Jan 2010-Terrible 2 in DW-29 HOURS LEFT!!!

[BriesMomma]

Wooow. I haven't been a very good pre-tripper. My apologies. Guess I'll have to add that to the to do list for next trip... #1 Be more attentive to the pre-trip report.

So... we're in the teens now. My countdown chain is on it's last loopty-loo. I'm at the stage now where I can't believe it's really this close!! I feel like I've been sidetracked by this whole "Christmas" thing. What's the big deal?? It just means I'll be 2 weeks out? But I do feel like I'm forgetting something. I keep staring at my Disney notebook like "hhmmm???" I know once Christmas passes and I can start packing I'll feel better. I'm a see-er. I need to see everything right in front of me.

There's a rumor going around that everyone in my family is giving me Disney Gift Cards. My mother is leading me to believe my brother got me a rather large one. I think I'll probably cry no matter how much anyone got me. That really means so much to me- and even if they don't know how cool of a gift that is. It could be a souvenir, a meal, or even turn out to be one of those cheesy ride photos. (I personally hate these things. I get them and never look at them again. Brandon wants to get EVERY SINGLE ONE!! It drives me nuts. He's like that about the glowy carts too. He can't resist, he can't just walk on by... ) My people don't understand my obsession to Disney, nobody gets violent about it or anything- but I can tell they could give 2 Pooh's about what I'm talking about half the time. But I have an awesome family who puts up with me and for that I am very thankful.

Little Brandon's mom has talked to his school and everything is a go! So glad she has come around. I'm trying to make this as stress free as possible for her. After finishing my Christmas shopping this past weekend, I can officially say that she will not have to pack one single thing for Brandon before we go on the trip- and I'm hoping to do some laundry just before we head home so she won't be bombarded with 10 days worth of clothes. Plus I like to come home and just be able to put our clothes away too. (I might ask her for a few extra pairs of undies though...)

I also went to Sam's this weekend and got some snacks for the road. A big box of little Slim Jim's, Starburst, a big box of little bag of chips... you get the picture. I'm really nervous about taking this road trip- I want the kids to be as happy as possible.

Well, off to bed. I've been up cleaning all day. 16 hours!! Family's coming to town... and I want the videotapes of Christmas morning to like like they took place in a non-HazMat zone.

 

[BriesMomma]

Well everyone, we've survived Christmas! Yes, we are officially 2 weeks out!! It's so close! And I can finally start packing now that Santa dropped off the clothes!

We do have bumps in the road- however, I'm not going to share them until we figure out exactly how we will smooth out said bumps...

I wanted to share some pictures from Xmas morning. I didn't realize until afterwards how Disney-themed all of my gifts were... LOL. It's like when Brie and I match- I swear I don't do it on purpose!!

After Santa, before Hurricane Brielle:

Brie is not a morning person... I'm slowly waking her up earlier each day to get her ready to go... anyway she walks out and we have the Parade on so she's staring at the TV- not the giant toys that have magically appeared in her living room! I thought she would atleast notice I moved the Xmas Tree across the living room! Geeeeezz... So she's rubbing her eyes, and finally sees the stuff. It was awesome. Truly.

I got this castle on our trip in October. It was $75- and I can't for the life of me remember how much shipping was?? I think they had a shipping "deal" going on though... ANyway- it would have been worth 150 to me. This thing is cool!! Here's a pic if you've ever thought of buying one- do it!

Brie's not even 2 yet so I didn't put out about 20 of the pieces... they're tiny. (The Genie's lamp, the Enchanted Rose...) It lights up, has light up flower pots- IT EVEN HAS MINNIE AND MICKEY BUSHES!! I love it more than she does- she likes her Pooh Super Sleuth Changing tree better, but she likes the castle and all of the Prince and Princesses. My mom also got her a Mickey Mouse that sings and tells jokes. He's cute. I think we'll bring him along...

Oh and you know I had to show-off my cutie booty:

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and best Wishes for 2010!!! I hope we all get to go to DW as often as we like! Maybe I'll make that a resolution...

 

[BriesMomma]

SINGLE DIGITS!!!

Gosh, we're so close I can almost taste my Mickey Head!! Or can I smell the popcorn on Main Street?

Either way, I'm happy. It's supposed to get down to 9 degrees tonight and the Sunshine State is definately calling my name. The weather forecast for our trip is not very sunny though. Some forecasts have lows in the 30's on several days of our trip- but highs in the 60's. Anything is better than the white wall we're getting here!!

I took Brie to see Sesame Street Live today. She loved it! Elmo is awesome. We are fer sure going to check out the FOTLK this trip. Brie really gets in to stage shows and I've heard its an amazing production.

