A decade?! How has it been a flippin' decade since 2009?
Many, many moons ago, my husband and I went to WDW for the first time on our honeymoon. We were so pumped! We planned down to the last second. We had all the best dining reservations at all the best times, we had park-hoppers, we had water park days, we had booked extra excursions.....
And on the day of our wedding, I came down with the swine flu. Does anyone remember that horrible plague of 2009? I sure do! Girl, I was laid out in Animal Kingdom Lodge, dying to just go out on the balcony and look at the safari view that I had spent way too much money on, but I couldn't even get out of the bed without throwing up.
My poor husband spent our first three days of our honeymoon caring for me in that room, with his hand ready to dial 911 at any moment. Luckily I pulled through and we had about four-ish days to salvage what was left of our trip, but it wasn't exactly magical!
Since then, life has taken us through many twists and turns, ups and downs and lots of changes! Four moves, four job changes and two kids later, and we are finally at a point where we have time to plan a redo! I've been a seriously long-time lurker, but I'm finally ready to get typing. So let's get to......
INTRODUCTIONS!
Me: SandTals! I'm a 34 year old chocoholic with a serious infatuation with the Haunted Mansion. Not Nightmare Before Christmas. Just the Haunted Mansion. Master Gracey and Madame Leota and such. I've got way too much HM memorabilia around the house, from hitchhiking ghost magnets, to Master Gracey wine glasses, to Madame Leota dish towels. I may also be slightly obsessed with Star Wars and have a tattoo or two to prove it. I'm a recently converted SAHM after working for the past 12 years in aerospace. I never envisioned leaving my career behind, but my husband has a career that takes him on months-long travel to faraway places, and the kids need at least one parent home full-time. It has been an adjustment to say the least, and a very difficult one. It's hard to maintain a sense of identity when most of it is wrapped up in short people that demand snacks every ten minutes. I find a lot of enjoyment in genealogy and spend a good amount of time researching various family trees and maintaining them on Wikitree. I feel a sense of pride in knowing history is preserved for people who no longer have a voice.
I also enjoy cross-stitching and baking. I am currently torturing myself by trying my hand at macarons. Did I mention I'm 34? Writing all this out has made me feel like I have the hobbies of a 75 year old grandmother. Ha.
Mr. SandTals: My awesome, hard-working, husband. He's soon to be 34, and is the rock of our family. He annoys the heck out of me (don't most husbands?), but man I wouldn't trade him for the world. He loves gaming, Star Wars, Marvel, football, but most of all, our kids. He's a computer whiz, and can fix pretty much anything! He always says I'm exaggerating when I brag about his computer skills, but considering my knowledge maxes at unplugging and replugging in the modem, he seems pretty smart to me!
He's one of those people that's never met a stranger and is friendly to everyone we meet. He's incredibly chill, and it annoys me when I get excited about an upcoming trip or event and ask him, "Are you excited?!" only for him to smile and say, "Yep." He is loving that everything he does embarrasses our oldest right now. Not long ago we were dropping L off at school, and Mr. SandTals rolled down the window and shouted in a high-pitched voice, "I LOVE YOU, L!" as L ran faster than Forrest Gump through the school gates. He has threatened to wear a Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts, a fanny pack, socks with crocs and a lime green visor to Disney. I told him he wouldn't stand out as much as he'd like. 
L: My soft-spoken, kind-hearted little fluff of an 8 year old boy. Man this kid is just cool. He loves everything that eight year olds like these days. Minecraft, Pokemon, Yo-Kai, Fortnite, bossing his little brother around, Captain Underpants books, etc. He also loves wall-ball and thinks it's totally okay to practice on my living room wall. I about stuck him in the washing machine when I caught him. Like his dad, he loves Marvel, especially Spiderman. You should have seen his face during Infinity Wars. He's incredibly sensitive (like his mama!) and just bawled buckets when poor little Peter Parker was turning to dust. I can't blame him, that scene was pretty intense for a then seven year old. He absolutely loves school and is stoked to be done with second grade and start his summer. L's super proud because he read more chapter books than all but one other kid in his class this year! I recently learned what a "fade" haircut means when I took him to the barber and rather than going for our normal "little boy's haircut", he announced to the barber exactly what he wanted. Color me impressed, because as I mentioned, I'm a 75 year old grandmother and am not hip to all the new lingo. This kid is not a big Star Wars fan which is a huge disappointment to his mother, but I suppose Vader was disappointed with his son as well.
