Can't We Just Travel by Map? Oct 2013 PTR

[oopsiDAISY]

We have a very Disney weekend coming up and I cannot wait! I am so in need of some Disney magic!

First thing Saturday morning Charity and I are headed into Nashville for a very special Dismeet. She and I will be going to the Disney Store at Opry Mills to meet Pluto0809! I am excited to meet her, and yes~ there WILL be pictures to document the meet! Sadly, our friend Cajunfan that works at the Disney Store will not be working that morning. It just won't be the same to visit the store and not see her friendly face!

After the Dismeet Charity and I will be having lunch together. With three kids, it is difficult to get one on one time with any of them, so this will be a special time for she and I.

Saturday evening is our next Disney movie night!!! We will be watching Finding Nemo. Like always, I have had fun planning this one. Brian is definitely going to have t help me hang the decorations this time. I am doing something a bit more elaborate this time. I talked to him last night about what I had in mind. Not only did he NOT roll his eyes at me as he may have done in the past, but he helped me figure out how to best excecute my plan. I feel so blessed to have a husband who loves Disney almost as much as I do. He enjoys these movie nights just as much as the rest of us do!

So, needless to say, I will have lots of fun pictures to share next week from the weekend. I may just split the Dismeet and the movie night into two separate updates, just to make it a bit more interesting...

 

[Pluto0809]

I've already got my camera packed! Can't wait to meet you and your daughter.

And the Finding Nemo night sounds like lots of fun.

 

[cheekypoppins]

OKay I need to eat the side of Alice's mushroom that shrinks ppl(incase the whole 4'11" of me isn't small enough) so I can hop in ur bag and come along.I don't know what I'd be like in the land of country AND doing Disney stuff omg I might die,okay maybe its good I can't sneak in in ur purse.I hope you ladies have a lovely meet

 

[Chicago Mo]

So glad your back!!!

 

[solana131]

I can't wait to "hear" all about the Nemo night and see all your wonderful pictures. I always enjoy your movie night updates, but this one will have a special place in my heart because Nemo is my favorite movie! Dory is my absolute favorite character...can't wait to see what you do...and what you find on pinterest for it

 

[disny_luvr]

We have a very Disney weekend coming up and I cannot wait! I am so in need of some Disney magic!

First thing Saturday morning Charity and I are headed into Nashville for a very special Dismeet. She and I will be going to the Disney Store at Opry Mills to meet Pluto0809! I am excited to meet her, and yes~ there WILL be pictures to document the meet! Sadly, our friend Cajunfan that works at the Disney Store will not be working that morning. It just won't be the same to visit the store and not see her friendly face!

After the Dismeet Charity and I will be having lunch together. With three kids, it is difficult to get one on one time with any of them, so this will be a special time for she and I.

Saturday evening is our next Disney movie night!!! We will be watching Finding Nemo. Like always, I have had fun planning this one. Brian is definitely going to have t help me hang the decorations this time. I am doing something a bit more elaborate this time. I talked to him last night about what I had in mind. Not only did he NOT roll his eyes at me as he may have done in the past, but he helped me figure out how to best excecute my plan. I feel so blessed to have a husband who loves Disney almost as much as I do. He enjoys these movie nights just as much as the rest of us do!

So, needless to say, I will have lots of fun pictures to share next week from the weekend. I may just split the Dismeet and the movie night into two separate updates, just to make it a bit more interesting...

It sounds like you have a great Disney weekend planned. I can't wait to read all about it - and see pictures too! Have fun!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I've already got my camera packed! Can't wait to meet you and your daughter.

And the Finding Nemo night sounds like lots of fun.

Well, as you know very well by now, you got to meet my little guy! I hope you and your hubby had a wonderful weekend in Nashville, I loved meeting you both very much!

OKay I need to eat the side of Alice's mushroom that shrinks ppl(incase the whole 4'11" of me isn't small enough) so I can hop in ur bag and come along.I don't know what I'd be like in the land of country AND doing Disney stuff omg I might die,okay maybe its good I can't sneak in in ur purse.I hope you ladies have a lovely meet

Oh how I wish you could have come!!! It was a great weekend, and I cannot wait to tell you all about it in my updates!

