"Look at those Chompers!!" A January 2010 AKL DxDP TR...FINAL Update: 6/12 Day 8!

[SoonerGirl]

Holy cow!! Come watch it with me. We'll yell back and forth and boo and generally talk trash about the opposing team we hate so much to simulate what it really feels like to be there, then pool our resources and head to Disney instead!

I've never been. I know I know, some fan I am. But I'm doing good to get to a local home game.

This year just won't be the same without Colt or Sam.

This is a little known fact among my friends, but I was actually born in Austin. Haven't been back there since I was in the 3rd grade - might be kinda fun to visit!

It really is a fun game to go to, but the price has gotten way out of hand, as have tickets in general. We thought seriously about giving up our season tickets this year (we've had them longer than we've had kids!), but decided not too because the waiting list to purchase them is so long we may never get them back. We might just sell them this season though.....

It will be strange not seeing those two suited up on the sidelines!

 

[stayhomemom77]

As a matter of fact I DO have a TR started. Check out my handy dandy signature for details.

What's a WISH thread?? Love to join (I think!!) as I assume it has something to do with weight loss??

GOOD LUCK, GOOD LUCK, GOOD LUCK!! The idea of trick or treating at MK...too cool!! I'm jealous once more!!

I checked out the PTR...exciting stuff so far...can't wait for more.

 

[gellybean]

We woke up around 8:30am on our own and took our time getting ready. We let the boys sleep in a bit more and we helped MIL get her things together. After the boys woke up and we all got dressed, Mr. I, the boys and I went ahead and kept our reservation time at Boma for breakfast, knowing that if MIL got done getting ready and getting packed up, she'd join if she could.

Sure enough she joined before we were half way done with buffet round 1. We all had breakfast and took our time eating. When we were done, we all walked back up to the room, said our goodbyes and then Mr. I walked her to her car and helped carry all her stuff.

Trashed room after getting MIL all packed up.

Before he could get back I found a few of her things hanging in the closet. Thankfully Mr. I called her as soon as he got back to the room and she was still getting things ready for the trip, mainly her Garmin (the woman would lose herself in a paperbag if given the opportunity) and hadn't left the parking lot. So he walked back down and met her in the driveway thingie and she was off. We met up with him downstairs, ready to go to our last park.

We had saved Magic Kingdom for the last day and it was the only yellow day according to TGM that we had all week. We took a chance, because I love ending on Wishes and we'd really only had a few hours in MK the first night.

On the bus into the park, it was just us and one other family, dad, mom and two little girls. They noticed the boys University of Texas sweatshirts and the guy says "UH OH Longhorns." They were from Alabama and had just beat us in the National Championship, but only after our quarterback had been taken out of the game during the first quarter. It's still a sore spot with me, as I'm a HUGE HUGE Longhorn fan and literally cried when Colt (our QB) couldn't come back and play his last game, especially since it was the National Championship game he had worked so hard to get to.

Anyway! I digress. But it was kinda cool to talk to the Alabama fans. They were big football fans too and were really nice about the whole thing, saying that they wished they had beaten Texas with Colt so they wouldn't have that hanging over their head... only won because our QB was out of the game.

It was an interesting experience for me and them as well. It was their first day, our last and we bid fairwell when the bus arrived at MK.

We got Dash's stroller, since I had paid for 2 day rental anyway, and boy was I glad we had it. This place was NUTS! We found all the people that had been eluding us all week. Really they could have stayed hidden one more day. But this was MLK day and it was MK so really, what was I expecting?

We made our way over to Frontier land and got FPs for Big Thunder Mountain.

Check out the crowd! If this is TGM yellow, I don't wanna see red!!!


We killed some time looking around, and waiting for the Dreams parade to start, only to decide it was gonna be too noisey for Jack Jack and we decided to do Hall of President's instead.

Start of the parade when I realized this might not be a good idea with a cranky, in need of sleep toddler.

