Ahoy Me hearties(WITH LINKS ON PG 1). Last day posted 10/17. DEC PTR STARTED W/LINK

[racefanof88]

OK, sorry I have been so bad about my updates lately. I have just had so much going on I just can't seem to keep up. I guess old age is catching up with me . I have got to get this report finished so I can start my PTR for our December trip. I will most likely be including our September PTR and TR in with this report.

So without further ado---------------

When I last left you we had retired back to CBR for the night. The next day was Wednesday, May 26th, and we had decided it was going to be our pool day. We had a 7:15pm ADR for Le Cellier so we didn't want to get to the parks too early and be give out by then. We were up, out of the room by 8:30am, and walking down to the food court for breakfast. Along the way you all know what I was doing......................................

Yep taking pictures. This is a view across the lake, on our walk to OPR.

Now I wanted to get one of those shots the Photopass photographers get with people in the hammock. So I thought, I can do this, easy breezy right?????............Well it may have been IF I had had a subject that cooperated.........

I was laughing so hard I can't believe we even got these few shots. To steal a phrase from Lisa "I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants". First, these hammocks were undoubtedly made for Pygmy people who weigh 40lbs. When Dallas tried to get in one he almost had to get down on his knees to sit in it because it was so low to the ground. Then, when he did sit in it, it hit the ground . Second, the sun was so bright he would NOT look up at me so I could get the shots; as you can tell from the pictures. Needless to say, after regaining my composure, we nixed taking the pictures and walk on to OPR for breakfast.

We had pastries for breakfast, so no pictures. After we ate we had to go back to the room and get out towels and sunscreen because Dale didn't want to carry our beach bag to breakfast . Again I took the time to take some pictures

Disney Ducks on Duty.............

.

So we get back to the room, grab out beach bag and head back to the pool.

We hung out at the main pool for about 30 minutes and as soon as the slides opened the pool FILLED UP. We decided we wanted to go down to the quiet pool by our building so we loaded up our beach bag and walked back toward our room. Now don't take it that I am antisocial, but there are some people who believe their children are better left UNSUPERVISED while at Disney. I have to give the Disney Lifeguards a BIG kudos for being as patient as they are.

When we got to the quiet pool, it was just that, quiet. There was one other family there and Dallas made a friend.

We stayed at the pool a little longer and decided it was time to head back to the room so we could get cleaned up and head to the parks. Dallas bid his new friend farewell and off we went.

After we showered, and got cleaned up, we drove to the Gamestop off Sand Lake Rd so Dallas could get a new Wii game that came out that day. Why he had to have it that day is beyond me, he didn't have his Wii with him......

We had not been to DHS so we thought it would be a good day to head over to that park until time for our ADR.

Next up-------------DHS and How do they dance in this heat and NOT have a heat stroke????????????

 

[racefanof88]

Friday evening we decided we weren't going to do much this weekend since we are going to Disney in 2 weeks. We were just going to go eat Mexican food and then hit the grocery store. Dale, Dallas and I were out of the house by 10:30 and we rode over to Pensacola and ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Of course I got my favorite!!!!!!!!! Yep, a frozen margarita

After Dale and Dallas finished their food they ordered this

We decided to head over to the mall and just walk around for a little while. Pensacola has an area called Car City; it is just as the name implies, a big area of car dealerships. I have been looking soooooo forward to not having a car note in 10 months that every time Dale mentioned a new car I would tune him out. As we were driving I told Dale we should stop and look at the Kia mini vans because I have really missed having a van. We stopped at the Kia dealership and got out. We were barely out of our car when a salesman came over and started talking to us. He was really nice and asked if we wanted to test drive one of the vans. Dale and I said "Sure, why not?" Jason(the salesman) rode with us. When Dale finished test driving Jason asked me if I wanted to drive, but I told him I couldn't since I had just finished the margarita . Well, to make a LONG story short.



This is the Odometer reading after we were on the interstate.

This is what my new van looks like.

This above picture of the van is one I got off the internet; I couldn't get a good picture of ours because it was late when we got home. Ours is the same color. I will take some tomorrow and post them.

SO, our plans to NOT do much this weekend fell through............ I love my new van though, I have missed having one for quite a while now. We used the Expedition as our trade in and got a GREAT deal on the van . Now we will be driving our NEW van to Disney in 12 days .

 

[Queenofallthings]

CONGRATULATIONS on the van....it's very nice. How nice to have a brand new vehicle to drive to Disney Gotta love that.

I laughed my head off at your description of the hammocks.... Why do parents think everyone else will look after their children at the pools...makes me a little crazy

 

[aprilisis]

Awesome van!!!!! I have heard great things about Kia.
Can I just say I LOVE the photos of the ducks?!!

 

[racefanof88]

CONGRATULATIONS on the van....it's very nice. How nice to have a brand new vehicle to drive to Disney Gotta love that.

