Back for Another Round (Complete)

[sweetlovin']

I know I just wrote one report, but I went back two weeks later. Why would anyone take two trips to Disney two weeks apart?

My reasoning was to take my 5yo son who I had left behind on the Mother's Day Trip. So, the cast of characters. Me, Nico (5yo), Sammie (1yo) and Deena (my friend in Texas) Her husband David and their sons Matthew (15), Michael (18), Evan (6) and Connor (4). We also met up with Tony (TVT). he had another week of vacation he had to use and it was such a bumpy first week, he deserved a vacation that would be fun.


When I get to Friday, I had TVT write the report day. I didn't have time to write that one out.

 

[sweetlovin']

There were a few things I needed to get done at home before I ran off to Disney for another week of fun.

Nico's last day of school was the Wed before, however, I had forgotten to get the teacher's gifts and one of his teachers I had promised could have my baby swing. So, I had to run all three kids out to get the gifts and get to the teachers before they left school.

I also had finally recieved the credit card, the one that was defective at the gas station on the last trip, and I needed to make sure it worked BEFORE I left this time. See, I can be taught

I got all three kids in the car and we were off to get the gifts. I ran into an Italian Restaurant and asked for two $15 gift cards. "Sorry, we only have $10 or $20."

"Fine, I need $40 and two envelopes, please" They handed me 4 $10 gift certificates and 2 envelopes.

I was in a hurry, racing against the clock really since I had 10 minutes before the teachers left for the summer. Luckily, I'm great at passing off tasks to others, 5 year olds included.

"Nico, I have to drive. I need you to take these and put two in each envelope."

"Ok mom, I'll do it."

Now, I should note that I didn't get my nickname for nothing. I am usually a very sweet person. Honest. But, I have a little tiny evil streak..just a little one. Infact, I took a quiz recently that asks, "How evil are you?" I scored a 26% evil and it said, "You're the worst kind of evil because people never expect it from you." Very true..case in point TVT!

As I was driving and racing against the clock..I called TVT at work.

"You're not going to beleive this!!" I said, as serious as I could.

"What, what happened." He asked worried.

"I just tried to use my card to get the teacher's gifts. I just can't beleive it. I'm so mad." I said, trying to sound upset.

"It didn't work??!!" He said, shocked and mad , "You have to call the credit card company right now. You need to tell them that they have to send you the money" He was going on and on, sounds more and more mad.

Ok, I was at the school, and really, I'm only a little evil. I couldn't keep it up any longer. I started laughing

"No, I'm just kidding, but I'm at the school, I'll talk to you later." I laughed.

"Maybe not if you do mean things like that to an old man." He said and for some reason..he wasn't laughing.

I had Nico give the teachers the envelopes, went back out for the baby swing. I carried that back in and stopped by the office.

Now, for those of you that don't know me well, I am terrible at making decisions. Serisouly, I'm aweful at it. It's not that I make bad decisions, it's that I hate making them. It takes me a long time, and then I'm never really sure about them. It's a fault, I have many.

I stopped by the office to pick up the paperwork for Julianna. I still hadn't decided if I was going to bring her with me on this trip or not. I had been trying to decide that for about a month or longer. But, at least I had the paperwork if I decided not to.

I got back home and thought about doing the laundry. I was afterall leaving the next night. Nico ran back to the car and came running back in with two things in his hand.

"What is that?" I asked staring at his hands trying to figure it out.

"These are the other two certificates for the teachers. You told me to put them in the envelopes. But there was extra." he explained innocently.

"Oh no sweatheart. You were suppose to put two certificates in each envelope." I explained. "Put them up on the mantle, now we have a teacher's gift for next year, I guess."

I felt bad. I should have checked the envelopes. What kind of parent give a 5yo a task and doesn't check over the work after.



I got the laundry done, went out and grabbed a few snacks for the trip, picked up a few things for my husband, and just in case, grabbed a few special snacks for Julie..in case I didn't bring her.

The next morning, after being on the computer almost all morning, hey a girl has her priorities, I decided to get my hair done. I hadn't had hightlights put in for a while and I really needed them.

Well, my normal girl wasn't there..no big deal. The guy did my highlights washed the stuff out of my hair, poured something all over my head and told me to sit there like that while he took another customer.

Ok, no big deal. I had time..I mean, I still needed to pack, fill the car up, make sure I had the diaper bag, find the camera and talk to my DH about leaving or taking Julianna..but sure go ahead..I'll just sit here.

About 20 minutes later he came back. "Ok, lets wash this toner out." Toner, what the heck is toner???

He washed my hair, blow dried it..and I stopped him.

"Excuse me. Is it me?? Does my hair look brown?? My hair isn't brown.. what did you do?" I was upset. I turned to the lady across from me, "I'm not crazy right?? This is brown? This isn't my hair!!"

"No you aren't crazy" she whispered, "your hair is MUCH darker now"

"Ok, sir, you HAVE to fix this."

Another hour I was there as he rehighlighted my hair..without the toner.

The problem was, toner was all over my head. My hair was now brown with blonde highlights. Frustrated and out of time, I left.

"Oh my god, what did the do to your hair?" My husband asked.

"Why is your hair brown, Mom?" Nico asked.

This was not getting any better. I was soo upset. I got back on the computer and told my friends on the Test Thread all about it. Thank God for my friends!! Macraven, a person I have known for about 2 1/2 years now, quickly told me to get shampoo, prell or anything green, and it would take the toner out. Toner isn't dye and it wouldn't stay in there.

I would do that later, but right then, I really needed to start packing. It was 4pm and my goal was to be in bed by 9pm that night to get up and leave at 1:30am.

I packed the suitcases packed the car and filled out the daycare paperwork. I had decided to leave my 3yo at home and let Nico have a special trip. I was very sad about the decision, but it was the decision I made and I was sticking with it.

I talked to Julie that night, snuggled with her after reading her the two nighttime stories, and tried to explain.

"When you wake up, mommy and Nico and Sammie wont be here. But we will be back next Saturday." I said

"Next Saturday?" she repeated.

"Yes baby, we won't be here when you wake up. But I'll be back, becuase mommies always come back." I said.

"You and Nico and Sammie are going." She repeated

"Yes and you get to have special time with Daddy." I said smiling.

"I stay with daddy and you and Nico and Sammie are going to go." She repeated

"Yes baby. I love you and I'll see you Saturday. Have a good sleep." I kissed her and started to walk out of her room.

"Have a good sleep mommy. See you in the morning." She said.

SIGH!!"No baby, you won't see me in the morning. Just daddy. I'll see you next saturday." I turned.

"Ok, mommy" she said, "have a good sleep."

I walked out and I was soo sad. She didn't understand that I was leaving with her brother and sister. I almost went back into her room and packed her bag. But, I knew it would be easier if I had the two.

I finished packing the car and went to bed. 1am was going to come earlier than I had realized.

 

[averill94]

UGH- were you able to leave her?
Keep posting!

 

[GADISNEYGIRL]

Way to go!! We have been two weekends in a row, even. So we don't find it odd, at all!!

 

[sweetlovin']

My DH woke me up at 1:15am.

"Hey, get up..you need to go." He said.

"Oh My!! I must have been exhausted. I didn't even hear the alarm." I said, fighting my eyes to stay open.

"No, I never went to bed. I've been up working." He replied. He went one to tell me all about what he was doing, but I really wasn't listening. Did I mention it was 1am?? I couldn't focus on anything he was saying. I was glad he woke me up.

It's a long drive to Disney and this was a Holiday weekend. I didn't want to hit traffic and I swore to myself I was going to drive slower than in the previous trips, given that I was sure that there would be more cops on the road.

I went to get my caffine pills and pack the very last few things for the car. Then, I went to wake up my kids. I got Nico up first and he was up right away. He went potty and was sitting in the car waiting for me. I woke Sammie up and put her in the car and we were off.

I arrived at Disney 6 hours later. So much for taking it more slowly, although, I swear I did. In all fairness to me, I did stop only once in Lake City Flordia to fill up. I didn't stop for food or drinks or anything else. It doesn't take as long without those stops.



I had gotten on Priceline Friday night. I did the resort catagory and I was able to get the Hilton at DTD for $79 for Sunday night. I was very excited to stay there, since I never had before.


TVT called after he had woken up that morning. "Where are you on the road?" He asked.

"Oh, Im so glad you called. I have no idea where I am going. I'm on the turnpike. Where is my exit.?" I asked.

