The Disney-fication of our Non-Disney Vacation...an October 2013 TR

[oopsiDAISY]

It is FRIDAY!!! Anyone up for a campfire? Pull up a stump and let's dream about Disney, shall we?

It was finally time to head to the campfire...well, sort of. The actual campfire sing-along would not start until 8:00, but that did not stop us from getting there early for the "pre-show" activities. I am so glad we did!

There were two cast members who came out to lead everyone in a game of charades. It was a lot of fun. Chip and Dale came out for pictures and autographs as well!







I had a mission for this night to get my picture taken with Chip and Dale together for my Disfriend Cheekypoppins. When I asked her what she wanted from the world...she immediately said she wanted a picture of me with her Munks. I was sad to realize though, that Chip and Dale split up, and were not doing any joint pictures at all during the campfire. I thought about things I read about on the Disboards all the time, and had an idea. I spoke to one of the handlers, and asked if there would be any way for me to get a picture with both. She said she couldn't make any promises, but she would see what she could do. I left her alone, and the activities continued.

Gabe had a chance to do charades with Chip and Dale!



Soon the campfires were lit, and it was time to make smores!







I got a great picture of Gabe enjoying his smores:



Our little guy was double-fisting it!

After that the Sing Along portion started:



I apologize for the crummy pictures. We did our best with our little point and shoot cameras.

Chip and Dale then went back out into the audience to do autographs and pictures with the folks who may have missed the first round at the pre-show activities. And again, they split up.



As you can probably deduct from our photos...we were on Chip's side of the little amphitheatre.

The campfire sing along was great. Our kids actually knew all the songs since we had just sang campfire songs at our Country Bears movie night a few months prior to the trip. As the night was closing down, though....I got pixie dusted!

This happened as Chip and Dale were exiting the campfire:



Yes, Joanna had come through for me! She corralled those chipmunks and got them to give me the money shot! I felt like a celebrity, because after we got our shot all of a sudden many parents and kids were asking for the same....and the "munks" were escorted right out of the campfire area without obliging anyone else.

So, Cheeky...for the many ways you have brought joy to me on sad days, the ways you brought hope when our Disney trip seemed completely hopeless, for the Mickey Mail that keeps arriving from Canada for the oopsiFAMILY...I am so glad I could get this picture for you!

And you better believe when we got home from our vacation, I got online and put in a great commendation for Joanna for bringing that pixie dust moment to our vacation!

 

[KatMark]

What a fun update, Connie. Love the pics with the "Munks" and the campfire and sing-a-long. The one of your son with his smore is adorable.

And yay for and getting that picture for your DIS friend. That is what Disney is all about.

Have a good weekend.

 

[Pluto0809]

That camp fire looks like fun! So glad you got the great picture with the Munks for Carrie Ann!

 

[MeMom]

I think your point and shoot pictures are just fine. That was a good mid-smore picture of Gabe. Brooklynn and I and some of our cousins have been to the campfire before, but we need to get Bella over there, too. It was fun, and of course being allowed to be near a fire pit was a big deal for all the little cousins. They enjoyed the whole evening!

I am another who lives frugally at home, and it's a nice reward to splurge for a Disney trip.

 

[DMGeurts]

What a super awesome update Oopsi!!! I just love Gabe's 2 fisted smore... Life is good!!

The campfire looks super fun! I love how you totally Disneyfied your trip - it seems like you looked in all the nooks and crannies to find the best of the best. I seriously cannot wait to hear about the rest of it.

As for that amazing Pixiedusted surprise... Joanna did good! How awesome was that - and even better that they were able to do it just for you!!! It's those little things that CMs do that really make a vacation magical! I just love it!

I just love seeing all those smiles on the kids' faces!

I see you are kicking this TR into high gear... I hope this means that you'll be starting a PTR soon????

D~

 

[cheekypoppins]

Awe I luv your guts girl! eventhough you always make me cry LOL You're the best and that's why i like to make you smile whenever i can,even if i'm not there to see it knowing is enough.can't wait for the day that we meet I am gonna squish you!!!

