POPing in again! 9/25-10/3 Free Dining PTR

[cuppycake]

Just spoke with our friends a little while ago and I think we've decided to try to go on the Behind the Seeds tour in Epcot!! Oh, I am so excited I could...I could....well, I don't know, I can't think...I'm too excited!!

I've wanted to do this tour for awhile now, but it's just never worked out. With the Living with the Land attraction all of the sudden closed for refurb...this will work out wonderfully!!

Now, I need to see if my other girlfriend, who will be there with us, wants to go on the tour as well. DH will hang with our girls (neither one wants to go..."it will take away time from the fun things, mom".). It will give them some fun time on their own, anyway. They enjoy one on one time with daddy!

Have any of you done this tour?? Think it's going to be worth my time?? Come on, I know you're out there!!!!

 

[MomofCKJ]

I haven't done it but I have friends doing it in 3 weeks! I think it looks really great if you are a gardening fan!

The only tour I've done is Keys to the Kingdom and I loved it!

Allyson

 

[cuppycake]

I haven't done it but I have friends doing it in 3 weeks! I think it looks really great if you are a gardening fan!

The only tour I've done is Keys to the Kingdom and I loved it!

Allyson

Thanks for the info, Allyson. Our friends are also considering the Keys to the Kingdom tour. I'll let them know that you loved it!!

I am a gardening fan and reallly am excited about the tour (I'm a geek that way )

More tonight to catch up on what I've been doing and finish my itinerary (finally!).

 

[cuppycake]

Okay, so I mentioned that my family is one of "those"....matching t-shirts....and I LOVE IT! My DH wasn't too excited the first year that we did this, but he's come to be alright with it....it's just soooo easy to know who is with us! If the girls even take one step away, someone is hearding them back in our direction.

So, I have some lofty goals...let's see if I can accomplish them! Here's the deal.

1-Make shirts for us that match EVERYONE is our group....my friend will do the ones for her family....here is what we're looking at:

Velvet Mickey/Velvet Minnie...designed by Donatalie

2-Make princess shirts for the girls (to match their friends) to wear at our surprise CRT lunch. We MIGHT have them wear the fun tutus that we made (thanks to another thread on the disigns board) with the shirts...we'll see. I just know that we are soooo NOT doing itchy hot princess dresses! BTDT...ewww.

This is for the front:

This would be small, on the back between their shoulder blades:

3-Make t-shirts for our Around the World beer/wine tour for the grown ups (me, DH and two of our friends).

4-Make t-shirts for the girls Around the World tour (sans beer/wine) that we will have CM's sign at the Kidcot stops, and then wear at the end of the week. I need to ask the girls which is their favorite: Here's what I've found that I like!

5-Make outfits for the girls for our AK day. I'm thinking t-shirts with an animal print applique and skirts to match the applique (and maybe t-shirts for DH and I as well). I need to get the technique down from the DIS boutiquer's thread, though!

Here's a link to what I need to do!

Oh man....I just realized that's a lot
Let's see if I can get it done! Sounds like a challenge.

 

[Raecheal]

Thanks for joining in!!

I need to get my act together and get some more stuff going on here. THis week has been nuts with the older one starting 1st grade (UGH!!!). Not much Disney stuff able to happen, but that's changing slowly!! I can't stand how close it's getting now!!!

Wow.. 1st grade... aww..

I love the matching T-shirts... I think it's a great idea. The mickey and minnie pics are my fav.

 

[cuppycake]

Well, it's been a long couple of days.

The good news: The little one and I started work on skirts for the girls' outfits for AK....keep your fingers crossed! I'm winging it to make something simple!! We bought a cute pink leopard print fabric....we'll make the skirt and try to do a mickey head applique to match! I can't wait to see how it all turns out!!

The great news: 1st grade is going VERY well Older DD was the "star student" for the first week and got to take care of the "class pet" over the weekend...a stuffed bear named SPARKLES She had to journal about what he did with us...it was so stinking cute!

The bad news: I DON"T HAVE MY FUN DOCUMENTS YET!! Oh, I know it's a matter of time, but I want to see those suckers!

The really crappy news: Yesterday we had to put one of our dear kitties to sleep. She was 15, and long story short, she had a seizure, I took her to the vet, we thought it might be epilepsy, but blood work showed otherwise. While I was waiting for the results, she had another seizure at home, and I talked with the vet to discover that she most likely had a pancreatic tumor. She was critical and it would have taken a few miracles to even bring her around enough to think about any kind of treatment (and really, there aren't many options). We decided (the vet agreed) that it was best to allow her to go quietly. I'm too sad for words. I'd had this sweet girl since I got my own first apartment after I graduated college. She's moved everywhere with me (2 places in PA, 3 in MD, one in VA, and now here in MO). I will miss her dearly. The girls are doing fine after a rough first night without her. RIP my sweet sweet Bubbie.

