~Snowbird Chat~

[Pluto_fan]

Hi Snowbirds! I've been reading along and keeping up, but haven't posted very recently.

Sheree--congratulations on purchasing DVC! That's definitely on my "when we win the lottery" list.

Wendy--hooray for Maggie getting an AK job! What a neat opportunity. I really miss Shades of Green.

Mel--welcome back! Once a Snowbird, always a Snowbird!

Sarah--glad you survived the vacation with the in-laws...I don't think I could do it. Now you can work on planning the Disney trip with your side of the family.

Shelly--hope things are going better at work. Don't hesitate to take things up to the next level if necessary...it sounds like that guy might really need help.

Kim--so glad to hear your FIL is doing better. I pray he continues to improve.

Sorry, I know I'm leaving some of you out...I need to keep up better!

The boys started school Wednesday of last week. So far, so good! DS12, in 7th grade, has started middle school and really likes the more "big kid" experience. No tears from me...yet, but...next Monday, DD starts school! In Belgium, they start Kindergarten (which would be called preschool in the US) at two and a half. It's the whole school day, 5 days a week! But I'm not planning to leave her in it that whole time. I think the boys both started at age 3, with maybe 2-3 hours, 3 days a week. But I think that, unlike her brothers, she will really enjoy it. We'll see how it goes! It will be entirely in French, so that should be interesting for her!

I've been feeling WDW withdrawl lately. Thinking about when we might go back to Disneyland Paris...which we really enjoyed, but somehow it's just not the same. So I'm also thinking about when we'll get back to WDW, sometime after summer 2012!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Sarah~ YIKES!! HATE hate hate...family travel! hated it as a kid, hate it now! which is probably why I go overboard planning my Disney trips!!No family should be miserable there. If you are gonna complain about every dollar, and the time, and the whole 'vacation' thing...why go? I say..stay home and keep your money! But, that's just my 2 cents due to a slighty twisted view from my crazy childhood!!! LOL Some people should just not subject their relatives to it...thank goodness my hubby travels like I want him too! We always have fun and I am so thankful for that!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Also, I just realized I haven't posted any DL pictures....might have to get around to uploading a few of those.

XXXXX

HOW IS THE SUMMER BASICALLY OVER?!?!?!? Every year it seems like summer just flys right by. A couple kids that I babysat for are starting school within the next week, I feel so old.

I'd like to see some pictures! I bet it's different since the last time I was there in the mid 80s!
The kids I babysat for are married with kids. You don't get to feel old!
I feel old.

Hi Snowbirds! I've been reading along and keeping up, but haven't posted very recently.

Sheree--congratulations on purchasing DVC! That's definitely on my "when we win the lottery" list.

I wish we had won the lottery. We're going to have to get by with 50 Vero Beach points for a long time!

Wendy--hooray for Maggie getting an AK job! What a neat opportunity. I really miss Shades of Green.

I loved Shades too!

Mel--welcome back! Once a Snowbird, always a Snowbird!

Sarah--glad you survived the vacation with the in-laws...I don't think I could do it. Now you can work on planning the Disney trip with your side of the family.

Shelly--hope things are going better at work. Don't hesitate to take things up to the next level if necessary...it sounds like that guy might really need help.

Kim--so glad to hear your FIL is doing better. I pray he continues to improve.

Sorry, I know I'm leaving some of you out...I need to keep up better!

The boys started school Wednesday of last week. So far, so good! DS12, in 7th grade, has started middle school and really likes the more "big kid" experience. No tears from me...yet, but...next Monday, DD starts school! In Belgium, they start Kindergarten (which would be called preschool in the US) at two and a half. It's the whole school day, 5 days a week! But I'm not planning to leave her in it that whole time. I think the boys both started at age 3, with maybe 2-3 hours, 3 days a week. But I think that, unlike her brothers, she will really enjoy it. We'll see how it goes! It will be entirely in French, so that should be interesting for her!

WOW! at 2 1/2??? French? I'd love to hear how she does! She'll be bilingual by age 5! But what a lot of time for school at that age!

I've been feeling WDW withdrawl lately. Thinking about when we might go back to Disneyland Paris...which we really enjoyed, but somehow it's just not the same. So I'm also thinking about when we'll get back to WDW, sometime after summer 2012!

I feel WDW withdrawal about every day now. I get jealous when other people are going. Even though it's been less than a month since I was there! Crazy. I guess that just shows what a great place it is.

Sarah~ YIKES!! HATE hate hate...family travel! hated it as a kid, hate it now! which is probably why I go overboard planning my Disney trips!!No family should be miserable there. If you are gonna complain about every dollar, and the time, and the whole 'vacation' thing...why go? I say..stay home and keep your money! But, that's just my 2 cents due to a slighty twisted view from my crazy childhood!!! LOL Some people should just not subject their relatives to it...thank goodness my hubby travels like I want him too! We always have fun and I am so thankful for that!

