Stop Making Me Laugh Or I'll Pee My Pants! Go Back! I Lost My Shoe! Trip Report!

[longing2Batdisney]

You go girl!! tower of terror...that is one terror I will never do!!! can not stand to drop that is why I have still not done Splash Mtn.
great pictures of the Up characters and you & Hunter; I love the pic of John at park entrance...OH! I love your Thumper shirt (it is adorable)!

Lacey and her mission friends took some really great pictures!!!! I love the barn scenes!!

can't wait to see your tree...Danny just called and said he is going to try and leave work in about an hour and stop at the home depot what size tree do I want...anything at this point I'm not picky...if it were not for Ashton I would have bought a "Charlie Brown" tree yesterday ...my only condition is that it is at least as tall as Danny...we usually go 9 ft.

Have a great day!

 

[aprilisis]

I am SO proud of you for going on Tower of Terror!!! That is my favorite.
Great photos- I love the PP ones w/ the "Up" characters & the ones with Lacey & Hunter & the dragon. Where's the hidden Mickey on the Aerosmith picture?

 

[mickeystoontown]

Subbing to this awesome thread!

Discovered it a couple of days ago and have been working my way through it. You're family sounds amazing. I can't wait to read the next installment.

If you need a nativity scene, I've got you covered. Somehow my family ended up with 5...not entirely sure how.

I'm so glad that you found my report! We are pretty goofball family and we love each other to bits.

I appreciate your offer of a nativity scene. You've got five! You sound like me....I think I need something and go ahead and buy it but then later realize I already have one. I finally found mine yesterday as well as our stockings and the tree topper.

Again, I'm glad that you found the report. Please feel free to chime in any time you'd like.

The pictures of Lacey are AWESOME. She is so pretty. I love the barn background. I think nature pictures are the best.


When I read about the kids in line at TSM it reminded me of my post and experience at TSM from our May trip. What is it about this ride that makes parents think it is OK not to supervise their kids?

I hope you take lots of pix of the tree so we can see the theme.

Thanks! I think she's a pretty cute little gal myself. My favorite pictures are the barn pictures.

I just don't understand why parents let their kids crawl all over stuff at Disney. My kids were never allowed to do that.

I hope to get a picture of the tree tonight. I meant to take one last night but we had movie night and I didn't get around to doing it.

Hey Lisa, made it home about 7:30 tonite. Totally tired. We had such fun. I'll make a report tomorrow. The boss is stiil gone tomorrow and Tuesday. YAY!!! I don't even mind going to work on a Monday. What is wrong with me? That never happens.

Talk later.

Ginny

I'm glad to hear that you guys had a good time. I look forward to seeing all the pictures and reading all the details.

Lucky you...boss being gone for two whole days. My boss is in a pissy mood today. Don't know what the problem is. I've just pretty much ignored him all day.

We went to see Old Dogs this weekend too! Loved it. Next weekend we are going to see The Princess and the Frog I think I'm more excited about seeing it then River is LOL!
Speaking of not being able to find things I found a box of flat wooden ornaments that you paint yourself for River to do because he love crafts and I put them aside in a safe place till we got the tree up. Where's the safe place? I don't know
Can't wait to see pictures of your tree!

Wasn't the movie funny! I actually heard my Mama laughing out loud during some of the parts. John's favorite parts were when Robin Williams was in the spray tan thing and when he had the depth perception problems. He laughed sooooo hard.

I wanted to go see Princess and the Frog too but was outvoted. We may just have to go see it this weekend.

Ummm, let's not talk about putting things in a safe place and loosing them. I do that all the time. Drives me batty.

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Cool! I love your UP pictures. Those guys are too cute in the costumes. I love your shirt, too, by the way. I also love that John pinched Hunters behind to get him to smile. Come to think of it, John likes pinching hineys, huh. Pocahontas??? Or did he pinch her hiney? I can't recall, but I think he did.

How awesome that you did TOT! TWICE! I'm so proud of you. I love that ride. That is so funny about that kid wrapping himself around John. I love the stories you guys come back with.

Bummer about John nearly getting into a fight over you. You didn't know you were breaking! You can tell when people know they are breaking and when they don't. Trust me - you'll learn why in my TR! I have experience with it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...great updates! Love all your TSM pictures. That is annoying about the kids touching all the props. When we were on Peter Pan once this group of kids in front of us was reaching out of their ship and touching some of the scenery. Sounds like you had fun at Prime Time too!

Don't feel bad about posting. I seem to be so far behind in all my posts lately. I try but then I get busy.

