Beast. The awesome PTR of awesomeness June 2012 last update: Universal Resort

[smile5sunshine]

The tutorial is here. It's actually a great site for tutorials for hair stuff. I don't think I managed to follow the tutorial exactly, but I came pretty close.

Thank you! I just know my older girlies will LOVE to help out with this (they are 8 and 6, so I think they can do a lot of it, with some help from mom on the parts like using a lighter )

In other Disney news, yesterday I got an email from Disney Visa offering us a special deal for Art of Animation. I would *love* to stay at AofA. There's a huge attraction to staying in a brand new place. The discount was 15%. The cost per night of a suite during our trip is $325-375.



Thank you so much for the meager discount, Disney. We'll stay at Vistana. (Just to refresh your memory, our cost there is $125/night. Even with parking and the rental car, we're still only at $155/night.) No way I could convince my dh to double our lodging budget at this point.

Honestly, we're much more focused on the whole getting done with school thing right now. Tater has finals today and Thursday. Friday morning is graduation rehearsal. Saturday I'll be spending the day doing prep for his graduation luncheon. Sunday is graduation.

My girls have finals next week and their last day is next Thursday.

I go until the 23rd, so I've got 12 more days of school. Did my last IEP yesterday. Now I just have the progress reports and goal updates to finish and I'm making progress there. I'm so overwhelmed by all this end of the year stuff right now. I don't usually have to do IEPs because I generally only have my students for a 9 week period, so it's been a change for me to have to get back into the paperwork routine.

We're getting so close. I just want to get the school stuff done so that I can think. Hoping it goes quickly!

Oh girl, I hear ya about the prices for AoA. I so badly wanted to stay there too (we also have 4 kiddos, so another family of 6) but once they released the pricing for it, I knew it was out.

I know that the end of the year seems to snowball on you but hang in there! you are SO CLOSE to being in DISNEY!!!

Sunshine

 

[BrerMama]

Love the trip journal! I'm thinking about keeping one for our trip as well.

My corner of the bedroom is looking similar. I was thinking the other day of starting to throw some stuff in our suitcases...just to get them out of the way.

I got that same email for AoA and for a second thought how nice it would be to change resorts. The pictures look amazing and it would be so much fun to stay there. That is until I saw the 15% discount...that barely makes a dent! I think we'll just stay where we are and maybe go visit instead.

I'm so tempted to pull out suitcases because I hate how junky it looks but our cats think luggage is a scratching post and ours is brand new (because they ruined our last set). So I wait. When we do pack, we'll have to hide the luggage under blankets until we leave. How to outsmart a cat 101.

Your trip journal sounds like what I've done in the past. I just had a little notebook and for a half-hour or so each night I'd sit and jot some notes down. Like you say, it wasn't much of a narrative (it was actually more of one than I wanted to take time to do, but it's hard not to), but I captured where we went, what rides in what order, any funny comments someone said or observations I had. Between that and the pictures, it's amazing how much of the trip can come back into your mind when you're writing the report.

I need my notes both for the trip report I plan to write as well as the scrapbook I plan to create, so it will be worth it to take the time. My kids are so funny. Last night, I'm talking to Tater (who is changing his college major today -- elementary ed for the win!) and he says, "I'm not nervous about flying this time. Not like I was last time." Just to review, we had to get a prescription for Xanex last time.

He walks away. Goes in his room. Shuts the door.

Opens the door. Yells out, "I'm still afraid of butterflies."

Shuts the door.

I swear I'm running a comedy club.

Things are looking good!

Great to know your IEPs are written and finished!

I hear you about being busy between now and then--can't believe how early your son graduates and y'alls school finished up. My daughter graduates next Sunday on the 20th, and then Reid and I will go for two more days. My other daughter will have to go for three days to finish exams. It's going by so quickly!

I'm a little shocked by how early Tater is graduating. He has AP tests next week and university orientation the following week, though, so he's not going to be sitting around too much. I'll breathe a big sigh of relief once the school year is over. Even though I'm working this summer, it will be nice to close out this school year.

Thank you! I just know my older girlies will LOVE to help out with this (they are 8 and 6, so I think they can do a lot of it, with some help from mom on the parts like using a lighter )

Oh girl, I hear ya about the prices for AoA. I so badly wanted to stay there too (we also have 4 kiddos, so another family of 6) but once they released the pricing for it, I knew it was out.

I know that the end of the year seems to snowball on you but hang in there! you are SO CLOSE to being in DISNEY!!!

Sunshine

Have a great time making the pony-o's. I got very frustrated with the whole process. I'm not the neatest at sewing and sometimes I just couldn't get them to lay right. Some I had to put two finishing ribbons on top... just to hide how sloppy my work was.