So in shopping news: I have nothing else to buy . I know, I know I should be happy that my checklists are complete- but now I have no excuses to go Targetting. The kids are packed completely. They have all new clothes to wear on the trip- lucky kids! Thanx to Black Friday deals on Old Navy.com I too have a few new things. So besides jeans and underwear- I'm all packed too.

I do get to go grocery shopping still- but that's not nearly as exciting. I don't know if I have mentioned in my PTR- but we are planning on taking a Microwave and making breakfast and late night snacks in the room. I've gotten a few "dirty looks" for saying we're bringing our microwave- but hey if you want to buy my kids 3 mediocre kids meals a day at 7.50 each then have at it. Last trip Brie would not touch most of the individual meals that we got her- except for QS at China, which was delish. She ended up eating nothing but chips and candy- which I am not happy with. So I'm bringing the microwave. I don't want to offend anybody or seem like a hillbilly- but I think this is what will work for us, this time. Next trip I plan on getting the dining plan.

So hopefully this next week FLIES by. We leave a week from tomorrow- that is so fun to say!

Happy New Year Dissers!!

 

[BriesMomma]

We Leave in a Week!

Craziness! I'm so excited. So I went to do the online check-in tonight. I was going back and forth on whether or not I should do this because I like to "go over" everything with a person. I didn't want to be able to ask for an upgrade- which I never really do anyway. So- I took the plunge and checked in. LOL. I'm glad I did because I noticed that we are only booked for base tickets. We are a hip-hoppity park hopping family and there's no way we could manage with mere base tickets... So I called and changed that ASAP! It was 120.76 to upgrade to hoppers for the adult tickets. We are adding Little Brandon's tickets when we get there.

I also made us ressies for a lunch at LTT so that my little cutie pie can see her Pooh Bear. She loves her some Pooh, and so I called and double checked that he was being moved over to there during the CP refurb. Sure enough HE'S THERE! I think she'd rather see him than the princesses. There will be future trips for that. Now I just hope she doesn't look silly being dressed up as Snow White for no reason... We'll see.

So those are my big developments. LOL. When I called for the hoppers the CM I got was awesome. Totally what Disney Customer Service is all about! And she said "I went ahead and put a request in for a room with a good view for you." !!! YAY!!!

I had Brandon decide if he thought the Alligator Bayou or the mansion rooms seemed more our speed. He picked the mansion rooms so I need to check out the resort map and figure out which building to request. I want to send a fun fax down a few days prior with a building request.

One week from now and my vacation will have begun and I will be sleeping in a Days Inn 3 hours from Disney!! Pinch me!

 

[BriesMomma]

I started packing our daypacks today!! You know I mean business when I break out the Ziplocs! I am sort of a Ziploc freak. Each of our electronic devices gets a Ziploc. There's a snack Ziploc in each bag. A first-aid Ziploc. Poncho, extra socks, sanitizer Ziploc. Diaps and Wipes Ziploc... you get the picture. I use the big gallon ones and go crazy. I also carry a few plastic grocery bags- incase things get really wet!

And in even awesomer news...

My wonderful handsome genius of an older brother has decided to give his most beloved (and only) niece a $200 Gift Certificate to The Most Magical Place on Earth for her birthday. Can you imagine a better gift? Awesomeness.

And to think a few weeks ago he said "You know there are other places to go than Disney World, right?"

Why would I wanna go anywhere else?!?! He has no idea how great his gift is. Or how much it means!! This trip is going to be so Magical!!!

5 Days!!!!

 

[BriesMomma]

Now we're really rollin'!!

My step-dad says today that he "found" a Christmas Gift that Imust of missed. And what do you think it was?? That's right a $50 Disney Gift Card! "How in the heck did I miss that?"

So add it up: $250 in gift cards. How cool am I?

I swear I touched every article of clothing in this house today. Lots of packing done. I am not worried that all of the tuff will fit in the car, I am now worried that we wont fit once I get it in!! My car goes for a tune-up in the morning actually!!

 

[BriesMomma]

I am now at the stage of "it's not really happening." Yes, folks: I'm in denial. Could I possibly really be leaving in 3 days for Disney World? As hard as it is for me to believe- this is no fairy tale! I'm going to Disney!!

So I'm a super weirdo about Brie getting sick. I am not AS freakish about it when we aren't leaving for Disney in a matter of days, but at this point I'm scared to let her leave the house. She had an ear infection in September, a double ear infection the week before our last trip to Disney, and then another the week after we got home! It was so bad that the pediatrician said that if she had anymore this season that we should look into putting tubes in her ears. So I have been uber-sensitive about germs. (I was hesitant to take her to my mother-in-laws for xmas because there were about 20 kids. )
So she coughed yesterday and started a bit of a runny nose this morning and so you can imagine my panic. Well thankfully I took her to the doctor today and he said I have nothing to worry about. He gave me some Dimetapp samples to give her and gave me an incase of emergency antibiotic prescription for the trip. That makes me feel so much better. Having a sick kid is no fun!! And this trip is all for her so I want her to enjoy every moment!

