"Mom, Dad, 3 Kids & a Gingerbread Boy" Matty's Wish Trip December 10-18, 2009

[pacrosby]

Those autograph books are awesome! I love the costume, too!

I'm LOVING your TR so far! The autograph books you made are amazing! What did you use? I love all the family pics and can't wait to see and read more!

Kelly

You deserve lots of praise for your autograph books. They are AWESOME! I can't believe you were able to make them in that short amount of time. Love the video and the picture of Matty on the plane with the sun rising out the window.

I Love the Autograph books! Although they do make me feel a bit lazy when we went over Thanksgiving I just bought Disney themed journals I found at the dollar store for the kids to use. A limo how cool! We accidently ended up in one in the Bahmas (a cruise we took right after our WDW trip) and my kids were just like your Matty. I think they were expecting a hot tub or something LOL!

Ask, and you shall receive!!!!!!!!!!! Thanx guys!!!!!

 

[pacrosby]

ok....

I TOTALLY missed the autograph books!!!

Shoot! I should have asked to see them in real life!

They are AWESOME! And did you make the Mickey Cake?

Am I movin' too fast for ya????????

and yes I did make that cake. I decided I was going to learn how to decorate cakes about 5 years ago and have been having a ball with it ever since. You name the occasion......momma makes a cake!!! Some come out better than others of course....but it's fun.....and the kids are very forgiving

Pam

 

[kdzbear]

With the holidays over, I finally made it over here from your PTR. Now I need to go find Maroo's mini-report! I can't wait to hear all about your trip! Matty looks so happy in the limo!

 

[pacrosby]

I'm LOVING your TR so far! The autograph books you made are amazing! What did you use? I love all the family pics and can't wait to see and read more!

Kelly

Hi Kelly.

In case your interested in the details I'll provide them here......

I went to AC Moore and bought plain white scrapbooks (with a 50% coupon for each). They come in 6X6 and 8X8. I then used clip art from various Disney clip art sites (easily found on your search engine), downloaded them to our computer. I created the pages on Microsoft Word by then using those clip art images and adding characters' names and such, and printed them out on standard cardstock (I had to fiddle alot with sizes and everything) that was then cut to size. I then removed the original pages from the books and inserted my new ones. The front covers are essentially the same but were laminated to increase durability. I glued them to the cover and added embelishments to dress them up. Matty's was alittle more complicated because it was bigger but my plan is to add pictures (of him with those same characters) to his and make it more like a scrapbook.

Hope that helped. If not let me know and I'll try and clarify!!!

Pamela

 

[Sandy321]

Hey Melissa!! We did that dance every night for 3 weeks!! It was so silly. The books were so much fun to make but SOOOOO time consuming. They ended up getting good use out of them though so I feel like it was worth my time and effort. Thanx for indulging me by noticing

Yeah......3 am What's wrong with me huh?????

Pamela

Oh those books were amazing - I am a bad mom - - I never made books for my dd (guess I will have to do it for eventual grand kids!! )

Thank you for sharing so much! I'm loving your journey!

(and didnt gopher run for US Representatives - and won!)

 

[maroo]

Am I movin' too fast for ya????????

and yes I did make that cake. I decided I was going to learn how to decorate cakes about 5 years ago and have been having a ball with it ever since. You name the occasion......momma makes a cake!!! Some come out better than others of course....but it's fun.....and the kids are very forgiving

Pam

No...I am just STRESSED... And missing stuff.

My desk looks like someone threw up some paper!

And I usually am gone by this time of the day...

I am doing double duty this week and have so much to do that I can't keep up on the DIS.

 

[MAJ RN]

All caught up on your report!! I really like the Mickey cake you made and the autograph books are AMAZING!!!!! I like the limo pic of Matty with the door open. My son still has his sign the GKTW makes for the airport pickup. Can't wait to read more!


Melissa

 

[KateMW]

I wish I could make a Mickey cake!! It was darling!

 

[praisehisname]

Love the shirts! So cool that Matty got his limo, even if it was the wrong color!

 

[maroo]

Love the shirts! So cool that Matty got his limo, even if it was the wrong color!

And I love your user name!

 

[jessica52877]

Wow! You have been chattering away and I have been falling behind! I just love chatter! So keep chatting!

First off, I LOVE your autograph books! They are so cute! I appreciate all the time you took and know how time intensive it can be. In fact it was taking too long just to print pages when I started one time that I quickly decided to just buy an autograph book off ebay!

I also love to think I am crafty and love it when anyone mentions how cute something is! So I gotta say again, I just love the books! In fact so much so more pictures are welcome of the books!

Matty is so cute with his gingerbread man ornament and all dressed up! I could just eat him up! Oh no, wait! He might not want to be eaten!

Love the shirts! Great job Maroo. Hmm, need to get someone on making a template with the new year! Maroo is the best! Isn't she? I am so glad she found the dis!

