Ever, Ever After: The TR Formerly Known as Wishing You Were Here- May 2011

[amandaw]

Landon can already say Go Blue!

Too cute! I tell everyone that Reid's first letters he learned were L, S & U.

 

[PirateKate]

The boys have grown so much!!! They are so cute!!!

The camera seems to take really nice photos! Those Halloween shirts are really fun!!! I saw the nail polish the other day at the Disney store... definitely a good choice!!!

Thanks! The boys are looking good these days, aren't they?

I think we ended up with a very good camera. And of course, it helps that Jeremy knows how to use it, somehow. I think the Halloween shirts will be fun, regardless of when they wear them. I love my new princess polish.

Sorry that Carter didn't want to eat; although I can't blame him...I don't like Corn Nuggets and don't like Casey's.

I hate getting stuck in crowds like that...very scary, especially with little ones.

Love the People Mover -- such a relaxing ride. Landon looked so upset that he could not "dance" on PM.

I absolutely LOVE the Disney Halloween t-shirts you got the boys...just too stinkin' cute.

And look how they've grown!

I distinctly remember Carter loving the corn dog nuggets in December and him eating them all, so it seems likely that the issue was with not being hungry and not with the food itself. Corn dog nuggets aren't my favorite, either. I can take them or leave them.

It was a very miserable crowd, especially with the boys there in the stroller. Some of those people were crazy!

Landon was very disappointed that he couldn't dance. He probably would have been fine standing, since Jeremy was holding him, but it's good to get used to sitting on rides.

Thanks! I think the shirts will be cute on them for Halloween.

I guess they do look a lot older than they did in May. I can't wait to see what they're like at Disney this trip.

I love the Princess nail polish! And I can't blame you for putting them in favorite to least-favorite order. I'd have done the same thing!
From the pictures of Carter and Landon, it looks like your camera will be just fine on your October trip.

I love my Princess polish! I painted my toes Tiana colored first and I keep sort of hoping they will need to be repainted soon so I can try out Rapunzel, but so far, they keep looking great. I guess that's a good thing, really.
It'll be fun to have the new camera to use at Disney. I hope we can get better nighttime pictures this trip.

I like the shirts. I think no matter when you use them they'll work for Disney and I'm sure you'll get some other uses out of them too.

Congrats on the nail polish find. I don't really know what else to say about that, but DW is a big Tiana fan too.

The boys look like they're really growing up. I guess that's both good and bad, but the pictures don't lie. I think your new camera looks like it will serve you well.




In his defense, I hope they beat Notre Dame tomorrow night.

That's true, the boys can wear them after the trip until Halloween and then they can be jammy shirts.

Thanks! There's really only so much you can say about nail polish, especially if you're not a regular nail polish user. I didn't expect to like Tiana much, but then I really did when I saw the movie.

The boys are growing up, but I can only see good in that. They get more and more fun and interesting every day. I like our new camera, I think. It seems to be fond of Carter and Landon.

Thanks for the kind football wishes. It's not looking good for Michigan so far, but hopefully they're just trying to lull Notre Dame into a false sense of security before making a big comeback in the 4th.

Carter and Landon are so stinkin' cute! Those shirts and nail polishes are cute too, but nothing compared to the boys. I think that camera will do great in Disney.

Thanks! I agree, Carter and Landon upstage shirts and nail polishes every time. I can't wait for our trip to get here and to start taking pictures of Carter and Landon with all my favorite Disney things.

I LOVE the boys Halloween shirts, those are too cute!! I would have bought the disney princesses nail polish too, that is awesome!! I love you you rearranged them according to your favorites We have Mulan on our list of movies to watch, I have never seen that one before...I always forget about Pocahontas I loved that one when I was little, but DBF hates it

Your new camera is doing great!!

Thanks! I'll probably keep the shirts, no matter what they end up wearing to the party. I'm sure they'll come in useful sometime. I very seldom make spontaneous Disney purchases, but I saw that nail polish and really wanted it. It's beautiful. I love the movies Mulan and Pocahontas. They're both a lot of fun to watch and I like Mulan and Pocahontas as characters, but there's just no way they're actually princesses.

