Kidani, HRH & BLT in 6 nights- Yes! We are THAT crazy!! Nov 4-10,09 OBX updates 4/13

[areck]

I'm so glad you didn't get sick.

"Hey Ho the Derry-O, the cheese stands alone!"


I'm looking forward to the rest of your trip and the Chinese New Year celebration.

 

[englishrose47]

I am hopefully going again in September for free dining !!! We all enjoyed it last year !! This will be the last nyearn for a while that I can spring 2 trips !!! Next year it will prolly be August for the girls 16th Birthday !!! Then of course June 2012 for Peep Fest !!! I can't wait for 2012 to meet up with Jordan again and all the others who plan on celebrating birthdays that year !! I will be 65 soooo it is a Monumental Year for me !!!!

 

[MEK]

We got by with leaving town when our boys were that age, but found out there were parties held (after its too late of course) In fact, our oldest didn't stop having "get togethers" at our house when we were out of town until the last couple of years - I believe he was 24 the last time! It is so hard to leave and wonder if they will be safe and sane while you're gone. Hope your son feels better quickly!

Hey...thanks....now my other son is sick. I am counting down until I get sick!

The party concern is why I won't leave them alone on a friday or Sat night. They only get midweek and I want to have someone sleep in the house a couple nights. The other nights they can have a neighbor check in.

 

[MEK]

I fully expect to be saying the same in a few years myself- "Let's just get him to 18" It's hard!! All of it!! But obviously worth it.

That is so sweet he wants you to hold his hand! I was too busy being the cleaning crew last night to hold hands with anyone, LOL! Everyone is sleepy today- it was a very looooooooong night. Cross your fingers they are up for skiing tomorrow... they will be so sad if they can't go. And I have not gotten it.....knock wood for both you AND me!!

Oh NO....all night clean up crew! I was up in the middle of the night Saturday night for round 2 and then I had to get up for church. Needless to say, I took a major power nap yesterday.

I hope you got to go skiing!!!!!!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hey...thanks....now my other son is sick. I am counting down until I get sick!

The party concern is why I won't leave them alone on a friday or Sat night. They only get midweek and I want to have someone sleep in the house a couple nights. The other nights they can have a neighbor check in.

Good Plan!

 

[podsnel]

I'm so glad you didn't get sick.

"Hey Ho the Derry-O, the cheese stands alone!"


I'm looking forward to the rest of your trip and the Chinese New Year celebration.

Yep- that makes 3x now that they all got it and i didn't.

I am hopefully going again in September for free dining !!! We all enjoyed it last year !! This will be the last nyearn for a while that I can spring 2 trips !!! Next year it will prolly be August for the girls 16th Birthday !!! Then of course June 2012 for Peep Fest !!! I can't wait for 2012 to meet up with Jordan again and all the others who plan on celebrating birthdays that year !! I will be 65 soooo it is a Monumental Year for me !!!!

So when are you going in September? Pods and I are there at the end of the month for 5 nights- right before F&W since they changed the dates.

Hey...thanks....now my other son is sick. I am counting down until I get sick!

The party concern is why I won't leave them alone on a friday or Sat night. They only get midweek and I want to have someone sleep in the house a couple nights. The other nights they can have a neighbor check in.

I completely understand- I worry about that too, one day- although I think I may always have to have S&H because of Sean- well, at least until T&T are a LOT older, and then who knows what will happen!

Are you still well?

Oh NO....all night clean up crew! I was up in the middle of the night Saturday night for round 2 and then I had to get up for church. Needless to say, I took a major power nap yesterday.

I hope you got to go skiing!!!!!!!

Yes, being knee deep in...well, you know...in the middle of the night is NOT all it's cracked up to be, that's for sure! We had a great time skiing, thanks!

Good Plan!

I agree!

 

[podsnel]

A little side track....

