Coffee on the Verandah -The Last Slide, Recap & Souvies 5/29 - Link to Aulani TR 5/31

[eandesmom]

All caught up! The paddleboat adventure sounded like a lot of fun -- even if it was a lot of work. I'm loving your pictures.

Thanks! It was a ton of fun even though it was work. Even Evan would agree. I am very glad we did it, it was beautiful and different and a great memory to be sure.

What a great evening! I am so glad you took the boys to see Bob. I just love him. So much funny. Yeah - just try to sing that Sara song after a drink or two.

That song was a riot! So very funny. The whole thing was fun and entertaining and the boys ate it up.

What good luck (or was that supreme awesomeness) that came your way with the bus ride straight to POR. It's really not that far, so its great that you didn't have to go to Epcot and back. Nice. Really Nice!

It's not far at all! We'd have taken the boat back and then boat again, but they weren't running so we did the cab. Which was fine too but the boat would have been fun. Getting the bus there really let us see a lot more show and...save some $$!

Poor Kendall having to do Geometry on vacation. Oh well...a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

Great update!

Yeah well the girl dug her own grave on that one. It got worse as summer went on. Labor day weekend was spent doing homework. At the lake, with Jeff's dad and step mom here...the night before school started...etc.

Homework that we didn't know she had in addition to what she was working on during the trip (that didn't get done).

So totally true... It does feel like there are always new things to do along with old favorites...

It's how they keep us coming back!

So funny about Evan wanting to be "cool" and Eric not really caring...that's the difference in that year between pre puberty... I think the hormones have a "cool" switch...

They definitely do. It's next to the backtalking switch I think.

I love that Kendall wanted to see Phelps swim... (No Ryan Lochte ? We are big Phelps fans... David is swimming and wants to know when he is going to get his six pack and I explained that really doesn't happen to 10 year old boys-even swimming ones... that you really need to go through puberty, etc.... but he told me he thought he was getting a "juice box".... which I thought was funny plus when he showed me what he was talking about it did look like his "abs" were a bit toned...

Juice box

Yes I made it a point to watch them swim. They were both in Charlotte in May so I got some up close and personal time with Lochte- ( not that up close and personal, but I did get to talk to him a bit and close enough to touch him)

Phelps is way more private and I respect that. Ryan is a typical Florida frat boy. That boy can be a mess.

Well Phelps went through his own party stage, maybe he wised up a little.

Cool pictures from Bob's show! Love the autograph!

Isn't that cute? Eric has it in his room. Somewhere. I need more frames, I always seem to be out!

 

[englishrose47]

You know you inspired me to suggest to The Grannies and Christine is shivering in her shoes in case I pole dance with Bob!!!

 

[eandesmom]

You know you inspired me to suggest to The Grannies and Christine is shivering in her shoes in case I pole dance with Bob!!!

That will definitely be picture worth Rosie! The Grannies will LOVE Bob!

And vice versa I am sure

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

so glad you enjoyed the show, we had a blast when we went, he does a great job or getting everyone involved...since you showed up late...did he ask what state you were from and everyone else there happened to be from the same state as well?

 

[eandesmom]

so glad you enjoyed the show, we had a blast when we went, he does a great job or getting everyone involved...since you showed up late...did he ask what state you were from and everyone else there happened to be from the same state as well?

You know I think somehow our arrival timed with the end of a short break as there were lots of other folks coming and going so we definitely didn't appear late at all. He did ask us but there were several others that got asked as well at the same time so it wasn't a big deal. Or at least that I recall.

LOL!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

You know I think somehow our arrival timed with the end of a short break as there were lots of other folks coming and going so we definitely didn't appear late at all. He did ask us but there were several others that got asked as well at the same time so it wasn't a big deal. Or at least that I recall.

LOL!

i was amazed in our show how he remembered everyones name and where they were from etc even a few hours later at the end of the show.

he spent the time before the show started going around to each table asking people info and would use thta in the show...very bright and entertaining man.