So glad your back!!!

Aww, thanks MO! Glad to be back! And I am finally over my Disney blues, so I can enjoy my Dis and Disfriends again!

I can't wait to "hear" all about the Nemo night and see all your wonderful pictures. I always enjoy your movie night updates, but this one will have a special place in my heart because Nemo is my favorite movie! Dory is my absolute favorite character...can't wait to see what you do...and what you find on pinterest for it

Well, you got to experience your own version of "Nemo" this weekend, right! Our movie night turned out great. Can't wait to share the pictures....

It sounds like you have a great Disney weekend planned. I can't wait to read all about it - and see pictures too! Have fun!

We ended up having a truly wonderful weekend! And the updates start...NOW!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

This has to have been one of my best weekends EVER! It truly was a magical weekend, and I am so looking forward to sharing it with you! I am going to split the weekend into two different updates...just because I can!

Saturday morning I had a much anticipated Dismeet scheduled for 10 am. My plan was to take Charity with me....but that plan changed. She got invited to go out of town with her best friend's family for the weekend. So, who should I take? Should I just take some time alone? Nah! I took my little man, Gabe. He was so excited to get to spend the day with me, and it turned out to be a great decsion. We had a fantastic time!

We arrived at the Disney Store about 2-3 minutes before it opened, so we were left to wait for "rope drop" with several other Disney fans. Our disfriend Pluto0809, Ariana, arrived just a moment later. I knew that she was shy, so I was kind of nervous that it could end up being a somewhat awkward Dismeet, but she was so sweet and friendly! She and her husband told me about the things they had done so far after arriving in town. They were already having a great time. Her husband had discovered a store in the mall that he wanted to spend more time at...and it wasn' t the Disney Store! They had already decided that morning to spend more time at the mall than originally anticipated. It really is a wonderful mall, and I am glad they liked it.

After getting into the Disney Store, we stood in the front and chatted about our upcoming Disney trips for a bit while Gabe ran around getting excited about EVERYTHING. IN. THE STORE. Yes, he is my kid!

We had Ariana's husband get a picture to "prove" the dismeet:

See her wonderful SerendipiD~ bag? I am going to have one of those very soon, too!!!

After taking the picture, we split up since we both had some shopping to do...in the Disney Store of course! In honor of our planned Finding Nemo movie night, I had Gabe pose for this picture:

I already knew ahead of time what I wanted to get from the store that day, so I made a beeline for the shelf that held what I wanted. I ended up with these:

Jillian and Charity already had cups like this, so I got some for Gabe, Brian and I. After making my purchases, I just followed Gabe around and let him look at and play with anything he wanted to for a while. After zig-zagging the store behind him for a while, it was time to move on. I went to tell Ariana goodbye, and she asked us to wait. She said she had gotten "little gifts" for my children, and her husband had gone to the car to get them...

Her husband comes back with these cool Disney shopping bags with LOTS of "little gifts" in them for the children. Ariana and her husband had gone WAY above and beyond!

Ariana had also made copies of her entire Disney music collection for our family. We listened to that wonderful Disney music all weekend!

Ariana...THANK YOU SO MUCH for the wonderful Dismeet and the special gifts for all of us! You are a special lady, and it was such a pleasure to meet you and your husband! Although we will miss each other this October, I look forward to sharing many more Disney moments together in the future!

Upon leaving the Disney Store Gabe and I made a beeline for HIS favorite store in the mall...the Lego store! He loves this store. There are several interactive play areas for lots of play time.

Can you see Gabe's hair? He wanted it "spikey" for our date! That hair was PLASTERED with hair gel and hairspray. He loved it!

Leaving the Lego store we headed to the mall playground.

This bear reminded me of the Country Bear Jamboree:

After letting off lots of energy in the playground it was time to leave the mall...but not before getting a couple of photos in front of the Rainforest Cafe:

We had lunch at Chic Fil A:

Gabe played even MORE in the play area there, before it was time to head home. It was a wonderful day Saturday. I got to meet two wonderful new friends, and I had the best date day with my little man! I cannot tell you how many times he told me "Thank you for taking me to Opry Mills, Mommy" "That was so much fun, wasn't it Mommy?"

