In the Spirit of the Season

[veggiemama]

Ok, how many times did I post this one! LOL

 

[veggiemama]

oops, double post. Silly Computer!

 

[shocky5]

Thinking about you all and your yucky weather! Hope all is still okay and Kira and Josh are doing alright with their evacuation mess, etc.

It's so strange... we've had one light flurry here in our part of OK (we were actually on our trip then) and then a 1 inch snow last week which was 'nothing.' Usually by now, we've had at least one good one... I probably just jinxed us but this winter weather has been pretty much non-existent in NE OK which is just WEIRD!

 

[dizneeat]

Ann, I am sorry I didn't post as much as I would have wanted over the last week, but (school)life has been crazy and it took away a lot of my DIStime.

First of - I hope you stay safe during the storm and never lose power. It must be pretty rough if you can hear the trees snap!

You must be worried about Kira too, with the evacuation and everythink caked in ice - even though her antenna ball looked cute!
I'll send lots of warm thought, so the storm blows over quickly!

I loved all the updates you did. Your breakfast at Cindy's place looked good - I am thinking of doing that during our summer trip.

 

[vikkil70]

Hi Ann,

I am very late to the party but am finally caught up on your TR. I was following along with your PTR when life got crazy. After 3 years of trying we finally sold our house, and they wanted to close in 4 weeks. So between finding a rental in our area and now househunting in Virginia, on top of regular craziness I was off the DIS for about 6 months.
I love your TR so far. Your pics are great and Zoe is such a pretty princess, loved her BBB makeover. I am also sorry to hear Zoe needed surgery but that it went well.
We are still hoping to get our first Dec trip in this year so I'm reading a few TR to get an idea of what we are in for. DH wants us to wait til after we close on a new house though before we book to make sure the money is there. We should be ok though, fingers crossed.
Can't wait to read more and hope you made out ok with the second storm. We are hopefully getting some snow in PA tonight, we have not had any since the weird storm in Oct.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

Dh said the other day that we've never been to CHH. I said actually, we ate our food there- just not theirs...(We had counter service credits ready to expire, so we picked up sandwiches at Boardwalk Bakery. We took them to MK the next day, and ate upstairs in AC at CHH.)

After seeing your pics, I think we will have to really eat there.

We enjoy the days that we go with the flow...

 

[tinacaplan]

I'm so sorry you're having such terrible weather out there. Ice storms are no joke. Neither is losing your power for an extended period of time. Hope that you and Kira doing well.

 

[annmarieda]

I'll definitely be sending good weather vibes your way! I hope that the next storm takes it easy on you guys! It's definitely scary when the trees are coming down! Good luck to you guys!

Thanks so much. It was a crazy few days. It looks like a war zone outside..tree and branches everywhere. I knew the wind storm wouldn't cause us much trouble where we are. In Seattle, maybe... but they never get winds like we do. We are in our own little weird weather pocket and usually once a year get hurricane force winds. Course, I don't think they came in 2011...so we may be due.

First off Ann, STAY SAFE! Storms like that are scary. Will Kira come and stay with you for a few days? I'm not getting the snow like you but our cold is still COLD BRrrrr. -43 this morning! and ICY! So far we are all safe but I've been driving the kids back and forth to school even though it is only a block away

I finally know what a Dole whip is!

Love the pictures at HM. I completely forgot about that line ... I'll have to remember for next time.

Ah the orange pop... been there, done that! And isn't it almost always on the 'pretty' dress that it spills?

Kira did not come stay, but did come to play. She didn't have internet or cable service as of yesterday so she came here to use mine.

Good grief!! -43?!

Dole whips are super good... but sweet.

The line at HM was super fun. I think it gave the kids something "new" to do.

As for the dress, ya know not a single stain on it?

Thinking about you all and your yucky weather! Hope all is still okay and Kira and Josh are doing alright with their evacuation mess, etc.

It's so strange... we've had one light flurry here in our part of OK (we were actually on our trip then) and then a 1 inch snow last week which was 'nothing.' Usually by now, we've had at least one good one... I probably just jinxed us but this winter weather has been pretty much non-existent in NE OK which is just WEIRD!

Kira and Josh are doing fine. I hope that the trees are being cleared today, but I haven't heard from her since she is back to work today. Life looks like it is getting back to normal. However, yesterday when i was in the store I overheard someone say they were told to not expect power for 2 weeks. We are so blessed to have everything back on.

Ann, I am sorry I didn't post as much as I would have wanted over the last week, but (school)life has been crazy and it took away a lot of my DIStime.

First of - I hope you stay safe during the storm and never lose power. It must be pretty rough if you can hear the trees snap!

You must be worried about Kira too, with the evacuation and everythink caked in ice - even though her antenna ball looked cute!
I'll send lots of warm thought, so the storm blows over quickly!