Still a little sad to realize that we're really not staying on property. I'm excited about Vistana and think it's the perfect place for us... but I still get sad thinking about missing the magic. I will survive, and make it even more magical.

We are really getting close. I'm thankful that I've got so much making my life full that I'm not totally freaking about how close we're getting. It's more like a nice surprise when I realize how close we are.

 

[DMGeurts]

Your trip is getting so close Kim!!! I am so excited for you!!!

D~

 

[BrerMama]

Your trip is getting so close Kim!!! I am so excited for you!!!

D~

I do have this moment every day where I stop and think, "It's only X days till Disney." And then a small child pulls on my leg and I'm back. Definitely more daydreaming lately but I'm not sure that's due to Disney fever as much as a staff wide summer fever...

 

[BrerMama]

Chapter 22
Day 5: Animal Kingdom... at long last

Finally! This is our family's favorite park. Well... that's probably not completely true. Magic Kingdom is probably our favorite if we're being honest. But we do love Animal Kingdom.

We're huge animal lovers. We have a membership to our local zoo and you can often find us there on a Sunday morning, communing with the animals. I'd rather Dan took the kids and let me rest, but lately we've been using it as preparation for Disney, so I'm going.

Anyway, we'll be there for rope drop. Really a non-negotiable for us. Since we won't be at the mercy of Disney transportation, I'm guessing we'll be near the front of the crowd. I'm kind of thrilled that technology has changed so much in the last five years and that we'll have our iDevices to play while we're passing time waiting for the parks to open. Should make the rope drop wait pass quickly.

So the ropes drop and we're off to Everest. We'll ride. I'll ride this the first time, but probably not again. I just don't find it that great, and it really sets off my motion sickness. I don't think Brady will ride it, but you just never can tell with that kid. His motion sickness is worse than mine, so I'm not even sure he *should* ride it. I promised the girls stuffed Yetis if they ride. It's a joke -- they got them after their first ride as a bribe to get them on the ride -- but theirs are long gone, so I told them I'd replace them.

Assuming Tater doesn't ride, I'll have him grab fastpasses while we're riding. Then we'll head over to DinoLand and do Dinosaur. Long Tater's favorite ride, we may even do it twice. Then the crazy mouse coaster (I won't even try to spell it) and then hopefully it's time to use our Everest fastpasses.

While Dan & the girls do Everest again, Brady and I can walk over and grab fastpasses for Kali.... assuming the timing works out. After Everest, we can do the tiger trek, then ride Kali.

Over to Africa to hopefully grab Fastpasses for the Safaris... although this may need to wait a bit. We should be coming up on our 11 am Tusker House ADR.

Dan the Budget Man is not thrilled with our Tusker House ADR. To be honest, I'm not sure it would be my first choice. However, the two teens are set on eating here. They want to try some unusual food. In my research, it seems Tusker House is probably the best place where they can try weird stuff and the rest of us can find edible food. The fact that it's a character meal doesn't really figure into the equation, but it will be kind of fun, huh?

So lunch is done and hopefully we'll have an Fastpass window for the safari when we walk out of the restaurant. I plan to monitor Fastpass times using my Mobile Magic app on my phone so that if they aren't right when we go into the restaurant, one of us can run out and grab them during the meal if necessary. If nothing else, we can go see the gorillas while we're waiting on our fast pass window.

We'll either do Safaris then gorillas or gorillas then Safaris. I will see gorillas. I love me some gorillas. I could sit and watch them all day. We've had them at our local zoo for about a decade and it's my favorite place in the zoo. Very peaceful and the gorillas are just magnificent.

At this point, we're mostly done with everything I'd like to get done at AK.... except Festival of the Lion King. I can't imagine going to AK and not seeing it. It brings tears to my eyes. I don't even like the movie that much, but I love this show.

I'm hoping that it works out for us to see a show just before leaving. There's other things we could do... characters or Bug's Life or back to Dinosaur. I suppose how late we stay will probably depend on how hot it is and how cranky we are.

I predict delivery pizza for dinner tonight...

 

[DMGeurts]

Great update!

We are AK lovers too... I don't mind that most people tend to not like it - more AK for me. We love almost everything at this park... If I was to pick a least favorite - it would be the Dinosaur! ride, since it's so jerky and bumpy... But we love the food - we love the atmosphere - we love the animals... It's really just a fantastic park.

Don't forget to try the jalepeno pretzels - NUM!

D~

 

[JayhawkFans]

Your Animal Kingdom day sounds perfect.

