Life’s too short...to never sleep in a treehouse! 8/27 TR is up! Link in siggie

[MEK]

We did have a tournament! Actually two, one for volleyball (last of the season) and one for soccer (first of the season and with the new club and team). Happy to report that her new soccer team won the tournament and she played better than we've seen in a really long time (like 4 years according to Jeff lol....which is an exaggeration but not much). 6 assists! She is getting a ton of playing time and it's clear she hadn't been, she's got to get her endurance up! The parents seem cool and a lot less intense/psycho than the old team. Funny, in the finals they played against the B team from her old club and her old coach showed up in the 2nd half to watch. She poured it on. Such a difference when she feels like someone truly believes in her. A number of her old teammates came to some of the games to watch even though they weren't in this tournament, which was pretty cool too. I am so proud of her for making the choice to do what was right for her even though it meant leaving some best friends.

That is great news! So glad she likes this new team and that they are off to such a great start! Sometimes a change like that can do wonders. Plus getting rid of intense psycho parents is HUGE! I hate that! I hope she has a great summer season! It should definitely help boost her confidence going into high school!

 

[Flossbolna]

yep! 4 surprises so far.

Kids....water park and more!
Kendall...GF Tea
Jeff and Kids....illuminations cruise and cape may character bfast

Now I want to know what you are planning!

Oh I love it that Kendall gets the GF tea as a surprise! Our tea was really wonderful and I can see that becoming a must do on every trip for me!

 

[Zarabear]

I'm just settling into the Dis, and I'm really enjoying your report! The pics of the Queen Mary really excited me, we are heading down in... (wow! Less than a month to go!!!) Staying for two nights on the Queen Mary, then a 7 day Carnival cruise... and ending our vacation with two nights at the Grand Californian and my second Disneyland trip this year!!

I am going to have to start a pre-trip report soon if I can work up the courage.

Can't wait to keep reading!

~Zara

 

[eandesmom]

Great update! I'm glad you got to spend some time with Jordan! Looks like you had a nice (albeit short) visit.

We did! Wish it was longer and the kids were less squirrelly but it was great to finally "meet" him!

That is great news! So glad she likes this new team and that they are off to such a great start! Sometimes a change like that can do wonders. Plus getting rid of intense psycho parents is HUGE! I hate that! I hope she has a great summer season! It should definitely help boost her confidence going into high school!

I hope so, it was like watching a different kid at times. Early to say of course but so far the parents seem great. A lot to be said for being a top team at a slightly lower level....people are there to be less intense (I think) and I think it's going to be really good for her. Shocked that Kelli went for it but it is putting K first which is what counts. Her new coach is awesome! First female coach. Not sure if that's it or what but...a good fit.

Oh I love it that Kendall gets the GF tea as a surprise! Our tea was really wonderful and I can see that becoming a must do on every trip for me!

I am so looking forward to it! An excuse to wear pretty dresses and ditch the boys!

 

[All7OfUs]

Oh, I forgot you were planning any surprises for this trip, too! I've got one in the works myself, but I haven't mentioned it (I don't think) on my ptr. I'm saving it. You know, so I don't run out of things to talk about before September.

A true PTR strategist. Go, Girl!! Don't be embarrassed; planning a PTR is an art!

 

[eandesmom]

I'm just settling into the Dis, and I'm really enjoying your report! The pics of the Queen Mary really excited me, we are heading down in... (wow! Less than a month to go!!!) Staying for two nights on the Queen Mary, then a 7 day Carnival cruise... and ending our vacation with two nights at the Grand Californian and my second Disneyland trip this year!!

I am going to have to start a pre-trip report soon if I can work up the courage.

Can't wait to keep reading!

~Zara

Hi Zara and I'm thrilled to have you here! I'm behind on updating my links so thanks for jumping right in.

Your trip sounds wonderful! The QM would be very fun to stay on I think, I'll be interested to read what you think of it. GC, that's wonderful! It's such a gorgeous hotel. We walked through it quite a bit later in our trip although I'm not sure I got much in the way of pics. Is that where you stayed on your previous DLR trip?

