Sew much to do, sew little time - but it was worth it! New PTR link posted! ~~~~~~~~~

[smile5sunshine]

It was upsetting, because it happened while Josh was in Iraq - it wasn't until he came home that he discovered all the mistakes - so they called in the inspector, and at that point they had to pull down the entire front of the house (and I believe the side walls as well) and rebuild it. Thankfully - this was before the stone masons started their work.

Yah, I would have to say that the year Josh built us the porta-potty is probably the best story. LOL It was the first time we stayed in the garage, and Josh was home on his R&R from Iraq - we weren't thinking when we went up there, and once we got there it was "Doh! Where do we go to the bathroom?" LOL So, Josh had to build us a porta-potty temporarily until one could be delivered. LOL Trust me - I was laughing so hard...

(The garage in the background)

I apologize for the awful pictures... These were taken when a 3MP camera was what we owned.

Now that port a potty is just plain CLASSY!

(I hope you know I am just kidding! You do what you gatta do!)

Thanks! All I ever wear is flip flops - I despise wearing regular shoes.

I love the story behind the lake house too - it's just so sweet. And I love that we have pictures of so many generations growing up there. The best part, really, is when Josh's dad built - he put so much thought into every little detail. Most especially the window placement and how he arranged the inside. You can be sitting inside the cabin and it feels just like you are sitting in the old cabin, because looking out the windows is the same exact view, and eating at the table, because it is placed in the exact same location, is just like being in the old cabin. It's just very peacefull that way.

I am the same way about the flip flops. I LIVE in them. My foot is the ONLY area of my body with any sort of tan whatsoever! HA!

Can you just imagine how many memories are stored up in that little house?

Yesterday was just a crazy day here!

I spend almost the entire day in my sewing room. I was able to make good progress on my next bag. But because of my work schedule this week, I really need to be extra diligent in there to get it finished.

Josh spent the entire day in the garden - while we were gone it became overgrown with weeds, and a lot of stuff was ready to be picked. We ended up with some fresh carrots, sweet peas, beans and radishes. We also have a salad garden in our yard that we've been cutting fresh lettuce from for a few weeks - I LOVE it!

Then I had to run the girls to my BFF's house - they are staying with her for a few days to help with her garage sale.

And last night, my next door neighbor and I went out for dinner - it was fun. Then we went grocery shopping... I can't believe how little I got and how expensive it was. Very sad!

I have to work today, fortunately, it's a short shift. I hope to get back here and work for a couple hours in my sewing room.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

D~

Yesterday sounded nice, if busy. Hurray for all the produce your garden is returning! That should help out at the grocery store! (Dang those rising prices!) Hope work is good and you are able to finish up the bag you are working on soon.

Sunshine

 

[VBAndrea]

We won't tell your FIL -- pinky swear So next summer the Dismeet is in MN!!! I can't wait!

 

[DMGeurts]

This is it, our last day...

I let the girls sleep as long as I could and woke them at 8:30. We still had a lot of packing to do, and we had to be checked out by 11am.

V and I walked down to get breakfast. Our usual - 2 orders of beignets and a muffin for Alli.

When we got back to the room, Alli told me that she still wasn't feeling well.

The girls and I packed up the remainder of our room - this was a huge task. You wouldn't think that it would be, but I could't believe how hard it was to fit everything back into our suitcases. I was very thankful for my last minute decision to check and bring that 3rd suitcase.

Check out was at 11am, I looked at the clock at 10:05 and I still had to take a shower! ACK! So, I showered, got ready and packed up the remainder of our toiletries. The girls and I walked out of our room - luggage in tow - at 10:52! First we went to the concierge to have them print our boarding passes... I wasn't sure if they would do that after we checked out - so I wanted to do that first. It turns out that the concierge checked us out of our room, as well.

After much confusion about where we were supposed to "board" our luggage for the day, we found the luggage storage area, and we were off to DHS for the morning.

The girls at the bus stop...

V's Goofy shirt that she made for the trip at school...

We decided to take the shuttle bus to POR first, because V really wanted to get her snow globe (which I still have't taken a picture of...)

Again... Alli still wasn't feeling well - and we just wanted to get home...

Once we finished at POR, we waited for the bus to DHS...

Yay! We made it!

It was a beautiful day... Although a bit warm.

We were trying to limit Alli's walking as much as possible, and trying to keep her in the shade. She seemed to feel a bit better if she was sitting and cool.

