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

[Charleston Princess]

Great Winnie the Poohs!!! Everyone did so well! The drawing class is always a lot of fun!

 

[eandesmom]

WOW--that is definitely something I have to take my dd to in December--it's right up her alley and she usually does not like Hollywood Studios, so this could give her something to like about it.

Great Pooh, by the way!

Amanda! I am surprised you've not done it before, it seems right up your alley too! It was SO much fun and the time just flew by. I can't recommend it enough. She will LOVE it.

Great Winnie the Poohs!!! Everyone did so well! The drawing class is always a lot of fun!

We loved it, can't wait to see who we draw next month! Your trip is SOOOO close Jackie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got all bummed this morning, it occurred to me my Mickey Mail will go to my TA first. WAH! Nice that she will send it all in a tidy package with the universal stuff (which is pretty amusing paperwork if you ask me) but I want it now! I bet it's in the mail......to her!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

sorry that was the best i had

 

[eandesmom]

sorry that was the best i had

Well since you are more familiar with dealing with Pooh (I mean poo) than I am these days....it seems appropriate!



Ok maybe not, Parker could be a potty training prodigy! He could be.

The E's....

were not.

 

[All7OfUs]

Anim is at the top of my list after ToT! I can't wait to try it out!

I think they did a GREAT job on their drawings! Something you'll treasure for a long time!

 

[Happydog]

Very cute pics! Love the Pooh bears! Makes me laugh about the Mickey Mail! It will come. don't worry!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Well since you are more familiar with dealing with Pooh (I mean poo) than I am these days....it seems appropriate!



Ok maybe not, Parker could be a potty training prodigy! He could be.

The E's....

were not.

well he is not potty trained yet, he knows when he is going and tells us, but we are not pushing him, he sits on his potty when he wants, but we go on so many trips during the summer, that we dont want to force it on him and then be out somewhere and not be able to have a potty for him, and get him bad habits or him get upset if he does not make it to a toilet...a little later this summer we have spans were we are not going anywhere for about 3 weeks so we will try harder then...but right now we are gone about every other weekend.

 

[eandesmom]

Anim is at the top of my list after ToT! I can't wait to try it out!

I think they did a GREAT job on their drawings! Something you'll treasure for a long time!

Absolutely! I'd like to frame them but don't really have anywhere to hang them so they are rolled up until I figure it out.

Very cute pics! Love the Pooh bears! Makes me laugh about the Mickey Mail! It will come. don't worry!

I know, I'm just impatient! The package mickey mail seems to go out fairly soon after final payment but the DME tags can be quite a bit later and I don't like the idea of her hanging on to everything to send at once, it makes me nervous. We didn't do DME last time for the bags so it really didn't matter from a bag tag standpoint but we will need those DME vouchers to get on the bus!

well he is not potty trained yet, he knows when he is going and tells us, but we are not pushing him, he sits on his potty when he wants, but we go on so many trips during the summer, that we dont want to force it on him and then be out somewhere and not be able to have a potty for him, and get him bad habits or him get upset if he does not make it to a toilet...a little later this summer we have spans were we are not going anywhere for about 3 weeks so we will try harder then...but right now we are gone about every other weekend.

They will let you know when they are ready.

Well some will. And often #1 and #2 happen on different schedules. Unless you are Eric who required guerrilla style potty training. Parker's on the young side for a boy, you've got lots of time!

 

[All7OfUs]

Absolutely! I'd like to frame them but don't really have anywhere to hang them so they are rolled up until I figure it out.

I was going to urge you to get them framed, you really should!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great pictures!! We really love the drawing class at WDW!

 

[eandesmom]

I was going to urge you to get them framed, you really should!!

And I will....one of these days



I have SO many things I should frame it's pathetic.

Great pictures!! We really love the drawing class at WDW!

It was so much fun, definitely a must do in August!

 

[Angies1274]

Aww...too bad about the F&W Festival. But, I really enjoyed all your pictures of the Animation Academy!! Your Pooh Bear pictures turned out great!! That's one place that we keep missing in Florida! I really need to make it a priority next trip. I know the boys would love it!