LOL! I agree with you!! You and I are lucky that we have hubbies who like to travel with us the way we want!
I've been able to survive the in-law vacations pretty well. I just keep reminding myself that DH doesn't really see his mom or sisters often, they are older than us (some by a lot) and they won't be around forever. It has worked out okay, just a few bumps in the road but we always had fun vacations because we went into it saying, we ARE going to do certain things and we did them. Now that DH's mom is ailing, she won't be traveling with us anymore, so I am glad that we had those few trips with her in the past. She doesn't complain much, other than that things are too far to walk (at WDW!!) so I can live with that.

Off to go buy Paige some sneakers for school!

 

[MelXThree]

Hey Mel! How are ya?!?! You're plans sound great. I actually was at DL in July and had a ball. WOC lines were INSANE! We wanted to go so badly, but couldn't make it. We did Fantasmic Dessert (this was truly one of our great spoils of our entire trip). We didn't do a ton of planning in regards to DL, just the dessert. We called on Friday to get "reservations" for Goofy's Kitchen for Saturday and got our pick of times (something that still amazes me).

Have you ever been to the San Diego Zoo? We also spent a day touring LA. Any questions, just ask...I'll try to remember what happened (mainly by looking back through pictures!)

Also, I just realized I haven't posted any DL pictures....might have to get around to uploading a few of those.

HI!! I would love to see some pictures I haven't been to the San Diego Zoo since I was 8 (I think) so a LONG time ago....I don't really remeber it.

It is weird how you can call the day of and get reservations at Disneyland and at WDW you have to book 6 months in advance and they only have like 5 restuarants

 

[MelXThree]

You all are talking about how you HATE traveling with family and in the last 3 years we've gone to Vegas (for my wedding) with my parents and my In-laws, Mexico with my parents, WDW with my parents and now DL with my parents. I never really was close with my Mom until I had kids and now we are super close. I always ask my DH "should we ask my parents if they want to come?" and he doesn't want to travel without them They are a big help with are boys! I NEVER thought I would be (happy) traveling with them and now I couldn't imagine not sharing these great memories with them

 

[Dancegrl624]

I love my parents and sisters to death, but I just couldn't travel with them for a week. My little sis is 21 and her and my mom would have a disagreement about every hour or so. She's the baby of the family and sometimes has a bit of an attitude (I can't stand the way she talks to my parents sometimes). I've gone with just Maddie and my mom to our local amusement park and that has been great!

My DH loves the way we do Disney now with just the 3 of us and so do I. He understands how I like to do things (I promise, I'm not a control freak at Disney!) and everything is always awesome. Adding others to the mix would not be his cup of tea. He gets along great with my parents, but when he thinks about that trip from 2006, he still gets mad.

On the other hand, friends of ours have 2 little girls (ages 4 and almost 2) and we went over to their house for dinner Sunday night. They are new DVC members and are going to WDW in October. Next year, they want to go to DLR and said we should join them! I could totally travel with them because they are the most laid back people/parents. Nothing really irritates them and we would have so much fun! Madison and their 4 year old get along great too. Now, I just have to convince Tony!!!

 

[sarbah77]

Happy birthday, Sheree!!!

Sarah - glad you survived!!! It's hard traveling with the in-laws - I should know! Sometimes it's better just to stay quiet and try to move on. Some people just won't understand anyway, and somehow it will end up being all your fault. I'm glad you were able to have some fun with your niece and you have your next trip to look forward to!!

Yeah, that was kind of my worrying - so I figured I'd just keep quiet. Of course, his family thinks I'm mad at him, because I kept quiet buuuut I think it's probably better to keep quiet than open my mouth and look like a fool.

I don't think I could ever do a Disney trip with my parents. My mom really wants all of us (parents, me & my fam, little sis, older sis &BIL) to go to Disney in 2012.

We've done it as adults before, so we know we can do it again. But we're staying in separate hotel rooms, with the knowledge we'll do separate things during the day and meet for dinner. But my parents LOVE Disney, so that's cool. J's parents are terrified by the idea of it, so we wouldn't have ANY fun with them.

There was once talk of going with his brother and his family but, uh.... NO NO NO... and no!

Sarah~ YIKES!! HATE hate hate...family travel! hated it as a kid, hate it now! which is probably why I go overboard planning my Disney trips!!No family should be miserable there. If you are gonna complain about every dollar, and the time, and the whole 'vacation' thing...why go? I say..stay home and keep your money! But, that's just my 2 cents due to a slighty twisted view from my crazy childhood!!! LOL Some people should just not subject their relatives to it...thank goodness my hubby travels like I want him too! We always have fun and I am so thankful for that!

