad2: I missed out on the cool Pluto hat pics and the resort pics you guys took in the lobby! :sad1: Oh well....next time, right? Pesky kids and their tired bodies! :laughing: When's the next girls trip?

Sara
 
Caught up again;)

Loved your FOTLK pics. You take perfectly good pictures. We always say we are going to skip it because we have already seen it but somehow we always end up back there!

Those group pictures are priceless! I'm so glad that you all are so close...now if I could just get closer!!!! I always miss out on your Disney trips. At least we'll always have the mountains!:lmao:

All of your kis are gorgeous but Katie is so photogenic! The camera loves her!
 
Oh yeah, I totally see the resemblance.:lmao: We're raising crazy girls to wear silly hats!:scared1:
:rotfl2: Totally! Gotta start 'em young!!!:rotfl2:


Oh, and for the record Sara, I was not at all bored sitting next to Shawn at
Boma. :rotfl: It was nice to be able to talk with him a bit.

Hehe....it's funny what one capture on a camera can look like, right? It makes me smile whenever I look at it! :laughing:
Boma sounds great. Really wanna try it

You should give it a whirl! It's really good! :goodvibes

Caught up again;)

Loved your FOTLK pics. You take perfectly good pictures. We always say we are going to skip it because we have already seen it but somehow we always end up back there!

Those group pictures are priceless! I'm so glad that you all are so close...now if I could just get closer!!!! I always miss out on your Disney trips. At least we'll always have the mountains!:lmao:

All of your kis are gorgeous but Katie is so photogenic! The camera loves her!

Awww...yes, Lynn we will always have the mountains! Taboo and homemade grey goose slushies!! Good times!!

If I could just get Katie to smile normally in more pictures, I would be good....she is always making some kind of weird gangster sign! :rotfl:


Sara
 
Ta-da! I am all caught up! :cool1:


Those pictures of Megan and Katie had me cracking up, they look like a mini Monica and Sara making goofy faces. :rotfl:

I was thinking the very same thing Michelle! :rotfl2:


Sara, you are doing a fantastic job as usual! I always love your (and Shawn's) pictures! :goodvibes


Now you did it though...... I'm getting the itch. And I'll be in Orlando next weekend.... with the itch.... and no way to scratch it!!! :rolleyes:
 
What a great start to your trip, Sara! I love the details.

Is the TRex restaurant on the dp now? I thought the candle was a bit odd. :confused3

I think you all did a fabulous job navigating AK with so many people. `
 
Ta-da! I am all caught up! :cool1:




I was thinking the very same thing Michelle! :rotfl2:


Sara, you are doing a fantastic job as usual! I always love your (and Shawn's) pictures! :goodvibes


Now you did it though...... I'm getting the itch. And I'll be in Orlando next weekend.... with the itch.... and no way to scratch it!!! :rolleyes:

Sorry about that itching, Nicole! You really should get something for that!! :rotfl: I hope you can go do something Disney-related while there though.....Downtown Disney? Monorail ride? Resort Meal? :confused3 Whatcha heading there for?? Inquiring minds want to know....:rolleyes1

What a great start to your trip, Sara! I love the details.

Is the TRex restaurant on the dp now? I thought the candle was a bit odd. :confused3

I think you all did a fabulous job navigating AK with so many people. `
Hi Jen! :goodvibes No, Trex was not on the dining plan - we just paid out of pocket for it since we wanted to check it out. If I were to go back, I would get drinks and appetizers (and maybe dessert) instead of a meal. The nachos and cotton-tinis were so delicious!!! :love:

Candle on the plate is even stranger now that I think about it even more! :laughing:

We had a great time herding ourselves around the AK!! It helps when everyone is on the same page for how to "tour"! ;)

What a great post and the great photos!


Thanks! :goodvibes And thanks for reading!


UPDATE:
I really wanted to update this weekend, but as is usual....life got in the way! My mother-in-law fell and broke her leg and her hand and now has two casts she is dealing with. She picks the kids up from school and keeps them until I get home from work, so that is something we are trying to get figured out. Right now I'm bringing them back to work with me, but that can't go on forever! Especially since my workload is ridiculously large right now! :eek:

On the bright side (at least I hope this will still be happening...) I MAY be going to Orlando for a users group meeting for our accounting software we use at work. The conference is in May and most likely my Mom will also be going (family business). She really wants to stay at Disney and not at the Gaylord where the conference is, so I will keep you updated if we do decide to go and where we end up staying! I will be so excited to get to go back to the World!!! :woohoo::dance3::cheer2::woohoo:

Sara
 




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