"Do You Mind?" - Disney Adventures with Teens August Trip Report

[Native NYer]

I'm here! Now to go back and read.

 

[dddisrunner]

What a great book! Hey you can never overplan right Especially when it comes to Disney!

 

[swwake]

Just a quick note today, in the midst of the chaos of Tax season.

I have taken care of Katie's birthday arrangements. (Diane, thanks for reminding me. ) Katie will turn 16 on April 16th. Her boyfriend, Tate, turns 16 on the 20th (I think). They want to have a joint birthday party, but I told Katie that boys don't have a Sweet 16 and she needs to share that with her girlfriends.

I should mention that they originally planned to have a "food fight party", but they can't talk either us or Tate's mom into allowing it at either of our homes. Go figure.

So on Saturday, April 19th, 2-7 girls will come over to our house and get all "done up." We may take them for hair, makeup and nails earlier in the day (not sure yet). They want to get all dressed up. At 4:30pm, a PINK STREEEEEEEEEETTTTCCCCHHHHH LIMO will pick up the girls who are at the house, then run by any others' homes to pick them up (anyone who's not already at our house). Then they are off to Katie's fave restaurant - The Cheesecake Factory!! Afterwards, the limo will drop them off either at our house or Tate's (undetermined at this time), where the boys are expected to show up around 8pm for the boy/girl party. The girls plan to change into more relaxed clothes.

I have ordered some special favors for the boy/girl part, but I can't say here, because sometimes Katie reads. It's a surprise. I also have two very cool birthday presents for her (not to mention she gets her license on the 16th and already has a car), which I also won't post here yet.

The previous night (Friday, April 18th), we are hosting our office's April 15th party (yes, accountants celebrate the weirdest things!! ), which is a casino night, and we expect approx. 75 people, a craps table, two blackjack tables, a poker table and a full buffet. We will have servers and a bartender, so that is something else to add to our planning.

That will be a full weekend!

 

[irene_dsc]

Hee hee - I can completely understand accountants celebrating the end of tax season!

And sounds like Katie is going to have a great Sweet 16!

 

[dddisrunner]

Just a quick note today, in the midst of the chaos of Tax season.

I have taken care of Katie's birthday arrangements. (Diane, thanks for reminding me. ) Katie will turn 16 on April 16th. Her boyfriend, Tate, turns 16 on the 20th (I think). They want to have a joint birthday party, but I told Katie that boys don't have a Sweet 16 and she needs to share that with her girlfriends.

I should mention that they originally planned to have a "food fight party", but they can't talk either us or Tate's mom into allowing it at either of our homes. Go figure.

So on Saturday, April 19th, 2-7 girls will come over to our house and get all "done up." We may take them for hair, makeup and nails earlier in the day (not sure yet). They want to get all dressed up. At 4:30pm, a PINK STREEEEEEEEEETTTTCCCCHHHHH LIMO will pick up the girls who are at the house, then run by any others' homes to pick them up (anyone who's not already at our house). Then they are off to Katie's fave restaurant - The Cheesecake Factory!! Afterwards, the limo will drop them off either at our house or Tate's (undetermined at this time), where the boys are expected to show up around 8pm for the boy/girl party. The girls plan to change into more relaxed clothes.

I have ordered some special favors for the boy/girl part, but I can't say here, because sometimes Katie reads. It's a surprise. I also have two very cool birthday presents for her (not to mention she gets her license on the 16th and already has a car), which I also won't post here yet.

The previous night (Friday, April 18th), we are hosting our office's April 15th party (yes, accountants celebrate the weirdest things!! ), which is a casino night, and we expect approx. 75 people, a craps table, two blackjack tables, a poker table and a full buffet. We will have servers and a bartender, so that is something else to add to our planning.

That will be a full weekend!

Heck I would plan an accountants end of tax season party too! You can use your clients money to pay for it! (just kidding!)

Susan the plans for Katie's birthday sound AWESOME! I LOVE the pink limo You will def. have to post pics!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Wow!
That looks like an awesome sweet 16!!!
I'm sure Katie will have a wonderful time (her friends and her boyfriend too!). What a great mom you are!

Have fun at you "end-of-tax-season" party!

 

[Native NYer]

Great sweet 16 plans. And I love the pink stretch limo!

I hope you're surviving tax season. I'm sure you are counting the days until it's all over.

 

[swwake]

I have to add something to the "things to do on the elevator" list for Katie and Caitlin.

PARTY IN THE CAR!!

