"Did Pluto Just Give You A Lap Dance?" 10 days of Naughty & Nice!

[adsrtw]

I have to admit...I giggled a bit...and you have to head to Vero someday...

BTW...how far ar you from the chicago area...we will be there for 2 weekends in April for soccer!

I am so sorry! I thought I subscribed but didn't. We are about 6 1/2 hours from Chicago.

 

[tink25]

Subbing....loving your TR and I read a good bit of your PTR....you are freakin' hilarious!

 

[Dizneydawn]

Can we pleeeaase have an update???

Yes...this weekend will get through 2 more days...

Just found your report, and 1 1/2 hours later have read through and am loving your report. You make me not dread the teen years when my kids get older! What a great family you have and it sounds like you made some wonderful memories. I hope you update soon. I'm off to check out your pre-trip report. I was on a girl's trip at Disney that same weekend in December. The weather was awesome.

Thank you for the kind words...I have been away forever it seems...but a lot has happened this month...that needed to get into priority mode...including Treyner finalizing his Fort Lewis College acceptance and making sure all these NCAA II forms are filled out...he needs an agent cause I am just a simple mama!

great report so far! looking forward to more

Thanks and I love ya for your patience!

I am so sorry! I thought I subscribed but didn't. We are about 6 1/2 hours from Chicago.

Wanna see some soccer?

Subbing....loving your TR and I read a good bit of your PTR....you are freakin' hilarious!

I try...usually the only freakin thing on me is my huge bottom!

Seriously I am very sorry to all of you that I have been away...I just had a crazier than usual month...and family things needed my priority with less distractions than usual.

I know this may sound crazy to many of you...but I really take this writing seriously and I could not begin to tell you the joy I get from reliving the details of this trip. With all of you. It just seems to diminish the writing style I have and clarity I like to write with when so many heavy things are on the horizon. Yet now...I am settled...at peace...and so glad you have not all forgotten me...

I will start tom....maybe even tonight...Promise...or may I loose my left piddipple!

 

[Dizneydawn]

Day 2 - "My Crack is Better Than Yours"

We left Vero about 7 pm. or so and headed to Kissimmee and took a different route that shaved off at least 40 minutes of our drive...got there in about 1:40 doing the speed limit.

In doing so..we drove through Kissimmee proper and saw...(please play music of angels singing and the heavens opening!)

"Nike Clearance"

Now this is not the Nike Outlet...in fact...it only stated Clearance...and I made a mental note that we needed to head back there before our trip was over. The kids wanted to go right then...but I promised a later trip back.

My kids love Nike...Treyner is a shoe floozy...worse than Imelda herself and if I can get me some sneakers at a deeper than debt discount...I have a moment as good as Godiva.

We had directions to our townhouse we would be staying at when not at OKW...and found it with little effort.

I grabbed some bags from the car and Treyner followed me up to finagle the lock box that contained the key since he knows I am handicapped with anything involving coordination.

We walked into the hallway and was greeted by the nicest place! As soon as you enter the place...a nice sized kitchen is to the left (all Mickey decked with appliances and dishes) and to the right is the kids bedroom with 2 twin beds and the washer dryer closet and kids bathroom.

Straight ahead was the dining room and living room with a nice sized screen porch. Off to the right of the living room was a master bed and bath.


The entire place was gorgeous and decked to the hilt with nice furnishings and all the home amenities you could want. Gorgeous color palette on the walls and 2 extra twin cots for whomever could not sleep in beds!

This my friend was rec'd for $60 a night. Great deal and was plenty of room. It takes about 10-12 minutes to get on property from the resort...so close...and I am glad we stayed...but it was not the same as on property. I would stay there again if the need arose...vs. any hotel off property...but if I can stay with the Mouse...I will.

Here are some pics of the place!

The kids were amazed at how nice it was and liked their own room with play station and closet space!

Carsyn took a cot and was glad to have the living room to use as her space!

