Surprising the Kids with a NYE Trip! Jan '16 PTR (Update 12/29 We're off! See ya in 10 days!)

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Oh my! Planning a school trip like that would either make me extremely excited or stress me out to much I'm not sure which one!

I got a whole bunch of cute outfits for my daughter for this trip, mostly cute items for etsy. If I asked my husband to match he would kill me, I mentioned it in a joking way to feel him out and no such luck. I'll be skipping that this trip! I need to get myself some things for this upcoming trip I may get an outfit or two but will probably go with plan tshirts and shorts. However I am going to check out Khols right now!

So far planning the trip is pretty fun. After all, I get to do the fun research/booking part and someone else is doing the stressful money part. I suppose it might get stressful when I have to do the flights and confirmation stuff! I try not to think about it that hard.

OH! Your DD is going to look so cute in her etsy outfits! She's such a doll already! Hopefully you're doing a TR so we get to see her in them! Funny thing is... Eric would totally wear matching shirts. He IS a HS Band teacher after all - they wear matching shirts all the time! lol! I was poking around on Pinterest the other day on Disney Bounding's boards and I realized that I could TOTALLY dress the fam up like the Frozen crew since we already HAVE great outfits, minus one Olaf shirt! Ev would be Elsa, Eric - Kristoff, Josh - Olaf and I would be Anna. I could even pack these clothes up and the boys would never even catch on until it was too late!!! Muuuwahaha!

Did you ever check out Khols??

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Planning a trip for 200 people?! Good luck on all of the components (booking the concert, the rooms, the meal, the flights, etc.). It sounds like a lot of moving pieces, but I'm sure you'll get it all figured out!

I've never been to Seattle (or Washington state, for that matter). I have been to Oregon which is BEAUTIFUL, so I'm sure Washington is just as nice.

I LOVE Lush! Anika introduced me to that store and now I can't stay away! I'm not as Lush-crazy as Anika, but I have quite a few things (hand cream, body scrub, buffy bar... )

I think if I made Anika wear a matching shirt she'd disown me. There will never be any matching outfits seen in our trip reports!

Oh my goodness, if you liked Oregon, you would fall in LOVE with Seattle!! There's so much to do you couldn't possibly do it all in one vacation. Of course, I'm a little biased I suppose If you ever DO get the opportunity to visit, go in the Spring or Summer. Its the absolute BEST time to see Seattle in all its glory!

LUSH!!! OMG!! I am crazy head-over-heals in love with Angels on Bare Skin. If you haven't tried it, you must! It makes your face feel like butter! (in the best possible way )

Components of the gigantor trip are coming along nicely! I booked 60 rooms the other day and secured the reservation in Epcot! Hopefully everything else will go as smoothly!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Folllowing along. We just decided that since we will be visiting family in Florida over Christmas that we will also surprise the kids with a trip. Our dates are very similar. Now we just need to plan. I couldn't imagine planning for 200!!!

I'm so happy to have you following along! Are you going over NYE too? What are your plans? Lets compare notes!!

 

[NJlauren]

So far planning the trip is pretty fun. After all, I get to do the fun research/booking part and someone else is doing the stressful money part. I suppose it might get stressful when I have to do the flights and confirmation stuff! I try not to think about it that hard.

OH! Your DD is going to look so cute in her etsy outfits! She's such a doll already! Hopefully you're doing a TR so we get to see her in them! Funny thing is... Eric would totally wear matching shirts. He IS a HS Band teacher after all - they wear matching shirts all the time! lol! I was poking around on Pinterest the other day on Disney Bounding's boards and I realized that I could TOTALLY dress the fam up like the Frozen crew since we already HAVE great outfits, minus one Olaf shirt! Ev would be Elsa, Eric - Kristoff, Josh - Olaf and I would be Anna. I could even pack these clothes up and the boys would never even catch on until it was too late!!! Muuuwahaha!

Did you ever check out Khols??

I think I'll do a trip report, a nice way to document my trip. I can't wait to see how the outfit looks, I didn't go overboard which is slightly disappointing! I did check out kohls and I'm thinking I'm going to order myself a shirt for my trip. I was considering the Disney bounding thing too, just doing it for mysef and see how it goes..... Less then 3 weeks so if I'm going to do that I better start planning!

I love the frozen Disney bounding idea!! My husband would be asking me a 1000 questions why these shorts why this shirt it would be petty funny!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I think I'll do a trip report, a nice way to document my trip. I can't wait to see how the outfit looks, I didn't go overboard which is slightly disappointing! I did check out kohls and I'm thinking I'm going to order myself a shirt for my trip. I was considering the Disney bounding thing too, just doing it for mysef and see how it goes..... Less then 3 weeks so if I'm going to do that I better start planning!

