And THAT's when I threw up on my grandmother. p.17: We're back!

[ashleypmo]

DW thinks I'm a nut cause I won't go to bed unless the closet doors are closed completely. I've seen "Monsters Inc."! I know whats in there!

Both DD12 & DS8 are the same way! DS8 has very complex sleeping rituals to ward off monsters, including pulling his sheet up over his head & twisting it under his chin--like a Mary in the school nativity play. And he has to have both the sheet AND the comforter, even if it's too warm, because evidently the monsters could get through the sheet, but that comforter--well, that's just too much for them (I have to admit, I did exactly the same thing, even until I was.....13 )!

But despite his best efforts, stuff still happens. Because he is my explorer child, we put our big, laminated National Geographic world map on the wall over his bed. Well, last night I was at my computer trying to wrap up those DVC rental plans (reference to actual trip planning, which makes this post officially NOT off topic!), and I hear this "WOOOSHHCRASH!!!" About 2 seconds later, Ethan is standing here before me in the dark schoolroom, panting. "What's the matter Ethan?" I ask. "hhh,hhh,hhh,hhh.." "Ethan, answer me!!!" "hhh,hhh,hhh," "Ethan, use some words!!!" "I can't use words when my heart's beating a thousand times, dont you know that!!!" So after I quickly pinned my "Worst Mommy of the Year Award" on, I pulled him onto my lap to snuggle him and try to earn some points back. It seems that one minute he was just nodding off into dreamland, and all of a sudden he hears this horrible sound and something is on top of him--something which turned out to be the huge laminated map falling off the wall!

So now I have a big laminated map thumbtacked to the wall in my hallway. But it just goes to show you, you can't hide from the creepies this time of year!

 

[DisneyDadFaNaTic]

That is hilarious (although I'm sure he didn't think so at the time)!

Nothing scares me more than something happening while I'm asleep or as I'm dozing off!

That doesn't stop me from trying to scare people who are dozing off though. You can't beat the priceless reactions!

 

[ashleypmo]

Oh dear.. It's been another crazy day! Never got around to posting. So we have a tie between "closets" and "grandmother..." Well, if there isn't a tiebreaking vote by the time I post tomorrow, I may have to flip a coin!

Since I don't have time for a post, how about a bit of "who said it?"

"I swim pretty girl!"

Movie & character. Any takers???

And tomorrow, I promise, a new installment!

Up next: You make the call--"What's in my closet?" or "Grandmother! Grandmother! Guess what!"

 

[ashleypmo]

Okay, technically this is a question pertaining to my trip planning:

I need to close my thread over on the DVC points renting board.
How????? It says to edit my title---how??? and will editing my title take care of it, or is there a magic "closed" icon somewhere???

Help!

 

[jenna]

Oh dear.. It's been another crazy day! Never got around to posting. So we have a tie between "closets" and "grandmother..." Well, if there isn't a tiebreaking vote by the time I post tomorrow, I may have to flip a coin!

Since I don't have time for a post, how about a bit of "who said it?"

"I swim pretty girl!"

Movie & character. Any takers???

And tomorrow, I promise, a new installment!

Up next: You make the call--"What's in my closet?" or "Grandmother! Grandmother! Guess what!"

Was it Milo in Atlantis?

 

[ashleypmo]

Was it Milo in Atlantis?

Yes! and your prize.... Mmmm... looks good. You know, I've never had one.

Update coming soon! Really! In fact, after I submit this post, I'm going to start my update. It will doubtless take me all stinkin' day to finish, because it's 8:20, and Mason has a therapist coming at 9 and he's still in bed, and I'm not showered. In fact, everyone's in bed, so they are going to have to get there own breakfasts and feed the baby for me. "They" meaning DD12, of course. I don't think the others are up to it!

So just let me find a coin to flip.....

 

[ashleypmo]

Tails! "Grandmother" it is. DisneyDadFaNaTic wins this time. (Which is only fair, since Jenna got that delicious MickeyBar!). "Closet" will be next.

So like I said, I don't have that many memories of my trip at 3 years old. I do, however, remember the motel room we stayed in. Not unlike any other motel room, I suppose, you know how you walk past the beds and there's the area w/ the sink & mirror? Well that is the scene of our story.

I was soooo excited. I don't remember what I was excited about, but whatever it was, it must have been really amazing, because I was one stoked 3 year old. I was wearing my brand-new Walt Disney World Mickey Mouse shirt--- the one w/ Mickey's Head and the aqua/turquoise circle around it.

I came running into the motel room, ran up to Grandmother shouting, "Grandmother! Grandmother! Guess what?"

