PTR for 2 Big "O" Birthdays! Now back-TR to follow

[shishigirl]

Im so sorry about your aunt!! You all totally deserve a wonderful vacation!! I hope everything works out for you!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Thanks shishi-she's still hanging on. Her 2 daughters arrived in time (one from WY and the other from Alaska) so that's good. She's been moved to hospice so at least she's comfortable.

Now back to PTR stuff-I just realized that I can check in online at POP in just 3 days-that's how close our trip is getting!

I just saw that Tomorrowland Terrace is open for ADRS on Sundays while we are there. So has anyone ever eaten at the buffet they serve there? I know that the CS isn't open very much and according to most reviews, not very good. Just wonder what they are serving at the buffet.

Planning on going to DLR tomorrow. Planning on getting there early but not planning on staying too late. Only bummer is to get there early I'll have to fight the rush hour traffic. Oh well, the end result will be worth it.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Sadly my aunt lost her fight early yesterday morning. Now she's in a better place where she won't feel any more pain. We are planning to have her memorial herer at our house. It's going to be a week from today, Sept. 8th. One of her daughters is still here, the other will have to come back from WY.

It was hard to figure out a day when everyone would be able to be here. My cousin is leaving around 9-11, my Dsis is going to Utah tomorrow and returning on Sat., we are leaving on 9-12, another cousin is going to the river for Labor Day, other relatives are in nursing and therefore don't have normal schedules.

But I think we picked a day all could be here. So now we need to get the house in order for company. We are going to be ordering food from a local Mexican restaurant so we won't have to do too much cooking.

Oh, and I'm trying to finish up a few of my (work) projects so my customer can get their plans into plan check before I leave so we don't waste 1-1/2 weeks. I think I'm going to need to expand my "Things To Do Before We Leave List".

All should go well, just a few extra things before we leave in 11 days. Tomorrow I can check in online.

UPDATE-the memorial is now going to be on Tuesday night, the 8th. It's basically a chance for friends and family to get together and talk about my aunt and look at pictures, etc. Nothing formal, just a gathering of her loved ones.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Now that we are 10 days from trip start I was able to check-in online! It only took 3-4 minutes and it will be nice to not have to stand there at the counter (or the line) for so long to check-in. Whohoo!

Funny thing is that when I entered my ressie # it said my trip was in only 9 days. No matter how I count it I am 10 days away. I guess it's Disney math. So for those or you who haven't checked in yet you might want to check in 11 days before-Disney may have it as 10 days. And I did confirm that they have the right arrival date-Sept. 12th.

They ask you your appoximate arrival and departure times. Verify the card you used to make your ressie is the one you want tied to your stay. Also ask you for email to send confirmation and contact # while at the world. Oh, and you can request a Pak 'n Play and/or refrigerator. DD is too big for a PnP, that's why I bring a twin airbed with us.

That was all there was to it-very quick. I've read that it only takes a few minutes to check in upon arrival so I can't wait to see. We have dinner ADRs at Kona at 9:50 which I don't think we'll have a problem making. Our flight arrives about 6:30, then we'll be picking up our rental car. (see next post for Alamo Rate drop info ), stop off a Super WM for some breakfast stuff, waters, and diet cokes, and then onto POP. I figure we'll arrive by 8:30 or so-plenty of time to make ADR. While it may seem late to many of you, remember we will still be on California time so for us it'll seem like about 7 p.m. (which is our normal dinner time anyway)

I was thinking if we got there early we could catch Wishes from Poly's beach but it goes at 10 that night. We can however, watch the Electrical Water Pagent. It should be passing by Poly at about 9 p.m.

I woke up early today, about 5:30 a.m. and decided to start getting things ready to pack. I mean, I'm only 10 days away, hope I have enough time. I keep thinking of things I need to remember to bring. Even though this is like my 14th trip to WDW I always worry I'll leave something behind.

