Can we? Should we? A Spring 2009 PTR - New 5/6 - The TR has begun!

[mousescrapper]

Glad you all had a good time! Sorry about the tantrums w/ Alex over the arcade games, but glad you guys could work thru it and still have fun. Michael gets worked up about them too and then get's more frustrated when they don't work in "his" favor!


I wish we could get our boys together

and good for you on riding the WET rides....I'm usually a pass on those...water parks YES, wet in my clothes...NO

thanks for reminding me there are probably many places we go as a family that may have concessions for Michael to ease his time, I really have to keep that in mind. Amusement parks are not his fortay, but maybe at the museums and such...

How is the WDW planning going, are "we" still on the forward arrow?

J-

 

[DisMomAmy]

Glad you all had a good time! Sorry about the tantrums w/ Alex over the arcade games, but glad you guys could work thru it and still have fun. Michael gets worked up about them too and then get's more frustrated when they don't work in "his" favor!


I wish we could get our boys together

and good for you on riding the WET rides....I'm usually a pass on those...water parks YES, wet in my clothes...NO

thanks for reminding me there are probably many places we go as a family that may have concessions for Michael to ease his time, I really have to keep that in mind. Amusement parks are not his fortay, but maybe at the museums and such...

How is the WDW planning going, are "we" still on the forward arrow?

J-

It was a super hot day and I didn't expect to get quite as wet (soaked) as I did on the Boston Tea Party... the other "wet" ride was our last one of the day and we had a change of clothes in the car.

Any time we go somewhere with Alex I do a little research ahead of time to see if they offer any kind of accomodation - unfortunately I haven't found a water park that does - but we plan to go at non-peak times and have made out OK so far.

"We" are still on for April... as far as I'm concerned. I've finally finished my resume and sent it out to a few people - hope to hear soon. DH is due for a BIG bonus in February/March so I'm hoping that even if it doesn't look good between now and then that we'll still be able to pull it off. Southwest releases April tickets on November 20th so I'm hoping to have a sense of what we'll be doing by then - and if not, we'll just play it by ear and hope for the BIG bonus. It's the first time he has had this as part of his compensation plan and with the economy the way it is, I'm not planning on anything - but he has been exceeding all of his goals so far - so I'm optimistic.

On another note - Zachary had his first day of school today. He's happy, I'm happy.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi Everyone - Just checking in. Not much to DIS about lately. Airfare doesn't even get released for another 2 months. April hours haven't been released yet - probably another month. It looks like we won't be able to make ADRs until November - except Chef Mickeys - I'll be able to do that in October. I have had a couple of job leads - two calls about jobs I applied for but no interviews yet - just playing phone tag so far. Plus I'm meeting up with my former co-worker who owns an Accounting business next week. I'm sure I'll find something - so the trip should still be on.

In fact, with the airfare so high, I'm toying with the idea of going down on Thursday and staying 10 days - we'll visit with Tim's brother for 3 days either at the beginning or end of our trip. We'll either fly in or out of Tampa - or both if the price is right. His brother FINALLY split with his wife for good about a year or so ago - should have done it 10 years ago - and just moved into a condo with his girlfriend. He came up to NH with is girlfriend just over a year ago and assured all of us that she wasn't his girlfriend, but we knew better and we were all happy about it - she's awesome and he's never been so happy. They are coming up for Thanksgiving this year. We'd really like to go see their new place and visit the kids (who aren't coming up for Thaksgiving). They won't be having vacation that week so we'll just visit for the weekend.

For a girl who doesn't know how we are going to pay for our trip, I have a lot of nerve extending it!

Up next... I'll post my budget - which is ever changing with the airfare prices. Plus, where I hope to make ADRs.

 

[MRYPPNS]

With the high cost of airfare it only makes sense to use Fuzzy Disney Math to get a visit in with your BIL!

 

[DisMomAmy]

With the high cost of airfare it only makes sense to use Fuzzy Disney Math to get a visit in with your BIL!

