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

[brookelizabeth]

I know you've been on the DIS...where are our updates?!?!

 

[thewesterberg]

Yeah, Yeah. I know.... Thanks for checking in!!

Life has been busy with work and getting involved with everything at Junior's school. We made a pact that we'll get an installment done this week. PROMISE!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Yeah, Yeah. I know.... Thanks for checking in!!

Life has been busy with work and getting involved with everything at Junior's school. We made a pact that we'll get an installment done this week. PROMISE!!

Sounds good-I'm looking forward to it!!

I bet things are nutsy with a little one in school!!

 

[teruterubouzu]

Hey there! Just checking in and saying hi!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Okay...it's been a week!!!!!! Just teasin...

 

[thewesterberg]

Hey there! Just checking in and saying hi!

Thanks for hanging in here with me!

Okay...it's been a week!!!!!! Just teasin...

I knew you'd hold me to it!!

Okay, I have no where else to be tonight, the laundry is mostly done, the house isn't a total pit, so I think I can spend some time typing....

Update coming soon (like within the hour!)

Honest.

 

[thewesterberg]

Let's see... where did we leave off? I think we got back to Pop after a long day, joined the march of the mug people, and we collapsed into bed.

Must get some sleep because tomorrow means Magic Kingdom!!

I woke up without the help of an alarm of any kind. Much too excited to sleep in! After we got home, I realized that I never once requested a wake-up call so we could have Stitch get us moving in the morning. Guess we'll save that "treat" for next time!

Since Junior still fit in his Mickey ear tie-dye I made last year, and since it was early enough in the trip that we wanted to admit we knew each other, we decided to wear our matching shirts. We scarfed down some caramel rolls I had made and brought with, we grabbed the cell phones, lanyards, autograph book, water bottles, and other things into the backpack. And we were out the door about 7:50.

We hopped on the bus and made our way to the Magic Kingdom on a fairly sparse bus. We made our way through security and the turnstiles without a hitch and then it was time to wait. Junior wasn't too keen on the whole waiting thing. (Picture a Squirrel on crack and you will almost have the excitement level of Junior) We looked in the little gift shop off to the left and he found a Stitch. That he had to have. Life could not continue as he knew it without that plush animal. Because I'm a mean mom, I told him nope. Sorry kiddo! Whining isn't going to work!

We left the store, found ourselves a good place close to the entrance, but found ourselves in the hot, hot sun sweating like crazy. So now we had a kid who was a bit tired, excited, wanting a toy, and hot. Great combo... NOT!

So we scooted away from the entrance, made our way to the middle and some shade, and caught the opening show from there. We missed it last year as my parents were invited in to the park early to do a survey and we all went with them and got to wander a fairly empty Main Street. Which was lots of fun, but it was also fun to catch the show.

As the park opened, we joined the swarm of people and headed in on the right side. As we were doing this, a lady caught site of my LGMH and we exchanged hi's. My first DIS meet in the mother-land! COOL! We didn't exchange names as we got swept away in the mass of people.

Now, I'm the type of planner that has our game plan mapped out - an order to the rides and plan for the day. And I had it printed off on 4x6 photo paper and put into a little photo album from the Dollar Tree. Such a nerd, such a nerd. But, I can depart from the plan and be okay with it. So I guess that makes me a flexible nerd. I just have visions of freezing up and forgetting everything. Magic Kingdom? Huh? What's that? Mickey Mouse? Who's he?

We asked Junior where he wanted to head to first. The plan said "Dumbo". Junior said, "Buzz Lightyear!" Yup, his favorite ride. So that's where we headed. Deep breath. It'll be okay.

We took a couple of spins on that. Of course DH beat us all to smithereens.
(On a side note, I think I found a way to practice this ride for next time. We were digging potatoes at my parent's land last month and had friends there to help. We found some that looked like the Buzz Blasters. Two of these friends I went to DL with last February while we were at a conference and Buzz was a favorite for us there to let our competitive nature come out. We all decided we'd perfect our game by taping Z's to the kids, let them run around, while we used potato blasters with laser pointers taped to them. Man, I love my friends!) (You can practice all you want but you will never defeat me........)

Between the two times we tried to defeat the Evil Emperor Zurg, we ran into this guy. (Which only reminded Junior of his desire of wanting his very own. )

Next up was Fantasyland (whew, we're back on the Plan).
Tea Cups, Dumbo (while the boys did this one, I went and got a FP for Peter Pan),

(The sun was SOOOO bright that a lot of our pictures were all washed out )

Next was the Carousel. But no It's a Small World. (My prayers were answered. Junior can't stand the song, even when we read the lines to the song in the Disney Bear book he yells STOP. And he says the way the little people move freaks him out.) We took a vote - Two against One - the boys won. By now it was close to 9:45. TOON TOWN here we come!!