 

[eandesmom]

Aww...too bad about the F&W Festival. But, I really enjoyed all your pictures of the Animation Academy!! Your Pooh Bear pictures turned out great!! That's one place that we keep missing in Florida! I really need to make it a priority next trip. I know the boys would love it!

They would love it. I think it's one of those attractions that's easy to skip, tucked away, it will take some time, etc etc etc but it is really worth it. In August, with the heat, it will be a no-brainer! And hopefully we get a different character.

 

[eandesmom]

So I’ve been saving up this update, really trying to get through the DCA trip now that August is literally around the corner! Obviously I am not done with the DCA TR but I figured if I waited on this, well, heavens only knows how long it will be!

We are officially fully paid for the Universal Part of our trip, which is pretty darn exciting! Less than thrilled with the travel docs. I am supposed to PRINT AND CARRY them with me at all times. (like why, will I be stopped by the Universal Vacation police?) and the ticket redemption sounds like a pita, (kiosk, cc used to pay, blah blah blah). Sigh.

And I’ve mostly paid for the Disney part. I added the DDP to the WL ressie and will upgrade our tickets in early august before we leave. Then the only other add on left to do is adding the DDP to the YC ressie. So at a minimum right now we have food for 3 days and 2 days of single park tickets and a small grocery order.

And a roof over our heads.

It’s been a busy time, but very very fun! The holiday weekend does provide for some down time. Which did allow for….

Shopping!

First up, a lot of pins for trading. I plan to give these out at breakfast on our first morning. Wicked fast shipping, I ordered 7/2, they arrived 7/6!
I only got 24, after looking at them I made some executive decisions. 4 for me, 6 for the E’s and K and 2 for whomever. I don’t expect that f Jeff and T want to play but we can redistribute if we want to. Truthfully there weren’t any they’d like whereas for everyone else, there was (hence the 4 I flat out took). I suppose I should run the idea by Jeff and possibly order more if he thinks I should. Not giving my 4 back though. There were some good ones in my lot! They’ve never been given any with the express purpose of trading away and I know they will be excited about it.

Next. New sandals for the E’s.

Both of them need a decent walking sandal. Evan’s got rubber flip flops and crocs and his crocs chafe him for extended walking. I don’t think he’s even going to bring them. Eric has crocs and some old Tevas. While he doesn’t seem to mind the crocs, a true summer sandal would ensure we had backup if they bug him. Not to mention the fact that he lost a croc in the river last summer at our cabin and is a little traumatized. He likes to wear his shoes in the pool and doesn’t trust his crocs anymore.

He told me “my sandals fit!” So I made him try them on. “Look, they fit!”.
His toes were completely hanging off the edge of the shoe! They were a size youth 13…he’s up to a childs size 3 now. Uh no honey, those really don’t fit!

It’s sad. I used to be able to zero in on things for both of them and not even show them what I’d picked and they’d be fine. So Evan would have gotten some Teva Mushies and Eric another pair of Teva Hurricanes. But no….instead we had to have huge debates about why a white puma rubber slide is NOT a good idea for hours of park walking. No matter how cool they look. The end result was some cool looking plaid reef flip flops for Evan that seem to actually have a little arch support

and a timberland river sandal for Eric.

The Reef’s are impressive. I may try to talk K&T into a pair if they don’t show up with something appropriate though T appears to have a decent pair, it’s K I worry about. An amazing band that looks incredibly soft and non chafing and the footbed is actually contured and truly does have some arch support. I’m less thrilled with the Timblerands, they look loose in the heel to me but Eric assures me they fit perfect. OMG do they look huge compared to those oh-to-small size 13’s!

Can I just say how much I love Zappos? I ordered these on the 4th. They arrived the 6th! Summer has finally arrived. We are not sure how long it will last but it is supposed to hit 87 today. Which, for Seattle is hot and bearing in mind I think we’ve had ONE day break 75, we will hear whiners. The boys kept asking all day on the 5th if their sandals would arrive on the 6th so they’d have them for the 7th and I kept saying that no, that wasn’t possible since yesterday was a holiday. Guess it wasn’t for UPS? Who knows. I love my automatic upgrades on the shipping! The funniest part was that I actually worked from home the afternoon of the 6th. The UPS truck arrived and the boys were cheering in the street. I’ve never seen a box opened so fast and shoes ripped out and put on.

