Book it. Buy it. BELIEVE it! - TR is started! link posted 8/11

[eandesmom]

Glad it turned out okay! Too bad they couldnt have figured it out in Germany but in my experience, you rececieve the best care from your own doctor!

His Cardiologist was VERY complimentary to the doctors in Germany, how they handled it, the notes they sent, everything. They could have figured it out actually and discussed doing an angiogram there but they felt that given the lack of any actual damage it could wait till he got home. His doc was so pleased with the echo they did there, he didn't feel the need to do another one here so overall, minimized the total procedures.

 

[Chilly]

YAY! I can't wait to read all about it.

i'm nearly fiinished 14 out of 17 done

 

[eandesmom]

i'm nearly fiinished 14 out of 17 done

17, wow!!!

 

[Chilly]

17, wow!!!

With the cost of flights over to the USA so expensive we go for at least 14 nights. For our WDW wedding we did 22 nights

 

[eandesmom]

With the cost of flights over to the USA so expensive we go for at least 14 nights. For our WDW wedding we did 22 nights

as you should! We are the same way with Europe, you lose a couple of days in travel as it is and one in actual dates. heck we try to go for longer to the east coast for the same reason...it's how this trip turned from a 7-8 nighter to an 11. Plus the cheaper flights seem to lay out better that way, any time we try to stick at a 7 night it's always pricier for the tickets, seems like 5-6 or 11-12 are our magic numbers.

Cheap being relative of course!

We had a delayed honeymoon in Italy...17 nights.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Welcome back! I can't wait for your TR, loving the FB pics from the cruise, great photo journal there on Castaway and Nassau!

Did you rebook on board?

Thanks! I can't wait to get more pics uploaded and start sharing it all-we had such a great time!

We did rebook-just for a dummy date. Not sure at all when we'll be back. Right now we have 2 WDW trips planned (Oct & Feb) and a possible Norwegian cruise with the extended family in March. So....a break will be necessary for the pocket book after all that!

thank you so much for checking in!

It went as well as I guess it could. The long and short of it is that the 2 stents he got in Jan have now closed up and they aren't exactly sure why. What that meant was 100% blockage on the right side. Luckily, as he's had this disease for so long now (first stent/attack in 97 I think?) his heart has done a bang up job of buidling it's own backup bypass system with small ventricles and the provide enough blood to the other side to keep him from having a heart attack, causing any muscle damage and also providing the right warnings to make him slow down so he doesn't do any damage. So that's good and encouraging for chances of further damage/attacks.

They did an angioplasty, opened them back up and added 2 more so now he has an even dozen. They are changing his medication and used a different kind of stent. He'll basically be back to normal activities almost immediately, other than stairs so that part is fabulous. Scary part is waiting and hoping these stay open.

Glad to hear things went as well as they could! My Grandma is having the same procedure next month...it is all a bit scary.

 

[tinacaplan]

for Jeff making plans! That's exciting. And that picture from the Poly beach is AMAZING, Pat. I wish I could have taken one even half as good while I was there. We obviously did the fireworks from the beach while we stayed there, but when I went back in April with my friend, we also made the trip. It just a fantastic place to watch the fireworks from, no doubt about it. So I'm excited for you to be able to do that while you're there. We have an ADR at Kona one night in July and I'm totally planning on watching the fireworks from the Poly beach again.

I'm so confused by the whole DVC booking thing. Personally, I'd go with the you- book- what -you -want option. Is that terrible? It would certainly reduce your stress level, probably.

And yay for Mickey mail! We got ours last week! Can't believe how close our trips are!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm glad to hear things went okay for your dad. That's so stressful. My dad has had two heart attacks, one triple bypass and a pacemaker/defibrillator. So I've been there and it's not easy.

Too many options for the big family trip, huh? I agree - choose what you want first, and let the chips fall otherwise. You're lucky to have a fun family that can travel together. We've traveled with DH's family a bunch, and it's pretty easy. Mine, on the other hand, no. They don't "get" Disney like we do. Plus there's only three of them (my parents and brother). They're just not that much fun. We took my parents when we brought the kids for the first time, and that was good. They'd never been before either. I don't think they could handle it again. Too much walking.