We made our way over to the rope where there was one other family waiting. Would Junior get that coveted ride with Goofy? I asked the CM if they'd be opening soon and he gave the "in about 15 minutes" answer. About 30 seconds later, here comes Pluto and Donald! Junior was so excited and jumping up and down with excitement. And he got to have a special moment with his "buddies":

Goofy must have gone to the other entrance because when we got to Barnstormer, he was there to ride with someone. Oh well. We tried! You can't beat walking through Toon Town with Donald and Pluto! Junior put on his brave hat and gave Barnstormer a try. Last year he went once, but said, nope, no more after that one ride. He had a great time trying it again, but decided once was enough. Okay, I can live with that.

Next up, visiting Mickey. I know, I know. Bad TGMer, visiting characters in the morning. But we knew there wouldn't be much of a line now, so we went for it. Sure enough there was only a couple of people waiting. We waited long enough in the queue for me to snap this picture of a quilt that Minnie must have made. I LOVE to quilt and DH thought I should make one like this to have a little Disney magic at home. I'm adding it to my To-Do List!

We entered the room and not only was Mickey there, but Minnie too! Ya!
Earlier Junior had been busy drawing a picture of himself with Mickey. Mickey accepted it graciously and held it up for the picture. Thanks Mickey!!

After our visit with the Big Cheese himself, our touring plan had us heading towards Splash. As we headed out of the Judge's Tent, we saw the train had just pulled in, so we hopped aboard and headed on out. We were on our way! Splash was a ride last year that Junior refused to even consider. We'd been talking about it before the trip, watching You Tube videos, and commenting how much fun it would be to ride with the friends we'll be going to Disney with in a little over a year. Junior started getting cold feet at this point while we were on the train.

Hmmmmm.... How can I convince him to give this a try?????


How about some good ol' fashion bribery?!



"Remember how much you LOVED that Stitch? If you ride Splash Mountain, I'll buy it for you!" (I was going to anyway, might as well get some mileage out of it!)



"Okay, Mom."



Who's the sucker? It's really a toss up.



I think riding the train to Splash was the best way to go because Junior wasn't able to see The Drop. We hopped into a short line that never stopped moving, which didn't give him a chance to mull over what we were about to subject him to.

We hopped into the log with Junior and I in the back row with DH in front of Junior. Mainly so he could block the big splashes. But they must have had the water turned down, because when we came around that corner at the beginning of the ride by The Drop, there was nothin'. Last year I got drenched here.

We had fun singing along and soon we were making the climb. When I envisioned this moment in the days leading up to the trip, I saw him trying to climb out of the log as we headed up the hill and me having to restrain him. (Maybe because this was my reaction the first time I rode the Flume at Valleyfair in junior high. It was all my friends could do to keep me in the log, I wanted out so bad.) He just sat there instead. His eyes were as big as saucers in the photo, but he said he loved it! But once was enough. That's okay, buddy! Thanks for trying!

We decided not to push BTMRR at this point (just got the FPs instead) and instead we headed towards the Haunted Mansion. Now this was another one Junior didn't want to do last year (we made it to the Stretching Room and he wanted to leave before it started), but was game for this year. Where did this adventure-seeking boy come from?! As long as he didn't have to do the Stretching Room. We had tried the You Tube deal and while he didn't mind watching it, the whole dark/screaming thing concerned him a bit. I found out here on the DIS that we could ask a CM to by-pass the Stretching Room. So that's what we did! We asked someone new who didn't think we could without a GAC, but someone else quickly said it was okay.

So we went in through a different way and we got into a Doom Buggy between the exit of the ride and the normal entrance to the buggies. It was a little weird to be the only ones in a Doom Buggy going through the dark before where everyone else was getting on. I just love the ride. Pretty sure Junior had one eye hidden behind DH's arm the whole time. (He had his eyes open but he pulled our arms against his head to cover his ears so he couldn't hear anything.)


As we walked out of this ride, we realized that Junior's sunglasses were missing. The very pair that we had just paid through the nose for the day before at Everything Pop because I had forgotten his pair in the car in Minnesota. We asked the CMs, they checked, but no luck. We could check City Hall later or we could head to the TTC the next day.

Squinting into the sun, we moved back into Fantasyland to use our FPs for Peter Pan. We enjoyed our flight over London and through Neverland. This is one of my favorite rides. Going on this makes me feel all giddy and child-like!

By this time we were starting to get a rumbly in our tummies. Good thing we had ADRs at the Crystal Palace! We headed on over to find the mass chaos on the porch that I'd read about. Some people got buzzers, some didn't. We were in the Didn't camp. So we had to listen carefully for our name being called. The only place to sit was a ways down, so DH took one for the team and stood closer to the entrance so we'd have a better chance of hearing our name. (Actually there was a nice breeze coming out of the door and there was a big cooler of ice water by the door, so it wasn't all that bad.) We had a little bit of a wait, but soon we caught our name.

