~Snowbird Chat 2~

[sarbah77]

Yeah - wouldn't work for me. If I wanted time with my niece, or wanted to volunteer, that's one thing. But I always assumed that I or my DH would take care of our baby, and if someone else offered, it was a blessing.

Good luck to your brother when he realizes that no matter what you plan, your niece will probably have other ideas! There's an old Jewish saying, "Man plans and God laughs." So do babies!

Within the first month, I remember my brother saying to me "BUT WE READ ALL THE BOOKS! IT'S NOT LIKE THE BOOKS!"
...yeah, she didn't read the books!

Any reason you rented a manual wheelchair instead of either a motorized one or an ECV?

For travel. An ECV or motorized wheelchair are bigger and heavier and don't go in to (affordable) cars easily. We've had some REALLY bad bus experiences and the last thing we want to deal with is an ECV and having to be stuck with using the bus all the time!

What were the women planning to do while the men golfed? I personally suggest that anyone who doesn't want to golf go to the water park and the golfers will meet you there. Otherwise, would you be stuck at the hotel waiting?

Mini-golf, apparently. When I pointed out that I can't, physically, I was told that was okay, I could hold the baby. I declined. But it's a 7:15am tee time. Ultimately, my SIL is kind of a pain and entirely unpredictable so I have no idea how she would feel about a water park... I'm sure she hasn't even seen what there is, if anything, for babies to do.

I was thinking the same as snykymom...why don't the non-golfers head to the water park, and the others can meet you there? Or, if you're ready for a sleep-in-and-relax day, do that while they golf, and then you can all head to the water park late afternoon. We've never done it, but I hear that by late afternoon the water parks get less crowded (and less hot!), so it might be an enjoyable late-day activity

But would we be able to reserve enough loungers?!

Sarah- We went to Disney in July 2001 for our honeymoon and we did the waterparks for a day. It was insanely crowded and terribly hot. I won't even bring up the wonderful smells when you're crowded in with thousands of people with varying levels of hygiene. As far as the traveling with baby...we took Andrew at 6 months and we basically revolved around him. It was too hard to make set plans and predict how the day would go. He was waaaay off his normal schedule that he was on at home so we just went with it. When he napped we strolled around. When he was awake we did stuff. My family was with us and most of the time we all went in different directions. My mom did offer to hang out with him a few times while we got on things with my sister and her husband but you can't go to Disney and expect your whole family to revolve around your infant. It's everyone's vacation and everyone should be able to enjoy it.

My SIL firmly believes that my niece will stick exactly to her at-home schedule. With a morning nap. An afternoon nap. And an 8pm bedtime. This is why I insisted on two cars (my brother had my parents convinced that we could share a mini-van, apparently not realizing that he and his wife would be using it, we'd all be riding a bus and paying a fortune for a car).

While I hate wasting the money (especially since my husband took a job where we NEED to get a second car!), it's ultimately not the end of the world. He's also willing to bail out of golfing if we both agree that we'd rather do something else that day.

But I'm starting to stress out about it, though it's probably just part of the overall stress levels - there's a lot going on and I've back slid a bit in terms of recovery. I did start breaking in my new sneakers for Disney today!!

Thanks for listening to me whine! My brother is still a very new parent, so I guess it's perfectly likely that he's overwhelmed and overplanning!

 

[danceintherain]

Within the first month, I remember my brother saying to me "BUT WE READ ALL THE BOOKS! IT'S NOT LIKE THE BOOKS!"
...yeah, she didn't read the books!



For travel. An ECV or motorized wheelchair are bigger and heavier and don't go in to (affordable) cars easily. We've had some REALLY bad bus experiences and the last thing we want to deal with is an ECV and having to be stuck with using the bus all the time!



Mini-golf, apparently. When I pointed out that I can't, physically, I was told that was okay, I could hold the baby. I declined. But it's a 7:15am tee time. Ultimately, my SIL is kind of a pain and entirely unpredictable so I have no idea how she would feel about a water park... I'm sure she hasn't even seen what there is, if anything, for babies to do.



But would we be able to reserve enough loungers?!



My SIL firmly believes that my niece will stick exactly to her at-home schedule. With a morning nap. An afternoon nap. And an 8pm bedtime. This is why I insisted on two cars (my brother had my parents convinced that we could share a mini-van, apparently not realizing that he and his wife would be using it, we'd all be riding a bus and paying a fortune for a car).

While I hate wasting the money (especially since my husband took a job where we NEED to get a second car!), it's ultimately not the end of the world. He's also willing to bail out of golfing if we both agree that we'd rather do something else that day.