A few years back it was my park ticket from a previous trip. 10 day MYW, PH, Non exp. with plusses. I think I had only used 1 or 2 days on it so I didn't want to have to buy another 10 day.... Luckily my 2 Dsis went through my things at home and finally located the card. I had the receipt for it but since it was purchased at the company store (My DNiece was a CM) the ticket number wasn't on the receipt and they couldn't locate the ticket info. I believe I still owe my sisters for that one! Mosts thing I can replace but one thing I need to make sure to bring is DD's birth certificate for her birthday gift. Since it needs to be an original, even if I had it faxed over it wouldn't work, right? If we were here at home I wouldn't need it since she has an AP.

I really need to update my list of things to do and things to bring.

My DM left the house a little while ago to take me DSis to LGB airport for her flight to SLC to visit her DD26 (former DLR CM). Think Designed to Sell! She needs to neutralize her condo to sell it before she leaves for Kansas State. Hot pink walls in the bathroom, aubergine (dark purple) in the kitchen and nook, and pea soup green in the Living Room. Have fun girls!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Okay, so for the past few years, or longer, we have been renting from Alamo. One thing I like about Alamo is that you get to pick out your own car as long as it's the class you booked! When we first started doing this we were able to get a minvan with a built in DVD player. So cool for trips to the beach, etc. The last few years I haven't been able to find one with a DVD player. Guess they got rid of them.

But it's still nice to be able to pick out color, seating options (minivan), cleanliness, mileage, etc.

This year, for now, I have a full size car reserved. The rates for minivans are just astronomical. I've been able to get one for the last 4-5 years for $200-$250 for 10/11 days. This year when I first started looking in July they were running about $1000 for 12 days! Yikes! Since we are only a family of 3 we don't need a minivan, it's just nice to have the room when we make our little side trips to check out the "Real Florida".

So, back in July I booked full size for about $440 (inc. all fees and discounts). Since I know Alamo's rates fluctuate a lot, I've been checking since then and have rebooked several times for less money. Not big drops, but something. However, starting a few days back the rates have really started to fall.

I rebooked on Monday for $291. Last night (Tues) I rebooked it for $248. Then about 1/2 hour after that I rebboked for $235. Since I first booked about 1-1/2 months ago the rates have dropped almost 50%.

Full size, 11 days. 9/12 to 9/23. I.d. SUNPROMO (FL, CA, and HI) and Coupon from Alamot's website for $30 off, AD2123JMC.

I could get a minivan for about $400 (which is way less than the $1000 back in July) but it's still too rich for my blood. That was using the IG code (last minute deals) and above coupon. Hoping minivans will fall some more as I get closer, but if not, I'll be happy with the full size car. Though it's been along time since I've driven a regular car. I currently have a Ford Expedition and before that a Ford Windstar. I like being higher up-I can see further ahead!

So if you are going in Sept. and have booked with Alamo, be sure to check daily for rate changes. It's another reason I like dealing with Alamo-no CC requried to reserve. It means I can rebook and cancel as many times as I like (I think I've done it 8-10 times already this trip!)

And last year when I couldn't find a 7 passenger van we liked (only had 4 and they were dirty and/or smelly) they quickly upgraded me to a Toyota Sienna (8 passenger) for no extra $$ They had at least 20 of them in the garage.

UPDATE-10 a.m. PST. I just rebooked again-the full size is now $216 which is a drop of about $19 since late last night.

 

[Dizneydaz]

As I think I previously mentioned, Belle is in Winter Softball. We finally got our game schedule last night and, yep, she's going to miss the first 2 games (out of 10). But it could have been worse-we get home the night before the 3rd game. Originally all the games were going to be on Sat. but they got so many girls this winter that they had to expand to Thurs. nights as well. Thurs. games will be at 7:15 p.m. which means we'll probably get home on those nights about 9:30. Starting in Oct. that'll mean Belle will be back in school but it shouldn't be a problem-she is a little night owl! Can't get her to go to bed early. She keeps saying she wants to wake up earlier to get ready for Florida time (she says 5:30) but it hasn't happened yet. Right now it's aobut 8:15 and I woke her about 7:30-haven't seen her come downstairs yet.

This year I'm team mom (first time) as well as scorekeeper. Which will be tricky as I can't be in the dugout when I'm keeping score. One of the games we''ll miss is a home game so someone will have to fill in for me. That leaves me with 4 home games to scorekeep. There's one mom who is interested in keeping score so maybe I can get her to do if for me-freeing me up for my Team Mom duties-get the girls ready to bat, wipe their tears, get them doing their chants, etc. You know, real important stuff!

