EARLY CHECK IN: December 15th, 2007 - Seven night Western - 12/15/07

[Pinkprincessmom]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHARON AND CRISTI

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY TO LAURA

 

[Queen2]

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes

Happy birthday Cristi

 

[Pinkprincessmom]

Oh Sharon, I'd love your baby-sitting services. My parents are coming up tomorrow. I've got to get some general cleaning done before they come, plus the cruise stuff. They're coming to see Rachel in a play on Tuesday night. On Wednesday they will leave and take our dog with them to dog-sit while we're cruising. Before they leave, we have to get all the gifts wrapped for my nieces/nephews and for Rachel and John. We don't exchange with my siblings anymore. We always celebrate on Christmas Eve at their house. Dinner at 6, gifts after the dishes are washed and the Christmas story is read from Luke:2. We will be driving in from Florida on 12/24, so everything must be ready. We've decided to have Santa visit there. Thankfully, he only brings 3 gifts + stocking stuffers. And, they're left unwrapped and displayed under the tree.

Our weather will be in the mid-high 70's until we leave. Looks like I'll be doing a load of laundry on Wednesday evening as well.

Sorry for the novel. I should be working instead of typing

 

[feinfam]

I thought you might all be interested in how the current Magic sailing is going. One of the DIS'ers is keeping a blog of sorts online in her cruise meet thread. Here's the recent posting for you:

Rockin' and Rollin'
Sorry for the delay in my posting - we left Port Canaveral with smooth sailing, but by the next morning, we were in some fairly rough seas.

The whole ship is creaking and is really rocking. Yesterday the bridge report said 8 - 13 foot seas with the wind being "Moderate Gale Force". This morning the seas are 20 - 30 feet and the winds are stronger. We're sailing into the high seas, and the gale force winds are blowing ACROSS the ship - so, we're getting it from every side!

I felt pretty crummy most of the day yesterday, and PJ (hubby) was in bed all day. He got dressed for formal pics and then went back to the room. The boys also got dressed for the pics, but really wanted to go enjoy activities at the Stack. I ate alone, but the rocking in the aft of the ship is worse (we were in Animator's Palate last night).

I overheard an officer telling someone we should have calmer seas when we get closer to St. Maarten (at least that's what I thought I heard!). One can always hope Last night I took some chewable sea sickness pills and bought a pair of sea bands. Within 2 hours I felt GREAT! I was able to get up and eat this morning with no problem. The creaking is definitely keeping people up at night - it sounds like the ship will break apart any minute

We really haven't taken very many pics - DH is our family shutterbug and he's been in bed. This morning I got him the same magic pills and sea bands - so hopefully, he'll be feeling better soon.

Now for some of the good news The sail away party was great, and we really had fun getting our pics done the first night. They call the setting "Lifestyles". It is just a white background, and the position your family in lots of neat poses. I've been wanting to do pics like that for a long time, so I was sure we color coordinated. The grandparents have been begging for a good family photo, so this was a great opportunity to grant their wish

We got there for our photo shoot a bit before the 7pm start time. Since we were the only ones their the photographer took TONS of pics. They turned out GREAT! More money, more money, more money1

At 7:45pm on Saturday night they had a special tree lighting ceremony in the atrium. There were carols, characters and, of course, snow. The tree and lighted garland are simple, but elegant.

Our boys are enjoying their time in the Stack immensely - we haven't seen much of them.

Yesterday and today are sea days. The pools are open, but not as crowded as I would expect. Probably due to the rough seas. The sun has been shining most of the time Eating breakfast and lunch ouside at Topsider's is interesting. Yesterday, DH and I had salt and pepper races - we set the shakers side by side and waited to see which one moved the fastest

I was able to snag Palo Brunch reservations when we got on board, so we enjoyed a relaxing, albeit rocky, brunch yesterday. Palo's is beautful and the selection was decadent. We're not drinkers, so we passed on the champagne or Mimosa (one glass is included with your Brunch).

We went to a show the first night - but left early for pics. Didn't feel like sitting in the forward theater yesterday, so passed on Golden Mickeys. I am looking forward to seeing Twice Charmed today, though. That is new since we cruise 3 years ago.

If we get some pics taken and uploaded, I'll post them either here or my blog (whichever is quicker, since we're paying for internet access and need to limit our time).

