OK, I love reading the trip reports but don't have time to weed through to get from part to another so only get to read a couple a week WAAHHHH!!!!
So ... I'm going to try to get mine in one page so HA!
Hopefully I won't get logged off or lose connection or something while typing ...
Me - Jen, mommy, 32 yrs old, sahm, was a veterinay tech for about 8 yrs and will probably go into something along the lines of post partum doula and/or lactation consultant working for myself once kids are both in school. I had originally wanted to be a vet, but found a whole new passion after having my kids.
DH - Dave, daddy, 35 yrs old, an electronics technician, wonderful dh and awesome daddy.
DD - Caelen, 3 yrs 9 mos old ... such a little girl and is turning into quite the princess.
DS - Connor, 9 mos old (at time of trip, 10 mos now) ... looking like he's going to be all boy ...
My mom - Susan aka Grandmommy, CPA and apparently the only person in the world my children are truly well behaved for, and primary funder for this trip LOL
My dad - David aka Granddaddy, use to be a "floor man" but general jack of all trades and is now keeper of the house and spends a lot of time taking care of my Grandma who broke her hip June of '07. He was just along for the ride and fun for this trip! LOL
This was my husband's 2nd trip as we went for our honeymoon May '02, and my 5th trip. I went once with my mom and grandparents, once with my parents, once my senior year of high school on a chorus/band competition trip and then my and Dave's honeymoon. My dad wanted to go last summer, but I was pregnant with Connor and that would have been fun for NO ONE.
Caelen was sick, threw up and had fever most of the Thursday before. Took her to the dr on Fri just to be on the safe side. By the time we left she was fine. Still a little snotty and coughing but on the road to recovery. My mom was sick as we were leaving.
We started out just before the kid's bedtime Sat Sept 5th in the hopes they'd sleep and we'd get half the drive knocked out. We're about 10-11 hrs from Disney. My parents started out early afternoon. It didn't go well ... Connor was quite upset and it wasn't looking like we were even gonna make it 3 hrs before having to stop for the night!!! He finally konked out and we made it almost halfway, maybe halfway there. Somehow we managed to stop at the same exit as my parents. LOL They however had a much nicer room, we just wanted to have a bed to sleep in ... preferably a clean one. We got a bed.
Connor woke me around 4 am with the fever. Great. We jumped up and ran out as soon as the kids were awake Sun am, I didn't want to hang out in that roach motel any longer than we could help it. Gave Connor some motrin and thankfully he slept a bit and was fine. We drove as far as we could (the kids would tolerate) then stopped for breakfast. The rest of the trip was smooth. We hit the construction just outside our destination and weren't sure we were going the right way anymore. Somehow we ended up driving around the grounds looking for our resort at the same time my parents were!
We were checked in and sorta unpacked and in the pool at our Caribbean Beach get away by 3pm! YES!!! Played in the pool a bit, Caelen was loving it but Connor was over it. Me and Connor went back to the room and started getting ready for ADR in Germany. We were lucky to get connecting rooms and it made it SOOO handy with the kiddos.
We got us all dressed and out the door, caught the bus to Epcot. Caelen kept asking "Is that our bus??" nope ... I think we saw every possibly bus twice before the Epcot bus came and I thought the poor child was going to die. We finally make it onto the bus and the child is in heaven. I actually felt the tears well up watching her so excited to ride a BUS!! ROFL
We made it to Epcot, grabbed a map and headed in. We didn't have much time to get to dinner, just enough, but weren't sure about where since no one believed me it was Germany. It started raining just as we're getting into the park!! As we turned into the World Showcase it quit raining and there was a rainbow!!! My kids' first trip, our first night, our first trip into the parks, and there's a rainbow. Awesome.
We ate at Biergarten, did not know there was a show! LOL We get all sat down with our food and out comes the polka band! Caelen's too busy to eat, Connor's eating everything in sight and was fascinated by the band and I was just busy sucking down 2-3 bites of every single thing on the buffet. OMG it was good. I love German food and the fact that I got to try everythign was just heavenly.
We head out of there and wandered around a bit then headed back to our room and got ready for bed.
Monday!!
