Can You Feel the Love Tonight, My Trip with my Divorced Parents and two kiddos!

[ktmetke]

Wow........well I haven't posted in a while and of course that means an update is necessary!

Our plans have changed!

A few weeks ago, I received a call from my boss that my last TCAB conference for work was not on June 4-5 as originally thought, BUT June 11-12.......right in the middle of our visit with Mickey......

what to do, what to do

Could we go in May? Kinda close and not really wanting to pull Josh out of preschool in his last few weeks there.....

Could we go in June after the conference? Well, the availability for Carribean Beach was nil, I was thinking the later in the month we go, the hotter and more crowded it will be and that was not very appealing....

Could we go in July? Sure, but not feeling it for that month.....again too hot and too crowded.....

Could we go in August? Yep! and that's when we're going......August 5-12!

So, August it is for now......though, I didn't check the dates of our town's annual parade and festival and I"m worried that we will miss that....BUT, for now we are going in August!

We will still be at Carribean Beach, but I think my dad will be at All Star Sports vs. Pop.......no, biggie......he's happy with where ever a bed will be!

So, that's the scoopie!

 

[ktmetke]

Oh decisions, decisions.....

Free dining is out.......oh, how I love Disney food!

What to do, what to do?

I wonder if the travel agent will kill me if I ask to switch again.....

 

[ktmetke]

Still going with the same dates in August.....Hopefully, I will get around to changing the countdown calendar tomorrow! Just sad cause it's further away......

 

[ktmetke]

Nothing new to update....We are still on for August!

But, FREE Dining keeps calling my name.... We don't have a trip planned this year with hubby, me, and the kids so I am soooooooo tempted to book a trip at the end of September and take adavantage of FREE dining! (Especially since every show I watched tonight had a Disney commercial with it ) BUT, we really need to start getting some things done around the house, like a patio and a swing set for the kids and maybe some furniture for the empty rooms , so I'm just wondring what to do??
I supposed I'll await a sign to give me a clue.....still waiting....... ha ha!


Anyhoo.......we had my family's Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Egg Coloring Event at Nama's house and I made my own hidden Mickey!

And, my neice Maggie (2nd little girl from the left appears to have Hidden Mickey Ears with the 2 pink plastic eggs!)

All the not so hidden eggs!

Josh and Korey with their eggs!

Josh coloring eggs!

Korey coloring eggs!

Hope you enjoyed the update!

 

[ktmetke]

Just thought I'd share.....a minivan near my house (can't figure out how to take a pic and blur out the liscense plate) has a Tigger tail on the back of it...at least I think it's a Tigger tail and not just a plain old tiger tail! That's the Disney Freak in me!

 

[babytrees]

your musings make me giggle.....have you got the pin code for free dining outside of the "regular" time?

 

[ktmetke]

Hi BabyTrees!

Thanks for joining!

I didn't know there was another Pincode......is it valid for my timeframe? I love to eat Disney Food so that would be great!

 

[ktmetke]

OOps......Thanks for chiming in BabyTrees.....you posted on the first page too!

 

[ktmetke]

I hope I'm not harming my children with my Disney obsession........

Case #1

I took Josh to the Dentist last week and the dental hygienist asked when we'd been to Disney last....I said "Last September" and she said "Wow he remembers everything you did there" and I said "Well he should, he's been there 8 times!"......I got a funny look from her so I said "I'm a little obsessed!"

Case #2

Spoke with Josh's preschool teacher at the Mother's Day Tea on Friday....her comment, "We just love all of Josh's stories, especially all his 'Mickey's House stories"....I just used the "I'm a little obsessed" line again!

Case #3

I guess the Toy Story shirt, the Mickey Mouse Sippy Cup, the Mickey Mouse Hat hanging on the chair, the Mickey Mouse Head picture frame and the Mickey Bowl and Mickey Paper towel holder are all indicators of my little obsession too! Oh and no we don't usually eat with our feet on the table not sure what he was doing there!


So, I suppose some counseling is in order for this disease......only 86 more days till I'm in my happy place! Hopefully, me and the kiddos will survive!


