Bound, bound, bound and rebound - Sept 24-Oct 1st. 2011

[MamaJessie]

The kids woke up that morning AMPED for the Halloween party. They were also pretty excited that we were going to spend the whole morning at the condo. So after a leisurely breakfast (and a late wake up for Rich) Esme and Sapphire went to the pool with Rich. Rich and the kids love swimming and they liked the pool at Windsor Hills. Rich enjoys hot tub time so he got to hang out in there too. I stayed upstairs with Clara and Bastian. Bastian did not feel like messing around with the cast cover and wanted to play the Star Wars game they had there for the PS2. I ended up cleaning out the backpack and trying to reorganize it for the party. We have found an organized backpack really makes a difference in the park for us.

So the morning was pretty uneventful and then around 1 or so we headed to Cici's. We figured if we had a big meal at lunch we could just bring some healthy snacks into the park instead of grabbing dinner. I had forgot how HOT September was and how when out at the parks in the heat, we just don't get as hungry. We headed on over to Cici's to use the groupon I had purchased and our expectations were low. Which was good. Because so was the quality We were able to have a lot of fresh salad (your standard iceberg, shredded carrot, grape tomato salad) which is always good, and some funky pizza toppings. Sapphire liked the mac and cheese pizza, Bastian liked the bavarian cream dessert pizza the best (that boy has a sweet tooth) and Esme and Clara just picked. Rich doesn't really like pizza that much to begin with but the variety of toppings interested him. I was not expecting much and I have to say, it didn't even measure up to my low expectations. Lesson learned. Oh and at one point Esme said "This is the best pizza ever" That's when I realized we really need to go to Wooster Street in New Haven because that is the pizza by which all other pizza is judged and no child of mine should ever think Cici's was supreme Ok, enough of that...

So after we ate we headed back to the condo to get dressed for the party

Here is Clara, my Lime Green TinkerBell

Esme as Ariel

Bastian the pirate

Sapphire as Sally

Rich was a New Orleans Saints fan and I was the Queen of Hearts. We were all dressed and ready to go by a little after 3. We drove over to the TTC and headed to the window to exchange my print out for my ticket. There was one other window open and the family next to us was from the same town we are from. So of course I was stuck humming "It's a Small World" the whole monorail ride over ...

As soon as we arrived we headed over to the Princess area. This was new for us since we never waited for a character at a park before but since we had the two Vinylmations for the big kids and autograph books for the little kids we wanted to make sure we used them It was a very short wait and we were in! The CMs in there were all so nice. I cannot emphasize enough how much their cheerful disposition really makes this vacation for me. I love being surrounded by pleasant people, it is such a nice change from being in Connecticut

The first photopass guy kept emphasizing to come back after 7 when everything changes. I am so glad he told us So during the 4 o'clock meet we saw Cinderella

Belle

and Aurora

Each princess was wonderful with the kids, but I have to say Aurora was able to tame two beasts which was an amazing feat in itself. As you can see Bastian was torn between wanting to fill up his vinylmation, and having to talk to princesses. He was handing the figurines over and not even making eye contact but Aurora managed to get him to sit on the bench with him (he was not pleased when he saw me taking a picture though ) and Clara was afraid of the Princesses but then sat in Aurora's lap! So Aurora (who, let's face it is not usually the coolest princess) became pretty awesome in our book

So after that we left and headed over to Laugh Floor. We had never done it before and after watching those WDW shows on Netflix the kids really wanted to try it. I do not know if the audience members are always so hysterical but we had one guy that was Sully that had me LOLing. And then for Boo they showed Clara. The whole audience "Awe"d. Seriously, if I could have bought a video of it they could have got even more $$ out of me. One of the sweetest memories I have of this trip.

So we wandered around, went to Buzz, did the People mover, Sapphire and Esme wanted to do Stitch and Bastian and Clara wanted the people mover again. Don't get me wrong I like the people mover, quite a bit, but I was surprised that Bastian liked it as much as he did.

So after that we went to the Speedway and the Carousel and tried our luck with the sword..

I was pointing out the circus tents in the horizon to the kids and we checked out the map and talked about the new Fantasyland (I like to lay the groundwork for a return trip with DH as early as I can lol)

Saw the wait at Winnie the Pooh (an hour? what the heck?) and moved right along to Dumbo. We had never done the Carousel or Dumbo so it was nice to ride the classics.