V offered to go get ToT FPs for us, so Alli and I sat on a bench outside Starring Rolls.

We decided to have lunch at Starring Rolls - the sandwiches were very good and very refreshing after a week of heavy park food. Alli and V had the turkey sandwich, and I had the black forest ham. For dessert, Alli had a cinnamon roll, V had her heart set on the Napoleon and I was dying to try the banana split. When all was said and done - I enjoyed the banana split - but I would have enjoyed the Napoleon more.

Ham sandwich?

Turkey Sandwich & cinnamon roll:

Banana Split:

Napoleon... OMG... Really, you must try!

We decided to make our way to the Animation Studio - we loved this the other day & wanted to do it again. It fit perfectly with our theme of keeping Alli out of the sun and sitting down.

Mine:

Victoria's:

Alli's:

When we were all done, the animator asked a question and the winner received the drawing he drew. Victoria answered the question correctly!

We wandered around the store for a little bit, and I found a few treasures that I wouldn't mind adding to my collection some day...

I took this picture for Marianne and Lynn:

And Victoria took these pictures because she wanted these:

Link to Day 10 Part B

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

Once we came out of the shop, we decided to head towards The Great Movie Ride. Alli needed to stop and sit on a bench on the way there. I was really starting to get nervous. I just wanted to get her home.

After a few mintues rest, we got in line for GMR. While we were in line (a long line - it's Spring Break - remember) Alli announced... "MOM, WE NEED TO GO NOW!" So we cut out of line as fast as we could, and exited through the entrance. A CM tried to direct us the a different exit, and I kind of barked at him that Alli was SICK and we were going out the way we came in. I was stopped by another CM at the entrance - who was much nicer - after listening to me tell her what was going on, she called the paramedics. Alli sat on the floor, just inside the entrance, she was just sick - and she felt awful that she was sick, because she'd rather not be. It only took about 5 minutes for the Reedy Creek Paramedics to get there, they checked her out and left it up to me whether they took her to the ER or not. If they took her to the ER at that point, we would definately miss our flight. They wouldn't gurarantee a diagnosis - but they were quite sure that she was dehydrated. I was so scared, because they also told me that if they took her to the ER, she wouldn't be able to fly. More than ever, I just wanted to get her home.

In the end, I opted to try and hydrate her. Disney footed the bill for a couple of Powerades and the paramedics put Alli into a wheelchair - A CM came and pushed her the entire way to the First Aid building.

Once there, the people in charge gave her a cot to rest on in a little cubicle - then they ignored us the rest of the time. I let Alli lay there for a good long while - an hour or more maybe... I never looked at the time. While she was there, she drank as much Powerade as she could - which wasn't very much... about 1/3 of the bottle.

*** I just wanted to add here, as an afterthought... I was very impressed with how Disney handled all of this - they were so prompt and so nice. While we were waiting for the paramedics, we had 3 different "suits" around us, making sure that everything was all right. They really treated Alli with respect and were genuinely concerned for her - despite the fact that I am sure they see this a million times a day. ***

So, while I sat with Alli at the first aid station, V took some cash from me and bellied up to the bar at 50's PT, she ordered each of us a PB&J malt to go. And she delivered it to me. Atta girl!!! So, while I sat there enjoying my last little bit of Disney magic, in a dark cubicle, in a boring non-Disneyfied brick building, Alli rested up for the remainder of the day and just getting home.

V took our FPs from earlier and rode ToT all by herself. That kind of makes me sad in a way that she had to ride her last ride at Disney alone. But in the same respect - I was very proud of her, that she wasn't afraid to walk to ToT by herself and ride the ride on her own - and I was happy that she got in one last ride. When she got off, she gave our other 2 FPs to a Dad and his dd.

At 3:15 I roused Alli from her cot, and we left the First Aid building...

For those of you that don't know, this is the First Aid building:

Just as we were getting to the bus stop, it started pouring...

We got back to POFQ a bit early (better early than late), so V went to dip her feet in the pool one last time, while Alli and I sat on the stage in the lounge/lobby.

I walked around the immediate area and took a few random pictures...

When V came back, we gathered our luggage, and we went into the public bathroom to change into our comfy travel clothes (AKA PJs... LOL).

Alli was still feeling awful.

