DDA Chapter 27

[Blueeyes101817]

The news from Bob's speech therapist is that the burp is "significant." We are to keep an eye out for other changes that we can pinpoint!

never thought id be so excited to read about someone burping!!

 

[PNO4TE]

never thought id be so excited to read about someone burping!!

Believe me.... I never thought I would post about it!

 

[PNO4TE]

Good morning, DDA!

 

[MrsHeg]

Good Morning,

Elin - how exciting, I'm glad Bob is continuing to improve

Looks like we're in for a very rainy and windy weekend with Lee, our plans to take the kids to the zoo had to be rescheduled

 

[Tammi67]

Good morning.

Anyone up for a quick trip report?

Day 1 - Travel and Magic Kingdom

As you all know we drove up to Baltimore the day before we left. The drive up was easy except for some usual traffic on the Parkway to the airport. Our room was ready and we were able to check in early. Everyone was hungry so we went to dinner at Chili's (love their burgers) and then the kids swam at the hotel pool. Luckily I was able to get them both to sleep at a reasonable hour.

Our flight was on time and we arrived in Orlando around 10. I got a great deal on a midsize car with Advantage, who now has a counter in the terminal. Our options were Corolla or Corolla. Guess what we took! Anyway, it was a nice car and perfect for the 3 of us. I'd recommend Advantage if anyone needs a rental! We were on our way!

During the drive, I got a text that our Owners Locker had arrived at AKL. I dropped the kids and the bags off at AKL (it's amazing how traveling is changing now that they are getting older) and went and parked the car. We checked in and found that our room was ready. I was surprised, since it was so early. Fifth floor, overlooking the Arusha Savanna. Last year we were on the Uzima Savanna and I think I liked that one better. I called Bell Services to have our bags brought up. Our ponchos were in the OL and I didn't want to head to the park without them. While we waited (about 10 minutes) I took some pictures of the room and savanna.

We took the bus over to Magic Kingdom.

The castle show was going on.

We had an ADR at 2:30 at LTT so we decided to head to Adventureland and make our way to Liberty Square. We rode Pirates, saw the new (old) Tiki Birds (I think I might be the only one who liked the Under New Management better ), grabbed FPs for BTMRR, and visited with Donald before lunch. Look how sunny it is.

I had the Pot Roast (delicious!) and the kids had pizza. We shared the Ooey Gooey dessert.

This is what we saw when we were done.

We waited a few minutes on the porch and then decided to make a break for it. I knew we would need those ponchos! We headed to Fantasyland and rode IASW, the Carousel (why it's now Prince Charming's Carousel I have no idea) and saw PhilharMagic.

Here's what could be seen of the expansion. I assume that is Beast's Castle in the background.

 

[bethbuchall]

Tammi, I'm always up for a trip report! Great start and I can't wait to read more!

Debbie, I'm sorry that rain is canceling your plans for the zoo.

Matthew and Laura arrived home in time for dinner last night. It is so wonderful having them back for the weekend. I really needed the feedback about the beginning of classes, new living arrangements, etc. that is so much better in person. They are both doing well at school, though they are still adjusting to some of the changes. I am sure now that they will both thrive. Matthew is off at the funeral and his girlfriend's house for the day. Laura is currently at lunch with some high school friends.

 

[Tammi67]

Beth, enjoy your weekend with the kids! It sounds like it's just what you need to feel a little more relaxed.

 

[Tammi67]

Day 1 con't.

After Fantasyland we headed back down to Liberty Square. We really enjoyed Haunted Mansion's new queue.

The new ending was a surprise too. I missed the news about that somehow.

We decided to use our FPs for BTMMR and then head back to the resort to swim, but not before stopping for some photo ops.

As we walked through Adventureland I remembered that the Fairies were now here. The line was short so we waited.

Vidia was glad to see that Alyssa was wearing her favorite color.

Tinker Bell liked Alyssa's name tag

And started asking the CMs why she didn't have one

The answer: "everyone already knows who you are!"

When we got to the front of the park we decided to wait the 15 minutes to see Mickey and Minnie.

Nicholas was holding his Hidden Mickey book. Mickey took it from him and started flipping through the pages, showing it to Minnie. He was pointing out all the places that he was hidden, and then he told us there was one in this room that isn't in the book. We found it, but I forgot to take a picture of it. Mickey also commented on the kids' name tags. I hope we don't ever lose those, since you can't buy them anymore. They certainly are conversation starters!

Finally, after getting back to the resort, we swam and relaxed in the hot tub!

 

[lovesdumbo]

The news from Bob's speech therapist is that the burp is "significant." We are to keep an eye out for other changes that we can pinpoint!

That is great news!

