~A XMAS STORY~decorations, crowds, pixies..AND A BLOODY NOSE~ACTUAL UPDATE 11/9 p190

[punkin413]

Dawn what adorable babies, all of them!!

I'm so happy to hear that Brett's getting to spend some quality time with Margot. That little girl is such a peanut! I love how she "talks" to Brett when you put her on her stomach facing him, thats precious!

i think so, too! i thought the "talking" was so sweet too! she was just cooing away. i loved it!

What a fun weekend Dawn! Those babies are too cute! So happy for you that you got to see Margot. I know how important she is to you. Plus Erica, and MeMom and Jill!! An added bonus.
Umm, as far as the cop thing goes, I had a similar experience a couple of years ago There's nothing more frustrating than having someone tell you that you ran a stop sign and you know you didn't. Glad you didn't get a ticket though. I did, and thankfully my DH took care of it for me. Gotta love lawyers sometimes.

yes, it was a great weekend! i'm so glad i got to see all the people i did. lawyers are good to have around sometimes, huh?

Looks like you had a great weekend! The Dismeet looks like a fun crew and I am SO glad to hear that you got to spend time with Margot and things seem to be improving between Brett and Jordan. It's the best thing they can do for that little cutie they have!

i did! i agree and i hope they continue to cooperate with each other. she's still weird about some things but i hope she continues to get better with time.

 

[punkin413]

so we'd had our break back the condo and anna, chris and luke had seen WL. it was time for MICKEY'S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY!!!!!!!

ray and i left the condo about 5:15 and arrived at MK around 5:30. they had the christmas decorations at the gates!

we parked and headed over to MK via the monorail. we got into the park around 6:00. as we entered the turnstyles and i got our tickets out, i realized i had anna, chris and luke's tickets for the party with me!!!! i called chris and he said they were still at the WL and he'd call me when they got there so i could meet them at the gates to give them the tickets.

once we got into the park, my only goal for the next few minutes was to find a spot to watch the castle lighting show since we hadn't seen it the night before. ray videoed as we entered the park.....






here are some pictures i took as we walked into MK for the party.

they had CMs standing on main street directing non-partygoers to the lefthand side of the road to make the traffic flow easier. this guy posed for me.

we found a great spot right behind the partners statue on the hub to see the show.

meanwhile, back at the WL.......chris and anna made their way towards the boat dock to take the boat to MK.....

i had made my way back up to the front of the park after we found our spot (and ray stayed there to save it) in order to give them their tickets. around 6:15 i was starting to panic because the castle lighting show was supposed to start at 6:30 and i did NOT want to miss it. there was an older male CM standing nearby and i guess he saw the worry in my eyes because he asked me what was going on. i told him and he said that i could leave their tickets at the ticket booth and he let me out of the park in order to go over there and do that. well, when i got over there the CM there wouldn't do it. she said it was against policy. i told her the other guy said they would and she said he didn't know what he was talking about.

so i thanked her for nothing and headed back to be let back into the gates by the guy who didn't know what he was talking about. he then told me i was still fine on time because they usually start around 6:35. i called chris at that point and he said they were getting off the boat. i told him where i was standing and a few seconds later i saw chris and luke sprinting up to me. i handed them their tickets over the gates and then i fast-walked back under the train station and down main street and was back before 6:30. i was wearing my mickey santa ears and it was quite warm that night. so after my semi-run back to the hub with that hat on, i was a little warm!

here are some pictures anna took as they entered the park that night.....

i think they made it as far as the plaza to see the castle lighting show. i'm glad they got to see it! luke was sporting his mickey ears and playing with a light spinner thing he had gotten at disney on ice a couple months before....

i snapped this just before the show started.....

continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32425771&postcount=2243

 

[punkin413]

right at 6:35 the show started. it was so cute! mickey, minnie, donald and goofy come out and start talking about how the castle isn't decorated for christmas. so then the fairy godmother hears them arguing about it and she comes out to yell at them a little bit laughing and she says it should be up to cinderella how to decorate the castle since it's her home. cindy comes out with prince charming and says she'd love to see it sparkle like her glass slippers sparkle. so the fairy godmother says the magic words and it happens!

here are the pictures i took from the show.....

here it goes!!!!!! erica - are you paying attention? i hope you enjoy these!

it was SO PRETTY!!!!!!!!!!!! just absolutely gorgeous. i can't wait to see it again one day!

i felt so bad because i had promised erica a text picture. my cheap phone wouldn't send pictures but ray's iphone would. well, he FORGOT it that night!!!!!! so i couldn't send her one at all.

a couple more pictures i took.....

of course ray filmed it and i've uploaded the entire video for you.

you can hear me talking about the show starting at 6:35 in this one and then i ask ray if my hair looks completely crappy because it was STUCK to my head after i wogged back to the hub with that hat on! then listen for ray to go, "oh, man, you gotta be kidding me," because some guy put a little girl on his shoulders and blocked his view just as the show started. luckily we moved pretty easily so he could see the stage.





here comes cinderella! you can hear a mom nearby say, "there she is" and her little girl got so excited. it was sweet!



here it goes!!!!!!!



the pictures and video really don't do it justice. it's just GORGEOUS in real life! i highly recommend anyone that can manage it to see it for yourself one day.

one of my favorite moments of the entire trip was when the show was over and ray leaned down to me and said, "i hope you liked that" and gave me a smooch. we are not affectionate in public at all (we both despise PDAs!) but it was so sweet!!!

here are a couple of pictures anna took after the show of the castle.

i guess this is her self-portrait with the castle!

up next.....dinner and a dance party with some crazy ladies!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

i just tried this and i don't think my test was very accurate because my pills are in a capsule and therefore they float. so the whole pill was not submerged. it's been almost an hour and it still hasn't completely absorbed but i think it's because of the capsule. plus my apple cider vinegar was really old because i never use it. don't know if that matters or not!