Now, I really should tell you alittle about Grandmother. She was a hip granny. Not a hottie granny, she was very conservative that way. But we never could get her to hang out at the senior center because she didn't want to be around all those "old" people. She loved to play dominos & cards, and if she could have had her dream car, it would have been a red corvette. She was a loving, fun grandmother....but she wasn't "into" the get-your-hands-into-it nitty-gritty of children. She had a nanny help when my mom was born, and then my grandfather pretty much did the rest when the nurse wasn't around I think. Then when my aunt was born 9 years later, well, she had my mom instead of a nanny. So my grandmother wasn't equipped to handle, shall we say, the messy side of childhood.

So, back to the action. Grandmother was standing in front of the mirror getting ready, and I came running in the room shouting "Grandmother! Grandmother! Guess what!" She turned, smiling, to look at me, and I ran right up to her....

and THAT'S when I threw up on my Grandmother.

She just stood there for a second, stunned, then looked down at me and answered: "What? You're sick?"

I'm not sure what happened next. I'm assuming my mom was right behind me, and I would love to be able to remember the look on her face walking in to that scene! But I'm sure knowing Grandmother, whatever happened involved a lot of words like "...disgusting" and "ugh", and a lot of "sorry" from my mother.

And I don't know if I ever told her what I was so darned excited about....


Next time: What's in my closet???

 

[DisneyDadFaNaTic]

I'm not sure about closing a thread.......but to edit your title - Go to your very first post in the thread (page 1, post 1) and hit "Edit" at the bottom of the post. It should bring up the title which you can change at this point. It used to make you click "Advanced Edit" before you can change the title so you may look for that if you can't get to your title through the simple "edit" button.

Good luck!

 

[ashleypmo]

I'm not sure about closing a thread.......but to edit your title - Go to your very first post in the thread (page 1, post 1) and hit "Edit" at the bottom of the post. It should bring up the title which you can change at this point. It used to make you click "Advanced Edit" before you can change the title so you may look for that if you can't get to your title through the simple "edit" button.

Good luck!

I'll go try it now! Thanks DisneyDadFaNaTic!

 

[DisneyDadFaNaTic]

You're welcome!

 

[ashleypmo]

Okay, change of plans. I know I said next was "What's in my closet?", but we've had a new development. I hope you can forgive me, Jenna. I'll get there tomorrow. (If anyone DID decide to wager on when I officially strayed from the plan, here it is! )

So, if you've planned a trip to Disney World, and more specifically, if you've planned a trip to Disney World and you have a daughter , you've no doubt gone through the Cinderella's Royal Table Reservation Gauntlet. If you haven't, let me fill you in.

Once upon a time (appropriate, don't you think?), making a reservation for breakfast in The Castle was as simple as catching strep in an elementary school. Alas, those days are gone. Now the coveted seats are as rare as a...as a....dang, I can't think of anything...or at least not anything PC... but you get the picture.

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World outlines the process for increasing your chances of snagging a seat w/ Cindy and the gals . It includes synchronizing your clock w/ atomic time (I'm really not joking), making a test call several days ahead of the 180 day window to see how long (to the second) your phone line takes to make a connection, and writing down your numerical responses to the various prompts so that you will waste no time listening to the recording. Then, exactly 180 days from your desired date, you wake up a little before 7 am EST, and based on your timing practice call, dial in, hoping to get through to one of the 100 res agents on the first round. There recommedation is to call on a Weekend for the best chance.

But I had read on the DIS that sometimes FDM (Fuzzy Disney Math) applies to ressies made by Dis resort guests....So even though today was technically 186 days or so from my desired ressie date, I went ahead and called today at 3:15 pm. I figured at the very least, I'd gauge my connection time, go through the prompts, and ask the res agent to give me the exact date I could call for my res.

I was on hold for maybe 5 or 6 minutes, and then a cheery voice answered the phone (she really wasn't all that cheery, but I am a firm believer in revisionist history). I told her I would be staying on property, and asked if it would be possible to get a table at CRT for the last Breakfast seating on May 1, and if not (knowing it was well over 180 days away), could she please tell me what day I should call back. So she asks for my res #, and my name, etc. etc, and I'm thinking "Gee, they sure do have to get a lot of personal information just to check availability. Then next thing I know, she's asking for my credit card info. I'm like "NO WAY??!!?" and she's like "YES WAY!!!" (well, she didn't actually say that, but wouldn't it have been funny if she had? She should have.)