I will have to explain later...

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

DDDisrunner,
You have the right idea, Susan's clients are paying for Katie's "Sweet 16". They just don't know it!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

The "heat is on" tomorrow.
My U of Memphis Tigers are playing the U of Texas Longhorns in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.
We have several U of M degrees in our family. Susan has a BS in Accounting from there, but I bet her allegiance is to the "horns". What about that, Susan?
Joann has two degrees from U of M, a BS in Special Education and an MA in Educational Administration.
Their dad has an MBA from U of M and I have a MA in Educational Administration from there.
So...........Go, TIGERS!!!!!!

 

[swwake]

The "heat is on" tomorrow.
My U of Memphis Tigers are playing the U of Texas Longhorns in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.
We have several U of M degrees in our family. Susan has a BS in Accounting from there, but I bet her allegiance is to the "horns". What about that, Susan?
Joann has two degrees from U of M, a BS in Special Education and an MA in Educational Administration.
Their dad has an MBA from U of M and I have a MA in Educational Administration from there.
So...........Go, TIGERS!!!!!!

Well, well, I was going to check on that on SI.com today but hadn't gotten there yet. I knew it was coming. I am torn now. What's a girl to do? I really show no allegiance to UofM b/c I don't want to be a fair-weathered fan and we don't really hear much about them in our neck o' the woods. Of course everyone here is wearing Burnt Orange. Any excuse for a tailgate, celebration, beer, whatever.

Living here 8 years now, we're becoming more and more Longhorn fans. We resisted at first, because, apparently, you don't have to have any real connection with UT to want to root for them. We know so many people who have never stepped foot on the campus nor at any sports game who are huge flag-wavin' 'horn fans. It's slightly obnoxious.

However, not nearly as obnoxious as my other half-way alma mater, the "other" UT. That's right, Big Orange. I did one quarter at a satellite campus. Now you want to talk about obnoxious fans, there they are. Those Vols. And an obnoxious in-your-face color of orange to boot. At least the "real" UT has a more toned-down version of orange.

Anyway, I digress.

I am not sure who to root for, but I am pretty sure this one is going to the Tigers. That's my prediction. I'm glad they're doing so well this year and I hope they make it to the Final Four. I think it would be the first time since 1983ish and the days of Keith Lee and Andre Turner.

Side note, one of my business associates, who is one of my recently-met good friends, is an attorney with a large national firm. He lives in San Francisco and has been on two panels with me. A very interesting guy, has a Memphis connection. Part of his practice is "entertainment law" and his clients have included Keith Lee and Andre Turner (the Little General) back in the day. Crazy, huh?

We're in the car on the way to Houston for our first dance competition. Nope, we're not competing, but Chris, Katie and I are all going to "spectate", see how this stuff works and if we want to pursue it, and cheer for our dance instructors as they compete.

In the meantime, Go Tigers! Hook 'em Horns! It's a win-win for me!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!!!
TIGERS BEAT THE LONGHORNS!!!
YES! YES!! YES!!

 

[stagemomx3]

All caught up again. The sweet sixteen party sounds fabulous!

 

[swwake]

Welcome back, Chel! Can't wait to read your TR. I am glad y'all had a "Magical" time!

Oh yeah, and Jennifer and all my other new readers. I really hope I don't bore y'all to death.

One day, when I can carve out some time, I hope to post true responses to each of you.

I had to come on and post. I just walked out to the garage. So now I know what differential fluid smells like. I always wondered - didn't you?

Anyway, I told DH "when you get to a stopping point, I'd really like to either catch up on our silly Tivo (think: Blind Date, maybe Don't Forget the Lyrics - we like to wind down with anything where you don't have to think too hardly). (question to Self..."Yo, Self, should that be 'hardly' or maybe just 'hard'?" "Oh, Self, dangit! You always catch me in these grammatical conundrums. Why do you do it? I think that, although 'hard' sounds more appropriate in colloquial speak, the true use of the word is an adverb. So 'hardly' works here." If anyone out there wants to correct mySelf, please do so. I need to know when I am not speaking appropriately.)

Wow, that went WAY off track. Anyway, my statement to DH was "when you get to a stopping point, I'd really like to catch up on our silly Tivo or either watch Mary Poppins (which I purchased last week with Fox and the Hound )."

So DH looks at me, drops his tools, and then cocks his head like our 2-year-old golden, Harry, and says, with a curiosity in his eyes, right behind that sparkle I so love, "now, THERE's a decision!" Ok, I guess you had to be there. (Did I really say that? "guess you had to be there"? That is so 80's.) Anyway, it was really cute, but quite obvious that Marry Poppins is not his first choice tonight.