The girls will be getting their uniforms tonight! Our team colors are black and white so we opted for red as our accent color. Red visors, red socks, red names on the back of their jerseys, etc. Belle even got new cleats this seaon, and they are red Nikes.

Tomorrow night after practice our fund raiser cookie dough is coming in. Since our coach and manager can't be there, I'll have to oversee things. I hope the dad who sold 22 tubs at work has a big ice chest! We bought English Toffee and my Dsis' bought Choc. Chip and Oatmeal Raisin. My mom opted out and just paid the $ instead. Belle's other grandparents (birth parents dad and step mom) bought 2 tubs as well. Oh, and I'll be picking up my neighbor's dough as well-only 2, thank goodness. Looks like I'll have to have a big ice chest as well. I think they're fairly big as they hold 3#, enough for 48 cookies. I'm going to have to have room for 7 tubs. Yikes! Looks like I may have to bring 2 ice chests. I don't have a really huge one. I hope the cookies taste good, hate to spend the $ on something that's no good.

If you've seen the national news lately you've seen that all of California is on fire! Not really, but I know that's how it looks. There are a few fires in our general area though not too near. The station fire is huge and it's the one where 2 firefighters lost their lives when their vehicle went down the side of a mountain. Also burning is a fire near Oak Glen which is where we get apples every fall. So far, no structures have been destroyed there, I hope the apple trees are safe too. It's a nice place to get away for a few hours and in the fall you can even see some trees change colors. We don't get too much of that in So. Cal.

Anyway, due to the smoke in the air (luckily most has gone away from us) and our high temps (we've been 100, or more, for at least a week now) we've already had one cancelled practice. It's just too hot for the girls. I hope tonite and tomorrow night are a little cooler. It would be nice to not have to have the air on all night as well-I can' t even stand to look at the meter as it spins so fast! I don't want to see that electric bill. Usually it cools off here at night and we can open the windows and turn off the air, but not in the last week. It's just been too darn hot!

Wheres our marine layer? Where's hurricane Jimena? Moisture please! At least we dont' have the Santa Ana winds too-that would be catastrophic like last Nov. when so many homes burned in the local hills.

We'll I need to go get some breakfast and get Belle up.

 

[shishigirl]

Im so sorry about your Aunt! I hope the memorial goes well for you and your family. Hopefully you will be able to leave all the stress behind and enjoy your vacation. You are an awesome mom! Your daughter is so lucky to have you! How fun to have a team mom! I played softball growing up and dont ever remember having parents help at all (except for the coach). That is a great experience for her and you! Good luck with the games!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Im so sorry about your Aunt! I hope the memorial goes well for you and your family. Hopefully you will be able to leave all the stress behind and enjoy your vacation. You are an awesome mom! Your daughter is so lucky to have you! How fun to have a team mom! I played softball growing up and dont ever remember having parents help at all (except for the coach). That is a great experience for her and you! Good luck with the games!

Thanks shishi! I never played sports as a kid. It was before girls were really encouraged to play, plus with 4 of us I don't think we could have afforded it.

Actually our team has a lot of parental support. Besides the 2 dads who are official coaches (and mom who is manager) we have 3 other dads who are assitant coaches. And that's out of a total of 12 girls (2 are siblings).

I hope our team does well too. We have 5 newbies this season so it'll be interesting. All I care about is that Belle has a good time and learns to play as a team mate. Winning is nice, but not everything. Luckily our manager feels the same way-now I will say that our team last season (same manager) came in 2nd behind #1 who was undefeated. So, winning does feel nice!


Today we may reach 101 so picking up the frozen cookie dough should be interesting.

The girls uniforms came out great! One of the mom made so really cute black,white, and red hair scrunchies.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Okay so today was fun. I got to go to a lab and have some blood drawn. About a month ago while my DSis, Belle, and I were at the local county fair my sister says to me "You have a whole in your head again!". Great! I'm losing my hair again?