But I'm starting to stress out about it, though it's probably just part of the overall stress levels - there's a lot going on and I've back slid a bit in terms of recovery. I did start breaking in my new sneakers for Disney today!!

Thanks for listening to me whine! My brother is still a very new parent, so I guess it's perfectly likely that he's overwhelmed and overplanning!

Don't worry. I know I complain all the time, so its nice to hear someone else for a change.

While my child still isn't on a schedule at 11 months, (I was so incredibly lazy in that regard while Logan was gone...) you never know how a baby is going to react to certain situations. At nine months, she's old enough to be aware of her surroundings, which means even if they make it back to the hotel at her nap times, she still might not sleep, because it will still be a place she isn't used to. It totally depends on the child.

Try not to stress out too much about it. I know it's hard, but the trip will be what it is whether you stress or not. Hopefully, they'll realize the flaws in their plan early on, and concede to taking care of their child while the rest of you do what you want to do.

I'm glad you declined taking care of the baby while everyone else golfed. They really shouldn't be volunteering you. Also, I can't imagine how that would go if you have knee problems. Your niece is likely crawling and very squirmy while held. The only way it would be doable is if you were to stay with her at the hotel, which means you would be cut off from the rest of the group entirely. They can bring a baby carrier, and mini golf with her strapped to their back if that's what they're intent upon. Personally, I think the ladies should go to the water park, while the men golf, but it seems as if your SIL is a bit codependent. She would have no problem pawning her child off on someone with a bad knee, but she would feel completely offended and neglected if anyone were to suggest that she stay at the hotel alone with her own child. Obviously, all I have is your comments to make that assessment, so I could be completely wrong and judgmental.

When we went to Disney with my family, my sister, BIL, and nephew spent a couple days with us. Logan and I ended up hanging out with my nephew quite a bit, because the rest of the group went off to do other things. We actually really enjoyed it, because it meant we could wander around soaking up the ambiance, while he slept and everyone else was elsewhere. It was much more frustrating dealing with the "adults."

 

[Pluto_fan]

The main reason I'm so bothered by spending the money is that I have no desire to go back right now. Maybe my opinion will change in the next few months, but just the thought of sitting on another flight with the baby, then having to deal with the time change, only to come back a couple weeks later doesn't really seem worth it to me. Especially since I could spend a similar amount of money and not have to deal with the time change or crazy family drama.

I am totally with you on that. We didn't go back to the States for the two years we were in Korea. That's a looooong, expensive flight! And with limited travel budget and time, it was a higher priority to us to see things in Asia. Now we're in Europe for three years, and wouldn't be going back from here either except that my dad turns 70 this October and I think I'm going to go, just me and just for the weekend, for his party. If it's important to Logan to get back to the States, would he consider going by himself? Just a thought.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Hi all!! We are just hanging out watching tv right now...dd spent the night with friends last night, and the boys had a friend over.. friend is back home, dd is here and we are staying in outta the heat!!!! have a women's conf at our church this weekend...so I am headed out to that in a bit....
but before I go, I may go look at our Brighton/Vera Bradley store Have that GC to use and she put lots of stuff on sale this weekend...
So....we did our # crunching Thur night, and we think it's gonna be pretty close to the same amount of $$ for us whether we use the DDP or not...so, I think we are gonna keep it....most meals are more than I or ds12 can finish, but some times ds15 eats what we cant finish! And, you add in those extra snack credits everyday and it comes in handy for bottles of water, or an ice cream,popcorn or whatever and it works out. Especially when we go to Germany and get caramel treats!!! So...I am glad that we have that decision made. I have moved some of our ADRs around and we need to decide for the Friday night before we leave where we want to go...I had ressies at Le Cellier and the Castle, and we decided against both,..so I had cancelled and let someone else have it!!!

soliel,...we should all be getting more rain around the 4th of July...which is fine with me...all the fireworks and stuff are banned down here...we got a good rainfall but are still very low. Hopefully you will get it too!!
ya'll have a great weekend!

 

[danceintherain]

I am totally with you on that. We didn't go back to the States for the two years we were in Korea. That's a looooong, expensive flight! And with limited travel budget and time, it was a higher priority to us to see things in Asia. Now we're in Europe for three years, and wouldn't be going back from here either except that my dad turns 70 this October and I think I'm going to go, just me and just for the weekend, for his party. If it's important to Logan to get back to the States, would he consider going by himself? Just a thought.