I am so stinkin' excited! The only downside is that because there will be 8 of us, we'll have to be split into two tables of 4. That's a bummer, because everybody wants to see Ramie's face when she meets the princesses ! The res agent said they would try to get us at tables next to each other. Otherwise, we might have to play musical chairs and take turns sitting w/ Ramie. Can you just see it? "Chinese Fire Drill!" The poor servers will be so confused. "Here's your orange juice ma'am--I mean....sir???"

So I've reported on my first ADR before I've even covered the whole how we decided to go in the first place, getting flights, hotel, etc. Just like me to start in the middle--I'm such a rebel!

 

[jenna]

Okay, change of plans. I know I said next was "What's in my closet?", but we've had a new development. I hope you can forgive me, Jenna. I'll get there tomorrow. (If anyone DID decide to wager on when I officially strayed from the plan, here it is! )

You are forgiven!

Congratulations on the ressie w/ Cindy!! We have yet to do a meal in the castle, but we did do the princess meal at Akershus.

Ramie will it!!

 

[ashleypmo]

You are forgiven!

Congratulations on the ressie w/ Cindy!! We have yet to do a meal in the castle, but we did do the princess meal at Akershus.

Ramie will it!!

Thanks Jenna! I knew you'd understand!

I can't wait to see Ramie's reaction! The older kids have been before, but that's a story for another day...

How was the princess meal at Akershus? We did lunch there once back before they did the princesses. It is such a cool place--I loved it! I thought about booking there, but I've heard they sometimes have the kids get up and participate or something, and because of Ramie's nut allergy, I can't have her wandering around anywhere with food around.

Until we ate there last time, I had no idea there were so many ways to prepare herring .... But that cheese--did you try the getjost cheese? OHMYGOSH!!! It's so sweet--it has like 12 grams of sugar! Those Norweigian farmers must give their cows lots of sugarcubes! Our Kroger carries it, as does our local natural foods grocer. When the kids and I are studying Norway later this school year, we'll be eatin' some getjost! MMmmmm!!!!

 

[VernRDH]

Hey Sistah!!! Wonderful so far. Congrats on the Cindy's ressie. When we went last year we had 7, and our tables were right next to each other. Thats when MY kid threw up on one of Cindys helpers (and me). Ramie will love the princesses, my DD did on her first trip, was in such awe. DH and my dad were really only into Jasmine over at Akershus, but DD had a great time.

And you really don't want to know whats in my closets (actually I am hiding the Halloween candy there so that DH doesn't find and eat it all before Weds )

 

[ashleypmo]

Hey Sistah!!! Wonderful so far. Congrats on the Cindy's ressie. When we went last year we had 7, and our tables were right next to each other. Thats when MY kid threw up on one of Cindys helpers (and me). Ramie will love the princesses, my DD did on her first trip, was in such awe. DH and my dad were really only into Jasmine over at Akershus, but DD had a great time.

And you really don't want to know whats in my closets (actually I am hiding the Halloween candy there so that DH doesn't find and eat it all before Weds )

Hey Veronica! Thanks for comin' over and readin' my pretrippie!

She threw up on one of Cindy's servants? Isn't that the worst, to have your kid throw up in public, and everybody gives you "that look?" That look that says "What the heck horrible contagion have you exposed us all to, lady?!?!?!" and you're like "It's just all the excitement! Honest!" Oh yeah, my kids have thrown up in public before. But never in a castle--that's priceless!

Oh, there is much scary stuff in my closet. I won't let the exterminator put spider traps out, because I'd rather live in denial and just kill the ones I find. Seeing a whole trap full of them--blech!

But there's also some fun stuff in there.... some stuff relating directly to this thread (not the throwing up on Grandmother part--that's pretty much over. Not to say there won't be more throwing up at Disney World, just that Grandmother wasn't there for this one--and it wasn't ME doing it! But alas, that's another story for another day....

See ya'!

 

[ashleypmo]

My mother says it was, in fact, an orangutan. I KNEW a gorilla didn't make sense, but at that age, one big primate was probably as good as another. I hope this doesn't destroy my credibility w/ you guys!

 

[ashleypmo]

Waaaaay overslept this morning (as usual), drastically cutting into my DIS time today. I have a relatively short "to do" list though...let me see, fix breakfast, 10:00 physical therapy appt. for Mason, get to the lab for a blood draw, drive thru somewhere because I haven't made it to the grocery store in over a week and the kids are tired of eating lunch meat w/ no bread, make at least a cursory run thru the grocery store to pick up something for dinner, rush home to put Mason down for nap, then drive back across town for Ramie's dance class. A full day's worth of home school has to fit in there somewhere, but after that I should be able to post another installment!

Oh I wish I could just and get this kitchen clean and my done....

