A Tale of [family madness in] Two Cities - Final Thoughts & PTR Link!

[All7OfUs]

I can't tell you how many times I've done that. I, like many others, have started to do them in Word, and copy and paste. I haven't with the img links yet, but taht would be even better!

I HATE when I close the wrong tab!!

So glad the litte tyke is feeling a little better!! Mommies sure can lose a lot of sleep over their little ones!

 

[ClaireW]

So pleased to hear that Henry is feeling better

Bet you'll both be glad when the yucky meds are gone!

 

[jenseib]

Yes I copy the images too. I just copy the IMG code.

 

[blessedby3]

Glad to hear that Henry is feeling better
I havent been on the computer in days because my back went out, and I was so glad to see he is back to his old self when I got on today.
I love your pictures of the teacups and dumbo. They look so neat with the lights. Did you use a special setting on your camera, or did they just come out that way?
Sorry you lost all your hard work. That is so frustrating. Cant wait to read the update when you get it all done again.

 

[MHTeacher]

SO glad that Henry is feeling much better and more like himself!

Here's another person who always copies the image link as well into my word document, then pastes the entire thing to DIS. I preview the post to make sure everything's in the right place. It only took one time of me timing out on DIS and losing everything before I learned that trick!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Henry update:
He is doing MUCH better!!!! On Sunday afternoon he started to become his normal self again, by Monday he was 100% Henry - just with a bit of a sniffle. Since then the cough is almost gone, the runny nose, the temp. everything - GONE! He is back to his normal 2 year old self, running around, not listening to what I tell him to do, crying at bedtime, etc. We are still taking the yucky 'ol medicine because you are supposed to take it until it's gone, but we should be done with that by this weekend. He'll be HAPPY when it's gone! Poor kid just can't stand the stuff.

Thank you again for all your prayers, thoughts, words and concerns. I truly appreciate the friendships I have on here, knowing that you care means the world to me! Thank you for going through all this with me.

Yeah! So very happy to hear little Henry is feeling better! Great news! It always amazes me to see 1. how sick a child can look and feel and then 2. see them bounce back like it was nothing! Why can't I get my body to do that when I'm sick? Oh ya, cause I'm in my 30's now and not a roubst 2 year old! I hope you and Joe were able to escape Henry's cold and not catch it yourselves. What's that saying...'when Momma is sick, ain't nobody happy!'

Bummer about your udpate. Honey, I would've cried too and rightly so! One time in college, my DH was working on a HUGE term paper. Well, he was pulling an all nighter and ended up writing/saving over what he'd written previously. Don't ask me how he managed it but it became a legend at our college! My poor DH had to re-write 3/4 of it and looked like death in class when he turned it in! So ya, I can understand your frustration. At least you weren't being graded on it!

Looking forward to the next update and keeping my fingers crossed that you don't close the wrong window!!! Start chanting it now...don't close the dis window, don't close the dis window, don't close the dis window!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Monday, December 28, 2009.

The morning dawned and we slept.

So what's new with this crew?!?!



Well, Poppa was already up and at 'em when we woke up at 8:00 am. He was wandering about Kidani snapping more beautiful pictures.

Joe, Henry and I readied ourselves, threw some food in our mouth and hurried out the door as fast we could considering the dynamics of our traveling party. I believe it was around 9:00 am when we left. Joe had taken some meds, Henry was doing well, my voice was gone by this day, but I was feeling fine.

We arrived at MK around 10:00 am

and did our wheelchair grab.

Poppa making his selection

Since it was 10:00 and MK had opened 3 hours prior, and there were still wheelchairs, my fears of Poppa being wheelchair-less ever that week were starting to fade. Joe went ahead of us to grab FPs for the Jungle Cruise.

I snapped pictures as we waited - and soon Poppa joined me in capturing that first glance of MK as we all moseyed down Main Street.

Pluto and a marching band

Good morning beautiful tree!

I think we found the crowds...

Yep, we found the crowds.

As we headed down Main Street a marching band came up behind us, so we moved to the curb. We enjoyed the drum beat (they started playing just after they passed us), Henry clapped along with a big smile on his face.

Then I realized, this was Henry's first time at MK this trip! My days and nights were starting to blur, I had been at MK already twice - but this was Henry's first glance at the Castle. If you've read my past TRs you may recall I try to get his reaction to the Castle each trip. The first time he YAWNED, the second time he was indifferent, the third he barley had a chance to glance at it because we were running to Crystal Palace, and this time....

HE LAUGHED WITH EXCITEMENT! It was "Mickey's House!" (we don't tell him it's really Cinderella's....)