We were brought to a great table by the window that looked out on the Adventure Land bridge. And we had something special waiting for us...

Something special to celebrate our 9th Anniversary!

Soon the characters came around. Junior drew each of them pictures and all were kind in taking them, but Tigger went all out. He was showing other tables, and when Junior asked him for his autograph, Tigger insisted that Junior sign his drawing. Tigger then held Junior's drawing up and was so excited like he'd just gotten a rock star's autograph. Thank you Tigger for making my little guy's day!!

Our lunch was really yummy. (Well everything but the Mac & Cheese. You would think that something that is so kid friendly as WDW would have some good Mac & Cheese maybe even some Kraft but no this stuff is the supreme Natsy. ) I enjoyed everything I had to eat, but what I remember most was the pink lemonade. There was lots of that consumed by me!

I almost forgot this and had to come back to add: When DH took Junior to the bathroom, I caught sight of the funniest thing... the parents at the table I was facing had a whole bunch of dinner rolls on a plate when they came back from the buffet. The dad took a quick peek to see if anyone was watching (obviously he missed me) and he dumped the whole plate of rolls into their backpack, all sly-like. Oooooooookay! I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud. No Micky Bars for those kids, they're getting a hunk of bread later! Reminds me of the lady my mom saw dumping chicken wings into her purse at the Ponderosa back when I was a kid...

As we were finishing up, our waitress then came out with something special for our anniversary...

(We took a couple of bites before taking the picture so this was our attempt to disguise the bites!)

She had us do a unity candle type deal, but Junior blew out the candles. On the second try we pretty much made it through the ceremony before he blew them out again. I think there's a metaphor here... marriage, kids, flame extinguished...

We decided we should head back to the hotel soon, and asked Junior what he'd like to do before we left. Any guesses???


Yup, we were heading back to Buzz!

But first we had to still buy him his Stitch. He was not letting us forget that!

We went to the shop over by Stitch's Great Escape and he picked one out. There was a 20 minute line for Buzz with FPs 20 minutes out, so we grabbed a set and decided to "wait in line" at the Laugh Factory instead. We enjoyed the show and by the time we came out, it was time for Buzz. Once again, DH whomped us. Before we left Tomorrowland to head back to POP for a nap and a swim, we grabbed some FPs for Space Mountain.

We had a plan.


What does Aladdin wear when he’s in the desert and doesn’t want to be seen?

Camel-flage.

 

[brookelizabeth]

What a great update!!!

...since it was early enough in the trip that we wanted to admit we knew each other, we decided to wear our matching shirts.

Now, I'm the type of planner that has our game plan mapped out - an order to the rides and plan for the day. And I had it printed off on 4x6 photo paper and put into a little photo album from the Dollar Tree. Such a nerd, such a nerd. But, I can depart from the plan and be okay with it. So I guess that makes me a flexible nerd. I just have visions of freezing up and forgetting everything. Magic Kingdom? Huh? What's that? Mickey Mouse? Who's he?

What a great idea with the photobook!!

(On a side note, I think I found a way to practice this ride for next time. We were digging potatoes at my parent's land last month and had friends there to help. We found some that looked like the Buzz Blasters. Two of these friends I went to DL with last February while we were at a conference and Buzz was a favorite for us there to let our competitive nature come out. We all decided we'd perfect our game by taping Z's to the kids, let them run around, while we used potato blasters with laser pointers taped to them. Man, I love my friends!)

I can just picture this...!

Wow! How very special for Junior! He looks soooo excited!

That is a very cute quilt! If you are still on your TR here you'll have to post pictures when you complete it.

I just love all these pics of Junior-he's just BEAMING. What a cutie!

Who's the sucker? It's really a toss up.

As we walked out of this ride, we realized that Junior's sunglasses were missing. The very pair that we had just paid through the nose for the day before at Everything Pop because I had forgotten his pair in the car in Minnesota. We asked the CMs, they checked, but no luck. We could check City Hall later or we could head to the TTC the next day.

Doh!

Squinting into the sun, we moved back into Fantasyland to use our FPs for Peter Pan. We enjoyed our flight over London and through Neverland. This is one of my favorite rides. Going on this makes me feel all giddy and child-like!

I really look forward to riding Peter Pan! We never did it last trip, but it's a MUST this time!

Soon the characters came around. Junior drew each of them pictures and all were kind in taking them, but Tigger went all out. He was showing other tables, and when Junior asked him for his autograph, Tigger insisted that Junior sign his drawing. Tigger then held Junior's drawing up and was so excited like he'd just gotten a rock star's autograph. Thank you Tigger for making my little guy's day!!

Aw! That is so sweet! I think it's so cool that Junior drew pictures of all the characters for them.