I loved all the updates you did. Your breakfast at Cindy's place looked good - I am thinking of doing that during our summer trip.

No worries, Karin. I know you have a lot on your plate.

It was kinda scary hearing all the trees snapping. Now all we hear are chain saws. And I did worry about Kira.. but she lives so close I knew that I could snatch her up in a no time if I needed to.

And... breakfast was definitely a high point in the trip.

Hi Ann,

I am very late to the party but am finally caught up on your TR. I was following along with your PTR when life got crazy. After 3 years of trying we finally sold our house, and they wanted to close in 4 weeks. So between finding a rental in our area and now househunting in Virginia, on top of regular craziness I was off the DIS for about 6 months.
I love your TR so far. Your pics are great and Zoe is such a pretty princess, loved her BBB makeover. I am also sorry to hear Zoe needed surgery but that it went well.
We are still hoping to get our first Dec trip in this year so I'm reading a few TR to get an idea of what we are in for. DH wants us to wait til after we close on a new house though before we book to make sure the money is there. We should be ok though, fingers crossed.
Can't wait to read more and hope you made out ok with the second storm. We are hopefully getting some snow in PA tonight, we have not had any since the weird storm in Oct.

Not late... not late at all. I am not even done with day 4 and I plan to do 15 days total!

Being off dis for 6 months... that must have been a bit rough. However life takes priority... and it sounds like you had a lot of life going on.

Hopefully, you get your December trip! I think it is a definite must do. I guess there are some who make it their yearly trip.. for me... I don't think that will be happening... but I am so glad to have gone at Christmas time.

Dh said the other day that we've never been to CHH. I said actually, we ate our food there- just not theirs...(We had counter service credits ready to expire, so we picked up sandwiches at Boardwalk Bakery. We took them to MK the next day, and ate upstairs in AC at CHH.)

After seeing your pics, I think we will have to really eat there.

We enjoy the days that we go with the flow...

I love that eating area upstairs. What a great idea to bring your lunch up there! But... yes, the food is pretty decent too...so you should try it.

I'm so sorry you're having such terrible weather out there. Ice storms are no joke. Neither is losing your power for an extended period of time. Hope that you and Kira doing well.

Nope... not fun... but we look to have survived. I know we are set to get more snow next weekend. (or so they say) I don't think it will be as bad. I hope not... Zoe missed a week of school (well, 4 days since monday was MLK day) Lots to make up.

 

[ladytink75]

Oh wow then you guys must of gotten hit with a really bad storm this time around. This is probably the most snow PNW has seen on the lowlands in some time then.. Be safe out there..

On another note. its a sad note my dh did not get the job like we thought.. Its a LONG story so we are back to square one and the trip is in jeopardy once again.. Will we ever be able to find a job and will we be able to head out to DW in March.. Those are the questions that I have no answer to..I just wish that something will open up fast for us so we can get a break..

 

[annmarieda]

Oh wow then you guys must of gotten hit with a really bad storm this time around. This is probably the most snow PNW has seen on the lowlands in some time then.. Be safe out there..

On another note. its a sad note my dh did not get the job like we thought.. Its a LONG story so we are back to square one and the trip is in jeopardy once again.. Will we ever be able to find a job and will we be able to head out to DW in March.. Those are the questions that I have no answer to..I just wish that something will open up fast for us so we can get a break..

It wasn't so much the snow that was the big problem. The freezing rain was the trouble.. What an ice storm!!! I am glad it seems to be over. Course, next weekend we are suppose to get some more snow.

I also wanted to say... I am sorry. That sucks about your husband and the job. I really hope something happens for you soon.

 

[lovethattink]

Glad you made it though this storm, hopefully the next snow storm will take it easy on you.

 

[oboedm]

Great update! I am usually the one spilling things all over the place, so I can definitely relate to Zoe!

Be safe and stay warm! Although, I wouldn't know what to advise you to do... I am a born and bred AZ native!

 

[annmarieda]

Fire and Roasted Meat

Since it was now time for our break, we left MK and went straight for the boat launch. It had worked so nicely on the way there that we figured we would take it back to WL. We knew we didn’t have a lot of time, but we wanted to try and spend some time at the resort.

One thing I had been reading about on various PTR’s and TR’s was the roasting of marshmallows in a campfire at the various resorts. I knew I wanted to check this out and since we had a little bit of time, we decided to make our way to the beach. Well, all of us except Alex. I am not certain what he did. I think he stayed in the room and played his gameboy. Or perhaps this is when he went swimming a bit by himself.

We got down to the beach and they were setting up for the movie and trying to get the campfire going. We hung out for a while waiting and hoping for them to get the fire started, but it would not start no matter how hard the cm’s tried. So as the time that we had to spare became less and less we soon figured we would have to bag this idea.

