"Honey are you awake?" "Mumble Mumble" - 6/17

[Charleston Princess]

Welcome home! Looking forward to reading all about it!!!

 

[PrincessV]

Welcome back - can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I can't wait to read all about it! I see your green light on...hopefully you are writing right now....

 

[thewesterberg]

Thank you to all for the Welcome Homes! It's good to be home, but it's a tad hectic because...

Our baby starts Kindergarten TODAY! /

Last night was the back to school picnic and meeting his teacher (and getting the supply list which was a little different from what I found on the internet before our trip so it meant a late night run to Wal-mart. And an early morning trip to Walgreens to find the crayons they were out of at Wal-mart.) He's excited to get to go to school - he'll be exhausted since it's all day-every day kindergarten at our school. He can't believe he'll get to play on the playground EVERY DAY with FRIENDS!

All the pictures are in the computer, but haven't made their way to photobucket yet. That's the next step and then it's TR time. How does that work - do I start a new one on the TR board or just keep going with this one?

 

[Charleston Princess]

Thank you to all for the Welcome Homes! It's good to be home, but it's a tad hectic because...

Our baby starts Kindergarten TODAY! /

Last night was the back to school picnic and meeting his teacher (and getting the supply list which was a little different from what I found on the internet before our trip so it meant a late night run to Wal-mart. And an early morning trip to Walgreens to find the crayons they were out of at Wal-mart.) He's excited to get to go to school - he'll be exhausted since it's all day-every day kindergarten at our school. He can't believe he'll get to play on the playground EVERY DAY with FRIENDS!

All the pictures are in the computer, but haven't made their way to photobucket yet. That's the next step and then it's TR time. How does that work - do I start a new one on the TR board or just keep going with this one?

The lists always seem different, and it drives me nuts!!!

Good luck with the first day of kindergarten!!!

You can start a new TR or just keep going on this one -- I have seen both ways done.

 

[Pluto_fan]

Welcome home!
I'm just joining in...I'm all caught up on the pre-trip and can't wait to hear what happened!
You've made me several times already--thanks for writing!

 

[bubba_mouse]

Well there was fun, adventure, heat, a little rain, lots of awesome food and you can read all about it soon. It will soon be presented in a digital multimedia presentation that will dazzle you all (that means we have some pictures and video that we will share with you all.)

 

[thewesterberg]

We're going to give this TR a try as the Dynamic Duo. He doesn't want me to have all the fun reliving the trip and he'd like to add his own witty charm. For the sake of clarity, I'll be writing in pink and DH will be blue.

And without further ado....

DRUM ROLL, please........

THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF OUR TR!!

The day we had all been waiting for had finally arrived. The planning, the packing, the whispers, the hours “wasted” on the DIS – it was all coming together for this moment!

Being too excited to sleep (and thinking of things to add to “the list”) I found myself still up at 1am. I spent time typing up jokes from a Disney Joke book we found at the library to bring with for line entertainment. Which would explain the title for this installment. I'm thinking we'll start each installment with a joke. So in case if we're not funny, there's a guarantee ha-ha moment. Well, maybe. The jokes are kind of bad. But they're Disney jokes, so you've got to at least chuckle. (I think that there will be more eye rolling then anything else, they are really bad jokes)

Anyhow, DH came downstairs at about 12:30 and informed me that I really needed to go to bed. (The whole time I was thinking of the Disney commercial where the parents and the children all say "But I'm to excited to sleep", I was too but I knew that we would need some sleep for the drive to the cities, but not too much so we could go to sleep early since we needed to get up at 4:30 AM to get things ready for the reveal.) I smiled at him and said “You’re right dear” but on the inside I was sticking my tongue out at him and saying “You’re not the boss of me” so out of defiance I stayed up another half hour. While drifting off into slumber, I kept a notebook by the bed to jot down all the little things that I needed to do that would keep me up all night if I did the mental checklist.