About 4-5 years ago I had alopecia. By the time someone noticed the about a quarter size area of no hair on the back of my head it had apparently been growing back for about 1-1/2 years. The dermatologist said it was probably stress related and asked me what was going on 18 months or so ago. Oh, I don't know, my DM was undergoing treatment for breast cancer and a few days before her reconstuction operation I had a suspicious mamo. I had to have a core biopsy. I didn't want me mom to worry while she was being treated so I didn't tell her. Luckily my DM has been cancer free for over 5 years now and my biopsy was negative-"So do you think that was enough stress to make my hair fall out?" Duh, yeah.

So now looking back I think my hair has been falling out for about 2-3 months now. This time I have two areas of hair loss. I'm wearing hair clips most of the time so my bald spots don't show. Luckily they are on the back of my head, near the top, but I can cover them up.

So I went to the dermatologist 2 days ago and he gave me about 12 shots in the head-ouch! And ordered a thyroid test. So that's why I had blood drawn. Oh, and he also ordered a Lupus test! Really, I wonder why? So I have to wait 3-4 days for the results. Just in time for our trip.

If it's my thyroid, I guess I'll take meds for it. Sounds like I can get the $4/month ones which is good since I don't have insurance-it's all on me. So far not too bad-$105 for the office and shots, $68 for the blood test.

So, that's what I did today-the guy who drew the blood was very good, I didn't even feel the needle go in.

Now it's time for softball and cookie dough.

More later

 

[Dizneydaz]

As promised, the rest of my ADRS

Sat., 9/12 Kona dinner 9:20 (one of our fav. TS)
Sun., 9/13 Raglan Road 6:45
Mon., 9/14 Coral Reef 6 p.m. (1st time)
Tues., 9/15 Rose & Crown 7:35 for Illuminations (1st time)
Wed., 9/16 Le Cellier 8:55
Thurs., 9/17 WP Café 7 p.m. (1st time)
Fri., 9/18 Tokyo Dining 7 p.m. (Illuminations at 8 p.m.)
Belle’s 10th Birthday Sept. 19th
Sat., 9/19 Crystal Palace 8 a.m. early entry breakfast (1st time)
Sat. 9/19 Park Fare 1900 6:15 p.m. (1st time with the Steps!)
Sun. 9/20 Tuskers 8 a.m. early entry breakfast (1st time)
Sun.9/20 Citricos 7 p.m. (1st time)
Mon, 9/21 50’s PTC 7:30
Nama’s Birthday Sept. 22nd
Tues., 9/22 Tutto Italia 7 p.m.
Wed., 9/23 ‘Ohana breakfast 10:45 (our newer tradition-eating at a character breakfast before going home, a non-park day)

Sat., 9/12
Originally I had Kona on Sunday, the 13th but when I rebooked our flight for an earlier time (love Southwest rebooking rules!) I now figured we would be done checking in at POP by 8-8:30. Since we’ll have a car we’ll have plenty of time to get to Poly and Kona. I probably could have made it for earlier but I didn’t want to make it too early. If we get to Kona by 9 we’ll be able to see the Electric Water Pageant on the beach. Belle loves spending time on any beach and the beach at Poly is no exception. She loves to dig around in the sand and she usually finds one or two kids to play with as well. We won’t be able to see Wishes this night since it goes off at 10 p.m.

Sun., 9/13
We’ve always enjoyed our meals at RR. Good food. Good servers.

Mon., 9/14
I’ve wanted to eat at CR for awhile now but we have yet to make it. The problem is usually I book for a day it turns out we don’t go into the parks. Hopefully we’ll make it this year.

Tues., 9/15
R & C is another one I’ve wanted to eat at and haven’t made it yet. I booked a time when we can see Illuminations after.

Wed., 9/16
I was able to get an ADR at LC but I’m not sure if we’ll keep this. Trying to decide if we’ll give LC another try.

Thurs., 9/17
WPC. We ate twice at WPE and really enjoyed it. Thought we’d give WPC a try.

Fri., 9/18
EMH p.m. at Epcot and so Illuminations goes off at 8 p.m. We should be able to see it while we eat.