Fingers crossed that I can convince DH that we NEED to visit A.K. this trip. The past two trips he has taken with me he has shown no desire to go so we did not. It's non-negotiable this trip with C. She is really wanting to ride Expedition Everest (must get her on Powder Keg at SDC first). Maybe I too can bribe her with a stuffed yeti. Great idea!!

 

[momabaarjo]

I love your Disney Corner...I had a suitcase hidden in a closet for 10 months...finally out grew that into a large plastic tub with lid. I am shocked my kids never discovered it!

 

[BrerMama]

Great update!

We are AK lovers too... I don't mind that most people tend to not like it - more AK for me. We love almost everything at this park... If I was to pick a least favorite - it would be the Dinosaur! ride, since it's so jerky and bumpy... But we love the food - we love the atmosphere - we love the animals... It's really just a fantastic park.

Don't forget to try the jalepeno pretzels - NUM!

D~

Isn't AK great? We're considering staying until close. Josh at easywdw just did a post on how empty the park is in the last two hours. I'd sure love to have the place "to ourselves." Definitely something on our "maybe" list.

Your Animal Kingdom day sounds perfect.

Fingers crossed that I can convince DH that we NEED to visit A.K. this trip. The past two trips he has taken with me he has shown no desire to go so we did not. It's non-negotiable this trip with C. She is really wanting to ride Expedition Everest (must get her on Powder Keg at SDC first). Maybe I too can bribe her with a stuffed yeti. Great idea!!

I've never been on any of the SDC roller coasters. I've ridden every Disney coaster (except Screamin out in CA). I could never do Powder Keg. It wouldn't be the blast off that scared me, but when it slows down for the second lift... then I'd be done. The SDC coasters are mildly themed, but once you're on the ride, the theme is gone. Disney never drops the theme, which is what makes Everest easier for me to convince myself to ride.

Skipping AK? Blasphemy! He really needs to give it a chance. We love that place.

I love your Disney Corner...I had a suitcase hidden in a closet for 10 months...finally out grew that into a large plastic tub with lid. I am shocked my kids never discovered it!

The funny thing about that corner is that it is in our bedroom. My DH walks past it every day. And doesn't notice how full it's getting, or that new things are appearing every day. I have my bag from DMGuerts sitting there, and he hasn't noticed. It's just going to be a Disney Miracle for him when he gets to Disney and has a whole new wardrobe. Such a man.

Off to work soon. Tater has rehearsal for graduation. Dan is running errands for me: picking up the cookies, picking up the key for the clubhouse we rented, wrapping gifts for Mother's Day. Kiah's upset because now that her brother is done with school, she's going to have to ride the bus for the next week... and then next year until she turns 17. Ches has a party because her entire school got Standard of Excellence in state testing in reading and math. Movie this morning, pizza at the park at lunch, dodge ball tournament this afternoon. She asked me what to wear for dodge ball. I said a t-shirt and basketball shorts. She's going with a t-shirt and khaki shorts. Why ask?

Have a great Friday everyone! Five weeks for us!

 

[cogero]

I can't believe how quickly your trip is coming up. Love the Disney Corner. I need to start our Disney Bin for our cruise.

 

[BrerMama]

I can't believe how quickly your trip is coming up. Love the Disney Corner. I need to start our Disney Bin for our cruise.

34 today. Less than 5 weeks. That's just crazy when we've been planning for almost a year.

 

[BrerMama]

Chapter 23: What To Wear, revisited

One of my favorite parts of planning is putting together our park wardrobe. We're blessed this trip to have access to a washer and dryer for the first 11 nights so we're not packing as much as we normally would. I plan to do a load at least once a day, if not more.

Because we don't need to take as much, I'm doing some serious thinking about what I do want to take. It's going to be hot. I don't think Dan is at all prepared for how very hot and humid it is going to be. It's going to rain for a bit every day. We're going to go on water rides, and we'll get wet.

We need lightweight. Quick drying. Cool.

I'm a larger woman. I tend to straddle the line between the biggest sizes in women's and the smallest sizes in plus. Tank tops are not usually my thing.

This trip, I'm going for it.

This cute little thing is from Old Navy, Women's Plus sizes (online only). Put it with some khaki capris and I'm going to be cool and cute.

I also picked up a few of these:

I had one in an aqua/teal blue that I wore with capri-length leggings. It was my size, but it was a little tight. I'm not real fond of tight. So I ordered two more -- one in this red and another in yellow -- with two more pairs of the legging capris. Two sizes larger. It's perfect.

