There’s No Turning Back Now! 7/23 - Link to my new PTR!

[Tink-erin-belle]

I'm here! I'm here! It's been a while since you have updated, but I'm kind of slacking as well lately. It's summer after all and we're busy!

Hmmmm, I can't think of many things I have done with the characters. Savannah stuck her tongue out at the stepsisters and that created a really huge scene, they did not like that! They my SIL (who is mentally challenged and didn't get why Savannah stuck her tongue out at them) came up and shook their hands and they oohed and ah-ed over her and the Stepmother told me THAT is how you teach a girl to behave!

Thumper danced with Savannah, but there wasn't anything we did to cause it, just disney magic!

LOVE your ring btw!

Isn't my ring FABULOUS?!? The stepsisters and stepmother are fantastic. That sounds like a really cute interaction your family had with them! I remember that picture of Savannah dancing with Thumped! Just adorable!

Glad you're back in action Erin! I hope Coy decides to go along with the proposal. That would be so, so funny!

I really hope he does it! I'll probably have to have a$5 bill ready as bribery and promise him not to post it on YouTube but I won't promise not to post it on the DISboards!

glad you're back, looking forward to hearing the rest of your plans.

we had a couple of good charachter interactions, when DD met Mary Poppins in Epcot she asked if she could say supercalif............ (you know what i mean!!!) backwards and she did and taught DD how to say it, it was so cute. when we met the ugly step sisters we commented on how nice thier smiles in the photos were which got them talking about how their mum had told them to always use all of their teeth when they smile!!!!!!! i love the idea of you getting Coy to propose the sisters will love it xx

You had some great interactions with the characters too! How was the rest of your trip? Are you doing a TR? I can't even imagine taking a three week vacation I hope it was wonderful!




I realized that I forgot to PM my Facebook name to those who requested it. I'm sorry! I've been a little scatterbrained I'll do it right after I post this. Pinky swear! LOL! If anyone else wants to connect on FB, let me know. I just tend to keep my friends list relatively small and limited to people I know in real life. But what is "real life" anyway? That is your philosophical question of the day. Just kidding! I'm in a silly mood because, guess what? Today marks


120 DAYS

until our arrival! My kids and I will finally be on a well deserved and hard earned vacation in 4 months! I need to get working on the countdown calendar!

 

[-Hope-]

Hi Erin! That ring is a hoot! I tried to convince Jace to propose at our 1900 PF dinner but he wouldn't go for it, I hope you can convince Coy because I'm sure it's hysterical.

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Hi Erin! That ring is a hoot! I tried to convince Jace to propose at our 1900 PF dinner but he wouldn't go for it, I hope you can convince Coy because I'm sure it's hysterical.

I've got to get him to propose to a step-sister somehow! It will be hilarious!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Hi, all! I'm just popping in because I promised myself not to go a whole month without an update again The thing is, I don't really have anything to update

I've got a lot of real life stuff going on, so I've got to post about that soon. It isn't even summer for us yet, but the kids and I have been super busy already! I suppose when the kids are out of school this week, we can start doing Disney Movies again. I got a yellow tablecloth for an upcoming Lemonade Mouth night - didn't that movie come out 2 or 3 months ago? Well, the weather has been beautiful here in NOVA (with the exception of one really hot and humid week) so the kids and I have been spending a lot of time outside . Now that it's getting later in June, the heat and humidity will be here on a regular basis soon and we'll be limiting our outdoor activities a little bit. I really can't stand the humidity. It'll be interesting when the kids and I are on our Disney vacation next June with my siblings! This time next year, we'll be a few days away from our trip! That should also be interesting because it will probably be hot, humid and crowded! I'll try to come up with a touring plan so that we can beat the crowds

Speaking of which, should I just do a touring plan for this October trip now? I don't have anything else to write about We are go-with-the-flow people, which is why we like WDW in the fall but I think I'm going to do a touring plan just in case. Actually, I need to get on the ball because our trip is 108 days away! Wow! I'll be doing the double digit dance before you know it! OK, I guess I do have things to write about because I still have t-shirts to make and I have to convince the kids to wear the costumes I want them to wear! I'll let the cat out of the bag now: I want them to be Woody and Jesse! Woody and Jesse are kind of like brother and sister, they are great characters and their costumes will be easy to make. Coy and True want to wear "regular" costumes though, instead of Disney costumes, but I say "When in Disney..." Plus, I figure, this isn't the real Halloween, so they can wear whatever they want then, but for MNSSHP, I would prefer for them to be a Disney character. Is that too much to ask? We've had a few discussions about alternative costumes so we'll see. I think we can come to a compromise

So, since it's an unusually slow Monday at work, I'm going to take advantage of this time and catch up on some PTRs! Let's see what you guys have been up to...