"You're on the TURNPIKE???" He exclaimed, " What time did you end up leaving? You need to SLOW DOWN!!"

"Uh..ok DAD!!" I said..I think he could hear me rolling my eyes at him. "There is all this damn fog on the road."

"Uh, that isn't fog, it's smoke. Where are you on the turnpike?" he asked

"I have no idea!!" Like I was paying attention to that. I was tired and I just wanted to get there.

He gave me the directions and had me repeat them. I didn't get them right until about the 3rd time, but by then, I had them down pat.

About 15 minutes later he called. "Where are you on the turnpike so I have an idea about what time you are going to be at the hotel?" he asked, hoping I had started paying closer attention to where I was.

"Oh, I'm not on the turnpike, I'm at the hotel." I answered.

"ALREADY!!!" He said in that fatherly disapproving tone. "Ok, where do you want to meet?"

"Well, I just parked at the hotel now and I'm getting ready to get out. Do you want to meet us for breakfast. I think on Sunday the Hilton does a character meal somewhere. I can check in and then we can all meet up."

"Ok, give me 10 minutes and I'll be there." he answered.

One thing you should know about me. I never wear make up on long car trips. I look like crap when I first arrive somewhere. Infact, I don't leave the car until 15 minutes after I arrive from a long car trip because I am sitting in my car putting my face on. I turned to Nico.

"Ok, I need to sit here for a few minutes..just bear with me, but you can get out of your seat and stretch if you want." I said.

"I know mom, you ALWAYS have to do that when we drive somewhere." he rolled his eyes at me. (I have no idea where he gets that from!!)

After I got myself ready and changed Sammie, we were ready to enter the Hilton. I had parked in the back, since there was a parking space a little closer to the door. As we entered we ran into all the restaurants.

"Excuse me," I said stopping at one of the restaurants, "Do you have a character breakfast here?"

"yes, we have two characters here now." She replied smiling.

I turned to Nico, "Here, do me a favor and take my phone and call Mr Tony and tell him to meet us at the restaurant."

He obliged and we were seated. We weren't there long before TVT showed up.

Sammie recognized him right away and started reaching for him. Nico stood up to hug him, then I hugged him too. It was nice to see a friend after being up all night.

We talked and ordered and then, Tony and Nico started being guys. "Hey Nico watch" as he snaps a napkin on one of the country bears butts. After a long car ride, Nico was entertained easily as he was laughing and laughing.

"Stop that" I insisted "It isnt nice to do that to the characters." I was scolding the old guy. After telling me to slow down, it was only fair.

Finally, we ordered our meals. The food was ok, not great, but it was neat to watch Sammie reach for Minnie Mouse and kiss Pluto. Ahh..now this feels like a Disney Vacation.

"Brown hair huh?" TVT said to me.

"Don't even talk about it. I'm really really upset." in my don't even go there voice.

"What do you think of your mom's hair?" he turned to Nico. I think he thought Nico was a safer bet to talk about that subject with. Nico wasn't going to bite his head off.

"I don't like it." Nico said earnestly. Good, at least he can tell when my hair looks bad. Next time I need someone's honest opinion, I'll go to Nico.

"Well, it could be worse." TVT said trying to lighten the mood, "It could look like mine." He took off his baseball cap.

Now, I love my child. He is a very sweet little boy, but I think he has that 26% evil streak in him too. He gave this devilish smile and ran over to me.

"Mommy," he whispered, laughing, "Mr Tony looks like Homer Simpson with his hat off."

OK..I bursted out laughing. Maybe, that evil streak should be a little higher on me. I couldn't stop.

"What did he say?" TVT asked.

More laughing from both of us and Nico returned to his seat.

"What did he say? Who do I look like?" He was trying to sound offended, but he was laughing with us...he just didn't know what he was laughing at.

"I'm not repeating it." trying to compose myself, unsuccessfully.

"What did you say, who do I look like?" He turned to Nico. My baby smiling shyly, was NOT talking.

"Look Homer, stop drilling us..you aren't going to get the answer." Ok, I started laughing harder. See, I'm not evil, I wasn't going to hide the joke from him for long.

"DOH" TVT gasped in his "Homer' voice.

We laughed the rest of the way through breakfast. Then, we went to go check in.

 

[sweetlovin']

We left breakfast, I went to go check in. It was 9am in the morning, so I knew my room wouldn't be ready. I was just hoping, because I really wanted to get my luggage in and get settled before heading out for the day.

"Hey look" TVT said laughing. "I've already started the Disney Dinning Waddle again."

"Get use to it. I have a whole other set of dinning credits that is paid for and not being used. Someone is going to have to use Julie's credits." I laughed.

It was ready!! I was shocked. I got to the room and it was beautiful. It wasnt a great veiw, but the beds were almost as amazing as the Dolphin's beds. Infact, if I had laid on it much longer, I would have fallen asleep.

We decided to take it easy on me that day. We had a long week and I was exhausted. We were going to take the kids to watch Bear In The Big Blue House and maybe one or two other attractions at MGM.

We watched Bear and walked to see if we could catch the Power Rangers, Nico's favorite. We saw them drive up, then we went and saw the Muppets.

"Mom, I'm hungry for Pizza." Nico said to me.

"Pizza? You are never hungry for Pizza..where do you want to get pizza?" I asked, looking at him trying to figure out who's child this was. He'll be use to that look by the end of the trip.

"Well, I want to go to Pizza Planet." He said.

AH HA!!! Now I get it.

"Do you eat at Pizza Planet?" I asked TVT.

"Uh not really no." He said scowling at the idea

"Nico, Mr Tony hates that place. But maybe we can go on Tuesday with Ms Deena and Evan and Connor. We'll see, but for now, let's leave Disney. It's very hot and Sammie doesn't have a cover on her stroller. I need to get her out of the sun for a while" I made a decision..WHOO HOO!!

"But, I'm hungry." Nico persisted.

"Ok, Nico, I get that. We are going to leave Disney and get food off campus somewhere." I explained.

I refer to the Disney Property as campus. I'm not sure why I do that, but I have for a long time. You'll get use to reading that, I'll try to remember to write property and try not to confuse anyone actaully reading this.

I turned to TVT, "Ok. I told him you hate Pizza planet..you pick where to eat lunch." See, me designating tasks again. That is two decisions for me..I decided not to force TVT to go to Pizza Planet and I decided that I wasn't making a decision about where to eat lunch. I was on a role!!!

TVT and Nico talked about where to go for lunch and they decided on a pizza place called CiCi's Pizza. It wasn't far from Campus (property) just around the corner from DTD. As we pulled up, I looked behind me. Sammie was out.

I picked her up and she didnt wake up. I thought she may at the restuarant. We walked in and there was a big sign, "CASH ONLY." Great, I only have plastic, I don't carry cash becuase I have a tendency to lose everything.

"I'll pay for lunch, you paid for breakfast." TVT insisted. I felt bad, but at that point Nico was starving and I was stuck. There he goes, bailing me out again. I really don't want this to keep up on this trip again.

"I'll pay you back." I said.

"No you wont!!" was his reposnse. He was rolling his eyes at me now.

I found a table and TVT and Nico went up to get their food. Sammie, still sleeping, went with me to get them their drinks. They had to be thirsty in this heat. Finally, I just laid Sammie down in the booth. You know when my child stays asleep with food around, she must be exhausted.

"Hey when does Deena get in?" TVT asked. "She has a late flight. I should call her." I went to reach for my cell phone, and it wasn't there.

"Oh no!! I don't have my cell." I said

"You must have left it in the room." TVT responded.

I was sitting there trying to remember the last place I had it.

"Nico, did you give me back my cell phone at the restuarant when you called MR Tony for me?" I asked.

"Well, I called him, then I gave it back to you." He said.

It must be in the hotel room then. I decided not to worry about it. It was in the hotel room or the car. We would find it at some point.

We left and it was hotter than before. Nico couldn't even pull the seatbelt over himself becuase it was so hot to touch.

"I want to go play mini golf please. You said we could do that." he insisted.

"Let's go back to the hotel and let it cool off some, buddy." TVT said. "It way too hot right now. Besides, your mom has to find her cell phone."

He took out his cell and dialed my number. NOTHING..

"Ok clearly it's not here. It's got to be in the hotel." He said very sure that he knew what he was talking about. We got back to the hotel and he dialed again. SILENCE..