We went to bed fairly early that night...and wanted to get up at a decent time to enjoy Universal Studios as our first park day.

I had vowed not to be kamikaze planner this trip and sleep in a bit and go with the flow at the parks...

Because...I have been that psycho nut job who over plans and obsesses about the clock. In fact...one time...during a trip that involved AK when it first opened...I might have gone a tad bit overboard.

Ya see...they talked about how busy the park was and the fact that you needed to be there really early or lines would be bad bad bad...and I ...the overachiever I am...listened...too well..

I got everyone up so early that the sun was still hibernating...so early that Willard Scott was only dreaming of old people and jelly...so early that the ticket people at the parking lot...were not even there to take money yet...

Yup...how many of you can say you were the first at a parking pass counter? I can...and if you wait long enough for them to come...they just laugh at you...they do not feel sorry for your OCD issues...they do not give you a discount and there was no one to hand me a certificate or dream of any kind...

But there was 3 kids...who said...never again...and have never let me forget the day I was worried about overcrowding...cause the hour wait after that in the sun waiting for them to open the main gates...was so fun...with everyone around us being told that we were here before the parking lot was open so we are used to waiting...

Yet I know that I had charitable work done that day...there were spouses who were equally perturbed at the crack of dawn wake up call they rec'd as well...yet they...knew they were not as bad off as they could have been...because they were only woken at the crack...

which is in the backside...
not the shin of dawn...
where I kicked my family...
cause that's how I roll...

 

[whogirl'smom]

yay! An update! Don't you just love vrbo? We were on there all weekend thinking about a trip to the outer banks this summer if we go with friends. If we go alone, it's a hotel all the way so I don't have to make beds! That condo you got looks beautiful and you can't beat the price. I hope you had fresh baked Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for your kids in the car while you were waiting!

 

[Dizneydawn]

yay! An update! Don't you just love vrbo? We were on there all weekend thinking about a trip to the outer banks this summer if we go with friends. If we go alone, it's a hotel all the way so I don't have to make beds! That condo you got looks beautiful and you can't beat the price. I hope you had fresh baked Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for your kids in the car while you were waiting!

Yes...VRBO has the best deals! No...no rolls in the car that daymany moons ago...which is probably a good thing. They would have probably been launched at my head!

Will write Universal tomorrow!

 

[whogirl'smom]

Well, the outer banks lost out yet another year in a row--guess who got a 40% off code? I asked dh if he would be willing to give up a beach trip to go back to disney this year; his response was "he## yeah!". Gotta love a man you've converted to Disney-mania!

 

[jewels1916]

Hi! Just found your trip report - I've been looking for TRs around the same time that I am planning on going next December, and I am so glad I found yours! You all look like you had such a great time! Can't wait to read more!

And many prayers to Baylor for his continued recovery!

 

[mblc14]

We miss you!! Hope everything is ok...waiting for more..

 

[zigzagzerr]

Hi Dawn!

I'm enjoying your trip report very much -- your kids look like they're having a blast! Waiting to hear about Universal.

 

[winkers]

The house looks great!

Ok, I've been gone for 10 days and no update?????

 

[KittyKat08]

I'm so loving your TR. Your writing style is fabulous and I find myself laughing out loud many times.

Anxiously awaiting another update!

 

[OhMari]

It's almost been 3 months,
this is too good, to not finish.
I hope you return.

 

[skhermsmeyer]

Did this TR die a horrible death?? I need more! I want to hear about everything! Congrats on the wedding! Hope all your kids are doing well and getting ready to drive you batty over summer vacation!

 

[Dizneydawn]

Hi.

Hello.

Buenas Dias.

Ok. Fine don't answer me.

But the guilt I will feel because you are ignoring me will cause me to eat.

And I am already fat so if you give me the silent treatment and thus make me lean on food to get through this akward phase between us and you make me fatter, the next time I am fighting with a tube top at Target in the dressing room and it snaps and the ricochet of the spandex causes me to hurdle myself out of the dressing room into an old lady who happens to be walking by and her blue hair gets disheveled and she can't get it done till next Friday cause Patty her beauty operator is in Branson seeing the Elvis impersonator who won 1st place at the Missouri talent show last fall, well it will be your fault.