Sunday night was movie night....but that update will come later in the week!

GRRR!!! Not sure why two of my pictures are turned sideways after I edited them correctly in photobucket! Sorry Friends!

 

[cheekypoppins]

Awe little Babe looks like a little babe with his cool dude hair!!! Wow thats so nice of arianna to do that i'm sure the kids loved it. i'm glad you had a nice meet but that can't be the arianna whose trip report I've seen because THEEEE Arianna wears her pluto bag with Pluto shirts n most pics WHAT HAVE U DONE WITH THE REAL ARIANNA????? lol

 

[DMGeurts]

Awww... It sounds like you and Gabe had a fantastic time!

I love, love, love the photo of you and Ariana together! But Ariana - I have to agree with Cheeky... Um - where is your Pluto sweatshirt??? As a side note, I have the coordinating Donald sweatshirt - it is one of my all time favorite - unfortunatly, at the moment, it is 2 sizes too small.

The Pixie Dust from Ariana is magnificant! I love it - and I bet the kids loved it too. I cannot believe how much your girls are really starting to look like eachother... Do you notice it too?

I cannot wait to hear about your Finding Nemo movie night... How perfectly timed with Nemo the storm (betcha haven't heard that one before? <--- Said in my best MN accent)

D~

 

[Pixiedust530]

It sounds like you guys had an amazing DisMeet. That was so super sweet of Ariana to bring "little gifts" for your kiddos. They look like they were much appreciated.

That is so sweet the comments Gabe made about your day. He is just adorable and reminds me of my Caden a bit. Caden is always so appreciative of special time with Mommy...of course he is an only child, so I'm not sure who else I would be have special dates with. LOL

I have never been to the Opry Mills mall, but Nashville is a only a couple/few hours drive for me. I might have to check it out sometime. Caden would love the LEGO store...that is his obsession right now!

Can't wait to read about your Nemo movie night. Your movie nights are always so cool...I look forward to seeing what you came up with.

 

[solana131]

Looks like a great day! So glad you got to enjoy a fun day with your little man

 

[Pluto0809]

Connie, it was so great meeting you and Gabe! I was very nervous (I'm working on a Nashville mini TR and I'll talk more about my nervousness in that) but you put me to ease immediately and we had such a nice chat. I may have gone a tiny bit overboard on the gifts but I love to shop for kids since I don't have any. I have 9 kids in my extended family that are under the age of 8 and I spoil them all! I honestly didn't realize how much stuff I had till I went to put them all together. Yes, I am a shopping addict. I'm really glad they enjoyed the gifts!

Oh and I did notice Gabe's cute hair. I wish now I would have told him how nice it looked! And Jim has commented several times how sweet and polite Gabe was. I guess they had quite the conversation while we were talking.

Awe little Babe looks like a little babe with his cool dude hair!!! Wow thats so nice of arianna to do that i'm sure the kids loved it. i'm glad you had a nice meet but that can't be the arianna whose trip report I've seen because THEEEE Arianna wears her pluto bag with Pluto shirts n most pics WHAT HAVE U DONE WITH THE REAL ARIANNA????? lol

Awww... It sounds like you and Gabe had a fantastic time!

I love, love, love the photo of you and Ariana together! But Ariana - I have to agree with Cheeky... Um - where is your Pluto sweatshirt??? As a side note, I have the coordinating Donald sweatshirt - it is one of my all time favorite - unfortunatly, at the moment, it is 2 sizes too small.

The Pixie Dust from Ariana is magnificant! I love it - and I bet the kids loved it too. I cannot believe how much your girls are really starting to look like eachother... Do you notice it too?