 

[eandesmom]

i was amazed in our show how he remembered everyones name and where they were from etc even a few hours later at the end of the show.

he spent the time before the show started going around to each table asking people info and would use thta in the show...very bright and entertaining man.

He definitely remembered places and called folks up/out based on that...don't recall names though. Still it was impressive!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

That sounds like a really fun show. I'll add it to "The Binder". Which is not quite "The Plan"...more the green room really..only without the snacks.

 

[eandesmom]

That sounds like a really fun show. I'll add it to "The Binder". Which is not quite "The Plan"...more the green room really..only without the snacks.

Oh I know the "binder" well. Granted it's in my head but I rather like the idea of a green room...in my head.

The challenge is the migration of the binder, to the plan, without losing nuggets. there is where actually writing things down can help.

Hence my top 10 list...on my "notes" app on my phone.

Except it's 20 at the moment and not stack ranked at all.

note to self. Add stack ranking to the list.

Except that would be a different list.



You would love Bob! I could see the first lady and the girls just eating it up.

 

[winkers]

Fun night! You guys had quite a packed day, even though you were up late by Florida time...I would have been crashed out long before yeehaw bob!

He looks like a fun thing to do, it's on my list of next time.

 

[scottny]

All caught up. Great update and pics.

The pedal boat looks like fun. I remember doing them in Lake George NY with my father when I was a kid.

Going to see Bob is fun. I don;t know what day it was but his facebook page he posts the pics there too.

Looking forward to more.

 

[eandesmom]

Fun night! You guys had quite a packed day, even though you were up late by Florida time...I would have been crashed out long before yeehaw bob!

LOL! That would be 7pm our time. We'd make it to midnight if we were in CA I think so it was fine, we'd gotten enough sleep the night before and plenty that morning (well the kids had anyway lol). Late to get started though. We are typically late night folks at WDW so it worked well.

He looks like a fun thing to do, it's on my list of next time.

Your gang would love it!

All caught up. Great update and pics.

Thanks, it was a really fun evening.

The pedal boat looks like fun. I remember doing them in Lake George NY with my father when I was a kid.

That's a fun memory!

Going to see Bob is fun. I don;t know what day it was but his facebook page he posts the pics there too.

Looking forward to more.

I didn't think to check his FB page. My guess is the picture went up while we were on the cruise so wouldn't have been able to see it anyway as I think they are a week or so out. Not sure though. I'd go again, it was a hoot! Jeff would have loved it and actually Taylor, the 19 year old, would have eaten it up too.

 

[KatMark]

I am trying to catch up on at least a couple of my subscribed threads before I hit the sack before our last day tomorrow at the World.

So glad that you and the boys had a great time at YEE HAW BOB. Too funny how Evan decided to be "cool" again when it was picture time.

Love the pixie dust with the bus ride.

 

[eandesmom]

I am trying to catch up on at least a couple of my subscribed threads before I hit the sack before our last day tomorrow at the World.

Waving to you at Old Key West! I hope your last nights sleep was magical and this morning has gone well, you've had a lovely breakfast at Kona and a safe trip to Marco. I loved the picture of you both at Emeril's, just lovely!

So glad that you and the boys had a great time at YEE HAW BOB. Too funny how Evan decided to be "cool" again when it was picture time.

It was definitely an on/off switch, pretty funny!

Love the pixie dust with the bus ride.

It was magical

 

[Moira222]

oh my gosh the videos are funny! I was just telling Joe about the YeeHaw Bob show last night after seeing your pictures, but the videos of the interaction really are great. I am thinking that we need to plan one or two extra days next trip of no parks, just resorts & non-park fun.

and I meant to say, after catching up on the whole TR over the weekend, that Coffee on the Verandah has truly taken on new meaning

 

[eandesmom]

oh my gosh the videos are funny! I was just telling Joe about the YeeHaw Bob show last night after seeing your pictures, but the videos of the interaction really are great. I am thinking that we need to plan one or two extra days next trip of no parks, just resorts & non-park fun.

