1000thhappyhaunt
Maelstromer
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2005
- Messages
- 1,797
The days leading up to our Disney Festivus:
Once upon a time five happyhaunts planned a trip to one of their favourite places on earth. Yep. Disney. The place where wishes come true and dreams are real and a kid can be a kid and all that good stuff. It's also magically expensive. According to my DH. I, for the most part, try to ignore that part of the vacation equation. But the truth is... he's right. It's bloody expensive to go to Disney. Because not only does it cost alot of money when you get there but there's the actual pre-Disney trip spending that has to be taken into account. We needed some clothes, toiletries, a buttload of sunscreen to cover our pasty whiteness (yet not as much as the British), assorted medicines (just in case), vitamins (always a good plan, I say), and toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss and mouthwash (yet, again, not as much as the British. Heh, heh)... and then there were to be some BIG expenditures. For one... a new stroller. You see, I had a plan to completely DEMO our old dirty wonky one before the trip. Tommy no longer rides in it and, actually, it's been stored in our garage since we returned from our last Disney adventure right before Christmas. It even still had the tags from the airport baggage claim on it. The back left wheel was bent inwards at a strange angle thanks to our dash through the Magic Kingdom and my Mellyman stepping on it by accident in mid-gallop. But it still worked. Unfortunately. There were plenty of new stains on it and the remnants of crispy Mickey welded to it permanently. What I'm telling you is that it was a wreck. Embarrassing. Filthy. Old. Peed on, even. As horrific looking as our old van is. But, fortunately, we would be leaving the van in long-term parking at the Buffalo Airport and would be able to valet park a nice new vehicle in Florida. We were thinking about leaving the van unlocked, with the keys in it and a note taped to the windshield begging someone to steal the darn thing. Mellyman suggested also leaving $70, along with the note for our prospective thieves, to pay for getting it out of the lot. One little SMELL of the van's interior and they'd be needing that incentive, he figured. And I concurred. I even attemped to clean the van before we left. Just for our gang of car thieves. I rounded up the three kids after school one day the week before we left and gave them each a plastic grocery bag and opened all the doors of the van. I suggested they get to it. They all looked at me in horror and Calvin said that they'd do it if I provided three pairs of rubber gloves. Beth begged to differ and said that she wouldn't do it for ANYTHING. I considered bribing and/or ordering them but decided I would bite the bullet and do it myself. Because it would just be easier. Truth be told. And, fancying myself a bit of a tough girl, I decided to skip the gloves and risk the skin to bacteria contact. I sent them off to play and started ripping the carseat and two boosters out. Yuck. They were all sticky. But a treasure trove of stuff was revealed to me. Underneath the seats I found a package of crackers, three McDonald's french fry bags, smarties, gum, bloody kleenex and a pair of mitts. Matching!!!!!! WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!! I jumped around joyously because having matching anything in our family is truly a miracle. What a find! I took it as a good omen. For our trip and the future packing endeavour in which I would attempt to find enough matching socks to last us all 10 days in The World. I cleaned in between seats and under them too. I found a library book, several pencils, crayons, a petrified Tim Hortons glazed donut (I think) a few Little People and, in the pocket behind the seat, I discovered Calvin's secret stash of precious chewed gum. Lots and lots of gum in the pocket. I was grossed out. Because I figured there would be more than just gum there. I left it. Now I pretend that pocket does not and has never existed. There. Done. The van was fairly clean. Ok. I exaggerate. But it was as good as it was going to get. Now on to the stroller.
Mellyman sensed that I did not want to bring it along and he laid down the law that we WERE taking it. That it WOULD last one last trip and I was NOT ALLOWED to replace it before the trip. Unless it happened to break. Of course. I considered taking a hammer to it when he was at work. Or else simply driving over it in the driveway. Or else throwing it in a dumpster behind the strip mall and blaming Calvin for it's disappearance. But I knew all those things would be too obvious. He'd catch on. And I'd get in BIG trouble. So I determinded that I had to actually break it by normal use. So for a week before our departure I loaded up Tommy and we went for walks around the neighbourhood and to the park. No so much the normal route but more of "off-roading" so to speak. We were tough on it. We ran, we bashed it into things, we did curbs and we flipped it once. Tommy too. Sorry. We punished it and, yet, it would not give up the ghost. I truly felt the dirty piece of junk was mocking me. And my efforts. Plus... now it looked worse than ever and, still, that bloody bent wheel was securely attached and functional. We limped home in defeat and I resigned myself to taking it along. Now... on to the BIG trip expenditures. Also known as "Stuff I Need to be Pretty at Disney". Oh. And now that Beth is 11... "More Stuff Beth Needs Too". The boys need nothing. They'd be happy to spend the whole 10 days in the same pair of underwear if I let them. My DH too. And don't you think I wasn't considering it. It would mean less over-packing. And Mellyman had made me promise to pack lighter this trip.
To be continued... Up next: "Why SURE, Beth, Mommy's home pedicure will be as good as one from The Nail Place!!!".