You're thinking twice about ignoring me aren't ya.

Or you are thinking that the surveliance video of me on top of Grandma blue bunny on the floor of a dressing room would be worth seeing on "You Tube."

It's definitely one or the other.

Alright, in all seriousness, you all deserve an explanation.

I hate being sappy. I hate being sad. The truth is after the last time I posted, I could not get happy looking or thinking back to that vacation.

Not because we did not have a great time.

Not because I do not want to take us all back again.

It was just hard.

Painfull.

Heartwrenching to think about.

For you who have read this story, you know that Baylor was burned in an accident last Halloween.

What you don't know and what I did not realize either, was how devastated I was at the core of my being because I had spent so much time helping him, healing him, pampering him - that I did not let what had happened hit me.

On the surface I did - but I rarely cried, I rarely let myself think about anything but how to make Baylor better and Baylor fit in and Baylor gain weight and Baylor be Baylor.

The truth though, last spring, hit me like I have never been hit before. Because he will never be Baylor before the accident. He will never be exactly the same. He will always be Baylor who was burned. He will always bear the scars that causes him stares and have to worry about sunburn because it can lead to re-grafting and figure out how to answer questions or respond to statements when people are just cruel.

His burn will never define who he is, but his burn has made him into who he has become and what he has to deal with every day. There is a difference
in those two things. He does not allow it to stop him from pursuing his dreams, his sports and his love of life. But it does become one of the first things people who interact with him see, wonder about and for some talk about. So even if he wants to put it out of mind and out of sight - he can't and that my friends makes me very angry.

And very sad.

So looking at pics and reminicing about stories of the vacation was too hard for me. It was hard seeing him so thin and frail and remembering that this was the start of me understanding that this burn, this leg - will just be another factor in all of our lives, every day. It is almost a seperate identity attached to him. It has it's own needs, time to care for. It is almost like having a baby again.

You can't just head out to the store or the movies without making sure we have lotion or an extra compression sock. We can't just sit at a park without thinking of shade and sunscreen and an extra sock to go over the compression sock.

I joined a support group for people who had children burned and it was beyond helpful. The first meeting I cried for 20 minutes straight before I could talk. It was very unnerving for someone who does not want to be vulnerable but I needed that. I met parents who shared in the guilt of, "what if's and how did I fail?"

I understand that those things are common amongst parents of kids with illnesses of all kinds and by no means is what happened to Baylor the worst of kids burned or children with life threatening illnesses. I am not trying to compare or contrast anyones sorrows.

I am simply telling you that I needed to deal with my emotions and find ways to handle Baylor. The new Baylor and be okay with being sad the old Baylor will never be exactly the same.

So I needed time to heal myself a bit before I could look back at that vacation. Not be sad about the new look to our pics and sad about the memories of every morning with our new routine. It was so soon after he was burned and I think part of me wanted to look for the old Baylor in my recalling of the days events. He wasn't there and that realization I am ready to accept.

I hope you who may stumble upon this for the first time can please forgive the long rant you may not understand.

I hope those of you who were subscribed and got frusterated since I did not write for so long can keep the faith in me that I will finish this and I appologize for the delay.

I obviously better write with incredible witt now - cause otherwise I may get found and flogged! Or at least have evil stares sent through the computer at me... which will cause me to collapse into a coma, or a trip to tube top hades...either way involves me neked - which is not good - cause those gowns at the hospital are meant for Callista whats her nuts - Harrison Ford's woman - size people, and if you recall, I am not - so yeah - I beter write...

Thanks for letting me babble!

