"It all started with a whopping price error ” 10/24 The Perfect Storm of Opportunity

[Dugette]

Good to see another update and anxious to hear about the second family Disney trip! Great job with this TR!

 

[A&Bmama]

I love your TR. It really sucks me into your world, your emotions, your struggles, your joys. I look forward to the next installment.

Thanks, It won't take so long for the next one.

I better start receiving email updates when your thread has updated. I know that I am subscribed to it, but I am not getting my emails!!

You are such a good writer. I love being in the moment with you and feeling like I am there. I found myself pushing the enter key for you when I was reading about how you couldn't push it. It must have worked from my computer because you ended up pushing it. I am so glad that you got to go back so soon, and I can't wait to hear more.

I'll admit, sometimes my updates take me about 5 hours too. My reason might be because I am constantly getting up and making snacks, getting drinks, wiping butts, turning on movies, finding blankies, or getting a game started for one of my kids. That doesn't include the hopeless amount of housework that I really need to do, but find myself putting off until I get my updates written on my TR. Hence the reason, if I didn't have readers I wouldn't continue.

LOVING THIS TR AND WAITING FOR MORE!!

I have no excuse for the length of time it took. My kids were at school for most of it.

If only I had put this much thought and effort into my writing assignments at school...

I can totally relate to the procrastination on the housework. I work 7 months a year and I am off for 5. I leave all of my heavy cleaning like washing drapes, clearing and organizing closets and drawers etc til I am off. Then once I am I spend my time trying to come up with excuses why I can't do it today. I find the Dis incredibly helpful as a procrastination excuse. A girl can't be expected to clean a closet until she has her Dis fix can she?

Good to see another update and anxious to hear about the second family Disney trip! Great job with this TR!

Thank! I'm glad you're still reading.

 

[A&Bmama]

I plan to update the TR early in the week, probably tomorrow, but before I do I wanted to share this with you.


Being on the Dis is making me miss the fun we had at Disney. Since we probably won't be back until 2012 I thought why not have a little touch of Disney at home?

The day before Valentine's DD and I decided to make our very own Goofy's Candy Company. I went out shopping for all of the supplies and when I got home DD had made a bunch of signs and had the kitchen set up. She even had an open and closed sign and was "taking orders" for her Father's and Brother's treats.

All of the signs were completly her own idea. I had no clue what she was up to. I think she is missing Disney too...

DD with her masterpiece

The dipping station. The signs read "Where we make magic."

Another view of the dipping station.

The toppings. We used chopped peanuts, skor toffee chips, mini peanut butter chips, chocolate chips and mini candy covered chocolate sprinkles.

You can't see the sign in this but it reads "Supplies."

Some of the delicious finished product. I have to say these were really good, everyone loved them. We gave some to friends and to my Mom and Brother. I thought we would be eating these for a long time but they only lasted a couple of days.

We also made chocolate chips. My boss brought back chocolate covered chips back from Japan for me a couple of years ago. I thanked him but thought OMG that is so gross. I decided to have an open mind and try one and all I can say is they were absolutely delicious. I took them home and my family had the same reaction I did.

The ones from Japan were better than these. My coating of choclate went on too thick so it overpowered the chip. Still, it didn't matter, they disappeared quickly.

 

[MadiMouse]

What a neat idea to make your own treats!!!! Yummy! I'm glad you were able to have a bit of magic at home!!

 

[rosedolph]

What a great idea! It looks like such a simple way to have a Disney moment at home. We are having our next Disney night on the 25th (we have one each month to count down until our next trip in Dec) and I am going to use this idea. I will be such a cool mom!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[smithpack]

That is a great idea!! I love all the pictures, and I also love chocolate covered potato chips. Anything that is salty and sweet at the same time is good for me!! I only like chocolate clusters when the peanuts are really salty, and I only know of one place that makes them how I like them. I hate it when I get a chocolate cluster somewhere and the peanuts are bland.

Anyway, your daughter is so cute. You can tell she was loving it. Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[MEK]

Ohhh...I wish I could see the pictures from your very own candy company (they are blocked at work) , but it sounds like you had a great time. Yummy!

 

[MHTeacher]

Yummy idea! I love the idea of the chocolate chips! I've gotta try that one!

 

[A&Bmama]

What a neat idea to make your own treats!!!! Yummy! I'm glad you were able to have a bit of magic at home!!

It was a lot of fun but it made a huge mess.

What a great idea! It looks like such a simple way to have a Disney moment at home. We are having our next Disney night on the 25th (we have one each month to count down until our next trip in Dec) and I am going to use this idea. I will be such a cool mom!

Thanks for sharing!

The kids loved them! It was really easy to do but as I said above it was messy. I did buy a choclate that was specifically made to melt at a bulk food store.

That is a great idea!! I love all the pictures, and I also love chocolate covered potato chips. Anything that is salty and sweet at the same time is good for me!! I only like chocolate clusters when the peanuts are really salty, and I only know of one place that makes them how I like them. I hate it when I get a chocolate cluster somewhere and the peanuts are bland.

