November 5th 2011 Eastern on the Magic

[scottjm]

I thought after nearly 100 pages of posts I should suggest to you all that I am on facebook. Feel free to add me. Also, I want to shamelessly plug my blog The Divine Crash

I like your blog too. Thanks

 

[LovesToRun]

I thought after nearly 100 pages of posts I should suggest to you all that I am on facebook. Feel free to add me. Also, I want to shamelessly plug my blog The Divine Crash

I like your blog, too! You are a good writer.

I sent you a PM, by the way. Not sure if you got it.

Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

Good morning, All!

Not sure if anyone watches the Today Show, but Hoda and Kathi Lee are in Seattle, and they are talking all about Seattle on their show. FUN! Anyway, they just showed a map of the whole Seattle area on TV and described the different areas, and the area where I live was right there on the map. If any of you saw it, I live just east of Seattle (a suburb of Seattle), across Lake Washington in a suburb called Redmond. Anyway, they are filming from Pike's Place Market, and that is a famous and probably most popular tourist spot in Seattle... Eric proposed to me really near Pike's Place Market back in 1995, so it's a special place to us. If any of you ever make it to Seattle, definitely let me know! I can be your personal tour guide.

Then, I might pick up the Steve Jobs biography, or something else.

I am going to get this book, too. Probably not before the cruise, but maybe I'll ask for it for a Christmas present. I definitely want to read his biography.... even though he was the major competitor for DH's company, and we own no Apple products in our house. I still think Steve Jobs was an amazing man!

Just a quick pop in to say, "Hello!"

I'm staying a the MCO Hyatt for this business trip and this morning, when I walked through the lobby, the nice DCL people were setting up their check in table for guests staying there pre-cruise! Just 16 days and then they'll be checking in people for OUR CRUISE!!!!

Michelle

Yay for MCO Hyatt!! So cool you are there!! What is your job, Michelle (if you don't mind me asking), that allows you to travel like this? Sounds fun!! We are going to be staying at the MCO Hyatt on Nov 4!! Can't wait to be one of those people that the DCL people will be setting up to check in!

Greg usually wears a pirate t-shirt and I dress up completely but my outfit is in the back of a storage unit and I cant get to it. So If I can find some sales I may be dressing up, (I hope) If not I will at least have a pirate t-shirt, maybe a head bandana and eye patch. i always do something but prefer to dress up all the way.
I got all these clothes on close out sales and cut them up to be uneven. I had the necklace already which is the gold coin from the POC movie and then bought the Mickey pirate ears. Boots were $10. So very cheap for everything,maybe $30.00
This is what i usually wear. I tried the striped pants many pirate outfits had and whoa not with my figure So I went with the skirt instead.

Kathy

I love your pirate outfit, Kathy!! Too bad you may not be able to find it before you leave. It's really fun!! You are so creative. I found a pirate outfit online that was a super good price and ordered it. It hasn't arrived yet, but I don't know if it'll fit (I just guessed on the size), so if it fits, I'll officially have a real pirate outfit for pirate night, but if it doesn't fit, I'll return it and just wear what I've worn in the past, which is just a black tank top, gray colored capri's, mickey mouse pirate princess ears (with a pink pirate bandana). I am hoping the pirate costume I ordered fits, though!

As for the kids how to settle them down the night before... Well like Kathy's son it is Sean's birthday as well so we will travel to my parents house and go out for dinner. We are having his birthday party with his friends on the 30th at the movies. Hoping they will get some sleep that night as we have to leave early to cross the boarder. I made a binder at work yesterday, yes instead of working...LOL with all my documents that I need, I had to get their dad to sign a travel document etc as we are not together, get the court order etc... So I want to leave early just incase to cross at Buffalo.

Hope everyone had a great night. We were busy, Tap at 5:30 for Meghan, teacher interviews from 6:15-6:45p, drop Meghan at the Boys and Girls club and then took Sean to the dentist... I didn't get in till 8:45p.