I love the frozen Disney bounding idea!! My husband would be asking me a 1000 questions why these shorts why this shirt it would be petty funny!

Yay! You should totally do a TR!! I'd follow!

I'm banking on jet lag working in my favor... and that my hubby will be too tired to ask 1000 questions when I lay his clothes out for him and just put 'em on.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Seattle Mini TR
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Is Spring Break seriously over??? I didn't see this coming. We actually had a pretty great break! It doesn't often happen but this year it began with Easter so even though its a little late, I give you our family's traditional Easter greeting:

.......

'Ter!!!!

DSC_0026 by laurenkp80, on Flickr
​

This one goes all the way back to 1982 when Eric's little sister, try as she may, could only get out the last syllable of "Happy Easter". It stuck and the tradition has been passed on to the next generation.

I don't know about you guys but in our family, Easter is pretty low key and that's what I love about it. We usually have brunch and hang out with the in-laws until late afternoon then have a lazy evening. Not a lot of prep involved besides a small Easter basket and I make my special homemade, from scratch cinnamon rolls. This made it so simple to leave the very next day for our mini vacation in Seattle!

Its about a 5 1/2 - 6 hour drive from our place to my brother's including stops and Seattle traffic so its not really that bad. We hadn't been over since my nephew was born last summer and I was kind of feeling guilty! We usually go at Thanksgiving but Josh got sick the day we were going to leave so we stayed home. Plus, with gas being so cheap lately... a couple months ago it got down to $1.65/gallon although its about $2.45 now... I almost felt obligated to go!

We only planned to go for two nights, so with driving we were really only there for one full day. We left our place around 11:30 am on Monday and guess what... IT WAS SNOWING!!! It continued to snow for almost 1/2 the drive and, ironically, stopped once we were approaching the mountains. We arrived in Seattle about 5:00 to beautiful sunny skies! That's the Northwest for ya!!

My parents came over that evening for dinner and we discussed our plans for the next day. Weather was iffy, at best and we were trying to decide if we should be cautious and spend the day at the (indoor) Pacific Science Center and see the Pompeii exhibit or chance it and visit the Woodland Park Zoo. When we looked up tickets, the science museum was triple the cost of the Zoo and I could get us a 20% discount on Zoo tickets with AAA. In the end, price won out and we decided to chance it!

Tuesday morning, we got to babysit for an hour while my SIL had an appointment! Just look how sweet these cousins are!!

04-15 Seattle 5 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

We had a pretty lazy morning, fitting for spring break, and agreed that we would all meet at the Zoo at noon. There seemed to be a bit of confusion as to where we were meeting though... Eric thought for sure we were meeting at the Zoo and my mom thought we were meeting at HER house so when we called to let them know we were on our way to the Zoo, they weren't ready. DSIL decided to meet my parents at their house so she could change and feed DN while we continued on to the Zoo.

We parked in the East entrance lot which was $5 to park all day. Not bad for Seattle standards! But we could have parked just a little to the south for free!! Oh well. Josh & Ev wanted to get their pictures taken with the monkeys while we waited for DH to pay.

DSC_0057 by laurenkp80, on Flickr

DSC_0061 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

It was pretty convenient, since I had already purchased our tickets online, all I had to do was bring up the pdf on my phone and they scanned them right from my phone! No need to print anything off!

DSC_0062 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

Once through the gate, they gave us each a token to "vote" for our favorite animal. You drop the token into a giant bank type thingie that had photos of 6 different animals on it. The animal with the most "votes" (tokens) would win X dollars toward their conservation efforts. There were snow leopards, tigers, a couple different types of bird, some sort of monkey and a toad. That poor toad wasn't getting ANY votes!! We gave let Josh & Ev each vote for two. Ev voted for snow leopards and tigers, Josh voted twice for tigers. Then it was off to the Family Farm to start exploring the Zoo!

The Family Farm is pigs, goats, chickens, bunnies, cows, etc. I didn't take many photos there and we didn't spend a lot of time there either. Most of the animals were huddled in their shelters as it was kind of chilly still and had started to sprinkle. This brave little guy was putting on quite the show, though!

DSC_0068 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

It wasn't long before I got a call from my step-dad that they were on their way and would meet us at the West Entrance. This worked out perfectly because the newly expanded penguin exhibit is there and Josh had JUST finished a whole unit in school on penguins! He was pretty excited to check them out.

DSC_0075 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


DSC_0073 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

While watching the penguins, he noticed something else he had to try...