 

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

Okay, so I mentioned that my family is one of "those"....matching t-shirts....and I LOVE IT! My DH wasn't too excited the first year that we did this, but he's come to be alright with it....it's just soooo easy to know who is with us! If the girls even take one step away, someone is hearding them back in our direction.

So, I have some lofty goals...let's see if I can accomplish them! Here's the deal.

1-Make shirts for us that match EVERYONE is our group....my friend will do the ones for her family....here is what we're looking at:

Velvet Mickey/Velvet Minnie...designed by Donatalie

2-Make princess shirts for the girls (to match their friends) to wear at our surprise CRT lunch. We MIGHT have them wear the fun tutus that we made (thanks to another thread on the disigns board) with the shirts...we'll see. I just know that we are soooo NOT doing itchy hot princess dresses! BTDT...ewww.

This is for the front:

This would be small, on the back between their shoulder blades:

3-Make t-shirts for our Around the World beer/wine tour for the grown ups (me, DH and two of our friends).

4-Make t-shirts for the girls Around the World tour (sans beer/wine) that we will have CM's sign at the Kidcot stops, and then wear at the end of the week. I need to ask the girls which is their favorite: Here's what I've found that I like!

5-Make outfits for the girls for our AK day. I'm thinking t-shirts with an animal print applique and skirts to match the applique (and maybe t-shirts for DH and I as well). I need to get the technique down from the DIS boutiquer's thread, though!

Here's a link to what I need to do!

Oh man....I just realized that's a lot
Let's see if I can get it done! Sounds like a challenge.

I have my family do the same thing. My husband was also not so thrilled with it the first year but surprisingly went along with it. He figures he doesn't know anyone anyway. I love doing it. I love your selections also. We are using the same Mickey one for our Epcot shirts. I still have to make all of ours except 3 and we leave in 29 days also.

 

[cuppycake]

Okay, well....I started at the end of the list. We worked on skirts last week. They turned out not too bad, considering I'm not a big sewer!!! Here's a picture of Kara modeling hers:

I also have Leah's checked off the list and since we already had everything out, we made scrunchies for our hair to match!

I went today to get the stabilizer that I needed to try the appliques. Maybe sometime this week I'll get my butt in gear and try them.

Kara and I are planning on working on the pillowcases this afternoon when we're finished with lunch. So, hopefully we'll have a pic to post in a little while!

 

[cuppycake]

Oh! I forgot to mention that the girls got their postcards from their fairy godmailers in the mail last week, too! They were so excited to hear that Mickey and the Princesses want to eat with them when we are there!!

I also asked someone to send a postcard to our adult friends who are going at the same time as us. It was Mickey saying that he was excited that they would be at the Food and Wine festival this year. OH THE FUNNY PHONE CALL WE GOT WHEN IT ARRIVED. He left a message mentioning that he got a HAND WRITTEN postcard about them coming and did we get anything like that and that we should call him.

DH called him and played along for a bit...."Why are YOU so speical...OOOH you get a special card, eh? Who'd you pay off for that?" and more intense razzing. I can't mention some of the things he said on here, it's a family site...! He eventually told him that we had asked someone to send the card and all about the Fairy Godmailers. Our friend and his wife are now excited and want to be Fairy Godmailers while we are there. Which reminds me...I only have three names and I need to go and remind folks that I can take on a few more. This is one of the highlights of my trip!!!!

If you are reading this and wondering what the heck I'm talking about....check out this thread...

FAIRY GODMAILERS

 

[Raecheal]

Oh! I forgot to mention that the girls got their postcards from their fairy godmailers in the mail last week, too! They were so excited to hear that Mickey and the Princesses want to eat with them when we are there!! I also asked someone to send a postcard to our adult friends who are going at the same time as us. It was Mickey saying that he was excited that they would be at the Food and Wine festival this year. OH THE FUNNY PHONE CALL WE GOT WHEN IT ARRIVED. He left a message mentioning that he got a HAND WRITTEN postcard about them coming and did we get anything like that and that we should call him. DH called him and played along for a bit...."Why are YOU so speical...OOOH you get a special card, eh? Who'd you pay off for that?" and more intense razzing. I can't mention some of the things he said on here, it's a family site...! He eventually told him that we had asked someone to send the card and all about the Fairy Godmailers. Our friend and his wife are now excited and want to be Fairy Godmailers while we are there. Which reminds me...I only have three names and I need to go and remind folks that I can take on a few more. This is one of the highlights of my trip!!!!