But I digress - back to your story!

 

[Chilly]

as you should! We are the same way with Europe, you lose a couple of days in travel as it is and one in actual dates. heck we try to go for longer to the east coast for the same reason...it's how this trip turned from a 7-8 nighter to an 11. Plus the cheaper flights seem to lay out better that way, any time we try to stick at a 7 night it's always pricier for the tickets, seems like 5-6 or 11-12 are our magic numbers.

Cheap being relative of course!

We had a delayed honeymoon in Italy...17 nights.

I've never been to Italy, with 17 nights you must have seen loads of sights.

 

[natebenma]

Thanks so much for the update about your dad. I'm glad to hear they didn't find anything majorly unexpected or scary. Sounds encouraging that he doesn't have any restrictions as a result of his procedures.

 

[eandesmom]

Thanks! I can't wait to get more pics uploaded and start sharing it all-we had such a great time!

We did rebook-just for a dummy date. Not sure at all when we'll be back. Right now we have 2 WDW trips planned (Oct & Feb) and a possible Norwegian cruise with the extended family in March. So....a break will be necessary for the pocket book after all that!

I hear you there, I keep looking to see if there is a real date that would actually work but there really isn't with the monster group trip on the horizon. Part of me wants to book a semi real one in case it falls through but I can't seem to find anything that is that perfect fit. We will book some kind of dummy for sure though.

Glad to hear things went as well as they could! My Grandma is having the same procedure next month...it is all a bit scary.

It is, the nice thing is the recovery is quite fast and other than having to lie flat afterwards for several hours (which drove my dad nuts), pretty painless overall.

for Jeff making plans! That's exciting. And that picture from the Poly beach is AMAZING, Pat. I wish I could have taken one even half as good while I was there. We obviously did the fireworks from the beach while we stayed there, but when I went back in April with my friend, we also made the trip. It just a fantastic place to watch the fireworks from, no doubt about it. So I'm excited for you to be able to do that while you're there. We have an ADR at Kona one night in July and I'm totally planning on watching the fireworks from the Poly beach again.

I am really looking forward to it! And just hoping the weather cooperates!

I'm so confused by the whole DVC booking thing. Personally, I'd go with the you- book- what -you -want option. Is that terrible? It would certainly reduce your stress level, probably.

Well, I need to balance what I want and can do, with what works for the larger group. Mom and I had lots of quality time while dad was at the hospital so I think we actually have a semi official plan!

And yay for Mickey mail! We got ours last week! Can't believe how close our trips are!

YAY for mickey mail!

I'm glad to hear things went okay for your dad. That's so stressful. My dad has had two heart attacks, one triple bypass and a pacemaker/defibrillator. So I've been there and it's not easy.

Yikes! They've never brought up bypass but I know it's my dad's big fear. However I almost get the impression that it's not an option from the doc...as if this didn't work, medication would be the next route.

Too many options for the big family trip, huh? I agree - choose what you want first, and let the chips fall otherwise. You're lucky to have a fun family that can travel together. We've traveled with DH's family a bunch, and it's pretty easy. Mine, on the other hand, no. They don't "get" Disney like we do. Plus there's only three of them (my parents and brother). They're just not that much fun. We took my parents when we brought the kids for the first time, and that was good. They'd never been before either. I don't think they could handle it again. Too much walking.

But I digress - back to your story!

I am really lucky, my family rocks! I think we have a good plan, mom and I had lots of alone time while dad was at the hospital. Not official yet and subject to change but I think the outline allows for flexibility if we need to make changes in a way that protects everyone.

I've never been to Italy, with 17 nights you must have seen loads of sights.

Yes and no, it's a big country! Certainly things we didn't make it to but we did make a dent and fell in love with several places! It was a wonderful trip. We really want another couples one like that...but making it happen is rather daunting these days.

Thanks so much for the update about your dad. I'm glad to hear they didn't find anything majorly unexpected or scary. Sounds encouraging that he doesn't have any restrictions as a result of his procedures.

Thanks Dee!

Well, he needs to avoid a lot of stairs and no "strenuous biking" LOL for about 60 days. That's less about the actual stents and angioplasty and more about healing from the location where it started in his leg. But other than that he was told to walk walk walk! Immediately!

