The DDA Trouble Free Zone

[ksoehrlein]

I am trying to keep the sandbox clean
Terry

Terry, I like the mental image of keeping the sandbox clean. In my mind, "dirty sandbox" = "cats have been in it." And if we all continue to keep the cattiness out of our posts, our sandbox is bound to stay clean. I'm keeping the mental image in the back of my mind for whenever I'm tempted to be a bit snarky. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[ellenbenny]

Interesting idea... how much is an AP and is it for a calendar year or 12 months from when you buy it....

It's one year from 1st use for a new Annual Pass. If you renew, it is adds one year onto your expiration, even if you don't use it right away.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

It's one year from 1st use for a new Annual Pass. If you renew, it is adds one year onto your expiration, even if you don't use it right away.

Hmmm.............. We are talking about hit the World 3 times in 2 years.....

 

[bear74]

Hi Kids!! Have you all been playing nicely in the playground??? We had an eventful weekend - its funny now, but wasn't then.

The readers digest version: Matt had a playdate on Friday and he is allowed to have the friend stay for dinner. So I put in some chicken nuggets and fries (Pay attention here - I don't cook). I go to take them out, of course I didn't use an oven mitt but used my sweatshirt instead (first mistake). I burned my hand and dropped the chicken. That proceeds to fall back into the oven, starting a small fire on the oven coils. I scream bloody murder for Skunka, who comes racing down the stairs, missing a stair and falling the rest of the way. So now I'm burned and his back is out. Needless to say, we had an eventful weekend!!! We need a break!

So send skunka some love - his back is a little better, but he's not himself. I can't wait to go away in a couple of weeks... we need some R&R!!

Oh Marti hugs to you.
Skuna pixie dust that your back gets better soon.
No wonder you guys weren't playing this weekend.

 

[ellenbenny]

We've stayed at POR a few times, always in the Alligator Bayou section. The only time we did it with 5 people, we had 3 boys ages 10, 12, and 13. The 10 and 12 year old were brothers, 13 year old was step-brother and did not want to share a bed, so he slept in the trundle. Fortunately he was not very big for his age, because it is pretty small, and as it is I don't know how comfortable it was for him, but he never complained. It can be done, if you don't mind being close together and don't spend a lot of time in the room. We love POR for the lush, pretty landscaping and river. If you don't want a long walk, request a room close to the food court. That has always worked for us.

Hope this helps.

Ellen

 

[bear74]

I usually follow all the abbreviated codes....but.....what is an AP.....??

Lynn

proablly already answered but AP stands for Annual pass.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Well, nap time is over here so I off I go to the land of Choo-Choos, Bob the Builder and whatever mess he can make today!

See ya later!!

 

[julia & nicks mom]

Julia is watching the Disneyland sing along songs

does anyone have this? There is a little girl about 7 or 8 with super curly hair and Julia tells me that is her and tells me all about when she went to Disneyland to be in the tape - that girl has quite an imagination!!

which is why yesterday I got very irritated with my MIL - we were at breakfast talking about the cruise and Julia was telling her she couldn 't wait and the only thing she didn't like was that Captain Hook was going to be in the kids club (Did I mention we have the cruise DVD and Julia watches it often) so I told her that we would make sure she was not in the club when he was there and then my MIL says:

Julia - you know Captain Hook isn't real - he is just a character - it is someone like Daddy dressed up in a costume pretending to be Captain Hook - characters aren't real

why doesn't she go ahead and tell her Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy don't exist either!! ***??!?!?

then today Julia said to me - mommy - are the country bears real or just in costumes

now I know that someday she will figure it out - but she immerses herself so completely in the Fantasy that I really don't think it was necessary for my MIL to tell her that - I would rather just let her figure it out on her own

 

[Eeyorecln]

You are the luckiest person on the planet!!!!!!! What I wouldn't give to have a hubby who shared my love of all things Disney. Oh well, I'll just have to take what I can get and live my fantasies through the rest of you. At least DH is supporting me in the marathon!

He also surprised me last night by telling me he's taking me and another couple (our best friends) to DL to celebrate our 16th anniversary. DH and I and this other couple got married 2 weeks apart, so we will both celebrate. Maybe he's learning to know what I like. You think? If I could just get him to purchase the AP's, I know I could get him converted. My brother lives just 20 minutes away from DL, so we have a place to stay on quickie trips when a hotel is out of the question. Maybe I can work on him this next trip.

I'm planning on making some anniversary shirts for us all to wear! Should be a ton of fun!

By the way, glad to see you back!

