Final thoughts on the 2010 trip.
Well, I suppose its finally time to write the dreaded last chapter. The one year anniversary of the trip has come and gone, whether were counting from the start of the trip or the end. I somehow stretched the report to an unbelievable 55 chapters, not counting side trips and life updates. Its time.
All good things must come to an end. Plus just think how much free time you'll have now! Your chapters are always so witty and well thought out that I can't imagine how much time it must've taken to do them! Now, you're free and can patronize Marv on his thread since we all know how long his TR is going to stretch (eternity I think).
But what more can I say about the trip that I havent already said? It was fantastic from start to finish. We had some really special moments like the girls auditioning for American Idol and their Pick a Pearl experiences. I had some great one-on-one time with each of my kids at various times during the trip. But the biggest success story from the trip was when we asked the kids what their favorite thing was, and they said just being together. You cant beat that!
Oh, it sounded so amazing! Such great, quality family time and I love that each of your kids had a special time with dad. Though Marlene may be emotionally scarred by your urinating in Morocco... How utterly sweet that they said "just being together!" What a great group of kids you and Judy have Glenn.
We had a couple of really nice DISmeets: Dan (FauntleroyFan07) and his family, and Cherie (BlueyedGirl) and her family. Its always great to meet these crazy DISers in person. (At least from my perspective -- their point of view may differ!)
Was it this DISmeet where the Candi obsession began?? I hear tell you have some sort of shrine?
Oh, I know a memory of the trip that I havent described a whole lot yet. I know weve talked about the moist occasions that contributed to the trip report title (rain, humidity, sweat, and even spit), and we had a couple of casualties throughout the week where exhaustion/fatigue was a factor. But the other day I remembered how much my feet hurt by the end of that week. They werent blistered or anything, but they just felt like I walked em right off. I wouldnt have been surprised if I looked down and saw that I was walking on nubs. Kind of like Patrick Star:
I hear ya on the feet! Mine felt like the arches were permanently sore for days after we got home. It's so much walking!
Nice nubs.
So whats next vacation-wise? It looks like a staycation in 2011. The girls are each going on mission trips with their church youth groups, and since ones in senior high and ones in junior high that means separate places and separate times, which means fewer dates that the whole familys free. Plus, weve had some expenses which have put a squeeze on the budget. So well probably visit Hersheypark for a day or two, and maybe take a day-trip to Washington D.C. or something. Oh, I just remembered
I won a civil war battlefield tour on a United Way auction from a couple of guys who work for the same company as I do, and I still need to arrange that. I won it last year too and they gave us a fantastic tour of Gettysburg.
We're planning a staycation too. I hope the girls love their mission trips, I did one in college that really impacted me. Where are they going?
Hershey is soooo much fun! Have you guys done the Boardwalk area with the water park? Last summer we spent nearly ALL of our time there. It was hot and humid and we were well, moist.
DC is an amazing place, so full of many interesting things to see and do! If you manage to head down, try out the Duck Tour, it's very cool!
Right now I have about 3 different scenarios that Im mulling over:
2) The "use only 3 days of our 7-day passes, saving 4 for the next trip" scenario. Again, preceded by 4 days in Vero, then to Kidani from June 23rd to the 29th or 30th. The idea here would be to save the bulk of our tickets for a future trip. Wed have some relaxing days around the resort and Downtown Disney, and if we throw in a day at Harry Potter and maybe a day at a water park, it may not feel like we got shortchanged on parks. But the question is, can I only spend 3 days of a whole trip visiting Disney parks. And if so, how will I split up visiting 4 parks over 3 days? What if I were to add 1 more day to the tickets? Hmmm.
I like this option but I'd do four days instead of three so you can hit each park for a full day. The WWoHP looks incredible too! We're huge fans and can't wait to experience it.
I never dreamed when we started this game that I'd have so many pictures where Judy was hidden or just a piece of her appeared. For an unplanned game, it was amazing. And all of you worked so hard at spotting her, that I feel like I need to at least give you the final score. A few weeks ago (before Marv accused me of not knowing the score) I went back and pored through all of the previous posts to compile the point totals. I awarded one for each round. Youll notice several people with decimals
those occurred when we had to split the points among 2 or more players for various reasons.
Seriously the best game ever! I wish I'd have de-lurked sooner so I could have participated more and boosted my score... Though I do recall several hair incidents where I'm certain the Rules Committee should've ruled in my favor. But I'm not complaining, even though Marv somehow took second place!
James running the ball during a flag football game.
Future running back in the making!
Marlene "borrowed" my camera one day and took some pictures of the blossoms around our yard. I was unaware of these pictures until I downloaded everything.
Gorgeous! Nice eye Marlene! The cherry blossoms are so lovely in the spring. We drove all the way down to DC and missed them!
This one looks like it's in the style of my fastpass pictures.
Once again, nice fingernails. Very clean.
Lauren's birthday dinner. Tortellini, grilled asparagus, and homemade bread.
She looks so much older now!
Marlene demonstrating that photobombs are just as effective in the foreground of a picture as in the background.
Marlene reminds me of my middle DD, always hamming it up for the camera!
I love Marlenes expression in these next couple of pictures.
Swiffer wasnt left out.
Back to flag football. James was in pursuit on defense.
Marlene at her choir concert. I could tell her choir director was pretty young when she told the audience that the song "Joy to the World" was made popular by a group called "Three Dog
s Night". Oh that hurts.
Another night and another concert. Marlene playing the oboe. (Or "oboephone" as I call it.)
Lauren playing the piccolo in the Memorial Day parade.
Love all the pictures Glenn! The kids sure are busy with extracurricular activities.
A huge THANK YOU goes too everyone who read, and in particular, commented on, this trip report. You have made this such a fun endeavor. Whats more, I got to know many of you through it and I consider you great friends.
It has been such a pleasure reading along. I think this is one of my favorite threads. Thanks for putting so much time and thought into it Glenn, the effort shows.
I plan to take a little break from having my own thread, but Ill be around. If anyones looking for new trip reports to follow, simply look at the signature lines of the posters here, many of whom also have TRs or PTRs in the works, and I encourage you to follow them. Id list them, but I always get myself in trouble by absentmindedly omitting someone
.but please, take this as an opportunity to click on someones TR and post a comment. Tell them Glennbo sent you.
Hmmm, sounds like a disclaimer to me so that you wouldn't look bad for NOT including Marv's TR link. Yes?
See you!
You picked some good ones though (liked how you sneaked in Bubba).
And that voice is priceless.
Great list!!!
Thanks Cherie!