On this past Saturday morning we were all well enough to go on our annual overnight in the Poconos with our friends Linda & Alex (Alex is Tyler's Godfather) and their kids, Nicholas & Natasha (who is our Goddaughter). They own property at a resort called Eagle Rock, which is small and perfect for us, being that we only ski once a year (due to my CPA hubby). One thing I can say about this year, though- it was c-c-c-c-c-c-cold out there!!! BRRRRRRRR! But all the recently fallen snow made for the best conditions we have ever had there, so that was great! Here are a few pics to give you an idea of what it was like-

On the chair lift-

Boys at the top of the hill-

Us-

View from the room-

Slopes lit for nitetime skiing-

We went out for dinner, and Timmy ordered, "And ummm uhhhh, for the appetizer, I'll have the ANTI-PAS-TEEEE. (Because we are all TOTALLy AGAINST Pas-teee!! ) We said, Tim, you're never gonna eat that! Do you even know what that is? "Yes- it's a delicious assortment of Italian meats and cheeses". FYI- this is all the fault of DCL- ever since that cruise, no matter where we are, if there are appetizers on the menu, this is how he orders it!

After dinner, we go tubing- except I wimped out because the wind was HOWLING, it was maybe 2 degrees out there, and I was just plain exhausted. Oh well. Now I'm mad at myself because they all had a GREAT time, the conditions were awesome! Here i am at the door with Linda before they went-

The kids-

When they returned, we all curled up in front of the tv to watch the Olympics- women's moguls were on.

We didn't win any medals for our skiing that day, but Linda & Pods shared a medal from Captain Morgan, if that's any clue as to where OUR talents lie!

On Sunday we headed home for a busy day- that afternoon, our friend, Shelley, was being ordained as a minister at our old church where Sean was christened. It's such a small world- Shelley & her hubby and Pods & I all met in a new members class at our new church when both S & I were pregnant (I was with tyler). Shelley & her husband went on to lead the Youth Ministry at our church, and some where in doing that, Shelley got a calling to become a minister- so she attended Princeton Theological Seminary, and lo and behold, her first full time job as a preacher is at the church we transfered from. One big circle, life always seems to come together in the craziest ways!

After the service, we were headed over to Fiona's house for Chinese New Year. Fiona spent part of her childhood in Taiwan, and began celebrating CNY then (she is originally from Scotland)- her family celebrates it every year, now here in the US. If you have never been to Chinese New Year, let me just say that it is the most AWESOME holiday!!! Red is worn for goodluck (and goes really well, considering this year we were celebrating on Valentine's Day), and the food is incredible!! It is a HUGE feast, with probably 9 or 10 courses. The way we do it is everything is prepped before hand, and then most of the guests take turns cooking a dish. Everytime a course comes out, the cook yells, "NEW DISH" and everyone toasts. Some pics-

Isn't the dining room so pretty?

Evie digs in-

Joan & Fiona yell, New Dish!

Darraugh & Fiona are very accomplished in the kitchen-

Paul & Darraugh show off their technique-

Oh no! Fiona yells, "last dish!"

By the end, everyone is stuffed with kimchi, twice cooked pork, kung pao shrimp, shrimp and snowpeas, beef in oyster sauce, chicken and cucumbers, fish in a sweet & sour sauce, string beans and shrimp, and many more things that I am forgetting- it is just unbelievable!! My favorite dinner party ever!

Ok- enough sidetracking. Next, it's back to WDW and a spin on the TeaCups!

 

[podsnel]

We entered MK probably a little after 10, and one of the first things I spotted was that the Barber Shop was very, very uncrowded. Having the boys get haircuts in MK is one of those things that I ADORE....and, fortunately for me, Timmy was still wanting to do it. Tyler, on the other hand, being 12 and too-cool-for-school put the big kybash on that one for himself- no matter how much we begged. And Sean wasn't interested either. Ah well...here's what they looked like in 2005-

Sigh....and here Timmy is in 2009-

Ta-DAA!!

No amount of cajoling from the barber(ette?) could get Tyler up in her seat, so we had to be content with just Tim's new do. Love the back-

We were excited to see the MHTP was back in business, and we would be on the next ride. Someone else was riding first- how COOL!!

I have to say, Alice was all THAT! She was REALLY hamming it up in that cup with those girls. For that matter, whenever i see Alice in MK or Epcot, she always is Alice to the hilt- really a fun, FUN character. Cinderella may be my favorite Princess, and Goofy my favorite fab 5, but Alice is up there too, just for sheer personality PLUS! Soon it was our turn to take a spin- and for the first time ever, we had to split up- we have finally gotten too big as a family of 5 to fit. Sean was soooooo happy to finally ride!!