I had a busy day considering it was a day off I went to school this morning and got all the permissions in place for the food/clothing drive. I came home and typed up an information sheet that I emailed to the school. That information was email and sent home on paper to all kids. Hopefully we'll get a good response. That also means that I need to sort through all the totes of clothes that we have and pull stuff out to donate. We've got a lot of nice things that no longer fit. I also have items in the pantry that I can part with as well as extra linens etc.

Nick and I headed out at 10 am to give some hands on help. It was very frustrating as people are overwhelmed. They haven't heard from FEMA and aren't sure if they can clean up or if they need to wait. Lots of people want to volunteer, but no one know how to go about it. We did help one man move clothing from his storage area in one town to his home in another. We also helped load his 900 lb gun safe

After that I headed to the town offices to see what the plan is for this weekend. They are also overwhelmed and tired and since they never expected this there was no plan in place. It sounds like they made progress with organization today and had people going door to door this afternoon checking with each property that was damaged and making lists of needs. Tomorrow we will meet at the town hall and break up into teams to take care of those needs. I've agreed to lead a team, but have no idea what we will be doing at this point.

Deb-not surprised to hear you are doing so much to help others in your area. Seems like an answer from FEMA on if folks can start clean up should be simple.

Good morning.

Anyone up for a quick trip report?

This is what we saw when we were done.

What day was this? Looks like the day I took Lizzy on Splash Mnt. It was just a slight drizzle when we got on the ride but then they stopped the ride while we were inside. When it started again and we made the big drop we exited to rain like that and DH had the ponchos. I made sure to carry two in my own bag from then on. We tried to wait it out by that little playground as the others were still dry but the water was getting very deep-about 6 - 8 inches and we all had on sneakers not sandals except Emma in crocs. We were able to stay dry and a CM came around and unplugged the drains and the water went away very fast. We still heading for the park exit as Lizzy & I were drenched. We had to wait a long while for a bus (they had shut down the monorail and had to have busses for CR, Poly & GF). We finally get on a bus and had the most insane bus driver we ever had. We made it from MK to BW in 8 minutes. I think he was going at least 70 mph. He was weaving in and out of lanes-I was standing and could barely hang on. Joe was sitting in the front and Emma was standing near him with her head resting on a window. I was sure she'd bump her head or bite her lip. When we got off the bus several families went to complain.






Tammi & Anne Marie-are you doing photopass? I only had about 20 photos or so taken but I HAVE to buy a photo of Joe with one of the teachers from school and I would like the 4 park photos from the day we did all 4 parks in one day and since I'm in for that much I might as well just go ahead and buy the CD....I haven't claimed my photos yet if anyone else is interested in going in on it.



Still recovering from my trip and trying to prepare myself for all the work I have ahead of me. I have to get control of the laundry today! I haven't done any back to school shopping but I think we have 90% of the supplies on hand and the clothes can wait. All the kids have been growing like weeds so I'm sure nothing will fit them once they are back in pants. Joe was almost 59" at his physical Tuesday and Emma was almost 54" at her's yesterday. Lizzy goes in a few weeks-she must be close to 5'4". Emma should be all set with hand me downs but Joe is so picky and Lizzy is in between sizes-girls don't fit her and neither do juniors. Her height in her torso so I think the junior pants will all be too long. When I made them PJs for the trip Joe's legs were the same legnth as Lizzy's. Maybe it will stay warm for a long while and they can just wear shorts!

I had the rest of my root canal Thursday and it hurts more than I remember the last one hurting. He did say today would be the worst of it. Now I need to make appointments for the crown.

I wore a pedometer on the trip and totaled over 80 miles so now I need to keep it up for the 1/2 marathon training. Should be easier with the cooler weather but I stll have to actually do it.

 

[Tammi67]

I want to share a few pictures from IASW. I'm so happy with my new camera. While not as crisp as I'd like, they are way better than any other I've taken.

 

[Tammi67]

Bernadette - that rainy was picture was taken our first day, the 20th. But pretty much every afternoon looked like that. I'm already in on a photopass share through TGM, or I would go in with you! I hope by tomorrow you see some relief from the root canal. 80 miles! Wow! I saw a girl wearing one and thought it was a good idea.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Bernadette - that rainy was picture was taken our first day, the 20th. But pretty much every afternoon looked like that. I'm already in on a photopass share through TGM, or I would go in with you! I hope by tomorrow you see some relief from the root canal. 80 miles! Wow! I saw a girl wearing one and thought it was a good idea.

That was the day! I think the rain was a bit worse that day-but maybe just because we got caught in it. It rained a lot on the 25th-the day we did the 4 parks but we were pretty lucky with those showers and always stayed dry and it helped to empty out the parks.

