Trying to get all caught up. Welcome to all the new Dads!!!!
You can add me to the list of DIS Dad's from South Carolina.
I dont understand the whole pin trading thing.. Lauren is starting to get intersted in the autographs, but Ethan is starting to not care as much so maybe pin trading is a new avenue to explore...what do I need to do to get him started and how does it work?
That is nice that they will only trade with kids...do they kids have to initiate the trade or do the Cast members do that? I am not sure Ethan would initiate it yet or not.
Kids initiate and there is no pressure to trade. Just walk up to the CM and ask to see their pins. If the CM has one that they want, just pick it out and hand over one for trade. That is the hard part. "Which one do I give up for the one that I want?"
It's a great way to start some interaction between the guests and the CMs.
If you go to eBay you can find someone selling a lot of pins at a cheap price (compared to the park) they are common ones, but it's better than paying 4 bucks or more on each one
Just to touch on the pin trading, my kids picked this up from their cousins on our first trip and love it. My DS wears his lanyard even at home. I try to pick up duplicate pins when I have a chance just so that he can have extras to trade on our return trips.
DS13 started the pin trading thing on his first trip a few years ago. Of course, both older brothers then had to get involved, and now all five of us have lanyards and pins.
I have bought "lots" of pins off of ebay, but do your research first and be very careful who you buy from. There are some reputable dealers, and some not so much. Check sites like
www.dizpins.com and pinpics.com to learn more about disney pins and trading. I think dizpins is the one that lists sellers on ebay who have not been good to deal with so you can avoid them if possible.
I purchased a "lot" of 100 pins and did end up with a few that were counterfeit, or "scrappers" that I immediately removed and refuse to trade to help keep the hobby pure, but I still got about 85 really good pins, and at $2 each instead of $5 or $6, I definitely came out on the better end of the deal. The CMs with green lanyards will only trade with children.
Well day three is in the books. The word for Tuesday was: Heat! And plenty of it. As a Southerner, heat is no mystery, but it was particularly bad even for us. We spent a little bit of time outside in the morning and took a bus tour of the monuments around the National Mall after the sun had finally set. The rest of the day was indoors at the Smithsonian American History Museum. The folks in charge of Americas Attic do a fine job of looking after all the bits and pieces that make up our history, but there is so much to get into that you have to start picking and choosing what you spend time on. If you stop to look at every single thing, youll end up seeing nothing. After about half a day, wed gotten through only about half of just that one museum.
The pictures for today are a few shots of the major monuments (some early, some in the evening). Well see how it goes Wednesday, but the forecast is for heat beyond reason. Oh well
Welcome to the South (well
North to me, but youll get the idea).
Great pics! Looks like you are having a wonderful time.
TO coin a phrase from Christian...They say, "It is Hotter than Satan's Balls."
Or at least hotter than CHEESE balls!
Hey DisDads on Facebook...
I sent you information to add one of our new members to the DisDads friend list on facebook so we can get to know him better and pick on him there as well. It is DisDr.
Steve
Ok Facebook Dads.....I just sent you another DisDad friend...it is Bunch24 from Louisiana and he is looking forward to getting to know each of us better!!
I saw I had a new friend request on FB! Not sure which one of these it was, but I will check it out later on when I get home. Only got one of them though, so I guess I will have to look for the other one.
Yahoo! Now my wife thinks I'm officially Goofy.
Well, that's just another club you can join with so many of the rest of us...
OK Guys, had to share this funny story.
After dinner tonight our family sat down to relax in the family room with the TV. I had just put down Meg as she was beyond tired so I was going to let the older 2 (6 & 7) stay up a bit. As soon as we sit down Wipeout came on and both girls were jumping with joy. Mary (our oldest) even said that she remembered this show from last year and she LOVED it.
It was hilarious watching them both enjoy the show.
Yeah, it is hard to sit there and not laugh at the comments they make about the contestants, and cringe at some of the strange contortions some of them end up in when they "wipe out."
Oh, and How 'bout that USA Soccer Team!!! The Kardiac Kids come through once again. 
But man do I wish they would make it a little easier on us to enjoy the game.
These last minute decisions are tough on us older guys. The heart can only stand so much!!
Of course, after screaming at the TV during all of the missed chances and telling some of the players how sorry they were for missing "easy" shots, DS13 (the soccer fanatic) calmly states.....I want a Landon Donovan USA soccer jersey!
Oh yeah, NOW he's the world's greatest player. Funny how much someone can change in just a few seconds!
WELCOME TO THE DIS DAD'S CLUB! 
I feel for you though, I think my suits needed dry cleaning about 5 or 6 times after I got home before I could wear them again.
<--Jaw Drop Smiley! 
That would really be cool