Yippee!!! We rode another time, then made our way over to Tomorrowland. Cont'd next post, as I just realized some of my upload didn't "take" on PB so I need to go upload!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

LOVE Alice! We had a great encounter with her in the UK in Epcot a few years ago. It was dead in the store where she was supposed to be taking pictures with guests so she decided she was just going to skip around the room, looking at all the items int he store and commenting. At one point, she saw a Pooh with a birthday cake and she said, "Oh is it your birthday?" And when he wouldn't answer... " Excuse me, Mr. Bear!" She's so fun!

 

[podsnel]

We paid a visit to Winnie the pooh before getting on the TS- when the kids have thrie own drivers licenses, will they STILL need to ride this one? They LOVE it- every visit!

I think this time, though, the noise was getting to Sean-

Love it!

We went for a spin with Buzz-

And then for the first time, went into Monsters Inc! It was hilarious!

We made nice in front of the castle for the PhotoPass Photographer...but ours came out better, so here they are-

I took a few Christmassy pics while we exited. Someday i'm coming for ALL the Christmas stuff!

Daisy was just coming out- she was nice enough to wave hello to my family-

Then we headed for the monorail and made our way to Epcot-

Next- the Sum of All thrills, and where are those Crepes?

 

[podsnel]

LOVE Alice! We had a great encounter with her in the UK in Epcot a few years ago. It was dead in the store where she was supposed to be taking pictures with guests so she decided she was just going to skip around the room, looking at all the items int he store and commenting. At one point, she saw a Pooh with a birthday cake and she said, "Oh is it your birthday?" And when he wouldn't answer... " Excuse me, Mr. Bear!" She's so fun!

That's so funny- I can totally see the whole thing and how she would be! If I could be one character for a day, it would HAVE to be Alice- although I really, really, really want to wear that Cinderella gown! But being Alice would be the most fun- just skippin' around, amusing yourself...

Since neither is an option for me, I pick BOTH!!

 

[tinytreasures]

the view from you ski trip it amazing

question about the car ride
is it bumpy
we didn't go on because we saw a lot of people bumping into the next car and Avy can't handle the jerks

 

[podsnel]

the view from you ski trip it amazing

question about the car ride
is it bumpy
we didn't go on because we saw a lot of people bumping into the next car and Avy can't handle the jerks

You mean Tomorrowland Speedway, right? I think at the end, the cars can bump each other- but you are not supposed to do that, there are a bunch of signs telling you to not bump the car ahead of you and to slow down. One way to prevent getting bumped would be to put someone in your family behind you- if you spoke to the CMs when they put you in the cars, I bet it would work.

It can be jerky when you drive, though- the cars need a good driver if you want to avoid zigging and zagging off of the rail under the car (that's on the track). The track itself feels smooth, though. Sean loves it- believe me, if he didn't he would NEVER ride!! I hope this helps you!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Great update! The skiing looks so fun and cold!!! I don't do cold anymore - but that weekend looks worth it. Chinese NY - wow! What a fun group of friends you have, and the food looked good too! How fun that Alice rode the teacups with those girls! I saw MH riding by himself once. Love Tim's hair!

 

[podsnel]

Great update! The skiing looks so fun and cold!!! I don't do cold anymore - but that weekend looks worth it. Chinese NY - wow! What a fun group of friends you have, and the food looked good too! How fun that Alice rode the teacups with those girls! I saw MH riding by himself once. Love Tim's hair!

Hi Tammie! I have to say, as fun as the skiing was, the thought of "I'm gettin to old for this $%@!" did cross my mind once or twice- I don't do cold well, either, it makes my whole body stiffen up and my bones hurt. The last couple of times we have skiied it's been warmer, and i think I enjoyed it a bit more because I wasn't in pain, even though the conditions were not as good.

I have a LOT of fun friends- I am very lucky!! This is the same group (at CNY) that I'll go to OBX with again this year- we are in a house on the sound with Joan & Peter and their kids, Fiona & Darraugh are in another house down the street. Still working on Evie & Tom, they just got new puppies. TWO new puppies!! They were flown here from Texas- rescues, they were dumped on the side of the road in coyote country. So we're not sure they can make it. Anyway, Joan is also coming on the DISmoms trip at the end of April. So you'll be seeing LOTS of photos of her!!