Exactly what I was thinking! Since airfare is so high into Orlando, we'll "save" some money by flying into Tampa and use it to stay longer!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Well it's almost time to officially change Zachary's age on my signature to "5"! His birthday is Tuesday but today is his birthday party. We'll be having 15ish mostly 4 & 5 year olds at an indoor gym/climbing structure/play area. Luckily they do everything for us - cupcakes, juiceboxes, balloons, party favors, etc. I just have to remember my camera.

Then of course, with the passing of Zachary's birthday means I'll be a year older. I think it's time to remove my age from the signature. We'll be celebrating my birthday next weekend.

Not much else going on here... still on the job hunt. I'm meeting with my former co-worker/friend on Monday to talk about opportunities for me to work at her accounting consulting business. We'll see...

On the trip front - Hopefully April park hours will be released soon. March has been released so that means April will be next. Then the planning can begin. Tour Guide Mike has only gotten half way through February for the Least Crowded Parks so it'll be a while before he gets through all of April, but I can't make most of our ADRs until November anyway. I will be making an ADR at Chef Mickey's - DEFINITELY - and I can still do that at the 180 day mark, which will be as early as 10/27 - depending exactly which day we decide to go. I might make 2 ADRs - just in case.

 

[MRYPPNS]

. I might make 2 ADRs - just in case.

Gee I don't know anyone else that might have done that too

 

[DisMomAmy]

Gee I don't know anyone else that might have done that too

 

[DisMomAmy]

I feel like I'm losing some of my loyal followers, so maybe this will pull you back in...

I JUST BOOKED OUR FLIGHT DOWN!!

I decided to see what flies out of Portland, Maine since Southwest out of Manchester, NH seems like it will be high when they finally release the April dates. Jet Blue (which I have always wanted to fly) flies direct from Portland to Orlando. And the price was...........................










$84 each!!

The May return date hasn't been released yet so I could only book the flight down, which may be risky, but for only $372 for the 4 of us I couldn't resist! As soon as DH said, "sounds like we won't be able to beat that price - book it" I was on the computer making the purchase!!

We'll be flying out of Portland (only about an hour from us) at noon and be in Orlando by 3:30. The plane has rows or 2 seats on each side so we won't have to worry about anyone sitting with us.

I am so excited.

Now I just need to find that job I've been looking for!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Sorry... couldn't help myself!

 

[Hedy]

I love JetBlue! And that's a great price!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I love JetBlue! And that's a great price!

Thanks - I thought so, especially for a school vacation Saturday. Have you ever flown out of Portland? I know you are south so Manchester may be as far north as you go...

 

[MRYPPNS]

Congrats!!! on the flight. So cool that you can fly out of Portland too. Just remember that you don't have to fly back via JetBlue, you could do SW out of Manchester home if the price is right.

 

[mousescrapper]

Amy Happy Birthday wished to you and Zach!

and super and the flight down being booked. It's completely official now....I hope the fun can now begin and you find that job!

J-

 

[DisMomAmy]

Congrats!!! on the flight. So cool that you can fly out of Portland too. Just remember that you don't have to fly back via JetBlue, you could do SW out of Manchester home if the price is right.

Thank you!! I'm a little nervous about it all because I've never flown out of Portland or on Jet Blue. Being an OTP I want to know what to expect... We will probably fly back into Portland since we'll probably be parking there. However, you bring up a good point and we could get someone to drive us since we are leaving at noon.

Amy Happy Birthday wished to you and Zach!

and super and the flight down being booked. It's completely official now....I hope the fun can now begin and you find that job!

J-

Thank you!! Zachary had a great time at his party on Saturday. We'll continue to celebrate all week.

I'm so excited about booking the flight. Now we have to go. DH was on board so easily - it was a little scary! Just yesterday he was telling me about a friend of his who's wife is apparently a "DIS-freak" like me. He mentioned that they go once a year. So I said back to him, "See - it's not that unusual for people to want to go every year" to which he rolled his eyes. But maybe it had some influence over him.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Just popping in to say "Hi" and let you guys know how I made out at Alex's doctor's appointment yesterday. DH & I went down to Boston for a follow up with Alex's doctor from his colonoscopy/endoscopy. Fortunately everyting came back normal. The doctor thinks that he is so constipated (therefore having belly aches) because some of the muscles used in that function are weak or damaged. He prescribed a medication to help strengthen the muslces and hopes we'll be able to see improvement soon. Then it should be "cured". We'll see... Also he said we should get some traditional allergy testing done because the biopsies showed no signs of allergens but that is most likely because he hadn't eaten anything that would have caused a reaction. We suspect a peanut allergy from some mild reactions he has had in the past.