I almost bought the exact same tshirt from Target for my DS the other day! It is super cute!

I almost wished I hadn't bought those shirts, since then I don't know what we'll do for MNSSHP, but I couldn't resist them. I'm sure even if I hadn't bought them then, I'd have caved by now.

 

[afwdwfan]

Thanks for the kind football wishes. It's not looking good for Michigan so far, but hopefully they're just trying to lull Notre Dame into a false sense of security before making a big comeback in the 4th.

3 point game, Michigan ball... at least they're representing the Big Ten better than my Boilers did today.

Edit: Wow. Incredible game and a big win.

 

[PirateKate]

I have to agree! Even though our team (LSU) never plays Michigan, we just don't root for them. Especially since they tried to steal our coach after last season! But, we dislike Notre Dame even more. So, for one day only, we'll cheer for Michigan!

Well, they had to try to steal somebody's coach. Another season with Rich Rod would have been miserable. I'm hoping Michigan can win this one. No one likes losing to Notre Dame.

pieced a couple quotes together...
that is what we did for hallowishes- because they can be seen from almost anywhere, we positioned ourselves at the dance party that was at Ariel's Grotto when we last went. not a perfect view, but saved the fussy waiting period. we went to the second boo to you and i left saying i wish we had been to both!

The dance party is a good idea for a fireworks location. The boys can dance for a bit instead of waiting and then we'll watch Hallowishes right there. I'd love to see both parades, too, but I know with the boys, I'll be lucky to get to see it once.

i waste way way way too much time stopping what i am doing to referree or get something. they just can't grasp that i can get done what i need to get done quicker and be back focusing on them if they will just wait their turn... James has started telling me to "be patient" every time i tell him to do anything now.

I know! The worst is trying to make breakfast and lunch for the boys. Whatever they're doing is almost always due to hunger and if they'd just play happily amongst themselves I could have their meals ready so much faster. I think it's funny that James tells you to be patient. It's so funny some of the things kids come up with.

sorry, i didn't see your first message until after the second. i was waiting for a notification for your message in my email- forgot dis doesn't do that. glad Jeremy got pics. his are better than my camera phone pics anyway!

That's okay! I thought Jeremy's pictures turned out really well. I'm sure some of it is the camera, but I think he's good at taking the pictures, too.

I made it to Target this week! I got the last Pirate Mickey shirt left in Colby's size! They are super cute and I am excited for Colby to wear his, even if it won't be in Disney like your boys.

The pictures with your new camera look great! I would love a new camera for Christmas (I have been dropping some not so subtle hints...we will see how well DH picks up on them!!)


I LOVE the princess nail polish! 10 colors? One for each nail!!!

I'm glad they still had one left in Colby's size! I hate it when I decide to go and buy the boys some clothes and then they don't have the right size. It's also bad when I've picked outfits that go together and they only have it in one boy's size. I'm sure Colby will still be happy to wear his Pirate Mickey shirt, even if he's not at Disney.

Thanks! If you want a new camera before Christmas, you could try letting Colby hold the camera for about five minutes. That's all the time it took for Landon to break our old one.

I originally thought of that, too, one for each nail, but I thought there was a good chance I'd look sort of crazy, so I'm saving that look for winter, when no one will see my toes.

Reid & I went to our Target today but they didn't have any of those cute Mickey Halloween shirts. I even tried to pull it up online but couldn't find them on their website either. I will now have to stalk our Target to see if they get any in!

I wasn't able to ever find the shirts online, either. It's too bad they don't have the shirts at your Target yet. I'd have thought that most Targets would carry all the same stuff. I hope you find one soon!

I just wanted to let everyone know that Old Navy has Halloween Mickey/Minnie shirts in the girls department. Not sure about the boys dept. tho.

Ah, girl clothes. Always so much cuter than little boy clothes. It's just as well, though, because the last thing I need is another cute Halloween option for my boys.