 

[feinfam]

for everyone who's feeling under the weather and

for all those celebrating birthdays and half birthdays!

My suitcase is getting fuller by the minute as I discover even more things I "need" - like clips to keep the curtains closed until we wake up, bath goodies because we have a bathtub!! on a cruise ship!! and ground coffee and a coffee press because I've read complaints about Disney coffee. My suitcase (part of a nesting set we bought from Costco) has never been used because it's so huge - if John or Andy can't get a crib once you're on board, you can borrow my suitcase and line it with blankets!

 

[Pinkprincessmom]

Hey Kathryn. If John's still not sleeping well, maybe I'll come sleep in the huge suitcase!!

I'm making a list of those last minute things we don't want to forget...battery charger for those digital cameras...anybody else?

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

Hey Kathryn. If John's still not sleeping well, maybe I'll come sleep in the huge suitcase!!

I'm making a list of those last minute things we don't want to forget...battery charger for those digital cameras...anybody else?

Pants!!

 

[feinfam]

Hey Kathryn. If John's still not sleeping well, maybe I'll come sleep in the huge suitcase!!

I'm making a list of those last minute things we don't want to forget...battery charger for those digital cameras...anybody else?

Susan - the more the merrier.

Pants!!

My list:
EXPANDABLE WAIST pants just in case (most of us are eating at Palo's twice, right?)
small bills to tip room service - can we say "breakfast in bed"?
extra bags to pack all those souvenirs we think we're not going to buy
extra memory for your camera
sunscreen - more than you think you'll ever need
patience and chill pills for those flying in/out
your goofy side

 

[Pinkprincessmom]

OK...I won't forget the pants.
I think we just got all of Rachel's essentials ready...they're laying all over her bed. In the process, John got a safety pin in his mouth

As far as patience goes, I have already apologized to DD ahead of time for my snappy behavior the next couple of days. We've decided to let her miss school on Thursday and Friday. They'll be partying both days, so it's not like she's missing any school work. We're going to caravan with DH's parents. They'll be staying at Disney the whole week of Christmas and we'll have to come home on 12/24 DD says she wants to ride with them. She also says she'll sleep in their room if John is going to keep her awake at night.

I need to check the expiration dates on all of our sunscreens. Stacie...what kind do you use for Andy? I'll need something mild for John as he has excema.

YIKES so much to do...so little

 

[kcwildcat]

Got the pants packed.

The bad weather is starting to move in here. Unless we get lucky and the temperature rises to 32 or above, they are talking major ice storm. Right now the temp is around 28.

Unfortunately I didn't get tothe store over the weekend because it was icy roads so I was at the Super Wal-mart after Brownies with the rest of the mob.

Hopefully we won't lose power but DH has been rounding up the flashlights and candles. The generator is in the barn ready to go. DH doesn't want to get it out unless we need it as it is very heavy. We got the generator in Jan 2002 when we were without power for 5 days. It's a necessity living in the country. If you don't hear from me for a couple of days you will know why.

On an up note, the forcast for Friday looks good, sunny and temps in upper 30's.

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

DS's best friend's mom is a dermatoligist (sp?). She sells Blue Lizard sunscreen. It is "for senstive skin of all ages". I'm not sure where else it is available. We bought a big bottle for last year, we'd be glad to share. It comes in a clear bottle that changes pink in UV light, something that I didn't know. I put some on Andy at Downtown Disney last year while I was sharing a bench with somebody else. When I went to grab the sunscreen bottle to throw it back in the bag, it was pink. I said to the lady on the bench, "I'm sorry I about took your sunscreen" She looked at me and said "no, that's yours" I sat and argued with her that mine came in a clear bottle and it must be hers. Finally I figured it out when I read the labe, but she had already walked away thinking I was a dorky tourist. DH thought it was hilarious when I told him about it. I see the humor now but I was sure it wasn't mine.

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

We got a lot of running around done today. I still have to go to the post office and get our mail held, or can I just call them, does anyone know? My list is getting smaller.

Andy took his naps today in his pack 'n play just to practice. I didn't want him to freak out when we put him in there and expected him to sleep.