By the time we finished IASW trick or treating was starting so we hit the Werther's line. The caramel apple candies were awesome! ( The only other place we liked ToTing as much was by Splash Mountain, not for the candy as much as it was because it was it's own little trick or treat trail and moved quickly. )

By the time we made it over to the Haunted Mansion it was getting dark and the Mansion looked awesome. We walked by Madame Leota and Clara said "Oh that is a beautiful princess and this is her beautiful castle" I knew my sister would enjoy that, since Halloween is her favorite I knew she would agree... When we got off the haunted Mansion a CM asked Esme for her autograph. She was so cute and shy about it We kept moving and trick or treating around the party.


So the kids really wanted to go back to Tomorrowland for the dance party. I try to be flexible so that didn't bother me but man the crowd was crazy!! maneuvering the stroller was getting pretty hard!! We headed over there and Bastian laid down on the neck for a little while and took a couple tylenol. His arm was throbbing and the constant jostling was getting to him. The girls and Rich had fun dancing with the characters but I was unable to get any pics. I just hung out with my little man and we talked about the party and waited for the tylenol to kick in.

So the dance party ended and then..we did something stupid. We thought we could get over to Adventureland and rude rides over there during the fireworks. Did I mention it was crowded? I could not move my stroller. I get that people were staking out their spots but we were unable to move. All of a sudden the music started and we were STUCK. Literally, no one would let us through. I accidentally clipped someone's footwith my stroller and apoligized but she was already fuming, to make ti worse we ended up getting stuck next to her. I started to feel all claustrophobic and realized this would be our last party. I do not like that sardine in a tin can feeling. I knew in that moment I would probably never to go MVMCP or visit the world during peak times. Crowds like this are not my friend..

So unable to move we watched the fireworks behind the lady with the bouquet of giant mickey head balloons (it was our karma, for clipping the lady with the stroller) and then I expected the crowds to part but it was still slow going. We finally got over there, rode POTC and ToTed for awhile, but we were wiped and ready to go home...

So we were walking out when we remembered, duh, the princesses were going to change. I really did not know what that meant but thought maybe they were in costume (obviously did not do my homework) Rich and Sapphire, Bastian and Esme made their way in but Clara was hitting melt down mode so I decided to hold her and rock her for awhile since she did not want anything to do with the stroller. Clara quickly fell asleep in my arms and Sapphire popped out to tell me the wait was 45 minutes. I told them to knock their socks off and have a good time, I would watch the parade.

I actually really liked the parade. We don't often wait for them but it was a lot of fun! I decided I was going to try and talk the kids into a parade before our trip was over.

About 45 minutes later, they emerged, so very happy. They got to see Snow White, Cinderella and Rapunzel, all with their princes The kids were so excited all they talked about the whole ride home was Flynn and his smoulder.

Sadly, no pics of that part. DH left the camera with me and did not realize and lost the photopass card. We will definitely preorder the Photopass next time and use it faithfully.

*phew* that was long. Hopefully I have this trip report done before 2012

 

[MamaJessie]

Since the start of planning this trip one of the things we were looking to most was Harry Potter. Our whole family loves Harry so WWoHP was a must for us. I had bought some tickets at Costco and they were hoppers so I figured we could do both parks in one day. I mean we hop all the time at WDW right?

