Bear Hugs & Piggy Kisses - Baby's 1st Trip ~ Updated 12/6: Aulani TR Started!!!

[TheMaxRebo]

first, very sorry to hear of your Uncle's passing. I hope things work out as far as the wake, etc. and your ability to make it if they do something

love, love, love pre-park ADR's in MK just for all the picture opportunities! I like how even in your video of Izzy you took time to scan up to get the castle, then scanned back to ensure Izzy is still ok

And the food at CP for breakfast is pretty good too. I mean, Pooh's Puffed French Toast is worth it alone!

Very cute interactions with Pooh! We've had good interactions at CP - they seem to spend enough time but also know not to overstay their welcome

 

[Dugette]

Phew caught up again!

Oh wow you did soooo much stuff on your NYC trip. And all that with a toddler! That's quite impressive....but tiring I bet! I chuckled at the picture of Izzy barely peeping over the pizza! Oh and that wretched woman saying Izzy was a 12 month old boy! Seriously, ridiculous

Yes, that pizza picture is awesome. The best part was how PROUD that woman was of herself for (in her mind) guessing pretty accurately.

Going two different ways at the Oasis definitely sounds like something DH and I would do!

Glad we're not the only ones who don't think to contingency plan for something like that. We seem to have a lot of losing-each-other mishaps in AK (our first trip, we had a bad one while trying to leave for the ME and couldn't find each other).

What's the difference between iMessage texts and regular texts? Because I noticed a few months ago (when going through old text messages) that a lot of conversations had been deleted - i'm assuming when I updated my phone - but some texts still remained.

Hmmm, that is a good question. And if Dug was here right now, I'd ask him and he'd probably know. I think that the default is iMessage between two iPhones, but sometimes it can't and will do a regular text? It was odd, because he got my texts sometimes during the trip, but not others. Super frustrating. I think it had something to do with iMessage settings being messed up or something? I'm still not entirely sure, but it was clear they weren't showing up for him.

I"m glad (well, for at least half the show) that Izzy enjoyed FotLK! I really love that show and so did DS.

I've always loved that show too and wanted to take Izzy. And I'm glad she had fun for a while. It was that whole nap time conflict that was the issue. Great show for all ages, for sure!

I regret not sticking around for 10 minutes while Dug and Russel took their break to get a meet with them. Next time definitely!

Yeah, we had to meet them, even though we were short on time. I couldn't cut them from our plan. Gotta love Dug!

Turtle brownie looks delicious!

It really was. I wasn't expecting much from some random stand in AK, but it was really tasty!

Oh wow so many dips at Sanaa! I wouldn't even know where to begin!

We sampled our way through them a few times and eventually came up with favorites/least favorites. Though I'd be hard-pressed to tell you what was what anymore. Thanks to the DIS for letting me know we could get that - we'd had the bread service previously, but had no idea it was just a bit more to get all the dips.

Funny i'm making butter chicken tomorrow for dinner

Mmmmm, yum! I have never tried to make it. Not a bad idea.

So cute about the lid! Calvin's current favorite item: a red shoelace. Really kid? He carries it around like a toddler would a blanket!

Red shoelace! I've contended since Izzy was pretty small that toys are unnecessary. Random household objects are way more fun. Of course, we still have a plethora of toys, yet she spent a bunch of time yesterday helping me to open and sort mail. Because, clearly, it's one of life's great joys that cool toys cannot compete with.

Oh my gosh, I would have been DEVASTATED about not getting to visit the MK on your 'night off'!

I was. And Dug was for me. I really needed it since she was SO Mommy-clingy at that time (still is, but not as severe). Plus, we hadn't (and still haven't) had a night away from her, so it would have been quite a treat to do that late night.

Aaaaand just like you said, there are bigger things in the world..Oh no, i'm so sorry about your uncle. That's terrible! Prayers for your cousins and family

Thanks! Much appreciated. If I recall correctly, you know this sort of situation all too well. So difficult for everyone.

Awesome main street photos with absolutely no one in them. That is exactly why I would want to get an ADR at CP....well, that and my favorite meal of the day is Breakfast

And, if you look really closely, you can see that I used Photopass borders to block out some people who got into our shots. I think a pre-park-opening ADR at CP is going to be a must-do for us for quite some time now.