I felt bad though, apparently I must get upgraded because I’m a regular customer, I directed my mom there for some shoes for the wedding, assuming she too would get upgraded on the shipping after she placed the order. No such luck and her shoes arrived AFTER the wedding.

New clothes for Eric. Sadly (for me!) the boys are now the same size. That means no more hand me downs. It also means I must wrest away many too small things from Eric. He’s lanky and shirts that are too short really bug me! Pants are worse but I refuse to buy any until Sept. I scored at The Childrens Place for him, with a coupon code I got 3 pairs of shorts and 5 shirts for $50! Evan’s getting a big fat nothing in the clothes department, he looted out at his birthday.

Swimwear. Eric is my burn boy. He burns if you look at him. He does have 2 swim trunks and rash guard shirts which he is required to wear, along with a hat. I did get him one more set to be safe, we will be in the pool a lot! I did order both boys a ton of new socks so we won’t worry about holes causing their own set of issues!

Kendall and I saw Eclipse on the 3rd and spent a little time walking the mall and getting birthday gift ideas. She got a darling new top for the trip and I’ll probably pick her up a cute skirt and some sunglasses to round out her gift. They won’t be the sunglasses of her dreams but….too bad. Not spending that kind of money on them at her age and with her track record. She is of course getting the pink tink tote bag as well. I am concerned about her footwear choices but will try to deal with that later. Teens are not cool about the comfort over fashion! On the flip side, no sense in buying something they will not wear.

Considering just bringing my Teva mushies under the assumption she will end up wearing them. She did see some cute pink sperry topsiders that would also be cute with the outfit, just not sure how great they’d be for extended walking. I have visions of blisters for the teens.

But thinking about her bday gift, and the pink tink, made me think, Sandie needed one too! Her birthday is actually in 2 weeks, before K’s. I found a really cool teal one on ebay and ordered it for Sandie. It may not make it here in time but we decided better late than not at all! It’s really cute. I am mildly annoyed, I ordered it on the 2nd via ebay an didn't hear from the seller until late last night but at least it is on its way. I think I’m spoiled with ebay turnaround time and it was a holiday weekend but….annoyed. I’m just wanting to turn it around (wrapped) and get to Denver on time!

I confess, I've been using my small green Tink the last week or so to get a feel for it, it's so cute! I may break out the tote today to head to the lake, it's supposed to hit 90 here so we will be dining at the lake for sure! I do have some park bag thoughts that I'll share on the DCA mini TR. We debated about giving Sandie the pink one and K the teal but have elected to leave it alone. Plus the skirt I want to get K looks adorable with the pink tink.

Taylor? Nothing planned. I think Jeff is worried he will wear jeans and a hoodie in the August heat. More likely it will be funky skinny jean manpris and a tank top. It’s an interesting look to say the least. But at almost 18, he can dress himself. I think he’s channeling his inner Surf Beatle. That’s the look. Beatnik hair, skinny capri’s, espadrilles and a tank top. Hmmn.

I am going to put Jeff on point here soon to make sure T has what he needs. He did just come back from a week at Lake Shasta where it was in the 90’s so we think he will just bring whatever he took there.

I did break down and order myself one more sleeveless top but I am cutting myself off after that!

I think. Still not remotely thrilled with my shorts situation but am throwing in the towel.

Jeff and Paul are getting….

Nothing. They might go fly on the 19th, that’s their gift.

I am not planning on making shirts. Maybe it’s just me, my printer or the transfer paper I use (my printer will only “take” one kind without jamming) but they just don’t hold up past one wash without looking pretty beat up. I could do something through zazzle but just don’t want to spend the $$ not to mention they can't print anything licensed anyway. I just don't see my crew wearing matchy matchy, not our style so no sense spending the money so instead I'm putting it into the souvie budget.

I did place my garden grocer order, and paid for it, nice to have that out of the way. We are having it delivered to the YC. During the WL portion we have 2 OOP meals scheduled so will have plenty of CS credits to use and I don’t see the need for the “extras” there.

