Today is the day that we can finally say - we have one month to go! Four weeks today we will be at the airport and raring to go! Five weeks today we will be at Port Canaveral, ready to board the Disney Magic and hopefully embark on the trip of a lifetime (and I am not going to be talking about what we will be doing six weeks today as it is far too depressing)
I still have an extensive "to do" list, which I am chipping away at slowly with the help of Ebay. My semi-formal dress arrived yesterday and it is perfectly acceptable, although it doesn't quite look the same on me as it does on the Ebay picture, but I think it will do the job. I am still hoping to snag a pair of semi-formal dresses for the DDs from a seller on Ebay who sells a lot of lovely Italian prom style dresses. Still need tuxedos for the DSs and that will need sorting over the next couple of weeks. The Halloween costumes are progressing well, and I am still working on our pirate skirts - but I am a lot more chilled about the whole scenario and that is a miracle in itself!
My trip to the fabric warehouse resulted in me picking up some halloweeney (is that a word) fabric which I am using to make some Fish Extender gifts for the girls in our group. I have 13 girls in my group, and 12 boys - and while it is easly to think up gift ideas for the girls - it is really difficult to think of Halloween themed gift ideas for the boys - so if anyone has any suggestions I will be eternally grateful.
So thats the state of play re. the to do list and I should now really be turning my attention to some sort of itinerary for our week in WDW:
PARKS - we have base tickets for this trip and we are not "hoppers" by nature, so it just needs a bit of research into the busy day guide etc and we should have a plan. As we only have 5 days, we will be sticking to Disney, and plan to visit each park for one day, and then vote for our favourite on the last day - and I anticipate a bit of friction here as with 4 teenagers it is very unlikely, nigh impossible that our bunch will all agree! On the Friday we plan to shop in the morning, and have a leisurely lunch, before
MNSSHP in the evening, so effectively another Magic Kingdom day. We may also visit one of the Universal parks on the Sunday after our cruise but that remains to be decided upon at this moment in time (we fly home on the Monday)
DINING - Some of you had better sit down before you read the next sentence.......... So far as dining goes we don't have any fixed plans ( oh no - is that gasps of horror I can hear) - we tend to be go with the flow types and don't make dining arrangements in advance as we find that too restrictive. We plan to eat at Whispering Canyon on our last night in Florida, but we will book that when we get to WDW - we have always done this and have never been disappointed or unable to get a table, so it works for us! We also generally eat off-site more than on-site, and plan to visit the Orlando Ale House and Logan's Roadhouse for two of our evening meals (thanks Verity for the recommendation!). Our dining experiences are also hampered by having in our family two of the most fussy eaters ever encountered, and this necessitates studying menus with the intensity of a lawyer checking over a legal contract before any final decisions are made.
So I am sorry to disappoint you all, but thats the extent of the planning so far (and I can feel myself being evicted from the DIS as I write that), but I am sure it will all fall into place and I will have a more detailed plan of attack in due course.
So what am I most looking forward to - the list is endless! Just being back in Florida and WDW after 3 and a half years will be wonderful in itself, but I suppose if I had to write a list, it would probably look something like this:
1. Spending quality time with my wonderful family, something we don't get to do enough of with our busy lives. Relaxing, chilling our and escaping from reality - isn't that what it's all about!
2. First ever cruise on the Disney Magic, meeting up with our wonderful friends the Balster family, and the other lovely DISers from our meet thread.
3. Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween party - something I have always wanted to do.
4. Riding POTC with the new (or not so new now) adaptations and links to the POTC movies.
5. All the attractions I haven't yet experienced: Expedition Everest, Soarin, Monsters Inc, Toy Story Mania, and there's probably a few more.
so today I have yet another hot date with the sewing machine, in between operating the Taryn (DD) taxi service and if the weather stays nice we may take a walk on the beach later. After writing all of this some relaxation is called for.........
who is waiting for you in Castaway Cay ; soon you'll be snorkeling around his ship ... 
I actually postpned my birthday as I spent the day in the hospital (gynae) where I had an untrasound scan. Fortunately the scan result was completely normal, which rules out anything too serious, but it hasn't solved the problem, as we are back to square one with no cause for my symptoms! I have now been referred to the urology dept for some more tests. Great fun hey!
Sarah you are getting closer & closer. What's going on in your world of preparation?
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Oh well, as long as it's sorted, that's all that matters!!) 
have some fun stress 
laura
