Tasty Planning Time with ZeBrook! A 2 for 1 PTR - 12/24 - All our bags are packed

[brookelizabeth]

I have a bunch of updates I want to do here! I will start with the most recent fun...Halloween!

Well, technically the day before Halloween was the "harvest party" at church. We all had a great time, Henry was ecstatic when he realized he got candy all-night-long!

First up was a bounce house (with Joe) - he just looooooved this, but ONLY when Da Da was with.

Then a game where you were to throw the tennis ball at these blocks of wood, but they just allowed Henry to walk right up and knock them over. He loves knocking stuff down, so this game was a big hit!

Next game, throw frisbees in the mouth - again, they allowed Henry to come right to the front:

*Note the Dum Dum sucker already in his mouth!

One room had things for smaller kids, including a bunch of bikes! It was great!

Doing the Cake Walk. Henry eventually won and picked out two sugar cookies with an inhuman amount of frosting on them.

(Yes, that's me with the giant fro....)

Oh, look, something healthy!!

By this time, Henry had enough candy, so I was making him put the candy in his bag rather than eating it right away. He played this bowling game and selected a Tootsie roll (versus the Dum Dum's he had been picking all night), so I let him eat that. As soon as he was done with it, he wanted to play the bowling game again. Can you guess why?

Yep, smart kid. He just grabbed another Tootsie Roll. Some candy is better than no candy, right?

Joe unwrapping the Tootsie. If you see Joe's shirt, it has an apple sticker on it. Mine had the pi symbol. Together, we were "apple pie." We are dorks!

Henry and I. His mouth full of Tootsie Roll!

Picture time at the set-up they had in the foyer

I hope to share more updates later today - I've got some planning info, and some Disney fun we had in the car the other day...!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love Henry's costume. Very appropriate for your Cars loving boy!

Hehehe, you and Joe are so cute with your costumes!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I love Henry's costume. Very appropriate for your Cars loving boy!

Hehehe, you and Joe are so cute with your costumes!

Holy cow girl! You are FAST!!!

Thank you on the costumes! When I saw the race car driver costume, I knew it would be a hit. He loves wearing it! It came with a little matching hat, but his noggin' is too big for it. The Lightning McQueen hat was a big hit with the other kids though.

 

[princess&her4princes]

Apple pie!! Very cute....love it!!! And Henry looked so cute in his race car driver outfit, that's what my big boys were, too! Loved seeing him with the games, he looked like he was having a good time and what a smart boy picking out his candy!! They catch on in no time, don't they?

Looking foward to more updates! Have a great day, Brook!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

You and Joe are too clever!!! I love the "apple pie"!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Henry's cute and all but love the fro on you girl! I dare you to where it New Year's Eve

 

[Connie96]

Henry looks quite himself in the driver get up! Excellent choice!

And... I gotta chime in on the "apple pie". Brilliant! I just love that kinda geeky-ness! Probably comes from being a life-long geek, myself.

 

[shebaxric]

That's the perfect costume for Henry! And, what's up with the dum dums? All the little kids that came to my door, I let them pick what they wanted. 99.9% picked the dum dums. I ran out of those first!

BTW, love the hair and the creative costume!!

 

[CJsMom]

Apple Pie!
Love the fro, and Henry looks SO cute!

 

[IluvXU]

So cute! Your trip is coming up so quick!

 

[A.Mickey]

Oh my gosh that party at your church looks awesome and brought back lots of memories of elementary school. Right before Halloween we would have a cake walk and in the gym a bunch of those games were set up. That looks like it was a ton of fun!

Love the costumes!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Apple pie!! Very cute....love it!!! And Henry looked so cute in his race car driver outfit, that's what my big boys were, too! Loved seeing him with the games, he looked like he was having a good time and what a smart boy picking out his candy!! They catch on in no time, don't they?

Looking foward to more updates! Have a great day, Brook!!

Thank you! We were stuck on what to wear for a costume, so I did some Google work and an idea I found online triggered the "apple pie" idea. Everyone got a big kick out of it!