I really want to do the Disney Cruise next year when it starts doing the west coast cruises and do the Mexico one, either ending or starting the trip at DL but we will see. Not in the budget right now but a lot can change in a short time so never say never.

 

[eandesmom]

A true PTR strategist. Go, Girl!! Don't be embarrassed; planning a PTR is an art!

So very very true....I should plan more! I'm happy to keep my head above water these days

 

[All7OfUs]

So very very true....I should plan more! I'm happy to keep my head above water these days

And now I think I've really sunk myself- any suggestions for Pt. 3 of mine?? Starting a new one is a crapload of work!

 

[eandesmom]

And now I think I've really sunk myself- any suggestions for Pt. 3 of mine?? Starting a new one is a crapload of work!

Why yes, yes you have, oh master of clever chapter titles and daily updates!

pt 3....you are in Jordan's league!

I think you need to throw it out there again for suggestions, too much pressure alone if you ask me.

Although I might suggest something along the lines of

No we won't have bananas...we won't have bananas today!

Or at least Liesa won't. Mary might. What will LeeAnn do?



too long.

 

[All7OfUs]

Why yes, yes you have, oh master of clever chapter titles and daily updates!

pt 3....you are in Jordan's league!

I think you need to throw it out there again for suggestions, too much pressure alone if you ask me.

Although I might suggest something along the lines of

No we won't have bananas...we won't have bananas today!

Or at least Liesa won't. Mary might. What will LeeAnn do?




too long.

That's funny!!!

I was thinking "Stranger Things Have Happened..." But it'd be fun to keep the Invasion bit in there too somehow. GACK!!! The pressure!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

He's not too young for brunch!

Very frustrated and felt terrible, we were making him eat late too! You got to meet him just before I did, he had a busy DIS meet week!

Good point about the brunch. I may have to consider that next time...

Yes, I think I met him a week before. It is such a great experience to meet people that you feel like you already know. And Jordan makes it easy... it felt like we were old friends. I still wish that our trips (yours & mine) would have overlapped. It would have been fun to meet too!!

 

[eandesmom]

That's funny!!!

I was thinking "Stranger Things Have Happened..." But it'd be fun to keep the Invasion bit in there too somehow. GACK!!! The pressure!

Definitely need Strange(r) in there.

A bunch of strange bananas?

Good point about the brunch. I may have to consider that next time...

Yes, I think I met him a week before. It is such a great experience to meet people that you feel like you already know. And Jordan makes it easy... it felt like we were old friends. I still wish that our trips (yours & mine) would have overlapped. It would have been fun to meet too!!

If you do the brunch you can stroll around the public parts of the boat for free, it's rather lovely! I wish our trips would have overlapped too, sooo close! I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up with a short DL trip next year, so it could happen again and maybe we will overlap.

We have to see the world of color after all, although I think Jeff would rather wait until Cars land is done.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Holy Moly! I'm not sure I can possibly catchup but I at least have to go back and read about your trip to CA!

 

[eandesmom]

Holy Moly! I'm not sure I can possibly catchup but I at least have to go back and read about your trip to CA!

I just updated all the links so it should be easier I hope, sorry I was so behind on that! Lame.

 

[eandesmom]

Now that we’ve made some dining decisions I decided it was time to firm up the budget. You know you are obsessed when it hits you in the middle of the night, or while driving a kid to one event or another that maybe you forgot to line item tips, or a specific out of pocket meal and you know darn well you don’t have a contingency budget planned!

Of course I decided to do this AFTER I’d done some payday shopping. I have found my own personal danger zone. Not that I don’t have plenty when it comes to shopping but this could be a big problem area for me.

Check it out.

Online RX glasses and sunglasses.

For those of you who wear them, they are frightfully expensive, even with insurance. I really need (ok yeah, need is relative, whatever) a pair of RX sunglasses that have the progressive lenses. I am finding I have issues with the ones that I have with my phone, I read “under” the lens or get a bit of a headache. So I’ve been looking. And having heart attacks over the pricing. I explored changing lenses in a very nice prada pair I have to being RX. Wasn’t any cheaper than buying from scratch.