Once upon a time five happyhaunts planned a trip to one of their favourite places on earth. Yep. Disney. The place where wishes come true and dreams are real and a kid can be a kid and all that good stuff. It's also magically expensive. According to my DH. I, for the most part, try to ignore that part of the vacation equation. But the truth is... he's right. It's bloody expensive to go to Disney. Because not only does it cost alot of money when you get there but there's the actual pre-Disney trip spending that has to be taken into account. We needed some clothes, toiletries, a buttload of sunscreen to cover our pasty whiteness (yet not as much as the British), assorted medicines (just in case), vitamins (always a good plan, I say), and toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss and mouthwash (yet, again, not as much as the British. Heh, heh)... and then there were to be some BIG expenditures. For one... a new stroller. You see, I had a plan to completely DEMO our old dirty wonky one before the trip. Tommy no longer rides in it and, actually, it's been stored in our garage since we returned from our last Disney adventure right before Christmas. It even still had the tags from the airport baggage claim on it. The back left wheel was bent inwards at a strange angle thanks to our dash through the Magic Kingdom and my Mellyman stepping on it by accident in mid-gallop. But it still worked. Unfortunately. There were plenty of new stains on it and the remnants of crispy Mickey welded to it permanently. What I'm telling you is that it was a wreck. Embarrassing. Filthy. Old. Peed on, even. As horrific looking as our old van is. But, fortunately, we would be leaving the van in long-term parking at the Buffalo Airport and would be able to valet park a nice new vehicle in Florida. We were thinking about leaving the van unlocked, with the keys in it and a note taped to the windshield begging someone to steal the darn thing. Mellyman suggested also leaving $70, along with the note for our prospective thieves, to pay for getting it out of the lot. One little SMELL of the van's interior and they'd be needing that incentive, he figured. And I concurred. I even attemped to clean the van before we left. Just for our gang of car thieves. I rounded up the three kids after school one day the week before we left and gave them each a plastic grocery bag and opened all the doors of the van. I suggested they get to it. They all looked at me in horror and Calvin said that they'd do it if I provided three pairs of rubber gloves. Beth begged to differ and said that she wouldn't do it for ANYTHING. I considered bribing and/or ordering them but decided I would bite the bullet and do it myself. Because it would just be easier. Truth be told. And, fancying myself a bit of a tough girl, I decided to skip the gloves and risk the skin to bacteria contact. I sent them off to play and started ripping the carseat and two boosters out. Yuck. They were all sticky. But a treasure trove of stuff was revealed to me. Underneath the seats I found a package of crackers, three McDonald's french fry bags, smarties, gum, bloody kleenex and a pair of mitts. Matching!!!!!! WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!! I jumped around joyously because having matching anything in our family is truly a miracle. What a find! I took it as a good omen. For our trip and the future packing endeavour in which I would attempt to find enough matching socks to last us all 10 days in The World. I cleaned in between seats and under them too. I found a library book, several pencils, crayons, a petrified Tim Hortons glazed donut (I think) a few Little People and, in the pocket behind the seat, I discovered Calvin's secret stash of precious chewed gum. Lots and lots of gum in the pocket. I was grossed out. Because I figured there would be more than just gum there. I left it. Now I pretend that pocket does not and has never existed. There. Done. The van was fairly clean. Ok. I exaggerate. But it was as good as it was going to get. Now on to the stroller.
Mellyman sensed that I did not want to bring it along and he laid down the law that we WERE taking it. That it WOULD last one last trip and I was NOT ALLOWED to replace it before the trip. Unless it happened to break. Of course. I considered taking a hammer to it when he was at work. Or else simply driving over it in the driveway. Or else throwing it in a dumpster behind the strip mall and blaming Calvin for it's disappearance. But I knew all those things would be too obvious. He'd catch on. And I'd get in BIG trouble. So I determinded that I had to actually break it by normal use. So for a week before our departure I loaded up Tommy and we went for walks around the neighbourhood and to the park. No so much the normal route but more of "off-roading" so to speak. We were tough on it. We ran, we bashed it into things, we did curbs and we flipped it once. Tommy too. Sorry. We punished it and, yet, it would not give up the ghost. I truly felt the dirty piece of junk was mocking me. And my efforts. Plus... now it looked worse than ever and, still, that bloody bent wheel was securely attached and functional. We limped home in defeat and I resigned myself to taking it along. Now... on to the BIG trip expenditures. Also known as "Stuff I Need to be Pretty at Disney". Oh. And now that Beth is 11... "More Stuff Beth Needs Too". The boys need nothing. They'd be happy to spend the whole 10 days in the same pair of underwear if I let them. My DH too. And don't you think I wasn't considering it. It would mean less over-packing. And Mellyman had made me promise to pack lighter this trip.
To be continued... Up next: "Why SURE, Beth, Mommy's home pedicure will be as good as one from The Nail Place!!!".
I like how this looks almost as much as this 
No relevance to your trip report. Ahem.
)
