~Snowbird Chat 2~

[Dancegrl624]

Hi everyone! Things have been a little hectic around here. Cole is doing great though!

Shelly-Love the new puppy! He's so cute.

crzyred- The Disney visa meet and greet gets you one free 5x7 per card holder. You can go back everyday if you'd like!

 

[danceintherain]

Quick question for you. With the Disney Visa Card, and the Character meet and greet, is that for the entire party, or just the card holder? My mother is thinking of getting the card, but is wondering about this.

Hope everyone is having a good day. I'm sitting outside reading!! I love summer!!!!

I don't know for sure, but I would think it would have to be her and some others, because kids can't have credit cards...

Wish me luck! I'm heading to Andrew's school tomorrow to meet with the principal for approval for our trip. Our district only allows 5 days for vacation a year. he would be missing 6 (Friday to drive and Monday through Friday the next week while at Disney) so I have to get it approved. If all else fails, Jason said to put in that he will be on vacation that M-F and we'll call while on the road that Friday we leave and say he will be out sick so it will be coded as a sick day. Either way we're going!

I'm calling tomorrow to book!

Our official plans...
Leave Thursday, November 10th at 5pm when DH gets home from work.
Get in about 4-5 hours drive time and stop overnight.
Get up Friday, Nov. 11 and finish the drive arriving at CBR sometime in the evening.
Enjoy a week at Disney then drive home Saturday, November 19th.

Any of those dates sound familiar Shawna!!!!

I have to get planning, research what to see at Christmas, decide if we want to do the MVMCP or not, etc. I'm so excited!!!


I think they should still take the stroller. I'm all for being a babywearing mama but not 24/7 in heat like that. We went in Oct when Andrew was 6 months. I brought my piggysack with me but he ended up in the stroller most of the time unless we were getting on something that required leaving the stroller behind while we waited in line. Then it was convenient but we were glad to have both options. For your sake I hope they reconsider.

I would be sick too if my principal told me I couldn't go to Disney World...

The whole New Year's thing is starting to crash and burn. I looked up the schedule for the training Logan has to complete, and the first one after we get back Stateside starts January 4th. We could still do the part with my brother, but we wouldn't be able to extend the trip into Value season, so I don't know if I would want to go at all. I miiight be able to push for a trip right when we get back in the end of November or beginning of December, but I don't know, especially since we'll be moving into a new place and resettling. Anyways...the training is 6 months, so he won't be done until June, then we'll probably be moving again, and I don't want to go in the summer anyways.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

yeah kim!!!! We are gonna be there together all week!!! I am soooo happy!!!
When I get a minute,I will PM you with our park days and we can see what we overlap..I can't wait to meet ya'll and see those precious kids!!!!
I am checking every day to see when the airfare is gonna come down...we are still quite a good way out as far as that goes...they are staying at $370 RT.... We need them to get closer to the low $200s...But , we are flying out fri the 11th and leaving Sat the 19th.. Kinda wanted to wait and make sure if any discounts came out that those dates weren't blocked before I booked the flights...

 

[sarbah77]

Update: my mom called my brother and asked if he wanted her to bring the extra stroller cushion along (as in "fishing for if stroller will be there") and she said that he replied saying they had their's. Fingers crossed!

I might have to do an off-DISboards wrap-up at this rate!

 

[danceintherain]

Update: my mom called my brother and asked if he wanted her to bring the extra stroller cushion along (as in "fishing for if stroller will be there") and she said that he replied saying they had their's. Fingers crossed!

I might have to do an off-DISboards wrap-up at this rate!

Oh good!

 

[Monny2AE]

Back from Andrew's school and everything went wonderfully! The secretary advised me in a whisper on the phone yesterday that my best bet was to go in person. I should send her some flowers now. The principal hugged Andrew and told him to have a fantastic time! I already called Disney and made our room only reservations! Now I'm just crossing my fingers for free dining or a resort discount.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Back from Andrew's school and everything went wonderfully! The secretary advised me in a whisper on the phone yesterday that my best bet was to go in person. I should send her some flowers now. The principal hugged Andrew and told him to have a fantastic time! I already called Disney and made our room only reservations! Now I'm just crossing my fingers for free dining or a resort discount.

WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!
Yes, you should give her something! And what a cooool principal!! He would be getting a Mickey souvie for sure!! Okie dokie cookie...we will be plotting our meet times for sure!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Awww...look at that sweetie pie. It's really hard here, because a lot of the soldiers adopt pets, then decide they don't want to pay the money to bring them home, so they abandon them. I'm the kind of person who researches and thinks through EVERYTHING, so it's really hard for me to be around people who do things on complete whim. Obviously, there's a place for it in life. I'm all for last minute trips to Disney. But things that require a certain level of responsibility? No way. Think about the ramifications before you take another living being's life into your hands. I wish I could help some of these animals, but we're really not in the position to do so, and honestly they're probably pretty messed up considering their previous owners, which isn't something I would be comfortable taking on with a baby in the house.

Thanks Becca!

You are smart for thinking things through. A new pet is a huge responsibility and one that you should be prepared to put 10-15+ years into.

I hope you are able to get a dog as soon as you get back to the states!

Shelly...your little guy is a doll!!!! My kids saw his pic last week and started the new-dog-fever for them!!

Thanks Shawna!

New dog fever!!

We will be going March 2012. Spring break in London and Paris!

We will maybe get back to WDW in October 2012 during our fall break. MNSSHP! We will have some DVC points to use so...

Congrats!

Shelly, oh my goodness! So CUTE!! I admit it, I squeed when I saw the pictures and then was so happy to find out he was your's!

Progress on the packing! My husband admitted his black sneakers were dorky and will be wearing white ones. He even picked out two pair today. I was surprised!

Thanks Sarah!

YAY for packing progress!! 4 more days!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone! Things have been a little hectic around here. Cole is doing great though!

Shelly-Love the new puppy! He's so cute.

Thank you Meghan!

I think I feel like you right now. The puppy isn't sleeping so well at night, I feel like I have a newborn.

Back from Andrew's school and everything went wonderfully! The secretary advised me in a whisper on the phone yesterday that my best bet was to go in person. I should send her some flowers now. The principal hugged Andrew and told him to have a fantastic time! I already called Disney and made our room only reservations! Now I'm just crossing my fingers for free dining or a resort discount.

That is awesome!!

 

[Monny2AE]

I'm going to have off work the Thursday we leave so I can have some time to last minute pack before we leave at 5pm when DH gets home. Then DH tells me that he might take off that Thursday too and we'll be able to leave that morning and arrive at Disney earlier Friday. So now I need to decide whether to ask school for an additional day or to wait and call him in sick that Thursday which might not go over well. I'd rather be honest and up front and let them know now but I also don't want to push my luck asking for 7 days. Getting there earlier and having an extra day at Disney is too tempting to pass up! I just wish he would have thought of this before I met with his principal today!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Kim - so glad it went well with the school. It's nice you don't have to worry about that! Maybe that extra day can be just a "sick" day for him...

Shelly - I know I told you on your PTR - but Jack is ADORABLE!!! I'm sure the cuteness will help you "overlook" some of those accidents in the house! They won't last long! Just be sure to keep the shoes and toys away from him. When Cody was a puppy, we had some sad girls whose toys and shoes got chewed on!

Good news - the flight prices for our Europe trip are coming down a bit! Let's hope that keeps going until I'm ready to buy!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Quick question for you. With the Disney Visa Card, and the Character meet and greet, is that for the entire party, or just the card holder? My mother is thinking of getting the card, but is wondering about this.

Hope everyone is having a good day. I'm sitting outside reading!! I love summer!!!!