Replica of Nancy Reagan's dress inside HoP

George W. Bush's inaugural boots (being from Texas I had to take a pic of these)

We enjoyed HoP, even Jack Jack sat still for most of it. I think the animatronics helped on this front. Mr. I had never seen it since they'd been adding Obama during his first trip last year.

After we left HoP, we decided to grab lunch at Columbia Harbour House, even though I really wanted Pecos Bill's. Mr. I wasn't feeling PBs and the line and crowds were worse than CHH which is saying something cus I swear I stood in line for 30 mins waiting for the food. IT was INSANE in that little queue area of CHH. Thankfully Mr. I and the boys had grabbed a table outside and we weren't all in line.

I had shrimp, Mr. I had fish and Dash ate chicken. Jack Jack had finally fallen asleep while I was inside ordering and stayed asleep throughout our lunch.

We had tried to ride Haunted Mansion several times and it was closed temporarily for a mal function. We finally caught it open again, after hanging out in that area for several hours, but the lines looked long and I wasn't feeling it. I guess by that time I was done. I just didn't feel like standing in line with Jack Jack to get in there finally and then him (potentially) freaking out scared. He's starting to be more aware of things that are scary and I could just see waiting all that time and me and Jack Jack having to step out anyway.

So Dash and Mr. I went to ride and I took Jack Jack over to the playground under the train station by a closed for refurbishment Splash Mountain.

It wasn't too busy and Jack Jack took a bit to figure out what he was supposed to do but after he got it, he loved it and went on the slide over and over, round and round he'd go.

I finally dragged him away from the playground and we went and sat on a bench where BTMRR empties out at and we waited for Dash and Mr. I . I swear to you an hour later from the time we split apart, they finally showed back up. Mr. I let me and Dash ride first and like an idiot I forgot to get a baby swap, so poor Dash didn't get to ride it again. But Mr. I rode it by himself and enjoyed it. Again, just another confirmation for me that he likes Disney World and doesn't just do it for me.

After we were done finally in Frontier Land we made our way back to Main Street USA to get good seats for the parade, since it wasn't running on our arrival night.

It was about 5:30pm and the parade was at 7pm with Wishes at 8pm. Well we got stuck in the Block Party Bash or whatever it was called. I know it's not that but it's the moving and shaking party or something.

We literally got stuck in the hub and couldn't get out while the parade was going on. I decided to pass the time taking pictures!

Continued in Next post...

 

[gellybean]

Continued from Previous Post!

I had to get a picture of Mr. Incredible!

Photo pass pic right after the parade was over. I asked him to take one with my camera too!

This picture does not do that sunset justice. It was truly beautiful. Course the Disney magic didn't hurt I'm sure.



By the time it was over, every curb inch was covered down Mainstreet. *sigh* I knew we should have taken the short cut back toward Main Street and avoided the hub. Oh well.

We went back to our trusty tables in front of the Plaza and thought that at least we'd have good seats for Wishes again and we could inch closer to see the parade as it came by.

While we waited, I made my way over and got the same order of food we'd gotten the first night at Casey's. Except no chili this time. We shared our snack and then I went shopping down the ice cream/bakery side of Main Street. I found more of the Dooney and Burke bags of different styles and sizes (didn't purchase but I wanted the medium size handbag. It's probably a good thing they didn't have that at DTD or I might would have gotten it instead of the wristlet), and used some snack credits on fudge and stuff in the candy store. It was nice to go off and shop a little by myself.

We had an ok spot for the parade, nothing like on the curbs but I just couldn't see messing with the masses of people with our stroller and a cranky antsy 2 year old and pooh size people. I just wasn't feeling it. I think my Disney bubble was in the process of being popped. It always seems to happen on departure day.

