Let the (Soaken Wet) Memories Begin TR- Update 12/8

[BridgetR3]

Sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well.

I just joined your TR last night and have really enjoyed it!! I love Aisling's customs! They are beautiful!

 

[eecteacher82]

Holy cow! That was quite the update!!! I literally just sat and laughed alone on my couch at the reminder of our anniversary!!!! I think I may have woken Olivia up!!! That was quite funny moment! Right up there with Aisling's comment when we got off Soarin "I love the smell of the ocean when you are flying over the water"! She killed me with that one!

Dinosaur was SO fun that day! I really loved how Ash was so good with Livy and told her it wasn't too bad at all! The pic cracks me up every single time I see it! Everyone looks terrified...except for Olivia!

I still cannot believe just how WET the girls got on Kali!!!! I don't think you could get any wetter than they did!

We had such an amazing time with you guys! It is still hard to believe that we had just met! Olivia still talks about Aisling all the time and actually wanted me to send her an invitation to her birthday party in a few weeks! I had to explain a million times that it just would be feasible for you guys to make it...even though you can "just hop on an airplane and fly down to Florida, for real quick".

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!!!!

 

[ronnmel]

You really got some beautiful shots of Festival of the Lion King!!!

 

[Jennifer48]

"Aisling in the Mist" is a very unique photo!

The Dinosaur ride photo had me cracking up! I love how Randy is paying attention to Aisling and not the ride itself. Great dad

I bet the girls getting drenched felt great!

I love me some Tumble Monkeys!

 

[jenjolt]

Been following you on FB and was sorry to hear all about your health issues!! Glad to hear the stone passed (those are no fun at all)!

Been lurking but wanted to come out of hiding and say I'm really enjoying your TR!!

Loved the AK update!!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Glad to see you're doing better. We missed you! .

Great photos of the safari. We usually get some good pics, but others just turn out fuzzy. The past few times we've gone the driver is just in a hurry.

Oh I get some fuzzy ones too...just delete those

I am so glad you finally passed that darn stone! Been there, done that, never want to again. BLAH!

I think my favorite picture is Aisling in the mist.

That Olivia sure is a cutie, I love the drenched picture of both girls.

I think I might live in fear of another one of those stupid things. Although next time I won't be waiting for a week of back pain before I get to the Dr

Any news today

I'm sorry you've been feeling so bad! At least you passed the stone, so that's one thing out of the way. I hope you're back to 100% soon!

Wow, so many wonderful pictures! I love that close up of the gorilla and all of the FOTLK pics. The Dinosaur picture had me cracking up!

You seriously would think that I had never been on that ride and didn't know what was coming! Or that Tyranadons are real

Great safari pics! Funny about the anniversary wishes! Sorry to hear about the medical stuff...hope you feel better soon!

Thank you! That was so funny. They really have those CMs trained to say Happy Anniversary when they see the button!

Sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well.

I just joined your TR last night and have really enjoyed it!! I love Aisling's customs! They are beautiful!

Thanks for reading!!

Holy cow! That was quite the update!!! I literally just sat and laughed alone on my couch at the reminder of our anniversary!!!! I think I may have woken Olivia up!!! That was quite funny moment! Right up there with Aisling's comment when we got off Soarin "I love the smell of the ocean when you are flying over the water"! She killed me with that one!

Dinosaur was SO fun that day! I really loved how Ash was so good with Livy and told her it wasn't too bad at all! The pic cracks me up every single time I see it! Everyone looks terrified...except for Olivia!

I still cannot believe just how WET the girls got on Kali!!!! I don't think you could get any wetter than they did!

We had such an amazing time with you guys! It is still hard to believe that we had just met! Olivia still talks about Aisling all the time and actually wanted me to send her an invitation to her birthday party in a few weeks! I had to explain a million times that it just would be feasible for you guys to make it...even though you can "just hop on an airplane and fly down to Florida, for real quick".

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!!!!

Aisling knew exactly who the birthday song was from!!! Tell Olivia we would love to come to her party but we are going to be buried in snow

You really got some beautiful shots of Festival of the Lion King!!!