"Ok, I must have left it in the restaurant. It's the last place I had it." I said, running toward the phone and dialing the front desk.

"Hello, how can I help you?" He said

"Yes hi, I left my cell phone, I HOPE at your restaurant with the characters this morning, " Damn, I KNEW I should have looked up at the name of that restaurant, "is there anyway you can connect me?" I pleaded.

"Sure, one moment" He said. The phone rang on the line again. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"Hi yes, I think I left my cell phone at your restuarant."I said, a little more panicked. Please please let it be there!!!

"Ok, what does it look like?" She asked.

"Uh um..it looks like a phone. You flip it open, there are numbers, you talk into it. Oh Oh..wait, it plays "You can fly" "Fantasmic" "Mickey Mouse march" or "Bibbity Boppidity Boo" Depending on who is calling. The last two rings should have been "You can fly" you know, from Peter Pan." I started singing. Then I remembered, "Oh, it's also silver and Verizon"

"Ok ma'am, ma'am, stop, really. We do have it, you'll need to call security."

Ok, so maybe I did go a little overbaord, but I was panicked. I have to have my phone.

I called security. "Hello", he answered.

"hello, I left my phone in that restaurant with the characters and they said they turned it into you..I was wondering if I could come get it." I said, more relieved with each word.

"Ok ma'am, what does it look like?" He asked. Oh no, not that again. I described the phone again.

"Yes, we have it. We'll bring it right up to you." He said.

WOW!! I LOVE this hotel. I've never been to a hotel where if I lose something, they'll deliver it to me. This is the greatest place ever!!! I'm so spoiled, for $79 per night!!! WHOOO HOOO!!

Since we were waiting for the cell phone, I thought I would call for the crib as well. Both came and Nico asked,

"Can we PLEASE go play Mini Golf now?"

Armed with my cell phone back I was ready to face the world again. "Sure sweatheart, we can go." I smiled.

 

[sweetlovin']

Ok, I really am sweet, really, honest, you beleive me right? I just happen to have this little competitive side to me. Now, the challenge had been given months in advance. See, TVT golfs every weekend, sometimes twice three times in a weekend. He has won competitions. He went on to say how he use to run Mini golf tournaments for kids and that I had NO CHANCE!!

It was HOT, wicked hot, when we arrived at Fantasia Garden. AP holders get half off, so it was $16 for all three of us to play. Sammie had fallen back asleep in her stoller and I tried as best I could to put her in what little shade there was. There wasn't a cover on this stroller and she has very fine hair. so I was worried about her head getting sunburned.

Now, there is something everyone should know. TVT and I play mini golf very differently. I let everyone have their turn and play through, before the next person starts. He lets everyone have the first hit and whoever is farthest gets to hit next. I can play by that rule, if he agreed that if you mess up on the first hit, it doesnt count. You get to start over. He laughed then, but don't think for a minute he didn't "Start Over" a few times.

Ok, those were the rules. We played and laughed almost the entire time. Nico had a blast. He got the first hole in one. (That's my kid ) He was just smiling ear to ear the entire time. TVT tried to show him how to hit the ball, and for the most part, he did very well. I got two hole in ones during the day. Guess Who didn't get a hole in one?

It was over and all of us were soaking wet from sweat. Note to self, if we are going to play Mini golf, don't go out at 3pm on a course that has NO SHADE. There wasn't even a breeze and it had to have been 96-97 degrees that afternoon. Even Sammie was dripping.

"Ok, so I know you won. Nico, tell TVT thanks for playing with us and congrats on winning." I said.

"Yeah, Mr Tony won. Thanks Mr Tony. Mr. Tony ALWAYS wins." Nico said obviously dramatically as this was the first time we ever played with Mr Tony.

"I only won by one stroke." He said adding up the scores.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, you had a 50 and I had a 49." he said, readding it.

"What was the par for the whole course?" I wondered

"53" he said

"What the heck is the matter with you? You are the pro golfer, your the one that use to run the tournaments. " I said laughing. "You should have beat me by a good 5-6 strokes."

Ok, I had to give him a little grief. He told me I had No Chance. I'm too competitive not to say anything.

I drove back to the hotel and dropped him off at his car. The kids and I needed a shower after that, then dinner.

"Where do you want to eat dinner?" he asked.

"Well, why don't we go to Tony Romas on I Drive. You like it there, and I'm buying since I lost." See, I can be a good sport.

I got the kids up to the hotel and I stripped Sammie down and threw her in the bath. She was sooo hot and sweaty I wanted her to cool off. Nico took his shirt off and once sammie was done and the tub washed out..he got a bath too. I was literally peeling my wet sticky clothes off me. It was so gross and I couldn't wait to hop in the shower.

We all got changed and TVT came back to meet up for dinner. We went to Tony Romas and the kids ATE. Those kids were so hungry. I think they ate everything on their plate.

I don't eat at Tony Romas at all. But, I got a soda and helped Sammie cut her food and feed her. TVT was a little annoyed.

"You were the one that wanted to come here." He insisted. "You have to eat something."

"I really don't want anything and I chose this becuase I knew it was your favorite restaurant. I lost, it's only fair." I explained.

"Here, try some of my chicken." As he shoved a peice in front of me. I picked my fork up and tried a bite. I'm not a huge BBQ Sauce fan, but OMG, it was soooo good. I was really suprised. I recommend the chicken for anyone that isnt a red meat fan, it really was good.

"What time do you want to get up tomorrow?" He asked.

"Well, I need to switch hotels, and I want to be at Magic Kingdom no later than 8:45am for opening ceremony. If you don't mind splitting up, could you take Nico on Indyspeedway while I take Sammie on Dumbo? Nico won't do Dumbo, it too high and he is scared and I don't like Indyspeedway. Both of those lines are insane, so we can split get those out of the way and finish Fantasyland by 10:30 - 11am."

"Yeah, I can do that." he agreed.

We paid and left and I asked him if he minded if I ran to Walmart so i could get Sammie a stroller with a cover on it. It was jsut too hot and she needed something to protect her from the sun besides sunscreen.

We found one at Walmart for $20 a little umbrella stroller. Unfortunately, the rest of the Disney Parents heard about that deal too.

We left walmart and parted ways. We had to get up wicked early the next morning and I was exhausted. I dropped TVT back off at his car and the kids and I went to bed.

 

[missmun52]

what a great report, i will have to read your other one. i look foward to reading more!

 

[Sweedee]

Great report so far! A question for you....is TVT kin to you, or just a good friend. I was trying to figure out how he fit in the story, thinking he was your dh. I am guessing not.

 

[sweetlovin']

TVT is a very good family friend. My kids adore him and you'll see that he has several family nicknames within our family. Homer is one.

 

[sweetlovin']

I asked for a wake up call at 6:15am. I had to get the kids up, dressed, pack up, check out of the Hilton, check into Old Key West, feed the kids breakfast, then get to MK before 8:45am. I got up ready to face a long day.

My phone rang at 7:30am. "Are you up?" TVT said sleepily.

"Of course I'm up. I have a million things to do. I need to pack the car, check out, finish getting the kids ready.."

"..Ok, I'm getting up. I'll be there in 20 minutes." he said.

"Why, you don't need to come here. I'll just meet you at Old Key West, or sleep until you want then meet up with us at MK later. You really don't have to get up for us." I said. I felt bad. He wasn't obligated to us in anyway and he is old. He needs his sleep.

"You're at Disney with two kids under 5. I can help you with bags and things. Really, just wait. I'll be there." he insisted.

It's really nice to have a friend like that. Since I just moved to a new town a year ago, I really haven't met a lot of new people. I left everyone I love at home. It's nice to have a true friend.

I finished getting the kids and myself ready and true to his word, TVT was there 20 minutes later and we were off. First stop was to check in at Old Key West.

We walked in and Nico asked right away if he could sit and watch the old cartoon channel that they have in the waiting area. Sure. Then, we got in line. There was one person checking in. Another nutcase that was willing to get up at the crack of dawn, to check in and start the day.


"Hi Deena!!!" I ran up to her!!! YAY!! My friend..whoo hoo. My poor tired exhausted friend. She had gotten in from Texas about 10pm the night before and since Texas is an hour behind us, this was very very early for her to be up.

We chatted for a little bit, catching up on the past 24 hours, then she said she would call us when the rest of her crew woke up and they got to the park. YAY!! Nico and Evan are in the same grade and Connor and Julie are in the same grade. (Although, Julie wasnt there, Nico is good with kids that age.) I was so excited for Nico to be able to hang out with friends at Disney.