Hmmm the capsule should dissolve if it will dissolve in your stomach. Maybe that's the point. The acid in the vinegar is almost the same as stomach acid. You can check if your vinegar is still active by dropping a little baking soda in it - you remember the volcano from grade school? Maybe it is old

 

[MAGICFOR2]

All caught up - all the babies are so cute! I'm glad you got to spend time with Miss Margot - she is really precious! You will have a hard time not buying out the Disney store for her - I know I do with Miss Londynn.

Nice MVMCP pics so far! You did a great job with the castle light up! Your Ray is so sweet - you have a keeper

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Just gorgeous! I saw it a couple of nights later.... Christmas is the best time. I just LOVE it! Your pictures are fabulous!

 

[jordanyosh]

up next.....dinner and a dance party with some crazy ladies!

Crazy ladies dancing....

Can't wait

 

[Charleston Princess]

Thank goodness Anna, Chris, and Luke got there in time so you could see the show!

The pictures and video from the Castle Lighting show are wonderful! I got goosebumps watching the castle "turn on."

 

[Happy Elf]

I love the castle pictures! It looks so pretty! One day I hope to be there around Christmas time! Hmm....maybe our next trip could be at Christmas time. But, that is still several years away!

 

[AussieAngel]

Wow, so pretty!! You're still really, really making me want to go to Disney at Christmas!!!

Were the crowds crazy!? I think I could put up with it though, for the prettiness of the Christmas lights and decorations!!

 

[kschafer]

Your pictures bring tears to my eyes. I love how beautiful the castle looks in those lights. I hope they keep that decor around a few more years because I think it will be 2011 before I get a chance to be there in person.

 

[DisneyJo]

How cool you got to watch the lighting up ceremony, when I was there I managed to be at the back of the castle when it happened

 

[MA pigletfan]

oh i love it!! such great memories...i just adored being there at christmas time...thank you for bringing me back!

 

[MeMom]

The castle is beautiful all lit up, and the show is very cute. It mesmerizes little girls and boys and brings chills to grown-ups. The whole thing is very well done and makes December trips so special. It's nice that you have the video so that you can have that few moments in time over again and again.

 

[End_User-X]

"well, ms. ____ (insert my last name here), you seem to have all your paperwork here and so i'm gonna let you go tonight. have a good evening."

I think most of us know your last name. Are you sure you didn't do any rolling stops?

 

[pmama]

Fantastic Update!

I share your DH's frustration over the children on shoulders thing. It is so rude. We had that happen to us recently at the Disneyland fireworks. We had a perfect view then a man puts his child on his shoulders. When we hold our children up we hold them at our waist. It just isn't fair to hold your children higher than the crowd when there are hundreds of people behind you.

I can't wait to see the castle lighting in person. It looks just amazing.

Looking forward to your next update of MVMCP!

 

[xoktenox]

OMG that castle is just amazing! I got chills watching your videos of the lighting show. I can't wait to see it in just 5 more months! LOL

How cute of Ray to smooch you Sounds like a perfect night so far to me.

 

[KristinAnne]

Ooh! I looks so pretty!! I can't wait to see it. I am looking forward to the rest of what you thought of MVMCP. I can't decide if we should go or not. So many people have said it was elbow to elbow people and they wouldn't do it again. I am eager to see if you thought it was worth it.

 

[shannon47142]

so so pretty!!! I'm glad you got to see the show!!

 

[punkin413]

it's a sad day. we've lost an amazing entertainer in michael jackson and someone that i worshipped for 10 years of my life. i still listen to his greatest hits in my car all the time, with "off the wall" and "thriller" being my favorite eras.

he also holds a special place in my heart because my little brother (brett) LOVED him as a kid. he used to scream, "MICHAEL JACKSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!" whenever he was on TV and it was so cute. i don't know if you have ever seen the movie "moonwalker" that was released in the early 90's i believe. i can't tell you how many times we watched this movie in my house. i knew every word and so did brooke and brett, especially brett. i think our copy of the VHS tape ended up breaking! ironically, brett and MJ share a birthday, august 29th. only brett was born 28 years later.

so in his honor, i'm posting the following links in case you feel like watching them. they're just several videos that i really enjoyed with i looked up "michael jackson" on youtube.

a collection of MJ stuff from moonwalker - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f7cxG5FJSM

smooth criminal - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WjOn5TNjBM

don't stop til you get enough - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvc9XBTfu6g

motown 25 performance (he was totally lipsyncing here but i was too young to notice!) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VASYhabHkM

just wanted to share something about him to remember him by.

i know i remember many things about him as a kid.

i remember dancing in my mom's living room to "don't stop til you get enough."

i remember being in the car with my mom on the way to school in the morning and "wanna be starting something" would come on the radio EVERY morning!

i remember peeking through my fingers at the "thriller" video every time it came on. i hated the part where he turned into a werewolf!

i remember watching THAT performance at the motown awards show that is now so famous.

i remember learning the words in choir to "man in the mirror" in middle school and thinking they were the best lyrics i'd ever heard.

and i remember getting SO excited as a young 20-something-year-old when the band alien ant farm remade "smooth criminal," one of my FAVORITE MJ songs ever! i used to crank up my radio and jam out to that song all the time!

i know that in the latter part of his career he did some very odd things and obviously there was something going on that didn't make any sense with his mental capacities near the end and also he may have even done some criminal things, but i can't forget what an incredible performer he was.