I laughed my head off at your description of the hammocks.... Why do parents think everyone else will look after their children at the pools...makes me a little crazy

Thank you Queen. I LOVE my van. On one of our trips the van we rented was a Kia, and it was a really nice ride. I just love having all the extra room.

I just wonder why they put those hammocks so close to the ground??? Maybe so no one will fall out of them and sue?? I worry about some of the kids at Disney. Do these parents not realize Disney is like a buffet for people wanting to do harm to a child?

 

[racefanof88]

Awesome van!!!!! I have heard great things about Kia.
Can I just say I LOVE the photos of the ducks?!!

Thank you April . Kia has the highest safety rating of all mini vans so that was a big selling point.

Aw thank you . The ducks were so pretty and they were everywhere at the resort.

 

[KatMark]

Nice update, Dana. Love the duck pools. I haven't figured out why those hammocks are the way they are. I can get in mine at the CSR, but Mark ALWAYS has to help me out.

It's always fun to get a new car. I'd be happy having my old car back though (it is in Dubuque with my son).

 

[MaryAz]

More great pics!! Disney in 2 weeks!!! Yay!!! A big congrats on the new van How exciting. I have a Honda mini van and really like it. Though I would like a newer one-mine is a 2004 but paid off Oh and you know how I feel about mexican food. One day we will have a meet for chips/salsa and margaritas!!

 

[racefanof88]

Dale woke me up at 8:00 this morning wanting to take the van out on the road so I could try it out. It didn't take much convincing since I had not driven it yet. I took some pictures before we left.

I tried to take the same type picture I posted from the net.

You can see Dale's Alabama National Championship tag on the front and magnet on the back.

Back seats stowed.

One seat up, one down

OK enough pictures of the new van. I guess ya'll can tell I am very happy to have it . I guess I can live with a new car note...... I fell in LOVE with driving it too. Dale asked me if I wanted to drive down to Dauphin Island and at first I said "NO". I am TERRIFIED of high bridges and the one at Dauphin Island is VERY HIGH.

So we rode down to Bayou La Batre and it was sad to see all the boats still in dock. Bayou La Batre is a small fishing village and the oil has really taken it's toll on the people who live there. There were a lot of businesses closed and boarded up. It just makes me sick. I didn't get any pictures because I was driving.

Well, Dale asked me "Are you sure you don't want to drive down to the Island?"
Me--"OK"
Now I have to tell you my heart was pounding like crazy when I came up to this...........

But I soldiered on and made it.

There is some horrific history about the bridge. In 2008 Lam Luong drove to the top, and threw his four children off the bridge. This was the headline on Fox News "Missing and presumed dead were 4-month-old Danny Luong; 1-year-old Lindsey Luong; 2-year-old Hannah Luong; and 3-year-old Ryan Phan. Phan is not the man's biological child, but Luong raised him from infancy, authorities said." Thankfully Alabama has the death penalty and he was sentenced to death. I know some people don't agree with it, but if ever there was a case that deserved it, this is it. Of course as I was driving over the bridge I thought about those babies and the fear they must have felt at the hands of their father.

Here is an article about his sentencing........
http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/LamLuongSentencedToDeath

OK sorry about the sadness, but I just can't think of that bridge and the fear I have of heights, without thinking about those babies .

When we got on the Island we drove down to the east end which is rich with history. Fort Gaines is on the east end. The west end is mostly beach houses. Dauphin Island is a barrier island and isn't very big, but following is just a few pictures of the history. You have to forgive the pictures, I didn't bring my good camera so I took all of these with my phone.

David Glasgow Farragut (July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and full admiral of the Navy. He is remembered in popular culture for his order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, usually paraphrased: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" [1] by U.S. Navy tradition.(Wikipedia)

It is kinda creepy when you go into the Fort and walk around. There are stories that at night, Confederate soldiers can be seen walking around

Con't in next post......

 

[racefanof88]

More Fort Gaines pictures and water pix.

OK enough Mobile and Civil War history...........Now for the water pix.

Can you guess what this is????????

Going out to restock the oil rigs.

Ok, enough about our day. It was VERY hot and we still had to go to the grocery store, so I let Dale drive us back toward home and Walmart.

It was a great day .

I do have to say though, that Dallas was VERY good yesterday when we were buying the van. It was a long , long day and I was very proud of him........well there was one point when we were inside the dealership, it was storming outside, and we were sitting in a van just like ours; he decided to try out the horn........... Needless to say, in an enclosed building, the horn was pretty LOUD .

 

[racefanof88]

Nice update, Dana. Love the duck pools. I haven't figured out why those hammocks are the way they are. I can get in mine at the CSR, but Mark ALWAYS has to help me out.

It's always fun to get a new car. I'd be happy having my old car back though (it is in Dubuque with my son).