Love the pictures in the limo and plane ride. Can't wait to see more.

 

[maroo]

Love the shirts! Great job Maroo. Hmm, need to get someone on making a template with the new year! Maroo is the best! Isn't she? I am so glad she found the dis!

You are so sweet!

NO ONE is as glad that I found the DIS as I am!!

And yes...we do need one for 2010! Right around the corner!

 

[pacrosby]

No...I am just STRESSED... And missing stuff.

oh dear. Go home and take a nap!

All caught up on your report!! I really like the Mickey cake you made and the autograph books are AMAZING!!!!! I like the limo pic of Matty with the door open. My son still has his sign the GKTW makes for the airport pickup. Can't wait to read more!Melissa

ohhh how cute I wish the sign was alittle smaller so it would fit in a scrapbook or something! Someone suggested having it reduced.....I may just look into that. Thanx for the kind words (the leftover cake was a rock when we returned)

I wish I could make a Mickey cake!! It was darling!

Thanx I've become a bit of a crazy cake decorator over the past years. My kids try to 'stump' me to increase the level of difficulty!!

Love the shirts! So cool that Matty got his limo, even if it was the wrong color!

Aren't those shirts great! Yup, even though the limo wasn't the right color, and apparently not quite big enough, he still thought it was pretty cool!

Wow! You have been chattering away and I have been falling behind! I just love chatter! So keep chatting!

First off, I LOVE your autograph books! They are so cute! I appreciate all the time you took and know how time intensive it can be. In fact it was taking too long just to print pages when I started one time that I quickly decided to just buy an autograph book off ebay!

I also love to think I am crafty and love it when anyone mentions how cute something is! So I gotta say again, I just love the books! In fact so much so more pictures are welcome of the books!

Matty is so cute with his gingerbread man ornament and all dressed up! I could just eat him up! Oh no, wait! He might not want to be eaten!

Love the shirts! Great job Maroo. Hmm, need to get someone on making a template with the new year! Maroo is the best! Isn't she? I am so glad she found the dis!

Love the pictures in the limo and plane ride. Can't wait to see more.

Those books were ALOT of work I have to admit. I don't have any other pictures at present but when I get to px of the kids getting character autographs I'll try and remember to get some px of a few interior pages and include them. Thanx for making me feel like a mini-Martha!!



Pamela

 

[pacrosby]

ok....so where were we?????? Oh, off to GKTW of course!!

I must admit the weather was a bit of a bummer when we got there. Chilly and overcast Hey! I thought we were supposed to be going to Orlando?????!!!! I'd been checking the central Florida weather report for weeks and everyday they seemed to change their mind. Typical weather people,huh? Oh well, no time to pout. So, I told myself to 'suck it up' and off to GKTW we went

A quick stop at Walmart on the way (does every Wish family going to GKTW stop at Walmart on their way?????) and.......who do I catch a glimpse of but..........StefaniLyn's 3 daughters and their Dad on their way out of the store!!! There is no doubt in my mind. I've seen those girls before!! My dh has gone in the store leaving me sitting curbside in the "van" (gulp) with the kids. The security guy keeps on giving me the evil eye. I watch Bella's clan come out of the store and cross to the parking lot. I start the engine........circle the parking lot like a shark until I catch them on the other side and roll down my window. "Aren't you Bella's dad?" I ask. The guy must've thought I was a nut, stalking him in the parking lot like that Anyway, long story short he of course says "yes" and tells me that Stephanie is waiting for them in the car at the other end of the lot. I tell him to send her a big hello from me (who knows if he even remembered my name) and let him loose. Too funny huh?????? Definately some good karma to start the trip.

Anyways, eventually dh returns with his loot and off we go. Less than a mile down the road and..............voila.........our home away from home

Pamela

 

[pacrosby]

OMG....I just have to confess what a dufus I am (as my little Matty would say, whilst simultaneously slapping himself on the forehead "how dumb am I?????")

Now I've told many about how clueless I am when it comes to technology............and dh is no help either Anyway I'm feeling pretty proud of myself these days............figuring out how to upload and download, and inload and outload (ok, so I made those last two up). However, I have been reading people talk about how photobucket (which I am using) only will allow you so many px This worries me. Do you realize how many px this TR is likely to include??????? This, I'm thinking, is going to pose a problem. OK.....bright idea I'll just delete those px on photobucket that I've already transferred over into my TR. Great, right? OK....so stop laughing. Most of you already know what happened I delete over there........and they promptly disappear from over here too All 25 px!!!!!!!

How dumb AM I??????

Needless to say it's taken me over an hour to fix my boo-boo.

UGH!!!!!!!


Pamela

 

[yinyanggirls]

DOH!!! That stinks! I would just keep loading and when you hit the limit it'll tell you. Then you can make new accounts as others suggested.

