No cats to herd this time! It's just the two of us!UPDATED 11/24-DIS Meet & Departure

[mom2mek]

this is hysterical i know exactly where you are coming from i'm sure i could talk Disney all day every day if i didn't think about what i'm saying!!!

subbing to your report as i can't wait to hear about the planning!

the photos of your children are beautiful xx

That's why places like the DIS are great - we can "talk" and "talk all we want here - we are in great company!

I'm enjoying your "old" pictures! It is neat to see your children growing right before my very eyes! You guys always look like you are having fun - even if there are moments in between.

Are you tired of looking at those same old pictures every time I start one of these things Michelle?

We do always have a lot of fun, overall!

Holy Smokes that is a lot of people!!!! I was stressed when we took a trip one year with 9 people, then our next trip with 8 people. It will definitly be a change for you going only with the 2 of you.

Loving your past pictures!

LOL - Thanks! Yes it was a lot of people to herd around, especially being the only "planner"! I will post pics of our October trip next - it was just 8 of us! Piece of cake after the Thanksgiving trip!



Woo-hoo! 2 weeks from today I will be on my way to the Poly and to the most magical place in the world.....DISNEY WORLD!



Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Woo-hoo! 2 weeks from today I will be on my way to the Poly and to the most magical place in the world.....DISNEY WORLD!

Woo Hoo! I can't believe how quick are trips are approaching! All of sudden we are two weeks away!

 

[kaysmommie]

you started your pre TR. Love the pictures from your 2006 trip. I can't believe how much your kids have grown since then. Katie is just a baby. But I'm also shocked when I look at pics of my kids from that year too. They are growing up way too fast! I try not to use talk about Disney to non disney people too . I know lots of people who probably make fun of me behind my back for being a Disney freak. Just two more weeks until your at Poly with out kids .

 

[mom2mek]

Woo Hoo! I can't believe how quick are trips are approaching! All of sudden we are two weeks away!

I know! Woo-hoo! I have done so little to plan for this trip! What's wrong with me? Ahhhh!!!!!

you started your pre TR. Love the pictures from your 2006 trip. I can't believe how much your kids have grown since then. Katie is just a baby. But I'm also shocked when I look at pics of my kids from that year too. They are growing up way too fast! I try not to use talk about Disney to non disney people too . I know lots of people who probably make fun of me behind my back for being a Disney freak. Just two more weeks until your at Poly with out kids .

Yay - glad you found me Nichole! Isn't it amazing how fast our kids are growing? I started re-reading your Poly trip from 2007 today, so I could gleam any "Poly-specific" trip stuff! I can't wait to stay there! I do hope we have a clean room though - I forgot about that litte tidbit of info from your trip! Ick.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who make fun of me behind my back too.... Oh well! We are in good company here!

Can't wait to hopefully meet up while we are there!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Double post....sorry.

 

[kaysmommie]

I sent you a PM, check in your inbox . As far as Poly our stay in 2006 was great but 2007 the room was a little nasty. What building are you requesting? I think Tokelau and Samoa are good locations for garden views. Not sure where is best if your in a lagoon view. I would want to be in Hawaii building . If your is not clean when you check in just call the front desk.

 

[KathyRN137]

Love the pictures!! It's so much fun to see how the kids have grown! I never read your "Sick Trip" Report... do I want to?? You can't make that stuff up if you tried, right??

It's going to feel so strange for you being at WDW with no gigantic herd to keep track of!


Kathy

 

[mom2mek]

Love the pictures!! It's so much fun to see how the kids have grown! I never read your "Sick Trip" Report... do I want to?? You can't make that stuff up if you tried, right??

It's going to feel so strange for you being at WDW with no gigantic herd to keep track of!


Kathy

Kathy! I don't know if you really want to read that! I didn't really do one though....that trip was pre-dis, pre-tgm, pre-everything!! However, when I started my pre-trip for the Thanksgiving one, I did a sort of Trip-Report-Within-A-Pre-Trip-Report "thing"! So, it's pretty much there! My daughter Emily (2 1/2 at the time) pretty much had it the worst, but it did go through almost all 12 of us. I think my sister and Shawn were the only two "spared"!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Pre-Trip - October Trip Review as told through a few photos....

