The One with the Mommy Meltdown

[MEK]

Thank you for sharing your TR and the beautiful pictures of your daughters. I am sure they attracted lots of attention! I, myself, am always fascinated by twins because I remember how challenging one colicky infant was. That's why I am fascinating by two. Props to you for tackling such a big trip with 8 month olds! That's tough.

Sorry your first day was so rough. can't wait to read about the rest of your report!

 

[tink2020]

Friday, March 6th

The girls wake up every morning around 5am and chatter at the ceiling and their crib toys for about 20 minutes. It's fairly harmless, and they usually go back to sleep fairly quickly for another hour and a half or so. Not in WDW! The close proximity of their cribs had them both standing and bouncing and reaching for one another like crazy kids in a matter of seconds, so this mama hopped out of bed to replace The Sheets. (Did you see the pictures from Day 1 to know what I'm talking about? ) We obviously didn't leave these on overnight, but they clearly needed them in order to get any more sleep... which I thought was absolutely necessary! So, I got up and showered to keep an eye on things while they quickly fell back asleep.

In the shower, I felt optimistic. It's a new day, let's start a good vacation from here forward! I thought. When the girls got up at about 6:30am, I told them the same thing. They drank their breakfast and played on the floor, and everyone was full of smiles. Much better so far!

Kyle woke at about 7 and made the trek for mug refills. Just as we were getting ready to leave, the girls seemed tired. We had a park to see, but I wasn't about to argue with a nap if they'd take one, even if it didn't make any "sense" to me! They ended up napping from about 8:15-9:15, so we were already making significant improvement in the sleep department for the day!

Finally, after stopping in the lobby to talk to some of our new "friends" (the fabulous CMs at the Boardwalk Inn/Villas) and take a few pictures, we were on our way to the Animal Kingdom!

(Please ignore a) the spit-up coming out of my oldest child's mouth (I'm told they'll stop someday, and this is the only picture I have of the two of them that morning) and b) the serious issues of pattern conflict (outfits vs chair). I hope neither thing makes you lose your lunch.)

We got to the Animal Kingdom just in time to snag the last AAA Diamond Parking Spot (that we could see anyway), which was fabulous. We set up the stroller (fighting the girls, of course) and headed in! Our first stop was to get a FP for Everest, because it was the one grown-up thing we wanted to ride here. It was then almost time for the girls' lunch, so we headed to the Flame Tree BBQ to order our own and start them with theirs. I know for a fact that most of the counter service restaurants in the parks used to open at 10:30am, because we ALWAYS used to eat then. We're usually up so early at home anyway that it's not a stretch for us to eat lunch then (especially if we don't eat breakfast), and that way we beat the crowds. Blame it on a recession or whatever you'd like, but none of them do anymore. Flame Tree opened at 11, but several of them didn't even open until 11:30! It was about 10:40 at that point anyway, so we just headed to the seating area (one of our favorite places to chill in the AK) and fed the Elise and Avery first while we waited for the restaurant to open.

Let me correct myself. This USED to be one of our favorite places to chill in the AK. I never minded the birds that would hang out nearby, but there were horrible problems with them this time. Ducks literally nipped at Kyle's feet. What is UP with birds these days?! We had two stupid sparrows in our house not all that long ago. Seriously, they're all losing their minds. But I digress....

After lunch (which included a cute "celebration themed" chocolate cake that I thought was fun and also included sharing some of our pork and chicken with the girls ), we headed back to EE.

Side note - the Yeti is SO broken. I had read that he was, but thought (hoped?) that it was some Disney fanatic over-reacting. We do that sometimes, don't we? It wasn't though! Not only did he not move for my ride, but they didn't even have the lights on him. I swear to you, had I not been looking for him (and ridden several times before), I wouldn't have even SEEN him. When Kyle rode, they at least had the regular lighting (strobes, etc). He said it wasn't bad that way, but goodness - I was really surprised on my trip! Still, the ride is always a decent one, and you can't argue with using a fastpass and the rider swap program! While we rode, the girls napped in the stroller in the shade, right outside the exit.