 

[ashleypmo]

As promised, it's time for a trip into my closet!
What does my closet have to do with planning a trip to WDW, you ask? (You didn't ask? Well, you should have. I mean, it's a perfectly good question.). I'll tell you...

Way back in the days when we just had a couple of kids and believed highly in the power of planning , we decided we would go back to Disney World every 4 years. So we took Riley when she was 3 (and I was 7 months pregnant), and 4 years later we went again when Ethan was 3 and Riley was 7. Shortly after that we got pregnant again--right on schedule--and so we just assumed we would go back when the new baby was 3, Ethan 7, and Riley 11.

But God had other ideas....

Shortly after Ramie's first birthday, and one week before Christmas, I'm on my to pick up the last of our boxes to be moved to our brand new house--the house Mommy spent 9 months (ironic--remember that) as general contractor, driving across counties to meet with subcontractors and pick out fixtures, months of laying tile myself, painting right alongside DH, finishing cabinets, you name it--if you didn't need a license to do it, we did it. So I'm picking up the last of the boxes from our TQ(temporary quarters), and I am just rejoicing in the fact that we will have this wonderful 4 bedroom home, where everybody gets their own room and there will be no crib in mommy's room anymore when --what's today's date? The 17th? OHMYSTINKINGGOODNESSYOUSOCANNOTBESERIOUS!!!
I detoured into Walgreens on the way to the apartment, and --ohyesIamsoserious!!! There was no denying that second purple line!!! That purple line that meant my sleepless nights were far from over, and that there would indeed be another crib in my room for a while!

Now, I am so happy that God decided to hijack my family planning on this one . Having 4 kiddos is amazing, even though I spend most of my waking hours nearly comatose. But the fact of the matter is it did mess up our date with the Mouse. So Ramie turned 3, and with a 1 year old infant w/ Down syndrome whose needs were really still more like that of a 4 or 5 month old, it was apparent that our trip would be postponed.

Well, months passed, and Mason has grown and matured, and the time came that we finally decided, in the words of the wise Rafiki, "It is time!" So we sat down and hammered out a date. Actually, I sat and debated it with myself, and when I arrived at a date, hubby said "Whatever you want to do, honey." (Gotta luv that man!).

So it was decided we would go in May and miss the summer crowds. We (I) thought about waiting until September, but Mason turns 3 in August, so we are going to squeeeeeze in this trip while at least his park admission is free.

But at the time, it was still too far out for us to feel confident buying airline tickets, and I still needed to work out every possible permutation of lodging options. All of the planning was so abstract--I needed something concrete, something real and tangible to prove that this trip was really going to happen. So what would any sensible woman in my position do???

SHOP, BAY-BEE! That's right! So for the brave of heart, here it is--the tour of my closet!

It's a lot like the Haunted Mansion, but with more dust....right this way...I'll deck the first person to make a wisecrack about the pile of dirty laundry (there is a laundry basket under there somewhere)....Now, that grey metal door in the floor to your left is an in-ground tornado shelter. I am a tornado-phobe, and after driving through west Texas to go pick up my BIL in the hospital after an accident in Wichita Falls and actually finding myself driving into a tornado (nephew: Tia Ashley, did you notice there aren't any bridges or ditches or anything around here??? Me: Ya' know Little Sal, I was just thinking to myself that if I was going to build a road right in the middle of Tornado Alley, I think I'd put a few bridges and ditches around....), anyway, after that harrowing experience, I decided the next house we built would have a tornado shelter in the house. We take all my son's birthday party guests down in it at parties and tell them it's our dungeon.....Anyway-can everyone fit? Okay, most people just hide their Christmas presents in their closets, but this is where Mommy hides--the Disney Trip stash!!!

It started with 7 blue shirts from Disney Shopping. I decided we should all have matching shirts for at least one day. But then I decided, why just one day? But when I went back to the site, they were all sold out of everything except size 3X in yellow... So I looked on ebay and found some bright lime green Disney shirts, some lime green Animal Kingdom lodge shirts, and started "collecting" them. So far I have enough for everyone except DD4 and DS2. For some reason, nobody ebays toddler Disney World shirts, so I may have to get creative.

So, matching shirts--CHECK!

Next: pre-trippie souvenirs! I hate spending valuable touring time in souvenir shops, and I hate paying $30 for a $10 stuffed mouse. So it's back to ebay! Right here in my (Shhh--) magic Disney bag are Safari Mickey, Safari Minnie, Safari Goofy, and Safari Pluto....and I think an extra Safari Mickey because I lost track of what the heck I was doing at some point....

Here's a pretty white straw hat for DM, so she doesn't get her nose sunburned!