Thank you!

"Aisling in the Mist" is a very unique photo!

The Dinosaur ride photo had me cracking up! I love how Randy is paying attention to Aisling and not the ride itself. Great dad

I bet the girls getting drenched felt great!

I love me some Tumble Monkeys!

Kali was a life saver that day....well until we got to FOTLK and then froze from the AC being wet!

Been following you on FB and was sorry to hear all about your health issues!! Glad to hear the stone passed (those are no fun at all)!

Been lurking but wanted to come out of hiding and say I'm really enjoying your TR!!

Loved the AK update!!

Thank you! Hopefully I'll have some answers soon.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Forgot to include the PP pics from our AK day. Here they are

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Unfortunately, the next update does not include a lot of pics....yet

After we left AK, we tried to ignore the darkening skies and headed back to the hotel for my birthday present. See we had never had family pics taken and I really wanted to do them. When you use a dslr and your spouse doesn't know how to use it, you end up in very few pics. So I figured it would be nice to take some while we were at Disney. Jen and Dan had used an amazing photographer so we decided to copy cat them! And I loved the pics they had on the Boardwalk so much, I decided that would be the perfect place for some fun pics.

Unfortunately Hurricane Irene had some other ideas.

At this point we knew the the Hurricane wasn't going to be a direct hit on Florida but we had a little of the wrath this afternoon. As we were driving back to BC, everyone was kinda focused on the hurricane. When all of a sudden, a man sitting directly across from me who was chatting his cell phone starting yelling "WHAT? a WHAT? In Jersey????" The man got off his phone and announced that an earthquake hit the East Coast of the US. And in what should have been an ad for smart phones, within seconds everyone started yelling out the locales of the different places that had experienced the quake. When the bus got back to resort, we called home to make sure our parents were all set. (which they were)

When we got to the room, we had a pretty cool animal waiting

Can you guess what it is?


Now I should tell you that I am useless with doing my hair (hence the braids and ponytails every day). My hair is really thick so it takes just way too long to dry and straighten. So I knew that there was NOOOOO way that I would be doing my own hair for my pics. So I hired a hairdresser. I have to tell you that nothing else feels more luxurious than having a hairdresser come to your hotel room

While I was having my hair done, Randy and Aisling decided to head back to Epcot. They took nothing with them but their park tickets. As it turned out, not the best idea. At some point, I believe they met back up with Erin and Olivia. I was too lost in my own world

My hairdresser was Laine Smart of Beaute Speciale. She was so amazing! For someone who is used to making up celebrities and Disney brides, she was soooo laid back and fun. It took her an hour and a half to do my hair and I enjoyed every second of it.

See my pretty hair???

As I was having my hair done, it was getting darker and darker. And windy. Super windy. It was not looking good for my Boardwalk pics.

At some point the heavens opened and they didn't stop. The news was saying wind gusts up to 60mph! And Randy and Aisling were at Epcot with no ponchos. This is how they came back looking

Needless to say, I had not planned on having to do Aisling's hair but some seriously quick blow-drying was needed

We heard from the photographers and made plans to meet in the drawing rooms at the BC. Not the plan but we still got amazing pics. We had a 2 hour session and literally about 10 minutes before the end, it stopped raining so we ran out on the beach. So no fun Boardwalk shots but we are still happy with what we've seen so far. I actually heard from the photographer that my DVD with the images was being mailed this week. We have gotten about 25 sneak peek pics. Figured I would share some of them with you (for those who haven't spied them on FB)

Invoking the Kennedys

We came upstairs and were all dolled up with literally no place to go. We were just completely exhausted by this point in the trip. So we had a night just hanging out in our room...being lazy reading and watching tv. You know, recharging the batteries

I will end this update with shoutouts to Laine and David & Vicki. Would highly recommend them both if anyone is looking for pics at Disney

http://www.beautespeciale.com/index.html

http://davidandvickiarndtphoto.com/

 

[jessica52877]

Super late to the party! I think I missed the link to the report and kept wondering why you hadn't updated. Now I realize it was for the pre-trip I kept checking. DOH!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Super late to the party! I think I missed the link to the report and kept wondering why you hadn't updated. Now I realize it was for the pre-trip I kept checking. DOH!