When we finished, we thought it was probably time to head to the Expo (for the Princess 1/2 and Family 5K) and back to the hotel room for a bit. Since the girls were still sleeping, we walked the Discovery Island trails a bit so as not to wake them when transferring them to the car. We were learning!

After just a quick little nap (15 minutes or so), we were on our way to the Wide World of Sports to pick up our race packet.

 

[tink1957]

Great update, I just found your TR today & am enjoying it so far. Your girls are just adorable (but you know that I'm sure).
Can't wait to read more.

 

[tink2020]

Friday, cont'd

I must say, they did the Expo right with the Princess event. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that the theme lent itself to better merchandising or if it was the fact that it was a much smaller enrollment, but the packet pick-up was much more enjoyable, even with two tired girls in tow. It was much more organized, much easier to get through (as in physically getting around), and the stuff was SO cute! Had we been running in a timed race that we had trained for, I would have been all over so much of it!

After the incredibly long walk back to our car (what with Braves spring training and the Expo going on at the same time that afternoon), we headed back to the room to let the girls play and nap. Avery only slept about 30 minutes and was rarin' to go again, but Elise slept over an hour. These days, that's a decent nap at home!

As Elise and Avery were taking their afternoon bottles and I was enjoying a soda with the balcony doors open, I couldn't help but notice the day had already been so much nicer! The babies were still thrown for a loop, crying any time we disappeared around a corner or tried to put them down on the hotel floor (bed and couches and cribs were fine, but the floor took an adjustment each and every time ), but overall it at least felt like the pendulum was swinging in the right direction!

We headed back to Animal Kingdom at about 4 for our dinner reservation. Odd how nobody at all is entering then! We missed Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade by a few minutes (or, rather several minutes if we had wanted a spot to see), but we knew the naps were infinitely more important, however short! We were a bit early for our Tusker House ADR so we kept walking to see what the line for Kilimanjaro Safaris looked like. The stand-by sign said 20 minutes, but I ventured a guess that it was incorrect. The park was totally clearing out, and I assumed they might have just not updated it toward the end of the day. I was right! We literally walked on to what was almost our own vehicle at about 4:30pm. The animal viewing was decent, and the girls seemed to enjoy actually being able to ride something.

How ridiculous is it that most of the way through our second day of the trip we were averaging 0.5 attractions per day?! Who cares, though, we were enjoying ourselves and actually calling it a vacation!

We signed in for our ADR at Tusker House a few minutes early, while Avery hung out with her new buddy Fernando. I was shocked at how quickly she reached out for him, given her usual stranger anxiety!

The staff outside was remarkable, and our server Joe was even better! The food was excellent and the girls enjoyed lots of new things there as well. I hadn't intentionally booked multiple buffets in a row, but it ended up being perfect for babies of this particular age!

Since our ADR was obviously at park close, we thoroughly enjoyed our quiet walk out, savoring the empty park along the way. I wondered if the CMs would rush us out at all, but they didn't even come close. There were a few out at various junctions to make sure we were at least headed in the right direction, but nobody cared whether or not we were in a hurry, and many even encouraged us (and those leaving with us) to stop and take pictures.

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening with a slight breeze, the girls were very playful, and I was the happiest walking through there that I had been the whole trip.

 

[tink2020]

Friday, cont'd

We decided to make a quick trip to Downtown Disney that evening. I love spending time (and money ) there anyway, but there were a few things in particular we were looking for. First, I needed to replace a necklace On my solo trip in December 2007, I had purchased a beautiful Minnie necklace from the Arribas Brothers shop in the Mexico Pavilion. The pendant fell off at some point though, and I think a small cousin might have taken it during a party we had, but I won't go there The point was, I needed a new one. I found a gorgeous classic Mickey one that night, and I was thrilled! There isn't a clasp, per se, on this one, so I'm hoping it holds up a bit better.