AWW I just love the pic where Izzy is smiling when Pooh is walking towards her! So sweet.

Thanks, I love that one too. You can see the anticipation on her face.

first, very sorry to hear of your Uncle's passing. I hope things work out as far as the wake, etc. and your ability to make it if they do something

Thanks! Looks like they have it scheduled for 5/17 now and I have been seeing if we can snag any flights with our miles - my dad got a "good price" on their tickets of $600/each (were $1100 the prior day, I guess). I'm not sure if we'll make it, but I'd like to, if possible. Nothing available for what we need right now, though.

love, love, love pre-park ADR's in MK just for all the picture opportunities! I like how even in your video of Izzy you took time to scan up to get the castle, then scanned back to ensure Izzy is still ok

It's so fun to get photos without having to fight the crowds. Ha, I guess that video pretty accurately represents the way I get to "look around" in the parks.

And the food at CP for breakfast is pretty good too. I mean, Pooh's Puffed French Toast is worth it alone!

That stuff is delicious!! I'm pretty sure I went back for seconds on that, now that you mention it.

Very cute interactions with Pooh! We've had good interactions at CP - they seem to spend enough time but also know not to overstay their welcome

I would agree. We had one breakfast there pre-Izzy and they were great at handling 2 adults - they were able to tell that we were the type that wanted to have fun and take pictures with them, which was nice. And they read Izzy's demeanor VERY well and all of them did a great job with her.

Oh, side note - I've been reading your TR (about 1/2 way through) and enjoying it! Add me to the club of kids that liked Figment so much that they picked a plush of him as a souvenir!

 

[Dugette]

After we’d had a chance to munch on our yummy food for a bit, Izzy spotted another character making his way into the room:





Interesting, but not interesting enough to stop eating my Mickey waffle…

After making the rounds, Piglet came our way:





In case you’re wondering, I made sure my video was recording from here on out! (Kind-of annoying that I’m in the background of all these shots, but oh well).

Piggy kisses:









Piglet, you’re cool, but not worth putting down my pouch and waffle for.







Mmmmm, waffle…

Piglet was kind enough to give me a piggy kiss also:



And, as I mentioned, the video was a success. However, you’ll have to excuse my loud narration – hard to coax a toddler and get a decent video at the same time. Plus, my video angle was not as good as Dug’s photo angle. Still cute, though (ha, just noticed you can see Dug taking pictures in the background, so I guess we're even):

(click to watch)

Up next: Tigger and Eeyore drop by!

 

[Mom&RN]

Oh my gosh, the video of Izzy and Piglet is so incredibly cute!! Made me long for the days when my own son was little. Great pictures with Pooh too. When my son was younger Crystal Palace was a must do for us every trip.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

aw, cute pictures with Piglet ... I mean, not "put down your waffle or pouch cute", but cute

Also, looks more like Piglet is trying to eat you than give you a kiss


On another note, glad you are enjoying my TR and that we can bond over our stuffed Figment ownership

 

[Dugette]

Oh my gosh, the video of Izzy and Piglet is so incredibly cute!! Made me long for the days when my own son was little. Great pictures with Pooh too. When my son was younger Crystal Palace was a must do for us every trip.

Thanks! Believe it or not, things get even cuter in coming updates (well, I think so, at least). I'm glad you took advantage of Crystal Palace in his younger days too - such a great place!

aw, cute pictures with Piglet ... I mean, not "put down your waffle or pouch cute", but cute

Also, looks more like Piglet is trying to eat you than give you a kiss

True, very true. He was probably trying to get even with us for our previous visit where Dug made sure to tell Piglet how much he was enjoying the bacon! In fact, here's a picture from that:

On another note, glad you are enjoying my TR and that we can bond over our stuffed Figment ownership

Yay, stuffed Figment club! Also, I'm finding myself fighting the urge to use "Squeee!" frequently now...

 

[Denovagirl]

Ok the piglet and Izzy photos are cute, but the one with Dug is my fave! Lol!

 

[Leshaface]

Oh goodness, love the video! I love that Piglet keeps grabbing Izzy's head to give her a kiss. Precious!