I don't know if he would, and it's still an issue of his leave If he takes time off to go, it cuts into the time we can spend elsewhere. As of now I'm tentatively planning to go next spring if we go, but I'll be soo disappointed if we miss cherry blossom season. Also, Logan has been dealing with some health issues since he got here. He's on profile right now, and if he passes out again the internal specialist at Yongsan is going to send him (and us) to Tripler for a while so he can be seen by a cardiologist. I'm guessing they would put him on TDY status for that, and I'm hoping he might get his US fix (even though Hawaii is a whole different world). In that case, I might start bugging his family to come out there while we're there, though I really doubt they'd do it. Though I would even consider the possibility of flying maybe his Mom over on our dime, so he could at least see her.
He might be more concerned about his grandparents though.

My Mom turns 50 the summer after we're supposed to get back from here.

Hi all!! We are just hanging out watching tv right now...dd spent the night with friends last night, and the boys had a friend over.. friend is back home, dd is here and we are staying in outta the heat!!!! have a women's conf at our church this weekend...so I am headed out to that in a bit....
but before I go, I may go look at our Brighton/Vera Bradley store Have that GC to use and she put lots of stuff on sale this weekend...
So....we did our # crunching Thur night, and we think it's gonna be pretty close to the same amount of $$ for us whether we use the DDP or not...so, I think we are gonna keep it....most meals are more than I or ds12 can finish, but some times ds15 eats what we cant finish! And, you add in those extra snack credits everyday and it comes in handy for bottles of water, or an ice cream,popcorn or whatever and it works out. Especially when we go to Germany and get caramel treats!!! So...I am glad that we have that decision made. I have moved some of our ADRs around and we need to decide for the Friday night before we leave where we want to go...I had ressies at Le Cellier and the Castle, and we decided against both,..so I had cancelled and let someone else have it!!!

soliel,...we should all be getting more rain around the 4th of July...which is fine with me...all the fireworks and stuff are banned down here...we got a good rainfall but are still very low. Hopefully you will get it too!!
ya'll have a great weekend!

That's what I love so much about the dining plan, the snacks! We didn't take full advantage of this when we actually had the plan, but when we don't and we plan in the cost of snacks, it's not the same.

As for us, it's typhoon season, so the weather is pretty crazy. The wind blowing through our apartment is really nice though.

 

[snykymom]

Within the first month, I remember my brother saying to me "BUT WE READ ALL THE BOOKS! IT'S NOT LIKE THE BOOKS!"
...yeah, she didn't read the books!

That's what my mother said to me when my daughter was a week old!

Mini-golf, apparently. When I pointed out that I can't, physically, I was told that was okay, I could hold the baby. I declined. But it's a 7:15am tee time. Ultimately, my SIL is kind of a pain and entirely unpredictable so I have no idea how she would feel about a water park... I'm sure she hasn't even seen what there is, if anything, for babies to do.

Ummm . . . mini-golf doesn't open until 10.

My SIL firmly believes that my niece will stick exactly to her at-home schedule. With a morning nap. An afternoon nap. And an 8pm bedtime.

Wow! My kid took one nap a day, until she was 10 months old. People would ask me if she still took two naps per day. I answered, "Still? What still? I'm waiting for yet!!" At 10-11 months old, she gave up napping entirely!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

That's what my mother said to me when my daughter was a week old!



Ummm . . . mini-golf doesn't open until 10.

uh oh.

Wow! My kid took one nap a day, until she was 10 months old. People would ask me if she still took two naps per day. I answered, "Still? What still? I'm waiting for yet!!" At 10-11 months old, she gave up napping entirely!

Dang, I thought my kids were bad stopping their one nap a day at 2 years old! So sorry for you having to go through that! On the up side, at least you didn't have to rush home for naptime. When we were at WDW when Paige was 11 mos, she either missed naps or fell asleep in the stroller. She would only nap in her crib or someone's arms at home, or fall asleep in a car, so this was awesome!! She went back to normal when we got home, so it didn't ruin her "schedule" for life or anything.

 

[sarbah77]

Dang, I thought my kids were bad stopping their one nap a day at 2 years old! So sorry for you having to go through that! On the up side, at least you didn't have to rush home for naptime. When we were at WDW when Paige was 11 mos, she either missed naps or fell asleep in the stroller. She would only nap in her crib or someone's arms at home, or fall asleep in a car, so this was awesome!! She went back to normal when we got home, so it didn't ruin her "schedule" for life or anything.

I suspect that THE BOOKS would say otherwise and that my niece would be ruined for life! LIFE I TELL YOU!

I think they need to be more worried about her crawling, which is more using hands AND feet to get around. I don't think it'll take her too long to figure out how to go handsfree (no knees are involved!).

hehe. TWO WEEKS!