The next morning DH got up to go to his LOOOOOOOOOOONGest 4 hours of work EVER! (Yes sitting at work for those 4 hours was horrible, thankfully I was busy so the time flew by. Well if you count spending time on the Dis, checking the weather in Orlando and getting my fantasy football draft order all set busy.) We hoped to get the suitcases out to the car before Junior woke up so he wouldn’t think it odd that we were bringing 3 big suitcase and 2 carry-ons to Minneapolis for a 1 night hotel stay (I wasn't worried. Junior is a male, a young male but still a male and males don't tend to focus on all of the details, we miss a lot of things.). I may over pack a bit, but that would be pushing it! Of course, he woke up before that could happen so I quickly steered him back upstairs with promises of getting to watch cartoons in our bedroom. He fell for it hook, line and sinker. Whew.

The luggage was loaded, DH left, and I got crackin’ on the list – dishes to wash, house straightened up, and grabbing more last minute things. Finally around 10:30 it was time for Junior and me to run assorted errands. We grabbed the dog and we were off

Library – check.

Bank – check.

Post Office – check.

Next stop – my parents. They live about 20 minutes south of Duluth, in the town where DH works. They would be getting our dog and DH’s car to babysit for the week. DH met us there around 12:15 and we were officially off!! WAHOO!

The next 2.5 hours were laid back as we headed off to Minneapolis. Barely any road construction and Junior was content. Life was good. Through out the ride I would interject with things I had forgotten to pack.

*The extra SD card for the camera. DOH! It got put in the camcorder case, which we ended up deciding we wouldn’t need.

*Junior’s swim goggles (which were important as he said next time we went to WDW he’d only ride Splash and Kali if he had them to wear. Hey, if it works, I’ll take it.)

*A chapter book to read to Junior when he gets antsy on the plane.


Not too bad. So a trip to Wal-mart was in order. And Target to find swim goggles.

And then it was time for Junior’s dream destination, the thing that he thought would be the highlight of his trip to Minneapolis. When we asked him what he’d like to do on our trip, he said he wanted to go to…











Ikea.









Yup, this kid loves the blue store with the yellow letters. Not for the shopping, mind you, but for the fun play area he gets to hang out in for an hour while we go wander.

Enter time machine and go back a year with me... He loves it so much that last year DH won unlimited ride passes for the Park at MOA. We went there, rode the carousel (which DH and I had to stand on because you couldn’t ride the animals unless if you could fit the seatbelt around you - we're talking like maybe a small 3rd grader was the biggest person to fit in one of these tiny seatbelts. This would not be DH or me. You gotta hate those bucking carousel horses throwing off full grown adults) Then he refused to ride another ride. Nothing. Not one. No bribery or anything. He wanted to go to Ikea and play in the balls.





If we would have bought those passes, it would have been a $75 carousel ride. If we would have shelled out that kind of money, he would have been strapped to a ride, kickin’ and screamin’ and would’ve had fun.



Yup.



Since they were free, we relented and thought some grown-up browsing time would be a welcomed change from arguing with a 4 year old. As we left the park some kids were drooling over our unlimited ride passes. If I could have slipped it over my hand and give it to them, I so would have.


So back to present day… his dream was becoming a reality and we were at Ikea. He had a blast and was flushed faced when we picked him up and with a grin from ear to ear.



And why are we spending thousands of dollars to go to Disney???

Oh yeah, 'cause mommy's got an obsession that she tries to pass off as "it's for the kid." (I knew it.)

Next stop: MOA Disney Store.

Our little guy needed a lunch bag for school and they had a cool Mickey one for $5. I picked up a reusable tote bag for a couple bucks. The whole time DH and I were grinning something giddy behind Junior’s back. Our shopping trip was an appetizer of things to come!

Soon it was time for dinner. We were meeting up with some friends. One of them would be babysitting our car for the week. The other was a dear friend we hadn’t seen in 9 years. The car babysitter, long lost friend, DH, and me all had worked at a camp together “back in the day”. It was so good to sit and catch up. Friend-we-hadn’t-seen-in-forever has a son a year older than Junior and the 2 of them hit it off immediately. It was like they were best friends! We had a great dinner and the boys were sad to leave each other. We talked in code about the trip (although Junior was so involved with Ben that if Mickey and the gang had walked through the restaurant, he wouldn’t have noticed.)