We boarded ME with all of our luggage, and they dropped us off at the airport a lot later than I would have liked. We really had to rush through the airport to make it through security to get to our gate on time.

We grabbed the quickest dinner ever at Wendy's in the airport - Alli didn't eat.

We got to our gate about 15 minutes before our flight was supposed to leave... Our inbound plane wasn't even there yet! The monitor was displaying "boarding" then "Last Call" then "Departing" and our flight still wasn't even there. All that rushing around for nothing. We could have taken our time a bit.

The girls waiting for our flight to arrive:

The plane finally showed up 5 minutes after we were supposed to be in the air. And our flight left 30 minutes late.

The flight home was sooooo bumpy. The seatbelt signs were on for the entire flight, due to storms the entire way home.

Poor Alli - she was feeling so horrible, but she was a trooper... The bumpy flight did nothing for her stomach.

Our flight landed 45 minutes late, but we were all so happy to be home. Alli actually turned down my offer to take her to the ER immediately. She just wanted to go home and sleep in her own bed.

When we got home, we sent Alli into the house... Josh, V and I took care of all the luggage.

We could hear Alli's surprised screams all the way outside...

For when she walked in the door, waiting for her and Victoria was our newest family member...

After a bit of cuddling the little guy, we were all beat and we were off to bed.

Allison woke the next morning feeling 100% better. I was so relieved, because I was so worried.

I think it was a combo of dehydration and home sickness... It's amazing what your own bed will do for you.

Link toDay 1 Photopass Pics

D~

 

[blessedmom4]

What a simply AMAZING update with great pics D~!!! So sorry Alli was sick the last bit and you had to spend time at Club Med, Disney Style...I have been in those dark small cubicles in the DHS First Aid with Lisa pumping water into her feeding tube...brought back memories. How PROUD of V I am ...getting milkshakes, riding rides by herself...AMAZING! I wish they were coming to Charlotte with you! And I LOVED the past pics of MM! How adorable he was and how much/fast he has grown. I can't BELIEVE you are finished with your TR and beat me to the finish...I am getting there....THANK YOU for sharing your trip with us!!

 

[ladylyons]

Sorry Allie was soo sick your last day. Glad you all got home fine and that she felt better the next day.

Again loved reading your report and love how much fun you all seemed to have together.

 

[DMGeurts]

What a simply AMAZING update with great pics D~!!! So sorry Alli was sick the last bit and you had to spend time at Club Med, Disney Style...I have been in those dark small cubicles in the DHS First Aid with Lisa pumping water into her feeding tube...brought back memories. How PROUD of V I am ...getting milkshakes, riding rides by herself...AMAZING! I wish they were coming to Charlotte with you! And I LOVED the past pics of MM! How adorable he was and how much/fast he has grown. I can't BELIEVE you are finished with your TR and beat me to the finish...I am getting there....THANK YOU for sharing your trip with us!!

Thanks Judy! Yes - those cubicles are just dark and so unfriendly, not my ideal way to end a trip to Disney but we were ready to go home.

I know - I just snicker every time I think of her marching into 50's PT and "Bellying up to the bar" LOL - I can totally imagine her doing it.

I wish I could afford to bring them with me to Charlotte - I know they would love to meet everyone too, and I know they would have so much fun!

I was oogling at the pictures of MM too - I can't believe how little he was!

I still have to add all my Photopass pictures to my TR - Remember, I have over 2k of them. LOL But I'd really like to get this TR finished up, so I can move on to more fun things!

Sorry Allie was soo sick your last day. Glad you all got home fine and that she felt better the next day.

Again loved reading your report and love how much fun you all seemed to have together.

Thanks Sandra! We did have so much fun together... Which is why I want to do it again so badly. LOL

Nothing new with me today. I have to work again, then I plan to come home and work on my latest bag.

I do have to say one thing though... Since I am sharing this TR...

Happy Birthday Andrea!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day today!

D~

 

[NiniMorris]

If I don't read your last day report....can I pretend it never ended?

I am a planner and a half! Everything is always planned to the nth degree. But I rarely plan our last day! It is like I can pretend it never ends.

Sorry about the whole getting sick thing....I have had tons of vacations that have included sick kids, just so far none at Disney. (I know it is just a matter of time) (although if truth be known it would be ME that got sick from the heat and not one of my kids!)

.....so when is the next PTR getting started? I'm up for it!