The second thing we were looking for, which we wouldn't find the entire trip, was new Disney Bears for the girls. I got these when I was pregnant with Avery and Elise --

they went to the hospital with us when the girls were born, and they LOVE them now. The only problem is that the shed. A lot. I would find my newborn girls with a mouth full of fur, and it hasn't gotten much better even after being washed a few times! I was looking for the cute cloth ones they used to carry, but we saw none.

Anyway, DTD was hopping that night. All of the lots except one PI lot were full. No surprise though, as the night remained absolutely beautiful. We watched a CM teaching High School Musical dance moves to a crowd of adorable kids while we fed the babies. We hit a few stores, but weren't really there long. I picked up a 2009 DVC pin (the open edition one, if you care. I'm so not a collector, just get the one I find cutest ) and a few toy sets for the girls, and we were "home" by about 7:45pm.

The girls played for a little while, and went down to sleep like saints. You can bet we were knocking on wood until our hands were sore, but they did

While they were sleeping, Kyle and I settled into the room a bit more and got things ready for the early race morning to follow. We reminisced a bit about our half marathon trip (January 2007) and all the things surrounding it, as well as everything that had happened since. I heard fireworks going on, but couldn't for the life of me figure out what they would be at 8pm. I knew they weren't Illuminations, so I didn't even really pay attention to how long they lasted, hear the blasting finale, etc. After all, Epcot ALWAYS closes at 9pm, 9:30 sometimes in the summer.

Except now.

Now, when Future World has EMH in the evening, the World Showcase closes at 8pm and Illuminations happens at that time as well. What in the world?! I'm sure you all knew that, but since I hardly planned this trip I didn't. Instead of being annoyed by it, I just laughed. Something so major, and I was completely clueless. I think that Kyle secretly enjoyed it....

So there we were, sitting on our balcony at 9pm wondering where the fireworks were. No joke. We debated what day it was and whether Disney would do something so confusing as to have the event early for Daylight Savings, even though it didn't happen until 2am. We remembered that it wasn't even the right day for DST and confused ourselves more. Yes, my friends, we were that senile the first few days into this "vacation".

We laughed that we would have actually been able to watch and enjoy them, prayed that the girls would stay asleep after starting off so well, and headed to bed shortly thereafter. It was shaping up to be a different kind of trip than we had ever taken, but not really a different one than I was expecting.... 0.5 attraction per day average and all.

 

[tink2020]

Friday, March 6th Pictures

 

[tinknme]

Great update & pictures Jennifer! I never tire of looking at your two sweeties

 

[Tammi67]

Another great installment, Jennifer!

 

[kellyf2626]

What a great trip report!!! Your girls are gorgeous!!!

When we took my son down at 4 months old, I had a COMPLETE breakdown after we checked-in to the room. It was just a long, stressful day of traveling....and I think I felt very overwhelmed, constantly trying to do the best thing for my son, while having "fun" on vacation! As with my trip, sounds like yours has been getting better and better each day.

While trips with little one's are very different...they are different in a good way. The two trips we have taken with my son (one at 4 months, one at 13 months) have given us the BEST memories ever!!

Oh - and where did you fit 2 pack-n-plays in a studio? Near the door? We put our son in the closet of the master bath in a 1-bedroom! His own little bedroom!

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[tink2020]

Oh - and where did you fit 2 pack-n-plays in a studio? Near the door? We put our son in the closet of the master bath in a 1-bedroom! His own little bedroom!

We actually got cribs, which are significantly smaller. We had them in front of the couch, and there was plenty of room to get around them. We will have to get a 1-BR in the future when the sheets no longer work, but we're keeping the studio for as long as possible so we can go more often!

 

[my3princes]

Wow, day 2 was much better than day 1. Now I can't wait for day 3.

 

[PNO4TE]

Loved the update, Jennifer. You can tell by the pictures that it was a better day for the girls as well as the parents.

 

[tink2020]

Thank you for sharing your TR and the beautiful pictures of your daughters. I am sure they attracted lots of attention! I, myself, am always fascinated by twins because I remember how challenging one colicky infant was. That's why I am fascinating by two. Props to you for tackling such a big trip with 8 month olds! That's tough.

