Princess Sydney's Wish Trip PTR

[scouthawkk]

Yes, MD is Maryland. Glad it got there safely. Wow, the dress ended up longer than I had expected. Sorry about that. Hopefully it is light weight and breezy enough that she can stay cool in it. That's so sweet that they don't want to trade those pins. Hopefully you get the other ones you ordered in time! Have a great trip!!!

Jen

 

[visitingapril09]

So glad it got there safe and sound! I didn't know dolphin fabric was so hard to find in BC! So we had to get creative! Glad it fit. I was worried about your little son's shorts! They looked so tiny! But I have 3 1/2 teens now !! So everything for little kids looks tiny! Hope the rest of your planning goes well.

 

[casper_jj11]

Thanks Jen! I had Sydney try it on again this morning. She just LOVES it and overall, it fits well. It just might be a bit long for her. I'm going to have a closer look at it this evening... I may try and shorten it a bit. I've never made 'real' clothes before, just costumes (not so hard to see bad seams when you're sewing fur!). But I do have a sewing machine so I may try it. I'm going to get her to wear it around the house a bit first. If she's comfortable with this length, I'm going to leave it as it is. It looks really cute on her... I'm just a bit worried about the heat.

 

[casper_jj11]

Hi Alison! The shorts fit perfect! Actually, all of them have that he has received. Funny story from last weekend... we were at the pool for swim lessons. Caiden's lessons finish before Sydney's and Lucas' do so we were just on the sideline watching. Caiden started walking across the pool deck and low and behold, not only did his shorts fall, his underwear did too! The look on his face was priceless. I pulled them up a bit shocked myself as this has never happened before and two minutes later, it happened again. Turns out, when DH packed the swim bags, Caiden had already moved his underwear somewhere else. Dh thought Lucas's was missing so grabbed a pair. The end result was two pairs of size 7 undies and a pair of girl undies in the swim bags. Turns out that now that Caiden is completely potty trained, the only thing holding his pants up is his undies! If they're too big, we're in tough straits! Oh, and the size of the shorts in question .... 18 to 24 months! And he'll be 3 in September! He has no bum at all!

 

[jessica52877]

Such wonderful things from the Big Give! What wonderful hearts sending stuff to a wonderful family! I am enjoying all the pictures!

 

[DisneyKings]

On Friday, we received two Big Give parcels! The first was from Deborah in Florida. She sent the most AMAZING note books with personalized carriers along with sand toys that Caiden has claimed as all his.

These are goig to be perfect to keep the kiddos occupied when waiting in the TS restaurants. I could barely get them away from them!

I'm glad they like them--that is the only thing that keeps my 2 yo occupied during long waits & car rides! She loves putting the stickers in her notebook. Hope y'all have a fun trip!

 

[MaeB]

Hi there!

I'm glad the package got there safely. I was afraid my re-purposed Christmas gift wrap and scoth tape would desintegrate in transit. I told myself it would probably be ok, though, since it wasn't going far! It was completely serendipitous that I get involved with this Give. After years of lurking and being in awe of the generosity of people on this board I told myself that I'd find a way to get involved. I couldn't believe it when the next Give was a Canadian one let alone one in Ottawa!

I can't sew well enough to make anything as wonderful as the clothing you've received but I wanted to brighten the day of a family that truly deserves it. In my job I often deal with staff at CHEO and it breaks my heart to think of all the kids there. I wish I could do something for all of them, too!

I'm loving all the updates! Enjoy the rest of the planning!

 

[casper_jj11]

Hi everyone! Time for my evening update. DH finally gets home this evening. I've seen him about 2 days a week since April. He rarely travels so when a spurt like this hits its hard. I miss him, the kids miss him. Anyway, he's on his way home from Chicago this time and there's no more travel planned until our trip. Yeah!

We received another Big Give today! Or should I say, Caiden received a Big Give. He was so pleased with himself that he had a package that was all his. It even had his name on it. Now, that said, there's no way Sydney was going to let him open it all by himself. (Lucas was at a friend's house)

Well, he opened it up and what did he see????

