I Could Have Had a Cruise. Instead, I'm Going to WDW! May 2010 PTR - ONE MORE DAY!!!

[cinderella crazy]

Looks like a good plan to me! We are eating at a lot of the same places. I need to do some tweaks on dining now that we've changed resorts. I just need to sit down and do it. I can't pry myself away from the boards these days.

I can't wait to see what you change Leanne!

Your plans look good to me. Except for the driving home part. But, we all have to put that in our reports even though we hate it.

Have you guys eaten at ABC Comm. in a while? The last time we ate there which was about three years ago, it was downright yucky. Before then, we ate there every year. Just wondering if it had changed.

Another dining question....how's Columbia Harbour House? We have yet to eat there in all of our trips.

We ate at ABC Comm last trip and enjoyed it. I've never had a bad experience there.

We've actually never eaten at Columbia Harbour House. I'm excited to try it this trip!

If I was scared, it was because Lauren started saying that she didn't want to ride it right as we were getting on.

I was afraid of her wrath.

You, afraid of little sweet Lauren?

To be honest, I was kind of nervous when I read the update was about changes. I thought that maybe you had changed resorts again. The plans look great though.

No, the resort is not changing. I won't say the ADR's are set in stone but if we did change any it would only be 2.

We will be in the same parks/on the same days.

Yay! Maybe we'll run into each other!

So, somehow I missed the Dollywood installments. If they had been a snake, they would have bit me!

What was up with the roller coasters? I'm like you, if that had happened at Disney, there would have been a mutiny! The park looks like a nice place to visit. The closest semi-theme park around here is 4 hours away in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

It was the strangest visit I've ever had to Dollywood, and we've been countless times. I'm guessing the cold temps in the morning had something to do with it. It really is a nice park. I'll have to post pictures when the trees are in bloom.

OK Lisa, gonna hijack Alicia's report for a second or two. Sorry Alicia .

We ate at ABC Commissary in July and it was OK. Not unlike any other Disney hamburger place to me. We like Columbia Harbour House. They have good chicken fingers and the fish is OK. I'm not crazy about fish, but Tyler and I shared chicken and fish last May.

I've been hijacked! If you ask for a ransom, can we split it?

 

[racefanof88]

I've been hijacked! If you ask for a ransom, can we split it?

HMMMMMMMMM, that sounds like a plan to me .

 

[MaryAz]

Oh my, you are the Queen of change!! Looks fun to me!

 

[cinderella crazy]

Oh my! I'm so sorry I haven't been on here in awhile! We've been busy this past week with some fun and not so fun events. I'll post more a little later. We've been to the zoo again, Dollywood again, egg hunt, shopping, had a pipe burst in the garage, and had Easter fun. Phew! No wonder I'm so sleepy today! I promise I'll post stories and pictures later.

Happy Easter Everyone!

 

[leamom2princesses]

Happy Easter!!



Can't wait to see some pics and hear some stories!

 

[cinderella crazy]

This past week has been Spring Break so Alex has been out of school. I decided that we could go back to the zoo and Dollywood to take advantage of the beautiful weather we’re having right now. So on Wednesday we went to the zoo. Boy! Was it crowded! I think everyone in Knoxville decided to go to the zoo that day! We had a fun time watching the animals and enjoying the sunshine.

Silly zebra wouldn’t cooperate

On Thursday, we decided to give Dollywood another try. I’m so glad we did! We had a great time. It wasn’t very crowded at all! All the rides seemed to be open and we didn’t have any issues with the food.

Enjoying a cookie

Up Next: Disney Night # 7 - Test Track

 

[cinderella crazy]

Well friends, Test Track night started off with a little bump in the road. No, really. I don’t know how we pulled this one off. Sometime Friday afternoon, we discovered one of the water pipes in our garage busted. Imagine your garage filled with water and everything in it wet. That’s what we had. So we spent most of Friday afternoon cleaning out the garage and trying to find the leak (I’ll post more about the pipe in a later post).

Thank goodness I had originally planned to have fast food (Get it? Fast food!!) So I didn’t have to cook anything! Yay! So Mike went and got McDonald’s and we had a nice dinner.

After we ate, we decided to watch “Cars.” I love this movie. It’s one of my favorite Disney movies.