We had family pictures done there - we only had to show one Visa card and then we all went in together. Later you can go pick out the picture you want for free at the Kodak booth near Spaceship Earth. And you can go once per day. It's only for a short time each day - when we went it was between 1 and 3 or something like that.

 

[danceintherain]

Back from Andrew's school and everything went wonderfully! The secretary advised me in a whisper on the phone yesterday that my best bet was to go in person. I should send her some flowers now. The principal hugged Andrew and told him to have a fantastic time! I already called Disney and made our room only reservations! Now I'm just crossing my fingers for free dining or a resort discount.

I'm glad everything went well!

 

[Monny2AE]

Kim - so glad it went well with the school. It's nice you don't have to worry about that! Maybe that extra day can be just a "sick" day for him...

Shelly - I know I told you on your PTR - but Jack is ADORABLE!!! I'm sure the cuteness will help you "overlook" some of those accidents in the house! They won't last long! Just be sure to keep the shoes and toys away from him. When Cody was a puppy, we had some sad girls whose toys and shoes got chewed on!

Good news - the flight prices for our Europe trip are coming down a bit! Let's hope that keeps going until I'm ready to buy!!!

Crossing my fingers they keep coming down for you!

I'm going to have off work the Thursday we leave so I can have some time to last minute pack before we leave at 5pm when DH gets home. Then DH tells me that he might take off that Thursday too and we'll be able to leave that morning and arrive at Disney earlier Friday. So now I need to decide whether to ask school for an additional day or to wait and call him in sick that Thursday which might not go over well. I'd rather be honest and up front and let them know now but I also don't want to push my luck asking for 7 days. Getting there earlier and having an extra day at Disney is too tempting to pass up! I just wish he would have thought of this before I met with his principal today!

Weird that I quoted myself. But the mini crisis has been averted. Jason is going to take Thursday off and we will leave either at 3:30 when Andrew is out of school or pick him up a little early so it will still count as a day of attendance for him. Jason just wants to miss some of the rush hour Baltimore and DC traffic if we can. Otherwise there's no point in leaving Thursday evening if all we're going to do is sit in traffic and make it 50 miles south.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Kim...our policy is that the kids are there for the morning then they are counted as attending...I think it's 9 am for us, but it might have been changed to 11...just have Jason go pick him up early while you are packing!
Sheree...hope those prices keep dropping...i was looking out of curiosity for May of next year and they are still $1000 or so per ticket!!! But that's a non-stop from Houston, so your prices may be different.But, I wish they would come down!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Shawna - my girlfriend (from London) just told me that someone in the airline industry told her that they are convinced we should be able to get flights for $500-600!!! Wouldn't that be great? Our nonstops (flying into London and home from Paris) for March are just under $1000 pp. But for summer (this year we had looked) it was like $1400. So it does depend on when you go...


Kim - I like the leave early plan! I'm sure it will be okay - just miss that rush hour traffic!

 

[sarbah77]

Shawna - my girlfriend (from London) just told me that someone in the airline industry told her that they are convinced we should be able to get flights for $500-600!!! Wouldn't that be great? Our nonstops (flying into London and home from Paris) for March are just under $1000 pp. But for summer (this year we had looked) it was like $1400. So it does depend on when you go...

Wow!!

I got one of those sale emails about flights to London last week. The airfare was $150. The taxes were $400. Seriously? Of course, we had to connect through Houston, which seems a hair out of the way!

 

[danceintherain]

Shawna - my girlfriend (from London) just told me that someone in the airline industry told her that they are convinced we should be able to get flights for $500-600!!! Wouldn't that be great? Our nonstops (flying into London and home from Paris) for March are just under $1000 pp. But for summer (this year we had looked) it was like $1400. So it does depend on when you go...


Kim - I like the leave early plan! I'm sure it will be okay - just miss that rush hour traffic!

Wow, that is great airfare.

