Journey back to ME!!- I'm getting bugged!!

[goldcupmom]

one more time....for some reason it keeps disappearing!!

Woke up at 5:30 saturday morning as DD wanted sunrise on the beach. the Don has coffee urns on the lobby bar, so I grabbed 2 cups of decaf & took off walking for over an hour.....let the relaxation begin.....FINALLY!!!

Rented 2 pairs of the cabana chairs and literally less than 5 minutes later the rain began! So, inside for an hour or so. Then it cleared enough to go back out for about 3 hours of sun & reading before the real storm rolled in. Back to the hotel, then went to International Mall to walk around. We were able to briefly go back out around 8:30, but then it stormed more.

Saturday I got up at 5 while the crew slept and walked for 2 hours. Peace & Quiet!! Since it was breezy & cloudy there was no parasailing again for DD & no jet skiing for DS16. Instead we coughed up nearly $100 to go to Shell Island. We all agree we wish we had had more than 2 hours available to us and would do it again. I got lots of sand dollars & even DS16 enjoyed it!!

Back to the hotel for a quick change, check out & off to OMNI.

According to DH the best part of the Don was the baskets of Oranges in the lobby. He probably ate 1/2 a bushel, and they were California oranges!!

Checked in at the OMNI and WOW!!!! This place is AWESOME!!! Definitely would/will come back. We had reserved a double room, but b/c I enrolled DH in their "Select Guest" were upgraded to a Jr. Suite - HUGE!!! King bed & sofa bed, so we got DS16 a rollaway, but still incredible. My fav is the separate shower & huge garden tub(but I haven't used it yet)

Explored the Hotel then took DS16 to the Adidas store. 2 prs shoes, 2 pants, 2 shirts, 2 shirts for DD & shorts for me for $250 - not too bad. Dinner at the food court was probably the worst thing I've eaten so far - good quality, but bourbon chicken has to be loaded & was very salty. I had most of my points left, so was OK, tho. Back to the lazy river for a short time before bed.


Let's hope this posts!!

 

[goldcupmom]

A cloudy day cleared up Beautifully!!!!

I got up at about 6 to answer the door. With Select Guest you get complimentary beverage service every morning at the time you specify. 2 Drinks per person in the room. So, a tray with a pot of decaf, pot of regular, pot of hot water for cocoa, 2 OJ, 1 Cranberry Juice & 2 cokes arrived along with the Sunday Orlando Paper. NICE!!! I'm enjoying my morning pot of decaf now, & no paper/styrofoam!!

Took DS16 w/ me to Publix about 2 blks away to buy a cake & some more drinks. Then back to check in to our Cabana. Smaller than Hard Rock, but nicer. $90 on weekends. W/ it we got the standard 6 sodas, 4 waters(Evian), a fruit plate that was chopped tropical fruit w/ a dip, and 2 virgin daquiris.

DNiece, baby & her DH arrived about 10:30 , then DSis, other DNiece & DBroinlaw about noon. DD, DH, DS16, DNieceDH & DSisDH went to play paintball, while we girls spent WAY too many hours in the lazy river & laughing over the people here for the conference.

I'm not trying to be mean, but this is, even according to my DH who is one, a NERD convention!! It was funny to watch them read all the instruction signs as the entered the pools, slide, river area. Usually wearing black dress shoes, black socks pulled to near the knees, shorts w/ polo shirts or shirts & ties tucked in. And all wore their name lanyards around their neck, even if they were in swim trunks. DS16 began 'counting' them when we checked in, so it became a game when we saw one that we called out a number. We were bad, but it was funny. They're engineers, which is bad enough, but Systems Engineers(not computer) to boot, which is a select group of what appears to be the most extreme type.

So, we were at the pool from about 8:30 - 7 p.m., then we had cake for DS16 birthday & DNiece birthday. They all left & we again went to the lazy river - DS16, DD & I. DH spent his time going over which 'talks' he would go to this week.

 

[goldcupmom]

Up early for coffee & Dis....finally!!! Gee, I was suffering from withdrawel!!

DS16 started calling cycle shops early as his Bday present is new gear, but our stores don't carry it & I won't buy w/o him trying. ONE store in all of Orlando/Tampa area had the boots he wanted. So, I mapquested the address & we left. MapQuest was WRONG!! It said 588, but, as I suspected, it meant 528. So, I drove & drove & drove, finally headed east & figured I"d run into 528, instead, it deadended at the street I needed. YEAH!!!! Ended up that the cycle shop was in the other end of the shopping center w/ the thrift store I had taken my DSis to in Feb. The owner was GREAT!!! They didn't have leg armor which DS16 really wanted, so he ordered it & it, along w/ the jacket DS wanted. They will both be in Wed or Thurs for him to try. Very Nice(but of course, expensive).