I cannot wait to hear about your Finding Nemo movie night... How perfectly timed with Nemo the storm (betcha haven't heard that one before? <--- Said in my best MN accent)

D~

That was the real me. I wish I had a Pluto sweatshirt but I haven't found one yet. I love hoodies if they are zip up (can't wear one without a zipper as the "choke" me. I know it's all in my head but I end up tugging at the neck line all day) and I have never found a Pluto one. I'd pay good money if someone ever found me one! At least I was wearing something Disney that day and I had my Pluto bag.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Awe little Babe looks like a little babe with his cool dude hair!!! Wow thats so nice of arianna to do that i'm sure the kids loved it. i'm glad you had a nice meet but that can't be the arianna whose trip report I've seen because THEEEE Arianna wears her pluto bag with Pluto shirts n most pics WHAT HAVE U DONE WITH THE REAL ARIANNA????? lol

Yes, he was quite the lady-killer that day! Although he didn't ask for "shirt spray"...yes he has his very own can of Axe body spray.

It really WAS Ariana, I promise!!! Someone must have gotten ahold of her before she entered the mall and swiped her Pluto shirt...

Awww... It sounds like you and Gabe had a fantastic time!

I love, love, love the photo of you and Ariana together! But Ariana - I have to agree with Cheeky... Um - where is your Pluto sweatshirt??? As a side note, I have the coordinating Donald sweatshirt - it is one of my all time favorite - unfortunatly, at the moment, it is 2 sizes too small.

The Pixie Dust from Ariana is magnificant! I love it - and I bet the kids loved it too. I cannot believe how much your girls are really starting to look like eachother... Do you notice it too?

I cannot wait to hear about your Finding Nemo movie night... How perfectly timed with Nemo the storm (betcha haven't heard that one before? <--- Said in my best MN accent)

D~

Oh no! I hate that your favorite Donald shirt has shrank so much! Hate it when that happens, and it happens way too often to me as well. They just don't make clothes the way they used to, do they?

Ariana and her DH were such great people! I absolutely loved meeting them. And a little birdie told me her DH would be going to Disney with her in October, too. We hate that our dates don't align. Her PIXIE DUST for all of us was so maginificent. She took what she knew about each of my kids from my Dis reports to customize each gift she got the kids. It was so precious of her! They LOVED everything!

Finding Nemo movie night update...coming up!

It sounds like you guys had an amazing DisMeet. That was so super sweet of Ariana to bring "little gifts" for your kiddos. They look like they were much appreciated.

That is so sweet the comments Gabe made about your day. He is just adorable and reminds me of my Caden a bit. Caden is always so appreciative of special time with Mommy...of course he is an only child, so I'm not sure who else I would be have special dates with. LOL

I have never been to the Opry Mills mall, but Nashville is a only a couple/few hours drive for me. I might have to check it out sometime. Caden would love the LEGO store...that is his obsession right now!

Can't wait to read about your Nemo movie night. Your movie nights are always so cool...I look forward to seeing what you came up with.

Yes, Ariana went so far above and beyond for my children. I am just reminded constantly of just how blessed I am to have such wonderful, kind, encouraging Disfriends! I really can never express how much you all mean to me!

OMGoodness...where do you live? You MUST come visit Opry Mills and you MUST let me know when so I can meet you there! (Did my Jedi mind tricks work??? ) It does sound like Caden and Gabe would have a great time together. And that Lego store is so much fun! They have a station to build Lego people, a station with Lego computer games and Lego bricks for building whatever, and now they also have sort of a "runway" for the new zip pull Lego "cars". It is such a great store. Gabe LOVES it! He could spend hours just walking around the store looking into all the little display "peep holes".

So, just let me know when we can all meet up for some play time!

Looks like a great day! So glad you got to enjoy a fun day with your little man

Gabe and I had a great time. I just love my little boy. Little boys are just extra special to Mommies like us, aren't they?

Connie, it was so great meeting you and Gabe! I was very nervous (I'm working on a Nashville mini TR and I'll talk more about my nervousness in that) but you put me to ease immediately and we had such a nice chat. I may have gone a tiny bit overboard on the gifts but I love to shop for kids since I don't have any. I have 9 kids in my extended family that are under the age of 8 and I spoil them all! I honestly didn't realize how much stuff I had till I went to put them all together. Yes, I am a shopping addict. I'm really glad they enjoyed the gifts!

