Mixed Marriage 2: The Conversion Continues..... now complete

[PeterPansMum]

You're BACK! I am so happy to see MORE stories of the Twinkies.. Of course we can see by your sig that you have 4 yr olds but nothing between the 12 and 4 so I am thinking no baby in 99 but definately a trip to our fave place? Is it possible? My DH said when we were married that we definately need to go back every two years, made it back two yrs later then lost our way.. Have refound that magical path and all is well now. Eagerly awaiting next update
Cindy

 

[flipflop]

twinkie - like both new updates. I know you mentioned the custody thing previosly - I had forgotten. now I know why you have lawyer issues.

sorry to hear about the pink eye. how do you keep them from re-infecting each other? yuck! Myself and my three got the rhota (rhoda?) virus on the same day - my poor dh. then he got it the next day. beyond gross.

twinks and thinktink: as for brainwashing. it goes like this. take on crying dd who has found out during her last year of lawschool that she is pregnant with triplets and is living 1.5 hours away from her family. add one amazing mom and one very caring step-dad who offer for dd, dh and impending trips to move into their house. sell house (that had been purchased 11 months prior). finish law school on bed rest from m and sd's house. have babies. go to work 10 months later. survive first year with lots of help. have m and sd who try to make sure that dd and dh have some alone time b.c they work so hard. mention needing vaca and having opportunity to go see mouse with sil, bil and bf and bf's dh and that sitter can still watch kids during the week. now you have m and sd who live daily the insanity of your life; thus recognizing the need for a break, know the routine, have sitter help 3 out of 6 days. plus remember i said they were amazing and caring in the beginning of this long drawn out paragraph? they said yes. they rock. really. we are the luckiest and we know it.

disney, disney, disney...trips, trips, trips.....that's for the mods.

 

[MAMU II]

I am enjoying your tr very much can't wait to read more.

 

[princesslibby]

Just back from WDW and had to share this great budget tip. We strapped a couple of metal thermoses to the top of Bubba’s stroller (which we bought at a garage sale for $2.50) after walking around all the day in the Florida heat the water would boil and then I could throw in some Mickey shaped pasta bought a Publix and wha la! Mickey mac-n-cheese for the kiddos! I could do this while we were waiting in line for Splash Mtn. DH and I used the other thermos to boil water for coffee. I use extra coffee grounds wrapped in little baggies made of old panty hose. Add powdered cream and the free ice you can get at any vendor. Then shake it while you ride the tea cups and then you can enjoy an iced cappuchino while waiting for Dumbo!!

I laughed so hard I had tears.

 

[ely3857]

I am loving to pre-pre-pre trip report as much as I will the trip report!



Jodie

 

[TwinkieMama]

Thanks ely3857- great pic in your siggie
And Twinkie Trip Report Points to PeterPansMum for her deductive reasoning....

and flipflop- thanks for the "trip" report, your story sounds amazing and congrats for finishing law school while making 3 completely new people.... and studying for the bar with 3 newborns! you deserve three dancing bananas

as to how to prevent small children, especially multiples from just constantly reinfecting each other- become a germ nazi- color code pacies, sippie cups, spoons, towels, blankies- wash hands constantly! we had rhotovirus, not together one after another and then back to the first kid, when my twins were 20 months... I didn't leave the house for over 4 wks

as for my "alleged" lawyer issues... not saying I have any but if I did they would not be due to the child custody thing... our lawyer was a big help to us not only with legal issues but with helping us keep things in perspective... all will become clear in future installments of my Disney trip report...
the next segment should be posted soon

 

[Jacksmom99]

This is great entertainment!!! Can't wait for more!

 

[Jacksmom99]

BTW....I was getting caught up on this latest TR and burned the kids' dinner. I call to DH and he's headed for the nearest drive-thru. Don't I get a "best mom" award for this? Late dinner, burned, ending up with fast food (that DH has to turn around and go get b/c he was already in the driveway when he answered his phone) I win tonight right??

My next trip is in 3 1/2 weeks with NO kids!! I think my brain needs a recharge.

 

[TwinkieMama]

So 2000 dawns and surprisingly enough, the world does not end and neither does the World. To me this is a perfect sign that we should go to Disney World. DH thinks we should concentrate on the whole baby thing. Unfortunately for me, concentrating doesn’t seem to help. In March of 2000, I get a nice bonus which is really a bonus because I wasn’t expecting it. I knew my work handed out bonuses in March for the previous year but since I got my job in the fall I figured I wouldn’t receive one or that it would be nominal at best. Nope. The best thing about was this was when my boss called me into his office on my birthday I thought we were going to have a serious discussion about something else….no! He hands me a big unexpected check and I can barely keep from dancing down the hall!