We then went to FL Mall & walked for about 3 hours, then back to the hotel for a quick swim. DH got done, & we left for CityWalk to exchange our Movie/Meal deal tickets. DD shopped the Endangered Species store while DS16 played DDR. Then off to SkyVenture.

Kids LOVED skyventure & they want to do it again. Fortunately, I bought the tickets on ClearChannel site for less than 1/2 price, there are 2/1 coupons in the Entertainment books I bought, so it may happen. There was no time for Dinner, so we ran thru BK for a snack. My dinner ended up being a few BK onion rings, then a cube of cheese & some cheesits. The only other stuff I ate yesterday was a sub wrap, coffee, water. OH, & sugarfree chocolate gum & the mint on my pillow.

 

[goldcupmom]

UP & drinking my decaf. Headed to the pool, then DS17 wants to go to DisneyQuest for the day. Swimming until I call Ticketmania to see about getting tickets thru them. A Cookie Bouquet is supposed to be delivered to the hotel later. Lunch will be at Planet Hollywood w/ GCerts I bought at 1/2 price.

Max has learned a new trick since being locked in my kitchen. He can now get up onto my kitchen table like Mia does. WONDERFUL!!!! I think he has Pogo sticks for legs since he is only about 7" from floor to back & his legs are SHORT. Oh well..,.,,

Off to call...... later.....

Have a great day everyone!! Thanks for stopping by!

 

[keenercam]

Julie -- Sounds like you are doing great and having a wonderful time. I am glad to hear whenever you spend time in the lazy river or on the beach -- at least I know you are sitting still for a moment! :

Glad to hear the furbabies are enjoying their days, and doesn't it figure that they learn new tricks when we aren't around? I hope Max didn't knock anything off the table.

Have a great day!

 

[goldcupmom]

You're right, Cam, partially.....about 1/2 the time in the lazy river I choose to walk it. I tried walking 'upstream', but only made it about 1/4 the way. WOW, talk about HARD!!!

Yesterday was a stand/walk day. Left here at about 9:45 and it took over an hour to get to Ticketmania which is only about 12 miles. Quickly got back to DQ and in. DS17 was disappointed the DDR machine didn't even have a power cord anymore. He played a drumming machine for almost 2 hours straight. DD and I putzed, then she had chocolate cake - I had 2 bites and had to remove myself from the area!!! It was TOO GOOD!!!! I spent the day walking up and down the stairs, pacing and standing. I left them to go walk DTD and just as I got out of the exit it started storming badly, so I was stranded in the gift shop for about 45 min before I would brave walking around the corner to go back inside. DD & I walked & played a bit more, then we all 3 went to walk DTD as it was getting really crowded in DQ(and out) DD found a long sleeve 'pirates' shirt & I finally found DH the backward goofy watch - he had the original Lorus version, but it gave out years ago and he didn't want the kid looking one. Walked with them back to DQ, then I walked all the way back again. I managed to resist the candy store fudge this trip. Big accomplishment for me!!

DS17 called ready to leave as it was too crowded and he couldn't take standing for 20 min waiting to play anything. So, back to Planet Hollywood to pick up food to bring back. I think I got in plenty of walking yesterday at least! DS17 got Salmon & DD & I got salads which were actually just large romaine leaves w/ diced tomatoes, about 6 bacon bits, a tiny crumble of blue cheese, a tsp of ranch in one dot in the center and a whole piece of cold grilled chicken. Points had to have been basically the chicken once you removed the one leaf that had anything else on it. So had a pretzel for lunch - probably about 10, tho, the chicken for dinner - I'd guess no more
than 5, 2 bites of cake which were probably a gazillion points, and then 1 of DS17 birthday cookies that were delivered - I had to have a double chocolate one, of course. So, I'm saying yesterday was an OOPS day and moving on. At some point I'll have to figure what day I'm at from 5/15 to yesterday, but not counting yesterday. I think I'm somewhere near 60 - 17 in may, 30 in june, 10 in july so far - ok, I can add this morning, that's 57!

I feel HUGE!! I think it's probably a lot of water, but I haven't found a scale that's not in public - everytime I go to the weight room, it's full and I'm not about to step on w/ people around. My clothes still feel good, so hopefully that's a good sign. It will be a bit easier to watch food when I'm at my sisters - I hope!!