The party was a lot of fun. It was neat that this year Henry was really getting into it. His first year he was so tiny, he just ate and then napped pretty much for the whole thing. Then last year it was all a bit overwhelming to him, but this year he was all about those games!

You and Joe are too clever!!! I love the "apple pie"!

Thanks!! Easy costume, quick and simple!

Henry's cute and all but love the fro on you girl! I dare you to where it New Year's Eve

Oh, that is TEMPTING! Can you imagine me chillin' on the beach with MeMom and Jill wearing that?

Henry looks quite himself in the driver get up! Excellent choice!

And... I gotta chime in on the "apple pie". Brilliant! I just love that kinda geeky-ness! Probably comes from being a life-long geek, myself.

As soon as I spotted the car outfit, I knew it would be a hit! He kept pointing out the various logos and saying "car!" It was cute.

And thank you for the compliment on the costume! I can't take full credit, it was a spin off of an idea I found online. I love clever costumes too-it's so fun! Last year we were the 2nd Amendment, the right to bear arms. We strapped teddy bears to our arms.

That's the perfect costume for Henry! And, what's up with the dum dums? All the little kids that came to my door, I let them pick what they wanted. 99.9% picked the dum dums. I ran out of those first!

BTW, love the hair and the creative costume!!

Wow! Dum Dums must be the new popular candy! I thought Henry would pick ALL chocolate, but he really loved those suckers (and still does...)

The fro was a lot of fun! I got many, many double-takes!

Apple Pie!
Love the fro, and Henry looks SO cute!

Thank you!!!

So cute! Your trip is coming up so quick!

I know! 52 days!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Oh my gosh that party at your church looks awesome and brought back lots of memories of elementary school. Right before Halloween we would have a cake walk and in the gym a bunch of those games were set up. That looks like it was a ton of fun!

Love the costumes!

We seem to always post at the same time!

I remember the cake walks from when I was a kid too! I had to do it with Henry, just for old times sake. It was fun!

 

[A.Mickey]

We seem to always post at the same time!

We are both night owls!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I am SO VERY HAPPY to report that flights are finally PURCHASED for our entire family!

And the New Orleans hotel ordeal is settled!

Okay, so since I haven't been writing here much, a quick back story....

Way back in August we were going to purchase airfare for everyone:

1 way MSP to MCO on December 26.
1 way MCO to MSY on January 1.
1 way MSY to MSP on January 3 for in-laws, 4th for us.

But, we hoped it would go down in price...and it didn't. It went up, up, up!

I checked the prices nearly everyday since then, sometimes a few times a day in hopes we would snag a deal.

Eventually we found okay prices for both MSP to MCO, and MCO to MSY. But that last leg was bad. It was hovering right around $200 for a one-way for Joe, Henry and I, and even higher for the in-laws. Then it went UP. About $260 for us, close to $300 for the in-laws!

It was scaring me a bit, stressing me out to the point where it would keep me awake at night. If it was just our family, it would bother me, but this was my in-laws. They have completely trusted me to do this planning and I felt like a huge, ugly, giant failure! I did NOT want them paying those prices!!!

Then Southwest had a sale just the other day...so Joe and I snagged our flights for $100 to fly out on January 5, so that means an extra day in New Orleans for us! We are all about this. With food costs, it will be a bit of a wash for cost out of the pocket-so to stay an extra day was a definite YES on our front. We have no idea when we'll get back to New Orleans, so having another full day to tour, explore and enjoy was a great bonus for us.

But the in-laws were still stuck in New Orleans. January 3 was seriously the most expensive day to fly. It kept going up. Over $300-some were $500 for a ONE WAY!

Last night I couldn't sleep because this was on my mind. So I got up and saw it for $180 on the 4th. It was still insane for the 3rd, but $180 isn't too bad considering the prices as of late.

So, after talking with the in-laws today, then going over the numbers....tonight I got them the $180 flight that flies out on the 4th. They were okay with this because we were able to get a cheaper hotel with the 3 night stay (deal with the wedding), so between the hotel and the flight, it resulted in a $133 saved per person.