At the grocery store while Sandie was here, one of the cashiers was going on and on about this online site. And how she could buy 6 pairs for the price of one. So I decided to check it out.

So we bit the bullet. Between 2 websites, Jeff and I each ordered 3 pairs of glasses. All sun for me and 1 sun, 2 regular for him. All progressives. Combined, on all 6, we spent less than I just did on those purple frames I just got.

We shall see how they turn out, I’m excited, and nervous but figured it was absolutely worth a shot! I’ve done a lot of other shopping for FL as well. Last weekend I snuck away on Memorial day to shop for myself and take care of things without kids in tow. Of course I “had” to get my sisters wedding present and so it just made sense to do it all at once as the stores I wanted to go to (JCrew, Anthropologie and Crate & Barrel) are a bit out of the way, including where I wanted to get her gift from. It was a little painful but I did walk away with 2 pairs of shorts and 2 tops. I have 2 other pairs of shorts on order as well as a couple more tops, some more basic tees, one dress and some Haviana’s that I got a good deal on (and 3 other pairs of sandals/wedges I really don’t need). Add the sunglasses in and I think I am done! I really wanted some more dresses and skirts but just haven’t found anything that truly called to me. Of course the options are limited when you stick to the sale racks! Still, I am super happy with what I got and if the rain ever stops, I’ll get to wear it all soon! I would like another park bag but we will see, I may not have the energy to think about it. Next month I’ll deal with figuring out what supplies we need, I think we have most of it, but not all.

I need to stay away from ideeli, it’s been getting me in trouble! So hard to pass up some of the deals though and I’ve been quite pleased with almost everything I’ve ordered.

As far as the kids go, I think I need to get new sandals for the boys and hopefully that is it. However Eric has caught up and they are officially the same size now. Which means no more hand me downs! So I may have to bit the bullet on some clothes for him, I need to do another purge. He has a tendency to hoard things that are too short (t’s) or too tight (shorts). Thankfully, Evan the clothes horse, is going to loot out this weekend and next for his birthday in the summer clothes category so he will be good.

Here’s my budget so far, I know I don’t have any contingency built in but the reality is, we can’t afford one! Hopefully I’ve over estimated in these areas or at least have captured everything. Extra’s like spa or searay or whatever just aren’t in the budget and frankly, the trip is so over the top already I can’t imagine adding them in. To me the water park tickets uses up that “extra” fund, not to mention the cruise. Trips for 6 are wayyyyyy too expensive is all I know. The sad thing is this is after rooms, flights, park tickets and DDP for 5!

Tips $300.00
Raglan Road OOP dinner $170.00
Cape May OOP breakfast $160.00
Garden View Tea for 2 $50.00
Evan OOP food (he’s not on the DDP) $250.00
Souvies $450.00
Car for one day $50.00 (If Jeff flies while he is there)
Universal Dining (4 days) $1,000.00
Town Car to Universal/MCO $150.00 (really a 3 leg trip as it's 2 different trips to MCO
Garden Grocer $80.00
Drinks $330.00
Illuminations Cruise $175.00 (Sandie is splitting the cost, don't get excited, that's only half of the price)​

I know I didn’t list the total. It’s too depressing. Flying costs are Jeff's deal, not part of the trip budget, I don't want to know what that costs.

But what isn't depressing is...

I PAID OFF THE BALANCE!

Ok that's not entirely true. We have paid off our POP and YC reservations in full. Which include 1 day tickets on each and one day of QSP. So still a lot to pay for but I'm trying to spread out the pain. Full balance on Universal is due 7/5 and then we will add the DDP and upgrade our tickets around 8/1 but the good news is that we could, leave today and have flights and all our lodging covered and just deal with the rest of it there if we had to!

In the meantime it is nice seeing those 2 reservations with zero balances....

I’m freaking out a little bit about crowd levels. Even with the re-do of the numbering system we are looking at 7’s, 8’s and one NINE!

BLEH.

The only positive I can possibly see out of that is that they add another F! We won’t see it unless they do so fingers crossed.

I need to get back to my binder and finish it up and there are not enough hours in the day anymore. I’m guessing I can’t really even look at it until after the wedding, it’s just too busy with birthdays and baseball between now and then.