CARS! And three Mickey balloons! One each!

He was so excited to get a shirt for Cars. I had been looking everywhere for one and couldn't find anything now that our Disney Store has closed down. And they played with those balloons half the evening. Blowing it up, letting it go, blowing it up, letting it go. Lots of fun! Thanks so much to David... well, actually David's mom Jenn (xanphylus). The kids loved hearing David's letter. They wanted me to let him know that Caiden loves Mater too and will definitely say 'Hi' for him. Its actually quite funny, Sydney talks about seeing Cinderella dance at Park Fare and Caiden says he's going to see Mater dance too. Today, she told her nanny she had a Sleeping Beauty dress for the bippity boppity boo (in her words ) and Caiden says, he's going to get a Mater dress too ... my mom almost choked it was so funny.

Thank you so much for making my little guy so happy.

 

[xanphylus]

Well, he opened it up and what did he see????

Thank you so much for making my little guy so happy.

That face just made my day!!! And I might say- I already had a great day today and that just topped it all! I love it!!!

Glad he loves the shirt. I will show David in the morning. I am glad we made him so happy. It just melts my heart that picture- I can't get over it!!
I thought he would like it addressed to just him. My DD9 still loves to see her name on the envelope or package. Now, I on the other hand.... don't usually like it as it tends to be bills.... ugh!

David will be very happy when I tell him that Caiden will tell Mater hello for him. I bet he will even do his happy dance.

 

[visitingapril09]

Hi Alison! The shorts fit perfect! Actually, all of them have that he has received. Funny story from last weekend... we were at the pool for swim lessons. Caiden's lessons finish before Sydney's and Lucas' do so we were just on the sideline watching. Caiden started walking across the pool deck and low and behold, not only did his shorts fall, his underwear did too! The look on his face was priceless. I pulled them up a bit shocked myself as this has never happened before and two minutes later, it happened again. Turns out, when DH packed the swim bags, Caiden had already moved his underwear somewhere else. Dh thought Lucas's was missing so grabbed a pair. The end result was two pairs of size 7 undies and a pair of girl undies in the swim bags. Turns out that now that Caiden is completely potty trained, the only thing holding his pants up is his undies! If they're too big, we're in tough straits! Oh, and the size of the shorts in question .... 18 to 24 months! And he'll be 3 in September! He has no bum at all!

My eldest two boys are 14 and almost 18..........They STILL have no bums!!!

 

[casper_jj11]

Good morning I'm so excited! I emailed our coordinator last night to find out when we're getting our package and how we get it and heard back this morning. She has our package! She's going to come by on Tuesday evening to meet us and explain the package! Holy cow! Its real!

Ok, so now I really get to panic. I have a corner in our bedroom where I"ve been piling things. I've been doing a list... well, several lists if I'm going to be honest about it... and they're still so LONG> I feel so far behind! Maybe listing will help me organize a bit....

Today I'm working on getting DS's bday cake ordered. I'm stuck. We'll be a Ohana's for breakfast and CP for dinner but we'll be back at the room at GF for break. Could do it at either... he'd have more fun if its in public I just know it but I need to find the place that we can do a peanut free thing so Sydney can have some too... working on that.

I'm hoping our trading pins come today. They really should be here by now.

I ordered bracelets with our phonen umber on them for the kids. Well, they arrived a few days ago and two are the wrong size. They're resending so I hope they arrive soon.

I need to decide what we're wearing when so I can do a packing list for clothes. I have a general packign list from earlier trips but I need to put one on the computer so its easier to manipulate for each trip.

I need to buy new sneakers for DS2 and myself... I really need todo this soon so we have a chance to break them in a bit.

I need to find a purple T for Lucas and a burgundy T for Caiden... yeah, I know, I'm nuts. We always colour coordinate for our trips. The Big Give has given us some amazing outfits but for the other days, I'd like to colour coordinate. Most of Sydney's clothes is pink so the easiest way to match is for the boys to be in purple or burgundy. I'm missing those two though.... need to finally focus on it!

