How My Husband Saved Mother's Day: With a SURPRISE Trip to WDW!/July PTR -We're Back!

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I love your JTA story! I know how it feels in the moment though when they don't do it. That is too funny about beating Vader with his mind. Where do kids come up with this stuff? I hope Josh will fight Vader this year, I think he will. Anthony spent quite a bit of money in the Star Wars store. We have a few of those BYO Lightsabers and Droid. It's fun though!

BYO Droid is ALL Josh talks about! He is so excited for this. I hope it lives up to his expectations!

The only show we have ever seen at DHS is Beauty and the Beast but we all liked it. (Anthony won't admit he liked it but he was mesmorized, lol). I definitely want to try LMA next time though. I think Anthony would like it and I think Tessa would like Disney Jr. Live. Does Josh like Tower of Terror? Anthony rode it once last year and said never again.

Josh is the same way. He'll swear up and down that he can't stand princess stuff but when he's alone with his (girl) cousin, he doesn't hesitate to get in a full ball gown and tiara!

I think Josh will like ToT. I know he will like the drop part because he is a total thrill ride junkie. I am more afraid that he won't like the ride-through ghost part of it. I have talked with him about how they make it look real with a projector and a piece of glass... that its not a REAL ghost... but I guess we'll see how it goes.

I think playing Fantasmic by ear is a good plan. It's a great show but we missed it this year but like you said it's not the last trip to Disney.

I love your Disney movie night ideas and the countdown calendar. I want to start doing movie nights here but I need to get organized first.

Epcot is a great park. I think two days is a great idea there. That way you can relax a bit. Wait, relax with two kids? Who I am kidding! Take it easier?
I totally laughed with is Darth Vader in this movie. I can relate! Anthony's favorites from Epcot are Journey to Imagination, Mission Space and Soarin.

Yes! Again, exactly the same!! Here's what I think they should do with the JII building: Turn it into a DAY CARE. Just put the kids on the Figment ride and let it go round and round all day long. Then us moms can go over to La Cava and have some margaritas! If you think about it, it really is a win-win.

I love Animal Kingdom. Every trip I like it more and it's Tessa's favorite. I think I like it because we don't rush as much too and it's just so pretty. That is so scary about your DH losing his insulin pen! I'm glad the CM was able to help.

I love Animal Kingdom! I love the attention to detail there.
Unfortunately that wasn't the first time he has lost/ran out of some of his diabetic supplies while on vacation. He was diagnosed with Type 1 at age 30 so we are still on a bit of a learning curve but still... I am the kind of person who over prepares and he JUST NEVER LISTENS TO ME! This year he got on the pump so it will be much, much easier but I am going to tell him to bring some extra insulin just in case. I bet he won't.

I love the autograph books! I made some last year for our trip and then we just carried them again this year. I also made Star Wars autograph books for this trip, I may have to post a picture.

Thank you! Its fun to do your own. I'd love to see a picture of your Star Wars ones! Please do post some!

The movie nights are so much fun. If nothing else but to just try and put everything aside and really sit down with the kids to watch the movie. So often we tend to multi-task while watching movies with the kids so we are trying to be better and just be in the moment with them. You should do it! Pinterest has some great ideas!

 

[megan511]

The movie nights are so much fun. If nothing else but to just try and put everything aside and really sit down with the kids to watch the movie. So often we tend to multi-task while watching movies with the kids so we are trying to be better and just be in the moment with them. You should do it! Pinterest has some great ideas!

Im sure Josh will enjoy BYO droid! Maybe since its not SWW it won't be as packed!

When Anthony is with his girl cousin they will be whispering in the play room because Ant doesn't want anyone to know he is playing dolls!

Chad rode TOT With Ant but according to him Anthony did fine with the ghost stuff but hated the drops. I hope Josh has fun on it, it's my favorite ride!

love the Figment idea! I think that is golden, you should write Guest Services

Oh wow, I hope you do not have any mishaps this year! What a scary thing to deal with. I hope all goes well and your DH listens! When will men learn we know everything?