Me Dave and Caelen went to Typhoon Lagoon the first part of the day. Ended up staying longer than we had intended, thankfully Connor was perfect for my parents and us being later than we meant to was no problem. =) Dave was sick by this point. Oy. Thankfully Caelen was the only one that ever threw up. We had lunch at the water park. My parents and Connor did some shopping and had lunch and took naps. We got back, and tried to get Caelen to take a nap, no luck. We were hoping we'd get one too, but notsomuch. Then we all headed to Epcot. We didn't realize how much there was to do in Epcot!!! We hit Spaceship Earth and I had Connor in the Ergo and as we got into the dark he laid his head on my chest ... and then I thought ... isn't he going to pick it back up? He was asleep. Slept through it all. Caelen was in heaven. We checked out the Ice Station Cool, and the Nemo thing. Conno slept through Nemo. LOL
Headed for dinner at Marakesh. Mmmmm ... so good. Caelen. Ate. Nothing. She did however throw the fit of all fits and Dave ended up sucking down his supper (he coudln't taste it anyway because of his nose, poor th ing) then took her out so the rest of us could eat in peace. They wandered around a few countries and hit the Kidcot stops while we ate. Caelen was happy about that. Apparently she just wanted to do stuff, not waste time eating, sheesh people DUH.
We stuck around for the fireworks that night. Connor was out again (not tired or anything). Caelen LOVED them, and Connor mostly slept through them, just stirred with the noise a bit. My poor mom was still sick and both her and my backs were screwed up. Fun. Dave was sick too. We stuck it out though!!
We stopped to look at a few things on our way back out of the park and told Caelen we were coming back and could look some more later. Both kids crashed out on the bus and bedtime was a breeze ... except for them not getting baths, yuck LOL
Tues!!!
Magic Kingdom day!! We dind't do near as much as we'd hoped, but the kids' didn't know anydifferent so it was ok. My parents stopped and ate while we took the kids up for some rides. Dave and Caelen rode the carrousel and Dumbo. Connor was asleep anyway so I stayed back and took pics. Then we shopped a little bit. We had NO souvenirs yet!!
Met back up with my parents and headed over to Haunted Mansion. Caelen was a little freaked out, but liked it. Connor was busy trying to climb out of my arms, and he LOVED when something jumped out! LOL Apparently the boy needs a jack-in-the-box for Christmas. Get out of there and find a place to sit and figure out what next.
Head for some lunch, discover Connor LOVES the ducks, kept going after them, then up to the barber for Connor's first haircut. So bittersweet, my little man ... he looks like such a little man now!! We head out for the bus and there are more ducks!! Connor was so excited. He was out the second the bus started moving!
We rest at the room for a little bit to let the kids recuperate, then head back to Epcot for dinner! LOL This time in Norway at Akershus. Caelen fell asleep on the bus going TO Epcot. I thought they were stupposed to fall asleep LEAVING the park, not going. LOL We get both kids loaded in the strolling and moving. Get to Akershus and SURPRISE!!! WE have a princess dinner!! I had no idea!! LOL Caelen was sweetly awakened by Belle!! She looked at her, then resettled and went back to sleep. ROFL She was so sweet and patient with her. Got her woke up and again and that 's when Caelen finally figured out what was going on! Got our pics with Belle, then to our table. Got our food and Caelen was too busy watching for princesses to eat. LOL
All the princesses came around, Caelen gave her "cheese" smile for each one and she looks dimented in all the pics LOL We get done and head back over to the MK. Yes, I'm serious.
We wnated to see the wishes fireworks. We also wanted Caelen to get to ride the monorail. So, somehow we screw up and end up having to then take the ferry boat. LOL We were starting to worry we weren't going to make it in time for the fireworks. We find us a spot to sit, then my parents decide (after I have gotten down to the ground with a sleepig baby in the ergo) that this wasn't a good enough place. Grrr ... get me up, we move and find another place. Get sat down and mom says, "This ain't much better" ... I gave her "The Look" and she decided it was good enough.
Daddy asked about the huge wire running from the castle ... OH YEAH!!! I forgot about the flight of Tinkerbell!!! I told them about that but didn't know when they did it ... DUH ... I wish to all that is good and holy that we'd had the camera for Caelen's face when Tinkerbell flew through the air!!!