Nini

 

[DMGeurts]

Here we go... Since there are only a few from our official "day 1" - I'll post them quickly.

Link to Day 2 Photopass Pics

D~

 

[mommy2mrb]

wow your last day
so sorry Alli was so sick, nice Disney did take care of her, even in a dark undisneyfied room, know how worried you were.

as for Miss V, how sweet she went to get the milkshakes and did ToT by herself, your baby is growing up

your lunch looks very yummy and I must say all of your Tiggers are AWESOME how cool V got the artist's drawing!!!

I'm surprised you got to MCO so late, did you have lots of stops at other resorts..our past trips were always scheduled 3 hours out...

looks like Josh having Max there when you got home was good medicine for A and a wonderful home coming for all! so amazing how big he has gotten in 4 months

yes please share some of those 2K PP pics....we need to see MORE!!!
love your castle shots!



and needing to add this too


to Andrea! have a wonderful day!!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Last day... Ally sick... You family gets introduced to MM...

Love the PP picture. Your smiles are HUGE! The one of you and Ally holding up V cracked me up! Ya'll are just a fun bunch of girls!

 

[solana131]

After much confusion about where we were supposed to "board" our luggage for the day, we found the luggage storage area, and we were off to DHS for the morning.

Wanna share where it is??? Probably gonna be confused too next week. Would be good to have some inside information

When all was said and done - I enjoyed the banana split - but I would have enjoyed the Napoleon more.

What?? You didn't have one of the famous cupcakes??

Napoleon... OMG... Really, you must try!

I have the Napoleon from France on my must try list....is this one better than the one at Epcot??

We boarded ME with all of our luggage, and they dropped us off at the airport a lot later than I would have liked. We really had to rush through the airport to make it through security to get to our gate on time.

Wow! Why were you so late? Didn't they pick you up 3 hours ahead of time? Yikes! I like having plenty of time at the airport before a flight. Hate rushing!

We could hear Alli's surprised screams all the way outside...
For when she walked in the door, waiting for her and Victoria was our newest family member...

Oh I bet that was the best thing in the world! He was so cute and fluffy then!! Still is....but much more back then

 

[DisNorth]

Sorry A was so sick, glad Disney was attentive. Good on V for going out for malts and TOT by herself.

I love your castle photopass photos! and the Max photos!

 

[miprender]

The last day is always so bittersweet. You miss home, but yet you don't want it end.

So sorry Allie was that sick the last day. Like I mentioned before my DD gets stomach problems on everytrip and I really think there is something in the water that upsets her. This trip I experimented with her not eating the ice and it really seemed to help.

I am sad too that this TR is over So you will have to plan a trip next year so you can start a new PTR

I second that

maybe if we all send him a pretty please that would sway him

 

[DMGeurts]

wow your last day
so sorry Alli was so sick, nice Disney did take care of her, even in a dark undisneyfied room, know how worried you were.

as for Miss V, how sweet she went to get the milkshakes and did ToT by herself, your baby is growing up

your lunch looks very yummy and I must say all of your Tiggers are AWESOME how cool V got the artist's drawing!!!

I'm surprised you got to MCO so late, did you have lots of stops at other resorts..our past trips were always scheduled 3 hours out...

looks like Josh having Max there when you got home was good medicine for A and a wonderful home coming for all! so amazing how big he has gotten in 4 months

yes please share some of those 2K PP pics....we need to see MORE!!!
love your castle shots!



and needing to add this too


to Andrea! have a wonderful day!!!

What happened with ME - I have no idea... We were the first resort to be picked up - so we had the other 3 resorts to go to after us. There was some traffic on the way, so that made us a bit late. Then the driver dropped off side B first (one family) and the rest of us were for Side A. I don't remember the times exactly, but by the time we were dropped off at the airport, we had just over an hour before our flight was due to leave. It was really frustrating.

Last day... Ally sick... You family gets introduced to MM...

Love the PP picture. Your smiles are HUGE! The one of you and Ally holding up V cracked me up! Ya'll are just a fun bunch of girls!

Awww... Thanks Oopsi - it was a lot of fun. I just look back and think about how uncomfortable I was in my skin - and I just want a do over.

Wanna share where it is??? Probably gonna be confused too next week. Would be good to have some inside information

I put an aqua blue arrow where the luggage storage area is - I thought it was bell services, but it's actually a different area. Where the ME logo is on the map - that is actually just a covered area with benches, and the luggage storage area is right behind that. The people that work there are ever so nice!