 

[eeyoresnr]

thanks for writing...I for one was more worried than anything...I figured something must be wrong for you to just drop out of sight... It's awesome to see you are healing as well as Baylor

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

thanks for writing...I for one was more worried than anything...I figured something must be wrong for you to just drop out of sight... It's awesome to see you are healing as well as Baylor

Same for me. I was more worried than anything. Thanks for letting us know how you are doing.

 

[Normangirls]

Welcome back.




To quote my favorite roller coaster ride: Life's a journey, not a destination. We are all always evolving, changing, adapting. It sounds like you are adapting just fine. Doesn't make it easy, just makes us further along our journey.


Again, .

 

[Dizneydawn]

thanks for writing...I for one was more worried than anything...I figured something must be wrong for you to just drop out of sight... It's awesome to see you are healing as well as Baylor

Funny how emotional healing is so much more of a process than the physical kind isn't it?

Side story that your reply made me think of...on healing.

We went to a family burn camp in northern Minnesota this summer. It had a bunch of families with all different stories but the counseling that the hospital staff put on for the siblings and the parents as well as the survivors was so great.

Baylor got to hear what his brother and sister went through because most of their memories he had no clue about due to the high levels of morphine he was on. Many of the stories I had not heard either because when you are at the hospital for weeks, you have teens who do not tell you many of their encounters or issues because they do not want to add more stress to the situation.

Treyner talked about how hard it was for him to help a nurse pull off a sheet that had stuck to Baylor's leg one night (under the donor skin, that scabs as it heals.) I had no idea that he had been asked to do it because I had gone to the cafeteria.

Baylor was in terrible pain from it, yelled that he hated Treyner for hurting him.

Baylor did not remember any of it. Treyner had lived with the guilt since November 8th. He knew the date. Baylor felt bad he said it, Treyner felt relieved he finally asked Baylor if he forgave him.

I am sure the nurse thought that Treyner at almost 18 could handle it. I am sure at some level there is a desensitation that goes on and for her who have seen this, dealt with it a thousand times in a month, it was not earth shattering.

To Treyner though, it was his brother whom he was supposed to protect and felt guilty for being in Colorado and not home when it happened. So hurting Baylor whether on purpose or not was the point he stuck at and I will tell you that I have never seen my son cry like he did when we talked about it. He had been beating himself up for 7 1/2 months over something Baylor did not even have a clue took place.

The importance of asking the questions you need the answers to really resonated with me that week. To not live yor life by assumptions and innuendos. Also that there is huge power in good things comming out of great sadness.

The social workers from the hospital were appalled that any nurse would put a sibling in that position and said they should have called in another aid or nurse to help. They never thought that something like that could happen with so much training that is done there.

Now, there is a new policy because of that situation on the burn unit that states siblings will not be asked for help in dressing changes.

Same for me. I was more worried than anything. Thanks for letting us know how you are doing.

Glad you found me and I am looking forward to making you laugh again!

Welcome back.




To quote my favorite roller coaster ride: Life's a journey, not a destination. We are all always evolving, changing, adapting. It sounds like you are adapting just fine. Doesn't make it easy, just makes us further along our journey.


Again, .

That is perfect and as I started WW last week again - one I will print out and put on my fridge!

BTW: wedding update!

Dan and I after looking at costs for a wedding at Disney at WDW, decided to take our wedding to the beach!

We are planning a wedding at Disney's Vero Beach Resort on the croquet lawn next June! We look forward to spending 4 days before the wedding at WDW, at Vero for a 5 day wedding extravaganza with family and friends and then a 5 day honeymoon sans kids!

This all will cost less than the basic bottom of the line Fairy Tale wedding and with numbers of attendees between 20-30 - we were too big for an Escape wedding pkg.

This means we can invite anyone we want - so friends form the Dis Boards...let me know if you will be in Florida on June 15th, 2010 (it is a Tuesday!)

The more the merrier - plus that means less time I am spending with family so you are actually saving me here!

I will start a wedding journal soon and will post the link here!

 

[PrincessOliviasMom]

so glad to have you back. Your posts have had me in smiles and tears. So glad to hear that you are all healing!