We headed back to the hotel so Junior and DH could swim

and I could sneak the luggage up to the room with the help of Car-Babysitting Friend. We hid the luggage behind the curtains. (pretty clever, huh?!) and commented on what a sketchy hotel it was looking like.

Now if you remember from my planning, we had a hard time finding a hotel room in Minneapolis due to the State Fair and the Republican National Convention. Everything was pricey and no deals to be found using my friend Priceline.

We ended up staying at a Days Inn. Which we paid just as much for as our room at Pop. Seeing pictures of the hotel, the outside looked not so great, but the rooms look pretty nice. Yeah, a camera can't catch all the details. (This was the only part of the trip that I was in charge of and from the results I don't think I will get any responsibilities on the next trip. But in my defense we did do Hotwire so I didn't know what hotel it was going to be.)

The doors were all wonky and so there was a space at the top where you could see light out in the hallway. The bathroom vanity must have been cut off at one point and to "finish" off the rough edge, they put a piece of masking tape. And the some of the tiles in the tub had been replaced. With tiles that looked NOTHING like the originals. Oh, but the pretty duvet on the bed, cushy carpeting and nice furnishings almost distracted me from the wallpaper peeling off the walls and random holes from where things use to be hung. Let's just say the dead bolt was locked that night and I kept reminding myself we were leaving at 5:20 in the morning and it was already time for bed.

We let Junior fall asleep and then it was time to plan for the big reveal!

Little does he know what awaits him in the morning!


And the answer to the joke of the installment...
Snow White and the seven Drawfs playing baseball.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm first to post on the TR! Great start! Sorry the hotel was so ghetto...ick. But, like you said, it was only for a few hours and did the trick! The picture of Junior sleeping is just precious, I also love his reaction at the Disney store. What a cutie he is!

I cannot wait to read about his reaction when Mickey calls him!!!!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Oh, I forgot to say...love the joke idea, I look forward to reading them all. And I also love bubba mouse's interejections into the report. I cracked up at the "He's male." part...oh so true, isn't it?

 

[Flossbolna]

great first installment! I am really looking forward to the next: I love surprise stories!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I bet Junior is going to be sooo surprised!!!

 

[PrincessV]

The day we had all been waiting for had finally arrived. The planning, the packing, the whispers, the hours “wasted” on the DIS – it was all coming together for this moment!

"Wasted?!"

The jokes are kind of bad. But they're Disney jokes, so you've got to at least chuckle. (I think that there will be more eye rolling then anything else, they are really bad jokes)

Wait - did they come form Pal Mickey?!

The next morning DH got up to go to his LOOOOOOOOOOONGest 4 hours of work EVER! (Yes sitting at work for those 4 hours was horrible, thankfully I was busy so the time flew by. Well if you count spending time on the Dis, checking the weather in Orlando and getting my fantasy football draft order all set busy.)

This made me giggle - I've tried doing the partial workday before vacation... never again!

And then it was time for Junior’s dream destination, the thing that he thought would be the highlight of his trip to Minneapolis. When we asked him what he’d like to do on our trip, he said he wanted to go to…











Ikea.

No?! Love it!

Friend-we-hadn’t-seen-in-forever has a son a year older than Junior and the 2 of them hit it off immediately. It was like they were best friends!

Isn't it great when that happens?

Oh my!

Great start!

 

[thewesterberg]

I'm first to post on the TR!

Thanks for sticking with me!

I cannot wait to read about his reaction when Mickey calls him!!!!!

[/QUOTE]That'll be coming up next!

Oh, I forgot to say...love the joke idea, I look forward to reading them all. And I also love bubba mouse's interejections into the report. I cracked up at the "He's male." part...oh so true, isn't it?

I thought if I subjected my family to the corny jokes, why not all the DIS?!

great first installment! I am really looking forward to the next: I love surprise stories!!

Thanks for being here!!

I bet Junior is going to be sooo surprised!!!

"Wasted?!"

I use the term wasted very loosely. Mainly since the DIS is a distraction from housework, work-work, and sleep. Who needs to do those things anyway?!