Luckily for you I'm writing super slow. Been home for 2 months and only on Day 5!

 

[ronnmel]

Your hair looks great and the pictures turned out beautiful. Too bad it was raining for most of that time.

 

[eecteacher82]

You are correct! We did end up meeting back up with Ash and Randy for a few minutes. Livy wanted one last ride on Soarin' since she was finally tall enough to ride it that trip. We got there and the line was almost 2 hours b/c they only had 1 side running...so we bailed. Not sure how it all happened, but I know there was texting you and Randy involved and we met up with them as they got off Sum of all Thrills (they couldn't do any upside down riding b/c Ash was about 1/4 of an inch too short w/ her crocs on). Since there was nothing else Livy and I wanted to do, and we had parked at BC, we decided to make the wet walk back with Randy and Ash. Livy was once again sad that we had to leave her "new best friend" and go home. We filled our mugs up on the way out and Livy reminded me "how nice Aisling's daddy was because he filled my cup up just right when we were watching the movie on the beach". She still talks about that today!

I know I already told you on FB, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of your pictures! They came out amazing and you all look wonderful!

 

[jessica52877]

Well, I haven't moved in almost two hours, although I did get up to get a snack, twice.

I was excited to see your beach club pictures! I have been inside and around the pool area many times walking by but now that I will actually be staying there I am super excited! Hoping for some pixie dust weather at Christmas as I would really like to check out SAB and not freeze to death!

Beaches N Cream is one of my most favorite places to eat! Loved the group picture! It was really cute of all of you.

You do pack alot! 10 days is along time but wow! The colored suitcase is adorable and probably really easy to find.

Yikes on your wallet issue. So glad they had it!! I thought of you when we went on our last vacation and took a bit more cash then I usually would have. I didn't have an ID once when flying to NYC or home, thank goodness it wasn't an issue, although it was also right before 9/11.

I can't wait to feel the sand!

I can't believe you have ridden the rockets. Dallas usually picks that almost first. I can handle those pretty okay even though they go in circles and I have recently learned to take a dramimine before a park day. Makes life so much better!

I am also surprised you had never seen MSE parade! I think it is really cute but nothing to go gaga over! My favorite float is Elliot! I also love that movie!

Ash's customs are just over the top adorable!! As are Olivia's. I bet they had a great time together. It is always so much more fun with a friend. On that note, don't you want you to take Ash in Jan for a few days? I need a roomie!

Your bus luck has me extremely freaked out about ever using disney transportation. I am not a big fan of it at all, ever!! It was great last January though. The boat line the one night just seems crazy! I can imagine though with no monorail and the # of people the issues!!

I think I would really enjoy the behind the seeds tour. I'll have to look into it. We all love riding through the land. I did Keys to the Kingdom years ago and that was fun. I like most though that I don't really need to have it booked. I hate having plans, much more prefer to go with the flow.

I didn't realize you were relaxed vacations like us! I love to not wake up early but to just wake up and then go. I also LOVE sitting and people watching. I think that literally is my favorite thing to do at Disney.

Wow! The rain! Rain, rain and more rain! Yuck! Glad you guys are good sports about the rain and had ponchos ready to go!

I agree, disney needs to step it up with their kids meal choices for counter service. I end up sharing my meal way more often then I would like which also means I don't get what I would really like alot of the time. Guess it won't be long until Dallas isn't a kid so I won't have that worry, then I'll just be complaining about my 10 yr old adult. Grapes and carrots wouldn't go over well with me either, nor applesauce. Yuck!! And Pecos Bills is one of my biggest annoyances. They don't have a burger on the kids meal!! Atleast the one and only time we went in there they didn't.