I'm going to have to check out Pinterest! I have Oliver & Company and Robin Hood on the DVR so I will have to check for ideas for those two.

 

[megan511]

I am all caught up

Your MK day looks great! We had a scheduled CP breakfast at 825 last year and we slept through our alarms! We got there an hour late so no empty Main Street pics for us. Oh well maybe one day!

I would go to Merida after breakfast because you can get a FP for the princesses at Town Square. We loved meeting Merida even Anthony! The kids get to shoot a bow and arrow while they wait. That is such a cute idea for your niece, she will it.

Oh Pirate League! I can't wait to see Josh's pictures. I hope he enjoys it as much as Anthony did.

You have to ride Dumbo! It's a classic. The new queue looks so cool is it open yet?

I Wishes and the night parade. I would say a break will be essential though to make it, I know my family needs one when we want to do night stuff.

I love, love, love Brave movie night. I am totally going to have to steal that bow and arrow idea! How did you make the bows? I also love the snack bags! I may steal that idea too...

Seattle looks like a really fun time! I will have to try and make it there sometime.

I think your second Epcot and MK days look great! I can't wait to see what you all think of Agent P, I'm sure that would be fun!

Your trip is almost here

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Your trip is SOOOO close! Have you started packing yet?

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I am all caught up

Your MK day looks great! We had a scheduled CP breakfast at 825 last year and we slept through our alarms! We got there an hour late so no empty Main Street pics for us. Oh well maybe one day!

I would go to Merida after breakfast because you can get a FP for the princesses at Town Square. We loved meeting Merida even Anthony! The kids get to shoot a bow and arrow while they wait. That is such a cute idea for your niece, she will it.

Oh Pirate League! I can't wait to see Josh's pictures. I hope he enjoys it as much as Anthony did.

You have to ride Dumbo! It's a classic. The new queue looks so cool is it open yet?

I Wishes and the night parade. I would say a break will be essential though to make it, I know my family needs one when we want to do night stuff.

I love, love, love Brave movie night. I am totally going to have to steal that bow and arrow idea! How did you make the bows? I also love the snack bags! I may steal that idea too...

Seattle looks like a really fun time! I will have to try and make it there sometime.

I think your second Epcot and MK days look great! I can't wait to see what you all think of Agent P, I'm sure that would be fun!

Your trip is almost here

Oh no! That's terrible that you slept through your alarm! You must have really needed the rest! That sounds like something we'd do... I'll have to set multiple alarms

I am really excited for Merida. At first Josh wasn't too keen on meeting any of the princesses but he's ok with Merida because of the whole archery thing. I actually secretly hope that one of them plants a big kiss on his cheek and really embarrasses him! He's a good sport so I think he'd think it was funny too.

If you ever take a break from a Disney vacation (or perhaps take a Disney cruise to Alaska!) Seattle is a GREAT family friendly city. There is tons to do there and a whole lot thats free. If it weren't for DH's job, I'd move back in a heartbeat.

Yes! Dumbo is open! I was thrilled to hear that BOTH the Dumbo queue and Agent P would be open when we get there.

Your trip is SOOOO close! Have you started packing yet?

Oh my gosh! We leave in just two days! I'm freaking out a little but I have managed to pack ONE bag. I have some other clothes set aside but I haven't actually packed them yet. We've always been those people who are up 'till midnight doing last minute packing. I am determined to break the habit!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I love, love, love Brave movie night. I am totally going to have to steal that bow and arrow idea! How did you make the bows? I also love the snack bags! I may steal that idea too...

The bows are SOOOO easy to make. You take wooden craft sticks (popsicle sticks) and soak them in water for 15 - 20 minutes to soften them up. I soaked about 7 or 8 of them which turned out to be a good thing because I broke all but those two!

Then you cut two little notches on each side of the stick on both ends so you have something to wrap the floss around to keep it from slipping. Next you slooooowly bend the stick into a bow shape.