DS17 is actually coming back to DSis w/ DD and I. ChickFilA is sending him to Atlanta for Training on 7/16 and I suggested they just fly him out of Tampa. That way I get to keep his 1 way free ticket we used for the trip! I'll use it to come back to FL at some point!! When he gets back from the training he'll get yet another raise & will be the trainer for the store. Then, 6 mo later they intend to make him a shift manager, then when he turns 18, a store manager. He'll definitely be making good money for college, and they're really willing to work with him.

I'd like to spend the day in the pool again, but I'm getting my 'itch bumps' ALL over! It's just like when we lived in Phoenix. It's not the pool, or the pool chemicals, but pollens that get in the water & the filter - took us many dermatoligist/allergist visits & tests to figure it out. All I can do is use lots of hydrocortisone - Benadryl would help, but it puts me to sleep instantly. So, I'll sit & veg today & try to get in only a little. DSis & her DD's are coming up again on Friday to swim before they take us back to Lakeland - another perk of Select Guest is 5 p.m. check out - so I want to be able to get in with them.

Time to get moving - I got to sleep til 9:30 today! It's onlys 7:30 in NM, but that's still super late for me! DS17 is up and ready, so time to get DD moving. We have to have McD's today as DS17 wants an inflatable sword from the Happy Meals. Like he says, what better toy for kids than a sword!!

Not sure what we 3 are doing today. DH has his banquet tonight, so we're on our own until about 10 tonight.

Have a great day all!! Thanks for stopping by!!

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi Julie,

Sounds like you are busy, but having a great time in Florida! I am so glad that you got the chance to go!

Have a great week!

 

[keenercam]

Julie -- It sounds like everything is going so well. I'd bet all the APs you earned for walking more than make up for the bites of cake and the cookie. Keep up the great work! You are doing fabulously, especially for someone on vacation.
Hope your bumps get better quickly! :

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

Hi Julie,

Your trip sounded fun!

You seem to be doing well, keep up the good work!

 

[goldcupmom]

Yesterday was a rainy day here. DS17 & DD went to the pool while I did some cleaning/organizing - well I was supposed to! Instead I went online & found that train tickets dropped, and put tickets for DD & I on hold til the 15th. If it works, we'll leave here the 23 as planned, only by train & go to DC, arrive noonish on 24, spend a night at Holiday INn Capitol, hit the museums, leave there at 4:xx the 25, spend 2 nights on the train & get home the 27. Train w/rooms is now less than $500 more than our 1 way air(which I can get refunded w/ no penalty) and although we won't have a ton of time, should have time to do the 'big 3' as DD says, natural history, air/space & american. And, an extra $500 (hotel will be a free reward night) is much cheaper than making the trip it's own trip. I'll have to decide today, but I have train & hotel both on hold.

Back to yesterday ..... I pulled kids out of pool about 10:45, moments before the rain hit. I bought a starbucks in the lobby - one more temptation gone - it was NOT good!! Went thru McD's for 4 happy meals and they did get swords!! I had a plain burger.

From there we went to the other adidas outlet - small, not much, then to the Prime outlets on I-Drive - apparently going under as 1 was almost completely empty and the other had only about 2/3 of the stores. On to a cycle store & a couple others before ending up at the larger outlet near dtd which we walked 3 times. DD agonized over buying a $25 Boyd's porcupine - finally decided not to- YEAH!!!! She's a bit tired, grouchy, emotional, so it wasn't too fun. She is definitely in need of extra sleep though she won't admit it.

Stopped at the pizzeria near the Omni, but it wasn't a 'normal' pizza place & was way expensive, so we decided to eat by the pool. I had 1/2 a philly w/ 1/4 of the bread & a few chips - they make their own here and they are incredible. later I had a scoop of ice cream. We ended up walking for about 4 1/2 hours, so I think I did OK yesterday.

Today we need to go back to FL mall - DS17 bought a shirt that's too small & we need to exchange. I need to take my 'needs' list to the bare escentuals store & get my moisturizer stuff. I'm also going to have them 'do' DD as she needs some good, natural make up/cover up, and if they teach her instead of mom it will be better.

I'm also going to stop by the candy store there, again. They have their own brand sf mints/gum in tons of flavors that are good - including chocolate gum!!!!

Besides that we need to go to the cycle shop to look at DS17 jacket & leg armor.

DH gets done at 3 today and we are headed to CityWalk for dinner then Pirates!! (w/ my movie/meal deal coupons) after that it's MAJOR packing!!