I also have a couple of more plain but still loose tanks that I'll wear. A few Disney shirts. I'm planning to pack 6-8 shirts per person. 5 pairs of shorts per person, plus the pair we'll wear on the plane. Shorts/capris can be reworn in a pinch. Shirts cannot.

Kiah is loving these tank tops from Old Navy:

She doesn't go out of the house without wearing a cami, so she'll pair the tank with a cami and a pair of khaki shorts. She has a couple of other nice tanks to wear.

Ches has mostly Aeropostale tees. That's what the girl loves at this age (starting junior high next year). The boys just don't care. I've actually picked up some fun tees for Tater from TeeFury and WootShirts.

Thought this one would be fun to wear to Universal, even though the Back to the Future ride is long gone. I think they still have the DeLorean there (and maybe even Doc Brown running around?). Good photo op, I think.

This one will have to be worn on our DHS day. Tater does enjoy Phineas and Ferb and this shirt is totally him.

Goonies never say die.

So there's a look at what I'm buying for our park wardrobe. I'm so excited to break this stuff out and wear it. I've been picking it up slowly over almost a year. There's something fun about having all new clothes to wear when you're on vacation. It's a little tradition for us, and I love it.

 

[DMGeurts]

I am in love with that Old Navy tank... I must go to their website and peruse, that is super cute... Another great place for tanks (believe it or not) is Target... Their Mossimo brand has really great tanks - because of their strap location, you can actually wear a *real* bra with them, and they don't wash up all funky like some of their clothes do. I usually buy 3 or 4 new colors every year and I wear them to death. Don't know if you need anything else for your trip - but I thought I'd mention those.

I also love that dress/long shirt... where did you find that at? It looks super comfy!

And that Goonies shirt is awesome - LOVE the Goonies... even my girls LOVE the Goonies.

D~

 

[momabaarjo]

I love your park wardrobe! The kids were shocked when they opened their suitcases to a whole new wardrobe! Your picture with your post so appropriate and right on the money. I spent a year looking for the right colors, matching colors, and themes for our shirts...Jeff just got plain ole new carhartt t-shirts in coordinating colors cause I knew he would never wear the t-shirts again. I did manage to get him in a trip shirt I designed for 2 days!


Lovin the top from Old Navy for yourself...I might need to go and check that one out for myself!

 

[BrerMama]

I am in love with that Old Navy tank... I must go to their website and peruse, that is super cute... Another great place for tanks (believe it or not) is Target... Their Mossimo brand has really great tanks - because of their strap location, you can actually wear a *real* bra with them, and they don't wash up all funky like some of their clothes do. I usually buy 3 or 4 new colors every year and I wear them to death. Don't know if you need anything else for your trip - but I thought I'd mention those.

I also love that dress/long shirt... where did you find that at? It looks super comfy!

And that Goonies shirt is awesome - LOVE the Goonies... even my girls LOVE the Goonies.

D~

Huh. We were in Target last night but I got nothing. Dan had to get new shorts (for the trip) and a polo shirt (for Tater's graduation today). That's right. My husband had nothing appropriate to wear to graduation. He wear a uniform 4-5 days a week and t-shirts the rest of the week.

The dress is from Roamans.com. The quality of their stuff is not always great, but these are really nice. Thicker t-shirt material.

I love your park wardrobe! The kids were shocked when they opened their suitcases to a whole new wardrobe! Your picture with your post so appropriate and right on the money. I spent a year looking for the right colors, matching colors, and themes for our shirts...Jeff just got plain ole new carhartt t-shirts in coordinating colors cause I knew he would never wear the t-shirts again. I did manage to get him in a trip shirt I designed for 2 days!


Lovin the top from Old Navy for yourself...I might need to go and check that one out for myself!

I actually shopped for Dan out of his own closet. It's so full of t-shirts that I knew he wouldn't notice if I took some of them out and put them aside for the trip. I was right. He never even noticed that he was missing a half dozen tees. When we get to FL, he'll be all, "Oh, you got me new shirts."

Seriously, yesterday we went for our usual 1-2 mile walk. I wore my Ohana's, which I'm trying to break in. He was all, "You have new shoes." I said, "Yes, that I've worn walking the last two weeks." He has been wearing his new Crocs. He has a pair of Yukons he loves, and a pair of Prepair that he doesn't like. So I suggested I buy him another pair of Yukons. He says, "I have my old pair I like." That old pair is like a decade old. I am sitting there with a half dozen new pairs of shoes. "I'll order you a new pair," I say. And do. He can take that older pair for water parks, etc., but I want him to have 2 comfortable pairs.