And that’s all we had time for. We were exhausted but I was determined to still have Alex’s Disney night. We didn’t take many pictures but here’s what we did take:

Table:

Invitation:

Food:

Next Disney night: Snow White

Up Next: Easter

 

[cinderella crazy]

Our Easter activities started on Good Friday with our church’s MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) egg hunt. The kids always have a great time during this and I actually got to hang out with Mike and the kids this year (in past years I was busy helping out). There were bubbles, coloring, chalk, crafts, playgrounds, and of course the egg hunt.

On Easter morning, I sang in 2 church services so the kids had to wait till after lunch time for their Easter baskets. I was amazed at how many people showed up at our church! A couple of years ago, we expanded our church and I think the sanctuary seats over 2,000. It was full. And we had overflow in the teenage section of the church. And even that was standing room only. Loved seeing all those people there!

Lauren’s basket

Alex’s basket

After the baskets, we had our own egg hunt in the backyard. Alex found 12 eggs very quickly and then he was a good big brother and helped Lauren find her eggs.

Later in the day, we headed to Mom’s to have dinner and to dye Easter eggs. I think my hands were stained red for a whole day.

It was a great Easter!

Up Next: Our Hole In The Wall

 

[cinderella crazy]

You know you’re in some trouble when you see water coming out of your garage. It’s just not normal. But then again, we’re not normal people. So it should be no surprise that this happened to us.

So Friday we went to the MOPS egg hunt. Had a wonderful time in the beautiful weather. It got so warm we decided to let the kids play in the sprinkler when we got home. We arrived home, the kids changed clothes, and then Mike took the kids to the front yard while I headed to the back yard to clean the kids’ water table. I finished and started to bring the table to the front. Mike met me halfway, which is the driveway. And then he said it: “Why is there water coming from the bottom of the garage door?” Hmmm…. I thought “I don’t know. But that can’t be good!” We turned the front faucet off and Mike headed inside to the garage.

Mike opened the garage and water was all over the floor. It’s at this point that I should disclose that half of the garage is full of stuff that we had planned to donate. Clothes, furniture, toys, tons of stuff. We did notice that the water seemed to be contained more on one side than the other (of course it was the side that the stuff was on). So we had to move all the stuff to the other side of the garage and try to get to the back left corner of the garage, where it seemed that the water was coming from. During this, I called Mom to ask her if she could take off work early and come watch the kids while Mike and I tried to figure out what was going on. Luckily she was able to come.

While Mom watched the kids, Mike and I moved stuff. And then we finally got to the corner we were curious about and we saw this:

Oooo! That doesn’t look good! Then Mike asked me to turn on the front faucet “full blast.” Hahahaha! Okay! I went around to the front of the house and I barely turned on the faucet and I start hearing “Turn it off! Turn it off!” So we figured out that the front faucet was definitely causing the leak, but why wasn’t water spewing out everywhere unless the faucet was turned on? Well, the actual water pipe didn’t bust. It was part of the faucet that busted. So until you turn the faucet on, the valve keeps the water from moving forward. Once you turn the faucet on though, WATCH OUT! Here’s more pics:

All the moved stuff

Anybody want a slightly soggy crib?

At least we got some of the leaves out of the garage!

I don’t think our trash people are going to be happy with us this week.

This was in the corner where the pipe burst. If it wasn’t for this, the water would have sprayed everywhere.

It looks pretty easy to fix and I think Mike’s dad and Mike are going to try to fix it. Thank goodness it wasn’t anything worse! I had visions of having to cancel our Disney trip to pay for major plumbing work.

To top it all off, this was our Disney night. But since I had planned on having McDonald’s anyway, it all worked out.

So there you have it. Our hole in the wall.

Up Next: Retail Therapy

 

[cinderella crazy]

So what does a girl do after finding out that she has a hole in the wall? She does some shopping! Well, I didn’t really buy anything but my wonderful Mom took me shopping on Saturday.