I almost forgot this and had to come back to add: When DH took Junior to the bathroom, I caught sight of the funniest thing... the parents at the table I was facing had a whole bunch of dinner rolls on a plate when they came back from the buffet. The dad took a quick peek to see if anyone was watching (obviously he missed me) and he dumped the whole plate of rolls into their backpack, all sly-like. Oooooooookay! I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud. No Micky Bars for those kids, they're getting a hunk of bread later! Reminds me of the lady my mom saw dumping chicken wings into her purse at the Ponderosa back when I was a kid...

This is HILARIOUS!!! "Here's your hunk-o-bread son! Enjoy!" "But Daddy, I wanted a Mickey Bar." "Eat your bread son."

(We took a couple of bites before taking the picture so this was our attempt to disguise the bites!)

She had us do a unity candle type deal, but Junior blew out the candles. On the second try we pretty much made it through the ceremony before he blew them out again. I think there's a metaphor here... marriage, kids, flame extinguished...

Too funny! It's amazing how kids do that, huh?
But that is very sweet about the confetti, the certificate and the cupcake. I love those little Disney touches!

Okay, now that I've quoted the majority of your post, I think it's time for bed for me!

 

[Pikester]

What a great time you are having! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[thewesterberg]

Okay, now that I've quoted the majority of your post, I think it's time for bed for me! [/COLOR]
[/COLOR]

Thanks for staying up to respond!

What a great time you are having! Can't wait to hear more.

Thanks for reading!! Hopefully life will slow down a tad so we can be better about updating! It's been fun to relive the memories.


This morning on the way to school, Junior asked me if I could write notes to Mickey on the days that he stays on "green" at school (green=good, yellow=warning, red=note/phone call home, blue=the dreaded Focus room). He's hoping that Mickey will have us back if he stays on green enough! I told him that I'm sure Mickey is very proud that he's being good, and we will get to go back in probably February 2010, but we have to save our money and if we don't eat out too much or buy too many toys, it'll be easier for us to go back. He said, "You don't have to buy me toys. Grandma Sharron can instead." I love that he loves Disney as much as we do!

 

[PrincessV]

You can't beat walking through Toon Town with Donald and Pluto!

Too cool! Can you believe we've never once made it to Toon Town for its opening? I really need to make that happen before Leo's too old for "kid stuff."

"Remember how much you LOVED that Stitch? If you ride Splash Mountain, I'll buy it for you!" (I was going to anyway, might as well get some mileage out of it!)



"Okay, Mom."

Okay. I'm officially jealous. Not even bribery worked to get Leo on Splash!

Soon the characters came around. Junior drew each of them pictures and all were kind in taking them, but Tigger went all out. He was showing other tables, and when Junior asked him for his autograph, Tigger insisted that Junior sign his drawing. Tigger then held Junior's drawing up and was so excited like he'd just gotten a rock star's autograph. Thank you Tigger for making my little guy's day!!

So sweet!

 

[brookelizabeth]

 

[thewesterberg]

Oops... we've moved to the once a month updates category. Well, it was DH turn to write this installment and I would add my spin on things, but since he's slacking, I'll take this one over!! No chance for him to correct me. I think I like this...

After a fun morning at MK, we headed back to POP. The plan was to rest, then swim, then back to the MK for evening. Did it work?

Well, DH & I rested. Junior, eh, not so much.

We gave up on the resting piece and decided to go swimming down in the computer pool for a bit. I sent the boys ahead of me and took my time getting there. Got some photos along the way.

For a friend who's trying to bring "rad" back...

Back up to the room and time to get ready for the evening. We got onto the bus and rode it from Pop to MK. Then we hoped on the monorail and rode it to the TTC. Our final destination was the Poly. Specifically the Neverland Club. Some friends had told us we were better off getting off the monorail at the TTC since the Club was on that end of things. Plus, it gave us a chance to explore a new area! As we walked by the bathrooms at the TTC, we asked Junior if he need to use them.

Nope.

Are you sure?

No, I don't have to.

Are you positive?

NO MOM & DAD!!

Okay, okay.

As we enter the wooded path, about 1/2 ways to the Club, guess what?


MOM, DAD I have to PEE. BAD!!

Sigh.


I thought the kid was going to explode on that walk. I mean, really, if you have to go that bad you must have had an inkling 5 minutes ago. At one point he was trying to convince us to let him find a "special" tree and drop his pants right there. Since we didn't want to become one of "THOSE" families, we firmly told him to hold it.

We got to the Club, quickly said "This is Junior, Bathroom, Now!" They let me bring him back to the bathrooms and I got to get a glimpse of the Club. Wow! Very, very cool.

We went back out to join DH who was checking him in. Junior put in his dinner order and took off back into the Club.

Uh.... Bye.... Have fun.... We'll miss you... I guess your saving the hug for when we pick you up???

I quickly got over it as it meant grown-up time in the MK!! Hand in hand, we strolled through the Poly grounds as we headed to the monorail.