 

[Pixiedust530]

I kind of disappeared for a bit... but I'm BACK!!!

I am loving your updates! The campfire looks like such a FUN time! I think I might just have to find a way to squeeze that in on a future trip.

I absolutely LOVE Gabe's candy creation! Sounds delicious! I will buy a case!

Can't wait to read more updates!

 

[disny_luvr]

I love your pictures of the campfire. I think this is a definite must for our next trip. My boys' favorite characters are Chip and Dale so they'd go crazy over this. Does the campfire require reservations or do you just show up? Is it every night? Thanks for sharing your pictures.

I'm not sure if I'll do a TR after the cruise. I've never done one before. I always worry my reports would be boring compared to the ones I read. I'm going to try to post some pictures on FB before we leave Port Canaveral and again when we get to St. Thomas. Feel free to friend me on FB if you feel comfortable doing that. My name is Louise Leach.

 

[Chicago Mo]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
he campfire just sounds AMAZING!!!! A-MAZ-ING!
now i may have to do this too.. GEEZ all of you are making me want to do all this fun stuff! which would make my trip to be about 3 weeks long to get it all in!

I am SO happy you got the money shot! BOTH of the 'munks' <- i love that
the smores look scrumptious!!! i want some!

as usual you all look SO DARN CUTE!!!! LOVE!!!!

 

[cheekypoppins]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
he campfire just sounds AMAZING!!!! A-MAZ-ING!
now i may have to do this too.. GEEZ all of you are making me want to do all this fun stuff! which would make my trip to be about 3 weeks long to get it all in!

I am SO happy you got the money shot! BOTH of the 'munks' <- i love that
the smores look scrumptious!!! i want some!

as usual you all look SO DARN CUTE!!!! LOVE!!!!

teehee i have always referred to them as my munks

 

[oopsiDAISY]

What a fun update, Connie. Love the pics with the "Munks" and the campfire and sing-a-long. The one of your son with his smore is adorable.

And yay for pixiedust and getting that picture for your DIS friend. That is what Disney is all about.

Have a good weekend.

We really did enjoy the campfire. It was a great way to have our first dose of Disney on this vacation!

That camp fire looks like fun! So glad you got the great picture with the Munks for Carrie Ann!

Yes, it truly was a miracle to get that shot. It definitely would not have happened without a little help from a wonderful CM!

I think your point and shoot pictures are just fine. That was a good mid-smore picture of Gabe. Brooklynn and I and some of our cousins have been to the campfire before, but we need to get Bella over there, too. It was fun, and of course being allowed to be near a fire pit was a big deal for all the little cousins. They enjoyed the whole evening!

I am another who lives frugally at home, and it's a nice reward to splurge for a Disney trip.

Our kids are growing up around the campfire. We live on five acres, so we have a backyard fire pit. Those fall bonfires are one of our favorite family activities. So easy to go out back, start a fire and have some hot dogs and marshmallows in a jiffy. Small blessings in life!

What a super awesome update Oopsi!!! I just love Gabe's 2 fisted smore... Life is good!!

The campfire looks super fun! I love how you totally Disneyfied your trip - it seems like you looked in all the nooks and crannies to find the best of the best. I seriously cannot wait to hear about the rest of it.

As for that amazing Pixiedusted surprise... Joanna did good! How awesome was that - and even better that they were able to do it just for you!!! It's those little things that CMs do that really make a vacation magical! I just love it!

I just love seeing all those smiles on the kids' faces!

I see you are kicking this TR into high gear... I hope this means that you'll be starting a PTR soon????

D~

D~, you of all people know how badly I want to start that PTR!! So, yes, I am trying to keep this thing cranking while still giving it the attention it deserves. It will naturally go quicker since we didn't have a lot of park time, so not as many pictures or stories to tell...just a lot of relaxation.

Awe I luv your guts girl! eventhough you always make me cry LOL You're the best and that's why i like to make you smile whenever i can,even if i'm not there to see it knowing is enough.can't wait for the day that we meet I am gonna squish you!!!