 

[Victoriasmom98]

You're so funny.....you say you have nothing to update, but yet you start writing and BOOM there it is!!! I think Woody and Jesse are great costumes. As for my family, I would really like us all to be pirates, but I don't think that will happen...I do have 2 pirate costumes that I bought during last year's after Halloween sale, but that leaves me out. Hmmmm....I don't even know if we will do MNSSHP this year, even though I really want to. There's still time to figure it all out.

 

[PennyLane1084]

Erin you're back!!! Congrats on the engagement! That's such great news. Yowza, what a ring. I'm sure you could stay at AKL with a savana view for a month if your hubby-to-be could afford a ring like that.

I totally understand about moving offices. I did that back in December, my company moved to new office space and it added about 15-20 minutes to my commute.

Glad to hear True and Coy are doing well. I bet they're enjoying not having school.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Glad things are well Erin!

 

[-Hope-]

I think Woody and Jesse would be ADORABLE costumes! Of course don't use the word adorable with the kids if you want to convince them.

I love doing touring plans but when push comes to shove we are go with the flow people too... it doesn't make the planning any less fun though.

I can't wait to see what you come up with for Lemonade Mouth!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

I was supposed to reply to you all today and say:

Woo hoo! 100 days!

but my computer is seriously messed up and I'm not sure I can fix it this time! I had a post ready and everything! Well, if I can post tomorrow from work, I will. Kinda takes the excitement out of 100 days when I spent the evening unsuccessfully working on my laptop. at least I can laugh about it.

 

[inkedupmomma]

congrats on 100 days anyways!!

 

[-Hope-]

100 days!! Yay!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Happy 100!!!!!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

You're so funny.....you say you have nothing to update, but yet you start writing and BOOM there it is!!!

I think Woody and Jesse are great costumes. As for my family, I would really like us all to be pirates, but I don't think that will happen...I do have 2 pirate costumes that I bought during last year's after Halloween sale, but that leaves me out. Hmmmm....I don't even know if we will do MNSSHP this year, even though I really want to. There's still time to figure it all out.

Thanks, Ann! I think pirates would be really cool too! I think it would be too cute if you went as a family of pirates!

Erin you're back!!! Congrats on the engagement! That's such great news. Yowza, what a ring. I'm sure you could stay at AKL with a savana view for a month if your hubby-to-be could afford a ring like that.

I totally understand about moving offices. I did that back in December, my company moved to new office space and it added about 15-20 minutes to my commute.

Glad to hear True and Coy are doing well. I bet they're enjoying not having school.

Yeah, moving offices was really a pain, but I’m trying to look on the bright side of things so that the good will outweigh the bad. I do miss having only a 30 minute commute though. Coy and True are very happy to finally be out of school for the summer! They are enjoying every minute of it!

Glad things are well Erin!

Tanks, Kelli! Things have been going great

I think Woody and Jesse would be ADORABLE costumes! Of course don't use the word adorable with the kids if you want to convince them.

I think they would be adorable too! We’ll see. Maybe if I say they will look “cool”

I love doing touring plans but when push comes to shove we are go with the flow people too... it doesn't make the planning any less fun though.

I can't wait to see what you come up with for Lemonade Mouth!

Yeah, going with the flow is the best plan for us with only general ideas of what we will do that day. The only thing I like planning are the ADRs – which you will see in my next post! LOL and I know it’s such a shame, but I still haven’t done Lemonade Mouth! I feel like such a slacker!

congrats on 100 days anyways!!

100 days!! Yay!

Happy 100!!!!!

Thanks, Jenn, Hope and Karen!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

95 DAYS!!!

Or is it? You guys are going to think I’m crazy because as soon as I am able to officially do my Double Digit Dance I start thinking about changing our vacation dates. I know, I know. You’re asking yourselves, “Again?” but hear me out. After having to cancel two trips in a row, I wanted to put a backup plan in place. I wanted to be SURE that I was going to take the kids on a Disney vacation this year. So I started planning a back up vacation. The issue is, now I’m starting to like the backup vacation more than the original vacation!

The first reason I have for considering a change in dates is that I have only 20 hours of paid time off as of today. I get a certain amount of hours off for each month I work, but I’ll be cutting it a little close in October by taking 5 days off. I’ll be nervous about taking sick days or any other type of PTO between now and my vacation. The reason I only have 20 hours of PTO right now is because of all of the times I had to pick up the kids from school when they were sick! I’ve only taken two sick days for myself this year! Anyway, Mama needs a vacation and I don’t want it to get screwed up due to not having enough PTO. So if we take our vacation a month later, I’ll have more PTO banked at work. “A MONTH LATER???” you ask? Yup. Let me give you the dates:


November 25th – December 4th


It would be a 10 day vacation instead of a 7 day vacation, but I’d still only use 5 days of PTO because we already have off the day after Thanksgiving. Smart, right? It’s the same time of year we went in 2009. The weather was perfect (except for the last day ) and the crowds were very low. Since it’s been two years since we’ve had a vacation, it will be nice to be able to spend 10 days in Orlando rather than 7. We would have 5 or 6 park days (plus MVMCP) instead of just 4 park days. The only thing about this is that we will miss MNSSHP and F&W – two things I have been looking forward to very much. Nothing is set in stone yet, but it is a lot to think about. I asked Coy if he wanted to go to the Halloween party or the Christmas party and he said he’d prefer the Christmas party. I haven’t asked True because I know she’d just answer “Both” like she did the first time I asked her