Yeah, you get a better feel for the show with the videos, as crummy as they are! I want to plan and stick to, at least one non park day our next trip too. It was really wonderful and so different than the half resort days we've done in the past.

and I meant to say, after catching up on the whole TR over the weekend, that Coffee on the Verandah has truly taken on new meaning

Amazing what comes up in the chatter isn't it. It does make me smile I have to admit.

 

[eandesmom]

We've made it to day 3! But first...a little PTR update for my girls trip. Check it out.

It has been NUTS around here, Jeff may have a 5-10 day work trip that's had us all a flutter, I was supposed to have another girls trip 2 weeks before the WDW one and well, you know how fall is. Family stuff is nuts, Soccer, Cross Country, Scouts, Jazz Band, Youth Group and my parents have not one but two parties in the next 5 weeks. Work is worse, it's crazy busy between now and Mid Dec. I actually mapped out my next 6 weeks to try to figure out a time to have dinner with another couple. HAH! Not gonna happen. And I feel horrible as I think they feel blown off but man, they don't have kids and don't quite get it.

Quickly, here's my current plan and it is a very DISy one!

10/16:
Arrive at MCO at 5:30, DME to VWL, quick change and head to Epcot! Dinner at Les Chefs with Mary Ellen. I do hope to buy a new coffee cup this evening. Either at Epcot, or at WL. Need it for the morning you know! I also plan to pick up some lovely bottle of wine at the F&W festival to take back to our room, we will see if I can fit those 2 agenda items in. Literally, that's all that’s officially on my agenda for the night. And doesn't mean we will drink it that night. LOL! Park hours aren't late anywhere which is a bit of a bummer but I’m not worried...

10/17:
Open morning, could be MK, could be resort, whatever we feel like! 11:00 lunch at Via Napoli with Melissa (mickeysmyboy) and her DH, Anita (wigdoutmom) and Mark, Mary Ellen and I. Mary Ellen and I may have to leave early, we have a 1pm culinary seminar to attend, hosted by Moises Flores, San Angel Inn, Mexico Pavillion, Epcot®. He will be focusing on Chicken. Ok, I've never eaten at San Angel, that’s not really a draw but the DVC price is $9 each and I can always use new ideas for chicken! 45 minutes and will include tastings, should be fun! We are planning the night to be a WS Kiosk tasting meander but are pretty loose as well. Epcot does have evening EMH so I could see us taking a break after our seminar for pool time or whatever. Air Supply is playing for Eat to the Beat, which will be entertaining to me, I'm sure I'll have some serious HS flashbacks.

10/18:
Breakfast at The Wave. Excited for this, menu looks SO good. It will be a tough call between menu or the buffet. MK does have EMH, not sure if we will try to hit that or not. Either this day, or the day before, I do want to make RD as....I’ve never seen the MK opening show! We have our big DIS meet at 1:30. So far I think we have 12 DISers plus their spouses and kids depending on who brings whom. Should be a ton of fun! That night we have…MNSSHP! And it does look like there may be costumes involved and another Diser. Working out the details now but suffice to say, it's looking rather fun! Looks like at least 5 DISers we know will be going to the party that same night. I really want to try a waffle sandwich for dinner. LOL!

10/19:
Dinner at Citricos. That is literally all that’s officially on the schedule! It may be an AK morning, or who knows! Eat to the Beat is Gin Blossoms. I do like them, not sure it will work this night or the previous due to dinner times and MNSSHP but if it does, that'd be cool.

10/20:
Today we move to BWV! Right now DHS is the current plan, with dinner at Flying Fish where Tina (tinacaplan) will be joining us! DHS has morning EMH and I love hitting TSM during that, twice, and then heading to writers stop for a carrot cake cookie and coffee. We will see if we can pull that off with dropping bags at bell services but am kind of hoping it's a DHS early morning, head to resort, check in and then go from there.

10/21:
We have a 1pm culinary seminar with Judith McLaughlin, Kerrigold® Irish Butter on Cheese & Pork. If you don't know what Kerrigold is...it's the most amazingly decadent butter ever and the kind they use in the Raglan Road Bread Pudding. This one is sold out and I'm very excited for it. Dinner is at Brown Derby which works well with evening EMH being available after we finish our delicious meal. That is all that's officially planned and we will work around those. If I want more HS flashbacks...Eat to the Beat is Survivor. Gee...am I the target demographic for this or what? LOL!