Anyway, your daughter is so cute. You can tell she was loving it. Can't wait to hear more!!

I agree. I chopped salted peanuts for the marsmallow toppings. So much better than unsalted.

Ohhh...I wish I could see the pictures from your very own candy company (they are blocked at work) , but it sounds like you had a great time. Yummy!

You will have to check them out when you get home! DD loved doing this. I think we will do it again some time.

 

[A&Bmama]

Yummy idea! I love the idea of the chocolate chips! I've gotta try that one!

I think the secret is to get the thickest cut ripple chips you can find and to get the chocolate on only one side. If I try these again I am going to buy a different brand of chips and try painting the chocolate on with my silicone pastry brush.

 

[A&Bmama]

This will be a short installment. This was such a special moment for me I thought it deserved to stand on its own.


After the rain comes the rainbow!


Once we land in Orlando we head to pick-up our luggage. One immediate difference from the last trip is the amount of luggage we have. I have packed less than half of the stuff I did last time.

The first trip I tried so hard to make it perfect. There was so much planning, and packing and list making. I tried so hard to fit everything in and make it perfect. This time will be very different. My expectations are lower. My only real goals are to take in some of the things that we missed and fulfill the promise to take my kids back to Disney.

Once we have our luggage in hand we head over to the counter to pick-up our rental car. We load the luggage into the rental car and get ready to take off. I notice that sky has darkened considerably. It was a bit dreary when we landed but it is much darker now. As we are leaving the airport it begins to sprinkle.

Our plan is to check-in at Lake Eve. Pick-up some groceries, some supper, settle in and just spend a quiet evening relaxing by the pool. We will have our first park day tomorrow. One good thing is this time we have a GPS with us so hopefully we won’t get lost. We plug in the address for the hotel and we are on our way.

Once we have been driving for about 10 minutes the skies open up. The water is pouring down in buckets. I can hardly believe it is possible to rain this hard, but it is. The cars are just inching along the road, windshield wipers are almost useless against the sheer volume of water that is pouring from the sky. Some cars have pulled off to the side to wait for the shower to pass. I guess this is one of those afternoon showers that I have heard about on the Dis. We didn’t have any last trip, in fact, we didn’t have a drop of rain at all. Maybe God is blessing this trip...

After 5 or 10 minutes the rain stops. We are on International Drive and I am looking at the GPS when DD says, “Look Mama there’s a rainbow.”

There is a rainbow directly ahead of us.

At the end of the rainbow is our Hotel.

Is it a coincidence that our Hotel is at the end of the rainbow? Or, is my Dad trying to tell me I am where I need to be? That I have done the right thing coming back?

You can draw your own conclusions. All I can say is that I was filled with an inner sense of calm in that moment. I knew I was exactly where I needed to be.

The rainbow is fading before my eyes and as we draw closer to the hotel the rainbow appears lower and lower. I am scrambling to get to the carry on bags that are in the backseat with the kids so I can get a camera out and get a picture before the rainbow disappears completely. By the time I find the right bag, get the camera out and turn it on we are already in the Hotel parking lot.

I did get this picture. Hopefully you can see the rainbow. It is above the white van just above/through the tree tops.

I have been trying to download larger pictures into photobucket but I can’t figure it out. They are always too small once they are downloaded and if I resize them I lose the quality.

Up Next: A Tour Of Our Digs

 

[It'sWDW4me]

All I can say. is. WOW. Yes, I believe in messages/signs and I most definitely think that your dad was smiling for you.

 

[A&Bmama]

All I can say. is. WOW. Yes, I believe in messages/signs and I most definitely think that your dad was smiling for you.

That's exactly what I thought. It just melted all of the angst away.

My only regret is that I didn't have the camera in hand the moment I saw it. From the vantage point further down the road it was much higher and brighter. At least I got a glimpse of it in a pic, less than a minute later it was gone all together.

 

[hucifer]

That's just what you needed, too. A sign that you were doing the right thing.

I have to say that the candy stations were fantastic. I love that idea!

 

[Dugette]

Really cool story! Can't wait to hear about the rest of this trip.

 

[ccgirl]

THis installment gave my chills. I totally think it was a sign. I hope the rest of your trip was just as full of magical surprises!

 

[floydfamily4]

Hopefully you can see the rainbow.

I see it! I am so glad this sign helped to calm your spirit about the trip. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Becx N Gav]

I love the Goofy's Candy Co. idea and how cool your daughter made proper signs and everything

And the rainbow I am sure is a sign, even if not the fact it made you feel better is priceless What a lovely start to this trip

 

[MEK]

This was a lovely update. How wonderful to see a beautiful rainbow to start your vacation. I just know this is going to be a totally different vacation for you! Can't wait to read more.

 

[miprender]

I believe in signs too! And that was a sign from your father.

PS I loved the Goofy Candy idea.