Sat., 9/19
Belle’s 10th Birthday-she’s finally 2 digits
I booked CP early so we can enter MK early that day. I’ve always wanted to be in the parks before opening-we haven’t done it yet.

Also booked PF 1900 for dinner. This will be our first time with the Steps. I hope it’s as good as with the mice. Belle always loved dancing around with Perla and Suzy. Belle went back and forth on this meal. For awhile she wanted Brown Derby but when we checked the menu she changed her mind. She didn’t even care for any of the kid’s meals.

Sunday, 9/20
I booked Tusker’s early breakfast. Again, I’d like to be in the parks prior to opening. I may have a hard time getting Nama to return here. We had dinner here last year and maybe due to the latest of our ADR, it wasn’t very good. Leaving after the park closed, however, was awesome!

I’ve also booked Citrico’s for dinner. We haven’t eaten here before. This is the only 2 TS I’ve booked. We’ve done CG, HBD, and Narcoossee’s before and wanted to try something new.

Monday, 9/21
50’s PTC for dinner. I think this is an EMH p.m. at DHS. We enjoy this restaurant. Food is good, décor is great! Last year our server was only so-so (would fit in better at someplace like Denny’s) but the year before we had a great server!

Tues., 9/22
Nama’s Big “O” Birthday
She chose TI. Belle also wanted to eat her for hers. We ate here last year for the first time and enjoyed it. This year I booked a little earlier so we can be done in time for Illuminations. I love any Disney fireworks and if I can work them into our schedule-great. Last year we were just finishing up when Illum. started so I missed it. Belle and Nama went outside to watch while I settled the bill. I read a hint here that mentioned getting the server to handle the bill early (before we are finished with dessert) so we won’t miss the start. Great Idea! I plan on doing this.

Last day tradition
We’ve eaten at ‘Ohana the last 2 years on our final day. By eating there at 10:45 it gives us time to check out and drive over to Poly. Afterwards we’ll probably hop on the monorail and stop off at GF at Gasparilla Grill for some sandwiches to take on the plane. Our flight doesn’t leave until about 5 p.m. so we’ll have plenty of time.

So those are our ADRS. When we get back I’ll do a TR and then you can see if we kept them all. I may be posting while there. My new boss, and neighbor, will be giving me a HP laptop and I’ll probably be taking it with me so I can to a little work while there. I just have to get an Ethernet cable to use it. So I’ll be a the Happiest Place on Earth and making some money. Best of both worlds!

 

[Dizneydaz]

I promised to say how online booking of ADRS worked for me.... Great! once I was able to log on. Starting back in April when I first booked our trip I tried to access our resort ressie online. It never worked! I kept getting an error message. I even sent an email to Disney and they replied they knew about the problem and were working on it.

So, when I tried to access my ADRS 90+10 I couldn't. I finally bit the bullet and called Disney to see what was the problem. Turns out that my package ressie was tied to my old phone number from like 8 years ago. I have been to WDW 8-9 times since then. Once I gave them my correct phone number I was in! I could access my resort ressie online and therefore book 90+10. Yippee!

Also, funnily, they had Belle as being 4. Turns out they don't automatically change kids ages. I know I've booked online and on the phone since she was 4. Don't know why they didn't adjust her age.

An important thing to remember if you booked some of your ADRS on the phone and some online, your phone ones will probably be linked to your home phone (or whatever # you used when you booked your resort) and your online ones will be linked to your cel phone (since that's the contact # they ask for online.) Just a little FYI.

I've gone back and forth on my ADRS and have done all of it online-I love it-so easy to use!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Okay, so here's a little something off-topic.

Over the last few days I've been listing things for my Dsis on craigslist. She works at one of the big box stores and when she sees a great deal on something that is severly reduced (clearance) she can't stop herself from buying it.

She came over the other day with a brand new, black Fridgedaire dishwsaher, new in box, that she got for only $59. It was on clearance and had been stuck somewhere where no one saw it. The store just wanted to get rid of it. DSis made me a deal-if I would list it on craigs adn sell it she would split the profit with me. Sounded good to me! She also has 3 corded DeWalts that she's had since the first of the year that she needs to sell as well.