Yeah, my BIL dropped $180 on food for their kid but skimped on us or ate our food... or fed our food to his kid. Seriously? Never again. Maybe when the kids are older and need less tending (and can make their own food decisions and and and...). In the meantime, my family was trying to hard to make everyone else happy with hotel rooms to the point everyone was getting annoyed because no one would decide! Oh, family.

 

[sarbah77]

Sarah--glad you survived the vacation with the in-laws...I don't think I could do it. Now you can work on planning the Disney trip with your side of the family.

Oh yes. We already have. Every conversation thus far has devolved in to conversation about Disney and will probably continue until we're there. And then after we leave. Haha!!

You all are talking about how you HATE traveling with family and in the last 3 years we've gone to Vegas (for my wedding) with my parents and my In-laws, Mexico with my parents, WDW with my parents and now DL with my parents. I never really was close with my Mom until I had kids and now we are super close. I always ask my DH "should we ask my parents if they want to come?" and he doesn't want to travel without them They are a big help with are boys! I NEVER thought I would be (happy) traveling with them and now I couldn't imagine not sharing these great memories with them

It's SUCH a personality-specific thing. It really is. My parents love traveling. My in-laws hate it. My parents love Disney. My in-laws hate the idea of it. My in-laws aren't flexible and make my parents look like they're gymnasts. And I'm also an introvert at times and need my personal time, my quiet space, and so on... so sometimes I just can't travel with my family because there's NO breathing room!

 

[MelXThree]

It's SUCH a personality-specific thing. It really is. My parents love traveling. My in-laws hate it. My parents love Disney. My in-laws hate the idea of it. My in-laws aren't flexible and make my parents look like they're gymnasts. And I'm also an introvert at times and need my personal time, my quiet space, and so on... so sometimes I just can't travel with my family because there's NO breathing room!

It's true...each to there own Maybe one day we'll travel without my parents and I'll relize it's so much better without them

 

[Pluto_fan]

Happy birthday, Sheree!
Sorry I'm late! Downside of living in Europe...I'm always a day late...of course, that happens when I'm in the States, too...

 

[MAGGIED]

wow - how exciting for maggie.

how long will she be working there? is it one of these 1 year things?

do they actually get paid for work or is it credits towards their degree?

Maggie will be there until January 7th... they do get paid and she will be receiving 12 upper division credits towards her degree.... and I get the joy of paying tuition when she is not there...

Wendy the description of what you are doing at boardwalk makes me very jealous....glad things turned out ok with the car....good luck to maggie!!!

That car is so frustrating!!!

It was very peaceful sitting on the balcony.... we were rather disappointed in the DVC studio at BWV... the resort itself was fun... but the rooms were rather small for what you pay for them in my opinion. The one bedrooms are very nice though. We don't really use the "kitchen" area with the exception of the mini frig so that area is a waste for us... the rest of the area is about the same size as a moderate if you take the kitchen area out... and the bathroom was TINY.... if I was paying rack rate for the room I would not have been happy.... but I did get a great deal on renting points so it was okay... the only other thing I didn't care for was the lack of a "food court" with a variety of foods... glad we tried it but won't go back.

Wendy-Sorry to hear about your car troubles, but how exciting for Maggie! Maybe we'll have to find out where she'll be next month so we can say hello. Glad to hear you're enjoying the Boardwalk!

Yes go see her... she will love that!!!

Wendy- terrible luck with Maggie's car but I'm glad you made it okay.

Thanks

My d will be starting her senior year in college next week! Today the freshmen move in and orientation starts. I still cry like a baby - oh, wait - now that I think of it, that was when I paid the tuition bill!

I am with you there... tuition...

Happy birthday, Sheree!

 

[MAGGIED]

hey Wendy!! Glad you didn't break down on the side of the highway!!! YIKES!!!! Yay for Maggie...glad it's going well so far!!! Enjoy your trip!!!

I was worried about that for a while but we made it.... we had a great time... thanks

Hey Wendy! Sorry you had such a rough trip down, but glad you made it there safely and Maggie got the job she wanted. I'm so jealous that you are at the BW right now!! I can't wait to get there. Just 2 1/2 months to go. . .

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Your boys will love the pool and the fun games on the boardwalk!!!

Well, I'm home again. I nearly got out of the car and kissed the driveway when we pulled in. I resisted. I'd also like to celebrate on Facebook, but my SIL is also on Facebook, but she'd probably get offended.

Monday night, Jeremy's brother and SIL asked my FIL/J's dad if I was mad at them. Mad? No. Frustrated beyond all believe? Yes. From things like my SIL ignoring her daughter and our MIL's requests that she tend to her... to my SIL telling me that my husband, effectively, needed to suck it up($70 round of golf, without checking with J, expecting J to drive... and J just not playing well)... to the fact that my BIL took an entire adult meal for the baby, leaving my MIL and I to split one. I figured silence was probably better than saying anything stupid that I'd regret. Or that J would regret. It was a LOT of fun, spending time with my niece, too, and it's not her fault her parents were terrible.