Here is what we ended up with.

• 
  [*]Dole 100% Orange Peach Mango Juice 64oz CTN 1 $3.59
  [*]Newman's Own All Natural Salsa Chunky Medium 16oz. Jar 1 $2.99
  [*]Newman's Own All Natural Tequila Lime Salsa Chunky Mild 16oz. Jar 1 $2.99
  [*]Apples Pink Lady or Honey Crisp $1.19 EA 12 $14.28
  [*]Garden of Eatin' Blue Corn Tortilla Chips 9oz. Bag 1 $4.19
  [*]Tostitos Tortilla Chips Restaurant Style with Lime 13.5oz. Bag 1 $4.19
  [*]Land O Lakes Ultra-Pasturized Half and Half Fat Free 32oz. 1 $3.29
  [*]White House Premium 100% Fresh Pressed Apple Juice w/Calcium 64oz. BTL 1 $3.29
  [*]Florida's Natural Premium Orange Juice with Calcium Pulp Free 64oz. CTN 1 $4.29
  [*]Club Store Brand Purified Water 32PK of 16.9oz. BTLS 1 $6.99
  [*]Dannon Light and Fit Yogurt 4EA Strawberry Blueberry Raspberry 4oz EA 1 $6.59
  [*]Bananas Green Turning 10 LBS 1 $8.99
  

​

Subtotal $65.67, Delivery $12.00, Gratuity $5.00, Sales Tax $3.81, Balance Due $86.48​

So basically some breakfast items to get people out the door quickly in the am and cut down OOP costs (we will mostly use our CS credits for lunch) and juice so they don't live on just pop, balcony snacks for the afternoons and some water. I decided against milk as I was worried about fridge space and there are 12 yogurts so we should be ok. With the refillable mugs I may be able to make them have milk with dinner. We will see. It is vacation!

I also added (per Jeff’s request!) 2 six packs of beer and one bottle of wine which they pick up close to the date and then call you with the additional amount. I decided today to forgo the towncar in favor of mears as with all our legs it saves over $100. A stop at the grocery story just wasn’t worth it. So…not sure if this is enough but at present, don’t plan to bump it up. The HRC rooms do not have a fridge.

I plan to pack rum and coffee. I belive there are in room brewers in both rooms so I shouldn't need sugar (for Jeff) right?

I am having a big internal debate between all Bacardi Gold or smaller bottles with one BG for Jeff and one of Parrot Cay Coconut Rum for me (which is SO yummy with coke! If I can find a big one that's plastic, I'll do that but last time I was at the store every brand and size was glass. Can you say BUBBLE WRAP?

Priorities you know! We will buy the refillable mugs at WL. Though I suppose we should wait till after breakfast.

On that note, does anyone know if Ice Tea is an option for refills? Or if they have lemonade at the soda bar?

I do need to pre-order the Photopass CD but will wait on that until we get a little closer. I also have to decide if we are going to schedule a resort photo session. I think we are and if so, will do it at WL with just the 6 of us. I could just wait and decide there…not sure. I’ll call at 30 days to see what they say and confirm what you really get and the pricing. Hearing some nice things about spontaneous photos at the BC with the PP guy…non scheduled so winging it IS an option but…on the flip side…photos of the 6 of us are few and far between.

As in we have 3. Total. Ever. (that are decent). One from the Hoop De Doo, one from AK in front of the TOL and our wedding. That's it!

But, it’s a $75 session fee for 30 minutes with a possibly non-professional photographer.
Hmmn.

Non shopping related I’ve done a few things.

Figured out where to get a car from, should Jeff decide to fly while we are there. Hopefully he will make up his mind soon or we will not be able to get a car! Very excited to find out Hertz has a counter AT the Hard Rock. That made that one easy peasy.

Put in room requests. For the YC I have requested Garden or Quiet pool view (aka no parking lot) and at WL we upgraded to woods view to make sure we aren’t looking at the parking lot. For the WL location request I have asked for the Northside building, view of Otter Pond, floors 1-5. We will see if being that specific helps or hurts!