I don't know why it is that some parents think it is completely okay for their kids to stand and crawl all over the props. I certainly wouldn't let my kids do that.

Prime Time was fun for everybody but Lacey. She didn't care for it at all!

Hey, Lisa! Hope your Monday is going well. Misty and foggy this morning, but we're sitting at 58 degrees right now, so at least we're not FREEZING!

And Lunch is being served today, so that's good for me (since I didn't bring my lunch today, LOL!)

The boss is being a farthead today. Don't know what his problem is. I just been ignoring him. It's easier on both of us.

It was really foggy this morning here too. I think our temp is supposed to be in the high 50's.

I ate a salad for lunch. I could eat a salad every day. Love 'em!

I bought myself a Mickey Head cookie cutter while I was down there a week ago. It's fairly big and looks like a hidden Mickey to me. It's red metal and I found it at Mouse Gears in Epcot. I'm sure I saw it someplace else too but that is where I bought it. I don't remember seeing any others but they may have sets of cutters somewhere.

I have one Mickey cookie cutter too. I remember seeing those red ones in Mouse Gears. I wonder if they have any other Disney characters?

Good morning Lisa. Hope your weekend was good. Don and I want to go see Old Dogs but while in Kansas City we laid in bed and rented "My Life In Ruins". It was very funny and out on DVD. We had a wonderful girls weekend out.

Have a good day. My boss is gone today and tomorrow. YAY for me.

All of us loved Old Dogs. It was super funny. You and Don must take the time to go see it. I haven't heard of "My Life in Ruins". Who's in it?

I missed the post about your tree! It sounds so pretty. I like the idea of having a themed tree. I can't wait to see your pictures!

Old Dogs sounds like a wonderful movie. The previews of it are hilarious!

I have a themed tree every year. One year, I had a fishing tree. It had all sorts of little fish on it and then I went to Walmart and bought a whole bunch of red and white bobbers in all different sizes. I hung them on the tree like Christmas ball ornaments. Another year, I had a Mardi Gras tree. We had gone to the Mardi Gras parade in town and had caught a bunch of beads. I strung them on the tree like garland and then hung some old old glass balls that my mother had. I just like changing things up.

Okay...I think I'm all caught up. I am so glad that it is the beginning of a new week. After the train accident last Thursday (my train hit a car and it took me three hours to get home), my computer crashed at home on Friday (and so I didn't get to DIS unless I could sneak on Andy's computer every 12 hours), we spent Saturday in Dubuque where Mark wrestled for the first time this year (and he went 2-0!) and Sunday we went to PF Chang's for dinner (it was wonderful -- had the pork dumplings -- they were just okay, and the sweet/sour pork which was out of this world and chocolate cake for dessert) with friend we hadn't seen in over three years and they treated us (how sweet of them) and then I did about eight loads of laundry. This week has to be slower and better.

Lisa, I got your card and the little goodies in it -- THANK YOU so very much.

Holy smokes! You have had some kind of crappy week last week. I would have freaked out if I had been on the train that hit the car. Congrats to Mark! I know you are as proud as can be.

I've never eaten at PF Chang's nor have I heard of it. I assume it's a chinese restaurant.

Like you said, this week has to be slower and better than last week. I think I only have one really big deadline this week. Doesn't mean I don't have a bunch of stuff to do though.

Glad that you got your envelope.

 

[mickeystoontown]

You go girl!! tower of terror...that is one terror I will never do!!! can not stand to drop that is why I have still not done Splash Mtn.
great pictures of the Up characters and you & Hunter; I love the pic of John at park entrance...OH! I love your Thumper shirt (it is adorable)!

Lacey and her mission friends took some really great pictures!!!! I love the barn scenes!!

can't wait to see your tree...Danny just called and said he is going to try and leave work in about an hour and stop at the home depot what size tree do I want...anything at this point I'm not picky...if it were not for Ashton I would have bought a "Charlie Brown" tree yesterday ...my only condition is that it is at least as tall as Danny...we usually go 9 ft.

Have a great day!

I was so proud of myself. I really didn't expect to like Tower of Terror at all. I figured I'd go on it just so that John could go. I'd hang on for dear life and scream. Go figure?

I thought the UP pictures turned out pretty good considering that we were hot and sweaty and my hair was doing all sorts of swirly things. I found the Thumper shirt at Walmart. I thought it was the cutest thing and I never see anything with Thumper on it.

I liked the park entrance picture too. Lacey and I didn't know that John had pinched Hunter's behind. We just thought they were acting silly.