10/22:
Departure day for me. WAH! But at least I don’t have to get on the not so magical express until about 3:30. Have a tentative plan for breakfast at Kouzzina with Jenny (rentayenta) but we will probably be playing that by ear based on what’s up with her gang, etc. Mary Ellen doesn't leave until the next day so luckily I don't have to take my stuff down early, which means afternoon pool time is a real possibility!

I am SO excited for this trip!!!!!!!!!

I have started a "top 10". However, it's turned into a top… 22 so far. These are not necessarily in order and some easier for me to get done, than others. I didn't list the obvious...like the F&W kiosks!

1. Opening Show at MK
2. Really look at the shops on Main Street
3. Really look at the shops at DHS
4. Dumbo
5. Little Mermaid Show
6. Country Bear Jamboree
7. Waffle sandwich
8. Backlot tour
9. Figment
10. EWP
11. COP
12. Pumpkin Spice Funnel cake
13. New fantasyland...anything and everything that's open
14. Check out Fort Wilderness decorated for Halloween. (had wanted to do a carriage ride..they aren’t doing them this year, wah!)
15. Hallowishes from TOWL
16. Tiki room, no longer under new management
17. Living with the land
18. The movie in Canada
19. SOAT
20. Ellen's energy adventure
21. Malestorm
22. New character meet and greet at Storybook Circus

Ok, back to the TRIP report update!

Today was…let's go to the beach day!

Vero Beach.

A pivotal element in this trip, and in the decision to go ahead and buy DVC.

The tipping factor if you will.

We weren't actually in a rush though. Why not? Well…as many of you might recall, we have a small thing for Jimmy Buffet. And Margaritaville. And a certain Grumman Albatross named the Hemisphere Dancer. Our original plan had called for arrival at MCO, pick up rental car, drive to Margaritaville for lunch and then head to Vero. When we changed things around one thing was clear to both of us.

We'd still be going to Margaritaville!

As you might imagine, it's not really a breakfast place. And clearly...the kids are not morning people in the summer when we aren't trying to make rope drop. As a result, we came up with a plan that worked for everyone. Jeff, Kendall and I would get up and go work out no later than 8:30. Jeff would go get the rental car, leaving straight from his workout, K & I would head back to the villa, I'd pack while the kids had a light breakfast and then we'd be off to visit Jimmy. Check out was at 11 and that seemed just perfect. With that we'd be at Margaritaville around 11:30, on the road by 1 and hopefully to Vero by 3 at the latest.

Amazingly….Kendall got up with zero issues! Jeff and Kendall decided to run to the fitness center, my plan (as I don't run) was to either walk, or ride the bus, depending on if a bus came right away. One did. And it passed Jeff and Kendall (who I later learned made a wrong turn or two on their way). Upon my arrival I actually headed in to settle our bill. I'd tried the night before but our lunch at Cookes still wasn't showing up on the room charge and since I was using gift cards to pay it, I'd wanted to make sure that things were applied correctly. Normally that would have happened at midnight I think the night before but since it wasn't there when I checked (prior to us heading back to the villa the night before), I wasn't overly worried about it and sure enough, it was just now there and I was able to use my GC. As a result, Jeff and Kendall beat me to the gym. A small note about the fitness center at OKW. It is a great little fitness center and really did have everything we'd need or want. It was however, small. And pretty darn busy! So it was crowded. I always worry in those scenarios I'm going to whack someone as I do my light free weights. They just did some remodeling/moving around at our Y too and now we have the same problem but in the stretching area. Small also means warm and poor Jeff, who runs warm anyways, was really really warm. And not thrilled about heading straight to get the rental car feeling sticky and sweaty but…what can you do.