I need to link our Wish Trip reservation with our personal reservation for the extra 4 days so that we don't need to change rooms. I don't have our documents for the trip yet so that's on hold til then.

I need to confirm the car rental...or at least contact the same agency that GKTW has booked through to see if I can extend it for a decent price. I have a car booked for the extension time through Budget for a fantastic price so I'll switch companies if I have too but it'd be easeir the other way.

STill trying to find a CM reservation for Aug 13th just in case we miss it on our arrival day because of GKTW orientation.

I need to clean the stroller and get it packed in the box for the airplane (big double side by side City Series... fantastic stroller once there but pain in the butt getting there)

I need to print out our itinerary cards... yeah, I know its overkill but I"m used to it and it gives me comfort to have a 'plan' for when we go... that said, I'm startig to get really concerned that I'm overplanning things. I'm so used to TGM style where you do rope drop and head to Dumbo, for example,... maybe this time we should just hang out at the front and meet characters... we've never done that before... and then we can leisurely walk to Fantasyland... its not going anywhere... and hopefully we won't need to worry about lines.... I think I need to simplify my plan for each day but I'm just afraid of missing something the kids really want to do ....

Hmm, what else.... oh, PACK! I usually take a few days to do this but work has been crazy and i"m trying to save vacation days... I need to find time to do it early so I can still buy stuff if stuff is missing ... i just feel unorganized. My house looks like a tornado blew through it and cousins from NF who I haven't seen in years called and are coming by on Saturday so it needs to be cleared by then ... I just don't know when I'm going to get all this done.... the kids love the Countdown to Disney calendar but for each tag being taken off, I stress more

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

I would really work on getting those shoes asap. I tried to tell dh to break in his shoes and he didn't listen. He had one blister after the first park and a second blister along with the first one by the end of the week.

I hope you get your pins soon and recieve the new bracelets asap. The Big Give definately makes it easier to plan what to wear and when. Made it so much easier. Since you are going when it is pretty hot I would pack a gallon size baggie and take either a hand towel from home or one from the villa so you can soak it in water and put it around your neck. We also stopped by the walmart and bought a big thing of water and froze them. I packed 3 per day.

Your almost there

 

[yinyanggirls]

There was a recent TR that had lots of detail about her son with food allergies, and how the restaurants accommodated them. Her name is BlueEyedGirl (might be spaces or dashes in between). She was very happy with what they did for her son.

Just happened to see her post on another TR...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35506983&posted=1#post35506983

 

[J'sMum]

I am so glad to see your list of things you still need to do!! lol I am betting when it comes to that point for us we will be same way and I will have to remember It's Normal !!! I have no doubts you will pull it all together by the end , Don;t most mums? soooo Hugsssss and you will do awesome in getting all this organized

 

[casper_jj11]

I would really work on getting those shoes asap. I tried to tell dh to break in his shoes and he didn't listen. He had one blister after the first park and a second blister along with the first one by the end of the week.

Since you are going when it is pretty hot I would pack a gallon size baggie and take either a hand towel from home or one from the villa so you can soak it in water and put it around your neck. We also stopped by the walmart and bought a big thing of water and froze them. I packed 3 per day.

You're so right about the shoes. I've been meaning to do it for ages but kept putting it off. Sydney has a dental apptmt at lunchtime today so I'm leaving work early to bring her. I plan to take DS2 to get shoes once he wakes from his nap. And then I'm going to go get mine. I'm going to bring our old sneakers to WDW as well, just in case. And thanks so much about the towel advice! What a great idea!

There was a recent TR that had lots of detail about her son with food allergies, and how the restaurants accommodated them. Her name is BlueEyedGirl (might be spaces or dashes in between). She was very happy with what they did for her son.

Just happened to see her post on another TR...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=35506983&posted=1#post35506983

Thank you! Going to check that out next!