I love sci fi and agree with you about CM. The thought is always cute but never quite works out well how I have it in my head. Those characters zoom through that place. We only go if we have free dining. I loved Tusker House and the character interaction, but it was way too early to eat and we had a huge hold up checking in also but there were just so many people and the CM's were not friendly at all. Agree with no $35 picture.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I have been so excited for this update! Your pictures are AMAZING! I LOVE your hair! You guys look absolutely adorable. I can't wait to see more!

P.S. Did you get your shirt at Old Navy? I have a pink and white polka dot one from there that looks just like that!

 

[declansdad]

Great family pictures!


We were waiting for the POFQ boat at DTD when we heard about the earthquake. We checked when we got back to the room saw that it was even felt here, much further up the east coast in Canada.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Your hair looks great and the pictures turned out beautiful. Too bad it was raining for most of that time.

Thank you!!

You are correct! We did end up meeting back up with Ash and Randy for a few minutes. Livy wanted one last ride on Soarin' since she was finally tall enough to ride it that trip. We got there and the line was almost 2 hours b/c they only had 1 side running...so we bailed. Not sure how it all happened, but I know there was texting you and Randy involved and we met up with them as they got off Sum of all Thrills (they couldn't do any upside down riding b/c Ash was about 1/4 of an inch too short w/ her crocs on). Since there was nothing else Livy and I wanted to do, and we had parked at BC, we decided to make the wet walk back with Randy and Ash. Livy was once again sad that we had to leave her "new best friend" and go home. We filled our mugs up on the way out and Livy reminded me "how nice Aisling's daddy was because he filled my cup up just right when we were watching the movie on the beach". She still talks about that today!

I know I already told you on FB, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of your pictures! They came out amazing and you all look wonderful!

Oh Randy...that refillable mug genius

Well, I haven't moved in almost two hours, although I did get up to get a snack, twice.

I was excited to see your beach club pictures! I have been inside and around the pool area many times walking by but now that I will actually be staying there I am super excited! Hoping for some pixie dust weather at Christmas as I would really like to check out SAB and not freeze to death!

Beaches N Cream is one of my most favorite places to eat! Loved the group picture! It was really cute of all of you.

You do pack alot! 10 days is along time but wow! The colored suitcase is adorable and probably really easy to find.

Yikes on your wallet issue. So glad they had it!! I thought of you when we went on our last vacation and took a bit more cash then I usually would have. I didn't have an ID once when flying to NYC or home, thank goodness it wasn't an issue, although it was also right before 9/11.

I can't wait to feel the sand!

I can't believe you have ridden the rockets. Dallas usually picks that almost first. I can handle those pretty okay even though they go in circles and I have recently learned to take a dramimine before a park day. Makes life so much better!

I am also surprised you had never seen MSE parade! I think it is really cute but nothing to go gaga over! My favorite float is Elliot! I also love that movie!

Ash's customs are just over the top adorable!! As are Olivia's. I bet they had a great time together. It is always so much more fun with a friend. On that note, don't you want you to take Ash in Jan for a few days? I need a roomie!

Your bus luck has me extremely freaked out about ever using disney transportation. I am not a big fan of it at all, ever!! It was great last January though. The boat line the one night just seems crazy! I can imagine though with no monorail and the # of people the issues!!

I think I would really enjoy the behind the seeds tour. I'll have to look into it. We all love riding through the land. I did Keys to the Kingdom years ago and that was fun. I like most though that I don't really need to have it booked. I hate having plans, much more prefer to go with the flow.

I didn't realize you were relaxed vacations like us! I love to not wake up early but to just wake up and then go. I also LOVE sitting and people watching. I think that literally is my favorite thing to do at Disney.

Wow! The rain! Rain, rain and more rain! Yuck! Glad you guys are good sports about the rain and had ponchos ready to go!