 

[eandesmom]

The clock is officially ticking! I love that! 28 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The kids are FINALLY out of school. The E’s got out on Friday, Kendall on Monday. All brought home good report cards, Evan & Kendall, their best ever which in K's case is straight A's! She's come close before but there's always been an A- in the mix to make it not quite perfect. Understandably, we are pretty proud! Evan's lowest grade was a B+ and given that he had 3 honors classes and 2 sports during the trimester we are pleased as punch with him as well. The weather, sadly, has not been remotely summer like. In fact, we call it Juneuary. It’s typically at this time of year, may can be rather lovely…like a tease and then June comes and well…it sucks. Sun usually decides to show up on July 5th. We will see if that holds true or not.

I have started making piles! After I said I wouldn't. Piles for the FE, Piles for the surprises for the kids, Piles of toiletries, Piles using bags I won't need until then. Piles of actual documents! LOL. I spent a chunk of Saturday pulling all of the travel items together, cleaning, organizing and purging. Who knew it was such a great way to kill time while coloring one’s hair? I also redid (restock, reorganize) all our first aid kits in the house and car and went through the OTC meds to toss expired stuff away and make sure we had the travel OTC kit all set. I do struggle with this a bit, how religious are you folks on expired dates on things like ibuprofen and Benadryl? We were pretty good on most things but I found that basically all the allergy meds we have are at least a year expired, as are the vitamin supplements I really need to start taking after getting my lab work back (calcium good but vitamin D…not so much…the curse of the NW!). So…do I toss all of those? I have a ton and know that it just means they are “less” effective. Jeff actually took some last night and said it didn't work at all but then again, it may simply not have worked for his "needs". I always get confused what to even buy when it comes to that kind of stuff between benadryl, allerclear or whatever. I know the active ingredients differ but never know what to get. What do you guys do?

I also tossed all the neopsorin and related items. A huge drag on the first aid kit stuff as at the moment, we have not a drop of antiobiotic cream in any of them, just the one lonely tube I let Jeff keep on his vanity that was away from me. I have figured out what I can buy but am not finding the nice little "single serve" packets in stuff I'm not allergic to I did get the bonine added in to all our travel items, as well as refreshing our laundry kit. The good news in all of this is my list of what we do need to pick up, is really really short!

Our FE grew, which I’m really happy about, so this weekend will be making some more gifts. The kids are very happy they get to run up and down stairs and halls delivering goodies to more rooms!

Our cruise docs arrived.

And it was a good thing they did. While 4 of us have passports, Kendall does not. I had to get them for the E’s last year for the Alaska cruise. This seemed to be not a big deal at all as, as a minor on a closed loop cruise, her birth certificate should suffice. According to our docs, I missed something when looking into this before. 16 & 17 year olds need state issued ID in addition to the birth certificate, unless you have a passport or enhanced ID.

The odd thing about our docs is they keep telling me, both in the docs and in emails I get, that I haven’t registered Eric yet for the kids clubs. Uh…he’s 11. Too old for the Lab and you don’t need to register for Edge. So I don’t get it but it’s kind of annoying.

Right now is a little bit of the calm before the storm. We have a relatively calm 2 weeks and then the kids get very busy between now and the trip.

Of course none of it is exactly at the same time. LOL!

Eric has:
1. A 2 night scout backpacking trip (his first true pack hiking trip!)
2. A weeklong scout camp the week before the trip. He’s done a 3 night before but this will be the longest, and the first multi night camp without one of us present.

Evan has:
1. A weeklong camp, church jr. high camp two weeks before the trip. Lord help those counselors, Evan and 3 of his cousins not to mention one of his prime troublemaker youth group friends…are all going. The longest Evan’s been away is 4 nights, at 6th grade camp. He’s pretty stoked.
2. A semi regular job! He’s baby sitting 2-3 times a week while a mom friend trains for a triathalon and is very happy to be earning $$

Kendall has:
1. A soccer tournament 2 weeks before the trip, local.
2. A soccer tournament the weekend before the trip, Northern Cal.

Jeff has:
1. The airshow! He leaves the Sunday before our trip and we meet up there!