So back up to the room to clean up the sand we had on us and get ready for dinner. We did not take long and soon we were back on our way to MK. We then took the monorail from MK over to the Polynesian.

I am not sure if we were all tired or the day just was full of too many “hurry up to x” only to have x not work out situations, but everyone seemed to be cranky with me and with each other. Little snippy comments regarding how few rides were rode or how crowded things were or... well, you name it and I felt my family was criticizing it (although in all likelihood they were not). I found myself starting to feel a bit of self pity. You know the “I planned and planned and no one wants to be here with me- self pity”. So right there on the monorail I was starting to fight back the warm tears that were filling in my eyes. First stop was CR and a family got on the already crowded train. Now, before I proceed with this story I have to say I am not exactly judging this family so much as telling the story just so that I can admit to how much I appreciated them. I also have to say I assume that since this was the end of the day, that this family had had a LONG day. So if you are out there and reading, a big thank you because you totally turned my night around.

Entering into the car was a mom pushing a double stroller. I assume it was also grandma or possibly and aunt that was traveling with them. I believe the two small children (we will say around 3 years of age) were twin girls, but didn’t look exactly alike..and one could have been a boy since I didn’t see evidence to the contrary) It was only moments after the doors closed that all out chaos and violence began. I believe it started when the one child (whom I am not sure was a boy or girl) leaned to the side to get as much clearance on their arm and the proceeded to smack the other child as hard as I have ever seen a toddler strike another. Mom was quickly on it and while I didn’t understand the language she spoke I could tell she was trying to console and reprimand at the same time. The offending child then proceeded to start yelling “no no” and some variation of the word mom all while swinging backward in an attempt to now hit the mother. I believe the other child might have bit or pinched the other on at some point, but at this time has now begun to try and remove herself from the stroller. The fit that ensued from this seemed to aggravate the other child more. The stroller was being knocked around (those of you who know how strollers work..when they become off balance tend to not stay flat on the ground) The mom and other lady (we will just say grandmother) tried to calm both children who were at this point both crying hysterically. Now the shoes were coming off and as the one child who had been smacked by the other began to try and pull at her clothing we all were able to discover that at least this one was a girl since of course she had no undergarments on. Other passengers were getting caught in the cross fire of all that was going on...a shoe being flung at one... the stroller ramming into another...etc.
The mom and grandmother struggled to regain control. Then they stopped and just began to laugh as the two children screamed and screamed. Their laughter almost because as hysterical as the children's cries. It was then as I looked at my horrified children who were huddling close to Steve and I, that I had an epiphany. That was not my family. My family, although tired was not in the midst of this. This was not my moment to have a break down and think “poor me, my family does not love each other enough” They did love each other enough (not to say that the other family didn’t) Believe me, my kids have fought in ways I am so very ashamed of. This was just not one of those times nor had it been all day. So I too had to put my big girl panties on and get over myself. With that, I smiled and hugged each of my kids. The looked at me knowingly and smiled. We then reached the TTC and the family disembarked.

Arriving at the Polynesian, we didn’t need to say much. We all seemed to be in better spirits. We checked in for our reservation at Ohana and waited. We got a couple pictures taken. (why couldn’t the one of Steve, Zoe and I been in focus?) and then we were called to be seated.

I am so happy that Steve loved the food. He was very impressed. The service was horrid though. I took Zoe to do the participation thing so that we could get a lei.

This was when our “server” came up to Steve and said “here is your salad”. That was all he said and was not seen from again. When Zoe and I returned to our table, Steve wondering when we would order or how it worked. Other people who had come in after us were being served other items... you know, drink and noodles and potsickers. So I asked one of those servers if we actually had a server. A look of panic came over that cm and quickly we were taken care of. Again, Steve loved the food there. We stopped counting how many pieces of steak he had he loved it so much.

Zoe fell asleep during dinner and by asleep, I mean pick up her arm and drop it and she doesn’t move sleep. When it was time to go, Steve carried her out to the monorail. We decided that he would take her back to WL so that Alex and I could enjoy EMH a bit. Well really the excuse was that we needed to try out BTMRR so that we knew if Zoe could ride this despite her having a foley in. (we were told she could not do anything which would cause an impact to her stomach)

So gladly, Alex and I went into MK to test the ride.

It was so fun at night. I wish that we had stayed to ride it over and over. Sadly, this was the only thing we did. I figured we needed to get out of the park and back to WL. Sure enough when we were on the bus back I got a call from Steve wondering when we planned to be back to the room.

Next Chapter: A Playmate for Zoe

 

[dizneeat]

And here's another update!

Sorry about the campfire thingy not working out - we have never been, no intention to either, but I think it must be fun if you bring kids.

Now that family on the Monorail sounds like . The stories we can all tell about riding the monorail at night

And I am glad you liked the food at Ohana - it CAN be wonderful, but sometimes, service really lacks there - I guess, not enough servers for the huge dining room?