We went to Mcdonalds to grab the kids breakfast then drove on to Magic Kingdom. We were there just about 8:45am. YAY, we get to see the opening Ceremony, I said all excited. Tony had never seen the opening ceremony.

"Nico, before we go in, are you sure you don't want to ride Dumbo?" I asked. I didn't want to split up if he was in the least bit interested in it.

"No, it's too scary. It goes too high in the air." he explained.

I turned to TVT, "Ok, I think we should stick with the plan. Let's split up for the first ride. Are you sure you don't mind?" I wanted to make sure everyone was ok with the plan.

"Of course I don't mind. Don't give it another thought." He assured me.

I don't know why more people don't get to Magic Kingdom early, but, I feel I should take the time to say THANK YOU!! To all the people that don't want to get up on their vacation. Seriously, I love you all for that!!!

We split up, just as we agreed the night before. TVT and Nico went to Indyspeedway and Sammie and I went to ride Dumbo. Before we split, I grabbed everyone's AP. My goal was to Fast Pass peter pan, then get in line for Dumbo. Fast pass for Peter Pan was at 10:05am. Perfect!!

Sammie loved Dumbo. She wasn't sure at first, but once she felt the wind on her face, she was smiling and laughing. It was great since this was her first Dumbo ride. I got off and the two guys were waiting for us.

"Wow you guys were fast. I was sure I would get out of line before you."

"There were maybe 3 or 4 people ahead of us. We were one of the firsts. Pooh has no line, do you want to go there?" Tvt asked.

"Yeah, that sounds great!!!" I said excitedly.

We proceeded to ride Pooh, Snow White, Carousel, ITSW, and finally we walked over to the Tea cups.

"You want to go really fast right Nico?" TVT asked, smiling his evil smile at me.

"NO NO NO, I can't go fast." I said, knowing full well they knew that.

THey didn't listen. I covered my eyes, tried to focus on one child, tried to focus on a spot on the wall. Nothing was helping. The fact that Nico and Sammie were now laughing hysterically didn't help at all!! All that did was encourage Tony to turn faster.

The others got off laughing and smiling. I got off trying not to fall over. I was sooo dizzy.

"I need water..fast." I said. I've passed out enough times in my life to know when it's getting ready to happen. Now was one of those times.

"Are you ok? You don't look so good." TVT said. Uh gee thanks..HOMER!!

"Give me a minute, I need my head to stop spinning." I said, sitting down.

A minute later I was fine. TVT insisted on getting me water still and we were back up and running.

Mickey's Philharmagic was the next stop. We were in line when the Phone rang.

"Hi, we are just entering Main Street." Deena was saying. "Call when you get out of Mickey's Philharmagic."

That is what she said, and what I found out later. I didn't know at the time because I wasn't on the phone.

We went onto IASW again for Sammie and Deena called. David (Deena's DH) was inline for IASW as we were getting off. We waved to them and found out Deena went to fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

"Hey, Sammie is so cute now that I can see her face. Why don't you cut that poor childs hair?" Deena said. She is a good friend, which is why I was laughing. "NO NO NO, I can't keep up with bangs. I need it to grow all one length. Besides, she is the one that is pulling her hair out of the ponytail holders. If she would jsut leave them in, she could see fine. It's her choice." I was still lauging.

"Oh I see. Blame the poor child who's mother won't cut her poor child's hair." laughed Deena the Wiseass. That isn't the wise one..the wiseass. Just making sure everyone got that.

We parted ways since they wanted to go see Mickey Philharmagic and we needed to use our Peter Pan Fastpass. We agreed to meet up in 20 minutes for lunch. Her older boys were meeting us there, and that should be enough time. We let TVT name the place..it's not a good idea to let him make food decisions. We'll take his opinion, but he shouldn't have the final decision about that. He isn't very good at those as we will see later in the trip as well.

We decided to go get a table and wait for them to meet us, since we were out first. We arrived, got a table, and I called Deena.

"I think TVT gave you the wrong name of the restaurant. We are at Cosmic Rays. Is that what he told you?" I asked.

"Uh no, but we are just getting out. We'll meet you there." She said.

Ok, now we need to save three tables, we spread out, then Nico had to go to the bathroom. I put the diaper bag on one table, then tried to put Sammie at another. But, she didn't like that. She let me know by crying and reaching for me. I went to get her, and someone stole my table.

I finally was able to get my table back and everyone got there. I went to go get my food.

"Oh no!! You are not going to beleive this. I forgot my room key. I don't have the dinning credits." I said, mad at myself for forgetting things like that!!

"This isn't some joke where you turn to me and tell me you are just kidding, right?" He asked cautiously.

"No, I'm not kidding. Not in the least. I can't beleive I did this."

I went and got the kids a meal to split, then TVT went and got his food. We all ate, then I noticed it was really crowded. TVT got up to put the tray away and these people stopped us.

"We need a place to sit and eat, are you leaving?" They asked. Ok, sure, you can have our seat. We'll move over and invade Deena's table, there wasn't really enough room, but we were done eating and they did ask nicely.

We all squeezed in and talked for a while longer. The boys were able to get reaqquainted since they hadn't seen each other since Oct and then, we were off.

We FP Buzz Lightyear and went to ride the TTA. Now, you will have to picture this with me, because I am still laughing over it. We went to the tram and the boys wanted to ride together and TVT was in the lead. So, they all hopped in with him and Deena and I and David wanted to make sure they were all in and accounted for. I got in and Deena turned to get in the car behind us. But, it was taken. Those people were in a HUGE hurry to ride the TTA!!

So, Deena, David, Connor, Evan, Nico, Sammie TVT and myself were all in one cozy little car on the TTA. I couldn't stop laughing. If we weren't close before, we were after that ride!!!

We went to ride Carousel of Progress, then Buzz Light year. We let Evan and Nico ride in one car while two adults rode in front of them, and two behind them. That was Nico's first big ride without an adult. But, he loved it.

We then walked over to ride Haunted Mansion. Then stopped for Ice cream. Nico had a strawberry bar and Deena went to go find a place that was able to take the dinning plan. TVT and the kids played with the Ice in a nearby barrell putting it down each others shirts. They were having fun and laughing.

We were walking towards BTMRR and Deena stopped because she found a snack place. Evan and Nico were ahead of us and didn't see us stop. TVT realized they weren't there and went for them

I bent down, grabbed Nico's arm and said, "Hey, don't lose me again." See, that is my panic reaction and I was, for the moment I didn't know where my baby was, panicked.

We watched the parade, or the end of the parade and walked over to BTMRR. "Nico, are you sure you want to ride this?" I asked cautiously. This was after all the kid that told me just that morning that Dumbo was too scary.

"I want to ride with Evan." He said impatiently.

"Well, No, you can't ride with Evan. I have to wait with Sammie but you can ride with Mr Tony." He nodded and ran off with the others. David, Sammie and I waited for the others to get off.

"I liked it!!" Nico came up with a smile. "Now Mommy, can we do Splash Mountain?" I looked at him with the , this isn't my child look. "You can, but it has that drop at the end.."

"I'm going to ride with Evan." he interrupted,

Ok, I'll go watch you all have fun. TVT, Evan, and Nico, David, and Connor ran off to ride splash mountian while Deena, Matthew, Micheal, and Sammie waited.

Nico came off that ride, "Mommy Mommy, I want to go again!! I LOVED the last drop that was the funnest part!!" He was smiling way too big to turn him down. Ok, we can go again.

TVT and Deena watched Sammie while Nico, Evan and I ran up to ride it again. It was extremely kind of them to wait around watching my baby girl for me while I rode with Nico and Evan. Amazing the friends you meet on the internet!! Apparently, Sammie did start to cry while I was gone, but the situation was rectified by handing her Nico's sungalsses.

The boys were little cutie pies. It was wicked awesome watching how excited they were to ride it. I was sooo happy to be able to see my child break out of his shell. It was like he was discovering Magic Kingdom all over again.

We were pretty much done with all of the MK, but we had some time to kill. Deena decided to go return her rental car, so David, TVT and I had Connor, Nico, and Evan to watch. We can do that. We went to ride the Jungle Cruise, and I asked Nico if he wanted to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpets. "No, it's too high and too scary." he insisted. I'll never understand the 5yo logic.