What?? You didn't have one of the famous cupcakes??

The butterfinger one was on my list of things to try, but I forgot to try it on our first DHS day - and by the time we got to our last day - the banana split sounded better.

I have the Napoleon from France on my must try list....is this one better than the one at Epcot??

They are both the same... I thought - but when I compared the photos - they are slightly different looking? Just to be safe - I would try both.

***************************************** France ******************************************

***************************************** DHS *****************************************

IWow! Why were you so late? Didn't they pick you up 3 hours ahead of time? Yikes! I like having plenty of time at the airport before a flight. Hate rushing!

I explained it above in my answer to Lisa... I agree - I HATE rushing anyways, and I hate it even more at the airport. I like to get there, find my gate, then I run and get snacks or whatever... Then I sit there and wait. I do NOT like to be rushed at the airport period. So that was really frustrating - especially when Alli wasn't feeling well.

IOh I bet that was the best thing in the world! He was so cute and fluffy then!! Still is....but much more back then

It was - but the girls are still struggling. Not as much now - but they still really miss their Ruf - and now that MM is about Ruf's size and a very simlar shade in color - it's hard not to see him out of the corner of your eye and think it's Ruf. But things are getting better. The only problem we have right now with MM, is that Alli hasn't done any sort of training with him at all - so he perceives her as his play toy... He is constantly nipping at her legs and chasing her around the house... We have been working with him very diligently over the last week to break him of this habit - but she kind of contributes to it, by reacting the way she does. And now that the girls have been gone for a few days - I fear that we'll have to start over.

Sorry A was so sick, glad Disney was attentive. Good on V for going out for malts and TOT by herself.

It was awful - but we are very fortunate that it all worked out in the end. It could have been so much worse. Yah - I was proud of V too.

I love your castle photopass photos! and the Max photos!

We did get lucky with a lot of good photos... It's a game to us - every time we see a photographer, we have to stop. LOL

The last day is always so bittersweet. You miss home, but yet you don't want it end.

Exactly! And we all agreed that our trip was just too long... But we are all dying to go back for just as long again. However, this last trip, we went 6 park days with out a "break"... If we go that long again - we will definately be doing an extra break day about 3 days into it.

:So sorry Allie was that sick the last day. Like I mentioned before my DD gets stomach problems on everytrip and I really think there is something in the water that upsets her. This trip I experimented with her not eating the ice and it really seemed to help.

I will keep that in mind. So what did you do about the ice? I k now that part of our problem is that we just didn't drink hardly any water at all... on DDP - we filled our mugs with everything but water, and yah - we were just really bad. Lesson learned - more water!

:I am sad too that this TR is over. So you will have to plan a trip next year so you can start a new PTR

I will definately be doing a PTR - even if I don't have any hard dates... I am currently saving for our next trip.

I will be spending the say in my sewing room today... I have lots to get done!

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 2 - we were at MK for early entry - we had our 8:35am ADR at CP - and even though our ADR wasn't right away, we were still let in with the other people, so we got to wander around Main Street to have lots of photos taken.

We took a break this day and came back in the evening...

Link to Day 3 Photopass Pics

D~

 

[cogero]

:
So sorry Allie was that sick the last day. Like I mentioned before my DD gets stomach problems on everytrip and I really think there is something in the water that upsets her. This trip I experimented with her not eating the ice and it really seemed to help.

I get Montezuma's revenge everywhere but seriously Florida is the worst for me, the smell of the water gets me ill.

I am busy working on our outfits for next week. I am in pure panic mode but by the end of today J will be done

 

[Terkina]

Lovely photopass pictures of you all in front of the castle.

 

[VBAndrea]

Thank you for the birthday wishes and zero calorie cake

Sorry your last day at DHS was so rough. Ben saw the first aid building and asked if that was where you could swim with the dolphins When I told him it was first aid he said it really should be a dolphin building.

I love your photopass pics on main street! You really got a lot of pics! Someday still I want to go with dd and get lots of photos taken. I prewarned dh b/f our trip that I would like photos and he participated in a total of zero. I never even looked at the few pics we did get taken

 

[mommy2mrb]

that is so weird you were late to the airport...I'm the same way always want to be there 2 hours early!

LOVE your PP photos, you did get a bunch of great shots! love the magic one with the girls and the balloons!