Wait - did they come form Pal Mickey?!

No, it's a whole book full of 'em. Worse than Pal Mickey!

This made me giggle - I've tried doing the partial workday before vacation... never again!

It doesn't go over too well, does it?

No?! Love it!

Well, at least cheap entertainment is satisfying to him!!

Isn't it great when that happens?

Yup! We realized that we need to see each other again before the boys are old enough to drive!

Oh my!

Aren't they sweet when they sleep? An hour before this picture was taken, I caught him dumping water out of the tub by the cupfuls on to the hotel bathroom floor. (However with the state of the room, I wasn't too overly concerned, but I didn't let him know that!) Then I see him like this and I wonder how I could ever be frustrated with this child?!

 

[janjandis]

Can't wait for the big reveal!!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I think I mentioned this when we met up, but I can totally understand why Junior loves Ikea. At first when you told me, I was like "Wha?!" but then you mentioned the kids area. That giant ball pit looks SO COOL! Do they allow parents in there? But the whole fact that he wanted to go there over the big 'ol amusement park at the Mall of America is too funny. It's a very good thing you didn't pay for those passes...!

 

[thewesterberg]

Can't wait for the big reveal!!!

It'll be coming up soon!

It's a very good thing you didn't pay for those passes...!

It has been a week FULL of stuff. Junior started Kindergarten on Thursday and survived his first days! So did I. A few tears were shed (by me, of course) and he seemed perfectly content to be at school. The kids are given free breakfast each morning and that's where the class gathers. Well, I'm waiting with him (as all the other moms are doing) and he tells me "Just go home already, mom!" (I gave him some space and went back to tell him good-bye and he did ask me to stay with him until his teacher got there, so I felt a little needed still!) He did come home disappointed that he didn't learn how to read his first day but excited to keep going back.

And how do you feel about being a Kindergartner?

And making some new friends...

Let's see, Friday was DH's birthday . We went out for pizza and came home and watched a movie as a family. I slept through most of it, as I'm dealing with some nasty allergies and was sneezing, blowing my nose, and feeling crummy overall.

Saturday, Junior and I head to the Cities with my parents for a retirement party for my aunt and uncle. They'll be spending their winter's in Texas so it was our last chance to see them before they head out soon. I pardoned DH from the extended family event and gave him a day to himself. (and I hoped the favor would be returned...)

Then today was our big kick-off Sunday at church for the fall season. The kids were playing a BIG part of the worship service so it was a morning of wearing many hats... welcoming kids and parents, leading Sunday School music (our music person had a family event going on), working with the kids that would be playing a part in the service and then leading the kids singing during worship, doing a puppet skit children's sermon with some of our campers, and doing the sermon with our kids that went on a mission trip. WHEW! It feels good to be back into the swing of things - but boy am I tired!!

I ended up pulling the get-out-of-an-event card with DH almost immediately. We were suppose to meet his mom for dinner to celebrate DH's birthday this afternoon. Between feeling sick and now exhausted, the thought of driving 90minutes to meet her, have dinner, and then back home brought me to the brink of tears. (as I re-read that, I want to clarify, seeing her doesn't bring me to tears, it was the traveling and not being home. Just wanted to clear that up!) All I want to do is sleep. So Junior and DH just headed out and now I have the next 5 hours or so to be home. By myself. With a book. And a pillow. And a blanket. And the t.v. remote.

All by myself.

A sigh of relief escapes my lips...

So on that note, I'm off to take a little nap.

And we'll be back soon with the next installment!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Junior looks like he had a great start!!!

Enjoy your nap!

 

[teruterubouzu]

The Ikea thing is hilarious! Kids are so funny. I'm really looking forward to the big reveal!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Holy smokes lady! You've been bussssssy!

Junior looks super adorable all ready for his first day. Our friends that watch Henry, their little guy just started kindergarten this year and on the SECOND day in the car he asked his Mom to not walk him in and just drop him off. She said she was able to choke out a "Okay" at the moment.

I hope you enjoyed every second of your alone-time and it completly refreshed you.