I am so jealous that you bought that nail polish! I have been wanting to buy it since I saw it online but I don't want to pay the shipping for just one thing. I am waiting until they have a free shipping promotion. I'm sure that since I need one they won't have it.

The boys are so much bigger and so much cuter since your last trip. I love their hair.

Love the pirate Mickey shirts.

I've always found it to be the just the same- when I'm not looking to order anything from the Disney Store, I constantly get free shipping offers and when I actually want something, there's never free shipping. I'm sure they sell it at Disney World, though and your October trip is coming right up.

Thanks! I always find them to get a little bit cuter every day. Landon's going to be ready for his first hair cut. It's starting to get in his eyes.

Thanks!

 

[amandaw]

I just had to pop back over one more time before going to bed & say...."WOW! WOW! WOW! What an end to a game! Congrats to Michigan on their victory over the Irish!"

 

[RachelNinja]

Haha, the hitting your head on the faucet thing on the Jungle Cruise is fantastic!!! I love that someone has a variation.

Oy, I hear you about the crowds. I don't like being surrounded by people in general (even when my students do it!), but when I'm in Disney, and it seems like there's no way to go, I start to get a little panicky.

 

[PirateKate]

The boys looks so much older! Love the pic of Landon looking up at the camera. He has such gorgeous eyes. The shirts are super cute, too! Your pics look great and I can't wait to see what you take on your trip.

Thanks! I love that picture of Landon, too. The blue eyes really stand out with him looking up like that. I can't wait to see what pictures we get on this trip, too. Jeremy claims he's going to try for a picture of the headless horseman, and while I agree that would be cool, I'd be afraid I'd be fiddling with the camera and miss getting to see him. Not much longer, now!

Thanks!

I love all the new princess stuff, too, but so far, I'm keeping it to just the nail polish. We'll see how long that lasts.



Oops, I meant nail polish. That's what I get for posting at work. It's so hard to edit post on a cell phones tiny screen.

I would love to buy the whole line though. I guess they realized that adult women wanted to spend money on princess stuff too.

There was a brief moment, when I thought, ooh there's princess eye shadow, too, but then I figured out what you meant.

I'm glad to find the new princess line. With no little girls to buy princess things for, I'm happy to buy them for me. And I love how it says on the back of the package- An Adult Cosmetic.

Thanks for the info! I will have to go check them out & see what they have for boys!

If they have something super cute, don't tell me until after our Disney trip! I already have way too many choices for what the boys will wear.

Too cute! I tell everyone that Reid's first letters he learned were L, S & U.

Landon can do Touchdown!, too. He throws his arms in the air, just like all the other guys.

3 point game, Michigan ball... at least they're representing the Big Ten better than my Boilers did today.

Edit: Wow. Incredible game and a big win.

Sorry your Boilers didn't do well. For a minute there during the Michigan game, I was sure they had lost it. Very exciting game, that's for sure. I actually felt a little sorry for the Notre Dame guys.

I just had to pop back over one more time before going to bed & say...."WOW! WOW! WOW! What an end to a game! Congrats to Michigan on their victory over the Irish!"

Best three minutes of football I've ever watched, especially since Michigan ended up winning it. I still can't quite believe they won that game. I'm very glad though. Maybe the boys should both be Denard Robinson for Halloween.

Haha, the hitting your head on the faucet thing on the Jungle Cruise is fantastic!!! I love that someone has a variation.

Oy, I hear you about the crowds. I don't like being surrounded by people in general (even when my students do it!), but when I'm in Disney, and it seems like there's no way to go, I start to get a little panicky.

I love it when someone tells a new joke on the Jungle Cruise. The old ones are still fun, too, but a new joke is always unexpected. And I thought the faucet thing was really funny.

Disney crowds are the worst! Even aside from being unable to escape, I hate standing there, knowing that every minute I spend there is a Disney minute I'll never get back. Next time, we'll avoid that, if at all possible.