Well I better get some work done... Be back later.
Tanya

Tanya, I still think that is so cool that our kids are birthday twins! We are just having a family party for Tyler on the 3rd. We are going to have his "friends" party after we get back, probably closer to Thanksgiving. Tyler wants to have his party at the Flight Museum here in Seattle, which is connected to Boeing, which Boeing is based here in Seattle (probably most everyone knows that already). Anyway, it's a very cool flight museum...

Claire, that's so nice of your boss & coworker to get you the FE!!

Kathy LTR, your party sounds like a blast! I belong to BJ's through work, they pay for our yearly membership, which makes it worth it. Otherwise, I don't know that I would have a membership. We don't have the storage space to buy those mass quantities.

I agree that is so nice of your co-worker to buy you the FE!!!! How cool!! I can't wait to see it.

I have never heard of BJ's, but I assume it's like a Costco or Sams club. Thatis great you get a free membership there! That is a nice perk!

Kathy, you are so close to your goal!! I'm positive you'll make it!

Question from a first timer... is "Formal Night" and "Semi-Formal Night" for the whole family? Christine and I signed up for a dinner at Palo (no kids) and plan to bring some nice clothes... should I also have nice clothes for the kids as well?

I also heard something about Pirate night? Should we come prepared with pirate outfits as well or are those available on the ship for us to use?

I'm so glad I found this board... I'm learning so much from all of you! Thank you all!

- Michael

Michael,

Yes, kids are part of formal night and semi-formal night, that is if the parents choose! I think most families have their kids dress up rather than put them in the kid's club. What we do is we have our kids get all dressed up (the boys wear suits on formal night, and khaki pants and button up shirt on semi-formal) and they eat dinner with us, and then right after dinner (and some family pictures, too), we have them change their clothes, and we put them in the kids club, and then DH and I enjoy the rest of the evening walking around the ship, or sitting in a lounge listening to music all dressed up just by ourselves. It's really great!

And, yes, pirate night is really fun! You bring your own outfit (but they do sell some pirate costume stuff in the store on the ship, but it's pretty pricey). On our very first cruise, I knew about pirate night before the cruise, because our TA had told us all about it. But, I really had a hard time believing that people really dressed up in pirate gear ON a cruise, even though our TA said people reallly get into it. So, we didn't bring any pirate stuff with us at all, because we just really really did not believe the majority dressed up.... we imagined just a few people did. Boy, were we wrong!!!! We ended up being in the minority by not having any pirate gear at all!!!! Honestly, I felt out of place NOT dressing up at all!! So, our next cruise, we brought pirate gear with us, and we fit right in!! So, bring pirate costumes... you'll fit RIGHT in! It's super super fun!!


Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Just checking in for a bit.
The sun has decided to make an appearance this afternoon, yEAH!!

Kathy,
we went to Seattle a few years ago to see the Space needle and other attractions. But the kids and I decided we didnt want to go up that high in the enclosed elevator. Greg didnt want to go alone so we skipped it.
We were eating at a Dennys after dark and looked out the window and saw some guy in the parking lot with an open trunk with a gun

Not sure what he was up to, maybe selling drugs. He came into the restaurant so we ushered everyone up to pay for our meal (which wasnt all eaten yet) and left. I dont think he robbed the restaurant but we wernt sticking around to find out
Thats what I remember about Seattle

Maybe if we had you for a guide that wouldnt have happened. If we come again, I'll let you know

Pikes market is on the Food network all the time. I think its a really neat place.

kathy

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

I can tell the cruise is getting closer by how much more often my Mom is calling with questions.
Hotel booked with cruise package- check
Scooter rental- not yet
Still to do:
Formal and Semiformal outfits picked out
pirate attire
FE
FE gifts
book excursions?

This will be a busy weekend.

 

[scottjm]

I just watched the Dream set sail from Port Canaveral. That is so cool! You could even see kids in the Aqua Duck. Some day we have to get a 3 or 4 day cruise in just to try that thing out! We always want to go for a week or more though.