On another positive note, my mother's best friend and I always exchange Xmas gifts. I consider her an aunt, we've been buddies for 15 years! Well, her present got to me today and it was a $60 Disney Gift Card!! I know you're like "enough with the gift cards already!!!" but my mom said that I may have a few more surprises in store before we leave!!! So far I have $310! That's amazing! What was I saving all of my own money for? Geeezzz...

So there ya have it. 3 days out. All packed up. Getting ready to go get travel groceries now!

 

[BriesMomma]

I'm down to hours!!! With the cruddy weather we're having- and the thought that maximizing the amount of time we drive while the kids are sleeping- we have decided to leave at around 2:30 AM tomorrow night (technically Saturday morning) This way when the sleepyheads in the back do open their eyes we'll have half of that days driving under our belts.

Tonight I am so busy! Thankfully I have the best boss in the world (just so happens to be my mom too ) and I have tomorrow off. Then wonder upon wonders Brandon's sister called tonight and offered to have Brie stay the night with her daughter (who Brie absolutely adores). So... I am using tonight to finish packing. Maybe load the car? (Its freezing and snowing btw) And clean my house. It's so weird- when I go out of town I like my house to be spotless. I wish I felt that way when I was actually HERE!! But incase something happens and someone has to come by I don't want them to be snooping behind my fridge like "I KNEW SHE DIDNT DUST!! AHHA!" So I'm deep cleaning. SO tomorrow:

9 AM Pick-up Brie from her Aunt's house
Go get my paycheck- Take out my Disney money!!

12PM Birthday/ Good-bye lunch with Grammy. My mom and I are extremely close and I see her every single day. She literally lives 3 miles from me. Anyway she called me last night and said she decided that we (brandon and I) can still go, but Brie has to stay. Awww Poor Grammy is gonna miss us. Ten days is a long time. I might even start to miss her. So she's going to take us to lunch to say good-bye and celebrate Brie's birthday. I'm going to go get some cupcakes from her fave bakery to surprise her. (The funny thing is I'm sure we'll see her again before we go!)

Afternoon:
I still need to get a few things: Jelly, chips, Brandon wants a new pair of sweats to drive in (such a diva), Beer, and diapers. So I'm gonna do what any good American would do: I'm gonna go to Walmart. I'm sure I'll find other stuff I never knew I needed while I'm there too. Always happens.

Take my other baby, Remy, to the vet for boarding.

5 PM- Pick-up Little Brandon!! He has no idea what he's in for!! I mean he knows we're going to "Disney World" but he doesn't know what the heck "Disney World" is. While it is a HUGE (pronounce YUUUGE) mystery to me how any six year old wouldn't know what Disney World is (When I said that to my brother he said "We knew our way around at 6." Well, not even that. The parades are on TV. The Disney Channel. Commercials. "You just won the Super Bowl... what are ya gonna do now?" But whatevs.) Him and Daddy are going to get their haircut. I'm going to be baking Mickey head shaped Sugar Cookies ( I bought the cookie cutter on our trip in October. Knew it's come in handy!). Then when they get back we're going to decorate them and eat them on the way down!

Goof around and get the kids to bed. I'm going to go to sleep EARLY and Brandon's going to stay up with the kids and after so he's ready to sleep at 2:30 when we will hopefully leave!! It's going to fly by. It used to be that I wanted time to go faster and now I wish I had just a weeeeee bit longer!!

I'm so excited!

 

[BriesMomma]

Okay now I'm down to 25 hours and 11 minutes- yes it is 1 am. I just tried to load the car- what I could and I dont know how I'm going to fit my big honking Graco stroller?? So now I'm left with the question: buy a new stroller that is not as good that folds up better- or wait and buy a decent one down there. Does anyone know where we could stop and get one for around $50??

 

[BriesMomma]

So after my midnight car packing adventure... I picked up an umbrella stroller from WallyWorld for 15 big ones. It folds up really well. my problem is that I rely on the stroller as much as brie does. The storage and the cupholders are invaluable to me. But the big honkin Graco just wont fit with my millions of other things. Plus it was a pain on trams and monorails. It took up enough space to fit another person and I felt rude using it. (See I'm trying to look at the bright side.

I'm exhausted. I was up until 3 trying to get the car loaded. I'm going to go try and get some sllep now because I can't imagine hitting the road in 9 hours!!! But the good news is that my lack of energy has stifled my usual "I'm going to Disney World" wall-bouncing. Yes, I am a geek and I get geeked.

Gonna go hit the sack. Will try and update before we leave. But if not everyone have a great week and wish us lots of luck and piie dust!!!