We rode the Jungle Cruise and we were done with all of MK. Yes, it's amazing what you can accomplish on a busy holiday weekend when you are willing to wake up early and get to the parks before they open!! YAY for us!!

We had dinner at Chef Mickeys. I think everyone was hungry at that point. It was really fun times with friends and characters. Deena realized that she had her younger boys car seats in her car. She would have had to trek them all over the place with her, while returning the rental car and taking the bus back to the resort.

So, after Dinner, I took Daivd, Evan, Connor, and TVT, along with Sammie and Nico back to my hotel room while she and her older boys returned the van.

This was one of my favorite nights of the whole trip. Maybe one of my fondest memories. Everyone got into my room and I put Sammie in the bathtub. Now, what happens when you leave 5 guys in a room by themselves?? PILLOW FIGHT!!!! It was so great that both David and Tony started rough housing with the boys and they had a huge pillow fight. Nico was laughing so hard. I think they knocked out a light, but all of them had big smiles on their faces. It was very nice of the guys to play with the kids. It truly meant a lot to me and Nico. Deena got back not much later and TVT left for the night.

Deena and I talked for a little longer and she and her crew left. I told her to call me in the morning when she woke up. We were going to MGM the next Morning. YAY!!!

 

[missmun52]

Great Installment!

 

[TennVolTony]

TVT is a very good family friend. My kids adore him and you'll see that he has several family nicknames within our family. Homer is one.

I'll HOMER you chick.....but I do have a great time with you and the kids when you come to town.

 

[sweetlovin']

I woke up that morning, and got ready to start the day. Nico was thrilled. I think he jumped out of his bed shouting WHOO HOO!!! He had been looking forward to the seeing the Power Rangers for a while now. Today was the big day for him.

"Do you have your Camera mom?? Please don't forget it. We can't forget it." Nico said as though I have a tendency to forget things. Why would he think that.

"Yes, I'll put it in the diaper bag now, so I don't forget." I comforted.

I got the kids out the door and over to Goods To Go, to grab a breakfast to eat back in the room while we waited for Deena to call. As I was walking back to the car food in hand, my cell rings.

"Hey, you know I'm working today. So don't forget your cell phone so I can call and meet up with all of you later. " Tvt said on the other line.

"Ok DAD!! " I replied. "Is there anything else?" I sassed.

"No, just don't forget you cell." He repeated.

"I wont." I said reassuring.

The kids ate some breakfast and I was cleaning up a little when my room phone rang.

"Hey are you guys ready? Are you driving? I think Matthew is going with us, so we are going to take the bus." Deena said.

"I was going to drive, actually." I said.

We met up outside and realized that Matthew wasn't going with us after all. So, everyone fit in my car!! YAY!!

We got to MGM and realized that the Power Rangers were going to be out in 20 minutes. It was the first showing. Then, right after that, we could make a stop at Bear In the Big Blue House. Sammie loves that show.

It was HOT waiting for the power rangers and it seemed like forever. But, they did finally get there.

"Let's split up. I'll take the boys with me, then have David stand in another line, then you stand in another. We should be able to get to all the Power Rangers if we start, then just run the kids from one person to the next."

This was going to be AWESOME for Nico. We always tell him to pick ONE Power Ranger and we'll get in that line. There is a HUGE benefit going to Disney with friends. Especially friends that have kids the same age as yours!! YAY!!


We got almost all of them. We didn't get the Pink Ranger, but none of the boys seemed to care. We did get pics of the boys in front of the Power Ranger car. That was exciting.

We next did Bear In the Big Blue Bouse. While we were sitting inside, Deena's phone rang.

"Yes, uh huh, she is right here, would you like to talk to her?" I heard.

I took the phone

"You forgot your phone, didn't you?" TVT scolded.

"Oh, hmmm, I guess I did. "

I'm known for forgetting things. It's a fault, I have many.

We watched Bear and Sammie danced, smiled, laughed, clapped. She really loves that show. The boys watched it too. They had fun trying to get the bubbles at the end. We got out from there and I turned to Deena.

"Do you mind if we go to Pizza Planet for lunch? Nico asked to go there on Sunday and TVT hates that place. But, if you don't like it, we don't have to." I wanted to make sure she really was ok with it.

'No, we can go. That's fine." She said. One great thing about traveling with a friend, make sure they are easy to travel with!! Deena is pretty easy to get along with.

We went to Muppets and then off to Pizza Planet. It was great. Nico and Sammie were able to share a pizza meal. And Sammie discovered the cherry tomatos that they put on salads there. I think she ate 7 of them.

"Mom, do you have money? I want to play the games." Nico asked.

I never carry cash on me. I should, I know, I always mean to, but I always forget. Very typical of me, I must admit.

"Sorry, Nico. I don't have any money on me." I said apologetically. I really felt bad, but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

I told him that he could go downstairs (Since we were upstairs eating) and watch Evan and Connor play. David was taking them down. Later, I found out that Nico had taken some of their coins. I felt really bad. I didn't even have anything to pay them back with. I did tell Nico after that if he couldn't listen to me and just watch, he wouldn't be allowed back at places like that. But, at the time, I couldn't rectify the situation.


Next stop, Star Tours. Nico was sooo excited. He has never seen a star wars movie and we had never taken him on this ride. But, with Evan going, Nico was determined and really looking forward to riding it. Since Sammie was too little, Deena and her crew were going to take Nico on it.

It was really cute listening to Evan describe to Nico how the ride goes. Nico is an "in the know" child. He likes to know everything that is going to happen before it does. A suprise here and there is ok, as long as he is familiar with the suprise, but he likes to gather every bit of information he can before he trys something. Evan did an excellent job of preparing him!!

I went to the store where the line gets out and waited for them. David came and got me about 5 minutes later. They had decided to do fast pass. So we all FP the ride and I made sure to use nico and my AP's just incase Michael got there and needed a FP. He could have mine.

We took the boys to a store and let them play with the snakes and guns until the FP time came up a half hour later. There was a boy about 13 that came up and was really playing with the boys. If our boys shot at him, he would pretend to be hit. He was hiding and shooting them back. When he left, he turned to the boys, "It was fun guys. Bye, nice meeting you." he said to them. It was so refreshing to see such a nice kid.

Finally, it was time for Star Tours. I waited for them to get out, and Nico LOVED it. Seriously, you have NO IDEA what it meant to me to have friends willing to take my kid on the rides. It made his whole expierince that much more amazing, and really mine too.

We stopped to get a pic with Mike and Sully before heading over to the Great Movie Ride. Sully was sick, or on the potty, or taking a nap, but absent none the less.

After we did star tours, we went over to do the Great Movie Ride. Admittedly, I was the worried mom again. Deena was telling me it was fine, the gangster scene really did look fake, but Nico is the one that was afraid of Dumbo. We have had to leave The Little Mermaid because he was afraid of Ursala. Granted, we left Little Mermaid when he was 3, but I was worried.

In line, Deena's cell rang. "Hey, I'm just going through the gate now. Guess who I just ran into..Robin!! She said hello and she was talking to Laura. She is on her way to lunch at Prime Time, just meeting up with her son now." TVT said.

"Cool, we are in line at Backlot Tours now, just wait for us outside of there." She replied.

Ok, I admit it, Nico wasn't afraid in the least. We rode Backlot Tours and let me say for the record, I don't know any of those people on the screen. Deena did ask me if I knew the Wizard of Oz scene and I did infact know that. But the rest of it, I would turn and say, "Who is that? What movie is that?" and so on. LOL!

I'm not up to date on current or past movie stars or pop culture really. It's a fault..I have many.

Maybe even more shocking, Deena has never seen Mary Poppins!!!!

We got outside the ride and TVT followed directions very well. He was waiting for us all when we got out. We decided to walk to Backlot tours, then we needed to find a spot for the Parade. We stopped to get the kids a snack, Itsakadoozles, and water. If I didn't mention it before, it was wicked hot that day.

As we were walking, the boys really started acting like boys. They were running around and really, it was just too crowded for that. We told them to stop quite a few times. Finally, I had had enough.

"Nico and Evan, after losing us yesterday are you serisouly running around and that far ahead of us again?" Both stopped..I think they knew I was mad.

I felt bad later. I didn't mean to include Evan in the scolding. I'm usually very sensitive to the fact that some people don't like having their kids scolded by other parents. Espeicially if they are right there. Deena didn't say anything, and I know she would have if she was upset by it. But I reminded myself that I need to be much more careful about that.