When I shared the news with DH he mumbled something about investing it, rainy day, new car in the next 5 years… I don’t know I was busy outlining my plans which included an end of school trip in June for 3 full park days, an onsite resort, park hoppers and a character dinner. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: “but this is totally unexpected money which is why we should spend it on a vacation”
DH: “yeah, it is a windfall and you save windfalls because we could need it for a totally unexpected expense or an expected expense like the baby we are trying to have!”
Me: “but… it’s Disney World”

He hemmed and hawed until I sealed the deal with the news that I would book a room only reservation which would be totally refundable until 5 days before we checked in and if I was pregnant by then we wouldn’t go but instead save the money for a prudent thing of his choice.
Actually I exaggerate, what really sealed the deal was that I told him we call our trip “The Twinkie Millennial Madness”… (we are kind of geeky in that we name our houses and occasionally our cars and even hypothetical pets) which lead into the whole debate over whether or not year 2000 was indeed the dawn of the new millennium or should it really be 2001. I knew my DH had fierce supporter of the 2001 camp and that he thought everyone was making a big deal over the new millennium when it wasn’t actually starting yet so I let him win the argument and the trip was hereby named “The Twinkie Pre-Millennial Madness” (excepting of course we used our real last name instead of Twinkie and it sounds better. Our real name. At least to me)

And so the planning begins in earnest for a trip in June of 2000.

 

[monsterkitty]

I'm going to the store right now to buy Twinkies. For some reason, your awesome trip reports make me crave Twinkies.

The store is about 20 minutes away. Hopefully when I get back there will be another fun-filled installment to read as I eat twinkies!

 

[Alicnwondrln]

great so far cant wait to read more

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

To both Twinkie and FlipFlop... I bow to your genius The two of you, if together, could rule the world. With the abilities to not only find, but have people happily OFFERING to watch triplets while you go on a WDW trip adults only, and continually convince a DH that your idea's are ultimately in his best interests. All while attacking germs on a steady basis!! I am humble in your presence. I have much to learn from you wise ones!!

 

[TwinkieMama]

This whole process felt a lot like getting engaged. Usually by the time you get around to getting engaged you both know you are going to end up together someday far off in the future but when you actually set a date to walk down the aisle it becomes very very real. So, I always knew that we (like Arnold) would be back but here we are actually setting a date. But before I could do something so momentous I had to run out and buy my Unofficial Guide 2000… and read it cover to cover… twice. Then I had to spend a lot of time overlaying calendars (work, school, child custody) in consultation with the UG to determine the best time for our Pre-millennial madness.
The last day of kindergarten was Friday, June 9th, 2000. I figured every passing day would just be more hot and crowded so June 10th was a good time to leave. We have a date! Who hoo!

I really wanted to stay onsite for a week and go to Downtown Disney and a water park. DH was more than willing to go but he thought a week long onsite vacation was a wee bit ostentatious. We could have just as much fun at the motel 8 and they would even leave the light on for us.

“But the magic! The ease of transportation! The extra magic hours! The slim chance of having a towel animal!”

No water parks! - They cost extra and how different could they be than the local place- besides DS isn’t much of a swimmer. (That was true- I never understood it since I had been thrown into lakes regularly as far back as I could remember- and then one day it dawned on me that the poor kid as absolutely no body fat. He sinks like a rock. I on the other hand float so well I have trouble walking in the ocean. So I gave in on this one without much argument.)

We could do just fine on pop tarts, nabs and the occasional counter service- we had last time.

“But the themes! The food! The experience! The lifetime memories! The chance to meet characters without standing in line!

At this point, I think he is a little bored with the whole topic so we negotiate a total trip budget and it is completely up to me to plan the trip…. His only stipulations were that I was absolutely not to go over budget, no water parks, and include some money for drinks & snacks in the park because he would not be his dad. If we were thirsty we could buy a coke.

I was fine with that. I really didn’t need his opinions because there were more opinions than I knew what to do with on the DIS.

 

[smschex]

Your trip reports are much better reading than the last two books I checked out from the library!! Keep it coming, please.

 

[KathyRN137]

Me: “but this is totally unexpected money which is why we should spend it on a vacation”
DH: “yeah, it is a windfall and you save windfalls because we could need it for a totally unexpected expense or an expected expense like the baby we are trying to have!”
Me: “but… it’s Disney World”

He hemmed and hawed until I sealed the deal with the news that I would book a room only reservation which would be totally refundable until 5 days before we checked in and if I was pregnant by then we wouldn’t go but instead save the money for a prudent thing of his choice.

This is just like the mother from My Big Fat Greek Wedding : (quote)

The man is the head of the family.
The woman is the neck .
And she can make the head turn any way she wants!

Go, Twinkie!

 

[TwinkieMama]