 

[pacrosby]

ok....back on track here.

Did you see that sign? Isn't that the cutest????




Anyway, in we go, and up to the House of Hearts Welcome Center.

(Now, as a disclaimer, I must confess this and the fabulous picture in the previous post are from the disc GKTW gives you at check-out. When we checked in it had started raining. NOT great picture taking weather. Any and all beautiful px revealed on this post were either px we took the next day or were part of the check-out disc)


Check-in was swift. I did inquire as to whether it was possible to request a certain villa (Matty had had a px of a villa from the new Fairy Tale Forest in his Wish Book)

Sadly the woman at the desk informed me that there were none available I must admit I was quite disappointed to hear that but.....what could we do? We weren't likely to be spending much time in our villa anyway, right? Within minutes a very nice volunteer introduced herself, grabbed our welcome information and requested we follow her in our van to our villa. It was pouring!!!!

Driving through the village I honestly felt like I was in someone's neighborhood. It truly had a very warm and welcoming feel. Our villa appeared to be in one of the older sections and was in an area adjacent to the Fairy Tale Forest (what a tease huh?????). Inside it was decorated for Christmas!! A lovely tree and lots of additional xmas doo-dads sprinkled throughout the villa. The children were each given a special welcome friend - a big stuffed Mickey Mouse for Matty and some little Shamus for each of the others. In addition there was a refrigerator stocked with snacks and drinks and a bag full of additional 'fun' on the table (other stuffies, books, a video......). We spent the next 15-20 minutes or so reviewing the 'Bunny Book' (now called the 'Village Guide' but I like BB better), listening to specifics about the village and our week to come while the kids explored the villa. She informed me of the orientation being held that evening at 7:45 pm but, "I'm sorry" I told her, that was simply NOT an option........oh, no, no, no, no, no!!!!!! (oh, 'why not?' you ask? What? Didn't I tell you??????). The next orientation was at 9 am the next morning but I didn't really like that one.......I wanted to be up and out early. The volunteer didn't seem to approve of my inflexiblity????? "Perhaps you can arrange a private orientation" she offered (reluctantly). I decided to take her up on that one

Truth be told, I was exhausted. And feeling a bit emotional. Exhaustion does that to me (perhaps menopause is around the corner as well ). And I'm sure the reality of the whole Wish Trip was getting to me. I didn't have the energy to unpack. The weather was a bit depressing. And I was still disappointed in not getting in to the 'Forest' Knowing that I needed to arrange for that private orientation I grabbed Olivia and jumped into the van. On the way back to the Welcome Center we took a detour and drove through the 'Forest'. "Whattya mean there aren't any villas available??????" I thought as we drove around the circle. There must've been 5 or 6 that were unoccupied (you could tell because there were no nameplates out)!!!!!!!!! Hmmmmmmmmmm

I did manage to arrange a private orientation that early afternoon and while I was so engaged dh took the kids to explore the village after having some Boston Market delivered from Katie's Kitchen. They checked out the playground (MATTHEW'S playground - Matty kept calling it "my playground"):

moved over to the Castle of Miracles when they found the playground to be closed:

then to the Amberville Train Station:

and finally to the Ice Cream Parlor for a little ice cream (how dare they go without ME!!):

Me? Well, back from the orientation I had tried to take a nap. For a little while anyway. Exhausted as I was, I had trouble sleeping. I was fixated. I just HAD to have one of those Fairy Tale villas. So I called. I talked to one person. And then another. And then another, who said............................"of course"!!!!!! Ask and you shall receive.

By the time dh and kids had come back (soaking wet from the rain) I had had the van repacked and was ready to go! "Where are we going?" they all asked.

Why here, of course!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Pamela

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I am glad you got the villa you wanted!!!

Don't worry about your pictures on Photobucket I have uploaded tons of pictures and never had a problem with it

 

[jessica52877]

Oh no about photobucket! Glad you got it all fixed but I KNOW that wasn't fun! Don't worry, I have tons and tons and tons of pictures in my photobucket account!

Sorry about the villa!

 

[pacrosby]

I am glad you got the villa you wanted!!!

Don't worry about your pictures on Photobucket I have uploaded tons of pictures and never had a problem with it

Yeah, I don't know at one point they freeze you. I have heard of more than one person saying that they had to open another account under another name because they couldn't upload any more. Guess I'll just have to find out (now that I know I can't delete anything!)

Oh no about photobucket! Glad you got it all fixed but I KNOW that wasn't fun! Don't worry, I have tons and tons and tons of pictures in my photobucket account!

Sorry about the villa!

You can imagine how I almost cried when I realized what I had done. Uploading is such a process. Oh, and we DID end up getting the villa!!!!!!!!....perhaps you didn't get to the end of the post.


Pamela