We had a plan for the evening.

It was time for the Triple Mountain Whammy! (Anyone miss Stacy???)

Space Mountain, up first.

DH was a tad squished on this ride, as he's quite tall. We got going and I completely forgot I had my Mickey headband on. On the first drop it went sliding off the top of my head. My quick ninja like reflexes allowed me to grab it in time. Whew.

I LOVE Space at Disneyland and I talked it up to DH that we HAD to do it on this trip. The music makes the ride and Junior loves me to play it in the car when we drive! I soon learned, there's no music in WDW. We got off of it and we looked at each other and shrugged. Eh. Okay, this may be blasphemy, but we didn't like it. At all. We had a couple of FP for it, so we gave them away to a couple of teenage boys that were heading that way. At least we could share some magic...

WHAM! So we got our first one done.

On our way to the other 2 mountains, we stopped at Columbia Harbor House for dinner. I had read too much about those yummy tuna sandwiches to miss them.

I agree. Them are good! We enjoyed dinner, just the two of us. Hoped to sit upstairs, but it was closed. It was a great chance to talk and just enjoy being together. Soon we went on Splash.

WHAM!

Then Thunder Mountain.

WHAM!

We headed over to Pirates. Everyone was going in the left side. I looked at the CM, pointed to the right with a ? on my face. He gave me the thumbs up. We got down to the loading area and sure enough the other side had a wait and we were able to get right on.

We enjoyed the ride, floating along and we approached my favorite scene, the one with the dog holding the cell keys, there was loud WHAM! Okay, this isn't part of the Triple WHAMMY... what's going on?! It was almost like an explosion.

Ends up someone in the boat in front of us decided it would be "funny" to throw a full water bottle at the dog. It hit the dog in the head, and the "skin" on the dog's head came off! All that was left was the robotics and this creepy eye that was blinking! I wish I could have grabbed my camera in time to take a picture - it was very disturbing! Some people....

We may have done some other rides this night, but I really don't remember. We thought about sticking around for Wishes, but decided it would get to be too late for Junior, whether we left him at the Club or we picked him up and watched them for the beach.

What I do know, as we headed back to the Poly, we grabbed a refreshing Dole Whip Float.

Yum.

While in line we met a DISer/TGMer. It was fun talking with her, but of course, I didn't write down her name.

We got the monorail back to the Poly and got Junior. There were tears shed because: A. He didn't want to leave. B. He was really tired. So the decision to go back to Pop was cemented. Wishes would have to wait for another night. We went down to the dock and caught the boat back over to the MK and we took the bus back to Pop.

Time to get some sleep so we can be to rope drop at Epcot. And there's a special surprise waiting for DH...


What’s Donald Duck’s favorite type of TV show?
Duckumentaries!

 

[thewesterberg]

Just so you know I haven't been sitting around twiddling my thumbs and not updating, here are some pictures of other things that have been going on...

Every year I go on a quilt retreat with friends. This year I made the top for a over-sized queen size quilt. It's a wedding present for my sister who's getting married next September.

Then I decided to make something fun...

Anybody recognize this????

So those two projects I still have to quilt, but I wasn't in the mood over that weekend.

Since I had some time left, I made a couple of purses...

Then the big thing I was getting ready for this fall was a HUGE youth retreat. I'm one of 7 adults that works with 18 high school youth to put on a youth gathering for kids from northeastern Minnesota. We had 500 attend Friday night, they go home on Saturday, we get a couple hour break and then 450 kids showed up for the Saturday night, then go home on SUnday. It's tons of work, but tons of fun. One thing we had was a bungee run. Now mind you, I got sick on Friday (some weird thing with my eye lid swelling up so I could hardly see.) I was under the influence of Benadryl at this point... When I reached the end of the bungee, I went flying back, whacked my head, broke my hair clip, and everything in my pocket was laying around me. Ended up with whiplash!! Then I did it 2 more times! Best of 3, you know! This is a before picture...

Oh, and the other little thing we've been up to...




a little purchase...






a small contract at Animal Kingdom Villas! Just waiting to pass Disney's ROFR. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US!!

And our next trip is being moved up from February 2010 to August 2009! We're going with friends!! Can't wait to hear that first WELCOME HOME!!

 

[thewesterberg]

Thanks for lighting that fire under me! I need to take updating lessons from you... you're just flying through your trip!! But I guess when you've got another one coming up so soon, you've got to do that!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

"Ninja like reflexes" Love it!

What a great evening you and DH had to spend together through MK. We didn't do the Triple Mountain Whammy this past time-no Splash for us, we aren't big fans of getting wet. Maybe this trip so I can just say we completed Stacy's Triple Mountain Whammy.

That is so cool that SM has music in DL! I LOVE SM at WDW, but with music it would be even cooler. I can see how it would be a downer in comparison.

We at at CHH too--soooooo good. It's now a "must" for CS in the MK.