Some of those really annoying light-up-and-spin-around-things to break out for the kids while we're waiting for Fantasmic! A couple of little hand-crank music boxes for Ramie & Mason-- Ramie's plays "Beauty and the Beast," and Mason's plays "The Second Star to the Right.", 4 lanyards (Animal Kingdom for Riley, Pirates for Ethan, Princesses for Ramie, and Mickey for Mason), 4 pins to start their pin-trading habit (because I am totally in to complicating my life...), a neoprene Safari Mickey water bottle holder...a jumbo book of Mad Libs for waiting in line, and each child's envelope w/ the stash of Disney Dollars they have received for birthdays & holidays.

So the plan is to take all this stuff with us, and then dole it out (dole....mmmmm--dole whip here I come!) while we're there to appease my little souvenir junkies...and the kids, too! We'll still do some shopping, of course. In fact, we've gone all through the Shopping section of the Unofficial Guide, and each of us (me & the 2 oldest kids, anyway) has gone through and selected the shops we want to hit....but that's another story for another day!

Next up: 1978 at the Contemporary, and can't we have a Disney Vacation without somebody throwing up?

 

[LaLaroo78]

Hey Ashley!

the trip report! Congrats on the Cindy ressie! Wow you really are a smart planner. I would never think to buy all those suvoniers ahead of time, then again I am not a mom let alone a supermom like you!

My mom and I are thinking about going in the beginning of December before the crowds. We really want to see the Christmas decorations. When I was young we went once in the summer not that long after Epcot opened and I remember it being unbearable! Then 4 years ago we went in October and last year we went in September perfect weather for me. I would love to go in spring too maybe next time. We made a pact that we would go every few years and so far we are sticking to it!

So did you get you AKV ressies?

Michele

 

[ashleypmo]

Hey Ashley!

the trip report! Congrats on the Cindy ressie! Wow you really are a smart planner. I would never think to buy all those suvoniers ahead of time, then again I am not a mom let alone a supermom like you!

My mom and I are thinking about going in the beginning of December before the crowds. We really want to see the Christmas decorations. When I was young we went once in the summer not that long after Epcot opened and I remember it being unbearable! Then 4 years ago we went in October and last year we went in September perfect weather for me. I would love to go in spring too maybe next time. We made a pact that we would go every few years and so far we are sticking to it!

So did you get you AKV ressies?

Michele

Hey Michele !

Me? Supermom? Nah. Okay, maybe. But you are soooo sweet to say so!

And I'll make sure to tell hubby that my current ebay fetish is just "smart planning!" That's what I've been saying all along! No, he hasn't actually given me any flack for it...yet! Gotta love him!

Our Cindy ressie is currently for Thursday am. Truthfully, I really wasn't expecting to be able to book it that day, so I just asked for the first morning we'd be waking up in the World. Now I'm thinking I may call and see if I can change it to Saturday, thinking that I hate to give up prime Thursday am touring time at whichever park has morning EMH, but Saturday being a more crowded day in general, I might not mind spending an hour or so up in the castle!

We actually ended up renting points for VWL . Originally, we just thought it was going to be too expensive, as AKL has "value" villas for a lot cheaper. But in the end, some "stuff happened" (my VBF says that if I were a game show contestant, underneath my name tag they would have to print "Stuff Happens to Me."), and we ended up at VWL. The kids are soooo stoked--especially Ethan , my little explorer boy! They would have been happy at AKL, and we were this close (see how close together I'm holding my thumb and forefinger?) to booking it, but then there was that "stuff," and it just made it a better decision to book the VWL since that was the one the kids and I had fallen in love with in the first place.

We'll be staying at ASMo Wed, Thurs, Friday, and Saturday, because the rates at the DVC properties double on weekends. We'll move on over to VWL Sunday morning, which will be fine because my Cuz will have to head to the airport then as well, so we'll be around seeing her off anyway. I wish she could have worked it out to be there while we are in the VWL.

We're getting a 2BDR villa, and even though the weekday cost is about $120 a night more than the cost of 2 rooms at ASMo, if we fix breakfast in our room every morning, and then prepare our own snacks to take into the parks to tide us over til lunch, then fix lunch when we come back for a nap/swim break, we should save enough on food to justify the difference.

I am sure I am going to have some great pics.....in MAY--only 6 months away! So I have 6 months to figure out how to post pics on here....Photobucket? is that what I'm supposed to use? Can you believe I built a 10 page website for the nonprofit, complete w/ color & photos and all that jazz (you've seen it, right Michele? Not too shabby, right?), but I am totally intimidated by the thought of trying to figure out how to post pics! I am, after all, a bear of very little brain.....