Our first "grown up" trip to Disney World... but, we still have chaperones.

[Self_resqing_princz]

Hello all! First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to read my rambling.
Second, I wrote a trip report for the trip where we got engaged, almost 4 years ago now. During that trip we went with my DH's parents, DH's sister, brother-in-law and their two kids. That was our "all family" trip... this one is an "all family" trip as well.

This time however, we are going on our second "grown up trip"-- just my husband and I sharing our own room... the first one was our Caribbean cruise, which was about 2 years ago now... and that was our first "grown up" trip.. just my husband and myself.

Let me introduce the characters in this crazy play:
There's Me- Self-Resquing-Princess (Self rescuing princess) a.k.a. Rebecca
There's DH- Mike
his parents:
Lisa and John
my sister-in-law and her husband:
Leena and Alex
and their two kids:
Lisa and Hank
(Some names have been changed to protect the identities of the innocent)

We are going to be gone for 5 days! We (DH and I) leave on a Saturday and come home on a Thursday. We are leaving on a different day than the rest of the crew.

Our flight leaves from Indianapolis airport and we land in Orlando, where we plan to take a taxi to WDW!

We aren't just going because we need a vacation. Well- that's partly it... but.. we're going to celebrate our anniversaries (we were all married in Sept. in-laws have been married 35 years, sister & brother-in-law married 10 years (I think) and as mentioned earlier, DH and I have been married 2 years), AND for Hank's 5th birthday.
It's kind of a tradition that we started when Laura turned 5. The whole family goes for their birthday.

I have been looking forward to this since... well, after my mom stopped giving me a hard time about going on a family vacation with HIS side of the family.
That's a whole other story... here it is:
My youngest brother turned 21 on 9/11 and my dad retired last week. My mom decided she wanted to take the "whole family"- my mom, dad, two younger brothers, my DH and I to Vegas to celebrate. Well, she waits until the last minute to do ANYTHING! So, when she said she wanted to go to Vegas the DAY WE LEFT FOR WDW-- When she KNEW we couldn't go, it made me mad and she said she was doing it because we only go places with his family...... grr! Yes, my mother really is THAT way!

Anyway, so she realizes that my middle brother can't go that weekend either and she finally decides to change the date- and make ME plan it! So, I go with leaving on Jan. 2 or 3. Since both of my brothers are in College they'll be on winter break, dad retired and the only ones that would have to take time off would be DH and I. Fine... at least we all get to go.

Back to the story- So, looking forward to this I got registered the Disboards, ordered the special maps for the parks and marked what I want to do, bought some new clothes, *including a NEON GREEN t-shirt* and made a list of EMH hours...

We also bought tickets for MNSSHP and I decided I wanted to dress up for it... so I've also chosen a costume- Boo from Monster's Inc, in her regular cloths- not her monster costume. I thought: it'll be simple, easy to wear and won't get in the way of getting on and off rides. So, I've gotten the pants for the costume, now I just have to find a shirt that works.

But... I haven't even started packing yet, because I've been too busy! That's the next chapter to this story...

 

[high meadows]

Sometimes it helps to pick a certain time of the year (like spring or fall break) that you keep clear for a special trip with your family of origin to WDW. Then write, call, remind your mom that this is HER special time to fill. It's like assigning Christmas break to one family, Thanksgiving to another. From the older side of the issue, we have taken Thanksgiving for 14 years and grown to like it: much less shopping pressure, happier grandchildren, and Christmas is clear for parties and church.

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Last week I went to Home Depot to get the paint swatches. I got about 25 of them in about 5 different colors.

So, I taped two different ones to my suitcase so I can tell them apart from all the other black medium sized rolly suitcases in the Orlando airport.

I packed for the first time on Monday, after DH and I did about 18 loads of laundry. I made a list of things I had either forgotten or still needed to pack (extra shoes, bathing suit, more socks... I have this thing about wearing wet socks... I HATE IT!).

I... like other Dis posters you know, have a thing for making lists.....
I have a list of things I need to send with the dog to his "great grandparents" house, because they are taking care of him while we're gone; a list of all the errands I have to run before we can leave; and another for all the last minute things I need to do.

Now, I'm going to have to make a list of all the lists I made to make sure I go through all of them.

However, I had to work on Tuesday... but I needed some last minute things. So, I asked the husband to pick them up for me.... bad idea.
My list: plastic pony tail holders, panty liners, tooth paste, travel tooth brush and cold medicine (I get colds easily, especially going from season to season). *I need a face that it's hand is smacking it's forehead. How could I be dumb enough to send the husband for these things?

Issue #1, he had NO idea what the plastic pony tail holders are, what they look like, who makes them or ANYTHING. The only thing I can think of to describe them is, they kind of look like the rubber bands people use when they have braces. But they're plastic. They are small enough to fit around the top of a plastic bottle, but not much bigger... and as I said, they are plastic NOT elastic, so they don't have much stretch to them. Unlike regular ponytail holders they do not come in packs of 3 or 5... they come in little plastic baggies of about 50.

Issue #2, the panty liners... I give him the kind, size, make, model, color and year of the ones I need.
He comes home and says, no one makes this kind, size, color, scent, etc.

But.. I know they do... so, I tell him, no big deal on my way to the post office tomorrow to pick up stamps for post cards, to mail last minute bills and a wedding card, I'll pick up the ponytail holders and the panty liners.
Never ask a man to do a woman's job! Oh well, one more thing to add on one of my lists.

 

[lyncecelia]

Wow...fun mom drama....glad it worked out though!

Can't wait to read more

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

With less than 24 hours to go before we leave: We've got nearly everything packed... however... I am an emotional wreck.

We are leaving our 8 month old puppy home with DH's grandparents... a rambunctious puppy with two 80 year olds, sounds like a handful to me. We are worried he'll run away-- I had him microchipped yesterday, just in case...

We're also worried he'll get underfoot, because he likes to be right next to, or behind, anyone who might be walking anywhere... but specifically to the kitchen.

He's kind of small-- have beagle, half dachshund, all of 16 pounds. So, I'm afraid he'll get underfoot and trip one of them and make them break a hip.
Just the thought of any of the three of them getting hurt is making me sick!

I'm SO worried... and not only about those things. We've never left him alone before. He's just a puppy he doesn't understand that we'll be back. I'm afraid he'll keep them up all night whimpering and crying because he thinks we're leaving him there for good.

I had a breakdown yesterday, just thinking about leaving him... thinking "what if he thinks we're leaving him..."

So, I'm playing emotional tug of war- happy we're going, because I need a vacation... and sad because I have to leave my little guy behind. We don't have the money to take him with us.

I think I'll tell them he doesn't have to get out of his create all that much... so hopefully they'll leave him in there for a while and I'll have to worry less about them... or at least fool myself into not worrying as much.

But I do plan to call... EVERYDAY... Maybe twice a day.

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Trip report: What am I celebrating? Something new everyday...

See you there!