Sorry I was snooping and saw the picture above with Dug! Fantastic shot

 

[AprilRenee]

Cute Cute Cute!! Just got on the computer and watched the video of piglet. Adorable!! Was she saying "hi" to him? Cute!

 

[Dugette]

Ok the piglet and Izzy photos are cute, but the one with Dug is my fave! Lol!

Ha, thanks! I love that photo - it captures the moment quite well!

Oh goodness, love the video! I love that Piglet keeps grabbing Izzy's head to give her a kiss. Precious!

Thanks! Yeah, Piglet was really cute interacting with Izzy. The characters there really seem to be good about knowing how far to go with guests. Piglet could tell Izzy was up for some piggy kisses, I guess.

Sorry I was snooping and saw the picture above with Dug! Fantastic shot

Not snooping at all - it's there for anyone to enjoy!

Cute Cute Cute!! Just got on the computer and watched the video of piglet. Adorable!! Was she saying "hi" to him? Cute!

Thanks! Yes, I think she was saying "hi" to him. She's much louder and clearer about it on some future character encounters (I have video of at least one), but she definitely liked saying "hi" to them. She says "hi" to her stuffed animals all the time now. Super cute.

 

[Denovagirl]

Just dawned on me that this interaction must be where you got your TR name from? It certainly is quite adorable and entertaining!

 

[Dugette]

Just dawned on me that this interaction must be where you got your TR name from? It certainly is quite adorable and entertaining!

You are on the right track! Technically, both of the specific events I'm thinking of are still coming up. In fact, one of them actually doesn't even involve the Winnie the Pooh characters.

 

[Dugette]

A few moments later, Izzy spotted another friend approaching:



Tigger started by eating – oh, I mean greeting – me :



Tigger then turned his attention to Izzy. She started by checking out his nose:



Hi, Tigger!:



Tigger mugging for the camera:





High five:



Tigger came back to me for another hug:



Let’s hold hands:



I also have video(s). I started recording and it was slightly blurry, so I stopped and restarted it, hence the two videos:

Part 1:
(click to watch)

Part 2:
(click to watch)

We were surprised that Izzy only seemed marginally interested in Tigger. At that time, she said goodnight to a miniature plush of Tigger every night. She seemed more interested in her food than Tigger, though. At least, after a few seconds.

The last of the gang to make the rounds was Eeyore. Izzy seemed to like petting him:











Kisses:



And another video. I find it so obnoxious to listen to Dug and I in these videos, but feel free to tune us out and enjoy Izzy’s reactions:



At this point, we’d pretty much finished eating and our waiter brought out the bill. Izzy was feeling very generous and decided to pick up the tab with her Magic Band :





(No, she did not actually have charging privileges, but the waiter was kind enough to humor her).

We let him know that we were going to stick around a bit longer to see Pooh again. In the meantime, we got Izzy out of her high chair and cleaned up, since she was done. While she was out, I decided to grab a picture of her and Dug, since they were both wearing their Pirates shirts this day:



Although, as you may remember, we ended up doing Pirates earlier in the trip, so the shirts really weren’t very relevant. No matter, they wore them anyway.

Up next: Grab your smelling salts. Not many of you will be able to handle this cuteness. I’m fairly certain this is one of the most adorable videos in the history of the universe (granted, I may be a bit biased, but you’ll see…)

 

[Dugette]

For those that have been reading the off-topic updates, we will be heading to Oregon for my Uncle's funeral next week. We managed to snag flights with our Skymiles, but our only option was Tuesday night to Sunday afternoon (funeral Saturday afternoon). So, we'll have a decent amount of time there. If you don't see much of me on the DIS next week, you'll know why (but, who knows, I may be on here a bunch, depending on what's going on).

This is really a whirlwind trip and not a lot of planning involved. Partly due to the last-minute nature and partly due to not knowing what family plans may come up while we're there.