I am so glad to see your list of things you still need to do!! lol I am betting when it comes to that point for us we will be same way and I will have to remember It's Normal !!! I have no doubts you will pull it all together by the end , Don;t most mums? soooo Hugsssss and you will do awesome in getting all this organized

I'm hoping I'll get it done... either that or reach the point that I figure that what's not done, doesn't matter too much.

I worked late yesterday so DH was home early with the kids. Figured that since I was late anyway, I may as well stop into the mall and look for tshirts for the boys. Didnt find purple or burgundy but did find grey for both of them... that goes with pink! One day done! I also dropped into the dollar store and picked up the last few things for the kids tinkerbelle bags. On our first trip we started a tradition where when they sleep, on their first night Tink leaves a bag for each of them. They wake that first morning and open their gifts from Tink. It's basically a gift bag that I smuggled into our luggage, packed with little disney things... Our disney store closed down last year so I picked up sunglassses, swimsuits and a small stuffie for each of them. I've bought disney pez, jammies for Sydney, swim ring for CJ and a tshirt for Lucas. I sneak them out of the luggage the first night ... they get so excited! Anyway, shopping for that is DONE!

I also decided I think, after talking with DH that Lucas really is a ham and he'd love to have a cake in a restaurant instead of the room so even though I figure it won't be as nice as if its made at teh GF, I'm going to try and get Main Street BAkery to do his cake... if not, then at our room. We both figure cake at 8am would make the kids sick so Ohana's is out.

Still no pins ... hmmm, I still have two weeks but this seems to be taking a very long time... I hate getting things past customs... its hit or miss as to how long things take to come across the border ...

 

[TinkerbelleMom]

I'm glad my package arrived safely, but even happier it fits AND she likes the dress! With kids you can never tell. Lol. You're going to have a great time, please be sure to share your photos when you get home. I love hearing the TR and seeing pics of our Big Give families.

 

[Mom2mitokids]

Hi Joanne,

Wow...your trip is coming up. You have some beautiful kids. I loved looking at all the pictures. My youngest had a wish in Nov.08 and now my other daughter will be getting hers. We too stayed extra days and will do the same this time. The last time we switched rental vans, but it was such a pain. This time we will stick with the one we get.

 

[casper_jj11]

I'm glad my package arrived safely, but even happier it fits AND she likes the dress! With kids you can never tell. Lol. You're going to have a great time, please be sure to share your photos when you get home. I love hearing the TR and seeing pics of our Big Give families.

Hi Nanci! We'll definitely do a TR when we get back. I love reading the TR made by the wish families... we'll be sure to do one.

Hi Joanne,

Wow...your trip is coming up. You have some beautiful kids. I loved looking at all the pictures. My youngest had a wish in Nov.08 and now my other daughter will be getting hers. We too stayed extra days and will do the same this time. The last time we switched rental vans, but it was such a pain. This time we will stick with the one we get.

Hi Kris! Which company did you rent from? How did you arrange to extend the rental? I'd love to do that but I didn't even know it was possible? Did you do it at the counter or before you left home? I'd love to do this if we could... it would make life so much easier than lugging everyone back to the airport mid trip.

 

[Mom2mitokids]

Hi Nanci! We'll definitely do a TR when we get back. I love reading the TR made by the wish families... we'll be sure to do one.




Hi Kris! Which company did you rent from? How did you arrange to extend the rental? I'd love to do that but I didn't even know it was possible? Did you do it at the counter or before you left home? I'd love to do this if we could... it would make life so much easier than lugging everyone back to the airport mid trip.

MAW prvided us with Avis when we went in 08, but they were $50.00 more than Enterprise(I believe that was the place we went with) for the extra days. Avis is located at the airport as Enterprise was not. Our last day with the MAW part we had to go to the airport to drop off the van, then catch a shuttle to Enterprise. This was a 15 min drive. Time we did all the rental agreement and put luggage in van...it took all day. Not to mention dropping the van off and getting a shuttle back to the airport was a pain. I think it was worth the extra $50 to just keep the same van we were provided with. I just went on the computer and did a search on rental van near the airport and called around. Do you know what rental company you are getting yet?