DSC_0064 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

And because I am a complete sucker for pressed pennies I of course let him do one!

DSC_0066 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

Once my family arrived, all they had to do was once again scan my phone at the gate. So convenient!! Then we were off to see more animals!

My precious nephew!!! LOVE him so much!!

DSC_0079 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

Woodland Park Zoo is separated into "lands". We started at the Northern Trail that has bears, wolves, otters, elk and eagles.

DSC_0080 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

By the time we were done there, Ev was complaining that she was "starving to death." No, no... she's not a drama queen AT ALL! So we stopped for our picnic lunch my mom had packed us. I gotta say, my mom is the worlds best picnic packer! She made awesome sandwiches, brought fruit, and made these spectacular cereal bars that had peanut butter, pecans, and craisins in them. So yummy!

After lunch we tackled Australia (wallabies, emus, and kookaburra) and Tropical Asia, Trail of Vines:

Orangutans (Can you tell which is which?? )

DSC_0084 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

Chimpanzees - which we didn't actually see but noticed that there was a TV in their "private quarters" playing Toy Story 3!! And snakes... I think he was measuring DN's head to see if he'd fit!

DSC_0087 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


DSC_0089 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

The next stop in Tropical Asia is the Elephant Forrest. Ev decided to treat all who would watch to an elephant impersonation.

DSC_0095 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

It was actually getting sort of late at this point since the Zoo only stays open until 4:00 for "winter" hours. So we took a poll and everyone wanted to visit the African Savannah.

This guy was coming in and out of his cave. He looked pretty preoccupied... feeding time, maybe?

DSC_0097 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

Look! Pumba!

DSC_0096 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

The hippo was actually doing something interesting this time! i.e. not just sitting underwater with his nostrils poking out.

DSC_0100 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

And my fav, the giraffes! Who were not on the savannah at this point but had gone "home" to their barn.

DSC_0099 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

So way, way, way back when... it was rumored that Disney Imagineers had visited Woodland Park Zoo to take a peek at how they operate and gather ideas for Animal Kingdom. It was also rumored that a nice sum of money had been donated by Disney (or its affiliates ) and was used to improve the Africa exhibit. I have no clue if this is true or not but the Africa exhibit was expanded back in the late 90's and part of it included this awesome little Village area where they have a couple huts with tools and musical instruments to play with. The main savannah viewing area was themed to look like an African school with little desks and school posters on the wall. Its pretty clever!

DSC_0102 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

Our last stop were the flamingos before we called it a day and headed to my parent's house for dinner.

...continued in the next post.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Our time in Seattle always seems too short!! It seemed like we had just arrived and it was already time to go home.

On our way out of town we decided to stop at Bellevue Square, which is a "premium" mall in an upscale neighborhood. The mall is pretty fun, they've got a Disney Store, Lush, Sephora, Kielhs, Nordstrom, Lego Store, and Apple Store just to name a few. But I gotta tell 'ya... I hate Bellevue! No matter how many times I've been there, its just a place where I can never get my bearings! The streets all lead to nowhere and everywhere... thank goodness for GPS! Whew!

First things first... mama needed her soap! Which means that I had to pay a visit to my favorite bath & beauty shop, Lush. I have been in serious need of Angels on Bare Skin for a loooning time!

The kids each had $10 from Easter (we played a money game, their uncle won and split the money between all the cousins) so they were itching to visit the Disney Store to look at their stash of Tsum Tsums. Do you guys know about these? It started with a Japanese mobile game, which is a lot of fun, and turned into a whole line of merch! They are adorable and only $4.95 a piece so not too bad, really. Big Hero 6 Tsums had just been released so Josh was hoping for Hero & Baymax. Ev wanted Anna & Elsa. So we went into the Disney Store on a mission!

... Then easily got distracted.

04-14 Seattle 4 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

It was such a fun store and the CMs there were super friendly! The kids & I probably could have spent a good hour in there but Eric has no patience for such things and made sure we stayed on track. Unfortunately, most of the Big Hero 6 Tsums and ALL of the Frozen Tsums were sold out. So Josh picked out Fred (Big Hero 6), Ev picked out Marie (Aristocats), and they both picked a Stitch.

Then we grabbed lunch at World Wraps and the kids played with their purchases.

Tsum Tsums by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

After lunch it was time for that long drive home! Josh learned what "Catch 22" meant: he goes "Its not fair! I want to go home but I don't want to leave! How is this possible?!" Poor kiddo. They were pretty pooped.

04-15 Seattle 1 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

Good thing its a pretty drive!