I also love your quilts! The Mickey head one is adorable and the one for your sister is beautiful-what an excellent wedding gift! Perfect for them to cozy up under together.

And your bags....ooooooh...I love me a fun purse, and those are AWESOME. Do you sell them on the side?

Sorry to hear about your eyelid and your whiplash. Ouch!! I remember once going on one of those bungee runs and breaking my hair clip-it hurt so much, but totally didn't stop me from doing it again. Whiplash though, But then again, I remember working with youth, and when you are in that zone, it's just like go go go and let's have fun! Nothing stops ya!

YEAAAAAAAAAAA! On AKV too!!! And getting to go back in 9 months! Are you going to do a PTR for that?

Thanks for lighting that fire under me! I need to take updating lessons from you... you're just flying through your trip!! But I guess when you've got another one coming up so soon, you've got to do that!!

I am loving your TR, so I had to nudge ya a little... I really want to fly through my TR, so I don't loose the umpf to do it, so I remember little details I didn't write down, and so I can really focus on our upcoming trip! (which is so hard to believe is really happening)

So far when we've told family/friends we are going back in January no one has thought we are crazy. So far.

 

[teruterubouzu]

Ends up someone in the boat in front of us decided it would be "funny" to throw a full water bottle at the dog. It hit the dog in the head, and the "skin" on the dog's head came off! All that was left was the robotics and this creepy eye that was blinking! I wish I could have grabbed my camera in time to take a picture - it was very disturbing! Some people....

Wow. I hope the person that did that was kicked out and barred from Disney for life.

Congratulations on your DVC purchase! How exciting. Do you have a trip planned yet?

And, beautiful sewing projects. I especially love that last bag.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Well where have I been????

WELCOME HOME! Congratulations on your AKV purchase. I am officially jealous.

Some random comments on your last coupla updates:

a squirrel on crack for whom life will not go on without a stitch plush. Better you than me. And bless his heart for not forgetting about little stitch!

children extinguishing the flame...

How cute is Junior marching into Toon Town with Pluto and Donald?

Searching for the "special tree" to relieve oneself on?? Thank you for not being THAT family!

Your quilts are just beautiful! I so wish I was crafty.

 

[thewesterberg]

"Ninja like reflexes" Love it!

What a great evening you and DH had to spend together through MK. We didn't do the Triple Mountain Whammy this past time-no Splash for us, we aren't big fans of getting wet. Maybe this trip so I can just say we completed Stacy's Triple Mountain Whammy.

Yup, gotta check that one off your "Bucket List"!

That is so cool that SM has music in DL! I LOVE SM at WDW, but with music it would be even cooler. I can see how it would be a downer in comparison.

I feel like such a heathen for even saying I didn't like it - guess I was spoiled with experiencing the DL version first!

We at at CHH too--soooooo good. It's now a "must" for CS in the MK.

Yum, Yum, Yum!!!

I also love your quilts! The Mickey head one is adorable and the one for your sister is beautiful-what an excellent wedding gift! Perfect for them to cozy up under together.

Thank you - I love working on them. Don't nearly have enough time anymore though so I cherish that long weekend to do nothing but quilt! Some else cooks the food, no phone to answer, no laundry to do, and good friends to catch up with!

And your bags....ooooooh...I love me a fun purse, and those are AWESOME. Do you sell them on the side?

Thank you! These are the first two I've made, but I'm thinking I might have to design some of my own (this pattern is copyrighted) and sell some. Make me some Disney money!!

Sorry to hear about your eyelid and your whiplash. Ouch!! I remember once going on one of those bungee runs and breaking my hair clip-it hurt so much, but totally didn't stop me from doing it again. Whiplash though, But then again, I remember working with youth, and when you are in that zone, it's just like go go go and let's have fun! Nothing stops ya!

So you broke your hair clip too - too funny! And even funnier that you got up and did it again too! Yup, I was in the youth director zone! I couldn't believe the force it yanks you back with!!

YEAAAAAAAAAAA! On AKV too!!! And getting to go back in 9 months! Are you going to do a PTR for that?

I can't wait! We spent Saturday making lefse and meatballs for the lutefisk (blech!) dinner coming up this week with the friends we'll be going with. We're sorta crashing the trip - friends of ours own DVC and need to use up their points (they're going in May just the 2 of them) and then in August they're going with her sister and her DH and DS who are also friends of ours. We got to talking and are trying to convince another friend and her family to go too. She's convinced, we're just working on her DH! These were some of the core group of friends we were planning the Feb 2010 trip with, but we're going to move it up. We were having a hard time swallowing going President's Day week - airfare's outrageous and the crowds... I'd rather deal with the end of August heat!

I am loving your TR, so I had to nudge ya a little... I really want to fly through my TR, so I don't loose the umpf to do it, so I remember little details I didn't write down, and so I can really focus on our upcoming trip! (which is so hard to believe is really happening)

Good for you to do it so quick! I've been loving reading all about it!! Plus, you're right, you've gotta get it all out before you go again so soon!