Well....after watching the parade through a throng of people and only catching glimpses,

Our view

I just wanted to head back to the hotel and not stay for the fireworks. I know, I know. But at that point, I wanted my memory of Wishes to be that first night when the park was not crowded and we had the whole trip ahead of us and we were all feeling the Disney magic, and not of the last night when the kids were cranky and we'd have to leave with a huge rush of people and stand in line forever for the bus and potentionally stand up during the bus ride home. I just wasn't up for it at that point. So I quietly mention my idea of just going back to the hotel and relaxing to beat the mass exodus and Mr. I was fine with it. Dash was fine, he was tired and Jack Jack was clueless.

One last castle pic on the way out


We headed to the bus station and while I was a little sad to be missing Wishes I felt good that I was doing what was best for my family.

Bus stop one last time

My boys still feeling the Disney love

The bus didn't take long at all, we were like 10th in line and as we're pulling away from MK, Wishes starts and we can see it all the way back to AKL. Well, at least most of it. We kept catching glimpses through the trees. Was kinda nice. A fitting farewell viewing, I thought.

When we got back to AKL, I called down to ... wait for it.... BOMA and we got in for dinner. I lost count how many times we ate at Boma this trip. This would have never happened had we a) not been on Deluxe dining and b) the crowd level been such that they weren't booked up.

Looking down into the lobby, yet again. Loved having our room above the lobby

Artwork in the Boma waiting area

Stairs from Boma lobby to level 2 where Victoria Falls is

Bridge from the lobby to Victoria Falls, view from the Boma Lobby

We enjoyed our dinner, though honestly we didn't eat much. But it was nice to sit in there, at near 9pm and have a nearly empty restaurant and not feel rushed but not have to eat 'fast food' like food again.

Last ditch effort at more food porn



We headed back to the room, sighing heavily many a time as we knew this was our last night and we'd be checking out in the morning. I think we tried one more time to find the tooth. Honestly to this day, I do not know where it is!

I think I found it at some point and packed it back up to take home thinking the tooth fairy could find it when we got home but I haven't found it. If someone finds a baby tooth in a ziploc bag in AKL, it's Dash's!

We turned in after starting to pack up some and watching some tv for a bit.

The boys didn't take long to crash

Watched a UT basketball game


It had been a less than ideal last day but we were still sad to be leaving.

Up next:

Departure day!!

Would I get all my souvies bought that I'd been putting off til the last day? Would we eat in Mara for breakfast at all this trip?? Would we have any issues with ME or the plane at the airport??

STAY TUNED!!!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm bummed for you that your last day was sort of a letdown. I think the feeling that you are leaving and large crowds will definitely do that to you. How awesome that you got to eat at Boma so many times!!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

you shouldnt of let your last day get you down like that. You should of made best of it.

 

[SoonerGirl]

I think all of us sometimes have Disney days when we hit the wall, so to speak. I know the last day of my December trip was like that for me, I just sort of had the blahs all day and was honestly ready to go home. That doesn't mean that I didn't have a fabulous trip, it just means the last day wasn't one of the fabulous ones, sounds like yours was much the same.

You guys didn't like Boma or anything did you?

 

[praisehisname]

I had a lot of catching up to do, but I did it!

So sorry your last day wasn't all that you hoped. Can't wait to hear if you got all the souvies you wanted!

 

[Dugette]

Wow, Boma twice in one day...awesome!

Interesting to see how crowded the MK was that day. I'm glad we avoided it. (We did Epcot, DHS, and Downtown Disney that day).

Beautiful pictures of the castle/sky!

Sorry the trip is ending, but can't wait to hear about the rest!

 

[disney<333]

Oh boy, MK looks packed! At least the crowds were coming towards the end and not the beginning! Ahhh, a ticker for POLY!? Need to see how that came into play. I'm sure it must of been annoying but that is too funny at Epcot with your MIL!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm trying to get caught up and I'm up to where we had our unexpected DIS meet.

I'll read the rest later today.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Okay, I finished catching up.

Phew.

I suddenly have the urge to eat at Boma.

 

[faerieprincess]

That kid is just too stinkin' cute!

i love the idea of someone staying at AKL and just randomly finding a baby tooth in a ziploc bag. i mean... imagine.