On another note - the Planner is back at work. We got home from Houston late this afternoon and I immediately returned to Planner Mode. I could call it "PM", but that acronym is already taken by Private Message, so I will go with the full spelling. I have now printed all the maps of directions from our house to PetSmart (to drop off the dogs), to Texas Stadium (Supercross), to my cousin Amy's house in Southlake, to Six Flags, and back home for next weekend. We have a nice little manilla folder which includes all the maps and the tickets I also bought (at a big discount) online for Six Flags.

Why didn't I buy the Supercross tickets, you ask? Well, the whole weekend is a tradition for our family. We do Supercross/Six Flags every year. And we have discovered that the cheapest tickets are actually pretty darn good ($10 each, you can't beat that with a KitchenAid!). So we just buy our tix at the gate when we get there. Katie and Tate will never be in their seats anyway. You have to understand that for teens, the objective is to see and be seen. It is not about the race.

We're planning to upgrade to Flash Passes next Sunday when we get there. Park hours are 11am to 7pm (Yes, I checked - you knew that, didn't you?). We did the Flash Pass a couple of years ago and found it well worth it, especially since it's SOMEONE's spring break this time of year. So the park is relatively crowded. As Katie says "I'd rather spend a little more money to ride 20 rides than to just wait in line all day and ride ONE ride." We will be practicing for our FASTPASS usage. Although, I think Disney got it right on this one, where everyone is eligible and nobody gets charged an up-charge for it.

We will also be practicing our "noticing how filthy the Six Flags parks are and looking so forward to the extreme cleanliness of WDW". (among other things, I assume).

Anyway, that's it for now. 'Nite!

 

[Grandma Bonnie]

Have another glass of wine, Daughter Dear!

For our friends:
Susan had just told me that she was tired from the weekend drive to/from Houston and had just sat down with a glass of vino and was too "fuzzy" to do my taxes.
Can't you tell by her last post that she is DEFINITELY IN A ZONE?!!!

Me, I can just get my thrills by going to my twin grandsons' birthday party (yesterday) at Crossfire. Do any of y'all have those in your towns?

Just imagine a dozen 10 and 11-year-olds on two teams trying to see which commando team could get through the obstacle courses with the least number of injuries!!!!! or was it in the least amount of time?

Then today, I was the 'sixth man' for the Memphis Tigers on their way to the Final Four. Being a born and bred Hoosier, basketball is in my blood. No other game excites me like 'the hoops.' So forgive me if I get a little obnoxious about my Tigers. Go Blue and Gray. Go all the Way.

 

[Native NYer]

I love your ptr!!!

Have you started counting down till the end of tax season?

 

[swwake]

I love your ptr!!!

Have you started counting down till the end of tax season?

Thank you!

HAHAHA - that's a joke, right? We start our countdown on January 1. The whole busy season is a party in our firm. We feed everyone lunch 2x a week, breakfast once a week and dinner once a week. Plus, we have a kitchen fully stocked with everything you could imagine, including a 5ft by 8ft pantry and two refrigerator/freezers. We have happy hours, bowling nights, and movie nights about once every two weeks. We have Spirit Week, dress-up days, celebrate Mardi Gras with king cakes and beads, and celebrate St. Patrick's Day with little pots 'o gold (gold coins) and green beads. We celebrated Leap Day this year with a festival of frog contests (long-leap, finger-hoppers, and croaking contests). We even give out Novie awards (an homage to our firm's founding partner) at the April 15th party.

So everyone is always striving for Rookie of the Year, Road Warrior, Night Owl and other awards. Our managers get a mentoring budget to use in taking their teams out to lunch or dinner.

Heck, I'm not sure where our people find time to work!

But to answer your question, yes, I have started my countdown!

 

[Native NYer]

Wow what a great way to keep people motivated.

I worked briefly in finance. I remember the investment bank I did research for had a fully stocked kitchen. They don't want you to leave.

 

[swwake]

Wow what a great way to keep people motivated.

I worked briefly in finance. I remember the investment bank I did research for had a fully stocked kitchen. They don't want you to leave.

'xactly! 65 hour work weeks! All in the name of client service.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Just wanted to let you know that I am here! I read your posts through February and then read your most recent posts! I love the plans for Katie's 16th birthday and that pink stretch limo!

Now back to read the middle sections!