And you know Ann, that you could have used the boat to get to the Poly? If they haven't changed it lately that boat serves ALL the resorts at the lagoon.

Waiting for MORE!!!!!!!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I think we've all been there in that moment of "I planned all this and (seemingly) absolutely nothing is working out". I'm glad that you were back to being happy soon enough (although I hope that other family didn't have to deal with fighting toddlers for too long after!).

Ohana sounds like it was great (despite the case of the missing server). That seems to happen to us a lot, especially as a party of 2, we get seated behind poles or in corners, and I think that doesn't help!

 

[lovethattink]

I wondered where the colorful leis came from. Every time we go to the Poly they give us a pink one.

Too bad about your server, but glad it worked out.

Zoe looks so cute in her Alice-like dress. I also like Alex's Perry shirt. Where did you find a light blue Perry? We've only seen the aqua blue.

Nice pics at the tree!

How was the bread pudding? Did you get the old banana version or the new with the coconut in it?

 

[annmarieda]

Glad you made it though this storm, hopefully the next snow storm will take it easy on you.

Thank you. It is pretty windy out there right now. Doesn't sound like enough to cause problems... but who knows how hard it is going to blow by the time it is done. It is just a howlin right now.

Great update! I am usually the one spilling things all over the place, so I can definitely relate to Zoe!

Be safe and stay warm! Although, I wouldn't know what to advise you to do... I am a born and bred AZ native!

I think I would love the weather in AZ. Correct me... warmer...dryer My bones ache with all this weather.

And here's another update!

Sorry about the campfire thingy not working out - we have never been, no intention to either, but I think it must be fun if you bring kids.

Now that family on the Monorail sounds like . The stories we can all tell about riding the monorail at night

And I am glad you liked the food at Ohana - it CAN be wonderful, but sometimes, service really lacks there - I guess, not enough servers for the huge dining room?

And you know Ann, that you could have used the boat to get to the Poly? If they haven't changed it lately that boat serves ALL the resorts at the lagoon.

Waiting for MORE!!!!!!!!

I know about the boat from MK to Poly. That was what we used to get to Ohana on our last trip. We were just trying out the monorail. It just turned out to not be such a great option for us. Maybe not for the other family either. As for Ohana, the food was excellent... better than we had last time. (and last time I really enjoyed it) I have a feeling that the server assigned to us was over worked or something. Once I got the attention of another server, we had multiple servers taking care of us. Kinda made it hard to know who to ask for things, but at least we were finally being taken care of.

I think we've all been there in that moment of "I planned all this and (seemingly) absolutely nothing is working out". I'm glad that you were back to being happy soon enough (although I hope that other family didn't have to deal with fighting toddlers for too long after!).

Ohana sounds like it was great (despite the case of the missing server). That seems to happen to us a lot, especially as a party of 2, we get seated behind poles or in corners, and I think that doesn't help!

I felt bad for that family... because other than the poor me moments... the other moments that we all have are those when things really ARENT going well. The kids are fussy, the husband is fuss (etc.) I do hope they were able to get to where they were going and have a calmer evening.

I wondered where the colorful leis came from. Every time we go to the Poly they give us a pink one.

Too bad about your server, but glad it worked out.

Zoe looks so cute in her Alice-like dress. I also like Alex's Perry shirt. Where did you find a light blue Perry? We've only seen the aqua blue.

Nice pics at the tree!

How was the bread pudding? Did you get the old banana version or the new with the coconut in it?

I got the Perry shirt at Fred Meyer. I believe it is a store chain only over here. It is a Kroger store...so maybe you have one of those.

The bread pudding, I believe it was the old one then since I don't remember coconut. The bread served with dinner was definitely very coconut. I didn't remember it being so strong last time. Course, when we had our Lilo and Stitch movie night, I made a coconut bread and about made myself sick on it...so I think I may have been a bit sensitive to it.

 

[ladytink75]

It wasn't so much the snow that was the big problem. The freezing rain was the trouble.. What an ice storm!!! I am glad it seems to be over. Course, next weekend we are suppose to get some more snow.

I also wanted to say... I am sorry. That sucks about your husband and the job. I really hope something happens for you soon.

Man it seems you guys can't get a break this month so far in the weather department.. Hopefully all this bad weather will stop for you guys soon.

Yeah it really does suck when things like this happen. I hope something opens up very soon for us also.. Yesterday when he came home he got right to the computer and started applying to jobs that he was qualified for.

 

[swwake]

Another great update. We loved 'Ohana. It was the second time there for Chris, Katie and me. Don't you just love walking through the Great Ceremonial House?

 

[oboedm]

Great update! I am glad that the other family helped you put things in perspective-- and that your family had that nice little moment!

I haven't ever ridden BTMRR at night-- it sounds great, though. I will have to try and check it out next time!