As of right now, this is what we're thinking:

Tuesday: Dug works full day. I work half day from home, then take the afternoon off to bring Bailey to in-laws (they agreed to dog-sit) and make sure we're packed and ready to go. Get Izzy from daycare and head to airport (meet Dug somewhere/somehow - need to figure out logistics and parking still). Hopefully have time to eat dinner in the airport before catching our flight (around 8pm). Izzy normally goes to bed at 7pm, so I'm really hoping she'll fall asleep early on and stay asleep the whole time. Wishful thinking? Maybe. We will do the same thing we did for NYC - bring her carseat, see if there's space to bring it on board, and gate check it if there isn't. It would be nice to have it for her to sleep in, but she could sleep in the Ergo, if needed (she just flops around more that way, unless I can get the sleeping hood on her without waking her up). We'll get into Portland around 9:30pm local time (will feel like 11:30pm to us), get our rental car, and go straight to our hotel near the airport. Hopefully transfer Izzy from plane to car to pack 'n' play without incident and get a good night's sleep.

I'm excited about our hotel. My dad and step-mom recommended it because all of the rooms are suites and have full kitchens (they are staying there too). We have a 1-bedroom King suite reserved. That means that we can have Izzy in a separate room for naps and the early-evening part of bedtime - we can hang out in the living room/kitchen without disturbing her. Not to mention that we can save money by cooking some of our meals in (we'll have to do a Target run early on to have some food). I think this will be a big improvement over tiny NYC hotel rooms with the PnP crammed in next to the bed.

My dad/stepmom and my other uncle fly in on Wednesday. My dad/stepmom are planning to do some hiking and my uncle is planning to do some work on his laptop, as far as we know. So, we're thinking that we may go to the coast for the day, just to get some "vacation-y" time in while we're there. It would be nice to come back with some fun memories and not just sad ones. It's a decent drive, so hopefully Izzy will handle it okay. We'd like to play on the beach and maybe go to the aquarium in Newport. But nothing is set in stone.

Thursday, we were thinking of seeing some of the attractions in Portland. We are looking at going to Washington Park and seeing the zoo, rose gardens, and the Japanese gardens. We get discounted admission to the zoo because we have a MN Zoo membership, it seems...yay!

I'm thinking that Friday-Sunday will be mostly spent with family, but who knows. We'll really have to play things be ear and be very flexible on this trip, probably more so than on any other trip we've taken. We're also looking forward to seeing family. My oldest cousin and his wife and their three kids (16, 8, and 5) live there, my cousin and her husband and their newborn (January) baby live there, and my other cousin and his new wife (that we haven't met yet) and their newborn (January also) baby and her older son live there. And my dad/stepmom and other uncle will be there, of course. Should be fun to meet the new babies and to see everyone again. Just wish it were under better circumstances, since everyone has unexpectedly lost a dad or brother or grandfather (or uncle for me).

Although we'd like to cook a fair amount of our own food, we do have a couple of "must do"s. Both are repeats from when we've been to Portland before: VooDoo Donuts and Burgerville. Healthy? Eh, probably not. Tasty? Oh, yes! We've already been told that Izzy's little cousins (second cousins, I guess) want to bring her to VooDoo Donuts.

I saw something online about an aerial tram with great views of Portland and thought that might be fun to do on Sunday morning, since we don't leave until afternoon. We'll see.

Our flight back is pretty much "awake time" for Izzy, so I'm just hoping for the best. I've purchased a lot of new toys for her recently, so I'll pack a bag of them to bring along and maybe, with any luck, some of them will hold her attention for more than 30 seconds. Maybe. Wish us luck on that one!

So, that's the plans. If anyone has any pointers or suggestions for the Portland area, let me know. Can't believe we're going on another trip across country so soon after NYC. Wedding on the East Coast and funeral on the West Coast in about a month's time. Izzy is going to be quite the seasoned traveller with all these trips under her belt before she's even 2. And, of course, shortly after she turns 2, she gets to fly First Class to Hawaii! By the way, less than 6 months till Aulani now!!! So excited for that!!!

 

[Leshaface]

I think Tigger may have been more interested in you than Izzy!

I don't find you guys annoying at all! But, I always think the same thing about DH and I when we hear ourselves on video. DH always says, "Is that how I sound?! Don't post it, I sound awful!"

Glad you guys got things sorted out for your upcoming trip. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO jealous that you'll be going to Voodoo! Please take pics!

 

[AprilRenee]

I always hate my voice in videos too!! Bleh!