I have:
1. A work trip the weekend before our trip. It actually starts on Thursday and with Jeff not being able to take any more time off, Kendall being at a tournament and Eric being at camp, it didn’t make sense to take my family along. Instead, I am bringing one of my sisters as my “date” and am really looking forward to some nice time with her and giving her a break. As a single mom going back to school for her teaching degree post divorce, she’s spread pretty thin and needs the break. I am debating whether to come back sat night or early Sunday morning. There is a work dinner that night that I should go to. I HATE driving at night, really can’t do it with my eye condition. My sister isn’t any better. But…Jeff leaves early the next morning, and I don’t like the idea of the kids being alone that morning, or of not seeing Jeff for over a week. So am leaning towards driving back Saturday afternoon and skipping the dinner. While my parents “could” watch them, I’m really trying to minimize it and I don’t like the idea of not touching base live with Jeff before the big trip. I can just see him leaving a ton of stuff for me to bring and not being able to manage it all. LOL!

Whew! Thankfully I don’t “think” I have much in the way to do shopping wise between now and then. Evan scored a bunch of $$ for his birthday and has completely revamped his wardrobe as of Saturday, being the fashion plate he is, so he is set. Here is my list.

• Pick up missing toiletries and first aid items for travel kits. I think this is just antibiotic cream (travel packets and regular size), travel sized deodorant, shaving cream, woolite, saline spray, a new green bottle of OFF and maybe new Benadryl/allergy meds if I decide the expired isn’t good enough.
• Check Eric’s crocs to make sure they still fit.
• Finish FE gifts.
• Receive actual FE in the mail from crafter, got to see a partial proof yesterday, it is SO cute!
• Pre-pay tips, Palo and Shutters for cruise.
• Possibly buy a couple of new tops for me. I had to return one I bought so would like 1-2 “new” things but don’t really need it.​

Pick up grocery items that we are bringing with. This is a pretty small list but will save us a bit of cash or buying larger quantities than we need.

• Sugar
• Coffee
• Via (for cruise)
• 1 cereal snack pack box for OKW morning, will pick up more there. this is a maybe based on space, we will see but it'd make that morning easy.
• Rub (for fish)
• Small cutting board
• Good paring knife (possibly)
• Coffee filters
• Taco seasoning packet
• Iced Tea packets
• Dish towel, dish cloth, dobie​

I’ve relooked at our budget and we are feeling the need to streamline a few things. I’d had the following “cook at the villa” menu in mind.

1. Salmon, or other grilled fish
2. Fajitas
3. Ribs​

I decided to ask the kids as all of these are bit on the pricey grocery side. I’d mocked up my shopping list and when it hit $250 I decided I needed to rethink things. They want

1. Salmon, or other grilled fish
2. Tacos
3. Burgers​

BORING but…it does save a bit of change with their downgrades, so they get their way. Jeff is less than thrilled but too bad. They also weighed in on bfast and lunches and I eliminated a few items and got the $$ down a bit.

We are also debating the brunches. Currently I have one booked at Vero and one at Boma, on the last day. Considering dropping 1, or both. As Jeff points out…I’m really the only one who is hugely into it, the kids don’t care nearly as much. Vero is easy to drop, we’ll have stuff in the villa already. Boma I was kind of hoping to fill us up for the bulk of the day as we’ll have used up our dining credits at that point. I’ve left the ressies alone for now, but realistically we could do 2 smaller meals instead, all counter service I guess and possibly spend less in total. I need to crunch that one. We may have cereal left from Vero and could just get milk. Suggestions, ideas?

In other news…we’ve been having orthodontic developments. Kendall got her braces off. Eric has had 2 consults to get something on. Oy. I knew it was coming but UGH! Not sure yet what we will do, we had 2 very different approaches presented to us but at the end of the day the bill isn’t hugely different.

In VERY exciting news, Eric finally learned to ride a bike this weekend! He’s going to have to live with a too small bike this summer but as he doesn’t travel far (like Evan) it should be ok. I’ll be looking for a good used on for his birthday in Sept.