Jeff changed, giving me his sweaty clothes to take back and we headed out together. I had brought our mugs with us, to use for water while working out and then for Jeff to take one, full of Nescrappe while he went to get the car. Consolation prize coffee I guess. Which we both thought he'd need as the whole car thing was a bit…of a mess. I had gone through a LOT of options when booking our rental car. We'd saved quite a bit by dropping 2 days and downgrading from a minivan to a "standard" SUV. We hoped all our stuff would fit but figured for an hour, we could suck up whatever we had to, as long as it sat 5. My preference would have been to be able to pick up the car at the Dolphin, or the Car Care Center. However neither of those had a car we could then return to the port so our options became more limited. I'd ended up going with Budget. Which was supposedly located in a hotel "right across/next to DTD". I'd done my research, had the address and had even spent quite a bit of time with them on the phone the prior day. I had called as the site had said they would come and pick you up, which sounded perfect. Upon calling the location I thought we were to call, she sent me to another one, who supposedly was the one that had "our" car for the next day. In speaking with them, they couldn't come get us (can’t recall why) but reiterated the directions I had which seemed relatively simple. Jeff’s plan was to take a bus to DTD and then cab to the hotel. Minimize expense, and time. As we left, Jeff was still waiting for a DTD bus.

Kendall and I decided to walk. It is such a lovely lovely walk. Honestly I wish we'd done it every time and not taken the bus. So pretty. In fact I decided to test out the stitching app again!

Sigh. This makes me want to be back there now!

Oh wait, I will be…in 25 days!

I also decided to actually LOOK at the quiet pool. Only the boys had been in it and besides wanting to actually see it, I did want to see what it said for posted hours.

Our villa is in the corner! Nestled in the trees.

10pm by the way. 10pm is when the quiet pool was “supposed” to close.
10am is what it was now and I needed to take a shower and get packing so Kendall and I hurried up to the villa. Imagine my surprise when I saw…Evan was still asleep! Guess all that paddling really wore him out. I told Kendall to go ahead and take the first shower while I got the E's moving on packing and breakfast, reiterating the "light" part of breakfast as we'd be having a big lunch soon. I inhaled a yogurt and then packed up all the dry goods, thankfully I had kept all the grocery bags from our delivery service as we had more left than I'd expected. Then came the challenge of the items we’d need to keep cold, or at least cool. I had muffins, fruit, bread, lunch meat, cheese, creamer, mustard and mayo. And only one insulated tote. In my original thinking, we'd have used up all the cheese and lunchmeat. With the lunch at Cookes, we had more extra than I'd anticipated. The food was going to be in the car for a minimum of 3 hours, maybe more so not using ice didn't seem like a smart idea. I had packed two of those wine bubble travel bags that fit around a bottle. I hadn't needed it on the way out but figured we might for the cruise. I decided to convert them to an ice bag since they had a Velcro closure at the end. It worked pretty well except…they were big! Which made getting all into the one tote...interesting. Figuring all that out took longer than expected and as we approached 11, and I wasn't ready (not even in the shower), and Jeff wasn't back…the dreaded knock came.

"Housekeeping"

OOPS! Sorry, not ready, almost!

"No problem, we'll come back"

While I was wrestling with ice, Jeff was dealing with his own saga. He'd been texting back and forth. The bus to DTD, after 20 minutes, still hadn’t come. So he took a cab. To the address we had. Which apparently was nowhere near DTD. According to Jeff. Upon arriving there…they didn’t have our car. It was at the other location, which was supposedly closer. So they drove him to that location. An hour later, he had the car. And we'd been upgraded to an Explorer. More than enough room. At about 11:15 or so he arrived. And he still needed to shower! I had just finished drying my hair at that point. While he did his thing, we loaded the car. Which was dirty. Apparently he had told them not to bother cleaning it so he could get back in time. Of course, as I was loading, I didn't know that! Housekeeping appeared to be hovering outside our villa, which was stressing me out, though they kept assuring me it was no big deal. Finally, with Jeff clean, our mugs refilled with the last of the coffee and the dishwasher started...we were on the road!