Use dental floss for the bow string and tie one end around the notches, pull it tight and tie it around the other end.

I don't use Pinterest all that much yet so I'm not sure how a lot of the features work but if you can search for me & follow me, I have a board called "Disney Movie Nights" and the directions for the bows and the recipe for the shortbread are on there. There's also a bunch of other ideas I got from other people. I am so impressed at other's creativity!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I wanted to do something fun with the kids so we decided to make Mickey Tie-dye shirts. We just did them for the kids but they turned out so well that now I'm jealous and wish we had done them for me and Eric too!

I found These Awesome Directions via Pinterest but of course, it led me rich back here. There's nothing you can't find on the Dis! This thread does an awesome job explaining the process and has lots of pictures so I won't go into that much but I did take a few pictures along the way of things that I found useful.

Sooooo... without further ado.... I give you Tie Dye Mickey!

I decided to do a shirt for Josh and a tank dress for Ev. The template I just got off google and printed. I traced it with a pencil and found that it came out better if I "colored" (like with a back and forth motion) the edge of the template with the tip of the pencil on the shirt. That way it didn't pull the fabric and distort the image.

Next you sew a basting stitch around the Mickey head with a dental floss. I am not an experienced sewer. I took Home Ec in 7th grade and we made an apron and a pillow. I can pull a needle and thread in and out of fabric but it doesn't come naturally, KWIM? Anyway, I made the floss REALLY LONG since I was paranoid that I would run out half way through the outline. Here I was pulling this COMICALLY LONG piece of thread in and out in and out when I thought "Ah HA!" What I should be doing is weaving the NEEDLE in and out then pulling the thread through! For a split second I was smugly thinking "Cleaver me" when I realized that this is probably what sew-ers do. Doh! Just in case anyone out there is like me and didn't realize that this was the obvious way to do a baste stitch here you go:

And for those of you who totally knew, feel free to laugh at me

Ok, next you pull the ends of the thread tight so Mickey puckers up and secure it with rubber bands. Then grabbing Mickey, you twist the fabric into a spiral bundle and secure that with rubber bands so that Mickey is sticking up.

Then the fun begins! Time to dye the shirts!

I had to stop taking pictures for a while because my fingers were covered in dye! After you dye them, you wrap them in plastic and wait....

...and wait...

...and wait... until...

I think they turned out pretty cute! They were so fun to make too. I can't wait to have the kids wear them!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

As a hobby I make hair bows and clippies for my daughter. I started doing it because I bought a set of corkscrew bows at Gymboree for like, $15.00 or something ridiculous. I looked at the construction and thought it looked easy enough so I looked up the instructions online and started making my own! Its evolved past the corkscrew clippies and has become a full-fledged obsession. Don't even get Eric started on the amount of ribbon I keep around!

Anyhow, I made some for Disney. Here ya go:

Big, fluffy bows! These were my first attempt at the big bows. These barely clip into my DD's hair since its so fine but they stay well enough if I clip them above a pony.

I really like these They were sort of an accident but I like the way they turned out.

I actually made these quite a while ago. I saw some on Etsy, again for a lot of dough and thought I'd give them a try. They are pretty labor intensive but fun to make. I've had intentions to make Tink but haven't gotten around to it.

 

[megan511]

Oh no! That's terrible that you slept through your alarm! You must have really needed the rest! That sounds like something we'd do... I'll have to set multiple alarms

I set about 4 alarms this time around!

I am really excited for Merida. At first Josh wasn't too keen on meeting any of the princesses but he's ok with Merida because of the whole archery thing. I actually secretly hope that one of them plants a big kiss on his cheek and really embarrasses him! He's a good sport so I think he'd think it was funny too.

Anthony liked her because of the archery too. I think she is the only female character he will openly admit to liking. Of course last trip we discovered he has a crush on Belle but he denies it. She tried to give Ant a hug last year but he just gave her five. The Beast was with her though so I think it threw him off his game.