I'm pretty excited, because this couple we know wants to split a vacation rental in the Philippines with us. We weren't finding very good airfare, and the transfers were going to be crazy. It was looking like we would either have to pay $1000 for airfare or be traveling ALL day, which is NOT fun with a baby.
I finally found airfare from Seoul to Manila nonstop, then nonstop to a smaller airport on the island we want to stay on for only $400! We would still have to take ground transportation from the airport out to the rental, and it is about 4 hours away by jeepney, but it's a little 3 bedroom house right on the beach for only $660 with some meals and other things included! This brings the total for us to around $1000.
http://www.vrbo.com/326101

Now I just need to get Logan to focus and meet me sometime next week, so we can apply for Gideon's passport. He's been working crazy hours lately trying to help some of his soldiers with various things, but he HAS to be there with us to apply for Gideon's passport, and we're hoping to go to the Philippines in November. It seems the turnaround here is pretty fast, but I'll be nervous booking anything before I have the passport in hand.

 

[Monny2AE]

Hi Snowbirds. I'm having a sad day. A friend of mine said had to say goodbye to her little angel last night. Mason was born with a heart defect. At 2 months old they operated on him and didn't recover. If you could keep his parents and big sister in your prayers it would be appreciated. He was such an adorable little guy and although his time here on earth was short he touched many lives. http://www.gofundme.com/Mason-Goffs-Medical-Bills

 

[Monny2AE]

Wow, that is great airfare.

I'm pretty excited, because this couple we know wants to split a vacation rental in the Philippines with us. We weren't finding very good airfare, and the transfers were going to be crazy. It was looking like we would either have to pay $1000 for airfare or be traveling ALL day, which is NOT fun with a baby.
I finally found airfare from Seoul to Manila nonstop, then nonstop to a smaller airport on the island we want to stay on for only $400! We would still have to take ground transportation from the airport out to the rental, and it is about 4 hours away by jeepney, but it's a little 3 bedroom house right on the beach for only $660 with some meals and other things included! This brings the total for us to around $1000.
http://www.vrbo.com/326101

Now I just need to get Logan to focus and meet me sometime next week, so we can apply for Gideon's passport. He's been working crazy hours lately trying to help some of his soldiers with various things, but he HAS to be there with us to apply for Gideon's passport, and we're hoping to go to the Philippines in November. It seems the turnaround here is pretty fast, but I'll be nervous booking anything before I have the passport in hand.

Becca that house looks beautiful! I hope you get Gideon's passport soon!

 

[danceintherain]

Hi Snowbirds. I'm having a sad day. A friend of mine said had to say goodbye to her little angel last night. Mason was born with a heart defect. At 2 months old they operated on him and didn't recover. If you could keep his parents and big sister in your prayers it would be appreciated. He was such an adorable little guy and although his time here on earth was short he touched many lives. http://www.gofundme.com/Mason-Goffs-Medical-Bills

Awww...that's just too sad!

When you feel comfortable, it might be helpful to guide her to this website: www.facesofloss.com

It was started last year by one of my friends on my birth board. She had a perfect pregnancy up until 26 weeks, when she noticed that her baby girl, Stevie Joy, wasn't moving around as much as usual. She went to the doctor, and was informed that Stevie's heart had stopped beating (blood clot in the umbilical cord), and she was delivered, stillborn, several hours later. My friend was completely devastated, and quickly became frustrated with the lack of support and resources for infant loss mamas. Obviously, it is something that is very difficult to understand for people who have never lost a child (and even some who have...), and everyone around her quickly expected her to "move on." She, and a few others, created Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope, as a place where mothers could go, tell their stories, and find support. Just a few weeks ago, they were accepted as an official non-profit organization, and they hope to be able to use that status and any related grants to help as many women as possible, when they lose their babies.

Becca that house looks beautiful! I hope you get Gideon's passport soon!

I hope so too! We're going to go tomorrow morning to get the application notarized, so hopefully I can get everything turned in this week. I have to get my name changed on my tourist passport too, so I guess I can't really blame the whole thing on the baby.