As for a trip news.....I emailed her about booking Josh on the Pirate Cruise at the Carribean Beach Resort .....He went on the Grand Floridian Cruise in Januray 2008 and enjoyed himself, so I think he will have fun on this one too! I feel bad that Korey will not be able to attend , but he's just a bit too little yet!

 

[ktmetke]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh Mother's Day....

Wish it could have been a bit more relaxing but I don't get many weekends off and when I do, they are jam packed!

We started the morning at my brother Kevin's house for Brunch!

Uncle Kevin, his son Trevor, and Joshua


I brought a fruit salad with kiwis, pineapple, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries. I also was in charge of dessert: A WHIPPED CREAM strawberry cake from Jewel ......not buttercream, because Nama does not like buttercream......so, WHIPPED CREAM it had to be! And, it was DELICIOUS! I am not a big fan of cake, but it was YUMMY!

Sorry gotta end here for now....the boys are not allowing computer time at this point....instead the outside is a calling and the garage needs a cleaning!

 

[ktmetke]

I have worked the last 4 days and I have one more to go tomorrow! But, then I'm off for two and will hopefully be able to post some more Mother's Day pics.....just trying to practice writing for the Big Trip! Only 80 more days till were at Mickey's House!

As a side note, my Mom and I are going to see Legally Blonde, the Musical on Thursday! Can't wait to get my Elle fix in! And, I'm hoping to see Mary Poppins with work friends some time in June! So, lots of good things going on!

 

[ktmetke]

What a beautiful day we had today in Chicago! Looking forward to many more to come this summer! Since my DH was home today we decided to skip cleaning the house and head to the zoo again! So, I will definitely post some pics of our adventure there!

Nothing much about the trip........My Mom and I talked about the flying vs driving deal again today.....She really wants to drive , just to do something different, and I really don't want to fly, but I just don't see us saving money on the whole driving deal.....so, unless Southwest comes out with a mega deal or a ding, I think we will be driving!

 

[ktmetke]

Mother's Day Continued:


The Boys waiting patiently for their cake and ice cream!

The weather was okay, definitely could have been warmer, but the kids were still able to enjoy some time outside!

Korey playing teeball!

Josh riding Trevor's bike....Josh, I can tell, has my eyes (though I'm blue, he's brown)....I never go outside without sunglasses and I see him squinting and having a hard time outside taking pictures just like me! I need to remember to buy him some sunglasses! Especially, before Mickey's House!

DH and I relaxing on the stairs.....

Nama, me, and my sister-in-law Tracy! THE MOM'S!!!!!!

After Brunch, we decided to head to Brookfield Zoo! I bought our season pass and we were set for a year! Brookfield Zoo is very Disney-like to me......beautiful scenery/surroundings, it's clean, kid-friendly....just a bit closer to our house and a bit cheaper too!

The Zoo has a special Dinosaur exhibit this year from April to September! This is one of the signs at the front entrance of the Zoo promoting the event....We did visit on our trip to the Zoo today, but not on Mother's Day!

That's all for now.......thanks for reading!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Hi! I just found your report!

Just wanted to let you know that you still have readers!

 

[ktmetke]

Hi Dawn! Thanks for reading!

I love writing these updates and then re reading them months later and reminding myself what I was doing then.....as you can see I'm easily entertained.......

I just got home from seeing Legally Blonde with my Mom.... OMG! What a fantastic show! I am so excited that I went to see this......I was supposed to go with my high school girlfriends, but the dates didn't work out for us....so, last week I told my Mom "we are going and I'm looking for tickets now!" It really was great......The girl who played Elle was beautiful and sang great! And, of course my Mom and I loved Bruiser, what a cute little dog!

Tomorrow is Josh's preschool graduation....can't believe he will be in kindergarten in the fall I need to run to the store to buy Sprite to bring (I thought that was a pretty easy choice for a working Mom, like me! , okay yeah, I took the total easy way out there! )
And, then possibly run and get some balloons for him....only I have to try and hide them from him till the ceremony.... Then, after the ceremony we are letting him choose lunch and treat.....so, we may end up at Chuckie Cheeses or possibly Rainforest Cafe....though, Rainforest Cafe will be a bit of a drive....so, I'm rambling cause I'm tired......any hoo, night night!