Today Tater graduates from high school. I would really like to go do our traditional morning walk. We go to a park about 5 miles from home. It has a pretty pond with bullfrogs croaking and fish jumping. It's a very relaxing walk. However, we have to go set up for Brady's party. We invited everyone to come over between 11 and noon, and we'll serve lunch. I made 7 dozen meatballs yesterday, Kiah made another 4 dozen vegetarian meatballs. My mom is bringing potato salad and coleslaw. We got chips and dip, veggie trays, fruit trays, and decorated sugar cookies. Tons of food.

Graduation is at 3 at the university in town. So party first, then graduation. Tater has been so bored in school this year, so I'm excited for him to graduate and move on to college. He'll be going to that university, living at home the first year (at least) and majoring in Elementary Ed. He wants to teach Kindergarten or first grade. He's a magnet for kids. They find him and just make him play with them. I think it's a good choice for him.

So no Disney thoughts for today. Must switch into party mode...

 

[momabaarjo]

Congrats to Tater

and to his parents...they deserve a lot of the credit too. What an awesome young man if he is thinking primary elementary ed. The boys that he teaches are gonna benefit the most!

Enjoy your day of celebration!

 

[nannye]

I finally got a chance to catch up on your PTR. As I was reading I suddenly had a thought and counted down the number of days until we hit Disney and then I had a minor heart attack. I've kind of been avoiding some planning, yes I am a procrastinator but now I'm minorly freaking.

I am all for coordinating clothes. Not so much for me but totally for V!!!! That girl is going to be tickled pink when she sees her outfits. At least I hope she doesn't refuse to wear something!!

And there is nothing wrong with dressing the kids to match this completely awesome scrapbooking paper you just bought..... right?

I'm looking forward to reading your next days plans!

 

[BrerMama]

Congrats to Tater

and to his parents...they deserve a lot of the credit too. What an awesome young man if he is thinking primary elementary ed. The boys that he teaches are gonna benefit the most!

Enjoy your day of celebration!

Oh, it was a long and busy day. He's going to be an awesome primary teacher. He's a magnet for kids. They just love him and he's very patient with them. My BIL told me yesterday that he couldn't see Brady in front of a room of kids (because he's shy). Yeah, well, you haven't seen him with my nieces or my best friend's little boy.

I finally got a chance to catch up on your PTR. As I was reading I suddenly had a thought and counted down the number of days until we hit Disney and then I had a minor heart attack. I've kind of been avoiding some planning, yes I am a procrastinator but now I'm minorly freaking.

I am all for coordinating clothes. Not so much for me but totally for V!!!! That girl is going to be tickled pink when she sees her outfits. At least I hope she doesn't refuse to wear something!!

And there is nothing wrong with dressing the kids to match this completely awesome scrapbooking paper you just bought..... right?

I'm looking forward to reading your next days plans!

It's coming up fast, isn't it? The nice thing about digital scrapbooking is that if I don't have the perfect paper to match my layout... I can make it!

Yesterday was exhausting. Worked hard in the morning to set up, was busy making sure everything was full and ready to go during the party, the ceremony was long (and a wee bit boring) and then we had to clean up the party room.

My story for the day: After walking across the stage, the graduates had to go to a backdrop and pose for a professional photographer. As Tater walked up, his mortarboard fell off his head. He bent down to pick it up and snapped the rose they'd given him in two. He had his diploma folder, the flower and his hat in his hands and couldn't manage to get the hat back on. He finally told the dude to take his picture without it. I was sitting in my seat watching the whole thing and rolling with laughter.

That's my boy.

Here's a quick one of the two of us:

I may get my thoughts together to write an actual planning update tomorrow. I'm behind on this week because I couldn't do my usual Sunday chores yesterday. Hoping Dan gets off work early so we can work together and get it done. Tater's home today but I can't exactly ask my vegetarian to brown ground beef...

 

[Angies1274]

Your AK plans look great!! I love AK but unfortunately it's not very popular with the rest of my crew.

I completely agree about buying new clothes for Disney!! I love pulling something new out to wear every day!! That Old Navy tank is so cute and looks so comfortable! I could definitely see either of my boys wearing the Phineas one.

Congrats to Tater on his graduation!!

 

[DMGeurts]

Congratulations to Tater! I love the he is majoring in Elem. Ed! Sounds like the perfect choice for him.

Your party sounded awesome too...

I tried on a pair of Ohanas the other day - I was quite surprised how comfortable they are... I know they have the ergo footbed - which I need for my feet. I might have to order a pair of those some day. Right now, I wear my Orthaheels all day every day - unless I am at work.

I am excited to hear about the rest of your plans.

D~