Weren't the Mission pictures good. I loved 'em. I have a lot more but didn't want to post them and bore you guys to bits with them.

I didn't mean to wait this late before getting a Christmas tree. We always say we are getting one sooner but never do. We went to the same place as we always go....there's a guy who sets up a tent and his trees are usually priced pretty good. We found one that was $55 and John asked if he would take $50. The guy agreed.

The tree isn't as big as I wanted but it'll do. Especially since it's only going to be in the house for two weeks. I really wanted the 8 to 9 foot tree but couldn't see paying that much for a tree that we wouldn't have for very long.

Hopefully, Danny can find ya'll a nice tree at a good price.

I am SO proud of you for going on Tower of Terror!!! That is my favorite.
Great photos- I love the PP ones w/ the "Up" characters & the ones with Lacey & Hunter & the dragon. Where's the hidden Mickey on the Aerosmith picture?

Thanks! I was pretty proud of myself too. I couldn't believe I actually liked it.

Look really closely at Steven Tyler's scarf for the hidden Mickey.

Cool! I love your UP pictures. Those guys are too cute in the costumes. I love your shirt, too, by the way. I also love that John pinched Hunters behind to get him to smile. Come to think of it, John likes pinching hineys, huh. Pocahontas??? Or did he pinch her hiney? I can't recall, but I think he did.

How awesome that you did TOT! TWICE! I'm so proud of you. I love that ride. That is so funny about that kid wrapping himself around John. I love the stories you guys come back with.

Bummer about John nearly getting into a fight over you. You didn't know you were breaking! You can tell when people know they are breaking and when they don't. Trust me - you'll learn why in my TR! I have experience with it.

Yep, you're remembering correctly. John is a hiney pincher all the way.

I liked the shirt because it had Thumper on it. I never find shirts with him on it. It was a Walmart special....just $7.00 which made it look all the prettier in my eyes.

I couldn't believe that I liked Tower of Terror. My goal is to get Hunter to ride next year. He says he won't but I would love for him to. I think he'd like it.

I think what made the story of the teenager even funnier was the fact that he was trying soooo hard to act all cool before the ride. I wish we had looked at the picture that Disney took. I wonder if we could have seen the guy wrapped around John?

I really really really didn't know that I was breaking in line. I'm not a line breaker and if I was breaking in line, I would have done it more discreetly.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Look at me! I think I just replied to all the most recent posts. If I didn't, I certainly meant to.

 

[KatMark]

No, you missed mine on congratulating you for doing Tower of Terror -- my favorite ride. But I'll forgive you this time. Just don't let it happen again.

 

[jenseib]

awesome. we rode TOT this year too. It had been years since I rode it last and was a little nervous myself, but it is soo much less wild than it used to be.

 

[mickeystoontown]

No, you missed mine on congratulating you for doing Tower of Terror -- my favorite ride. But I'll forgive you this time. Just don't let it happen again.

Well, crap a doodie. I think I missed your's and one more. I'm going back. Be back in a minute.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Glad you made it through ToT ! That's a fun ride.

It is a fun ride. I can finally say that since I have experienced it. I never ever ever thought I would get on that thing.

Lisa, I am so super duper scooper proud of you riding TOT. I so love that ride. I know, heights and all. I had come to the conclusion at Disney that they are not going to put millions of people on a ride that is not safe. It is strictly visual anyway. I admit the first time the windows opened and I saw Mickey's Water Tower I freaked. Poor Andrew, I held really tight to his arm. Good thing John wasn't there. He would be so black and blue on both sides. But by the time it was over I could not wait to go again. Wonderful ride. I love Fantasmic. I can't believe people watch it and say 'well, it was ok' I think it is Fantasmically Awesome. We didn't get many pics because of the rain but Don did film it.

Again. super proud of you.

I received your package. You are so wonderful. I'm doing my best to get mine mailed tomorrow. I am sending a PM.

You know exactly how I felt since you and I both have the heights issue. John would have promised to hold on to you too had you been beside him.

I am a Fantasmic lover. I get all teary eyed and everything.

Lisa, I am THRILLED that you did TOT. It is my absolute favorite ride in all of Disney...I just love it. I bet Lacey and Hunter were proud of you too.

I still can't believe that I rode it. Not once...but twice! Lacey and Hunter were both proud of me. Bless their little punkin' hearts, I guess their prayer worked.

 

[mickeystoontown]

awesome. we rode TOT this year too. It had been years since I rode it last and was a little nervous myself, but it is soo much less wild than it used to be.

I should have rode the dumb thing when it first opened. I think they only dropped it a certain number of times per ride. Now, I think it's random.