We headed straight back for Fantasyland. Would we find a mob?

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Eh, not too bad actually, all things considered, very doable! The wait for Dumbo was absurd, of course, so we aimed for something else and Henry made his opinion known quickly. He shot straight up in the stroller, pointed and shouted out, "POOH MOMMY!"

I saw the line...20 minute wait....Joe wasn't back yet with the FPs. Could I do this? A 20 minute wait with a 2 year old? Yes, I decided, I could do it! He was big enough to walk some himself, there were enough distractions in line to keep him occupied...I looked to the family who were more than willing to just hang out and people watch and wait for Joe while Henry had a ride on Pooh. I scooped up my baby and to the queue we went!

First item of distraction: a chain.

Second item of distraction: the ride and people.

Third item of distraction: practicing his letters.

He did GREAT in line. I was relieved. I should have known. This is his 4th trip to Disney, he knows how the queues work! He never tried to run out of line, or ahead of someone else, and he was very patient. He walked right along in line and took in all the wonder that the Pooh queue had to offer. Chains and letters included.

The wait was the full 20 minutes, but it went by pretty quickly. We boarded our honey pot

and had a great bounce through Pooh's book.

Henry was elated each time he saw all the characters he recognized. Last time he got scared on this ride a bit, but all smiles this time! When the ride ended he bounded right off and zipped through the gift shop so quickly I had to run a bit to catch him! He was just lovin' it all!

Here are some pictures Poppa and KK took while they waited for Henry and I:

Joe had met up with the family by this point and they were ready to mosey on...of course Henry needed a diaper change, people needed the restroom, yada, yada, yada. All that takes twice as long with a large group and MK was getting busier and busier, so there were lines everywhere.

Getting busier, but not horrible, I've seen Fantasyland busier in the slow season!

We used the restrooms next to PVH. Upon seeing the name of the restaurant my MIL said, "Oh, they must serve German food here!" Then she looked at the menu.

Joe said the Jungle Cruise had a 5 MINUTE wait when he was there to grab FPs, so our FP return time was already open and we attempted to make our way over in that direction but were stopped by the lively Princess Tiana parade. It was very fun to watch and the music was catchy-it made me want to watch the whole show, but I knew that was not up everyone's alley. The small parade was enough.

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Video of the parade (1.5 minutes long)

Onward!

We made it to the Jungle Cruise and a CM had one look at Poppa's wheelchair and escorted us to the front. Turns out we didn't really need those FPs after all! We found out that with a wheelchair on certain rides you get bumped ahead. I hate to say it, but that REALLY came in handy that week. We'd much rather have Poppa not need it, obviously, but we all enjoyed the advantage it provided that week!

We had an excellent driver on the Jungle Cruise. I *think* she is the same one we had back in September who I thought was great, because she looked familiar and was just as awesome! I made note of her name this time.

This is Sam. She rocks.

Joke after joke. One of my favorites from this cruise was, "Anyone know the species of this snake? I'll give you a hint, it starts with a P." Naturally someone shouts out python. "Nope, pppppplastic." And she said it with such dry humor, ahhhh, hilarious!

I won't bore you with a zillion half blurry pictures of plastic animals. Here is one:

And here is video Poppa took. It's the entire ride, except the last minute or two we were waiting to dock.

After the Jungle Cruise we gazed at the Tree House. The line was OUT THE TREE HOUSE. Whoa. Ooookay, not gonna do that one. A long wait would make it less enjoyable and Poppa couldn't do it anyway. Where to?

Let's cross the park....again...to Tomorrowland!

Henry often got a ride on Poppa's lap throughout the trip

Monsters, Inc. was up next. The queue said 20 minutes, and being the show is about 10, I knew we'd be inside soon. One thing to note here is the queues were all expanded this week. They had extra area roped off for many of the rides, Monsters Inc. being one of them. So you know how busy Tomorrowland can feel normally, times that by like...8. It was nuts over there! Wall-to-wall people! I hadn't really noticed it in Fantasyland or even over in Adventureland, but here, whoa. I was happy we were in line and not fighting the crowds.

Henry dug through the camera bag as we waited in line.

He knew where that lens went!

Everyone loved this show - we all laughed and laughed. One gal who got picked was wearing a scarf around her neck. I sometimes wear a scarf and one time I held one end up in each hand and told Henry I was a butterfly as I "flapped by wings". So, every time Henry sees me in a scarf he comments about it, "Butterfly!" And sure enough, that gal came on screen and he yells out "Mommy, it's a butterfly!" No one except those around us heard him, but Joe and I burst into laughter. It was a sweet moment.