She bought the kids some clothes for Disney and then, then we went into Crabtree and Evelyn. Y’all know what they sell there don’t you? Vera Bradley. Bad store! Mom had decided that she wanted to get a new backpack for our Disney trip. So she started looking around the store and a nice sales lady helped her to find the perfect bag. She found one that she really liked but then there was the sale table. There was on backpack that was on the sales table. They had so many of this particular pattern in stock, they were trying to get rid of them. So then Mom asked me which one I liked better. Honestly, I liked the one on the sales table better. It wasn’t as busy as the other pattern Mom liked. So I told her and she said: “Okay, I’ll buy you that one and I’ll get this one.” What?!! I just thought she was looking for herself. But am I going to complain? No! Here’s Mom’s bag:

And here’s mine:

After Crabtree and Evelyn, we made our way to Belk. Belk has my favorite flip flops, Yellowbox. When it was all said and done, Mom had bought me two pairs of flip flops and a pair of black heals (The flip flops I will definitely be wearing in WDW.) What can I say, I’m a spoiled, only child.

This one reminds everyone of Minnie Mouse:

Look at those heals!

Up Next: Disney Night #8 - Snow White

 

[MHTeacher]

Oh---lots to comment on!

1. What's with the zebra hiney?

2. Cars night looks great, as all your Disney nights do!

3. Easter pictures---Beautiful family!

4. DRATS on the water damage. Thank goodness you noticed it when you did and hopefully can solve the problem without a lot of expense. Last spring break, I was cleaning windows, and I punched through the entire facing on the inside wall around the window. It was termites! YUCK! My entire Disney savings went to paying for spot treatment and then having a Sentricon treatment installed around my house.

5. Love your VB and especially those Yellow-Box houndstooth flip-flops. . What was a Tennessee lovin' girl like yourself thinking? I'm thinking that this 'BAMA girl needs some of those!

 

[cinderella crazy]

Oh---lots to comment on!

1. What's with the zebra hiney?

He just would not cooperate! Drove me crazy!

2. Cars night looks great, as all your Disney nights do!

Thanks!

3. Easter pictures---Beautiful family!

Aww, thank you!

4. DRATS on the water damage. Thank goodness you noticed it when you did and hopefully can solve the problem without a lot of expense. Last spring break, I was cleaning windows, and I punched through the entire facing on the inside wall around the window. It was termites! YUCK! My entire Disney savings went to paying for spot treatment and then having a Sentricon treatment installed around my house.

One of my friends had just told me at our MOPS egg hunt that they had to cancel their Disney trip because their cat had eaten a balloon string that had gotten wrapped around its intestines and had to have surgery to remove it. So once the water was coming out of the wall, I had visions of our Disney trip either being cut back or completely gone. So sorry you had to do that for termites!

5. Love your VB and especially those Yellow-Box houndstooth flip-flops. . What was a Tennessee lovin' girl like yourself thinking? I'm thinking that this 'BAMA girl needs some of those!

You'd think they'd be outlawed from selling them here in Knoxville. But they're cute, and I like black and white, and as long as Bama isn't playing UT I like them (just don't tell anyone around here though).

 

[leamom2princesses]

Wow, that's a lot to absorb Alicia! Lets see...

Cute kiddos in the zoo and DW pics! Sounds like a really fun day.

Test track night looks like it was fun and it sounds perfect for the kind of day you ended up having.

You have a beautiful family Alicia! Alex was such a good big brother for letting Lauren get her share of Easter eggs. Lindsey wasn't such a good big sister but she did end up putting all the eggs together after the hunt and splitting the goodies down the middle.

Major bummer on the water valve busting. The silver lining is that it sounds like a fairly easy fix and the trip wasn't compromised by major plumbing work. The folks that are picking up my trash this week won't be too happy with me this week either. We can both duck for cover together.

Love the VB backpacks and the flip flops. Those are two of my favorite things as well. I've never tried yellowbox flip flops, might have to check them out. I'm a Reef flip flop fan myself. They are getting harder and harder to find around here.

 

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

I just followed you over from somewhere....I can't even remember now!!! Your plans look amazing. I love the Resort switching!!! I am like you in that we have lists of "must-Do's". Last time we went MIL was with us and was very very anal about what we did and at what time we did it. It was horrible. I wanted to stop in a shop and the woman actually told me no, we had to be at a ride in a few minutes! What????? Are you kidding me? Im a grown woman! (but I followed, I DO NOT need the wrath of her!!!) Your Easter looked great! We didn't get to go to an Egg hunt . They usually have a 50,000 egg drop here but this year we built a new church so there wasnt enough money to rent the helicopter. It was kind of sad!