So I listed the DW on Saturday and we sold it to a very nice couple on Mon. $200 cash. My cut-$70! More money for Disney.

Yesterday I listed the drills and a guy just left after buying one. Not as much profit as the dw, but I think I'll still get $15. She has 2 more to sell. So if sell them all that's another $45 to add to the pot.

Now I need to take some pictures of some of her Tony Stewart jackets and see if there's any interest in them. Maybe they're collectable since Tony no long drives for HD? (And no, DSis doesn't work for HD, they don't allow their employees to buy clearance merchandise.)

So, it's not like I don't have enought to do in the 8 days (about 190 hours) before we leave, what with getting the house ready for company for my Aunt's memorial, making sure my fridge swap is all in order, finishing up a few projects so I can get paid before I leave and they can go into plan check, packing, finding last years tickets, scheduling bill payments, etc., etc., etc......now I'm selling stuff on craigslist.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Okay, so I haven't posted any pictures since my first post, heres a few.

These are from Disneyland on Aug. 16th. Belle, my younger Dsis, and myself

Belle and I on Mickey's Fun Wheel

Belle and my Dsis

Belle posing in TL

 

[Dizneydaz]

I was just checking the Transportation Board and saw a post about SW Early Bird Check-in so I checked it out.

For $10/per person/each way instead of being able to check in 24 hours before your flight on SW you will be automatically checked in 36 hours before. Fliers who bought Business Select and Fly Anytimes fares will be assigned their boarding passes first. Then the Wanna get Away fares will be assigned. I talked to my DM and we decided it was a good idea. Even with paying another $20 each our airfare is still very reasonable. ($189 plus fees)

It's my understanding that the sooner you pay for the early-bird, the lower number you'll get. So if you are booking SW soon, you might want to go ahead and do the EBCI (Early Bird Check in).

I did, briefly, consider only having one of us (me) do EBCI and then save Belle and Nama their seats. But we decided to do EBCI for all 3 of us.

Still cheaper than paying baggage fees!

So now instead of having to check in at 9 a.m. on Friday, 9/11, I can print out our boarding passes anytime after 9 p.m. on Thursday, 9/10.

Even better on our return-I wont' have to have my DSis check us in at 5:50 p.m. (2:50 pst) the day before our flight (9/22).

One less thing to worry about forgetting!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Okay, so I know we're getting close when I can start getting the weather for our trip on weather.com

Here's the forecast for our first 3 days (arrival day plus 2)

Sat
Sep 12 Isolated T-Storms 88°/74° 30 %
Sun
Sep 13 Scattered T-Storms 88°/75° 60 %
Mon
Sep 14 Scattered T-Storms 89°/75° 60 %
Last Updated Sep 5 03:09 p.m. ET

Not too bad! We actually like some stormy weather (I know we are a little strange!) Most likely the prediction will change as we get closer.

And I checked with the National Hurricane Center and it looks pretty good as well. Nothing major is in the near forecast.

89 sounds good to me-we've been over 100 for about 2 weeks now and I'm getting tired of it! Plus, we've actually had some humidity, which we usually don't have. Add to that some smoke in the air and it's been kind of yucky!

Looks like our weather is cooling down which is good for fighting fires, good for softball practice, and great for saving electricity (a/c off at night!)

 

[Dizneydaz]

So here's what I've done so far today-

Painted coffee table and side table dark brown so they won't clash with coach anymore. Funny how you let things go until you have company coming over. Most of our relatives will be here Tues. evening for Aunt's memorial.

Speaking of the memorial my DM and I were discussing what dessert to serve. It doesn't seem like the occasion calls for a decorated cake or pie. Today she decided on getting some cheesecake from Sam's club. My Aunt loved cheesecake.

Also painted last piece of baseboard in baby's room. When I first painted it, it was behind the bed and I didn't move it.

Also, in preparation for upcoming trip I deleted alot of DVR recordings that are scheduled for while we are gone. The new t.v. season will start while we are gone and I want to make sure my DVR has enough room for upcoming shows. You might think I'm strange but I record Gilmore Girls so I have something to watch when there's nothing else on. I really liked that show-so well written. I also record episodes of MASH for the same reason.