We came out of Monsters, Inc with big smiles, the show never fails to disappoint! It's so creative. Next up was the TTA. There was a huge line for the Tommorrowland space shuttle like Dumbo ride, who's name I cannot recall, that intertwined with the TTA's, so there was some confusion, but we quickly realized the line for the TTA looked long, but it wasn't! Woot!

Line craziness!

Becoming a pro at the queues!

Continued in next post

 

[brookelizabeth]

Continued from previous post

Within minutes we were seated and enjoying our spin around the track.

I'm updating Twitter/Facebook!

Look what Henry found! A car!

Poppa videotaping

From that POV we could really tell how crowded the park was!

Just a few people over by SM.

Doing the bump with Da Da.

Three videos Poppa took of the TTA, I like these videos, it's almost like you are riding it! Each are about 1 minute long...and I haven't a clue if they are in order! :

• One
• Two
  
• Three
  

It was almost 1:00 and our stomachs were growling...where to eat? I gave the run down of the choices and.....CHH won!

 

[DWGal210]

I'm glad Henry had a good reaction to the Castle this time - how sweet!!

And I LOVE the picture of your feet...that is just precious!!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Sorry your reply window crashed yesterday, but a great update none the less. I'm glad Heny was excited to see the castle this time and that he did so well in line. I'm off to watch the videos now.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Henry update:
Yep, another one! Soooo, he is still back to himself; however, he has been breaking out in this strange rash on his face and what looks like bug bites. At first we thought it was his antibiotic, but now we aren't so sure. Back to the doctor today. I'm not as concerned about this because he's still acting healthy....it's just a reaction to something, but what?!?!? is the question!

I'm so glad Henry is back to himself..that is such good news!

What a great night you had at the MK...I had to laugh about the teacups spinning super fast...Mark would be done for DAYS if I did that to him I want to ride with Joe!

Love the castle pictures...I still have one of the ones you had on FB as my background at home.

if our trips ever overlap you, Joe and I have a date in a teacup!

Isn't that Castle amazing? It's beautiful without the lights, but then to add them, it's breathtaking!!! I'm totally flattered you have a pic of mine on your wallpaper!

Yes, I do the IMG codes in the Word document, so they will show up correctly.

Ah, ha! Me thinks I need to change my settings.

I have sooo done that - and you know what...crying is the only way to handle it ! That is exactly what I did when it happened to me. It stinks!!! Stinks! Stinks! This Dis-ing is full time work!

I now do as all the others have commented, I type out in word including the IMG links and then copy and paste...voila!

and glad to hear that Henry is back to his little toddler boy self!

Yes! DIS is a full time job, isn't it?! I moped around and was frustrated for a bit, but shook it off. And thankfully, by some miracle, Henry has been very independent this morning in playing by himself - so I was able to get it done! It went much quicker this time since I knew what pictures I wanted and could skip through the ones I didn't want.

I am gonna change my settings so I just see the IMG codes. Then I have it saved somewhere too for my personal records!

Yup, I do copy the IMG links from photobucket into my word document, and yes, I do see the text instead of the actual picture. I usually do a 'preview post' before I actually post the update to be sure the right pics are in the right places.

This is confirming it - I'm going to switch my settings! I like the idea of the "preview" too to make sure it's looking right.

Brook, what wonderful news about Henry!! (the last one especially for Henry!)

I am so sorry that you lost all the hard work. I can understand how you must have felt!! As others said, I also type stuff in Word (or more precisely: Neooffice, my open source program for the Mac). And yes, I have set the DIS editor so that I don't see what I get, but so that I see the code. I usually copy the code form photobucket and just paste it into the text. Once I put everything into the DIS window, I choose "Preview Post" first - that way I can catch any mistakes I might have made.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like everyone does this except me! :laughing: Figures...I always learn the hard way. :rolleyes: :rotfl:

[quote="MeMom, post: 35480721"][COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=3]We're all so glad you are feeling better, Henry!
Have a great day![/SIZE][/COLOR]

[IMG]http://bestsmileys.com/cars/11.gif

Thanks MeMom!!!!

What a cool bus smiley, MeMom!

I'm so glad Henry is feeling better. Sounds like it was rough going for a while there.

Sorry about losing your update- that stinks.

What a fun late night in the MK you had. Looks awesome. Glad you finally got on Space Mountain. But you are still corn dog nuggetless.. must continue the quest there.

Looking forward to hearing about what happened next!

It has been a rough ride with Henry, I'm relieved he's finally back to himself! Though, I will admit the 5 hour napping, no opinion child was quite easy to deal with.