04-15 Seattle 2 by laurenkp80, on Flickr


04-15 Seattle 3 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

And look what was waiting for us when we got home!!! Our first piece of Mickey Mail!! Woohoo!!

Mickey Mail 1 by laurenkp80, on Flickr​

Its getting REAL, folks!

 

[tarak]

Looks like you had a great trip and Easter! We try to keep Easter low key. My husband's family is Greek, so we usually end up having two separate Easters, which gets a bit crazy. Coming home to Mickey Mail must have been wonderful!

Lush makes a holiday face cleanser called Buche de Noel. It is my absolute favorite. I used to swear by Angels on Bare Skin - now that's my backup if I run out of Buche de Noel before the holiday offerings come out.

I didn't know there were Big Hero 6 tsum tsums. My youngest goes back and forth between Stitch and Baymax as her favorite character of the moment. And my oldest daughter loves all the tsum tsums, even if it's a character she doesn't overly care for.

The giraffes are also my favorite. We've stayed at AKL a number of times (it's pretty much the only resort my husband wants to go to). There's not much that can top having a cup of coffee, watching the sunrise, and seeing giraffes and zebras a few hundred feet away.

 

[mackenziefaith]

Following! I just booked a FD trip for the last week of September and it'll be our first trip to AKL too!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Looks like you had a great trip and Easter! We try to keep Easter low key. My husband's family is Greek, so we usually end up having two separate Easters, which gets a bit crazy. Coming home to Mickey Mail must have been wonderful!

Lush makes a holiday face cleanser called Buche de Noel. It is my absolute favorite. I used to swear by Angels on Bare Skin - now that's my backup if I run out of Buche de Noel before the holiday offerings come out.

I didn't know there were Big Hero 6 tsum tsums. My youngest goes back and forth between Stitch and Baymax as her favorite character of the moment. And my oldest daughter loves all the tsum tsums, even if it's a character she doesn't overly care for.

The giraffes are also my favorite. We've stayed at AKL a number of times (it's pretty much the only resort my husband wants to go to). There's not much that can top having a cup of coffee, watching the sunrise, and seeing giraffes and zebras a few hundred feet away.

Thanks! We did have a great Easter! I love big holidays but I've always loved Easter best because it feels like a big deal without being a "big deal", I think. I'll have to check out Buche de Noel when the holiday products come out! I absolutely LOVE AoBS. It just makes your face feel so lovely!

YES!! The Big Hero 6 Tsum Tsums are adorable!! Did you know about the 1st Tuesday of the Month release? Anyway, they release a new set on the first tuesday of each month. This month it was Big Hero 6... apparently they sell out really fast though. We went on Wednesday afternoon after the release and the only ones they had left were Fred & Wasabi. (Poor Fred & Wasabi!!) May is going to be the Little Mermaid! I can't decide who is more addicted to these things, me or the kids! They're just too adorable!

Oh, I can't wait! I'm so a morning person and I'm often up way before my family, relaxing and enjoying my coffee. Sunrise on the savannah sounds like heaven!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Following! I just booked a FD trip for the last week of September and it'll be our first trip to AKL too!

mackenziefaith!! So glad to have you following along! Thats so exciting about your September trip. I've heard people have really struggled to get that FD promo so congrats!!

 

[Elleshoodat]

Hey, there! I'm joining in.

Sooo much to catch up on...

I love that this is going to be a Christmas morning surprise for the kids! I can't wait to see their reactions.

Chick-Fil-A = holy yum. I think it's the best fast food you can get, and it's such a pleasant experience. The workers are efficient AND courteous ... imagine that!

Congrats on getting savanna view at Animal Kingdom Villas! We LOVE that resort. I don't think it's nearly as "out there" as everyone makes it seem. I mean, it's not like walking into Epcot or monorailing or boating to the Magic Kingdom ... but it really isn't a bad drive to anything on Disney property.

I've always wanted to try Lush, but I get so overwhelmed just stepping foot in the store (I get the same feeling at Basin). What do you recommend?

I love the photo of Ev staring up at the orangutan! The open-mouthed python (I think), not so much.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Hey, there! I'm joining in.

Sooo much to catch up on...

I love that this is going to be a Christmas morning surprise for the kids! I can't wait to see their reactions.

Chick-Fil-A = holy yum. I think it's the best fast food you can get, and it's such a pleasant experience. The workers are efficient AND courteous ... imagine that!

Congrats on getting savanna view at Animal Kingdom Villas! We LOVE that resort. I don't think it's nearly as "out there" as everyone makes it seem. I mean, it's not like walking into Epcot or monorailing or boating to the Magic Kingdom ... but it really isn't a bad drive to anything on Disney property.