Cheeky, I am so glad to call you friend. And pity those people who will happen to be around the first time we meet, because they are going to see a lot of craziness and screaming and dancing, and craziness, and squealing, and squeezing....and did I mention craziness?

I kind of disappeared for a bit... but I'm BACK!!!

I am loving your updates! The campfire looks like such a FUN time! I think I might just have to find a way to squeeze that in on a future trip.

I absolutely LOVE Gabe's candy creation! Sounds delicious! I will buy a case!

Can't wait to read more updates!

Yay, Pixie is back!!! We missed you around! Marco Polo just hasn't been as fun without you...

I love your pictures of the campfire. I think this is a definite must for our next trip. My boys' favorite characters are Chip and Dale so they'd go crazy over this. Does the campfire require reservations or do you just show up? Is it every night? Thanks for sharing your pictures.

I'm not sure if I'll do a TR after the cruise. I've never done one before. I always worry my reports would be boring compared to the ones I read. I'm going to try to post some pictures on FB before we leave Port Canaveral and again when we get to St. Thomas. Feel free to friend me on FB if you feel comfortable doing that. My name is Louise Leach.

I think I am going to let you find ME on FB...Connie Cannon Sink. I tried Louise Leach, and apparently there are a LOT of ladies out there with that name. I mean, I COULD just friend request ALL of them and see who accepts me...but let's just do it this other way instead.

The campfire is every night, weather permitting. No reservations, just show up. I do suggest showing up a bit early in order to get one of those good bench seats as opposed to the bleachers at the back of the seating area. It is a LOT of fun, we thoroughly enjoyed it!

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
he campfire just sounds AMAZING!!!! A-MAZ-ING!
now i may have to do this too.. GEEZ all of you are making me want to do all this fun stuff! which would make my trip to be about 3 weeks long to get it all in!

I am SO happy you got the money shot! BOTH of the 'munks' <- i love that
the smores look scrumptious!!! i want some!

as usual you all look SO DARN CUTE!!!! LOVE!!!!

It was nice to have this non-Disney vacation to do a few of those more "out of the way" things on property. We loved it!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SO, this weekend will be the first time in a year and a half of movie nights that movie night just didn't happen. Our schedule is so booked up for the rest of the month, that there is no way it CAN happen now.

I had everything ready for our BRAVE movie night...I had all the food stuffs for the menu, I had rented the movie, I had borrowed necessary items for the activity. It SHOULD have been a go...then life happened.

We were going to do it Saturday night. Then we got a notice a week ago, that the girls had a mandatory youth meeting Saturday night at church to prep for a presentation they would be doing in church Sunday. SOOO, we decided to do an early dinner and then watch the movie AFTER the meeting. THEN we got a phone call Saturday morning...my girls are BFF's with two sisters. Well the BFF sisters called to see if 1)Jillian could go with older BFF sister to see Thor at the theater and 2) if younger BFF sister could come over and hang out at our house with Charity while Jillian and older BFF sister went to the movie.

Fine...just fine. We would just have our movie night Sunday night. Riiiiiight! So, we knew the Brian and Charity would be going to a Vanderbilt women's basketball game Sunday afternoon with her basketball team from school. They should be home by five and movie night would be a go. I got a text at around 4 oclock that they were leaving Vandy. I started dinner for movie night...then Brian calls and says we should go out to dinner with one of the other families when they get back into town. So I covered everything I has started to prepare, and headed out to dinner.

Right now I have a refrigerator filled with: apples stuffed for baking, potatoes peeled for mashed potatoes, and sweet bun dough. Tonight for dinner we will be having:

Merida's Mince and Tatties
Angus' Baked Apples
Triplet's Scottish Sweet Buns

No movie, because Charity has a basketball game until 5:30; and then there will be homework. No activity, because we were supposed to do archery; and by the time we get home from the basketball game it will be pitch black dark. So there you have it...world's biggest movie night FAIL!

There is always next month....