But I'm happy to be home to my cats and my bed.

PLUS! My entire family is now booked for our Disney trip next July! We'll be in separate rooms, no one will be stealing meals, ... and it's DISNEY!

Anyway, sorry for venting. Thanks for listening!!

Vent away.... sorry the family is sucking the life out of the Disney magic.... I have to bite my tongue alot with my DH family also... but you have a wonderful trip to look forward too!!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Hello ladies.... Well...it's FRIDAY!!! We made it through the last full workweek of August!! Now it's time for the hurricane scares!!! LOL...well, I think it's gonna be fine...so far!! But, the last few evac's have been in Sept for us--it's kinda made Sept a thing to be dreaded...I on the other hand love it!! It definitely ushers in the Fall season,..it ALWAYS gets me closer to Disney...and it usually means I am finished with the first Quarter of our school year!!!! So...I look forward to it!! Wed was 4 months til Christmas! If you haven't been over to the 2010 Christmas thread, come on! We are still in the early phases of list making..but Sept- Oct is when I,personally, get cranked up with the shopping and wrapping!! Oct I will start buying stuff for baking....since we will be gone the full week before Tday,I will definitely have to have it all done before then. Plus I gotta start getting my Disney stuff bought!!! Tiny toiletries,..snax...one kid still needs new shoes, & shorts...you know...the never ending purchases!!So... I hope you all have a fabulous weekend...doing whatever you have planned..Wendy-I never thought about paying tuition if she's not there

 

[Dancegrl624]

Hooray for Friday! Madison is going over to a friend's house this afternoon, so I'll have a few hours to myself. After she gets home, I have to curl her hair. She'll be dancing at the Buffalo Irish Festival tomorrow night and I'll be working at our school's booth during the morning/afternoon. Then, she's dancing at an arts festival on Sunday afternoon. I'm hoping I can do something to keep the curls nice for Sunday. There is NO way I'm re-curling her hair tomorrow night. It takes forever!

Tonight I'm heading over to a friend's house for a girls night with my dance team buddies. Some of the girls will still be dancing next season, but most of the girls I'll see tonight no longer dance. Lots of Bandette alumni! It should be a lot of fun. We all wanted to get together one last time this summer before all of our schedules get too crazy.

 

[Kazooie01]

Hey everyone, just wanted to stop in and say hello. Things are going as well as one could hope with us. I hope you guys are all doing great. Have a good weekend!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hello Snowbirds!

Lots to catch up on here. . .

Welcome back Mel! Of course we remember you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sheree!!

Shawna -- I am so looking forward to fall and Disney too!!


Hey Rick, thanks for checking in. Glad to hear you are doing well. Love your new ticker.

Hello to all other Snowbirds


The boys are having a bunch of friends over tonight for an end of the summer party. Then we are having a garage sale tomorrow morning. Busy, busy!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

hey Rick!! Glad you said hey!! Love love love the ticker!!!!!

 

[MAGGIED]

Shawna... yup her college still wants the tuition.... but we don't have to pay room and board so that saves me $7000....

Good luck on the yard sale Shelly...

Rick... good to hear from you...

Meghan... good luck to Madison this weekend!!!!

 

[Pluto_fan]

Wed was 4 months til Christmas! If you haven't been over to the 2010 Christmas thread, come on!

On Wednesday, out of the blue DS10 said, "It's four months until Christmas!" I felt like ...until he added, "That's one-third of a year." And I felt better. A third of a year seems like a pretty long time.

Good luck to Madison this weekend! (OK, that's not exactly Irish dancing, but I don't think we have a smilie for that!)

Rick, thanks for the post. Your family remains in our prayers. How's the planning going for your upcoming trip?

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

 

[MAGGIED]

okay snowbirds I have a dilema... for our Nov trip we are taking DS girlfriend... we love her.. sweet girl... but the poor thing suffers from occasional seizures.. her family trusts her to be with us... this morning her mom sends me a text that she thinks it would be better if Lauren has her own sleeping space... so she wants me to price out a two bedroom villa and says they will pay the difference... yikes... I don't think she realizes how much that is and I would feel terrible asking them to spend that money... we were going to pay for Laurens trip... after all we have free dining... and we need a room to sleep in so its not like she is really "costing" us anything except her two day ticket... so here is what I have... right now the room with free dining at POR is about $2400... to add another room would bring the price to about $3600...

so then I started looking at the villasif I can get someone to rent me points then we could do AKV with dining and a two day ticket for around $4200...

but I feel terrible asking her parents to pay for something like that... even though it was their suggestion....

any thoughts on what I should do....