 

[merbobear]

Jeremy has experimenting with the new camera since it arrived and I looked today to see how the pictures look on it.

I was pleasantly surprised to see some pictures of some of my recent Disney purchases. Jeremy does have a knack for photography, it seems.

First, the Halloween shirts from Target that the boys may wear sometime.

And a close up of Mickey.

Aren't those cute? I'm thinking I'll keep them, no matter when the boys wear them.

I was at the Disney Store awhile ago and I found some new Princess nail polish. Ten colors, one for each princess, plus Pocahontas and Mulan. I couldn't resist that.

I reorganized all the colors in order of my favorite princesses. Tiana, of course, is my absolute favorite princess, followed closely by Rapunzel, Belle, and Aurora. Is anyone else bothered by the fact that Pocahontas and Mulan are not actually princesses?

And of course, there were plenty of pictures of the boys, since they will likely be the main subject of most pictures.

I think the new camera will work out pretty well. I can't wait to see how it does at Disney. Only three weeks left!

The new camera takes nice pictures! What kind is it?
Your boys are so cute, btw..I love their curls

 

[afwdwfan]

Maybe the boys should both be Denard Robinson for Halloween.

That would be an easy one... mop for a wig and untied shoes!

 

[teachermommy78]

Phew!!! All caught up!!! What a great update. The boys are awfully cute!!! I promise to write more after your next update!!! Why does life get in the way of my trip report reading?

 

[PirateKate]

The new camera takes nice pictures! What kind is it?
Your boys are so cute, btw..I love their curls

Thank you! It's a Canon S95. I'm excited to try out the fireworks mode in a couple weeks.
Thanks! I love their curls, too.

That would be an easy one... mop for a wig and untied shoes!

Wouldn't they look great? I bet they'd be the only two Denards at MNSSHP.

 

[PirateKate]

Phew!!! All caught up!!! What a great update. The boys are awfully cute!!! I promise to write more after your next update!!! Why does life get in the way of my trip report reading?

Thanks! Life has been getting in my way of trip report reading and writing lately. Hopefully, things will slow down a bit. Actually now that I think about it, that's not likely at all for me with the trip coming up in a couple weeks. Not that I'm complaining!

 

[PirateKate]

We raced off the Peoplemover and hurried over to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The line was barely existent, but we still chose to use our Fastpasses. It would likely be our last chance and it would save a few steps at the very least.

I was still holding hands with Carter, so I assumed he and I would ride together. To my surprise, Jeremy and Landon climbed in our vehicle, too.

"You guys didn't want to ride on your own?"

"No. We wanted to ride with you."

"That's nice. But I hope you're prepared to surrender your laser gun to one of the boys."

"Only if he wants it."

Landon did want it, of course. We rode through the ride with Carter steering and shooting my gun and Landon shooting Jeremy's gun. Oddly enough, neither score was very good.

After the ride, we stopped to look for our ride picture. I was disappointed to see Carter and Landon weren't in the shot. Oh well. I probably would have bought it if it had all four of us in it.

Carter was thrilled to see his old ally, Zurg, and quickly climbed behind bars.

Landon suggested that he go behind bars, too, but I somehow I felt someone who can't walk shouldn't go behind bars. Landon said it wasn't his fault he couldn't walk, yet. He watched Carter, wistfully.

Even Zurg was observing Mother's Day.

"All right, come on, Carter. We've got more rides to go on."

Carter wiggled with joy and slipped out from behind bars.

We loaded the boys in the stroller, since our next stop would be a bit of a walk. We were headed to Fantasyland when Wishes began.

We could see the fireworks in the sky surprisingly well. We kept walking, but it made our evening just a little more magical.

We reached our destination- The Mad Tea Party. I made Jeremy promise not to spin the boys.

We got on immediately and let Carter pick the tea cup. He picked a green one, which I thought was a good choice.

The ride started and I was a little nervous about how the boys would like it, since it was the spinniest ride they'd ever been on. Naturally, it was one of their favorites.