 

[SLM]

As for reading material, I plan to bring my Kindle. I have a few book titles that I am going to see about getting through the library onto the Kindle the day before. Plus I am going to have to head to the library sometime that week to get a book for DH. He's into nonfiction sports books. Anyone have any recommendations? I'll also get a chapter book or two for DD at the library.[/QUOTE]

Danielle-
I am going to suggest Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand...the author of Seabiscuit. It's part sports (he's a terrible student until he discovers running) and part WWII story (he's captured by the Japanese and the coping skills he learned help him survive the brutality of the camps). My husband couldn't put it down-and it was the subject of my all women's Book Group. Maybe if he read a review on-line on Amazon or if he just Googles the title he'll find a good description.

Sandy

 

[SLM]

I thought after nearly 100 pages of posts I should suggest to you all that I am on facebook. Feel free to add me. Also, I want to shamelessly plug my blog The Divine Crash

I enjoyed reading your blog-you are a very good writer.

 

[LovesToRun]

Hi all,

Just checking in! I've been gone most of the day running errands. But, I got all excited because I went to the mall, which I rarely go to! I'm just not a big shopper, but I have a few things I've been needing to get at the mall, so finally made myself go today. Anyway, there is a Disney Store in the mall now!! I think they added it like 6 months ago (shows how long it's been since I've been to the mall ). But, I had to go in.... when I walked into the Disney Store, I just got all giddy and excited and I almost felt like I do when I get on the Disney Ship... but I know the Disney Ship is like 1,000 times better than just walking into the store.

They had kid's PJ's on sale for 2 for $20, (they are normally $16.50 per pair), so I bought the boys each a pair of new Disney PJ's, and so they now will have new PJ's to wear on the ship...

Kathy what a crazy experience you had in Seattle!!! I wonder which area that Denny's was... yah, there can be some sketchy parts of Seattle, like any big city. My University I went to was right downtown Seattle, and I remember seeing some kind of scary people and things going on in the general vicinity... I didn't go off campus by myself after dark at all, but always went in groups.

But, overall, it's a pretty safe city... not a lot of crazy crime like some other big cities in the USA. But, it's just like any city in that you have to make smart choices when you are downtown, and kind of know where the good and bad areas are.

Yah, the space needle is not for people who do not like to be in closed in places and up hight!! So, you probably did the right thing by skipping it. It's really not as great as everyone makes it out to anyway. I mean, all you have is a super good view of all of Seattle, which IS nice, but there are places in Seattle where you can go and have awesome views of the entire city without having to go up in a tiny elevator and pay a ton of money to do so.

 

[mrp4352]

OK, third time’s the charm. Stupid airport wifi keeps kicking me out. But, this time, I’m outsmarting it! I’m typing my message in word, so I can cut and paste if it happens again!

The weather here in Orlando is BEAUTIFUL! A high of 72 today and nothing higher than 78 through the weekend. The slight nip in the air will be great during Mickey’s Not So Scary tomorrow.

Someone had asked about my job – I work in the Accounts Payable department for Southwest Airlines. I’m out here on training – and was given the option of staying over the weekend, rather than flying home Friday night really, really late and back on Sunday. Aw, man, do I have to???

I’m bringing my Sony Reader for the trip. I probably won’t read a lot, but I will have a little opportunity every now and then, I’m sure. And I’ll bring 1-2 real books – after I got stuck on the tarmac for 2 hours during a thunderstorm and they wouldn’t let us pull out our electronics I’ve gotten where I won’t travel without at least one!

The Dream is a beautiful ship! We loved sailing on her - but I am hard pressed to give up the longer cruises to go back. I guess that's why my next two cruises are on the Magic and Wonder!

So, question for the day – what pre-cruise tasks do you have left? I’m pretty much done except for actual packing. I’m reusing magnets and my wonderful mother finished out our FE gifts over the weekend. It’s just a matter of making it through 10 ½ more days of work!
Have a great evening! Go Rangers!
Michelle

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Glad to see a question of the day,
I have to do things like call to hold the mail and newspaper and charge the battery in our portable DVD player ( to watch on the plane) and charge the camera battery. Those are the types of things that you cant do way ahead of time.

I still need to figure a fix for the corners of the pockets on my FE too. Will tackle that this weekend.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Ok
a few photos today, just random ones.

Here are 3 large Disney figurines I have. Usually they sit in front of the TV.