Yep, the CDN quest was still ON at this point!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I can't tell you how many times I've done that. I, like many others, have started to do them in Word, and copy and paste. I haven't with the img links yet, but taht would be even better!

I HATE when I close the wrong tab!!

So glad the litte tyke is feeling a little better!! Mommies sure can lose a lot of sleep over their little ones!

I am going to start doing the Word thing! I don't use Photobucket, so it will be a little tricker with the IMG codes, but it should still work and I won't have to be concerned about loosing all my work!

So pleased to hear that Henry is feeling better

Bet you'll both be glad when the yucky meds are gone!

We will be VERY glad. Any time the word "medicine" is said, he says "No, med, no med!" It's just horrible tasting!

Yes I copy the images too. I just copy the IMG code.

I am going to start this too!

Glad to hear that Henry is feeling better
I havent been on the computer in days because my back went out, and I was so glad to see he is back to his old self when I got on today.
I love your pictures of the teacups and dumbo. They look so neat with the lights. Did you use a special setting on your camera, or did they just come out that way?
Sorry you lost all your hard work. That is so frustrating. Cant wait to read the update when you get it all done again.

Eeeek! Your back went out?!! Owie! Are you okay? That has to be NOT fun....

The pics are just on automatic settings, without a flash, and holding the camera REALLY still.

SO glad that Henry is feeling much better and more like himself!

Here's another person who always copies the image link as well into my word document, then pastes the entire thing to DIS. I preview the post to make sure everything's in the right place. It only took one time of me timing out on DIS and losing everything before I learned that trick!

I am learning this trick too - the hard way! That's pretty normal in my life though...!


I was just showing Henry all the pictures you guys have left for him, he's finally awake while I'm DISing. He got SO excited! "Car balloons!" "Cars! Where are they going?" "Bus!" "More? More?"

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm glad Henry had a good reaction to the Castle this time - how sweet!!

And I LOVE the picture of your feet...that is just precious!!

It was a great surprise to see his HAPPY face when he saw the Castle. Every time he sees it on TV/in picture, etc. he now says "Mickey's House!". That boy KNOWS his Castle.

Thank you! I love the feet pic too! We did one in November of 2008, and its just nuts how much he has changed in a year!

Sorry your reply window crashed yesterday, but a great update none the less. I'm glad Heny was excited to see the castle this time and that he did so well in line. I'm off to watch the videos now.

I hope you enjoy the videos!! I am thrilled Poppa did as much video as he did, it's almost like we can relive the trip!

 

[Flossbolna]

Wow, what an update!! I think the MK ws way toooooo crowded for my taste, but you managed to do quite well there!

Your MIL was right about the "Haus" - the funny thing about Pinocchio is that it is an Italian children's book, but for artistic reasons the Disney film takes place in a German village. I saw an exhibition on the art of Disney once and there they went into detail how the animators recreated a German village.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Henry update:
Yep, another one! Soooo, he is still back to himself; however, he has been breaking out in this strange rash on his face and what looks like bug bites. At first we thought it was his antibiotic, but now we aren't so sure. Back to the doctor today. I'm not as concerned about this because he's still acting healthy....it's just a reaction to something, but what?!?!? is the question!

It might be the antibiotic. Does it look similar to chicken pox? My DD had a reaction to amoxicillin when she was 18 months old and it looked like that kind of rash...her face and tummy were the worst, little dots everywhere. The dr. said that she can't have any antibiotic with the word 'cillin' in it now. Good luck!

 

[micandminforever]

Wonderful update it was worth waiting for. I love the video of the parade and the music. Did the parade get you ready for the next part of your trip?

Henry does have a cute smile when he saw Mickey's house.

 

[andrews1ma]

It might be the antibiotic. Does it look similar to chicken pox? My DD had a reaction to amoxicillin when she was 18 months old and it looked like that kind of rash...her face and tummy were the worst, little dots everywhere. The dr. said that she can't have any antibiotic with the word 'cillin' in it now. Good luck!

It could also be 5th disease- which is just another toddler virus type thing. that was exactly what my son had when he had his blazing 104.3 fever I had mentioned in my prior reply. After the fever broke- he had red cheeks and bumps on his belly so i called the pediatrician and they said that is what it is called- also called slap cheek virus or something like that. Anyway they said that I didn't need to bring him back in but that they would put it in his chart that he had it. They said that it is also explained the high fevers as that is common with that virus. These babies get all kinds of funky things! It's good that you are bringing him back to the dr just to make sure.

 

[onelilspark]

Henry is adorable in all his "bump" pictures