So far when we've told family/friends we are going back in January no one has thought we are crazy. So far.

you've got supportive family and friends!! We've told friends about our purchase, but not family yet...

Wow. I hope the person that did that was kicked out and barred from Disney for life.

It was the most surreal thing... I wonder if they knew who did it!

Congratulations on your DVC purchase! How exciting. Do you have a trip planned yet?

Yup! Put the ticker back up last night... boy did that feel good!!

And, beautiful sewing projects. I especially love that last bag.

Thank you so much!

Well where have I been????

WELCOME HOME! Congratulations on your AKV purchase. I am officially jealous.

Thank you! We're really excited!

Some random comments on your last coupla updates:

a squirrel on crack for whom life will not go on without a stitch plush. Better you than me. And bless his heart for not forgetting about little stitch!

DH has a way with words!!

children extinguishing the flame...

How cute is Junior marching into Toon Town with Pluto and Donald?

He was definitely on cloud nine

Searching for the "special tree" to relieve oneself on?? Thank you for not being THAT family!

Yeah, we totally weren't letting that happen! Made us laugh though!

Your quilts are just beautiful! I so wish I was crafty.

Thank you - it's such a funny hobby - hacking up fabric only to sew it together again!! But it makes me happy!

 

[thewesterberg]

Why did Goofy wear two pairs of pants
when he played golf?


EPCOT DAY!

We were up and at 'em at a decent hour, after provoking Junior out of bed. We ate breakfast in the room and soon we were doing the daily dash across the parking lot because it always seemed that our bus was loading as we would come across the lot. But more than once it would be a bus for another park. But we were already sweaty since it was so hot, what's a little extra?! We had an extra in our party this morning - Stitch was going to be Junior's guest for the day.

We got to the park and began the long trek to the entrance (man is it a far hike from the Pop bus stop!). We picked out a short line - the turnstiles had already opened - and of course we got behind someone that was having ticket issues! That always seems to happen, whether I'm at Disney, the grocery store, or the bank drive-thru! Finally we made it through and I was hustling to get to the rope. Junior and DH would stick together and I would do the FPs for Soarin'. While I was heading past Spaceship Earth, with DH and Junior right behind me, I head someone calling. I didn't pay much attention, but then DH yelled out my name and I turned around. There was a DISer who spotted my lime green Mickey! We talked as we walked up to the rope. Little did we know, but we'd see each other LOTS on this trip! And of course, I neglected to write down her screen name . It was something with Tink and a number. She was from Washington state.

There was the welcoming, the family of the day, etc and soon it was the controlled dash to Soarin'. I made it down the stairs to hear "MOMMY" being called from up above - there was Junior on DH shoulder's waving! I was first in line at a FP machine and by the time I was done, they made it downstairs and we got in line. Right next to my new DIS friend and her college aged son! We had fun chatting with them while we waited.

Junior was ecstatic. This was one of his favorite rides the year previous. He was hoping for the top row. DH, not so much (heights aren't a favorite thing of his!) This ride, DH lucked out and we were on the bottom row. It was great trip over California!

We were a bit hungry, so we stopped by Sunshine Seasons to use a snack credit. Yummy things were enjoyed as I called back to Junior's school. See, teacher assignments were being mailed while we were gone and we'd be getting home super duper late Tuesday night (actually it was technically Wednesday when we pulled up in front of our house) and school was starting Thursday. The principal told me to give her a call that morning to find out. So while we enjoyed some yummy desserts (yes, desserts before noon. We're on vacation) I talked to her and found out his teacher.

This is where my memory is failing me a bit... I remember everything we did, but not quite the order it was done in. Our touring plan was pretty loose that day - just knew what we wanted to try to accomplish, but the order was up in the air. Brook - you're doing your TR the right way, quickly, so you remember the details. So the following is what happened, but not particularly in this order:

We made our way through the maze of a queue to ride Nemo and then it was time for Turtle Talk with Crush. Last year Junior was picked to ask a question. When asked his name, he said "Ummm... Junior." And your question? "......................." Crush's reponse "Don't worry dude if you forgot the question. I already forgot the answer." We gently reminded him this time that he may not get picked and that's okay because he had a chance last year. He joined the other kids on the floor, right up front. DH and I got front row bench seats this year which was kind of fun (last time we were way in the back.) Crush was as funny as ever and Junior was a tad disappointed he didn't get picked, but he dealt with it pretty well.

I think I went ahead to get FPs for Test Track and we went through Innovations. We were looking for the Build Your Own Robot, but quickly learned that it was no more. Somehow I missed that bit of info here. But, "There will be something new and exciting filling the space next year!" Didn't help us much and since I opened my big mouth saying we were going to do that, there was a bit of damage control I had to do with Junior. Oops. Junior found some other things to look at, but grew restless after awhile.