It looks like Dollywood is the same as our Busch Gardens. We live so close that we spend all summer bouncing between Busch and Water Country. We have season passes that include Sea World and Busch Gardens Tampa....(It also includes all of the other parks too). We plan to take a day away from WDW this year to go to Sea World.

Cant wait to read more!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cinderella crazy]

Wow, that's a lot to absorb Alicia! Lets see...

Cute kiddos in the zoo and DW pics! Sounds like a really fun day.

Thanks Leanne! We had fun at both.

Test track night looks like it was fun and it sounds perfect for the kind of day you ended up having.

I was so glad that I didn't have to cook dinner after all of that!

You have a beautiful family Alicia! Alex was such a good big brother for letting Lauren get her share of Easter eggs. Lindsey wasn't such a good big sister but she did end up putting all the eggs together after the hunt and splitting the goodies down the middle.

Alex is usually a very good big brother. He likes to help Lauren.

Major bummer on the water valve busting. The silver lining is that it sounds like a fairly easy fix and the trip wasn't compromised by major plumbing work. The folks that are picking up my trash this week won't be too happy with me this week either. We can both duck for cover together.

I came home today from the grocery store and they took everything we put out there. I hope they weren't too upset!

Love the VB backpacks and the flip flops. Those are two of my favorite things as well. I've never tried yellowbox flip flops, might have to check them out. I'm a Reef flip flop fan myself. They are getting harder and harder to find around here.

I love flip flops too. I wore out my yellowbox flip flops I got last year. Hmm.. I might have to check out those Reef flip flops.

 

[cinderella crazy]

I just followed you over from somewhere....I can't even remember now!!! Your plans look amazing. I love the Resort switching!!! I am like you in that we have lists of "must-Do's". Last time we went MIL was with us and was very very anal about what we did and at what time we did it. It was horrible. I wanted to stop in a shop and the woman actually told me no, we had to be at a ride in a few minutes! What????? Are you kidding me? Im a grown woman! (but I followed, I DO NOT need the wrath of her!!!) Your Easter looked great! We didn't get to go to an Egg hunt . They usually have a 50,000 egg drop here but this year we built a new church so there wasnt enough money to rent the helicopter. It was kind of sad!

It looks like Dollywood is the same as our Busch Gardens. We live so close that we spend all summer bouncing between Busch and Water Country. We have season passes that include Sea World and Busch Gardens Tampa....(It also includes all of the other parks too). We plan to take a day away from WDW this year to go to Sea World.

Cant wait to read more!!!!!!!!!!!

to my PTR!

Oh the resort switching still makes me cringe if I think about it for too long. It was crazy here for a couple of days.

I don't know what I'd do if someone went with us and demanded that we do what they wanted but didn't let me do what I wanted. Wow! Especially if it was shopping. Nobody better stop me from shopping!

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Hi- Joining in! Love your ideas for your Disney nights. Shame the burst pipe put a dampener on your plans. Really love the bags. So hard to get back packs with a nice pattern.

 

[Brave teacher]

So much to comment on now...

The zoo, Dollywood, TT night, and Easter all looked like great fun. Cute TT dinner idea though too.

The garage...not so fun. I'm glad yall found the busted pipe before it got too bad.

Cute VB bags. Shoes on the other hand....now you are speaking my language. LOVE those flip flops. I'm going to have to look into those. Nice toes too! Heels are very nice too!

 

[MaryAz]

SO much to comment on. Great pics at the Zoo. Easter looked very nice. What a sweet big brother. SO sorry about the water damage. Yay for shopping-love those Minnie flips. Just bought me some new shoes today.

 

[cinderella crazy]

Hi- Joining in! Love your ideas for your Disney nights. Shame the burst pipe put a dampener on your plans. Really love the bags. So hard to get back packs with a nice pattern.

ScotsMinnie!

Thank you!

I'd rather the pipe incident not have happened, but the way it looks right now, it should be easy to fix. Thank goodness!

I had been using a Royal Caribbean backpack for a couple of years that was black with white lettering. Nothing exciting. But it wasn't very "girly" so Mike would carry it. I don't think I'm going to convince him to carry this one though...too many flowers.