Tomorrow looks to be nasty, DD is hoping it starts tonight so she doesn't have to be to basketball in the AM, DS is hoping school is cancelled so he has another day to study for his tests. Wednesday looks to be ok and Thursday is supposed to be sunny and 29.

DH brought home a roll of quarters to take for the laundry. I said thanks but I already shipped two rolls down in my boxes. We'll take his roll with us in case we have to do laundry at the resort. I hope we don't after one day but if DH doesn't pack he may be doing laundry every day so that he has something to wear the next day. I already told him I not taking the rental car to Wal-Mart or Target once we get to FL, he can but the kids and I are going to the parks.

 

[Pinkprincessmom]

I've been trying to plan my dining ensembles, I may not take any pants...skirts take up less space in the suit case.

I asked my parents to bring us an extra suit case in case we need it. We're basically packing for 3 separate trips...Daytona Beach Thursday/Friday, the cruise, 2 days at Disney, then Christmas with my parents (oops, that's 4 trips).

We need to get quarters and dollar bills too. Thanks for that reminder. I'll add it to my ever growing list.

I'll look up that sunscreen Stacie. I got some neutrogena for me today...and something to hide the gray in my hair. What kind of baby-proofing are you planning to do in the cabin? We're definitely taking outlet covers. I'm not sure what else we'll need.

 

[Pinkprincessmom]

Stacie - you can do the mail hold online at

https://holdmail.usps.com/duns/HoldMail.jsp

 

[kcwildcat]

Thanks for the mail link Susan. Got it put on hold. My BIL is a letter carrier in our small town so sometimes if he's working the day we get home he will pick it up and it will on the kitchen table when we get home. He's also in charge of the animals for the 9 days we're gone. What a guy.

I'm off to bed, don't know what type of weather we'll wake up to tomorrow. Temp is right below freezing right now. Some of the major school districts in the metro have already canceled for tomorrow, ours hasn't shown up on the list yet. I'll have to check it early in the morning.

I brought my work laptop home so I'll work from here tomorrow. My boss is supposed to fly tomorrow to Jacksonville Florida at 6:00am but as of tonight all flights in and out of Kansas City International are canceled. Forcast still looks good for Friday.

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

Stacie - you can do the mail hold online at

https://holdmail.usps.com/duns/HoldMail.jsp

Yeah!!! One less stop I have to make.

I don't remember if there are outlets at baby level or not, I hadn't thought of outlet covers. I know at our hotel stay a few weeks ago we had to disconnect the receiver from the phone because Andy has a thing for phones. All the cables under the desk were a nightmare too, there was no way to get them out of the way because they were threaded through holes underneath the desk. I'm sure Andy will get his fingers in the drawers a few times, hopefully he'll figure out to leave them alone. We don't have any drawer latches on here at home yet, but we do find things on the kitchen floor that he has emptied out of the bottom drawers like placemats cookie cutters.

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

Patty--The news sounds pretty bleak for Kansas City, 1/2" ice in an hour. YIKES!!! Guess you'll get an extra day to pack.

 

[jzarnkex5]

Susan...Just in case you can't find the sunscreen Stacie recommended, DD (2) has eczema too and I use Ombrelle by L'oreal for kids on her. A doctor on Oprah said it was one of the best sunscreens on the market for coverage protection. She doesn't seem to react to it at all.

 

[disneycruise05]

Thank you thank you thank you for the reminder about the mail and small bills for room service! Just got the mail held for the trip, so one more thing off the list done. Now we just need to head to the bank tomorrow to get one dollar bills for tips. We need to keep room service happy!

Happy belated birthday and half-birthday to all!!!

Sorry for the bad weather all around. We had thick fog all today. But the temperature seemed to hover around 55 the whole day. Just checked the weather forecast for Key West, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Looked pretty good. Nice temps, but some chances of rain.

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

Patty--I'm counting on you to come online and tell me that it isn't going to rain ice forever. I hope you're warm and safe.

We got about a 1/2" of ice over night. We're supposed to continue to have freezing rain most of the day. Des Moines, which is 45 minutes north west, where were flying out of, is supposed to get snow this afternoon on top of the ice they already have.

Wednesday and Thursday are dry but temps will still be below freezing. Should I panic now? I hate not being in control of things.

Needless to say, there is no school today. DD is going to have a fit because we still have school work to finish up before we go.