We arrived nice and early, our bags a little lighter than at the wdw parks because we didn't have pins and autograph books, markers and vinylmations which was nice. We headed over to US and took a right, heading to ET first. The kids all had a good time on that ride, as did Rich and I, though the name thing at the end is even more lame sounding than I remember...
We headed over to the Curious George play area and Bastian was already getting bummed because of all the things he couldn't play on, and because it was already getting HOT. So Rich, Sapphire and Bastian decided to go try MIB while Esme, Clara and I went to see Barney. The little girls had such a good time. Esme was a little hesitant at first but she really loved the show. They bought a Baby Bop and Barney stuffed doll when they left. Barney had worked his purple dino magic and managed to convert Esme. When we were done we met up in front of the Simpson's ride. They told us how much fun they had on MIB and Rich was a little hesitant about the Simpson's ride. So he sat out with Clara and the three kids and I went on. I have to say I am a WDW fan/nut but this was my favorite ride of the whole trip. I was getting enrvous right before we got in the car because they said the word claustrophobic so many times I started to think... maybe I AM claustrophobic?!? But by then I figured I would just give it a try and man am I glad I did. It was just so much better than I imagined. So when we were done I convinced Rich to go on and he agreed, best ride of the whole trip.
On our way over to jaws Esme got jealous that they went on MIB without her so they went on again while Clara and I had some clementines and water.. did I mention it was HOT? After they were done we walked over to Jaws and waited in one of the longest rides of our whole trip Jaws is a fine ride don't get me wrong, but it always kills me when you can walk on to something cool (Simpsons) then wait for mediocrity.. but Rich is a big fan of Jaws and the two older kids had watched the movie to prepare for the trip so we did it. The ride, like I said, was just ok, but the kid running the ride was awesome. Some of those people can really turn a ride from boring to FUN. He was one of those kids. Well after that everyone had to stop to refill the water bottles and wipe the sweat off of our faces and we checked the time and realized it was much later than we thought so we started walking a little quicker and went to Twister, since Rich remembered liking it a lot. It was fun Clara HATED it. Apparently two year olds don't like to feel like they are in a tornado. I just liked the wind (So...Hot...) After that we went to a favorite of ours, Shrek 4D!! Very quick wait and we got to sit and relax in the AC. They could have played the boring movie at the end of the Maelstrom at that point and I would have been grinning. I love summer as much as I love any other season but that Florida sun was kicking my butt big time.

After Shrek we were getting our stuff together to head to the citywalk food court and Esme got a nosebleed, a gusher!! She never gets them and this thing was massive... soaked through her shirt in seconds, all over her face.. oh man So I headed into the gift shop and bought her a new shirt to finish out our day in. On to the food court...

Went up the stairs (which in the heat felt like a million) and headed over to the Chinese place for the kids. Bought them the best deal there, a HUGE giant soda for cheap. And of course, on the walk over to the table my son asked if he could carry it.. and the whole thing fell on the floor I went over to tell the manager so they could have it cleaned and he accused us of lyiing to try to get a free refill. At that point I almost lost my mind because I was tired and hungry and HOT and well, just irked. Why would I lie about the soda? Why not lie about the plate of food if I was trying to score a deal?? Anyway, he gave us a free refill and the kid mopping up the mess was very nice. Rich and I ate at Moe's. We had never tried a Moe's before and the staff there was AWESOME and the food was too!! Love Moe's and wish we had one close to us.

So after realizing we should never try to hop at Uni again we hauled off over to IOA. That's when my heart sank. After months of planning I had somehow slipped up I thought they closed at five, but it was closing at four. That gave us hardly any time at all to race across the park and see the WwoHP I nearly cried. So after a quick stop at Spiderman, we pretty much ran to WwoHP. My heart was sinking, feeling like there would just never be enough time to see it all. But when we got there and I saw the snow, and the castle and..and.. the BUTTERBEER all was well in the world. We went right to the cart and bought a frozen one and it was very, very good. Rich could ahve had a glass of just foam. It really helped my mood and put me in a better piece of mind. Rich and the older three wanted to try their luck at Olivanders but I just wanted to look around and soak in the ambience, not to mention I had no urge to stand in that line with Clara. So Clara and I wandered around while they tried the wand shop. They had a great time and each bought a wand (Sapphire - Sirius , Esme - Snape and Bastian went with an original - fitting ) Everything there was perfect . Except for FJ. It was down

I really was crushed but we took the tour and that was truly amazing. Just more things to look forward to next time. So then we hightailed it through Dr. Seuss sad2: More sadness) since the park was closing. As sad I was to have missed so much, I was unbelievable excited to sit in the AC. Lessons learned, no Uni hopping and no more September. How do you August people do it??

All in all we had a great time at Universal and are extremely excited to go again!!

 

[janabananas]

Oh no FJ was down!?!? I would have had a major meltdown as well!!!!

 

[MamaJessie]

Oh no FJ was down!?!? I would have had a major meltdown as well!!!!

I was definitely kicking myself for saving WwoHP for the end of the day, but what are you going to do. I have two more days on our Uni passes.. sometimes they randomly call out to me ...