Carter and Landon giggled through the whole ride, loving every second of it. Landon figured out what the wheel in the middle was for and did his best to spin us, but he wasn't strong enough to spin too fast and I didn't help him.

Even though the boys seemed to like spinning, I didn't want to press my luck and end up with a toddler with tea-cup-sickness.

The ride was over way too quickly, and we all sort of wanted to ride again. But the night was nearly over and we still had too many rides we hoped to ride.

We made our way to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. We didn't have Fastpasses, but we didn't need them, either. We were on the ride in no time.

I realized I hadn't gotten to ride much with Landon, so I sent Carter to sit with Jeremy.

Landon stared at everything during his ride. He seemed very impressed, I could tell. I heard Carter in behind me naming off all the characters he recognized.

It was another fun ride. The park was closing soon and there were still so many things I hoped to do.

We rushed over to Peter Pan's Flights, using our Fastpasses from earlier. We all rode together and we had a blast. I love the beginning when we fly out the window.

Carter waved as we passed over Nana.

"Bye, Nana!"

"Good job, Carter."

I was proud. Carter sure knows his Disney stuff.

We flew over London and into Neverland. Carter and Landon were both happy to see Captain Hook, since they're big Jake and the Neverland Pirates fans.

And then, our ship landed and it was over. We gathered our personal belongings, took small children by the hand, and watched our step onto the moving walkway.

"What time is it? Maybe we could ride one more time."

Jeremy checked.

"It's three minutes past eleven."

"Rats. I guess we won't be going on any more rides then."

"Not this time. But we'll be back in October."

"We'll be back in October. It still seems so far away."

"It'll go by fast, though. And you can plan it perfectly and Landon can learn to walk and it'll be really fun."

"This trip was way too short. I'd like just one more day."

"Really? If we stayed one more day, you wouldn't be here tomorrow night, wanting just one more day?"

"How about one more month?"

"How about we'll be back in October?"

"Yeah. That will be fun. I can't wait to go to the Halloween party and see all the fall decorations."

"And don't forget the Food and Wine Festival."

"I'd never forget that. We'll try one of everything, right?"

"Of course. One of everything."

I felt significantly better about leaving. The sadness was still there, lingering somewhere deep down, but I knew I had been lucky to get to have this trip at all. And October would be here soon enough.

We passed the Castle and I was once again struck by how beautiful and magical it was at night.

We took our time, enjoying the moment of being there, knowing the trip was over, but not indulging in too much sadness. We'd be back.

 

[SoonerGirl]

I always say "Bye Nana" on Peter Pan's Flight too that ride!

 

[lbuzz52]

i wish you had stayed two more days- because that's when we got there.
seriously though, I just love Peter Pan and we usually start and end the trip with that. oh, and i would be proud of Carter too! Disney vocabulary is very important.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

How nice of Zurg to observe Mother's Day. I guess even evil space emperors love their mommies.

 

[Nermel9]

What a fun night in MK! Glad the boys liked the tea cups, I wasn't brave enough to go on them til last November!

Winnie the Pooh seems like such a great ride to take kids on, I love that Carter knows the characters!

Peter Pan's Flight is always so much fun!

Yay for October trips! Especially ones that start in 2 weeks and 2 days!

 

[afwdwfan]

Such a bittersweet end to your day at MK. Lots of fun memories made, but there's still that black cloud of having to leave hanging over you. As much fun as the boys were having, I'm sure the October trip will be amazing. And Landon will finally be able to get behind bars with Zurg.

I still think it is awesome that you guys got to sneak an extra weekend at WDW in there though. It has to make it at least a little easier to leave when you know you'll be back in just a few months.

 

[chloe770]

It really is bittersweet, those last few moments at MK. Seeing and hearing about how excited your boys were at MK really gets me excited to take Meadow for the first time in just 15 days Maybe we will see you there.

 

[basketkat]

The end of a wonderful trip is always so bittersweet...but it isn't goodbye...it is see you real soon!

I am excited for you to see all of the fabulous fall decorations in October!!!! I know you will love it!