 

[gellybean]

I'm bummed for you that your last day was sort of a letdown. I think the feeling that you are leaving and large crowds will definitely do that to you. How awesome that you got to eat at Boma so many times!!

It was a bit of a letdown, but honestly I think 7 days is just too much. The first four days were so awesome that the last few days had a hard time living up to them!

Boma was fun and yummy but I doubt we'd go back unless we're staying at AKL again. And even then, without deluxe we definitely wouldn't have eat there as often. It just made more sense to have a buffet so the kids could get fruit and a little bit of a lot of different things than to use the same credit for a chicken nuggets plate from Mara. Especially with Jack Jack under 3. He'd still get his own plate at the buffet whereas Mara we'd have had to share or order an extra meal and thus use an extra credit!

you shouldnt of let your last day get you down like that. You should of made best of it.

Actually, I think we did make the best of it by calling it quits and heading back to enjoy a nice dinner and an evening at the hotel relaxing. Sometimes knowing when to quit is making the best of a situation!

I think all of us sometimes have Disney days when we hit the wall, so to speak. I know the last day of my December trip was like that for me, I just sort of had the blahs all day and was honestly ready to go home. That doesn't mean that I didn't have a fabulous trip, it just means the last day wasn't one of the fabulous ones, sounds like yours was much the same.

You guys didn't like Boma or anything did you?

Definitely have had some of those days. I am looking forward to more frequent trips but less days. 7 days is hard with two kids. And with crowds... well... it's gonna be interesting to see how it goes in August and December for sure!

Thanks for understanding!

We did like Boma!! but we liked the buffet perks for the same price of Mara even better!

I had a lot of catching up to do, but I did it!

So sorry your last day wasn't all that you hoped. Can't wait to hear if you got all the souvies you wanted!

Glad you caught up!!! No worries! Even a 'bad' day at Disney is still a day at Disney.

Wow, Boma twice in one day...awesome!

Interesting to see how crowded the MK was that day. I'm glad we avoided it. (We did Epcot, DHS, and Downtown Disney that day).

Beautiful pictures of the castle/sky!

Sorry the trip is ending, but can't wait to hear about the rest!

Didn't even think about doing it twice in one day but I guess we did.

It was nuts in MK that day, and after the low crowds all week, I think it seemed even more crowded because of the contrast.

Loved the sunset on the castle that night! That was definitely the magically highlight of the day.

It's always sad for it to end. But I'm kinda glad to put another trip report under my belt and move on to fully focus on the PTR!

Oh boy, MK looks packed! At least the crowds were coming towards the end and not the beginning! Ahhh, a ticker for POLY!? Need to see how that came into play. I'm sure it must of been annoying but that is too funny at Epcot with your MIL!

Amen on the crowds only being there at the end. I'd go back the week before MLK any year, though most of the CMs said it had a lot to do with the extreme cold for Florida more than the time of year. Apparently the week before MLK is typically more crowded than it was this year.

I'm sure it does sound funny.... but yeah it wasn't!

OK OK maybe it was

I can laugh now about it. But boy was I irked that day.

Poly was more of my fuzzy Disney math. You'll have to check out the PTR!

I'm trying to get caught up and I'm up to where we had our unexpected DIS meet.

I'll read the rest later today.

Okay, I finished catching up.

Phew.

I suddenly have the urge to eat at Boma.

Glad you're all caught up!!! Wonder where that urge to eat at Boma came from???

I need to get back over to your PTR! Darn real life for taking away my DIS time!!!

That kid is just too stinkin' cute!

i love the idea of someone staying at AKL and just randomly finding a baby tooth in a ziploc bag. i mean... imagine.

I think he's pretty stinkin' cute too!!!

I know! I thought about that and kinda went ewww. I swear I stuck it into a bag somewhere to come home but I've never found it. UH OH! Thank God it's in a ziploc.

 

[gellybean]

Our last morning!!