After the fireworks we head for the buses. We got separated. I knew it was coming and just barely shouted to my parents ahead and Dave and Caelen behind that we'd meet at the gate. Then me and Connor were swallowed by the crowd. We make it to the front and I can't find anyone. We wait. We look. Yeah, there wasn't time or space to clarify exactly WHERE ... just ... the gate. I finally find Dave and Caelen and was informed that once we got seperated Caelen FREAKED worried about me and Connor. We finally gave up looking for my parents, left them voice mail that we were just going back to the room. HEaded for the bus and there they were. LOL
Got back to the room and me and Caelen got showers, Dave and Connor got to bed. OMG it's already our last night. I tried to pack a little bit so we wouldn't have so much the next am.
WED!!!
Disney's Hollywood Studio's, which I still call it MGM. There were only like 3 things we HAD to do so figured it would be a short day. Load the cars, then hop the bus. LOL Dave, my dad and both kids headed off to look for characters while me and mom did the One Man's Dream exhibit. Then, we had to get some food into the whining one, Caelen. LOL Set mom and the kids up with food and me and Dave and my dad headed for RnR ahhhh ... LOVE it. We did it on our honeymoon and it was my first roller coaster with an inversion. This time was just as awesome. I screamed the whole way. When we stopped all I could see of my dad in front of us was his hair all frizzed out over the back of his seat!! ROFL Dave and my dad shopped a bit while I headed for the potty and back to my mom and the kids. The rest of us ate, then we headed for Muppet Vision. I think Caelen was too tired to truly appreciate it, but I love it =)
We get done there, head to pick up (and out) our free pics that came with our package, and then to the Villain store (something like that). There was a bit of shopping in between all this of course. Caelen found her princess dress that we can't find now LOL Ooops ... Then our goal was to use up what was left of our snacks on our dining plan LOL then head out. Our short, easy day landed us on the bus with two sleeping children at 330.
Got back to the cars and loaded in and on the road ... ::sigh::
Off to the beach we went =)
It was awesome! There were a few blips, some people irritated me (primarily the idiots in the crowds after the fireworks acting like the world would end if they weren't hte first out of the gate), but we had an awesome time.
We had planned (while there LOL) to go back in 4 yrs when the kids are 4 and 7 and would be able to do anything they wanted, but I don't think we're going to make it. I'm having serious withdrawal, and Caelen's been asking when we're goign again LOL We're thinking maybe in 2 yrs now. =)
I made it all in once post, now time to start supper!!!
I'll do pics later when I have time to figure out how ... =(
So ... I'm going to try to get mine in one page so HA!
Hopefully I won't get logged off or lose connection or something while typing ...
Me - Jen, mommy, 32 yrs old, sahm, was a veterinay tech for about 8 yrs and will probably go into something along the lines of post partum doula and/or lactation consultant working for myself once kids are both in school. I had originally wanted to be a vet, but found a whole new passion after having my kids.
DH - Dave, daddy, 35 yrs old, an electronics technician, wonderful dh and awesome daddy.
DD - Caelen, 3 yrs 9 mos old ... such a little girl and is turning into quite the princess.
DS - Connor, 9 mos old (at time of trip, 10 mos now) ... looking like he's going to be all boy ...
My mom - Susan aka Grandmommy, CPA and apparently the only person in the world my children are truly well behaved for, and primary funder for this trip LOL
My dad - David aka Granddaddy, use to be a "floor man" but general jack of all trades and is now keeper of the house and spends a lot of time taking care of my Grandma who broke her hip June of '07. He was just along for the ride and fun for this trip! LOL
This was my husband's 2nd trip as we went for our honeymoon May '02, and my 5th trip. I went once with my mom and grandparents, once with my parents, once my senior year of high school on a chorus/band competition trip and then my and Dave's honeymoon. My dad wanted to go last summer, but I was pregnant with Connor and that would have been fun for NO ONE.
Caelen was sick, threw up and had fever most of the Thursday before. Took her to the dr on Fri just to be on the safe side. By the time we left she was fine. Still a little snotty and coughing but on the road to recovery. My mom was sick as we were leaving.
We started out just before the kid's bedtime Sat Sept 5th in the hopes they'd sleep and we'd get half the drive knocked out. We're about 10-11 hrs from Disney. My parents started out early afternoon. It didn't go well ... Connor was quite upset and it wasn't looking like we were even gonna make it 3 hrs before having to stop for the night!!! He finally konked out and we made it almost halfway, maybe halfway there. Somehow we managed to stop at the same exit as my parents. LOL They however had a much nicer room, we just wanted to have a bed to sleep in ... preferably a clean one. We got a bed.