We ended up over at Test Track to ride standby. The line wasn't very long. Last Junior agreed to go on it and then FREAKED when he saw the cars go zipping by overhead on our way in so he declined to ride. This year, he was game. WAHOO!!! We hopped in line and took a look at things while we waited.

Hidden Mickey!!

Almost our turn!

His eyes were big as saucers as we raced around the outside, but he said he loved it!! Another WAHOO from me!! We're getting to do all the rides we love with Junior!!

There was a request for a ride on Spaceship Earth, which was being refurbed the year previous. The line was pretty long, but we decided we might as well get in it. It moved pretty fast and soon it was our turn. Junior and I rode together with DH behind. We smiled pretty for the picture and then journeyed through time. I remember as a kid coming down backwards on the ride and it stopping for a bit - it was a little unnerving, but I think I took a little nap while waiting! We enjoyed the ending, especially Junior. I read him the questions and he picked our situation. It was fun to see the pictures up inside when we were done.

DH and Junior played one of the 3D games at the end of the ride. At this point we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. Stitch had a hole in a seam so we needed to get him to the Doctor (read: exchanged for a new one) and we all needed to take a break. It was hot, Junior was tired and getting pretty crabby. I put him up on my shoulders to help out the process. He proceeded to start monkey around with my fun Mickey headband that I had saved from the perils of Space Mountain the day before and he broke it. I was not very happy at this point with him (the heat and crabbiness was settling in with me too). DH stepped in, put him on his shoulders and gave me a chance to "cool" down mentally.

We got back to Pop, exchanged Stitch, had a late lunch in the food court, went for a swim, took a rest, and then it was time to head back to Epcot for our dinner reservation at Coral Reef. No one rested very well so there was an underlying sense of crabbiness.


Since we had a few extra minutes and there wasn't a line, we took another spin through time in Spaceship Earth. After that, we headed over to Coral Reef. I sent DH and Junior to sit down while I checked in. I had a surprise up my sleeve and I didn't want DH to find out yet. Yet, I was the one in for a surprise.

They didn't have our reservation.




Uh, excuse me???

I calmly freaked out....

"I'msupposetohaveareservationtonightandIsetupadiversignandpersonalmenuformy
husband'sbirthdayandouranniversarywhatdoyoumeanyoudon'thaveourreservation????"



The CM was so helpful... she pulled it up by my name and there it was. For September 28th. Except today was August 28th. She went through the rest of my ADRs and they were all correct, so somehow this one got goofed. She also told me to wait and she'd look for the menu and diver sign.

I wanted to lean across the counter and give her a big hug and kiss on the forehead!

This meant we had a bit of a wait though. Junior was restless and DH was too, but I couldn't quite explain what was taking so long. He knew the ADR was wrong, but couldn't figure out what else was taking long. I ended up taking Junior to go sit underneath the pay phones by the bathroom for a change of scenery and finally our buzzer went off.

We got to our table, and it was right at that tank. And then he saw our menus. They were wonderful. I had sent pictures from when we met at camp, from our wedding, with Junior as a baby, and more recent shots. 6 pictures in all with a birthday/anniversary wish from me. You see, our 9th anniversary was 5 days before our trip and DH's birthday was 3 days after we got back. We had lots of reasons to celebrate!!

We had a wonderful waitress who greeted us and soon we were placing our order: Grilled New York Strip Steak for both of us, Mac 'n Cheese for Junior. And fun non-alcoholic drinks all around since they were on the dining plan.

As we were sitting there, the divers swam up to our window.

I had butterflies in my stomach, I was so excited...

The two of them got our attention and then held up the sign with happy wishes to DH. DH had a big grin on his face. I finally surprised the guy!!! He's always figuring out things ahead of time when it comes to gifts and I finally got him!!

They threw the shells like confetti, and blew bubbles, and did lots of fun things. We had debated about eating here vs LeCellier - the aquarium entertainment won. And I'm so glad we chose here. Everything that night was perfect...

The food was delicious

The surprise for DH

A wonderful waitress

And then it was time for dessert. Junior got the make your own ice cream sundae. And we both got the Chocolate Wave. With a Best Wishes chocolate ribbon...

I'm drooling just thinking about it.

And the icing on the cake? Get the bill and seeing how much dinner would have cost!!

Man, I love Free Dining!!!

We went over to Soarin' and used our FP from the morning. Junior was hoping again for top row, DH not.

They each got their wish that day as we were put in the top row line!

It was pretty cool being up that high and DH did just fine!!

Our plans for WS decided to wait until another day as we were all pretty tired and it was late. We got back to Pop, I filled up the mugs and took the long way back to the room to explore a little more.


Why did Goofy wear two pairs of pants
when he played golf?

He thought he might get a hole in one!