We set the wake up time for 7 am, having ... you guessed it... another breakfast reservation at Boma. We'd gotten a bit of packing done the night before so we didn't have too too much to pack up. We let the boys sleep in while we showered and got ready and starting cleaning out drawers and closets.

Sacked out

Starting to stir

We'd used the drawers of the chest in the hallway to hold the dirty clothes so we kinda just dumped and shooved most of the stuff from the drawers to the suitcases.

I thought the reservation was for 8 but it was actually 8:45am. Thankfully I looked it up before we headed all 2 floors downstairs (like that would have been that much wasted time) and had more time to pack in the room before we ate breakfast. In the process of packing and getting ready and having bedding flying everywhere, Dash lost two of his Bakugan he'd just gotten from his Aunt the night before. We turned the room upside down. We found one down in the corner between the mattress and the bed frame but never found the other one. He was not happy. Probably being our last day didn't help much either.

We made our way down to Boma one last time. Oh Boma how I miss thee. The ease of having a hot breakfast waiting for you whenever your read and for everyone to get their own food and have a little bit of this and a little bit of that was a huge plus of AKL and DxDP and January's low crowd level. Even with MLK crowds picking up some, Boma was still pretty empty at 8:45am.

Cool ceiling in Boma

Dash pretending to be all grown up drinking coffee

Jack Jack waiting patiently for his plate

A view of the buffet

Jack - Jack got one last cupcake.

I got one last sticky bun.

*DROOLING* Sorry the pic is so big. I googled it and can't resize.

We discussed that this was our last breakfast, last morning, the close to our trip. It felt like it was just a blink of an eye before that we were sitting in Mara on our arrival day, talking about how much I loved that moment of anticipation where the whole trip is in front of you.

We decided we were a little sad but it wasn't as bad leaving this year as it was last year, at least for me. I think because I knew I'd managed to get back. Last year I think I was afraid that Mr. I was gonna get home and decide he didn't have as good of a time and insist that we go somewhere different for our next family vakay. Having a successful repeat trip and within a year of our last trip really helped with the going home blues. Gave me hope we'd be back soon.... And now look at my tickers !! I think I've succeeded in converting Mr. I fully!

After breakfast, Mr. I took the boys back to the room to finish packing up and let them run around some before a bus and plane ride kept them pinned in for the next 4 hours. And to let me get some shopping in, alone.

I enjoyed shopping around by myself. I picked up a Vinylmation. Had been eyeing them all week. I got a Park Series 2 I think. Ended up being a Mission Space guy. I think this will be something I continue to purchase for myself, 1 or 2 a trip. I've thought of ordering them online but it's just not the same. I picked up some park stickers for Dash's classmates and one pack for myself, a memo cube for Dash's teacher, and a cute set of four magnets (another traditional purchase for myself). I looked everywhere for the black, yellow and red Mickey head tumblers. I love these glasses, drink out of them all the time. And my sister and mom love them too. I wanted to get myself another and get one for my mom and sister. I had seen them so many places over the week I had forgotten that I had never seen them at AKL!



Oh no!! We didn't have time to run to DTD. And I could have gotten them several times throughout the week and hadn't. I was bummed. The only hope was the airport store. I had my fingers crossed!

When I paid out at the gift store, I got some change for the ME driver. They were happy to help.

I went over to the check out counter of the hotel to make sure everything was straight with the room. Thankfully MIL had added her cc to the room because there were still pending charges from where she charged to the room that they were able to charge to her and not to us. I thought this would have been bene done automatically but the CM made it sound like it was a good thing I cleared that up.

I headed back to the room, met back up with the boys, took some pictures,

Still watching the news coverage of the Haiti earthquake.So so sad!

Waiting patiently for me to finish with the pic taking already

took one more look around with a deep sigh and we loaded up and headed out of our room.

One more lobby shot

Dash wanted to push his brother


WE LOVED the AKL! Cannot say enough great things about our stay there. I would love to stay there again one of these years, but I enjoyed it so much that now my curiousity is piqued to see how much I enjoy all the other resorts. I think I may just have to try to stay at the all at least once over the next oooo 30 years or so.