The pedometer I got can work in your pocket or even in a bag. I've been wearing it every day since I got it in April. I did over 150,000 steps on the trip. I did check it and Tower of Terror did NOT change step count. When I've worn it at the track here with the measured mile it is very accurate.

Your photos are great. It that your Nikon? I left my Nikon at home. Didn't want to deal with it in the rain and while my panasonic isn't as good it isn't too bad for a reasonably small point and shoot. Did I ever tell you about the rain cover I saw here on the Dis? Just cut tiny holes in the corners of a gallon size zip lock bag and put your camera straps (where they attach to the camera) through those holes. Works great, is cheap, and easy to have on hand.

OH...and have to agree that as the kids are getting older it is easier to travel with them.

 

[bear74]

Tammi loving the trip report. Love the pics of its a small world

 

[Blueeyes101817]

Tammi-Sounds like a good first day! I can't get over how much older the kids look everytime you post a picture of them.

 

[my3princes]

Can I just say that our community is amazing. Actually it's the community that I grew up in, but it's the next town over from us and they had lots of damage. I run the lacrosse program in that town so we are very connected. We had a good turnout for our volunteer day. I would guess 100+ people. We were dispersed to various areas in need. People had called and asked for help. They also sent teams to the town parks, the idea was that if we had extra volunteers they would work on the parks. I was team lead for one neighborhood/park. People were sent to houses and the park. I was to check with the various houses to make sure we had enough people to meet their needs. In the process I discovered several more families that needed help, but wouldn't ask as they felt others had greater need. I was able to pull everyone out of the park and place them in homes. When we left the neighborhood we had completed most projects. There is backyard that has a tree down and needs the garden pulled out because of the contaminents that were in the river water. That wasn't high priority for them or us. We also have one more garage that had 4 feet of water in it. We got the basement of the house emptied and everything brought to the dump. The homeowners were exhausted so we left the garage for a team tomorrow. The is one more house that had requested help, but were not home and one of the families that we helped today thinks his neighbor needs help, but he drives for greyhound and wasn't home. One house has most likely been condemned so nothing can be done to it and another had the oil tank tip over and spill 150 gallons of fuel oil which means a hazmat team has to go into that one. All in all it was very productive and that neighborhood was so greatful and amazed at how quickly things got done

The rest of the weekend is looking like rain which could cause many more issues. I plan to go through our closets and basement to get items off to help families. My basement can use a good cleaning so this will be my motivation.

 

[mommykds]

Tammi,
Great pictures!!! I really like your room ate AK..very pretty!
Too bad we missed you on that rainy day. We were right over at BTM fast pass area hiding out with a bunch of other people & CM's. It did pour like crazy!!!!! Looking forward to more.

Bernadette,
I entered in my code for photopass but I have not gone through them yet so maybe I will do a share...Gotta go check them out. Glad your root canal is done.

 

[Disney Yooper]

Tammi, I'm loving the trip report. Chuck was looking at them with me. His only comment "The kids are getting big, aren't they?" They grow so fast.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Deb-sounds like you all got a lot done. I bet having the help of neighbors has really lifted the spirits of those you've helped.

Tammi/Anne Marie-funny how we were all pretty close to each other that day. Sorry we didn't get together. I don't understand how times moves so fast at Disney.

Anne Marie-I'll hold off claiming my photopass photos just yet.


Joe, Emma & I are watching Star Wars. We've never seen it. Don't know what rock I was under when it first came out.

 

[Tammi67]

Good morning.

Deb - isn't it amazing how communities pull together in times like this?? Kudos to you all.

 

[Tammi67]

Day 2 Epcot

Sunrise

We were up and at the park for rope drop. I've learned that people are creatures of habit and just do what everyone else is doing. Each time we've gotten to a park there are about 6 or 8 turnstiles, right in the middle that have lines of people at them. When people walk up, they just line up behind the few that are already there. The rest of the turnstiles are empty. So we were the first ones in line at the "other" turnstile, and when they opened we were ahead of the pack to the rope area.

Our first stop was the Charaction Connection, where I was strong armed by a dad so his family could be first in the door. Fine. We were first last time and already had that experience. It still annoyed me that he even did that.

Dancing with Donald

Next stop was Soarin for FPs

This must have been a boring day. I don't have many pictures. We rode all the attractions in Future World and then left for the pool.

After a swim and a rest we headed back to Epcot for our ADR at Rose & Crown. We saw this perfectionist on the way.

When we checked in I asked if we could wait for an outside table. The CM said she would see what she could do, and after about a half hour we were seated at the most perfect table for viewing Illuminations. I had Bangers & Mash, which was new for me. Really didn't care for it. The kids had fish and chips. We had a leisurely meal and dessert started just as Illluminations did. A perfect ending to the day.