If you are reading this and wondering what the heck I'm talking about....check out this thread...

FAIRY GODMAILERS

Thanks for posting this link... I"ve never heard of it! I'm gonna go check it out!!

 

[cuppycake]

Thanks for posting this link... I"ve never heard of it! I'm gonna go check it out!!

No problem! I'm hoping that some new folks get in on the fun!! The general gist is that you request a postcard from someone who is going before you, then you return the favor to another family (or families...we usually take about 5) while you are there.

It's bunches of fun, and I love to see my girls faces light up when they receive their Mickey mail It also feels so good to know that you're helping others while you are there to experience the magic!!!

 

[dallastxcpa]

Just found your Pre-Trippie. Love it, your family is sooooo cute. And the leapord skirt looks great. Cute idea.

 

[cuppycake]

Found a great thread with the CONFIRMED SNACKS ON THE DDP.

This week, I deleted out the places that we won't be going (the water parks and some of the resorts), shrunk the type size down, and printed out the list. Then, Kara and I cut apart the list and glued it onto 4X6 index cards. We did a great job fiddling with things and ended up with a nice set of easy to look at cheat sheets

 

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

Found a great thread with the CONFIRMED SNACKS ON THE DDP.

This week, I deleted out the places that we won't be going (the water parks and some of the resorts), shrunk the type size down, and printed out the list. Then, Kara and I cut apart the list and glued it onto 4X6 index cards. We did a great job fiddling with things and ended up with a nice set of easy to look at cheat sheets

Ok, I'm jealous. You are more organized than I at this point. I need to get my butt in gear. Any chance you will show pics of them to inspire me?

 

[cuppycake]

Ok, I'm jealous. You are more organized than I at this point. I need to get my butt in gear. Any chance you will show pics of them to inspire me?

HA!! I don't feel very organized. I still need to call ME and give them our correct flight info, and I didn't buy trip insurance yet!! Does that make you feel better? That along with the 4000 other things I have yet to do.....

But, if you need inspiration, I can deliver!! I took pics just to help you out They aren't anything special (though I think I may have the girls add some of their cute Disney stickers to them to help them not be so blah....)...I also want to highlight the park/resort and place for easy reading (add it to the growing list) but here they are:

Feel inspired??

 

[cuppycake]

While I'm posting pics...here's one of a few of the tip envelopes that i printed out (not as beautiful as some that I've seen, but I'm happy with them):

And pics of the pillowcases...I printed out the iron ons and then let the girls pick where they wanted them to be placed. They loved the project!

ETA: They each only have one pillowcase...they both wanted one design on each side

 

[cuppycake]

Just found your Pre-Trippie. Love it, your family is sooooo cute. And the leapord skirt looks great. Cute idea.

Thanks for coming along for the ride! I feel like I should be doing more on here, but it's just not close enough yet I have only about a billion things going on in my head...hopefully this week I can organize some of them!!!

Let's add into the mix that my MIL is in town for a week (leaving next Monday). Thankfully, she understands my Disney obsession (she has traveled with us a few times to the World).

Oh, and don't forget that next week, DH will be traveling for work to Omaha for 3 days in the middle of the week.

Not leaving much major time for my planning!!

Yes. And one more thing. DH will also be voluntarily deploying in Nov. He works for the Dept of Defense, and will be in a supporting role for the military mission. So, no sooner will this trip be over than we'll be doing some more planning....for a long separation between him and us. (He was in Iraq for 4 months last summer, so we've done it before, which helps). What a great way for our family to get some quality time before it all, though, eh?!! And, maybe we'll be planning for some kind of trip during Spring Break as a reconnect (though, it won't be Disney so soon again).

I'm not busy.

 

[GSD4ME]

Hey, Sherri! I found your PTR!!!

 

[GSD4ME]

Sept 07
Celebrating a friend's retirement from the military, and with the grandparents again! We had close to 20 people this time.

That was a fun trip, wasn't it??? 15 adults and TWO kids! LOL!

 

[Malibelle]

HI there! I just came across your PTR while updating mine. We will be there teh same time, we are staying at POP too for the first time.

I love all your plans. I had no idea about the Pay it forward boxes and the fairygodfmailers. So cute! You are going to have a great time!