I am going to do online check-in for WL. Not sure about YC yet as I’m concerned about the connecting situation with 2 separate ressies. Leaning towards online. We won't be able to check in for Sandie's room, only ours. Worried they will get assigned a king which would be a bit of a disaster. Thinking if we do online and I head over early to check in for us, if they don't have the set up we've asked for, there might be time to wait for one later in the day? What we want for both ressies is connecting. At the YC we want the 2 queen daybed rooms and not all of them have the daybeds (though most it sounds like). If they get a king with a daybed we'd have to get a rollaway. Which would be livable but I want time to have it organized before they get in and really hope they can at least confirm the room type on the 2nd room even if we can't check in for them.

Other than the car, and adding DDP to YC, upgrading our tickets I think the only main thing left to book is the shuttle to take us to Universal and then from HRH to the airport. I want to book it soon so we don’t have any issues. I'm sure we won't but one more thing to cross of the list!

I spent part of the 4th sorting through our toiletries and such to determine what I still need to go get and it doesn’t appear that I have that long of a list! I am glad I did it, I realized I will need more of my medicated eye drops, went to order them online and realized that the online rx had expired. That process seems to take about a month so I’m really glad I did it and can get that started.

On my list to buy is:

Special sunscreen for Eric.

I have to be really picky about what I use on him (or he turns bright red from the sunscreen itself) and am not thrilled with the recent info I’ve seen on what we’ve been using. I did get him a new one for home but it well could be gone by the time we leave.

Travel sized sunscreen.

I found some "single serve" packs here that I like and will probably get for Eric burn triage to keep in the bag (the bottles get heavy so don't want to lug 3 kinds around) and then a travel sized one here. I can find what I want in big bottles locally, it's the travel sizes that are the problem and we do plan to do DME for half of our bags (carrying on the other half to keep checking costs down) so we will need soemthing to get us through the first part of the day until rooms ready and bags arrive.

I do plan to check out the Target travel aisle and Dollar Tree before I go crazy but I don't expect, on the sunscreen, they will have the brands I want.

Other things.

• More ponchos.
• Glowsticks/rings
• Laundry detergent and softener. I’ve got enough for 2 loads, need to double that I think.
• Toothpaste
• Advil cold and sinus
• Hairspray
• Facewash for the teens (and tween! Time for Evan to start)
• Blister bandaids

A funny note on first aid. Eric had a scouting project a couple of weeks ago where he needed to “make” a first aid kit. We raided 4 different kits to compile MOST of what he needed, but it was still missing things! It inspired me to beef up my travel kit a skosh.

I might just try to fill up our travel containers with sunscreen for day 1 and so I have a double supply of my shampoo and conditioner without bringing the giant bottles. I will also need to load up Kendalls shampoo and conditioner. However I'm not sure I have that many or how well sunscreen would transition to those bottles and then come back out!

I figure the guys can use what is provided in each room! They each have a few personal products they will bring but that's their problem to remember.

So….not too bad!

In 3-4 weeks I will start packing! I should have everything together, all the orders from the weekend arriving in time to do that. I have actually made “my” pack list, now I just need to get it all out and whittle it down so I don’t overpack.

Even though I probably will.

I do have 11 pairs of shoes on the list. I may have had poor luck in the shorts department but I’m doing quite well in the shoe area!

It is a long trip after all! And besides, none of them are "just" for the trip!

Although I will say…in CA I did wear all but one pair that I brought. Which was 9 I think? Not bad for a 5 day trip and nary a blister. And hey, the ratio of trip days to pairs of shoes is MUCH better. I will try to cut it down.

I can’t imagine needing pants/jeans or a jacket but….should I make everyone bring one just in case?

A quick update on the online glasses order.

Overall I would have to see it’s a good way to go for cheap, backup glasses. We ordered from 2 sites. Jeff got all progressives, a nice sunglass and 2 regular pairs for around the house. He went for the cheapest lens type and well, it shows. They are kind of thick lenses for what he really needs but he’s happy with them and that’s all that matters. He got nicer ones on the sunglasses and those turned out really well.