Connor woke me around 4 am with the fever. Great. We jumped up and ran out as soon as the kids were awake Sun am, I didn't want to hang out in that roach motel any longer than we could help it. Gave Connor some motrin and thankfully he slept a bit and was fine. We drove as far as we could (the kids would tolerate) then stopped for breakfast. The rest of the trip was smooth. We hit the construction just outside our destination and weren't sure we were going the right way anymore. Somehow we ended up driving around the grounds looking for our resort at the same time my parents were!
We were checked in and sorta unpacked and in the pool at our Caribbean Beach get away by 3pm! YES!!! Played in the pool a bit, Caelen was loving it but Connor was over it. Me and Connor went back to the room and started getting ready for ADR in Germany. We were lucky to get connecting rooms and it made it SOOO handy with the kiddos.
We got us all dressed and out the door, caught the bus to Epcot. Caelen kept asking "Is that our bus??" nope ... I think we saw every possibly bus twice before the Epcot bus came and I thought the poor child was going to die. We finally make it onto the bus and the child is in heaven. I actually felt the tears well up watching her so excited to ride a BUS!! ROFL
We made it to Epcot, grabbed a map and headed in. We didn't have much time to get to dinner, just enough, but weren't sure about where since no one believed me it was Germany. It started raining just as we're getting into the park!! As we turned into the World Showcase it quit raining and there was a rainbow!!! My kids' first trip, our first night, our first trip into the parks, and there's a rainbow. Awesome.
We ate at Biergarten, did not know there was a show! LOL We get all sat down with our food and out comes the polka band! Caelen's too busy to eat, Connor's eating everything in sight and was fascinated by the band and I was just busy sucking down 2-3 bites of every single thing on the buffet. OMG it was good. I love German food and the fact that I got to try everythign was just heavenly.
We head out of there and wandered around a bit then headed back to our room and got ready for bed.
Monday!!
Me Dave and Caelen went to Typhoon Lagoon the first part of the day. Ended up staying longer than we had intended, thankfully Connor was perfect for my parents and us being later than we meant to was no problem. =) Dave was sick by this point. Oy. Thankfully Caelen was the only one that ever threw up. We had lunch at the water park. My parents and Connor did some shopping and had lunch and took naps. We got back, and tried to get Caelen to take a nap, no luck. We were hoping we'd get one too, but notsomuch. Then we all headed to Epcot. We didn't realize how much there was to do in Epcot!!! We hit Spaceship Earth and I had Connor in the Ergo and as we got into the dark he laid his head on my chest ... and then I thought ... isn't he going to pick it back up? He was asleep. Slept through it all. Caelen was in heaven. We checked out the Ice Station Cool, and the Nemo thing. Conno slept through Nemo. LOL
Headed for dinner at Marakesh. Mmmmm ... so good. Caelen. Ate. Nothing. She did however throw the fit of all fits and Dave ended up sucking down his supper (he coudln't taste it anyway because of his nose, poor th ing) then took her out so the rest of us could eat in peace. They wandered around a few countries and hit the Kidcot stops while we ate. Caelen was happy about that. Apparently she just wanted to do stuff, not waste time eating, sheesh people DUH.
We stuck around for the fireworks that night. Connor was out again (not tired or anything). Caelen LOVED them, and Connor mostly slept through them, just stirred with the noise a bit. My poor mom was still sick and both her and my backs were screwed up. Fun. Dave was sick too. We stuck it out though!!
We stopped to look at a few things on our way back out of the park and told Caelen we were coming back and could look some more later. Both kids crashed out on the bus and bedtime was a breeze ... except for them not getting baths, yuck LOL
Tues!!!
Magic Kingdom day!! We dind't do near as much as we'd hoped, but the kids' didn't know anydifferent so it was ok. My parents stopped and ate while we took the kids up for some rides. Dave and Caelen rode the carrousel and Dumbo. Connor was asleep anyway so I stayed back and took pics. Then we shopped a little bit. We had NO souvenirs yet!!
Met back up with my parents and headed over to Haunted Mansion. Caelen was a little freaked out, but liked it. Connor was busy trying to climb out of my arms, and he LOVED when something jumped out! LOL Apparently the boy needs a jack-in-the-box for Christmas. Get out of there and find a place to sit and figure out what next.