A good 45 minutes late I think. It may have been more, I'm almost positive it was. The super sweet head of housekeeping happened to be next to our car in her cart as we were loading and I apologized over and over again and she was so sweet, assuring me it was not a big deal at all, they'd just gone on to the next one and would be back at ours and to take our time, which was a relief since at that moment poor Jeff was just hopping in the shower. Still, I felt terrible. First trip home and being a bad DVCer. Using our phone as a GPS we set off for Universal. Now in theory, it's only about a 30 minute drive. Somehow, with parking and then walking over to the Lone Palm Airport it was literally 12:50 when we took this picture. So much for our 11:30 lunch!

Still, just seeing it, made us smile and relax. We really weren't on a time frame, we love this place and needed to just chill and enjoy! And while you might not be able to tell, both Jeff and I were dressed in honor of the occasion.

With no wait, we were seated right away

And got a picture complete with creepy eyes that for whatever reason my various red eye fixes would NOT work (was giving us black eyes instead), so you get the original version

The boys love playing captain. You can't really tell but Eric is wearing his Vero Beach pin that I'd given him when we told them about the trip in honor of our impending arrival there later. Evan, his UK one. Not sure why that one. He'd gotten Eric to buy him the Germany one as part of the infamous rock climbing bet. It is cute though, Evan will often wear a Disney pin to school with his outfit, whatever suits his mood at the moment.

Margaritas were ordered and we got to watch the volcano blow!

And check out some Margaritaville TV which is VERY entertaining.

And some radio Margaritaville

By the time the food arrived, we were starving! Most of the gang went for...a cheeseburger in paradise of course!

As for me, I went for this beauty,

FISH SANDWICH
Grilled, blackened, or fried and served on a wheat roll with lettuce, tomato, tartar sauce, and lemon.

I went for blackened and substituted onion rings for the fries.

I know. I was at Margaritaville and didn't have a burger. For shame! But for whatever reason, the fish sandwich was calling my name and it was SO good, I am happy I got it. Jeff and I shared a 2nd margarita during lunch. Hey, who knows when we will be back there, right? Full and happy, we paid our bill, making sure to give them our AAA card for 10% off. Love that. Ok, it covers tax plus a little but still, every little bit helps!

After lunch it was time for key stop #3 on our Parrothead list. #1 being a visit to the Hemisphere Dancer. Check. #2, lunch at Margaritaville. Check. #3…visit the Margaritaville store! The real question to me was, how many shirts would Jeff buy?

Guess what. A shirt was not on Jeff’s immediate agenda. Shorts were. Thanks to the exploding hair gel, he was in a bit of a crises and quickly found that the store had Tommy Bahama like dressier items with a Margaritaville label, including some very nice shorts. He then went to look at all the shirts. The store did not have a changing room so he had to get the shorts and go back into the restaurant bathroom to try them on. Odd. Too expensive to buy without trying on first. While he did that, the kids and I looked around. Evan had been dying to get something at Margaritaville, one of his favorite shirts from our 2010 trip was from this very store. He kept gravitating towards things that weren’t, how shall we say, age appropriate. Or even Evan appropriate. As in there wasn’t anything wrong with the shirt age wise but it wasn’t stuff he was actually into, kind of like he was trying too hard to make something “fit” just so he could buy something there for the sake of buying something. Jeff on the other hand hadn’t found anything he wanted either on the shirt side. It of course has to have a plane on it. And a lot of their stuff doesn’t. Most in fact. When it does, it is a seaplane and Jeff loves that. It’s a big store and a busy one and you kind of have to dig, things can be hidden. So while he tried on the shorts, Evan and I looked. And looked. It just seemed wrong to leave without at least one new shirt for Jeff, even if he did end up with the shorts. We found a few. Not available in his size. We gave up and looked for me. I found one I liked…Evan wasn’t so sure. He found one he thought I should buy for myself instead. I wasn’t so sure. It seemed like Jeff had been gone forever, so we looked some more for him. And found a shirt! In the meantime, Evan decided all on his own, that the shirts weren’t really him and he’d save his money. We showed Jeff our discovery, winner! We showed him my two choices…and he sided with Evan. Overruled I decided to go with the one my entire family said I should buy.