I got 2 pairs and had a far more mixed experience. The first pair was fine. I don’t love them, I don’t hate them, they are good cheap pool sunglasses that are progressives, which is cool. I am happy with the quality of the RX. Sadly, I messed up on the other 2 pairs and entered my RX wrong! It was definitely my error. I got 50% back and elected not to reorder. They were very cute. Not earth shattering designer but cute cheap glasses and the lenses seemed good. I have decided I’m picky enough that I can’t be truly happy with cheap ones, too spoiled with the quality glasses I have. I could try upgrading the lens and still save a fortune but I’m a little gun shy. Jeff is new to glasses so it’s just not an issue for him at all. Of the 2 sites one had a better return policy and much faster shipping but overall I was pleased with what we got for what we spent.

WHEW!

Which brings me to…touring plans! And budgets. But I’ll have to save that for the next update. This is crazy long already!

But I will leave you with this. In 30 days I will have checked in to both resorts already online and I'll be packing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

up next, any better?

 

[glennbo123]

Wow, big update! I had to laugh at those expensive apples on your Garden Grocer order. They'll never lower the price if people like you, and my wife, keep ordering them!

At Kidani you could get iced tea at the refill stations, but I think it varies depending upon the resort.

Overall, it's great to see your plans coming together!

 

[All7OfUs]

WOW!! Super huge update! I'll be back in the morning to catch up on it all!

 

[eandesmom]

Wow, big update! I had to laugh at those expensive apples on your Garden Grocer order. They'll never lower the price if people like you, and my wife, keep ordering them!

So very very true. I thought of you as I ordered them. We will see if they taste as extra delicious this time as they did last. I admit last year, while eating them I recall thinking "this was worth the inflated price"

At Kidani you could get iced tea at the refill stations, but I think it varies depending upon the resort.

Overall, it's great to see your plans coming together!

Oh that's exciting news! For me.

Now I need to find out if that's true at Roaring Forks and the CS options at YC/BC. I'm a little unclear as to how many there are. I know Ale & Compass does a Continental breakfast but not sure if you can refill there after breakfast, otherwise we would have to go to Hurricane Hannahs. I know you can refill at Beach Club Marketplace. I better figure this out!

WOW!! Super huge update! I'll be back in the morning to catch up on it all!

I know, it was a little out of control! I've been BUSY!

 

[jenjolt]

WOW what an update!! Good for you getting so much done!!!

I'm a lot like your son, I just have to think about the sun and I burn!! Thankfully as I have gotten older I don't have to have the special sunscreens anymore but still anytime at Disney I apply apply apply!!!

Love the sandal talk! I know I want to find a good deal (maybe I should look at Zappos) and try to get a few more pairs of sandals! Love the Teva Mush and found a pair of Crocs I want!!!

Looking forward to budget and planning talk!!

 

[eandesmom]

WOW what an update!! Good for you getting so much done!!!

Still plenty to do, good thing I have a month as I seem to think of things daily!

I'm a lot like your son, I just have to think about the sun and I burn!! Thankfully as I have gotten older I don't have to have the special sunscreens anymore but still anytime at Disney I apply apply apply!!!

He's high maintenance. At least he is now becoming hyper aware and taking some responsibility. Unlike Evan who is convinced he will never burn.

So he burned his back a little yesterday as he was on the slip and slide for about 4 hours and never re-applied.

Put him right back in the swim shirt penalty uncool box he was trying to break out of!



Thankfully it's a pretty minor burn, in fact it may well be completely faded today, I haven't checked.

Love the sandal talk! I know I want to find a good deal (maybe I should look at Zappos) and try to get a few more pairs of sandals! Love the Teva Mush and found a pair of Crocs I want!!!

I love my mushies though for long periods of walking I'm not sure they'd be the best. Comfy but zero arch support. I have a pair of privo sandals and my earth shoe sandals that I love for long walking trips. Not sure they were a deal though.

Zappos can have some great deals for sure and you have to love fast shipping and free returns.
Looking forward to budget and planning talk!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Super long update! I love it!!! Sounds like you have been a very busy bee getting everything squared away for the August trip! You are so right -- it will be here before you know it -- our trip is sneaking up on us very quickly!