I started reading through my Passporters "Open Mouse" last night to do a little research on water parks. We definitely want to visit one of them this time around, but which one??

Alex is over 48 inches (barely) and Zachary definitely will not be. Both boys like rides that 2 people can ride together and it doesn't seem like there are too many of those at either park. Alex is a little daredevil and will go on just about any ride (prefers to stay in the light) but Zachary gets pretty nervous about this kind of stuff - especially water spraying in his face. I'm going to have DH do a little research in this area, but does anyone have any suggestions? Which water park would be better for our family?

 

[Hedy]

JMO, but I'd suggest against Typhoon Lagoon-the Crusher gusher they could ride together, but the wave pool would be too violent for them.
And to Alex.

 

[MRYPPNS]

For good news on Alex!

I have allergies to tree nuts. The allergy was much milder when I was a child than it is now. I used to think I was allergic to peanuts too but what I figured out was that I was eating peanuts that had been in contact with tree nuts....the oils rubbing off.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like we will be going to a water park next month so I can report directly. I was planning on Typhoon Lagoon because their little kids area looked tamer than Blizzards Beach's. So I would think that BB's little kid area and their tween area would work for your boys. There just isn't a lot of shade at BB (I've been before). From the UG I see that BB has Teamboat Springs and 2 runs at Runoff Rapids for mutliple riders in a tube. TL only seems to have the Crush n Gushers and Zachary is too short for it.

 

[DisMomAmy]

JMO, but I'd suggest against Typhoon Lagoon-the Crusher gusher they could ride together, but the wave pool would be too violent for them.
And to Alex.

Thanks! Open Mouse said that TL was more disability friendly than BB - but I suspect that has more to do with accessibility. From what I was reading I was leaning toward BB.

For good news on Alex!

I have allergies to tree nuts. The allergy was much milder when I was a child than it is now. I used to think I was allergic to peanuts too but what I figured out was that I was eating peanuts that had been in contact with tree nuts....the oils rubbing off.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like we will be going to a water park next month so I can report directly. I was planning on Typhoon Lagoon because their little kids area looked tamer than Blizzards Beach's. So I would think that BB's little kid area and their tween area would work for your boys. There just isn't a lot of shade at BB (I've been before). From the UG I see that BB has Teamboat Springs and 2 runs at Runoff Rapids for mutliple riders in a tube. TL only seems to have the Crush n Gushers and Zachary is too short for it.

Thanks!! Sorry TL will be closed during your trip. Looks like it isn't reopening until the end of March. That may be good for us during April - maybe more people will go to TL to check out any changes??

PS - Just noticed my ticker is under 7 months!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Just popping in to post a few pictures from Zachary's birthday.

Sorry for the dark-ish pictures - DH never pops up the flash. Notice the blurr on the right side - that's me running into the shot, because...

Alex ALWAYS blows out other people's candles. He even does it at friend's birthday parties.

Here's Zachary enjoying his red lizard cake. He ordered it himself...

We always told Zachary that he could sleep on the top bunk of his bunk beds when he turned five - so here he is... and Alex came up for a visit. He has his own room, but he wanted to be in on the excitement.

Pardon the mess in the background of the first 3 pictures - some of those items belong in the basement and haven't made it back downstairs since it dried out down there.

I'm hoping to do a post about our budget later this week.

And good news... I got a job. It's perfect for me - I'm going to work for a friend/former co-worker who owns her own accounting business. I'll be a subcontractor and will have my own clients so I'll be able to set my own schedule and build up my clients depending how much I want to work. It's really good money - I just hope I can get enough clients to keep me busy and make enough money to pay for the rest of our trip.