Thanks for reading along

 

[MamaJessie]

Thursday morning we were able to get ready quickly as by that point we had found our vacation groove. Our backpack was packed and the kids were eager to get ready and go explore Epcot. I am not the biggest Epcot fan around but wanted to give it a fair shot this time. I think part of the reason I don't love it is we don't really drink on vacation, and we don't usually buy a lot of snacks. A lot of the appeal seems to be the eating and drinking around the world. And the aquarium area is nice but maybe I am just spoiled but I think the Aquariums around here are pretty great too. To be fair, we missed most of the big attractions the other times we went so I hadn't seen most of the popular rides. So we wanted to give Epcot a chance.. The kids though were stoked, my son loves "Apricot" and couldn't wait to get there....

So we showed up and had no line and headed to Spaceship earth right away. No line, like usual and we got right on. Now, this had been a very hard year for me and something about the vacation up to this point just seemed like something was lacking. Was I just bound to have that sadness follow me wherever? Was vacation tarnished? Was it because we were off site and it really was all about the Disney bubble? Either way I didn't have that feeling the whole trip... And here we were, at my least favorite of the four parks (which is like saying my least favorite sundae topping, they are all good, just varying degrees..) ANYWAY.. here we are on spaceship earth and the music is playing and the narrator well.. narrating and all of a sudden, I start crying. I start to feel that wonder, that amazement, that feeling I get when I see the world with optimism and it felt so good, andI was so full of hope that I was crying on spaceship earth.. It sounds a little corny, and a little nerdy but it really just did feel like "one big beautiful tomorrow" (I know... wrong ride, but it was how I felt) And then the magic was back for me

We headed to Sum of all Thrills (by Raytheon). My brother works for Raytheon and I told the kids it was Uncle James' ride Sapphire and I were the only two that wanted to ride and there was actually quite a line for it, so Rich and the other three kids went to find something else to do and Sapphire and I hung out in line. We were behind another DISer She was there with her husband and was a real sweetheart. I really need to make some LGMHs because I was so excited to see someone else with one! Anyway that ride was a lot of fun!!

We also went to Club Cool for the first time to try our Beverly. No surprise to me but my husband is one of those weirdos that like it The rest of us liked Mexico.. and.. another one but I cannot remember which. Good fun and since it was so stinkin' hot, even early in the AM, that it was a nice break.

So after that we headed over to the Nemo area and went to Turtle Talk with Crush for the first time. Super cute and fun and we all enjoyed it. Visited the rest of the Aquarium area and had a good time. My family loves watching the fish and though it isn't necessarily my thing, I had a good time watching them enjoy themselves, and the A/C

Then we headed over to Living with the Land, which I like. It was one of the ony WDW rides I remember going on with my parents and that made it extra special... I genuinely find all that fascinating though, it's like this perfect marriage of my tree hugger side, science nerd and disNUT, all in one ride

And the line at Soarin' was too long for us and we did not feel like waiting in line and figured we would go back later (which never happened, so we will go back later, just a year or two later.. )

We then headed over to the World Showcase and watched a show about King Arthur. It was funny, the guy they picked for Arthur was hysterical.

We went on the Three Cabalerros ride, and the Maelstrom ride and had fun like usual, and then I tried one of the snacks I really wanted. The almond pretzel from Kringla. I had seen so many pics of it and paying OOP we, err I planned which snacks were worth it and this made the list. It sounded so good. I got that, Sapphire wanted to try a school bread and Rich the rice cream so we found a spot to snack outside and share some snacks.

I just have to say, I like sweets more than I should and am not to picky... but that place was not good The pretzel was grossly dry and the school bread? I felt like it was some sort of trick, like when you tell a kid Beverly is yummy. It was not good. The rice cream though was a winner. Cool and creamy and fruity. Really enjoyed it.

Now that we were refreshed we headed over to Test Track. I was so excited to try it that even the long line wasn't dampening my spirit. Esme, Sapphire and I went and had an awesome time. Then I switched out with Rich and he went with Esme and Sapphire. Bastian was afraid it would hurt his arm Fun ride and glad we finally tried it! We then went over to Mission Space. Rich had chickened out at the last minute when we went in 09 but wanted to try it this time. I am so glad he did. Clara and Esme and I had a good time playing in the sprinkler type area while they went on a couple times. I was just happy Bastian was having a good time. The broken arm was hard on him, poor guy...

By then we were exhausted and ready to go. I always underestimate how tired a day at WDW makes us and think we can do more than we really can.

I cannot remember for sure but I am pretty sure that was the night we had Giordano's for the first time. It was so good, especially for the cheese obsessed men in my family... Rich is usually not a pizza fan but he really liked it and declared it will now be on our list of things we have to do when we go to WDW.