 

[praisehisname]

By the end, everyone is stuffed with kimchi, twice cooked pork, kung pao shrimp, shrimp and snowpeas, beef in oyster sauce, chicken and cucumbers, fish in a sweet & sour sauce, string beans and shrimp, and many more things that I am forgetting- it is just unbelievable!! My favorite dinner party ever!

Wow, what an amazing feast!

Cool hair!

What a great looking family!

 

[podsnel]

Wow, what an amazing feast!
Cool hair!
What a great looking family!

Thank-you! For everything!

 

[Kara]

Love the hair too!! and now I have hope to maybe convince my 8 year old to do it this summer LOL!!

 

[podsnel]

We were going to Epcot for a couple of reasons- we STILL needed to ride TT with Sean, that was #1. We also wanted to try out the new attraction, Sum of All Thrills, which had recently opened in Innoventions. And we HAD to have some crepes over in France. Tyler takes french in 7th grade, and because we were on vacation he was missing the best day in french class all year- crepe day! So I had promised we would make a point of having them while we were here.

Well, we walked over to Test Track and...surprise, surpise, Test track was shut down yet AGAIN! That makes EVERY DAY we have been in Epcot, TT was having technical problems! Fortunately, Sean rolled with the punches, and we went over to try Sum of All Thrills. Tyler, timmy & I, that is- Pods and Sean walked around while we were creating and riding.

This ride is similar to the ride in DisneyQuest where you design, then ride your own coaster. But this one is much better- the robotic arm the simulator is attached to moves in new and unprecedented ways. ANd there is a little more thought involved in the planning/designing process. You actually watch a video first that explains what to do. Then you go into the next room to create your ride. Both Timmy & Tyler were making up their own coasters and I was going to ride with one of them.

Well, it sounded like a good plan. Except, Tyler apparently heard or saw NONE of the instructional video, so when he went to create his ride, he was hitting all kinds of roadblocks and problems. About then his head started spinning around and green goo started shooting out of every orafice as he transformed into the ANTI-Tyler, a young man we lovingly refer to as Satan's Spawn. Ugh. I helped him out, tried to calm him down, and we downloaded our rides and went to the simulators. And while I can't seem to remember exactly why it happened, or HOW it happened....I can tell you that both Tyler & Timmy got to ride each others rides, I got BUBKISS in the ride department, and it all made one CM kind of po'd at the other CM who suggested we do it this way. That's us- spreading love, joy and happiness wherever we go! Anyway, here they are on one of the rides-

FYI-I WILL be doing this in May with some DISmoms-and they'd better pay attention to the instructions because I am NOT giving up my ride with THEM!

BAck in a minute, my computer is acting weird-

 

[podsnel]

We decided to go check on TT again, passing the Jamminators on the way-

Love them! TT was still shut down, so some of us gave MS another ride. We then went over to WS and Pods once again suggested riding the boat over to the other side- fine by me! Then, we noticed the strangest phenomenon- Tyler was back to being Tyler, but Timmy- well, it was HIS turn to be ANTI-Timmy....a young man we lovingly refer to as "The worst time you've ever had". (This is because Timmy is usually the BEST time you've ever had.) Oh well....Pods hung back with him and Sean, trying to work on Tim, and get some french fries and a hot dog to make those boys happy, while I went on with Tyler to check out the crepe situation in France.

Tyler chose to split chocolate and strawberry (I think) crepes with me-

France delivers another satisfied customer-

His only negative comment was that in school, at crepe day, the crepes are much larger. So, still being a little hungry, I suggested we try a cheese plate over there at the boulangerie.

I can tell you, Tyler was MIGHTY impressed by the offerings in THAT little shop! Had we not just had dessert, I think he would have been happy to try one or ten things. Who wouldn't be? Actually, we had a seat, and shared the cheese- and tyler couldn't get over how delicious it was.

It's France, dude. Where cheese is King, bread is the Queen, and rats are fat- didn't ya see the movie? The rest of our family was on the way, so we started walking back to meet them-

We had a seat for a minute so Pods could...ummm..powder his nose.

We were headed for DHS- that's right- our 3rd park in this day.

On the way to the boat, Tyler decided to give Timmy a lift-

Timmy decided to give Tyler some noogies-

And pods and i breathed a sigh of relief that everyone was happy again! A relaxing ride under the bridge, and we were soon to DHS.

Up next- will he or won't he? Timmy and the DHS thrill rides!