Sorry your first day was so rough. can't wait to read about the rest of your report!

See, I suppose it's like my fascination with high order multiples. I can't imagine if DH and I were outnumbered by infants of the same age!

I don't mean to complain about it. I just didn't do the same with twins even before we had ours... I feel like they're everywhere, so I hardly noticed them even before we had ours.

Speaking of which, it was like a multiples convention while we were there. We saw, on average, 6-8 sets of twins per day and at least one set of triplets. Everywhere we would go people would stop us (or CMs we were talking to would make a point) just to say how many sets they had seen. We kept getting asked if there was "something special" going on. Not that we knew of!

 

[tink2020]

Thanks for your patience, everyone reading along! My girls got sick as soon as we got back (doesn't that always happen ) and continue to get worse, so I'm neglecting pretty much everything. Don't worry, my house looks infinitely more ignored than you all and this trip report!

We aren't going anywhere today, so I'll see what I can do about Day 3!

 

[Misslandsquirrel]

I am loving this TR! Your girls are adorable.

 

[mickey2minnie1]

I love your report. I am glad you have good memories from your first trip with the girls!

 

[jlcd]

Great report! Hope your little ones are feeling better. They are adorable.

 

[tink2020]

After a long day yesterday including IV fluids and medication for Avery, plus more meds for both girls today (in addition to the pneumonia remnants and the nasty GI bug that left my youngest almost in the hospital, both girls have croup. Woohoo! ) .... we're at least seeming human again in this household! Everyone is still a little "off", so I'm not sure what kind of day it will be, but I thought I'd pop in and wish you a Happy First Day of Spring! :

Hopefully there will be an afternoon nap today during which I can update!

 

[kellyf2626]

Glad to hear the girls are doing a bit better! Love the pic!!!! They are ready for spring!

 

[arizonacolbys]

Um.... I'll do my best to explain, but a lot of it is just "liking it there", for no good reason - which I won't be able to convey very well I'm sure! There are some "tangible" (obviously not, but I'm struggling for a better word this morning!) reasons though, which I'll try to remember.

The walk to the Marketplace from the villas is a short, beautiful one. Multiple times each day, neither of us minded going there for soda or coffee, snacks (pre-packaged and fresh, but a decent selection for sure), souvenir shopping etc. Obviously the "boutique" look of the stores on the BW versus one-stop shopping at the BC seems cute, but we know they carry almost exactly the same stuff, I personally would like to go to just one place (that is convenient to boot!) when I'm either ready to relax in my room or trying not to waste precious park time!

The lobby and restaurants and pool and everything else you'd want to go to that is part of the Beach Club/Yacht Club is all near one another. No walking down separate halls or elevators to get here or there, you just walk one direction and it's all there, eventually We could get from one end to the other, passing everything, much quicker than we could get just about anywhere at BWV.

The pool is obviously no contest, and if it's not your thing then the quiet pools are exactly as beautiful and, well, quiet

The boardwalk is less than a 5 minute walk and a look out many windows, yet NONE of the "bustle" gets into your room when you aren't looking for it!

I hope that helps! If you have specific questions feel free to ask, because it's kind of hard to compare the two. I know I did, just because the proximity to the parks and the BW is huge to us, and they obviously share those things.

Have a great time planning your trip!

Thanks so much for the great info! The more I read about BC the more I think I really want to stay there instead! LOL We've had a couple of disappointing resort experiences in the past though, so I'm a bit cautious these days before trying a new resort. And we loved our BW view studio at BWV a couple years ago. I can't switch our ressies over to a BCV until May anyways, so I have some time to decide. We love eating at Cape May & B&C, so it would be nice to actually already be there. I think the pool & how much my DD already loves the water is really making me want to try it out though. Did you take your girls into the pool area at BWV during your trip? I can't remember what the kiddie pool area was like at all.

Love the latest installation! So sorry to hear the girls are sick again..ugh - no fun at all.