6 1/2 months ago, we took our slightly-less-large group of 8 down to Disney for my daughter's 4th birthday! The cast was the 5 of us, plus my parents, and my MIL. We stayed in a 3 bedroom townhouse in Windsor Hills (which was fabulous - only/best way to go with a big group (offsite houses) and Windsor Hills was a really nice resort and only 1 1/2 miles to Disney)!

So, here are some of my favorite pics of this trip (to save you the time of having to read the whole dag-um thing!)

First day - Epcot! First family in to the Characer Connection (while Shawn and step-dad went to get FPs for Soarin)

We had a great anniversary lunch at the Coral Reef, complete with personalized menus and a diver:

Got completely drenched that night trying to stay for Illuminations:

Second Day – Kona for lunch and then MNSSHP (This is the first time we had been to the Poly….Love at First Sight!!!)

Continued....

 

[mom2mek]

...Continued....

3rd Day – Katie’s Birthday – MK for the BBB for the girls, Archery at FW for Michael, then dinner at Park Fare, followed by Spectro:

(I call this one the Siamese twin shot – looks like they are joined in the middle, each with one arm, one leg):

Day 4 – DHS – TSM, parade, Sci-Fi for dinner (among other things):

Day 5- MK – early CP breakfast, followed by a blissfully uncrowded Columbus Day!

Ok, enough about all those other trips….now I’m going to get going on some plans for this trip!!! LOL!

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

I love, love, love your October trip pictures! It was great to relive that with you again. The fall decorations are so pretty and you guys all looked great! One of these days I'm going to crash one of your family vacations - what's one more, right? You probably wouldn't even notice!

 

[ladybugmom]

Hey Sara!! I just found your PTR link in your siggy!! Whoo hoo for 2 weeks!! Maybe I missed it but what are the exact dates of your trip? I'm just wondering how our trips overlap with us staying at the Poly as well.

 

[mom2mek]

I love, love, love your October trip pictures! It was great to relive that with you again. The fall decorations are so pretty and you guys all looked great! One of these days I'm going to crash one of your family vacations - what's one more, right? You probably wouldn't even notice!

Yes - you should, Michelle - you would blend right in!

Hey Sara!! I just found your PTR link in your siggy!! Whoo hoo for 2 weeks!! Maybe I missed it but what are the exact dates of your trip? I'm just wondering how our trips overlap with us staying at the Poly as well.

Hey Becky! Glad you found me! We are arriving on the 13th, leaving on the 17th. It would be great is we ran into eachother! I'm getting so excited!

Sara

 

[KathyRN137]

Now that last trip, I definitely remember reading about!!


Kathy

 

[mom2mek]

Now that last trip, I definitely remember reading about!!


Kathy

Could it be that I just finished it, oh....a couple of weeks ago? I am so bad. (But at least I know I'm in good company Kathy! )

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Let me update with a little side-bar about our new family member.

About 6 weeks ago, Shawn and I decided we had gone too long without a dog (we put our beloved Boxer, Sam, to sleep last year) and we wanted to surprise the kids with a puppy for Easter!

We researched and found what we believed was a good and very reputable breeder and picked out our puppy. Here is her picture when she was just a month old:

Needless to say, Shawn and I immediately fell in love with her. We got some updated pics while we waited to be able to go pick her up, and she looked like she was doing very well!

The day before we were supposed to pick her up (which was the Saturday before Easter) the breeder called us and told us that she had a "bout" of worms. Ok, ok...it's common in puppies, I shouldn't be worried. I was glad the breeder seemed to want to take care of her through all of it before letting her go. I was thinking from his point of view, he loves the puppy and he doesn't "know" us, so he wanted to make sure she was totally taken care of before handing her over to some strangers.

That's what I thought anyway....

We called a few times during the week to see how she was doing, and all we got was that she was doing better, had lost a little weight, and he wanted her to get her strength back before letting her go. WOuld probably be ok to go that weekend (one week after we were supposed to get her). So on Friday afternoon, he called and said we could come get her on Saturday. We left that next morning around 6:30 am to drive up towards Washington DC and pick her up. We were both so excited about surprising the kids!