 

[jenseib]

I should have rode the dumb thing when it first opened. I think they only dropped it a certain number of times per ride. Now, I think it's random.

Yes, but the drops were bigger drops, not the bunny hops in between.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Yes, but the drops were bigger drops, not the bunny hops in between.

Lordy geeze I would have been a nervous wreck then!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

All of us loved Old Dogs. It was super funny. You and Don must take the time to go see it. I haven't heard of "My Life in Ruins". Who's in it?

It has Nia Vardalis? from my Big Fat Greek Wedding and Richard Dreyfuss. She also rewrote the original script like she did in Wedding. It was very cute. It's out on DVD so go to Family video and get it for 5 nites for $1.00

 

[mickeystoontown]

Now that I've written a Disney installment, I think I'll start the Branson mini-trip report for you guys. I'll be back in a bit.

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Now that I've written a Disney installment, I think I'll start the Branson mini-trip report for you guys. I'll be back in a bit.

Oh Goodie. Since I haven't been in about 6 months I'll see if it has changed any.

 

[mickeystoontown]

You may recall that we decided to take a trip to Branson for the Thanksgiving holidays. Mama had been through a lot the last few months (bypass surgery and recovery) and we thought she needed to get away. So, I booked a stay at the Grand Country Inn in Branson, Missouri.

I bought one of their packages. It included two nights, two breakfasts, two tickets to one of their shows, two rounds of indoor mini-putt and two 2-day tickets to Silver Dollar City. The price was $399.00 for two adults. I added Hunter to the package for just $97.00. Mama and Lacey were on another package and Mama insisted on paying for their entire package since we bought all of the gas. We added an extra night's stay too. The extra night was supposed to cost $99.95 but I emailed the hotel and told them I would be changing resorts unless they could give us a competitive price. They emailed back and gave me the room for $69.95 a night. I didn't think that was bad for a holiday weekend so we booked the extra night.

Our plan was to leave the house on Wednesday, November 25, 2009, as soon as Lacey got home from Georgia. She was supposed to leave Georgia fairly early. I think she had planned on leaving at 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. which would put her in Atlanta a little after the morning rush. She called at 9:00 or so and said her alarm clock didn't go off so she had just gotten up. I told her not to hurry. We'd see her when she got home.

In my mind, I was counting down the hours until I got to see my baby. We hadn't seen her since our vacation to Disney World in August....three and a half months ago.

I was able to get off work at Noon which was good because I was able to pick up lunch for John, Hunter and I. Mama said she didn't want anything. She'd just eat leftovers or something. The woman and her leftovers. It doesn't matter if she's sick and tired of it...she's going to eat it until it's gone. At our house, we eat it the first time and maybe, just maybe, I'll save it for the next day. Not too often though.

Anyway, I left work at Noon, stopped somewhere and got us some lunch. I can't remember where I stopped. John and I loaded up Mama's van. Mama insisted that we take her van to Branson. Honestly, I hate driving that stupid thing but it did give us a lot of extra room. If we hadn't taken it, there would have been three people in the backseat of our car. Not so great when you have an 8 hour drive.

Lacey called us every now and then to tell us where she was. Each time, we told her to take her time and not get in a hurry. She assured us she was because there were lots of cops out.

While we were waiting on Lacey, I was cleaning up a few things around the house, putting snacks in the van, etc. Lacey called and said she had just crossed the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She was almost home!

Lacey rolled in about 45 minutes later. Do ya'll remember that John, Hunter and Lacey love Napoleon Dynamite? Well, they do. I've never seen the entire movie. Just bits and pieces. Hunter made a sign that said "Lafonda" and held it up for Lacey. She thought it was hilarious. I have a picture of Hunter and his sign. I just have to find it on Photobucket.

We all hugged and kissed Lacey and then we started pulling things out of her Jeep and into the house. She sorted through what needed to go in the van. John and I loaded her stuff up while she and Hunter hugged each other some more. Hunter pulled out his viola and played a song for Lacey. Lacey watched him very closely and then told him she wanted to play. The little booger did pretty good too.

Mama came over while Hunter was playing the viola. Another round of hugs started again.

I made the last "has everybody gone to the bathroom" call and once we made sure everybody had, we jumped into the van. If I am remembering correctly, it was about 6:00 p.m. Later than we wanted to leave but better late than never.

We were driving down the highway and Lacey wanted to know when we would stop for food. We were all hungry so we stopped in Farmerville, Louisiana at McDonald's. Farmerville is a little town so it was either McDonald's or fried chicken from a convenience store. McDonald's it was. We went through the drive thru and were out in just a few minutes.