We took one last picture in the lobby

Dash feeling the love

Continued in next post...

 

[gellybean]

Continued from previous post!!

...and then headed to our ME bench.

Jack Jack wanted out

I took a pic of my watch so y'all could see what time we were ready and waiting for ME. Our flight was at 1:25pm.

Not too long later a Disney Cruiseline bus pulled up.

Jack Jack looking out the "portholes" on the bus

We were maybe one of 3 families leaving from AKL.

We stopped off at Pop next and filled the bus up from there.

Dash is staring out the window, wistfully sighing at the familiar sight of Pop and begging to stay there next time. Hmm. KIDS!



No really I get it. I can see how Pop is more appealing to a 7 yr old than AKL was. And I'm quite sure that we'll end up back at Pop at some point. Especially if all the great Disney deals stop next year like the rumor says.

As we were pulling away from Pop I remembered that we had 3 snack credits left to redeem. Oh well. Out of some 42 credits that's not too bad to have only 3 left. We used every single one of the regular credits on Dx. Now we did use a few credits for MIL. But we ate out a LOT! Too much.

We enjoyed the freedom of DxDP and with Jack Jack eating as much as Dash but not on the plan, the extra credits and apps at every meal were a good thing. But we prolly won't do DxDP again for a long time, if ever. It's good to indulge and experience once and it worked out great, especially with all our Boma visits. But it was a ton of food.

We arrived at MCO with 2 hours to spare. We weighed our luggage at the beginning of the line. I liked the way they had this set up. SW had a manual scale set up and if your luggage made the scale hand move, it was over 50 lbs. Then you had an open place to move around stuff between your bags if need be and you're not holding up the line.

Our biggest suitcase made the scale hand budge just a bit. The SW employee said we'd be ok so we went on. Dash was pulling one suitcase, I was pulling one and pushing Jack-Jack and Mr. I had two and a backpack. The line looked REALLy long but it moved very quickly. Gotta hand it to MCO's SW employees. You can tell they manage large crowds every day and they've got it down to a science.

We got up the counter finally, and our largest suitcase was 50.2 lbs and they let it go through. I was all ready to say but but so and so up front said it would be ok, but we didn't have to.

I had to show Jack Jack's birth certificate again. He's a big kid and I knew to come prepared to prove his age. The guy that checked us in commented on how close I was cutting it to fly Jack Jack free. I mean afterall he was turning 2 the next day. He said it jokingly and with a little bit of awe in his tone that we managed to squeak in one last flight.

To which I responded "And you think that was a coincidence??"



He laughed.

I think it took a total of 1/2 an hour to get checked in.

I made a beeline straight to the EARport and asked the CM if they had my precious glasses. She said no.

Thankfully I'm stubborn and looked around. There in the back corner of the far end of the store were the black, yellow and red Mickey sets. Including the tumblers!!!!

I bought 3 of them and was very happy.

It's the little things right??

We made a last minute potty stop and took Dash's picture on the Harley again. It's gotten to be a tradition too.

Mr. I snapped some more pics of the fountain and stuff while I was in the Disney store.

One last brother/stroller shot

Apparently our family has a thing for fountains.

Then it was time to get through security. I will not miss taking that huge stroller through security once we retire it. UGH!

We laid the stroller back after putting Jack Jack back in it and told him to close his eyes and take a little nap. And he did!

We found our gate and sat down and waited. We had packed up some snacks that we still had in the room that we had brought from home. So we dragged those out and I made Dash do some reading. Afterall, he had to go back to school the very next day, their birthdays.

It was during the process of digging the back pack out from under the stroller that Jack Jack woke up. It was only another 10 mins until we would have had to wake him up for boarding anyway, so not too bad.