Thanks for following along and for the reminder from a friend to keep on writing...

And some pics...

 

[mommy2twinprincesses]

Thanks for following along and for the reminder from a friend to keep on writing...

Yay!!!!!!! Sounds like a great day. The day we went to Epcot on our last trip we were there for rope drop. We, with the rest of the crazies, headed straight to Soarin...Kurt's favorite ride in all of Disney. It was going to be the girls' first time on it. The traffic to Soarin is fast and furious. Some lady had gotten ahead of her crowd and stopped dead in front of Kurt pushing the Disney stroller. He took her out. I swear to God. It wasn't pretty and he obviously didn't mean to, but hey...who stops dead in the crowd on the way to Soarin? A rookie, obviously

 

[MamaJessie]

Yay!!!!!!! Sounds like a great day. The day we went to Epcot on our last trip we were there for rope drop. We, with the rest of the crazies, headed straight to Soarin...Kurt's favorite ride in all of Disney. It was going to be the girls' first time on it. The traffic to Soarin is fast and furious. Some lady had gotten ahead of her crowd and stopped dead in front of Kurt pushing the Disney stroller. He took her out. I swear to God. It wasn't pretty and he obviously didn't mean to, but hey...who stops dead in the crowd on the way to Soarin? A rookie, obviously

Glad everyone is ok but that made me Those things are big, heavy, on wheels and in a hurry - so yeah - it is good she learned not to stop right in front of one..

*better finish this tr up, considering it is 2012 already

 

[MamaJessie]

Our last park day was a full day at the Magic Kingdom. This is hands down my favorite park and I love ending the trip there. We got there first thing in the morning and being the creatures of habit we are, headed straight to Tomorrowland, specifically Buzz Lightyear. We rode that a couple times and then Rich, Sapphire and Esme headed to Stitch. They really like that ride Then some TTA and a frozen yogurt break (we had brought some tubes of go-gurt we froze and they wanted to eat them while they were still cold since it was already H-O-T!! I asked the lady at the cart near Cosmic Rays about the 40th anniversary and she confirmed what I had heard, there would be artists, special merchandise, more shows and most important to me, they were expecting big crowds. So we decided to stay on target and leave in the AM instead of spend the day at the parks before the drive home... After we chatted it up we hit some more rides.. trying to see the ones we missed during MNSSHP - and since it was already so stinking hot we went to Philharmagic. We hadn't been since 06 so nobody remembered it that well. I know this show doesn't always get the best reviews but we really liked it. And then of course we had to do IaSW again. I know it is so cliche but we really are that family - mom all sappy and grinning during the ride, dad trying not to sleep and the kids humming along ... because who can hear that song and NOT want to sing along... It's a world of laughter
A world of tears, It's a world of hopes and a world of fears. There's so much that we share that it's time we're aware it's a small world after all ... and I know you just sang that last part in your head while you read it...

We left Fantasyland and went to Haunted Mansion. Where we got stuck This was Rich's view

for (at least) the next ten minutes. And ten minutes does not seem like a long time. Unless you have a 2 year old in a little car with you who is starting to get freaked. And to your right you hear your 4 year old asking your 11 year old repeatedly "Why are we stuck? Can you just bring me to mom? I don't want this car anymore, could I go in dad's car? Are they going to start soon? Is it really the spooks?" Sapphire did a good job talking her sister down and Clara liked playing with the flip camcorder and after awhile some girls a few cars down started singing Justin Bieber songs. That would normally make me feel like this or even but since it was distracting Esme and Clara I really appreciated it. We finally started moving, for oh - 8 seconds - before we stopped again. This time our lovely singing friends sang the national anthem for us.. And finally we started moving again and the rest of the ride was uneventful, but when we left there were people everywhere and they were closing it down so I am just glad we got to finish the ride and not have to get walked off or anything.