We were eating and driving and laughing and talking. Just happy to be together for the first time in months. We were just talking about how we'd probably see deer since it was dark and cool outside. Not ten minutes later, I spot three deer on the side of the road and slow down a bit. One decided at the last minute that he/she wanted to cross. I screamed! John hollered! The kids squealed and Mama just held on. I swerved sharply and avoided it. I swear it wasn't a foot from the front right bumper. Golly geeze! This is not the way I wanted the trip to start off.

All of us were now on the lookout for deer. But, the laughing and giggling continued. How could we laugh after just about running over a deer? Because, Hunter has this giant gob of ketchup on his face. Just as I swerved, Hunter was putting a fry in his mouth and missed. Ketchup ended up on his face.

Then, out runs this stupid possum and I swerve to avoid it. John and Lacey who were both riding near a window hit their heads on the window. Mama screams "oh dear". I just scream. Something goes THUMP! Ummm.....the possum didn't make it even though I tried.

This is the reason I hate driving down little two lane highways at night. There's always some sort of creature wandering around at night. From the looks of it, they were having a party tonight.

We finally make it to Eldorado, Arkansas and I have to stop and pee. Yes, just an hour and a half from home and I have to stop. Actually, it wasn't one of those "I gotta go" moments like I sometimes have. But, Mama needs to walk around a bit from time to time and it was a good time to stop. Especially since we knew the next part of the drive would be devoid of big cities. We stepped out of the van and the cold hit us. The temperature had dropped drastically. We highstepped it to the building and were back to the van in no time.

Mama was the navigator for this trip. I had printed out Mapquest and we had a map but she said she knew where we were going. She kept saying that we would continue going straight and wouldn't get off until we got to Conway, Arkansas. I knew that couldn't be right because if we went straight, we'd head to Hot Springs. She said we had to go straight. So, straight we went. Until, she saw where we were supposed to turn. (I thought we were supposed to go straight.) Luckily, there were no cars behind us so I nearly stopped and drove over a large concrete patch and we were back on track.

The next part of the drive was very uneventful, thankfully. No varmits ran out in front of us and we missed no exits. We got to Little Rock with no problems at all. We decided before we left that we'd stop in Little Rock since it was about halfway to Branson. We went all the way through Little Rock and then stopped when we saw a Days Inn sign. We found it with no problem at all. John went in and they said the room would be just $69.00 a night. He ran back out and told Mama who had stayed in the van. She came in and we got two rooms.

I forgot to request two rooms on the bottom floor. Mama has trouble climbing stairs and, of course, our rooms were upstairs. She said don't worry about it. She'd climb the stairs if I would stand in front of her and John stood in back of her.

Finally, I have pictures. I took pictures of the room before we dropped our overnight bags.

Wait a minute! I found the Lafonda picture:

Now, the Days Inn room pictures. The room was extremely clean. It looked like it had been recently renovated:

We went to the car and got Mama and Lacey's overnight bags. Hunter stayed in the room with Mamaw. Here he is with the remote control:

Lacey looking tired. Poor thing had driven 9 hours from Georgia then rode for 4 more to Little Rock.

Lacey wasn't home when Mama had her bypass surgery. She wanted to look at Mama's neck and see the scars.

Mama talking with her grandbabies:

Mama with her grandbabies:

Okay, I think I'll stop for now. It's time to shut this office down for the day. I'll write another installment tomorrow!

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

I understand you missing Lacey. I'm in my first year at college, and while I'm only an hour and a half away from home, I miss my parents (and puppy dogs) like CRAZY sometimes. I went home last weekend and it killed me to have to come back to finish my exams. Luckily I'm done Tuesday afternoon, and then I get to spend a whole three weeks with my family.

I hate country roads too. My boyfriend lives about twenty minutes away, but in a really small town, and the only way to get there is driving through farmland. I refuse to drive at night because my car is old and decrepit and I don't think it could handle swerving and fast breaking, let alone actually hitting something!

 

[Mikes:)Mom]

Great updates! I love the pictures with UP! I'll have to try to find them next week. My DS15 wont watch UP with me, so I was home alone on a Saturday watching it by myself, now depressing!

That's AWESOME you rode ToT!! I ride it, but alway get really scared and ask myself "What are you doing" My DS15 will ride it over & over & over...I can only handle it once a day! Lucky for me DS15 is being a friend this trip. I'm skipping it!

I can't wait for more updates on Branson! It's great to see pictures of new places.