Ooh that suite sounds great! That's what we had for Chicago and it was fantastic. Although we put Caden in the living room at night and just chilled in the bedroom once he went to bed. It was fantastic!! We'd grab a few beers and some snacks form the kitchenette before we put him to bed and then we'd hang out and watch some TV. But you know how I feel about sleeping in the same room as my kid! LOL Momma needs her sleep! If he would sleep and be fabulous in the same room I'd totally do it...but he won't.

I was a little weirded out by him being closer to the door to the hallway but I just made sure to deadbolt it and put the chain on. and it was all fine.

 

[Dugette]

I think Tigger may have been more interested in you than Izzy!

I think you're right! You can hear me in the video trying to direct him to Izzy because he was paying so much attention to me that I wasn't sure if he realized she was there and willing to meet him. Guess cats like me.

I don't find you guys annoying at all! But, I always think the same thing about DH and I when we hear ourselves on video. DH always says, "Is that how I sound?! Don't post it, I sound awful!"

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. I think it's especially driving me nuts because I'm the one taking video, so my voice is picked up pretty loudly. I just want to hear Izzy giggling, not myself explaining to her why she should.

Glad you guys got things sorted out for your upcoming trip. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO jealous that you'll be going to Voodoo! Please take pics!

Thanks. Yes, Maple Bacon Bars, here we come! I'm pretty sure, last time we were out there, we got a box of donuts and ate them for breakfast every day.

I always hate my voice in videos too!! Bleh!

I know, it just sounds so different on video than it does in person. And loud.

Ooh that suite sounds great! That's what we had for Chicago and it was fantastic. Although we put Caden in the living room at night and just chilled in the bedroom once he went to bed. It was fantastic!! We'd grab a few beers and some snacks form the kitchenette before we put him to bed and then we'd hang out and watch some TV. But you know how I feel about sleeping in the same room as my kid! LOL Momma needs her sleep! If he would sleep and be fabulous in the same room I'd totally do it...but he won't.

I was a little weirded out by him being closer to the door to the hallway but I just made sure to deadbolt it and put the chain on. and it was all fine.

I was thinking of doing it that way too - that's what we did for the night in Wisconsin Dells - had her in the living room. However, after having slept right next to her for most of the NYC trip, I got to thinking that - once she's out - she's not too easily disturbed. So, I figured that she could fall asleep in the bedroom and by the time we go in, she'll be completely out. And for naps it would be nice for us to have the space in the living room and kitchen. Oh, and Dug was hoping to maybe use the living room desk for his laptop, since we're not sure there's one in the bedroom. That said, if it doesn't work, we can change it around.

The thing that's bugging me now is that I just called the hotel and 1.) they don't have any high chairs and 2.) they only have one pack 'n' play and someone has it for the next 2 months! (yay, extended stay hotel...) So, we've got to figure out what our best option is. I just emailed my cousins to see if they have either item for us to borrow. If not, I think we will just have Izzy in the Peapod the whole time - it just seemed like a long stay (5 nights) to do that. But maybe it's fine - she does like it. And we do have a travel high chair, so we could bring that. But it might be worth spending $20 on one at Target when we get there just to not have to fit it in our luggage. We'll see. I already checked with Delta and they'd charge us a checked bag fee to bring our PnP, so that's out (since we could buy a cheap one there for the same $$). Almost makes me want to change hotels, since a PnP should be a given for over $100/night. But I really want that separate bedroom and this place is only $10-$20/night more than a standard hotel room at our other options. Ugh. Thank goodness for the Peapod, at least.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Obviously sad for the reason but glad you got you trip arrange and will have time with family.

Only thing I really know about Portland is that they have a great craft beer culture - not sure if that really applies to this trip though :rofl:

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Obviously sad for the reason but glad you got you trip arrange and will have time with family.

Only thing I really know about Portland is that they have a great craft beer culture - not sure if that really applies to this trip though :rofl:

 

[AprilRenee]

So weird about the pack n play!! Only 1?? Seriously?
And I agree. Just buy a travel high chair once you're there. Or honestly, she may be ok sitting on a real seat for a few days when you're at the hotel. Idk. Maybe Caden is just now hitting that point. I can't remember when we started that.

Hopefully your family will have items you can just borrow!