Wow. 16 years that is something to celebrate. When's your anniversary? We went in August and it was so much more cost effective to convert our 5 day to an AP in case we were able to get the stepsons this summer. We would like to take them on a vacation with our family for once. We actually had to drive all the way to IA just to get to see them last summer. So since we had an AP anyway, DH agreed it would be nice to see DL at Christmastime. It really was neat to see all the decorations. So, we're getting 3 trips to DL for the 50th celebration. Now if I could just convince him on DVC so we could go to WDW every 2 instead of 4 years. I'm slowly wearing him down, our trip in 2007 he agreed to stay on-site. We just need his company to make a huge profit so he can get a partner distribution and I could probably sell him on the DVC idea.

 

[KristineN]

We're going 12/10-12/17 at POR. We live in the 'burbs, we built in Huntley in 2004....

My neice lives in Huntley off of Randall Road...I do a lot of business in Gilberts, not too far from you.

 

[Eeyorecln]

Marti and Paul, I hope you both recover soon! And I second the motion that you guys avoid preparing and eating chicken for a while.

Kate, I hope the kids feel better.

With regard to my health, I found out that I have strep throat, which has been great for the diet (can't swallow anything). I got a steroid shot and some antibiotics today, so I'm well on my way to recovery. Now one more pixie dust request: I'm hoping the kids and DH don't get it! I had no idea I had anything that contagious -- my fever had been very low until this morning -- so I spent the weekend cuddling the kids while I rested. Bad mommy, spreading her germs!

PD your kids don't get it. My 1 YO had it and was quite cranky for days. I always seem to spread my germs, can't quite resist when they want a goodnight cuddle. (Sometimes the only time my older DS is willing to cuddle. ) Feel better soon.

 

[Eeyorecln]

I posted a few days ago regarding having to take Kirsten to a pediatric eye doctor...well, she has very poor vision in one eye plus "lazy eye" This requires patching for 4 hours per day. Since taking this picture, things have gone steadily down hill...the adhesive on the patch bothers her skin, she has been crying for 2 hours. Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried a "pirates patch" which was way too big for her.

Can they not use eyedrops instead of patch? I'm so sorry to hear she's having such a rough time. I hope things get better.

 

[bear74]

I found this posted on the Disney for family boards and wanted to know if any had heard of it.

Just read about a new adventure for all your little princesses that will be opening in Spring 2006 at the World of Disney at DTD Marketplace..It's called Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique and it is an interactive environment where little girls can dress up as their favorite princess, as well as get made up, have hair done, etc. Our DD4 has been talking all about this and can't wait until our next visit...We have a long wait though - December 2006 seems sooooo far away!!!!!!!!!

 

[babytrees]

I posted a few days ago regarding having to take Kirsten to a pediatric eye doctor...well, she has very poor vision in one eye plus "lazy eye" This requires patching for 4 hours per day. Since taking this picture, things have gone steadily down hill...the adhesive on the patch bothers her skin, she has been crying for 2 hours. Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried a "pirates patch" which was way too big for her.

Can you talk to her doctor about changing the adhesive?

We, in my family, are very sensitive to adhesive.


I think she looks adorable...like patch from 101 Dalmations (while that may not help in your household it would mine)

 

[Steamboat Marti]

Julia is watching the Disneyland sing along songs

does anyone have this? There is a little girl about 7 or 8 with super curly hair and Julia tells me that is her and tells me all about when she went to Disneyland to be in the tape - that girl has quite an imagination!!

which is why yesterday I got very irritated with my MIL - we were at breakfast talking about the cruise and Julia was telling her she couldn 't wait and the only thing she didn't like was that Captain Hook was going to be in the kids club (Did I mention we have the cruise DVD and Julia watches it often) so I told her that we would make sure she was not in the club when he was there and then my MIL says:

Julia - you know Captain Hook isn't real - he is just a character - it is someone like Daddy dressed up in a costume pretending to be Captain Hook - characters aren't real

why doesn't she go ahead and tell her Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy don't exist either!! ***??!?!?

then today Julia said to me - mommy - are the country bears real or just in costumes

now I know that someday she will figure it out - but she immerses herself so completely in the Fantasy that I really don't think it was necessary for my MIL to tell her that - I would rather just let her figure it out on her own

The next time your mil says something like this - I know my response would be "were you ever a kid?"

But then again, my mouth usually gets me in trouble !

 

[Steamboat Marti]

Did anybody watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition last night? This is the family we saw when we were in WDW in October - I couldnt' wait to see it on TV. Here's a picture of "behind the scenes"

 

[babytrees]

I loved last night's show!! Cool to get the behind the scenes look!!