I've always wanted to try Lush, but I get so overwhelmed just stepping foot in the store (I get the same feeling at Basin). What do you recommend?

I love the photo of Ev staring up at the orangutan! The open-mouthed python (I think), not so much.

Tiffany! I am so glad to have you following along! Thank you for stopping by!

Lol! It's funny how I am becoming so obsessed with Chick-fil-a. Like, I'm totally stressing out because I want to make it to MK for the Christmas parade... but can we do it AND have Chick-fil-a for lunch?! I know, I know... first-world problems...

Nice to hear another recommendation for AKL Villas! We'really so excited for this. The monorail or boat service sure would be nice but since we've never had it, I guess we won't "miss" it either.

OMG Lush! You've gotta try it! You'll be addicted! Of course my favorite is Angels on Bare Skin. It is so, so lovely on your face. If you use expensive face wash, you'll immediately ditch it after you use AoBS. I also like BIG Shampoo... its a bit odd at first but your hair will be so shiny & healthy after a week of using it. I also love their shower jellies and body washes.

 

[mackenziefaith]

OMG Lush! You've gotta try it! You'll be addicted! Of course my favorite is Angels on Bare Skin. It is so, so lovely on your face. If you use expensive face wash, you'll immediately ditch it after you use AoBS. I also like BIG Shampoo... its a bit odd at first but your hair will be so shiny & healthy after a week of using it. I also love their shower jellies and body washes.

I love their bath bombs! My kids each got them in their Easter baskets this year because they love them as much as I do!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I love their bath bombs! My kids each got them in their Easter baskets this year because they love them as much as I do!

What a great idea! Gets the kids in the tub without a fight... hmmmmm...

 

[tarak]

Thanks! We did have a great Easter! I love big holidays but I've always loved Easter best because it feels like a big deal without being a "big deal", I think. I'll have to check out Buche de Noel when the holiday products come out! I absolutely LOVE AoBS. It just makes your face feel so lovely!

YES!! The Big Hero 6 Tsum Tsums are adorable!! Did you know about the 1st Tuesday of the Month release? Anyway, they release a new set on the first tuesday of each month. This month it was Big Hero 6... apparently they sell out really fast though. We went on Wednesday afternoon after the release and the only ones they had left were Fred & Wasabi. (Poor Fred & Wasabi!!) May is going to be the Little Mermaid! I can't decide who is more addicted to these things, me or the kids! They're just too adorable!

Oh, I can't wait! I'm so a morning person and I'm often up way before my family, relaxing and enjoying my coffee. Sunrise on the savannah sounds like heaven!

I didn't know about the releases. I'll have to keep an eye out for those. They really are cute.

What a great idea! Gets the kids in the tub without a fight... hmmmmm...

My youngest hates taking baths. She'll shower without too much fuss, but baths are just awful. Unless I have a bath bomb to toss in. I tend to stock up on the day-after-Christmas sales. Usually it's BOGO for all the Christmas products. Including the gifts sets that have several bath bombs. The UK site does it, too. Although I tend to just buy my staples from the UK. Even with the exchange rate and shipping, the prices are a lot cheaper than in the U.S. But you can't buy too much, or the cost of shipping jumps from about ten bucks to forty-five. I love Big shampoo, too. The conditioner is really wonderful, but I find the solid conditioners to be a bit of a pain towards the end - I hate not using every last little bit and once the bits get small, they're just about impossible to use. Oh, and the henna is amazing. It's not the easiest stuff to work with, but the results are great.

Can you tell I'm a big fan of Lush?

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Although I tend to just buy my staples from the UK. Even with the exchange rate and shipping, the prices are a lot cheaper than in the U.S

Seriously?! I never even thought of that option before! I'll have to take a look because usually I have to order online anyway. Thanks for the tip!

 

[sullymom]

So we finally decided to go ahead and book. We will be at WDW 29 Dec -7 Jan. We have booked at CBR. The kids have no idea that we are planning this trip. We are surprising them Christmas morning. We will be driving to see my brother and his family in Florida and then heading to WDW.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

So we finally decided to go ahead and book. We will be at WDW 29 Dec -7 Jan. We have booked at CBR. The kids have no idea that we are planning this trip. We are surprising them Christmas morning. We will be driving to see my brother and his family in Florida and then heading to WDW.

Wahooo! That's awesome! And our trips are almost exactly the same! We stayed at CBR in 2012 in one of the Pirate rooms. It was a lot of fun. You"ll love it!

Are you going to do a PTR?

 

[sullymom]

I think I will start a PTR. I'm still a little new to the whole Disboadrs thing