I've also been checking out the early scuttlebutt on WWOHP. Official opening day is a few weeks off but I'm liking the early reports! A bit of drama over who can and can't fit onto the Forbidden Journey ride but I think it's too early to weigh in on that (No pun intended, truly), whether it's truly an issue and for how many. Sounds as if it's more of an overall build issue than height or weight per-se but some pretty mixed information and early overreactions. Until it really opens and we see some official data and lots of reports I'm reserving judgment. Thankfully it won't impact us but I do get why people might be upset. Check out this description of the ride!

"The ride itself is flat out amazing. It's pretty much incomparable to anything you've ever seen. The best way to describe it is a mix of Spiderman and Soarin Over California with a little Haunted Mansion on Steroids thrown in."
​

I am SOOOOO in!
I did however mock up my garden grocer order and thought I’d share that. This will be delivered to the YC on our first day there. I figure anything else we can get on the day Jeff has a car or suck it up.

That's it for FL updates for now, next up, DCA day 3!

 

[winkers]

my brain and fingers aren't communicating well, but I just wanted to pop in and say hi!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Oh, I hear you about the depressing budget numbers. I am so tired of trying to figure it all out.

I just bought new glasses for Chelsea and Connor and even with the insurance, my heart stopped briefly when she told me the total. I will be waiting to hear what you think of the online site you found. If you like the glasses, I will be remembering it for next year, for sure!

I also can't wait to hear your impressions of Harry Potter -- that is on the radar for us for a later trip!

 

[eandesmom]

my brain and fingers aren't communicating well, but I just wanted to pop in and say hi!

Drugs will do that!

Hi Spoon Sister! I hope you escape the dreaded toe torture machine this go round, thinking of you!

Oh, I hear you about the depressing budget numbers. I am so tired of trying to figure it all out.

I just bought new glasses for Chelsea and Connor and even with the insurance, my heart stopped briefly when she told me the total. I will be waiting to hear what you think of the online site you found. If you like the glasses, I will be remembering it for next year, for sure!

I also can't wait to hear your impressions of Harry Potter -- that is on the radar for us for a later trip!

I'm totally scared about the glasses but also excited. One will be here next week, the rest the week after I think. They aren't designer frames of course but for the price I could lose them and not cry. We ordered 6 pairs for under $300 and all of them are progressives which is a significant add on cost. It would have cost half as much if they were all single vision. I will get another pair of regular ones if they work out. Biggest fear of course is how they will look/fit on our faces....

It's been hard for me to transition to all glasses, no contacts. You get used to looking at your face a certain way, you know? And I had a serious sunglasses collection, all of which are pretty much useless now. So basically I'm replacing them with cheap, fun RX versions. Assuming they work....

Our old insurance was so much better, now it's almost like what's the point. I'm hoping Eric doesn't need new ones, his appointment is in 2 weeks.

Budgets suck. I'd love to have one trip in my life where I didn't add as I went. DDP helps with that but even so it's just mind boggling how much it all costs, even with discounts, coupons and really trying to be on top of it.

 

[Flossbolna]

I can understand how your budget hurts: 330 $ for drinks!

On the crowd calendar issue: I recently read something about it - I thought on the touringplans website, but I can't find it there. It was liek this: The new crowd level is the overall WDW level. So if you follow there recommendation for the best parks, this park will have a lower crowd level feel than the overall number. The example was: One day the crowd level for WDW is 6 and MK is the park to avoid, which would perhaps mean that MK has a level of 8. But another day WDW overall has a level of 8, but MK is the park to go to, so this means MK has a level of 6. So in the end, you still have MK emptier on a day with the higher crowd level. I hope this makes sense!

 

[glennbo123]

If you knock those apples out of the GG order, you'll have enough money for "contingency". At least things are coming together.

I'd be interested to hear what website you used for your glasses order. I have Rx sunglasses (fortunately don't need progressive lenses though), but I got them a couple of years ago when I had some money left in my medical spending account at the end of the year and had to use it up. I think I'll stick with them for a while longer, but I'll probably need new regular glasses soon.