Hope you all get better fast and enjoy your R&R you deserve it!!

 

[tinker1bell]

Terry, I like the mental image of keeping the sandbox clean. In my mind, "dirty sandbox" = "cats have been in it." And if we all continue to keep the cattiness out of our posts, our sandbox is bound to stay clean. I'm keeping the mental image in the back of my mind for whenever I'm tempted to be a bit snarky. Thanks for the reminder.

when our kids were little, DH had built a very big sandbox which had a lid that I could slide over it when not in use. I love cats, (have 3) but not the neighbors who let theirs run outside and do all sorts of damage. I found a few cats looking at it very intently so I had to promise that I would keep it covered if not in use

 

[ksoehrlein]

which is why yesterday I got very irritated with my MIL - we were at breakfast talking about the cruise and Julia was telling her she couldn 't wait and the only thing she didn't like was that Captain Hook was going to be in the kids club (Did I mention we have the cruise DVD and Julia watches it often) so I told her that we would make sure she was not in the club when he was there and then my MIL says:

Julia - you know Captain Hook isn't real - he is just a character - it is someone like Daddy dressed up in a costume pretending to be Captain Hook - characters aren't real

why doesn't she go ahead and tell her Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy don't exist either!! ***??!?!?

then today Julia said to me - mommy - are the country bears real or just in costumes

now I know that someday she will figure it out - but she immerses herself so completely in the Fantasy that I really don't think it was necessary for my MIL to tell her that - I would rather just let her figure it out on her own

Poor Julia! My DD's preschool teachers did this 2 weeks before our Feb '04 trip when she was 4.5 years old -- and then denied it to my face. I posted on the Family Board for advice and was met with a lot of "We've never lied to our children about Santa, the Easter Bunny, or the characters." OK, not very helpful. I wanted her to keep believing in the magic, and DH came up with a great idea to help. It undermined the teachers' authority a little bit (but ONLY in the area of all thing WDW), so you may not want to do it and risk her losing respect for your MIL, but it worked in our case.

We had dinner at 1900 Park Fare the night we checked in. Beth said, and not too quietly either, "Why do all these other kids think the characters are real? My teachers say they're just people inside costumes." OK, well we can't have her saying that in front of other kids at WDW, can we? DH suggested that we chat with the Fairy Godmother on the way out.

To prepare her, I asked Beth, "Who do you think knows more about WDW, your teachers or the Fairy Godmother, who lives here?" (Luckily she still believed in the face characters.) She admitted that Fairy Godmother must know more about it. So then we asked Fairy Godmother together if her teachers were correct or if the characters were in fact real.

Fairy Godmother played along so well. She told Beth that the characters were real, and that if she ever noticed that some of them -- like Perla and Suzy Mouse -- were bigger than they were in their movies it was because she herself had made them bigger with her magic wand. And the magic was preserved! 2 trips later, she still believes.

Perhaps a chat with (or a letter from) "your" Belle will help?

Anyway, I feel your pain. They're only little for so long, and I hate when someone tries to spoil any innocence they may have.

 

[Glynis]

Julia is watching the Disneyland sing along songs

does anyone have this? There is a little girl about 7 or 8 with super curly hair and Julia tells me that is her and tells me all about when she went to Disneyland to be in the tape - that girl has quite an imagination!!

which is why yesterday I got very irritated with my MIL - we were at breakfast talking about the cruise and Julia was telling her she couldn 't wait and the only thing she didn't like was that Captain Hook was going to be in the kids club (Did I mention we have the cruise DVD and Julia watches it often) so I told her that we would make sure she was not in the club when he was there and then my MIL says:

Julia - you know Captain Hook isn't real - he is just a character - it is someone like Daddy dressed up in a costume pretending to be Captain Hook - characters aren't real

why doesn't she go ahead and tell her Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy don't exist either!! ***??!?!?

then today Julia said to me - mommy - are the country bears real or just in costumes

now I know that someday she will figure it out - but she immerses herself so completely in the Fantasy that I really don't think it was necessary for my MIL to tell her that - I would rather just let her figure it out on her own

I'm so sorry that happened to Julia! What a rotten thing to do. My DD8 was just like Julia; really vivid imagination, loves pretending, etc., and she just recently figured out that the characters weren't real. Hasn't stopped her loving them, and wanting autographs, though.

We have the DL sing along songs tape, and that girl really does look like Julia. We love that tape and have to watch it frequently. Is it on DVD now? I haven't been able to find it.