Right in front of Backlot Tours, the boys were playing with the fire engine that squirts water at you as you walk by. Nico got a huge kick out of that. All three were running and laughing. They were having fun and in the end, that is what Disney is all about.

We went in and for the most part it was great. TVT was saying that there use to be a whole lot more to that ride, but since they put the stunt show in, they took a lot of that tour down. He was saying you got to go through the set of the Old and Girls. I've never seen or heard of that show, but I humored him. "Oh really wow yeah" I'm good at that.

Off we went to watch the parade. Nico was starting to get whiney and hungry, but he survived. Sammie had been sleeping, but once the noise of the parade started, she woke up. The kids loved the parade. Nico is still talking about how great it was!! One of his favorite things at MGM for sure!!!

Sammie was starting to really get fussy, but I gave her Nicos sunglasses and she seemed to calm down enough to enjoy the parade. Once that was over, it was a short walk to PrimeTime Cafe for Dinner.

We had two reservations, one for 6:15 and one for 6:20 with the group split up. We checked in and had the reservations put together, so we were all seated together!! It was perfect.

We all slid in and Sammie and I sat on the end. It was a good thing. As soon as we sat down, Sammie started crying hard. I picked her up and I just couldn't get her calm. I always try to calm my kids and my general rule is after three minutes, I leave the restaurant. Outside, I showed her the pond of water and eventually, got her calm. While I was out there, I realized that she hadn't eaten since lunch.

I know, it's aweful. I felt soo bad when I realized it. Nice mom she has, huh? I ran back in with her crying and I grabbed the diaper bag. I knew there was a rice crispy treat leftover from lunch. If I could give her that until the waitress came, that would be great. As soon as I sat, Sammie lost it again.

I quickly picked her up, shouted my order to TVT and ran out the door again. I must have looked aweful running in and out of a restaurant with my screaming child. I went to the water again and put the food in my hand. Once she calmed down enough to realize for herself that she was hungry, she started eating and we were able to return to the restaurant.

I sat back down and the waitress was going over the speel of what we could and could not get with the dinning plan. She was sitting next to Michael (Deena's oldest) and asked if TVT was uncle Tony.

I spoke up quickly, "Uh no, that's Grampa Tony."

Everyone started laughing and for the rest of the vacation, the boys lovingly called him "Grampa Tony" while laughing, of course.

Primetime was excellent. The food was good and they were great about letting us split meals and order milkshakes. The waitress was nice, although not into the mood as much as some of the other wait staff we saw. It's more fun, and really the reason to go there, to be tormented. Otherwise, you really could just go anywhere.

After Primetime we all went to ride Tower of Terror. Evan was again explaining the entire ride to Nico. He was very very cute and Nico was asking questions, but in the end, Evan couldn't convince him. I stayed out with Matthew, Sammie, Connor, Nico and TVT. I sat and talked with Matthew for a bit about goals and plans that he had, then, I got up and started playing Ring Around The Roise with Sammie. I swear, it's not an MGM trip unless I play Ring Around The Rosie at the park at some point.

I invited Matthew to play with us, but he just laughed. I don't think playing Ring Around the Rosie is very cool to do at 15. But at least he didnt run away and hide from us. They came out fast.

"There is no line at all!!! It's walk right on." Deena was telling us.

TVT, Deena, and Matthew and I rode the next time. Then we came out and rode again. Then, I rode one last time, and I walked out to find Matthew pushing Sammie in the stroller. Apparently, they were all taking turns pushing Sammie and making her laugh. I was really amazed at Matthew. Most 15yo boys want little to do with their parents and even less to do with babies. He is one of the sweetest teenagers I know.

Deena wasn't interested in riding Areosmith, but she was willing to watch the kids if we wanted to. She is such a great friend!! TVT and I and Matthew and Micheal went on. I thanked Deena one last time for watching the kids and we were on our way. TVT had driven there to meet us, so Deena and I took all the kids with us in my car and TVT took all the guys in his. It really was nice to have a car!!

We got back and TVT said, "What took you guys so long?"

"Uh..let's see, 2 adults and 4 kids under 6 all in carseats?" If I had something in my hand at that moment, I would have thrown it at him!

Everyone left and I got the kids to bed. We had a very early morning that next day for Ohana Breakfast and I had gotten in way past the kids bedtime.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading ~ Lovely piccies.

 

[sweetlovin']

I got my 6am wake up call. I had reservations at Ohana Breakfast at 7:30am. TVT called about 6:30am, he was exhausted.

"Are you up?" He asked, "I just woke up, I'm tired." He said

"I'm sure you are tired. We were up really late last night. You really don't have to go with us today. You can sleep and we'll meet you later. This is your vacation time too." I said, expecting him to take me up on it. He really sounded as though speaking was taking up too much energy for him.


"Are the kids up? Are you guys going?" he asked.

"Yes we are up and going. Nico is really looking forward to this breakfast so we are going to go." I explained.

"I want to go too. I really like this breakfast. Besides, I need to keep the diaper bag so you don't lose it like last time." He said, laughing.

Clearly, the old man wasn't that tired. He was still able to be a smartass.

We drove to the Poly and got there about 5 minutes before our Reservation. I got in line at the podium and we were seated right away. The kids and TVT LOVED this meal. Nico was too shy to get up and do the kid parades they had, but he was singing along with them. The charaters were great. If you are a breakfast person, I really recommend this breakfast.

Also, as a mom with three kids 5 and under I can't tell you how nice the family style restaurants are, as oppose to the buffets. At a buffet, I am up often trying to go one kid this or another kid something else. For a family with little kids, the family style restaurants are really great!!!

We left and went to Animal Kingdom to meet up with Deena and her family. We got in and went to go fast Pass Expidition Everest. Nico was dying to ride this. I tried to discourage him, I asked him over and over if he was sure he wanted to..he was. Evan was riding it. Evan had been asking to ride it all week, and he had gotten Nico very excited about it.

We got our fast passes and walked into Dinoland. The first thing Nico asked to do there was TriceraTop Spin!! For those of you not familiar with this ride, it's dumbo in the shape of dinosaurs instead of elephants. 5yo logic..I'll never get it. Both he and Sammie loved the ride.

Then, TVT asked Nico if he wanted to ride Primevil Whirl. After the teacups, I thought it best to stay off that ride, so nico and tvt rode it together. Nico loved that ride too.

"Hey Nico, do you want to do Dinosaurs?" Tvt asked.

"Are the dinosaurs real?" Nico asked cautiously.

"No, they aren't real Nico. Remember, nothing in Disney can hurt you." TVT reassured him. Unless you ride with Grampa Tony on the Tea cups, I was thinking.

"No, I don't want to do it." Nico said, not all that convinced that the Dinosaurs aren't real.

"Ok, do you want to do It's Tough To Be A Bug Nico?" I asked him.

"Are the bugs real?" He asked.."No they aren't, but if you don't want to see it, that is ok." I reassured him.

"I want to ride it with Evan." I realized how much having a friend at Disney with him really meant to Nico.

"He's not here, they are on Expitidtion Everest, we are going to meet up with them later. Do you want to go?" I asked, fully expecting him to say no.

"Yeah, lets go." He said excitedly. Is this my child?

We went to do It's Tough To Be A bug and Deena called. What TVT understood her to say was that she was going to get her kids ice cream and then she was going to meet up with us, then we could ride ITTBAB again, then head back over to EE.

We ducked into a store and out of the heat and entertained ourselves. I took the kids towards the back of the store and Nico was all excited.

"Mom, Mom look quick!!! Glow in the dark underwear!!! Isn't that cool!" He was so excited about underwear he could see in the dark, I smiled. "Uh yeah, you really need glow in the dark underwear" I said teasing him.

"I do?" He asked, clearly, he missed the sarcasm. "Maybe Santa will bring you glow in the dark underwear." I answered. I really shouldn't sass my children. They are too young to get it.

I walked back into the front part and TVT was trying on straw COWBOY HATS!!! "I'm going to buy myself one." He said smiling. "It too hot for my baseball caps."

Sure that is why he wanted a straw cowboy hat. If my camera hadn't died at Ohana, I would have taken a picture of him.

We went ouiside and I think we waited over an hour before Deena arrived. What she had said was that she was going to meet us AFTER ITTBAB. If i had realized that, I would have taken Nico on another ride. Oh well, we were all together now and off to ride Expidition Everest.