If you ever take a break from a Disney vacation (or perhaps take a Disney cruise to Alaska!) Seattle is a GREAT family friendly city. There is tons to do there and a whole lot thats free. If it weren't for DH's job, I'd move back in a heartbeat.

DH's dream vacation is a cruise to Alaska. I want to wait until the kids are a bit older to do it but hopefully one day! It looks like a great city.

Yes! Dumbo is open! I was thrilled to hear that BOTH the Dumbo queue and Agent P would be open when we get there.

I can't wait to see pictures!

I am definitely going to have to try that out! I just joined Pinterest and I am so confused by it! When I figure it out though I will definitely look for you. You have awesome ideas!

I love the shirt/dress and bows you made! They look amazing, you are very talented!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Great job on the mickey t-shirt and dress! I am SOOOOOOO not crafty...AT ALL!!

I love the hair bows too! That big Minnie bow is super cute, but I love them all.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I am definitely going to have to try that out! I just joined Pinterest and I am so confused by it! When I figure it out though I will definitely look for you. You have awesome ideas!

I love the shirt/dress and bows you made! They look amazing, you are very talented!

Thank you so much! After I washed them and saw how they turned out, I was sad I didn't make one for myself and DH! Ah well, NEXT time!

Great job on the mickey t-shirt and dress! I am SOOOOOOO not crafty...AT ALL!!

I love the hair bows too! That big Minnie bow is super cute, but I love them all.

Thank you! The two big bows took me 4 hours! So... I'm not sure I'm very crafty either It was my first attempt at something a little more complicated but I'm pretty happy with the results

 

[megan511]

I hope you have a wonderful vacation!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I hope you have a wonderful vacation!

Thank you Megan!!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Yippee!!! We're on our way tomorrow morning!!

So there is one thing that I forgot to mention before! I picked up little trinkets for the kids at the dollar section at Target for their "Disney Friends" to give them each day. I mostly did it so they would have something new to play with at dinner each night to keep them occupied. Plus I thought it would be a fun (and cheep) little extra pixie dust for them.

I put a sticker on each thing to say who its from. They will get a little coloring book tomorrow for the plane, glow bracelets for Wishes, and a snack container with a Disney snack for the plane ride home.

Did I mention that we leave TOMORROW! We are so excited we can't sleep!!

Here's the kids in front of our countdown calendar with only 1 day left!!

Our bags are all packed and we've made at least 4 last minute runs to the store today. In fact, that's where Eric is right now... scouring Walmart for a stroller rain cover.

We've spent the last three days cleaning the house top to bottom doing laundry and getting all the essentials. All our sheets are nice and clean and the last of it is in the dryer. Whew!!

Tomorrow is going to be a really long day and I don't necessarily travel well. I get antsy. But hopefully my wonderful family can put up with me! But in the end we'll be at Disney World!! And sleeping in a pirate bed!

When we get back and get everything situated, I'll come back here and post a link to a TR for anyone who's interested. Thanks for following along! You guys have really made the planning process and anticipation that much more fun!

See ya real soon!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Here's wishing you a wonderful, magical, pixie dust filled WDW vacation

Cant wait to hear all about it when you get back

 

[megan511]

The night before vacation is always so exciting! Your kids are so adorable.

I can't wait to hear all bout your trip!i hope it is full of wonderful moments and plenty of Disney magic!

 

[shannon47142]

Have a fantastic trip!!!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

We're back and we had a WONDERFUL time! Seriously, it couldn't have gone any better! We had a few surprises and a whole lot of pixie dust. I haven't downloaded my pictures yet but I have over 500

I've been a little sick this last week but I promise I will start a TR very soon. I'll come back and post the link once I get started for anyone who is interested.

Thanks for all the well wishes! I am certain they helped tremendously!

Also, for those of you who I have been following your TR or PTR, I'm on my way to getting caught up

 

[shannon47142]

Yea---glad you had a good trip--cant wait to read all about your adventures hope you get to feeling better soon!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Yea! Glad to hear you had a great trip!! Cant wait to hear all about it

Feel better soon.