Oh and I did notice Gabe's cute hair. I wish now I would have told him how nice it looked! And Jim has commented several times how sweet and polite Gabe was. I guess they had quite the conversation while we were talking.

That was the real me. I wish I had a Pluto sweatshirt but I haven't found one yet. I love hoodies if they are zip up (can't wear one without a zipper as the "choke" me. I know it's all in my head but I end up tugging at the neck line all day) and I have never found a Pluto one. I'd pay good money if someone ever found me one! At least I was wearing something Disney that day and I had my Pluto bag.

Ariana, I genuinely enjoyed meeting you! I would have loved to visit longer, but as I am sure you noticed, Gabe has a pretty short attention span. Thank you for telling me that your husband commented on Gabe's manners! As a mommy, we love to hear these things since we always sort of wonder if the manners go out the window when we are not right there to prompt!

The gifts were AWESOME! The kids really liked EVERYTHING you picked out for them....even Jillian, and she is PICKY to say the least. Thank you so much for the thought and very apparent effort you put into the gift selection!

And now for our movie night update...

 

[oopsiDAISY]

So, as I stated in the last update our weekend plans got kind of flipped around a bit. We did not do movie night Saturday night since both Jillian and Charity were not home. We did manage to do it Sunday night, but it had to be scaled down a bit...but just a little bit!

The invitation:

Brian helped me with the decorations. I went a little bit more elaborate this time and it turned out really well! I should point out that since Walmart had no Finding Nemo party supplies, I went with a Clownfish color theme for the tableware.

The food:

The activities is where we had to scale back. Brian had TWO meetings that afternoon at church, so movie night didn't start until almost 6:30. Since we had "table food" that could not be eaten in the living room, we had to do an activity that they could do WHILE they watched the movie. So, instead of Go Fish and the Paper Plate Fish, I simply printed off a Nemo activity sheet from Disney Family Fun.

Our next movie night theme:

We won't be doing a movie night in March, so Swiss Family Robinson must wait until April. BUT, Charity's birthday is in March, so I am busy planning an American Girl tea party birthday party for her....so I will have that to report on.

The remainder of March is so BUSY for us. Brian is going to Montana on a mission trip, Jillian is going to Missisppi to spend a week with my parents along with my 17 yr old neice, and then all three children are going with Brian's parents to Gulf Shores for four days. So, as you can see...everyone in the family gets to travel next month...except for me. I suppose I will survive.

 

[DMGeurts]

Loved the movie night... The decorations are awesome and the food is perfect - as usual! Great job!

D~

 

[cheekypoppins]

WEll boo to that that everyones going somewhere but you!!!! On a good note ... I love the dining room and if that was my house I'd leave those decorations up as long as they'd stay up I think a disney dining room should be a forever thing!! I hear Snow whites on her way to see you though,so you'll have to let me know how that visit goes .

 

[Pluto0809]

Ariana, I genuinely enjoyed meeting you! I would have loved to visit longer, but as I am sure you noticed, Gabe has a pretty short attention span. Thank you for telling me that your husband commented on Gabe's manners! As a mommy, we love to hear these things since we always sort of wonder if the manners go out the window when we are not right there to prompt!

The gifts were AWESOME! The kids really liked EVERYTHING you picked out for them....even Jillian, and she is PICKY to say the least. Thank you so much for the thought and very apparent effort you put into the gift selection!

And now for our movie night update...




I'm glad the kids loved everything! I was a bit worried about Jillian's as teenagers can be hard.

Oh and next time, we should send Jim and Gabe to the Lego store that way we could chat a bit longer. Jim was all "ooohhh Legos" when we passed that store. We didn't go in but I bet if he had a playmate he would have dug right in!

As always, I loved the Nemo night and everything you did for it. Fish and Mac and Cheese, yum! Two of my favorites.

Very excited to see the Swiss Family Robinson night! That is one of my all time favorite Disney movies. Hmmmm, maybe Ostrich races for the activity?

 

[Chicago Mo]

Wanted to say:

Happy Valentines day!
Now going to catch up

 

[cheekypoppins]