F: My firecracker, wildcard, Mike-Wazowski-loving 3 year old boy. If there was any child that was going to be my karma for the way I was with my mother, it was going to be this one. LORD, do they grow out of being nuts?! F is really so much fun. He's a boy's boy. He climbs on everything and jumps off of it. He finds random bits of old snacks in his car seat and he eats it. He sees a mud puddle and he flings himself into it. He is served vegetables and he poo-poos it. His laugh lights up a room like no other, and his tantrums can illuminate all of Monstropolis. F is really making me rethink and reconfigure my parenting techniques. I've had to get creative. I used to be one of those parents that would eyebrow arch other parents when their kid had meltdowns in the store or a restaurant. Boy, is this child my comeuppance and made me eat a huge helping of humble pie. I never carried a kid surfboard-style out of a Target until he came along. He's incredibly smart (much smarter than I am) and wants to explore everything and taste everything and touch everything! Man, he's a lover. If ever you're having a bad day, this sweetie will look up at you with his big brown eyes and smile that cheeky grin and you'll just melt into his little hug. F is incredibly gentle with smaller kids (which was a shock to me too!). He's very aware that he's a big boy now, and will take the time to help his little cousins up and down the stairs or around the playground. He is over the moon right now for all things Monsters, Inc. and Cars. He will make sure you know he wants to watch the original Cars, not 2 or 3. He may be a bit fickle for originals like his mother. He doesn't seem to care on way or another about Star Wars right now, but if I have my way, this one will be my little Sith apprentice in no time.
PLANS (thus far....)!
We are currently reserved for December 13 - December 22 at Pop Century with the DDP. I have huge reservations about going during the holidays, especially because we live near DLR and know just how NUTS the holidays at Disney can be. However, because of my husband's work schedule and travel, we have to go with the time he has off. These dates are still tentative because his return date could literally change by the hour, leading up to this trip so while I am doing my best to plan restaurants and attractions, I know it could all go up in smoke if at the last minute he's delayed and we have to move the date a week (or month out). Talk about stress. I keep worrying that a delay is exactly what's going to happen, and we're going to be stuck without any reservations or fast passes. So, SandTals, why not just push the date out to be safe? Because he could also come back early.
While Mr. SandTals has an incredible job, we have a very, very, very small window of time where he'll be able to go, so we're living on the edge here. Nothing is certain! Luckily, I called Disney and the lovely cast member reassured me of change deadlines, fees, and the worst case scenario, cancellation. But we're not going to think about that word, and on we chug!
Anyways, we talked about driving from California to WDW and have a fun family roadtrip. But, because we're stretched on time and want to be able to also see family during his time-off, flying to MCO makes a lot more sense. Following our trip, we plan to rent a car and drive 12 hours to see family in Nashville for a couple of days, and then drive home before my husband has to report back to work. It will be a whirlwind! The kids will be exhausted! I will probably want to cry at some point! But on we chug.....
More to come soon, and suggestions are welcome! Thanks for reading and following along!
Many, many moons ago, my husband and I went to WDW for the first time on our honeymoon. We were so pumped! We planned down to the last second. We had all the best dining reservations at all the best times, we had park-hoppers, we had water park days, we had booked extra excursions.....
And on the day of our wedding, I came down with the swine flu. Does anyone remember that horrible plague of 2009? I sure do! Girl, I was laid out in Animal Kingdom Lodge, dying to just go out on the balcony and look at the safari view that I had spent way too much money on, but I couldn't even get out of the bed without throwing up.
My poor husband spent our first three days of our honeymoon caring for me in that room, with his hand ready to dial 911 at any moment. Luckily I pulled through and we had about four-ish days to salvage what was left of our trip, but it wasn't exactly magical!Since then, life has taken us through many twists and turns, ups and downs and lots of changes! Four moves, four job changes and two kids later, and we are finally at a point where we have time to plan a redo! I've been a seriously long-time lurker, but I'm finally ready to get typing. So let's get to......
INTRODUCTIONS!
Me: SandTals! I'm a 34 year old chocoholic with a serious infatuation with the Haunted Mansion. Not Nightmare Before Christmas. Just the Haunted Mansion. Master Gracey and Madame Leota and such. I've got way too much HM memorabilia around the house, from hitchhiking ghost magnets, to Master Gracey wine glasses, to Madame Leota dish towels. I may also be slightly obsessed with Star Wars and have a tattoo or two to prove it. I'm a recently converted SAHM after working for the past 12 years in aerospace. I never envisioned leaving my career behind, but my husband has a career that takes him on months-long travel to faraway places, and the kids need at least one parent home full-time. It has been an adjustment to say the least, and a very difficult one. It's hard to maintain a sense of identity when most of it is wrapped up in short people that demand snacks every ten minutes. I find a lot of enjoyment in genealogy and spend a good amount of time researching various family trees and maintaining them on Wikitree. I feel a sense of pride in knowing history is preserved for people who no longer have a voice.
I also enjoy cross-stitching and baking. I am currently torturing myself by trying my hand at macarons. Did I mention I'm 34? Writing all this out has made me feel like I have the hobbies of a 75 year old grandmother. Ha.Mr. SandTals: My awesome, hard-working, husband. He's soon to be 34, and is the rock of our family. He annoys the heck out of me (don't most husbands?), but man I wouldn't trade him for the world. He loves gaming, Star Wars, Marvel, football, but most of all, our kids. He's a computer whiz, and can fix pretty much anything! He always says I'm exaggerating when I brag about his computer skills, but considering my knowledge maxes at unplugging and replugging in the modem, he seems pretty smart to me!