By the time we boarded (group A, 40-50 something, I had checked us in from my phone the day before) the boys were both kinda melty. Not too bad but tired. Dash was asleep before we hit cruising altitude. Mr. I had to have a pretty stern little chat with Jack Jack to get him to go back to sleep. We were in the last row of the plane next to the back bathroom. No one behind us. All four of us crammed into 3 seats.

Crammed sleeping Jack Jack in Mr. I's lap

I was thankful then that we'll be forced to buy Jack Jack his own seat from now own. It's too tempting to try to save the money by putting him as a lap baby but man were we crowded. That was some family togetherness, let me tell you.

Mr. I and I shared my earbuds and I journaled. The boys slept. I took a few pictures.

And before we knew it, we were headed back down to Earth.

Both literally and figuratively.




Our Disney vacation was over. But we had such a wonderful trip. Really we did. We had a few glitches but what Disney trip doesn't?? We made some great memories, had a lot of family time which is a rare thing for us with the number of hours Mr. I works, ate a lot of great food, tried a lot of new things, got spoiled rotten by AKL and DxDP. It was a fabulous vacation.


Soon enough, we were deboarding and making our way to baggage claim. We got our luggage and my sister was waiting for us at curbside pickup. We were home by 5pm.

My mom drove in that night and arrived shortly after we did. She brought us dinner so we didn't have to worry about having groceries in the house.

The boys were turning 2 and 7 the next day and we still had some celebrating to do.

The next morning I took Dash to school, came back home, got Jack Jack up and my mom and I and the boys drove to Dallas (3 hours north of us) to pick up a chihuahua puppy. I had arranged for Dash's dad to pick him up from school in case we were late getting home. Another surprise for Dash.

Dash also didn't know we were getting a puppy. If y'all recall, we had lost our 11 wk old baby chi on Christmas eve. It was a hard decision for me to make, to get another one so soon, but I knew we wanted a small dog and I knew that I wanted the time at home with her to train her and bond before I return to work next year.

So a 6 hour round trip later, we had our newest member.

This was taken right after we got her

Lillian Bell. Bell after Bella, the chihuahua we lost. We call her Lily or Lily Bell when she's in trouble. She is nothing like Bella, not that I ever thought she would be. She was never intended to replace her.

As I write this, she's 7 months old and is perched on my shoulder.

Dash was very surprised to find a puppy waiting for him when he got home from his Dad's that night. We had a small party that evening, just family and homemade cupcakes. Not quite Disney ones but they hit the spot. And just like that, real life was back in full swing.

Here we are nearly 5 months later.
Mr. I still works all the time. I still DIS all the time.

Dash just finished first grade and has been gone all week with his dad, step mom and sister to Disneyland in California. If all goes as planned, he'll have 4 trips to Disney this year, 3 Florida, and 1 California. Lucky duck! He's starting swimming lessons in two weeks.

Jack Jack is really into Barney and the Wiggles, much to my dismay and is picking up words right and left. He insists on 'walking' now and doesn't wanna ride in strollers or carts. Should make for an interesting trip in August.

The boys are about to turn 2 1/2 and 7 1/2 next month. Where does the time go??



Thank you all for reading and following along with me!!

I'm going to head over to work on my PTR for our August and December trips! Hope to see you there!

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Well, better late than never right? Actually I had read quite a bit of the report, but I guess I forgot to post/subscribe so I missed getting in on it before you finished.

I loved reading all about the trip and loved all your pictures. I'm going to find your PTR and subscribe tonight!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Wonderful TR.

Lily Bell is adorable. I want a chihuahua, they are so cute! I'm a big fan of smaller dogs.

Where are the links to your PTR??

 

[gellybean]

Glad you enjoyed it Jane!!

Thank you Leslie!!

Here's a link to the PTR:

Two for the Price of One... PTRs not Trips! August @ Poly and December @ WL


I need to work on getting a link in my siggie but my siggie is getting a little cramped!! Maybe after the August trip is over, I'll have more room!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great report Gelly! Thanks so much for sharing

Your new family member is adorable!