Here are the details:

Joe, Brook, Henry, Grammy, Poppa and KK all fly out from Minneapolis on December 26 at 1:20 pm on Delta airlines. Flying non-stop to Orlando, arriving at 5:28 pm.

Everyone then flies out of Orlando on January 1 at 1:00 pm on Southwest Airlines. Flying non-stop to New Orleans, arriving at 1:55 pm.

Grammy, Poppa and KK fly out of New Orleans on January 4 at 10:52 am on AirTran Airways. 2 hour layover in Atlanta, arriving at Minneapolis at 5:23 pm.

Joe, Brook and Henry fly out of New Orleans on January 5 at 10:05 am on Southwest Airlines. A short layover in Chicago, arriving at Minneapolis at 3:15 pm.

Whew.

Now, as you know, we are staying at the beautiful Kidani Village while in Disney World. However, I don't think I have discussed where we are staying in New Orleans.

We are staying right in the French Quarter at the Astor Crowne Plaza.

*image from their website

It looks like a very nice hotel, and it just a couple blocks from the wedding location-and right in the heart of New Orleans!


Here is a quick To Do list for the trip:
Disney

• In-laws need to buy tickets
• Plan in-room meals
• Get basic touring plan done for parks, "must do's"
  
• Buy coffee "to go" cups
• Make grocery list
• Put in WeGoShop order
• Make budget so I have a clue what we can expect to spend while there
• Get cash for tips
• Pack (we can do this at anytime considering how cold MN is now!)
• Make the inevitable 838 trips to Target for last minute things
• Set up details of NYE meet with MeMom
• But Passporter inserts
• Print basic trip plan for in-laws
• Get countdown calendar ready with stickers for Henry
• Research scooters for Poppa

NOLA

• Try to find a cheaper hotel
• Buy wedding present for the happy couple!
• Research cheap/free things to do
  
• Get a basic map of the area, walking map?
• Go back to early pages of this PTR and re-read all NOLA advice given, take notes, commit to memory!

And I'm sure there are several things I'm forgetting, but that is it off the top of my head. Time to get crackin', eh?

I don't think I've shouted this over here, just on my TR...

WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD NEXT MONTH!!!

Feel soooo good to say that. I told my mother-in-law today, "that's just 7 Monday's".

 

[brookelizabeth]

We are both night owls!

It's true! I try not to be, but I find myself busy on the computer until midnight or later.

I see you have a new CC debt ticker! Do you know my CC debt story? It's an ugly one...but with a great ending.

 

[A.Mickey]

It's true! I try not to be, but I find myself busy on the computer until midnight or later.

I see you have a new CC debt ticker! Do you know my CC debt story? It's an ugly one...but with a great ending.

Yeah, I try not to be either, but sometimes I just can't tear myself away from the glowiness!

Yes I do have a CC debt ticker! I told you about the No Buy thread yesterday, it is really helping me! You told me a wee bit about your CC debt story, (but I love hearing your stories if you want to tell me more!) I am just glad you had a great ending! As I am sure I will too! I should be out of the bulk of my cc debt by summer of next year!

 

[Lady Lallie]

WOO HOO! This trip has totally snuck up on us!

Your to do lists seem very managable. Everything is going to go smoothly I am sure.

 

[princess&her4princes]

WOOHOO next month!!!!!!!!!!

WOW...the airfare issues were stressing me out just reading about them, so I can only imagine how they felt for you, glad to hear that they are resolved!! You've got some great plans with New Orleans, glad you get to spend some time there to check things out, the hotel looks beautiful!!!

Your lists look great...love the 838 trips to Target, how true is that?!! LOL!!

 

[SoonerGirl]

I'm so glad your airfare drama is over and everything is all set! That has to be a huge load off your mind.

You arrive on the 26th, we are going home on the 27th - we'll have to see if we can work it out so that we can meet up for a minute to say hi!