Head for some lunch, discover Connor LOVES the ducks, kept going after them, then up to the barber for Connor's first haircut. So bittersweet, my little man ... he looks like such a little man now!! We head out for the bus and there are more ducks!! Connor was so excited. He was out the second the bus started moving!
We rest at the room for a little bit to let the kids recuperate, then head back to Epcot for dinner! LOL This time in Norway at Akershus. Caelen fell asleep on the bus going TO Epcot. I thought they were stupposed to fall asleep LEAVING the park, not going. LOL We get both kids loaded in the strolling and moving. Get to Akershus and SURPRISE!!! WE have a princess dinner!! I had no idea!! LOL Caelen was sweetly awakened by Belle!! She looked at her, then resettled and went back to sleep. ROFL She was so sweet and patient with her. Got her woke up and again and that 's when Caelen finally figured out what was going on! Got our pics with Belle, then to our table. Got our food and Caelen was too busy watching for princesses to eat. LOL
All the princesses came around, Caelen gave her "cheese" smile for each one and she looks dimented in all the pics LOL We get done and head back over to the MK. Yes, I'm serious.
We wnated to see the wishes fireworks. We also wanted Caelen to get to ride the monorail. So, somehow we screw up and end up having to then take the ferry boat. LOL We were starting to worry we weren't going to make it in time for the fireworks. We find us a spot to sit, then my parents decide (after I have gotten down to the ground with a sleepig baby in the ergo) that this wasn't a good enough place. Grrr ... get me up, we move and find another place. Get sat down and mom says, "This ain't much better" ... I gave her "The Look" and she decided it was good enough.
Daddy asked about the huge wire running from the castle ... OH YEAH!!! I forgot about the flight of Tinkerbell!!! I told them about that but didn't know when they did it ... DUH ... I wish to all that is good and holy that we'd had the camera for Caelen's face when Tinkerbell flew through the air!!!
After the fireworks we head for the buses. We got separated. I knew it was coming and just barely shouted to my parents ahead and Dave and Caelen behind that we'd meet at the gate. Then me and Connor were swallowed by the crowd. We make it to the front and I can't find anyone. We wait. We look. Yeah, there wasn't time or space to clarify exactly WHERE ... just ... the gate. I finally find Dave and Caelen and was informed that once we got seperated Caelen FREAKED worried about me and Connor. We finally gave up looking for my parents, left them voice mail that we were just going back to the room. HEaded for the bus and there they were. LOL
Got back to the room and me and Caelen got showers, Dave and Connor got to bed. OMG it's already our last night. I tried to pack a little bit so we wouldn't have so much the next am.
WED!!!
Disney's Hollywood Studio's, which I still call it MGM. There were only like 3 things we HAD to do so figured it would be a short day. Load the cars, then hop the bus. LOL Dave, my dad and both kids headed off to look for characters while me and mom did the One Man's Dream exhibit. Then, we had to get some food into the whining one, Caelen. LOL Set mom and the kids up with food and me and Dave and my dad headed for RnR ahhhh ... LOVE it. We did it on our honeymoon and it was my first roller coaster with an inversion. This time was just as awesome. I screamed the whole way. When we stopped all I could see of my dad in front of us was his hair all frizzed out over the back of his seat!! ROFL Dave and my dad shopped a bit while I headed for the potty and back to my mom and the kids. The rest of us ate, then we headed for Muppet Vision. I think Caelen was too tired to truly appreciate it, but I love it =)
We get done there, head to pick up (and out) our free pics that came with our package, and then to the Villain store (something like that). There was a bit of shopping in between all this of course. Caelen found her princess dress that we can't find now LOL Ooops ... Then our goal was to use up what was left of our snacks on our dining plan LOL then head out. Our short, easy day landed us on the bus with two sleeping children at 330.
Got back to the cars and loaded in and on the road ... ::sigh::
Off to the beach we went =)
It was awesome! There were a few blips, some people irritated me (primarily the idiots in the crowds after the fireworks acting like the world would end if they weren't hte first out of the gate), but we had an awesome time.
We had planned (while there LOL) to go back in 4 yrs when the kids are 4 and 7 and would be able to do anything they wanted, but I don't think we're going to make it. I'm having serious withdrawal, and Caelen's been asking when we're goign again LOL We're thinking maybe in 2 yrs now. =)
I made it all in once post, now time to start supper!!!
I'll do pics later when I have time to figure out how ... =(