 

[casper_jj11]

MAW prvided us with Avis when we went in 08, but they were $50.00 more than Enterprise(I believe that was the place we went with) for the extra days. Avis is located at the airport as Enterprise was not. Our last day with the MAW part we had to go to the airport to drop off the van, then catch a shuttle to Enterprise. This was a 15 min drive. Time we did all the rental agreement and put luggage in van...it took all day. Not to mention dropping the van off and getting a shuttle back to the airport was a pain. I think it was worth the extra $50 to just keep the same van we were provided with. I just went on the computer and did a search on rental van near the airport and called around. Do you know what rental company you are getting yet?

The rental is booked by GKTW. Its with National. I"ve got a wonderful minivan rental deal with Budget (also on airport property) for the extension timeframe but National can't come close to it. Do you know if National may extend GKTW rate if they switch the extension to our name?

What a crazy weekend! We had family visit who I haven't seen in years and years. It took ages to clean that house and cook dinner (just in case they could stay) but it was all worth it. It was so nice to see everyone! Despite that, I was still pretty productive! I bought sneakers for me and DS2. I think they'll be fine although we need to wear them a bit more before we go. I'm also going to bring the old sneakers just in case. I measured CJ (DS2) once we got home and low and behold... still below 40in. Now, when Sydney went when she was just 3, she didn't pass the height for Kali (it was only 38in but she had water shoes on). When we went on Soarin the next day, DH suggested she try. I didn't even want to bother... but she made the height requirement... and did again for Test Track, Splash and BTMRR ... so I'm really hoping their sticks are a bit off... CJ is off by about 1/2 in and I really want him to be able to ride. He's such a daredevil ... I know he'd love it.

Let's see, what else, ohhhhh, Grand Floridian called about the cake! I had absolutely no luck getting a peanut free custom made cake for CP but the lady at GF was amazing! Apparently, all chocolate in the US has may contain warning... didn't know that... its different here. Anyway, that's the reason for a problem customizing a cake, because their backer is white chocolate. I'm not worried about the custom part because Sydney won't eat that even though Lucas may. As long as the cake part is safe, I'm ok. I try to avoid 'may contain' but her allergist said its likely ok. Anyway, when she found out DD is a wish child, she offered to make a vanilla cupcake for her... I questioned it because it supposed to be Lucas' special day but she said "But you said she doesn't like chocolate cake much... we really can do a special one for her"... I took it as early pixie dust and said ok (I hope CJ is ok with that ... he loves chocolate so he'll devour the cake anyway). They asked her name so I'm not sure if that'll be on the cupcake or not. Lucas' cake is going to be stitch theme. She suggested fondant so they could do something really fun with it. I can't wait to see it! Its only 6in (could have had 8in) but that'll be enough for us.

I also realized this weekend that I need to get school supplies And back to school clothing All the big sales start in early August and I'll be missing them. Sydney starts Junior Kindergarten this year and Lucas goes to grade 3. I figure the more I get done before we go, the easier it will be to get last minute things when we get back. I went on Disney Store website and found the perfect backpack for Sydney ... Princesses! They had a 20% off sale on til yesterday so I figured I'd take the chance and order it for delivery to GF... we don't get confirmation until tomorrow night that we'll actually be able to stay there even though I've been told its approved so part of me is concerned plans will change and our packages will go no where ... I'm probably worried about nothing though...

I need to order a prepaid phone... DH has his blackberry but my phone won't work in the US... actually doesn't work here most of the time We had cheapo Virgin ones last trip but I didn't top them up and the number was lost. I think its easier to just pay the extra $10 for a new one for this trip... just need to figure it out... anyone know, if you buy a prepaid phone from Walmart, will they activate it for you too? Oh, do the grocery stores like Publix sell these types of phones?

Hope everyone has a great day!