Shopping finally done we checked out, again using our AAA card for the 10% off. However at lunch we’d gotten a coupon as well and somehow we figured it was a better deal to do 2 transactions, one with the coupon and one with our AAA . I don’t recall the details but the bottom line was it lessened the pain of the shorts, definitely an unexpected purchase and not what either of us would define as a “souvenir”. Finally, it was time to leave. We started to head back to the car and realized a bio break would be a good idea as we still had an hour drive. The boys and I headed to our respective restrooms. Coming out I found a CityWalk employee looking for me, asking if I was Kendall’s stepmom. Yes, I am. Why?

"You need to come with me, she’s back at first aid"

"Why?"

"Her ankle is bleeding"

Huh?

I followed the woman, magically the first aid area was directly behind the restrooms we were at.

Kendall is sitting on a hospital bed and yep, her ankle is bleeding.

"What happened?"

"I have no idea

I looked down, and blood was running down my ankle!"


Weird! All we can think is that she scraped it on something under the table at the restaurant but she definitely didn't recall feeling anything whenever it did happen.

Ok so…she needed to be cleaned up and bandaged.

20 forms later…(ok maybe 3 but it was crazy, I had writers cramp) full of disclaimers and what not she was cleaned up and bandaged. It took a good 15 minutes. We’d have been better off going to the car; I had a full first aid kit in my suitcase! Although I didn’t have the huge bandaids they did, and they gave us extras which was good.

As we arrived at the car it was…3:30. About the time I’d hoped to be arriving at Vero.

Sigh.

Oh well, what can you do?

The long road to Vero

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

But first...a little PTR update for my girls trip. Check it out.

Looks like it'll be a great trip!

We'd still be going to Margaritaville!

But hopefully not wasting away.

Kendall and I decided to walk. It is such a lovely lovely walk. Honestly I wish we'd done it every time and not taken the bus. So pretty.

And probably just as fast as the bus!

Sigh. This makes me want to be back there now!

Me too.

Oh wait, I will be…in 25 days!

Don't rub it in!

"Housekeeping"

OOPS! Sorry, not ready, almost!

"No problem, we'll come back"

Uh oh. Now you're on the clock. I hate that feeling.

Still, just seeing it, made us smile and relax. We really weren't on a time frame, we love this place and needed to just chill and enjoy! And while you might not be able to tell, both Jeff and I were dressed in honor of the occasion.

And got a picture complete with creepy eyes that for whatever reason my various red eye fixes would NOT work (was giving us black eyes instead), so you get the original version

I hear you get used to the alien parasites after a day or so.

By the time the food arrived, we were starving! Most of the gang went for...a cheeseburger in paradise of course!

I know. I was at Margaritaville and didn't have a burger. For shame!

Such a rebel.

Coming out I found a CityWalk employee looking for me, asking if I was Kendall’s stepmom. Yes, I am. Why?

"You need to come with me, she’s back at first aid"

"Why?"

"Her ankle is bleeding"

Was it the parasite?

20 forms later…(ok maybe 3 but it was crazy, I had writers cramp) full of disclaimers and what not she was cleaned up and bandaged. It took a good 15 minutes.

Better check it again. You just sold them your DVC points.

 

[winkers]

I didn't realize margaritaville was a full destination spot!

Crazy about Kendall's ankle! You would think she'd feel something like that. But then I constantly find giant bruises on my body that I don't know where they came from.

Considering the shape I'm in this probably won't come as a surprise but, I don't understand excercising on vacation. Esp. somewhere like WDW where you walki 13 miles a day. Perhaps, this theory is the reason my behind is in a seperate hemisphere from my top half?

 

[Misskitty3]

Great update but poor Kendall....hope her ankle injury doesn't cause any issues with the rest of the trip!

So, so jealous of your upcoming WDW trip! How fun!!

Could you explain a bit more about the gift cards you use and why? I seem to remember in your pre-trip report you commenting about picking up a few more. Do you use them just for budgeting purposes or are there other benefits too?