He's one of those people that's never met a stranger and is friendly to everyone we meet. He's incredibly chill, and it annoys me when I get excited about an upcoming trip or event and ask him, "Are you excited?!" only for him to smile and say, "Yep." He is loving that everything he does embarrasses our oldest right now. Not long ago we were dropping L off at school, and Mr. SandTals rolled down the window and shouted in a high-pitched voice, "I LOVE YOU, L!" as L ran faster than Forrest Gump through the school gates. He has threatened to wear a Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts, a fanny pack, socks with crocs and a lime green visor to Disney. I told him he wouldn't stand out as much as he'd like. L: My soft-spoken, kind-hearted little fluff of an 8 year old boy. Man this kid is just cool. He loves everything that eight year olds like these days. Minecraft, Pokemon, Yo-Kai, Fortnite, bossing his little brother around, Captain Underpants books, etc. He also loves wall-ball and thinks it's totally okay to practice on my living room wall. I about stuck him in the washing machine when I caught him. Like his dad, he loves Marvel, especially Spiderman. You should have seen his face during Infinity Wars. He's incredibly sensitive (like his mama!) and just bawled buckets when poor little Peter Parker was turning to dust. I can't blame him, that scene was pretty intense for a then seven year old. He absolutely loves school and is stoked to be done with second grade and start his summer. L's super proud because he read more chapter books than all but one other kid in his class this year! I recently learned what a "fade" haircut means when I took him to the barber and rather than going for our normal "little boy's haircut", he announced to the barber exactly what he wanted. Color me impressed, because as I mentioned, I'm a 75 year old grandmother and am not hip to all the new lingo. This kid is not a big Star Wars fan which is a huge disappointment to his mother, but I suppose Vader was disappointed with his son as well.
F: My firecracker, wildcard, Mike-Wazowski-loving 3 year old boy. If there was any child that was going to be my karma for the way I was with my mother, it was going to be this one. LORD, do they grow out of being nuts?! F is really so much fun. He's a boy's boy. He climbs on everything and jumps off of it. He finds random bits of old snacks in his car seat and he eats it. He sees a mud puddle and he flings himself into it. He is served vegetables and he poo-poos it. His laugh lights up a room like no other, and his tantrums can illuminate all of Monstropolis. F is really making me rethink and reconfigure my parenting techniques. I've had to get creative. I used to be one of those parents that would eyebrow arch other parents when their kid had meltdowns in the store or a restaurant. Boy, is this child my comeuppance and made me eat a huge helping of humble pie. I never carried a kid surfboard-style out of a Target until he came along. He's incredibly smart (much smarter than I am) and wants to explore everything and taste everything and touch everything! Man, he's a lover. If ever you're having a bad day, this sweetie will look up at you with his big brown eyes and smile that cheeky grin and you'll just melt into his little hug. F is incredibly gentle with smaller kids (which was a shock to me too!). He's very aware that he's a big boy now, and will take the time to help his little cousins up and down the stairs or around the playground. He is over the moon right now for all things Monsters, Inc. and Cars. He will make sure you know he wants to watch the original Cars, not 2 or 3. He may be a bit fickle for originals like his mother. He doesn't seem to care on way or another about Star Wars right now, but if I have my way, this one will be my little Sith apprentice in no time.
PLANS (thus far....)!
We are currently reserved for December 13 - December 22 at Pop Century with the DDP. I have huge reservations about going during the holidays, especially because we live near DLR and know just how NUTS the holidays at Disney can be. However, because of my husband's work schedule and travel, we have to go with the time he has off. These dates are still tentative because his return date could literally change by the hour, leading up to this trip so while I am doing my best to plan restaurants and attractions, I know it could all go up in smoke if at the last minute he's delayed and we have to move the date a week (or month out). Talk about stress. I keep worrying that a delay is exactly what's going to happen, and we're going to be stuck without any reservations or fast passes. So, SandTals, why not just push the date out to be safe? Because he could also come back early.
While Mr. SandTals has an incredible job, we have a very, very, very small window of time where he'll be able to go, so we're living on the edge here. Nothing is certain! Luckily, I called Disney and the lovely cast member reassured me of change deadlines, fees, and the worst case scenario, cancellation. But we're not going to think about that word, and on we chug! Anyways, we talked about driving from California to WDW and have a fun family roadtrip. But, because we're stretched on time and want to be able to also see family during his time-off, flying to MCO makes a lot more sense. Following our trip, we plan to rent a car and drive 12 hours to see family in Nashville for a couple of days, and then drive home before my husband has to report back to work. It will be a whirlwind! The kids will be exhausted! I will probably want to cry at some point! But on we chug.....
More to come soon, and suggestions are welcome! Thanks for reading and following along!