Right now I can't delete programs all the way to the 23rd, I can only go to the 9/19 so I'll have to keep removing programs.

Additionally, I've been running a fridge swap at POP for a little over 3 years now. It's one of the few remaining original ones-maybe the only one with the same organizer.

So, I've been going through and organizing my PMs for the swap. Since you can only store 120 PM my PM box gets full really fast. Once I have a swapper who has confirmed with me by sending me their info I then take that PM and retitle it with the disboard name and dates and forward to myself. Then I can put it in my "Fridge Info" folder so it's easier to keep track of. Once h someone has passed the fridge onto the next swapper then I delete their info. I've also sent out a few PMs to make sure the upcoming swappers are all set. So that's what else I've been doing today while watching some H.I. programs on DVR.

And I made up a list of upcoming fridge swappers to tape to our fridge letting everyone know who our fridge belongs to and if you're not in the Disneydaz swap, you have the wrong fridge-please return it to luggage services.

Oh, and I still need to send emails to my friends who are sharing PP CD with me. Need to get them the account name and log in info.

Still looking for last year's trip info I saved. I know that's where I'll find our tickets .

 

[joelp]

The girls uniforms came out great! One of the mom made so really cute black,white, and red hair scrunchies.

Girl's softball is obviously WAAAAY different than boy's baseball!!!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Girl's softball is obviously WAAAAY different than boy's baseball!!!

What, no hair scrunchies?? They probably don't do any chanting either.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Okay so today Belle's grandparents (her birth mom's parents) came over to celebrate Belle's birthday a little early. They took us out to lunch-Belle picked Macaroni Grill, one of her favs. We had a nice lunch. We go there for dinner usually so I wasn't familiar with the lunch menu.

Belle had her fav-fettuciini. I had the Trio for lunch. I picked Caesar salad, tomato/basil/tortellini soup, and the Sicilian pizza. Only 8.99 which is pretty good.

Between the 5 of us we ate 2 loaves of bread. It's so good. I doctor the olive oil with balsamic vinegar, pepper, and some salt. Belle's Grandpa like it so much that I think he at one whole loaf himself. He loved the addition of the salt.

I let our server know we were celebrating Belle's birthday a little early so at the end of the meal she brought her her ice cream and granache and a nice large piece of chocolate cake, ganache on the side. It was perfec since Belle doesn't like choc. cake so the rest of us shared it while she at her ice cream and ganache. I very nice meal. I took home about 1/2 of my soup and 3/4 of my pizza. And a new loaf of bread. I love leftovers.

So, it's official, Belle's birthday celebrations have already begun. Just a precursor to her birthday extravagancy starting at WDW on the 12th!

I'm thinking of going to DLR tomorrow. It's actually not a black out day for us (today was ). I want to go once or twice before we leave-mostly to get some PP taken so I can use up my store pile of DV free 5 x7 that exp. on 9/27. 4 days after we get back.

Tuesday is my Aunt's memorial , Wed. Belle has a scrimmage (practice) game at softball, Thursday is also a scrimmage game or at least a practice, and Friday is the day before we leave. There's a possibility of going Thurs. I would let Belle skip practice since we won't be here for the first 2 games anyway. It wouldn't make that big of a difference, right?

I figure if we go tomorrow and try to get there at opening we can leave before it gets too late. There shouldn't be any trafffic tomorrow. DL opens at 8 a.m. and DCA at 10 a.m.

The 3 of us have been waking up a little earlier to get used to the time change so waking up earlier tomorrow to go to DLR fits right in our plans. I haven't been to DLR on Labor Day, as far as I remember. It'll be interesting to see how crowded it gets. I'll report about it here.

 

[shishigirl]

Sounds like you are soo ready to go! You are so organized! Hope everything goes well with your family. So funny about the DVR thing. I just deleted a bunch of fluff shows I had recorded over the summer, since there is nothing else to watch, to get ready for the new season too!

I also sent you an email about your cd share. I know this is the last you need to check out with all the things you've got going this week with your aunt and family! Sorry if its a bad time. Thanks!!

Oh, and I still need to send emails to my friends who are sharing PP CD with me. Need to get them the account name and log in info.