 

[ktmetke]

Wow, the day before Josh's graduation was the last time I posted......and that seems so long ago......I need to get myself in gear! Work has been taking up lots of computer time, along with kids, housework, dinner making, and sleep!

We have decided to add a day on to the Carribean Beach Resort the day we arrive in Florida...I thought then we could be ready to hit the Parks Wednesday morning and we wouldn't have to worry about switching hotels and lugging any extra suitcases/supplies around! Plus, they have a discounted rate for the one night, so it's costing around $133! Probably could do much cheaper offsite, but I guess I'm going with convience here!

Tomorrow we are off to visit the Jelly Belly Factory in Wisconsin and then to the Rainforest Cafe or as we call it "The Monkey Restaurant" for lunch/dinner.....looking forward to having a day off and spending some "fun" time with my Mom and the boys! Hope everyone else has a great day too!

 

[ktmetke]

So sad .....we would be in DisneyWorld today if we hadn't switched our dates earlier this year.......oh well, we will be leaving in 55 days, arriving in 56 days!!! And, we did add an extra night on at Carribean Beach I received the confirmation email today from the travel agent!! We decided to just stay on Disney property at the same hotel as the rest of our stay the night we arrive in Florida.....just thinking then maybe we will be able to stay in the same room and not have to move around again from a different hotel off property and then perhaps we will be able to hit the parks on Wednesday morning and let the magic begin!

We did visit the Jelly Belly Factory last week in Wisconsin! This was my 3rd visit to the Jelly Belly Factory, Josh's 2nd visit, and Korey's 1st visit....and possibly his last... He was not a happy camper on the train tour , cause he did not like that the train kept stopping in front of the tv monitors! He was quite loud at times, but luckily the couple behind us didn't seem to mind! Somehow, we survived the train tour and received our free bag of jelly beans! Love the popcorn flavor!

We also went to the RainForest Cafe at Gurnee Mills Mall.........love this restaurant, simply cause it reminds me of Disney....something about the water smell brings me to Disney Not many people were in the restaurant (we were there around 4pm) and we had a table next to a fish tank! As I said, I love this restaurant.....but, WOW it's not cheap.....the boys split a hamburger kids meal, my Mom and I shared the spinach/artichoke dip appetizer, my Mom had a pepporoni pizza and I had Turkey Club wrap (sorry, no food porn I never seem to remember) and with tax/tip the bill was $47 and that was after a $10 off coupon.....oh well, guess we paid for the atmosphere and the Disney feelings shared by all!

 

[ktmetke]

Well I'm back after a small glitch!

I had worked on an update last night, but sadly did not copy and save before I previewed and lost the update...

I was at Nama's house last night for dinner and we did end up comparing hotels again for our first night's stay in Georgia. We did decide on a Country Inn and Suites cause it has an indoor pool....the boys may need to let off some steam after sitting in the car all day and I'm hoping the pool will be the perfect place....hopefully, I won't be too exhausted or crazy from sitting in the car all day!

On Monday, Nama, DH, the boys and I headed to KiddieLand in Melrose Park!

How sad that this small Amusement Park will be closing at the end of this season! It is the perfect place for toddlers and preschoolers! They have all types of "round and round" rides that I remember riding as a kid, as does Nama!

Some "round and round" rides....

And some "faster around and around" rides....

This next ride pic reminds me of the movie Pinocchio for some reason , not really sure why, but it does! Korey actually only made it around once and then started crying to come off! Last year he rode with no problems.....go figure!

Josh LOVES this "up/down" ride.....wonder if I can get him on the Twilight Tower of Terror?

Continued....

 

[ktmetke]

Of course, no amusement park visit is complete without a ride on the Merry Go Round!

Josh also loved the Roller Coaster. You can see Mark in this pic...they are in the last car! Josh has now promised me he will try Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in August!

And, finally some quick pics of the quaint little "do it yourself" rides!

Thanks for reading!

 

[dd50]

Wow, I can't believe all the energy you have working and going to all those places with your kids. Do you ever rest?