I agree, disney needs to step it up with their kids meal choices for counter service. I end up sharing my meal way more often then I would like which also means I don't get what I would really like alot of the time. Guess it won't be long until Dallas isn't a kid so I won't have that worry, then I'll just be complaining about my 10 yr old adult. Grapes and carrots wouldn't go over well with me either, nor applesauce. Yuck!! And Pecos Bills is one of my biggest annoyances. They don't have a burger on the kids meal!! Atleast the one and only time we went in there they didn't.

I love sci fi and agree with you about CM. The thought is always cute but never quite works out well how I have it in my head. Those characters zoom through that place. We only go if we have free dining. I loved Tusker House and the character interaction, but it was way too early to eat and we had a huge hold up checking in also but there were just so many people and the CM's were not friendly at all. Agree with no $35 picture.

Please tell me you took notes!!!! Would love to go in January with you. My birthday is in January you know. Start bugging Randy for me

I should have clarified that I'm sure I saw MSE as a child but we hadn't been to Disney since they switched it from Spectro

Agree with you about the "having plans" thing....but more on that later

I have been so excited for this update! Your pictures are AMAZING! I LOVE your hair! You guys look absolutely adorable. I can't wait to see more!

P.S. Did you get your shirt at Old Navy? I have a pink and white polka dot one from there that looks just like that!

Shirt is from Old Navy! The rest of the pics are in but I think I'm going to wait til the end of this to share since I don't want my Christmas card pic leaked

Great family pictures!

We were waiting for the POFQ boat at DTD when we heard about the earthquake. We checked when we got back to the room saw that it was even felt here, much further up the east coast in Canada.

Thank you! Wasn't that the craziest thing about the earthquake???

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Day 6 was a true "vacation day"! After all the running around up til this point, we needed a down day. If you have read my previous TRs, you know my family can't handle a total day of relaxation so we had to schedule a couple of things but for the most part, this was it! Luckily the weather cooperated with our plans!

We started off the day with a late breakfast at Cape May. And like dinner, it did not disappoint. Our waitress was fabulous. As it turned out, she was a huge Boston sports fan. She pointed out where the celebrities sit when they come with their families. She also told as every celebrity she could think of who owned DVC. Oddly, I had never thought of celebrities of owning DVC

With out bellies stuffed, we headed straight out to SAB. Yup, Day 6 and I finally got to feel that weird sand bottom. I was so glad I read Talissa's TR describing it like cat litter because that's exactly what it was like. We spent all morning swimming (or more like Randy and Ash swam and I read my Kindle and took dips to cool off). The best thing about a tropical storm just passing Florida was that this day has a gorgeous breeze and was the perfect day just to sit out.

Now this day was not an example of good parenting. It fact, this day was all about gluttony . We had long planned "lunch" for this day and it included NOTHING of nutritional value (other than maybe calcium)

Being the crazy mother I am, I changed Aisling out of her bathing suit and into her Dessert Party custom for lunch and had her do a little posing

We had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated, which wasn't bad. Really Beaches and Cream is one of the rare TS places where you can seated pretty easily without ADRs

When we got seated, Aisling even pretended to read the menu- like there was any doubt what we were ordering

I got a Diet Cherry Coke for good balance

First the waiter brought over the instruments for the feast

And then the alarms sounded, and the lights starting swirling, and the crowd started yelling "a WHOLE can"....because we were embarking on the......





KITCHEN SINK!

We let Aisling do the honors of scooping out the servings

This is what I ended up with

I have to admit we died out pretty quickly. We didn't come NEAR to finishing that baby. Aisling was so disappointed

The leftovers

I piled it up to hide the shame of our epic fail

And then it was back out to SAB to try and swim off some calories

 

[MaryAz]

I am glad you are feeling better!! Great FOTLK pics!! I also love ur family pics. they did a great jpb!! Hurray for a Kitchen Sink for lunch-awesome!!!

 

[ronnmel]

The Kitchen Sink is a totally suitable lunch when on vacation.

 

[BridgetR3]

The Kitchen Sink is a totally suitable lunch when on vacation.

I want to eat a "kitchen sink" with my family when we go down in June!! And I had to let you know that you have as many days left til your baby comes as we have til vacation!! We are counting down together!