We got in the Fast Pass line while Deena stayed with Sammie and Connor. It was really nice of her to let us go first. Nico and I rode together and TVT was behind us. We were going backwards when I heard Nico shout that he wanted to get off the ride, he didn't like it and he wanted to get off.

I held on to him, "hang in there baby, it's almost over."

I was so worried about him, I really couldn't enjoy the ride myself. I will have to ride it another time. But, we got off and Nico was glad, "I didnt like going backwards." He kept telling me.

We waited with Evan Connor, Nico, and Sammie while Deena and David rode.

"What are your plans after this?" I asked Deena when she got off the ride.

"We are going to have lunch at Pepper Market and then over to Epcot. We have dinner at Teppenyaki."

I knew my kids were hungry, so we drove over to Pepper market and got a table. There were 5 of them, and I only have room in my minivan for 4.

"I dont mind taking a few of you or the little ones if you want" I offered.

"No, it's ok, we'll take the bus." Deena replied.

We got there, got a table and ordered our drinks. Deena and her crew showed up about 20 minutes later. We sat and talked, everyone was eating and the boys were playing and talking. Sammie wasn't fond of the food she had. She wanted French Fries. I felt bad, but Deena let me take some of Evans.

"You need to get dessert," I said to TVT "It's paid for, I want you to get something." I said half joking. I knew that he wasn't hungry, but I wanted to take advantage of the food that was paid for.

We ate our desserts and talked away. Deena was waiting for Michael to come from Old Key West. We decided to part ways. I needed to get Sammie back to the hotel and we had dinner reservations at 6pm at the Garden Grill. I wanted to let my kids have some relaxing time in the hotel before we ventured back out to Epcot.

We realized later that Garden Grill after all that food at Pepper market, just didn't make any sense. The problem was, this was one of the restuarants Nico specifically asked for.

"Nico are you hungry at all?" I asked him

"No, I'm not." He said, not realizing where this was going.

"Ok, well, Grampa Tony isn't hungry either and since you two are the only ones that eat at the Garden Grill, I don't think we should do that tonight." I explained.

"Oh, ok, I guess I am hungry." He answered realizing now that I was saying that we shouldn't go. I started laughing. My kids are really funny sometimes.

"Well, I really don't think you are, I think.."

"Hey nico, would you rather play Putt Putt or go to the Garden Grill," TVT said smiling. He knew the answer.

"I want to play putt putt and I want to play Winer/Summer land, not the other one.

Well, that changed the plans quite a bit, but that was ok. I had no problem going with the flow.

We went and played the summer course and as we ended I heard,

"Nico, your mom beat us. Your mommy won." TVT said.

I was sooo excited. YAY ME!! I beat the guy who use to run Mini Golf Touraments!! WHOO HOO, YAY Alright!!!

"Mom beat us, we'll have to beat her next time." He said. Hey, he was suppose to be on MY side, traitor.

We got in the car and we were off to Epcot.

"I'm hungry, I want to eat at Garden Grill." Nico said.

Oh no, that wasn't happening. He had made his choice and no one was really hungry. We went and rode figment, walked thorugh innoventions and saw they had Kingdom Hearts 2 on the video game maching there.

Nico and I played for a while, and TVT was trying to hurry us out of there. I think he was bored. (Sorry) So we left and went to Soarin. The plan was to let me ride, but Sammie wouldn't sit with TVT.

I sat and waited with Sammie for TVT and Nico to come out. As we were walking out we saw Deena. We chatted for a minute and they were running in to do Soarin before their reservations for Teppenyaki.

Sammie was starving, so we grabbed a bit to eat at the land. I asked TVT if he minded terribly if I ran outside to call my DH. He had said that Julianna had been crying at school and I was worried. I couldn't hear what DH was saying very well in the dungeon of the land. My cell phone kept breaking up. I talked to Dh who reassured me everything was fine with Julianna.

They were done eating by the time I got back, so we threw the trash away and headed out. Before we left, we stopped at the Garden Grill to see what they had available for Friday. They had a 9pm available, so we put our names down. Nico had been looking forward to the Garden Grill. I didn't mind eating there, just not today.

We left for the night, got to the hotel, and TVT was gone for the night. We were all so exhausted, we needed sleep . We were off to Magic Kingdom on Thursday and we needed to be ready.

 

[missmun52]

looking foward to your next post

 

[sweetlovin']

The kids and I woke up at 7am. This was late for us, but I guess after getting up early and staying out in the parks pretty much all day, we needed sleep. We started to get ready and Nico was telling me all the things he wanted to do at Magic Kingdom that morning.

We got to Mk about 8:30am a half hour after it opened. To me personally, that is really frustrating. But, oh well, nothing i can do about it at that point. I knew this was going to be the last day at MK and I wanted to let Nico and Sammie get their favorite rides in one last time.

Once TVT got there, he saw that my gas tank was low.

"We need to fill the car up. You want to go by the Hess at MK. I'm sure they remember you from two weeks ago. We can stop in and say, 'See the card really does work'." TVT laughed.

"NO..I dont want to go there for over a years time. I was sooo embarrased by that!" He was very lucky I didnt have anything to throw at him, I think I would have.

We got to the Hess by the Boardwalk and I ran inside to grab the kids breakfast and drinks. I grabbed Nico a Powerade, TVT a coke and peanut butter cookies (the breakfast of champions ) and Sammie and apple juice. I also grabbed each of the kids a donut.

I got out to the car and handed the food to Nico. "Here is a donut for you and a donut for Sammie. I need you to give Sammie hers in Pieces like this.." I broke off a peice and handed it to her. "Can you do that for me?"

"Yep, of course, no problem mom" He assured me.

We drove off to MK. A little while later, we heard Sammie crying.

"Nico, I need you to break off a piece of donut for Sammie like I showed you." I told him.

"But, there isn't any more donuts." He pleaded.

"What happened to Sammie's donut?" Realizing what happened to her donut while I was asking. "You ate HER donut too?"

"But mom, you gave her that peice." he said, not sure if I was mad or not.

"Nico, there were two donuts in there, one for you and one for her. Not two for you and a peice for her." I had to laugh. It was sooo funny. He really didn't mean to eat his sisters breakfast.

TVT told me to give her the cookies. "I feel bad, those are for you not her. I can find something else." I said.

"Would you give her the damn cookies. I'm an adult, I can handle a soda for breakfast. Your child needs to eat. She usually eats a lot for breakfast and I'm sure she is starving." He insisted.

"YES SIR" I said, mocking him as I saluted him.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom and rode the kids favorites. First stop, It's a Small World. Sammies entire face lit up!!! We sat down and my 1yo started waving goodbye to the person operarting the ride. I was laughing, my 1yo has the ride down pat.

Next we did Splash Mountain. Nico's new favorite ride. I waited with Sammie while TVT took him back on. While I was standing there waiting for them, I met two really nice people. One lady from New Orleans, who was taking picutres because she was afraid to ride everything and one really good looking guy from Massachuttes that was mid 30s. We were asking the older woman about the hurricane and she was asking us about blizzards. They were talking about the blizzard of 78. Finally, they asked me where I was in that blizzard. Um..uh..not thought up yet? They laughed.

I love that in Disney. You can talk to anyone from anywhere and for the most part, people are really wicked friendly. It's great!!

We rode a few more rides and decided that we need to get going to meet Deena for lunch at Le Cellier. We pulled into the Epcot parking lot and Nico was dead asleep. I woke him up and said, "Nico if you are too tired, we don't have to do this. I can call Ms Deena and tell her that you are exhuasted." I offered.

"No, I want to have lunch with Evan." he said, whinning.

"Ok, then we need to get out and go. They are waiting for us and we are going to be late." I said.

We got out and started walking towards the front. We were on the side and walking near the ticket booths when a security gaurd stopped us. "You need to walk around the outside and come in through the center."

"You want us to walk back out..all the way around, when the turnstyles are right there?" I said as if he had to be kidding.

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying." he said, making sure I realized he wasn't in the least bit joking.

We complied and when we got to the middle, we realized why. Epcot usually does bag checks right infront of the turnstyles to get in. Today, they moved it to in front of the ticket booths only in the middle. UGH, but at least the security guy had a reason for making us walk all that way.

We finally got into the park and Nico started crying. "My legs hurt mom." he said in tears.

"Well, we can walk back to the car or we can walk to Le Cellier. Either way at this point, we are about halfway. So it's your call." I explained to him.