Here are some of my Toy Story characters. I finally had to move them up high to display them after the dog decided to try to eat Wheezy

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

I just watched the Dream set sail from Port Canaveral. That is so cool! You could even see kids in the Aqua Duck. Some day we have to get a 3 or 4 day cruise in just to try that thing out! We always want to go for a week or more though.

I love watching all the Disney ships pull out on the web cam.

I wasn't able to do it today but most Saturdays and Sundays i manage to catch the ships pulling out. The camera they have now is so much better than the old one. I love the way it zooms way in and it also follows it out the channel much better than the old one.

Kathy

 

[wtgilligan]

I have visited your blog and found it very interesting. love the hat.
I must admit you are very individual and quite different than others I have read and thats meant to be a compliment


Kathy

Glad you like the hat. It was one of the youth group kids. Also the shirt has an amp and plays like a real guitar

I take that as a compliment.

 

[wtgilligan]

Ok
a few photos today, just random ones.

Here are 3 large Disney figurines I have. Usually they sit in front of the TV.

Here are some of my Toy Story characters. I finally had to move them up high to display them after the dog decided to try to eat Wheezy

Kathy

They sit in front of the TV? What do they watch??

 

[NC2WDW]

Wow, lots to read after being absent from the boards yesterday. I made cake balls that look like eyeballs for a Halloween party we are going to this weekend. All these things we have to do between now and the cruise are getting in the way of packing.

To answer question of the day:
Picking up dry cleaning tomorrow. Hem DS pants. Pack the kids and myself on Saturday (hopefully). DH will pack last minute. Get batteries for camera. Get bottled water to carry on. Get some kind of curling iron/curlers for formal night. Make sure pirate outfit works. Sign kids passports.

That was a lot of info but I will refer to this post as my to do list!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

They sit in front of the TV? What do they watch??

They watch the Disney station, of course

 

[wtgilligan]

They watch the Disney station, of course

Of course.

 

[Switzert]

I agree we are trying to get ready of a pumpkin carving party we volunteered to host our neighborhood party one week before we leave. What were we thinking...

 

[LovesToRun]

So, question for the day – what pre-cruise tasks do you have left? I’m pretty much done except for actual packing. I’m reusing magnets and my wonderful mother finished out our FE gifts over the weekend. It’s just a matter of making it through 10 ½ more days of work!
Have a great evening! Go Rangers!
Michelle

This is a good question.

This is my list:

1) make sure I tell the school that my kids will be gone! Otherwise, I'll have a LOT of voicemails at home from the school wondering where my kids are! Then, we'd be in trouble.

2) call our credit card company before we leave to let them know we'll be out of the country, so they won't freeze our darn account saying "suspicious activity has been noticed from charges in St. Thomas and St. Maarten".

3) I have a friend who will be staying at our house while we're gone... I need to give her a key! Big mental sticky note there!

4) Ok, don't laugh... I have to make sure all my shows I watch during the week are set to record on my DVR!!! Can't miss them!

5) do all our laundry in the house, clean the whole house...

6) pay all our bills that will be due while we are gone (don't want late fees!!)

7) Give emergency ship number to my good friend here, and my parents, and DH's parents, just so people have a way to contact us in case of emergency.... let's hope we get no calls! Don't want to deal with emergencies while on vacation.

8) buy sunscreen... lots of sunscreen for us "glow in the dark white" folks!! Much cheaper here in the winter than buying it at the airport in Florida or on the ship.

9) let my neighbors know we'll be gone and let them know a friend will be staying in our house, so our neighbors won't call the police thinking there is an intruder.

10) Set out all our cruise docs, passports, and comfirmation letter for the MCO Hyatt for Nov 4, and all flight info/confirmation #'s... all of these things will go in our carry-on bag.

11) order all the gourmet cupcakes we'll be serving at my 40th bday party on Nov 19, the weekend after we get home. Want to make sure I give them plenty of notice to make them, plus, after vacation, I will still have "vacation brain" which means I'm likely to forget things like this!!

I'm sure there are more things, but these are the main things on the list that I know for sure needs to be done.

Take care,
Kathy