The DIS is a wealth of information and we don’t mind rehashing a topic to death (which tix should I buy? Which resort should I stay at? Should I take the kids out of school? Should I bring a stroller? Which stroller should I bring?). It is great fun…
I, Queen of Twinkie Trip Planning, based on the information on these boards and from my trusty rusty UG decide that we will stay at the All Star Movies. We will buy 5 day park hoppers and save 2 days for some future trip (The Ultimate Park Hoppers (the ones with the plusses) were a much better deal but I had a no water park rule and strict budget to keep….. though it pained me not to buy them). We will do a character dinner that does not require park admission on the first day to get into the spirit of the parks without going into the parks. We will pack snacks and breakfast foods (ok, just pop tarts and bananas) and bring a cooler filled with bottles of water and juice boxes. We will have a couple of sit down meals at the very latest lunch seating and consider it dinner. These are great budget minded ideas that do not involve brewing coffee whilst waiting for a turn on the teacups. I highly recommend them.
Like I said before, the boards are great of course it does occasionally lead to envy- trip envy, upgrade envy, towel animal envy. I struggled mightily- especially as I read about people saving more than my entire trip budget with their AP rates. Should I get an AP? Hmm… I quickly crunch the numbers and have a reality check… these people are paying more per night than I am planning to pay for my entire 4 night stay… and they are not going in June. The extra $15 bucks a night I could save at a value x 4 nights isn’t really going to make up the difference between a 5 day hopper and an AP. Ok back to planet Twinkie.
So based on the confidence given to me here on the DIS, I fax my info to Dreams Unlimited and let them book for me- mainly because on the slim chance that there would be some discount, I wanted it! So I receive my quote: $421.12 for June 10-14 at the All Star Sports. Bummer. The Movies is sold out. To me, the Movies would be the most “Disney” of the All Stars. But my guys love sports. I want my guys to love my fabulous trip so we can return someday… maybe with a little girl, a date with Cinderella and maybe even an AP. Therefore we will stay at the All Star Sports (which should be abbreviated very carefully) and we will love it.
Now that I officially have a reservation at WDW my heart is pounding and my palms are sweating. This feels so grown up. (I know I have a mortgage, a car, a kid, a husband, a graduate degree… but something about planning a “real” trip to the World makes me feel like I have arrived.) That weekend, DH and I skip our $10 date to Houlihan’s (Gotta save the money ‘cause I’d rather eat with Mickey) but do head to the Disney Store and $581.94 dollars later, I am in possession of 2 adult and 1 child 5 day park hoppers. Now DH gets excited- these tickets are plastic and each one has a different Disney character on them. Wow! Even the tickets are good looking at Disney World! I am high on Disney planning and it doesn’t even worry me that I have already put a good sized dent into the total trip budget ($1500 in case you are playing along at home)…..

 

[latoberg]

I love the TR's.

One thing left over from the last TR, though.

Grammatically speaking y'all would be correct. But when you take the different dialects of the county into account and how the word is used, y'all is singular for you (second person singular) all while ya'll would be plural for ya'll (second person Southern plural) all.

Just for clarity's sake.

 

[TwinkieMama]

the following is from dictionary.com

you-all (yôl) also y'all (yôl)
pron. Chiefly Southern U.S.
You. Used in addressing two or more people or referring to two or more people, one of whom is addressed.
Regional Note: The single most famous feature of Southern United States dialects is the pronoun y'all, sometimes heard in its variant you-all. You-all functions with perfect grammatical regularity as a second person plural pronoun, taking its own possessive you-all's (or less frequently, your-all's, where both parts of the word are inflected for possession): You-all's voices sound alike. Southerners do not, as is sometimes believed, use you-all or y'all for both singular and plural you. A single person may only be addressed as you-all if the speaker implies in the reference other persons not present: Did you-all [you and others] have dinner yet? You and you-all preserve the singular/plural distinction that English used to have in thou and ye, the subject forms of singular and plural you, respectively (thee and you were the singular and plural object forms). The distinction between singular thou/thee and plural ye/you began to blur as early as the 13th century, when the plural form was often used for the singular in formal contexts or to indicate politeness, much as the French use tu for singular and familiar “you,” and vous for both plural and polite singular “you.” In English, the object form you gradually came to be used in subject position as well, so that the four forms thou, thee, ye, and you collapsed into one form, you. Thou and thee were quite rare in educated speech in the 16th century, and they disappeared completely from standard English in the 18th. However, the distinction between singular and plural you is just as useful as that between other singular and plural pronoun forms, such as I and we. In addition to y'all, other forms for plural you include you-uns, youse, and you guys or youse guys. Youse is common in vernacular varieties in the Northeast, particularly in large cities such as New York and Boston, and is also common in Irish English. You-uns is found in western Pennsylvania and in the Appalachians and probably reflects the Scotch-Irish roots of many European settlers to these regions. You guys and youse guys appear to be newer innovations than the other dialectal forms of plural you. See note at you-uns.


Personally, I think the word y'all is one of the best things about the south.... because it allows for a plural you like most other languages. When I lived in TN the most common usage was All-y'all meaning all of you all much like latoberg mentioned. Don't you just love the internet?

OK back to Disney trip reports
Up next: Don't ask, Don't tell

 

[MissMichelle]

subbing

 

[wvgoofyfan]

“But the themes! The food! The experience! The lifetime memories! The chance to meet characters without standing in line!


I discovered your TR's this am and started out with coffee an hour and a half ago.....Now I'm late for work! I admire your way with words and I've enjoyed being in the world with you and your beloved DH and especially your DS. What a wonderful memory you have. Surely you took notes to remember all those details!

Now I'm hooked and will wait anxiously all day at work to see if you've posted more of the millennium trip by the time I get home tonight!

Can you be bribed by a case of Twinkies to write it all in one sitting today?

You rank right up there with the best of the trip reportwriters Looking forward to each moment! Please post soon!