"I want to see Evan." he whinned.

"Ok, then you need to stop crying and walk. We'll be there a lot faster if you stop crying and whinning and just walk." I explained as I hugged him (while walking forward). I love my baby, but the sooner we got there, the sooner he would feel better.

We got to Le Cellier and Deena and her crew were waiting for us in the coloring section. We didnt see them at first, so TVT went into the restuarant, then I spotted them.

Deena was shouting something to me, but I couldnt really here her from that far away. I ran into the restaurant to tell TVT I found them and pushed the stroller and walked Nico down to them.

"We haven't checked in yet becuase Matthew isnt here yet." She was explaining. "What's Tony doing?"

"Oh I think he was looking for you. He'll come meet us here in a minute. I don't know what he is doing." I said.

"What wrong with Nico?" She asked, pointing to my crying child.

"Oh he says he is tired and his legs hurt." I said matter of factly.

"You didn't want to rent a stroller for him?" She asked supirsed.

Ok, to be honest, I didn't even think of renting him a stroller. He had just gotten out of the car, we were on our way to sit back down for lunch. Even if I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done it.

TVT came down, "I didn't check us in. We are waiting for Matthew and I don't want to check in until we are all here." She explained to him.

"Uh, too late. I checked us in. The woman at the podium said that if we were here we had to check in." He explained

We went and told them that we were missing one person in our party. When I checked us in two weeks ago, they said come back and tell us when your entire party is here. So, maybe it depends on who is working the podium that day, becuase they told us to go ahead and sit the other person could join us.

To be honest, I was kind of glad it happened this way. Even though Nico had eaten both his and his sisters breakfast that morning, I was sure he was hungry. Canada gives you bread right away. We had the bread and got drinks and waited for Matthew to order the food. It worked out fine for everyone

As we were sitting there, I asked Deena how Teppenyaki was. She told us that it was amazing and everyone loved it. Just then, two people were seated next to our table. The same two who happened to be seated with her table at Teppenyaki the night before!!

Anyway, the food in Canada is always good. Nico and I split the Cheddar Cheese Soup and a cheeseburger. Sammie had her own. Poor Sammie, she was so hungry I think she finished her Hot Dog within 5 minutes of getting it!

I felt really bad for Deena and Matthew. They were sitting in the middle and at the far end were Nico, Evan, and Connor. They were being terrible. Looking back, I should have had David and Nico switch places so I could keep a better eye on my child. I corrected him as much as I could, but he was at the other end away from me. Next time, I know better.

"You HAVE to get dessert." I laughed at TVT

"I'll get it to go and give it to Matthew, I really cant eat it." He said.

Nico had the smores child dessert. He ate a lot of it. My poor babies really were hungry. Sammie shared a lot of my chocolate cake with me. After eating half of my half of cheddar soup, her entire plate of food, and then my dessert. Not to mention the bread they ate to start with.

I was going to leave right after lunch. I needed a hotel room for Friday night and I was going to try to find a computer to priceline a room for the night.

We got out of Le Cellier and Nico, clearly feeling much better than before lunch, asked excitedly, "Can we go do Test Track with Evan? But I want to ride with you. So you can cover my eyes when it looks like we are going to hit that wall. That part is too scary." He said.

"Well, I have Sammie and she is too young to ride it." I explained.

"Maybe Mr Tony can watch Sammie." Nico said.

Ok, now I felt really bad. I didn't want Nico to assume that just because TVT was there he was going to watch my kids when I needed him to. It isnt his job, he isnt obligated in anyway. I really didn't like Nico imposing on TVT like that.

"It's not Mr Tony's job to watch Sammie, Nico. He probably wants to go on the ride instead of sitting around with a baby. That isn't very nice of you at all." I said, a little frustrated. I love riding rides with Nico. I know I really only have a few more years of him asking me to ride with him, but I felt at that point, TVT had really done way too much for us.

"Ok, mommy then I just wont ride it." He said disappointedly. My heart broke. I knew he really wanted to ride with Evan.

"I really don't mind watching Sammie, but you need to get a room for tomorrow night." TVT said.

I ended up taking Nico on Test Track, after a lot of convinicing that it was ok from Tony. Evan wasn't scared of that ride at all, so he was able to ride with Nico and I in the same row. Nico loved it. He got off so excited.

"You need to go up and thank Mr Tony again for watching Sammie, Nico." He did and I made sure I thanked him too. It was really nice of him. I really feel lucky to have such amazing friends in my life.

Nico asked if we could ride Soarin. Evan was going and this is Nico's favorite ride. We walked over there and Nico asked to ride with me again. TVT didn't hesitate to take Sammie. He picked her up and took her to the side of the wall. We were getting the baby swaps our fast passes out and I looked over.

Sammie was on the ground crying while TVT was searching through the diaper bag, he looked like a lost puppy trying to figure out what to do. Looking back, it's funny, but at the time, I felt aweful.

"Nico, look at Sammie and Mr Tony. I can't leave either one of them like that. Your sister is clearly upset and Mr Tony is clearly at a loss as to what to do. I can't leave them like that. It isn't fair to either one of them. So you can ride with Mr Tony or you can choose to not ride, but I can't ride." I said. I guess he knew that was my final decsion because he immediately said, "Ok, I'll ride with Mr Tony."

I ran over to Tony and told him to go ride with Nico, I would stay with Sammie. I think he was relieved because I started to ask him where the apple juice was and he was gone.

They got off the ride and we parted ways. I needed to get to a computer and get a hotel room for Friday. We asked the front desk at Old Key West if they have a buisness center. No the only one was at Boardwalk.

We called Boardwalk and they were open until 4:30. Great it was 4pm, we had just enough time to rush over there. We got there and it was closed. We walked around and finally found someone. "Oh no it closes at 4pm." She said.

"The hotel concierge and the hours listed on the wall say 4:30pm" I was frustrated.

"There isnt anything I can do for you. If I had a key I would let you in, but I don't" She said sympathetically. I left and told TVT.

"I'll just call the Disney ressie line and see if there is any rooms available on campus." I explained.

We left the Buisness center got in the car and TVT exaplined that there was no way he was going to be hungry for our dinner reservations at 5:20pm at Ohana. Ok, I could see that.

I told Nico that we weren't going to do Ohana that night. "Oh are we going to play Putt Putt instead like we did last night?" he asked, remembering that we played putt putt instead of eating at Garden Grill.

I smiled, "Best two out of three old man?"

"Oh you are on!!"

We got to putt putt and Nico and I were talking to the guy. He handed Sammie a little plastic putter and a ball, so she could play too. I have to say, she was so excited. Her eyes lit up and there was a HUGE smile on her face.

"Yes, do you have a room on property with the AP rate?" I heard TVT say on his cell phone. He quickly turned to me and told me all they had was 1 room at Port Orleans Riverside for 150 per night.

"Ask if they have a Flordia Resident rate at a Value Resort." I said.

"What is that? I've never heard of that." he said looking confused.

"Humor me, just ask." I insisted.

They did at a better rate than the AP rate!! YAY!! Not that I was thrilled to stay at an All Star. But it was 1 night and almost $80 more per night to stay at the Moderate on the AP rate. It really didn't seem worth it to pay the extra money.

He booked the room and we were all set to play. I loved this course. There were places that spit water at you as you went by. They played Christmas music and beach boy music. Plus there is a TON of shade on this course!!! The people that run it are so wicked friendly too.

I also love this course becuase I WON!!! AGAIN!! WHOO HOO!! YAY FOR ME!!!

We finished there, went to POFQ. Nico got a hot ham and cheese sub. he LOVED it. And he was hungrier than I reaized becuase he ate the entire thing. Then we had ice cream for dessert. I like that food court becuase you can get this cookie ice cream thing. It's two HUGE cookies that are freshly baked, with 5 scoops of ice cream in the middle. Whatever flavor ice cream you want . Sammie and I shared that..its sooo Yummy!!!

The kids were wearing half the ice cream. I decided it was time to go home, give them baths and put them to bed. We were all tired and stickey and we needed a quiet night.

Before TVT left for the night I told him that I would call him in the morning. We had no plans for Friday and I just wanted the kids to sleep in. He said fine and went home. I'm sure he was as exhausted as we were.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

This is a great report!!! I like alot of details, I can picture being there!

 

[missmun52]

I really love reading your reports. The details are great you make me feel like I am there with you. I cant wait to see what you think about the all stars