We had never been on BTMRR so Sapphire and Esme headed over there with me. Did not like the very long boring line (Disney spoiled me on almost every queue, this one is just plain and boring - and oh yeah it was HOT which makes everything a little less awesome) but the ride was ok. Esme ADORED it though. Sapphire had fun too We then headed to Splash Mountain and told Rich we would meet him after if he wanted to head over to the little play area there with Bastian and Clara (Bastian refused to get on Splash Mountain because while we were on Splash Mountain during MNSSHP it stopped a couple times and he did not like that at all and wanted no part of it) The girls and I rode and then looked for Rich Not at the play area... Not back at Splash... Didn't answer his phone.. so we parked ourselves near the stroller and had a powerade and clementine break while I scanned the crowd. It was then that I realized - dressing the kids in red, and the girls in red/white polka dot skirts is like Disney camouflage. I kept seeing boys in red shirts or girls in minnie skirts and then realizing it wasn't them. I have to make sure I pack accordingly next time. Rich finally found us, they had waited to meet Jessie and Woody. Jessie signed Bastian's cast We were told characters could not sign casts and he was SOOO bummed, but it was awesome that one did. He tells everyone about it and has the cast on his dresser, right next to his signed vinylmation.

(I would also like to add that I should really have written this thing out earlier. I have the retention of an 89 year old.. I have to look at the map and try hard to remember the order of things and details, and it was only 4 months ago.. sheesh.. they make some sort of herbal supplement for memory.. I just keep forgetting what it is )

We did POTC, Tiki Room - which was a surprise hit, and the flying carpets. Bastian loved those. I know some of the things he loved seem a little young for him, but with his sore broken arm he was happy to take it easy.. and I was happy to have some time with my little guy He thought it was hilarious that the camel spit at us....

Andafter all my time on the Dis I knew I had to have a Dole Whip, but I didn't see the cart or something, so we went to Sunshine Tree Terrace and had vanilla soft serve in pineapple juice and chocolate in the iced coffee. Oh my gosh. I do not know if it was because it was so HOT (in case you haven't noticed, I am not a huge fan of the sweltering heat) or because they were so good but of all the things I barely remember, those are like a beacon - shining bright. I can practically taste it... After that we decided to head out, we were planning on having dinner at DTD and wanted to go back to the room and wash up before heading out for the night. As we were leaving, right before the exit, the parade headed our way. There were absolutely NO PEOPLE around so we decided to stand there and watch it go by. Honestly there is no better moment to finish the parks on, then a parade at MK. And with that, we bid adieu to the parks.

 

[MamaJessie]

Next - dinner at t-rex, DTD, and final thoughts...

 

[MamaJessie]

When we went in 06 we never went to DTD. I figured it was some glorified shopping area selling the same old stuff they sell everywhere. In 09 when we went we were at POR though and they have the boat ride over so we went there for dinner one night. I really like it there. Not only do they have a lot of good choices for food, but the stores were more fun that I imagined. And with a dd that pin trades and collects Vinylmation we knew we had to go back.

Rich, Bastian and Sapphire knew they wanted to go to TRex when they saw it last time so it was a must do for them this trip. When I was making ADRs I offered to make ADRs at 1900 and take Es and Clara and Rich could take the big kids to T-Rex since I never thought they would want to go to T-Rex, but no, the girls really wanted to go there. I had been showing the little girls videos of the place so they could get a feel for it and not be overwhelmed/scared. We go to Rainforest Cafe a few times a year and they love it, except for the gorillas - we cannot be anywhere near the gorillas. I figured if a gorilla is terrifying a dinosaur would be way worse. We showed up and were seated right away. Our server was awesome and honestly, I loved the food. I know sometimes Rainforest Cafe gets a bad reputation for food but I like it, and I liked T-Rex even more. The servings are massive and tasty. We took turns walking around with the kids and looking at all the dinosaurs and going into the ice room. Clara absolutely loved the dinosaurs. Kids are always full of surprises

After we ate we walked around and of course, shopped. Sapphire collects pins and vinylmations so she had a lot on her 'to buy' list

The girls right before we went in and bought the castle. Yeah the big bulky castle One of those moments I really wished we were staying on site and could have had it sent over for us...

Final thoughts
Well, unless we take a long vacation, I don't know if we would try a condo off site again. There are definitely savings, especially when you compare at rack rate, but it just wasn't the same....

Oh and we were very glad we visited Rich's grandma

We had planned to go to the condo, drop off our stuff and then go visit DH's family on the other side of Florida, about 1 1/2 hours away. Well that was not going to happen and he really wanted to see his grandmother (she has been ill) so we drove straight there.

She passed away exactly one month after we saw her. I am so glad we got to see her when we did. Any time I wish we had done things differently I remember that we were able to see her and talk and that is extremely important to us.

Thanks for following along... And
Yay! I finished my TR!!!!! Must be time for a PTR now