Last, but certainly not least, my dad is home and doing well. We will see him Sunday when we have a big family summer gathering at my sisters. Angiogram, Angioplasty and 2 new stents, things look good for now. If they still look this good a year from now then maybe we will all relax a little bit, the worry is that the stents don’t “take” again and things close back up. Good news is that he’s built his own internal bypass system so he has a backup generator if you will, it just won’t let him operate on full power. It will let him avoid a heart attack and any muscle damage so that is very good news.

While hanging with my mom during all of this, we had a lot of time for quality chatting. Among the many subject covered I at least know where my mom stands on the large family trip.

She wants to sleep in a treehouse.

Hands down.

No contest.

Not interested in the other options. Well ok, she’d be fine but likes the treehouse a LOT better. She agrees on property makes the most sense for a variety of reasons.

Thank goodness since the boys are OBSESSED with the idea.
Evan somehow thinks that we will agree to the cousins just being in a treehouse by themselves. Not a treehouse I want to sleep in that's for sure! It may turn into a rotating slumber party, not sure how that would remotely work but it will be interesting. 6 teenage boys by then and 1 girl who will want nothing to do with it!

Assuming my dad also wants to sleep a tree house the plan will be to book one on points in Jan and then one on cash. The cash may be a bigger challenge but persistence should pay off. And if it doesn’t, we can move to SSR easily enough at 7 months if it really looks unlikely. She is hoping the germany and ohio contingents come…which would mean we’d need 3 total treehouses. I think it’s unlikely but we will see as it gets closer and what we can actually book. I did speak to member services and had the most lovely CM who explained how the DVC cash ressies work (the ones at a discount anyway lol!). He did confirm yes I could book it and link it to one on points no problem. He said the way those rooms open up is that it is based on points being used elsewhere. So if folks that own at the resort you want to book a cash room at use their points at a different resort, it opens up rooms for cash ressies. That could be by exchanges or non home resort bookings. As a result, those cash rooms may well not be available at the 11 month mark, but then again they could if people have used points for cruises or whatever. Availability for cash rooms increases around the 7 month mark as people switch things around. We may, or may not, be able to book one at rack rate at 11 months out. So the plan is to just try it. Book one on points and keep calling till we get one on cash. And probably book one at rack rate as a backup! It will be a dance for sure, and probably one for a few months. I figure worst case scenario, if we really can’t get one at a cash rate, then at 7 months we can move it all to SSR 2 bedrooms but I’m hopeful that won’t happen. The beauty of all of this is should things go south, all that’s in play point wise is what we’d have spent anyway, or close to and that’s fine. The cash rooms are only a 1 night deposit and refundable until fairly close so that part is low risk, even if it could potentially be less by renting points. It’s a lot cleaner this way (for me lol!).

The big question, as it gets closer for me, is do I need to consider “walking” the reservation. Given the time of year I might need to but that would put some points into play that I’d rather not and just means a little less flexibility down the road with them in terms of when they’d need to be used by. Probably not an issue in the big picture but it is a higher maintenance way to go for sure.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Congrats to all the kids!!! Such good news - report cards, bikes...!

You sound really organized with what you have to do left - it's not long now! Yay for getting your cruise docs! I make piles too. It's actually easier for me to do that. Plus the suitcases come out too soon and the dog starts to act all nervous!

We keep things like ibuprofen a little past the date (up to a year) and don't notice much problem with effectiveness. Most other things we just don't have that long. ALthough the other day I found a bottle of Pepto (yuck) from like 2005!

I think I followed your trip plan discussion, but I have a question. What does "walking" your reservation mean? I know I've heard it before, just can't remember what it is.

 

[englishrose47]

Cynthia my head is again spinning !!!

 

[MEK]

Cynthia my head is again spinning !!!

My thoughts exactly! So great that you can keep this all organized. If anyone can pull off 3 treehouses, its you!

I do have a suggestion if you can' t get 3 treehouses. If you end up with 2 make sure you request close to the walking path to SSR. The closet SSR buildings are in the grandstand. It really isn't a bad walk if your 3rd unit is near the walking path.

The treehouse pool was "down" for several days when we visited - a broken filter and I had no issues walking over to the grandstand pool. The only thing I need to remember was to bring 2 adult beverages instead of 1 so I didn't have to walk back.

Glad the boys know what that want.

Glad everyone had a successful school year. I can't believe Kendall was still in school until Monday.