Thanks Kathy. I love the ducks too!! I wondered who could actually get in one of those hammocks .

It is fun to get a new car!! Especially when we were the first people to ever drive it

 

[racefanof88]

More great pics!! Disney in 2 weeks!!! Yay!!! A big congrats on the new van How exciting. I have a Honda mini van and really like it. Though I would like a newer one-mine is a 2004 but paid off Oh and you know how I feel about mexican food. One day we will have a meet for chips/salsa and margaritas!!

Thank you Mary . I know, right? I can't believe we will be at Disney in less than 2 weeks now. I can't wait to get on the road in our new van. We thought about a Honda too, but they made us such a great deal on the Kia we couldn't pass it up. We will definitely have to meet up and have some chips/salsa and a big frozen margarita. Next time we are in Disney at the same time we have to set up a girls night out

 

[bouncycat]

when are you gonna be there in september? I gotta take my other week of vacation in september, they're closing my branch, and possibly selling it....so I may not have a job come dec. 1st!!! UG! I'm over the initial shock, and got some options, so no worries, I'll be alright!!!! Just wondering when I can come see ya!! Maybe hit up a MNSSHP one night while I'm on vacation with Tyler.

 

[JessietheNCCowgirl]

Hey Dana, I just read through your new updates. Congrats on the new van!! I was laughing to myself because we did the same thing before our Disney trip in August - bought a new car (well new to us, it was a used one)! It made the driving down there so much more fun, so I know how excited you are to drive it on your trip!

I'm with you on your fear of crossing bridges, especially after you described what happend on the one with the poor children, how tragic.

I also enjoyed your Civil War pics - very interesting!

Looking forward to reading more - have a great day!

 

[racefanof88]

when are you gonna be there in september? I gotta take my other week of vacation in september, they're closing my branch, and possibly selling it....so I may not have a job come dec. 1st!!! UG! I'm over the initial shock, and got some options, so no worries, I'll be alright!!!! Just wondering when I can come see ya!! Maybe hit up a MNSSHP one night while I'm on vacation with Tyler.

We are going to be there Labor Day weekend. We are going to get in late Friday night and we will leave Monday morning.

WOW on the job . I know it was a shock, but I'm glad you have options . We won't be going to MNSSHP this time because they don't start until the 14th. Let me know if you can meet us, that would be great .

 

[racefanof88]

Hey Dana, I just read through your new updates. Congrats on the new van!! I was laughing to myself because we did the same thing before our Disney trip in August - bought a new car (well new to us, it was a used one)! It made the driving down there so much more fun, so I know how excited you are to drive it on your trip!

I'm with you on your fear of crossing bridges, especially after you described what happend on the one with the poor children, how tragic.

I also enjoyed your Civil War pics - very interesting!

Looking forward to reading more - have a great day!

Hey Beth, Thanks . I love having a van again. I have missed having all the room. I told Dale tonight that even if the SUV was larger on the outside; it was much smaller on the inside.

I hate high bridges. One of the recurring nightmares I have is about high bridges. I think the whole city was in shock when that man did that to his children. Judge Graddick upheld the jury recommendation of the death penalty, and he took it a step further. During sentencing he ordered that Luong must be shown pictures of his children every day for the rest of his life.

There are still a lot of houses downtown built during the Civil War; There are some really beautiful ones too.

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Hey DAna!
I just wanted to pop over and say your thread is my next one to catch up on...I'm catching up and getting behind on the others as I go...I'll never get anywhere like this

anyway, I had planned to play catch up tonight and have been dealing with Dayne most of the night not wanting to go to school

but, I WILL be back tomorrow...

missing you and all our dis sisters...
Connie

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Hey Dana! I LOL'd about the hammocks at CBR! It seems they always touch the ground when I try to sit in them. Glad to know it's not just me! I don't blame you all for moving to the quiet pool. I know what you mean about parents not supervising their kids.

CONGRATS on the new van!!

Love all of your Fort pics! I find that stuff so interesting!

 

[Brave teacher]

Hey Dana! I'm just checking back in after a long and unexpected break. I did an update for TR and are checking in with all the ones I read. I plan to do some catching up this weekend. I can't wait to see what you have been up to lately!

 

[racefanof88]

Hey DAna!
I just wanted to pop over and say your thread is my next one to catch up on...I'm catching up and getting behind on the others as I go...I'll never get anywhere like this

anyway, I had planned to play catch up tonight and have been dealing with Dayne most of the night not wanting to go to school

but, I WILL be back tomorrow...

missing you and all our dis sisters...
Connie

Hey Connie . I know it is hard to catch up with all the stuff AND keep up with our families. I don't know why it seems I have less time now that I did last year .

I hope you can get things taken care of for Dayne. It is so hard when they just don't want to go to school.

I miss all my Dis family too .