Off to get moving....

Later..

Have a great day, all!!

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi Julie,

Please let us know how you like Pirates.... I have had several people tell me it was better than the first movie. (Of course, I still need to see the first movie. )

Have a great day!

 

[Lesli54]

Sounds like you are having one very busy vacation. Oh, but to relax in the FL sun and shop at DTD! How I miss it.

Have a safe trip back home. Talk to you in a few.

 

[traceycooper]

Soooo jealous your out in the florida sunshine, hope your having a fantastic time (as if you couldnt!!) oh well 3 months to wait till my trip!!

 

[CACruisin']

Sounds like your trip is awesome! I love the idea of going to DC on your way home and taking the train back. Have a great rest of your trip!

 

[goldcupmom]

Went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner Thursday night - I had chicken fajitas, no tortillas, so I did OK. Went to pirates & I had maybe a dozen pieces of popcorn, so I made it thru. Movie was good, but not as good as I had expected. I was disappointed in the ending, or lack thereof. Also, I got a bit tired of some of the very lengthy scenes. All in all very good, tho a bit long.

DS17's motorcycle stuff arrived, so we were able to get it and have DH take it home.

DH left Friday morning & my Dsis & her 2 DD's + baby arrived to swim a bit & take us home. I had an egg mcmuffin for Bkfast, then a Mcd ice cream cone on the way home. Dinner was a subway turkey, so Friday was good. I'm still very shy on liquids.

Saturday up early to go to Gsales w/ DSis, then picked up Panera bagels. I ate 1.5, which was too much. No lunch, so that helped. Dinner was Ale House chicken Nachos, some celery & a 1/5 of quesadilla. I only ate a few nachos, so I think I did OK.

I feel incredibly HUGE, however. Lack of fiber & water. I'm still itchy from the pool, but it's still less than 48 hours since I swam, & I am beginning to see improvement.

DBil just left for Tampa airport w/ DS17 who is headed to Atlanta then Stone Mountain Park for a ChickFilA meeting. He'll get back to ABQ on Tuesday very late.

DD and I are taking the train home. YIPPEE!!!!!!

Tomorrow DSis, the DNieces, DD & I head to Orlando early, shop, then we drop DD at Sea World at 5 for camp. We'll return to get her on Saturday Morning. Shop some more!! Then she & I will check in to the Holiday Inn across from Universal, take a cab to the Train Station on Sunday afternoon. We leave Orlando around 5, get into DC Monday around Noon. Check in to Holiday Inn Capitol ( both HI nights are free reward nights), hit museums until they close, then Tuesday Morning, go check our baggage at Amtrak, go to more Museums, Train leaves around 4.

We'll have about 6 hours in Chicago on Wednesday, then get back home on Thursday around 4. I'm hoping our inbound train to Chicago is ontime & our Outbound is late. We'd like to quickly visit the Aquarium. Not too likely, though!

DSis is working today & we need to go over to Tuesday Morning to look around. She gets a good discount plus there's an extra 50% off sale that starts tomorrow, so she can put stuff back for us. Other than that, today is a down day & pack day. DD is playing her Game Boy & Dniece is napping.

I'll try to get on later in the week.

Hope everyone is well....

 

[Lesli54]

Hey, Julie. Sounds like your trip is going really well.

The "lack of ending" for the Priates movie is due to the fact that they are making a third one. So maybe that will help. I haven't seen it yet, but DD18 has. She loved it, but I think that is partly because of Johnny Depp.

One of these times when you are passing through Chicago on a train, I will have to make a concerted effort to get up and meet you. Have a safe trip home, if I don't talk to you before then.

 

[goldcupmom]

Yep, the movie definitely makes you want to see the 3rd ASAP. And you're right, Johnny Depp & Orlando Bloom certainly don't hurt!!

 

[CACruisin']

WOW - great job with the movie popcorn! You're doing so well with your eating while on vacation. Enjoy the rest of your tirp. It all sounds wonderful.

 

[traceycooper]

ooohh hard rock, wish i was there!!
I totallly agree with your review of pirates, i thought the best bit was on the island with the natives, sooo funny!!
Hope your having fun...I'm sure your having a great time!!

 

[keenercam]

Julie -- So glad to hear you are having such a great visit with your sister and niece. Can't wait to hear what DD thinks of the SW camp. I hope the DC weather is milder by the time you get there.

So, how are your furbabies faring while you are gone? Are your DS's transportation problems under control in your absence?

Have a great day!