And no summer weather yet????? We are going to have a ridiculous heat wave starting tomorrow. Way worse than my recent Florida weather. Can't wait!

 

[dizneeat]

Congratulations to all your kids on their school success!

I cannot start to begin how impressed I am at how organized you are! You even have it down to menus for Vero!

 

[Chilly]

Well done on the kid’s results. I think new tops for you are definitely in order, and probably some new shoes as well.

 

[tinacaplan]

Congrats to the kids on their report cards. I really love how detailed your PTR updates are. I can't believe you're starting to "pack" already. But, given your July schedule, I totally get it. I'm trying to put it off as long as possible, as I love doing it only a few days before, as it distracts me from gettting too excited about the trip. Plus, I have a lot of cleaning and organizing I want to get to before then. Oh, and planning for next school year, so I suppose in my own way, most of July will be pretty busy, too.

And I'm so glad that your dad is doing better.

 

[eandesmom]

Congrats to all the kids!!! Such good news - report cards, bikes...!

You sound really organized with what you have to do left - it's not long now! Yay for getting your cruise docs! I make piles too. It's actually easier for me to do that. Plus the suitcases come out too soon and the dog starts to act all nervous!

Suitcases won't come out until the weekend before but I do have 2 totes with stuff in it. One all FE and kid surprise related (pillowcases and pins) and one with toiletries and new swim shirts that we don't need until then, as well as my park bag.

We keep things like ibuprofen a little past the date (up to a year) and don't notice much problem with effectiveness. Most other things we just don't have that long. ALthough the other day I found a bottle of Pepto (yuck) from like 2005!

I purged a TON of old stuff about a month ago...and got yelled at about one of them yesterday. LOL! Oh well.

I think I followed your trip plan discussion, but I have a question. What does "walking" your reservation mean? I know I've heard it before, just can't remember what it is.

It means booking it earlier than you need to start to lock up the days you want and then moving it each day by calling and dropping a night at the beginning and adding one at the end. So in our case it could booking online on January 25th, to ensure we get new years eve. Then calling on the 26th to drop the 25th and add 1/1 and so on until the dates line up the way you want. Sounds like a total PITA to me but given the time of year and treehouses...might be needed. I'll be watching the dates closely that's for sure, probably through all of Jan!

Cynthia my head is again spinning !!!

mine too.

My thoughts exactly! So great that you can keep this all organized. If anyone can pull off 3 treehouses, its you!

I do have a suggestion if you can' t get 3 treehouses. If you end up with 2 make sure you request close to the walking path to SSR. The closet SSR buildings are in the grandstand. It really isn't a bad walk if your 3rd unit is near the walking path.

Good point! We did discuss that as long as we have one villa as a home base, if the rest of the gang needs to be spread out, that will be livable.

The treehouse pool was "down" for several days when we visited - a broken filter and I had no issues walking over to the grandstand pool. The only thing I need to remember was to bring 2 adult beverages instead of 1 so I didn't have to walk back.

Glad you have your priorities straight!

Glad the boys know what that want.

They've been obsessed with those treehouses from the moment they knew they existed. I hope they aren't dissapointed! I don't think they will be though.

Glad everyone had a successful school year. I can't believe Kendall was still in school until Monday.

Well, she was supposed to be out on the 22nd, same day as the boys but they had a different snow make up plan than the E's school district. It was only a half day and...she didn't go. LOL!

And no summer weather yet????? We are going to have a ridiculous heat wave starting tomorrow. Way worse than my recent Florida weather. Can't wait!

Nope, not a number 7 in the forecast through Weds at least. 7 as in 70's.... sigh.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

It means booking it earlier than you need to start to lock up the days you want and then moving it each day by calling and dropping a night at the beginning and adding one at the end. So in our case it could booking online on January 25th, to ensure we get new years eve. Then calling on the 26th to drop the 25th and add 1/1 and so on until the dates line up the way you want. Sounds like a total PITA to me but given the time of year and treehouses...might be needed. I'll be watching the dates closely that's for sure, probably through all of Jan!

Thanks for the explanation! I guess I have heard about that before. I hope you don't have to bother with all that, but either way, good luck!!!