 

[cheekypoppins]

I don't have any idea what you bake in an apple but i think i'm in !!!! lol Send me the recipe momma i'm intrigued and sorry your brave movie night didn't work out OMG R U KIDDING ME ?????? I just realised something as I typed those words do you remember my brave movie night? No? Probaly because it wasn't meant to be brave it was meant to be lilo n Stitch LOL something up with that i just don't know what yep okay we are peas it's official!!! I hope you had a great weekend regardless and thank you so much for the wonderful package <3 NOW GO READ MY PTR lol xo

 

[Pluto0809]

Awe, bummer the movie night didn't go but at least you get to eat the yummys tonight!

 

[missangelalexis]

Loved this Disney-fication! Sounds like a fun evening, Chip & Dale are so cute!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I don't have any idea what you bake in an apple but i think i'm in !!!! lol Send me the recipe momma i'm intrigued and sorry your brave movie night didn't work out OMG R U KIDDING ME ?????? I just realised something as I typed those words do you remember my brave movie night? No? Probaly because it wasn't meant to be brave it was meant to be lilo n Stitch LOL something up with that i just don't know what yep okay we are peas it's official!!! I hope you had a great weekend regardless and thank you so much for the wonderful package <3 NOW GO READ MY PTR lol xo

Here is the recipe I used:

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_apples/

I didn't put any raisins in ours, because 2 out of 3 oopsiFAMILY members do not like raisins.

We are definitely two peas in a pod...and we share a brain.

Been there, and commented on your PTR...

Awe, bummer the movie night didn't go but at least you get to eat the yummys tonight!

Hope everything turns out good...all new recipes I am trying, except the "tatties" which is just mashed potatoes. I may have to throw the plaid cover on the table that I got for movie night just because!

Loved this Disney-fication! Sounds like a fun evening, Chip & Dale are so cute!

We loved the campfire! And don't forget to leave time to browse the cool gift shop and play hopscotch if you do go!

 

[disny_luvr]

Hi, Connie.

I sent you a FB request. Who knew Louise Leach was such a common name? Anyway, I'll try to update on FB when I get the chance during our cruise. Only 10 more days...

What a disappointing movie night. You do get an A for effort though. I know next month's movie night will make up for this month's missed movie night.

 

[DMGeurts]

Bummer that your movie night didn't work out. It sounds like it would have been amazing though.

It also sounds like you had a good weekend anyways.

D~

 

[Chicago Mo]

So sorry you didn't get a Movie night! i was on my way too...

Yes weekends are BUSY! Crazy busy until after Christmas!!! so you can dream and plan.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Hi, Connie.

I sent you a FB request. Who knew Louise Leach was such a common name? Anyway, I'll try to update on FB when I get the chance during our cruise. Only 10 more days...

What a disappointing movie night. You do get an A for effort though. I know next month's movie night will make up for this month's missed movie night.

Bummer that your movie night didn't work out. It sounds like it would have been amazing though.

It also sounds like you had a good weekend anyways.

D~

So sorry you didn't get a Movie night! i was on my way too...

Yes weekends are BUSY! Crazy busy until after Christmas!!! so you can dream and plan.

So, we didn't get our movie night, but we DID get some Brave themed food for dinner last night.

Merida's Mince and Tatties and Angus' Baked Apple:



Triplet's Scottish Sweet Buns:



This was one meal I wasn't really sure my family would enjoy. I knew the baked apples would be a hit, wasn't sure about the mince. Verdict: they LOVED it! In fact, it will go onto our regular dinner menu rotation now. The sweet buns were...meh. They turned out cute, but the taste was just so-so.

Next month's movie night will be a bit....different. Brian will be on a one month break from school, so we will do something we have been saving since August. We are having a movie WEEKEND. He won a Legos Millennium Falcon at a gamer weekend he attended this past August. So, for December we will be having a Star Wars weekend, and the activity will be putting together that giant Legos creation.

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm sorry movie night didn't work out but I'm glad the food was mostly a success! Always good to find new foods to add to the dinner rotation! Movie Weekend sounds exciting!