 

[snykymom]

Dang, I thought my kids were bad stopping their one nap a day at 2 years old! So sorry for you having to go through that! On the up side, at least you didn't have to rush home for naptime. When we were at WDW when Paige was 11 mos, she either missed naps or fell asleep in the stroller. She would only nap in her crib or someone's arms at home, or fall asleep in a car, so this was awesome!! She went back to normal when we got home, so it didn't ruin her "schedule" for life or anything.

Well, when she was a senior in high school, she turned to me one day and said, "I didn't like naps! WHAT WAS I THINKING?????" So maybe it did ruin her schedule for life!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Well, when she was a senior in high school, she turned to me one day and said, "I didn't like naps! WHAT WAS I THINKING?????" So maybe it did ruin her schedule for life!

I agree with her! It's really funny now that you mention that - Paige is the one who gets up by 6:30 almost every day, no matter what time she goes to bed. Perhaps there's something to that theory...

 

[danceintherain]

I suspect that THE BOOKS would say otherwise and that my niece would be ruined for life! LIFE I TELL YOU!

I think they need to be more worried about her crawling, which is more using hands AND feet to get around. I don't think it'll take her too long to figure out how to go handsfree (no knees are involved!).

hehe. TWO WEEKS!

Haha! Gideon still doesn't crawl, and I'm fine with it. I accidentally sat him down next to a light socket the other day, and where did his fingers immediately go? Yeah...I like that he stays still.

Well, when she was a senior in high school, she turned to me one day and said, "I didn't like naps! WHAT WAS I THINKING?????" So maybe it did ruin her schedule for life!

If only we could go back to talk to our younger selves and would actually listen.

I agree with her! It's really funny now that you mention that - Paige is the one who gets up by 6:30 almost every day, no matter what time she goes to bed. Perhaps there's something to that theory...

One of my brothers was like that for a long time, but now at 20 he sleeps in longer than the rest of us.

 

[Dancegrl624]

Madison stopped napping when she was about 2 years old. She only took 1 nap a day anyways. She now gets up by 7 everyday, even when she goes to bed really late. She started walking at 8 months old! It was so funny to see such a little girl walking around the house.

 

[sarbah77]

Madison stopped napping when she was about 2 years old. She only took 1 nap a day anyways. She now gets up by 7 everyday, even when she goes to bed really late. She started walking at 8 months old! It was so funny to see such a little girl walking around the house.

As soon as I learned to walk, I taught my brother. I'm 19 months older than him, so he was probably pretty young. My parents have YET to forgive me for that, because they went from no mobile children to two almost immediately!

 

[sarbah77]

I'm finally PAIN-FREE! I can get through a day without pain! I can set, WITHOUT PAIN!

(I'm not strong enough to walk, yet, so that's a bit painful, but not unexpected nor unusual)

I'm recovering, finally! Woohoo!

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my personal happy dance, rather than my usual complaining!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I'm finally PAIN-FREE! I can get through a day without pain! I can set, WITHOUT PAIN!

(I'm not strong enough to walk, yet, so that's a bit painful, but not unexpected nor unusual)

I'm recovering, finally! Woohoo!

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my personal happy dance, rather than my usual complaining!

That's great news!! And your trip is so close!!

 

[Pluto_fan]

Great news, Sarah!
You should celebrate with a trip to Disney!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm finally PAIN-FREE! I can get through a day without pain! I can set, WITHOUT PAIN!

(I'm not strong enough to walk, yet, so that's a bit painful, but not unexpected nor unusual)

I'm recovering, finally! Woohoo!

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my personal happy dance, rather than my usual complaining!

WOO HOO!!!!!


That deserves a party!!! be careful now, don't reinjure yourself before the trip!

 

[danceintherain]

I'm finally PAIN-FREE! I can get through a day without pain! I can set, WITHOUT PAIN!

(I'm not strong enough to walk, yet, so that's a bit painful, but not unexpected nor unusual)

I'm recovering, finally! Woohoo!

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my personal happy dance, rather than my usual complaining!

YAY!

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Hey Birdies. I have to go back and catch up. Arrived home from Disney in the wee hours of the morning Sunday. DH's niece and nephew were with us until this morning so we are just tonight getting back to normal. I'll come back and give you all the full update.

The short version: it was hot. It was crowded. Rylan needs to be kept on his schedule because if he's up too late, his behavior becomes intolerable. People have no respect for personal space. Chase loved It's A Small World and TSM. Stomach bug at Disney is no fun. Housekeepers are saints. Poly was fabulous. Lapu Lapu= heaven. Can't wait to go back (in nov or jan).

I have so many great pictures to share. I can't wait to pull some of the beat for you to see.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Can't wait to hear more about your trip Mindy and see all your pics!