When we got her, she was very sleepy and pretty skinny. But we both just figured that she was still regaining her strength, and that soon enough she would be normal. We paid the man and left with our puppy.


Here she is when we brought her home (those are 3 Boston terrier webkinz in the basket - she is all the way to the right in the basket - yes the Webkinz dwarfed her) The kids were very surprised!

For that day, and the next (Sat and Sun) she did nothing but sleep. She occasionally used the potty, but she hardly ate and never really played. We had a vet appt for her scheduled for Tuesday, but re-scheduled for the 1st appt we could get on Monday morning.

Well, come to find out, we had a VERY sick little puppy.

Turns out she didn't just have roundworms (common in pups), she had two other parasites (giardia and toxcidia - I have no idea if I'm spelling those correctly). She had not been receiving treatment for either of those and consequently her proteins and red blood counts in her blood were SO LOW she was near death. The only thing that MIGHT save her the vet said, was a blood transfusion.

She spent the next few days in the vet hospital during the day, and with us at night. She was on four medications and had the blood transfusion and IV fluids constantly. But it worked. $1500 later, (not including the cost of the puppy) and we have our sweet little Jellybean home safe and sound and acting like a real puppy!

Come to find out, the breeder did not disclose a lot of information to us, including the fact that her tests that his vet did also showed giardia (but she wasn't being given treatment for it) and that one of her littermates DIED 2 days before we were supposed to originally pick her up!!! And guess what the State Lab concluded she died of? Yup - Giardia!

What a jerk! Plus, giardia and toxcidia are both transferable to people. So this jerk put my children at risk!!!

I came "this close" to cancelling our trip due to the unexpected $ outlay for her care, but Shawn piped up with "I'm not letting that jerk ruin our trip!"

End result - Jellybean is a crazy, normal, ankle-biting, sweet, cuddly, lovable, Boston Terrier puppy and breeder man has refunded the money we paid for the puppy. However, we will be pursuing reimbursement for the other charges as what he did actually is a Class 3 Misdemeanor under VA law. I plan on making some calls to have his facility inspected as well. From all accounts, he was a reputable breeder who was regularly inspected by the AKC, but he really fouled up here and should be held accountable for that baby. Had we not come to get her, she would have been dead in a week.

All he had to do was disclose to us all that we were entitled to know - if we had then made the decision to NOT take her (as hard as that would have been), he would have done nothing wrong in regards to the sale of the puppy. But he did not do that. He knowingly sold us a puppy that had a parasite that killed one of her littermates TWO days before we were supposed to get her. And he sold us that puppy knowing that we had children. Infuriating!

Anyway, here she is now...gaining weight, causing trouble, chewing up stuff, and loving us as much as we love her! I truly think she was meant for us!

Here is a before/after pic...not altered at all and you can see the difference in her face, her color, everything....

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Aw! Even though I already knew the Jellybean story I still got a little misty eyed reading about it all again. I'm so happy she is doing so well! And that your trip is on!

 

[KathyRN137]

Awww, poor little Jellybean! I'm glad she found such a loving family; she's going to have a very happy life!

Grrr! I hope that breeder learned his lesson...


Kathy

 

[ladybugmom]

Oh my word!! I cannot believe the breeder kept that from you!! I'd be TICKED!! But so glad to hear that Jellybean is doing well, now!!

 

[mom2mek]

QUOTE=mkluvsmickey;31596604]Aw! Even though I already knew the Jellybean story I still got a little misty eyed reading about it all again. I'm so happy she is doing so well! And that your trip is on! [/QUOTE]
Thanks Michelle! I hopoe you can meet her in June when you come to VA!!

Awww, poor little Jellybean! I'm glad she found such a loving family; she's going to have a very happy life!

Grrr! I hope that breeder learned his lesson...


Kathy

I hope he does too!

Oh my word!! I cannot believe the breeder kept that from you!! I'd be TICKED!! But so glad to hear that Jellybean is doing well, now!!

She is a joy, Becky! Of course she is trying to eat the laptop right now!

We are going to miss her when we go!

Sara