One other thing to consider is the flight, though. Our plane tickets are non-refundable but they are transferrable to other dates. Black Friday is supposed to be the best day to travel on Thanksgiving weekend because most people have already traveled to their Thanksgiving destinations earlier in the week. If I do decide to change our flights to the Nov/Dec dates, I’m a little concerned that those flights might be more expensive. I got such a great deal on the October flights, I’d hate to have to pay more.

However, another positive thing about the Nov/Dec dates are the ADRs I was able to make. Oh, you didn’t think I didn’t make ADRs, did you? If you did, then you don’t know me at all! Get this:

Fri – 11/25: Arrival Day
Dinner @ Whispering Canyon Café (I’m really looking forward to eating here)

Sat – 11/26: DTD Day
Lunch @ T-Rex (Kids’ choice! Mine too – LOL)
Dinner @ ‘Ohana (I’m hoping we’ll have a good view of Wishes from the table!)

Sun – 11/27: MVMCP Night
Breakfast @ Cape May Café (One of the few character breakfasts we haven’t done)
Lunch @ Tony’s Town Square (We have never been here – I thought of doing LTT but since we would have had our fill of Thanksgiving food a few days earlier, I decided to try Tony’s instead )

Mon – 11/28: EPCOT
Breakfast @ Akershus (another character breakfast we’ve never done)
Dinner @ Le Cellier (Need I say more?!? LOL)

Tues – 11/29: MK or HS (morning)/ EP (night)
Dinner @ Garden Grill! (Family Fave!!!)

Weds – 11/30: MK or HS or AK (morning)/ EP (night)
Dinner @ Coral Reef (Cannot WAIT for this!)

Thurs – 12/1: AK (morning)/ HS (night)
Breakfast @ Tusker House (Another family tradition)
Lunch @ Brown Derby (There were no Fantasmic! Packages left, but I couldn’t resist the allure of grapefruit cake!)

Fri – 12/2: No plans, no ADRs. This could be a resting day, could be a fly-by-the-seats-of-our-pants day

Sat – 12/3: MK
Breakfast@ Crystal Palace (Before park opening, of course! Another family tradition )

I don’t know about you guys, but food is half of the fun of going on vacation for me and my kids! I couldn’t believe I was able to get all of the ADRs I wanted (and then some!) for this trip. I barely put any effort into it. I didn’t have a room reservation, so I had to book ADRs day by day – and most of the time, I forgot to do it until after I was at work for a few hours! That’s the beauty of travelling in the off-season to WDW! I was tempted to see if I could book CRT for one of the days, but I didn’t want to spend money on an ADR for a trip that may or may not happen.

So I am VERY conflicted! I already have a wonderful trip planned for October with MNSSHP and F&W with a lot of the same ADRs that I mentioned above and the flights are already in place. BUT… once I started planning a backup trip for Nov/Dec it seemed to take on a life of its own and now I feel like I want to take that trip instead! PLUS it will give me more time to save for it so that will help to loosen up my budget a little bit for the next few months. UGH!!! I don’t know what to do! I have to see what Southwest says about changing our flights before I make a decision either way. I’m honestly leaning toward Nov/Dec and at this point because the only thing that makes me want to go in October is that the trip is 95 days away instead of 145!

 

[micandminforever]

I love Christmas at Disney. If you go in Nov/Dec don't forget the Candlelight Processional.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Well, well, well.......Erin has some decisions to make, huh? I understand how it is trying to save up time for a vacation. Ugh! I had to figure it out the other day and I'll need 64 hours of vaca time for this trip. I earn so many hours bi-weekly and I will have just enough by the time the trip comes around. There are 2 more Fridays that I will need to leave early, but that should work out. You need to do what is best for your family and what is less stressful.

Coy seems to have such a wonderful attitude over the whole thing. You'll love the Christmas party. We had a lot of fun during it in 2009!! Your ADR's look awesome!!!!! I really hope this one works out for you!!! And remember we have a family trip to go on next year......yes, I still consider myself your long lost sister!!!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

I love Christmas at Disney. If you go in Nov/Dec don't forget the Candlelight Processional.

Yes, Christmas in WDW is wonderful! I really missed going last year. I kind of felt like something was missing out of our Christmas traditions The Candlelight Processional is another thing the kids and I have never done! I almost forgot about that! I think you've given me another thing to put on my list of "pros" for the Nov/Dec trip

Well, well, well.......Erin has some decisions to make, huh? I understand how it is trying to save up time for a vacation. Ugh! I had to figure it out the other day and I'll need 64 hours of vaca time for this trip. I earn so many hours bi-weekly and I will have just enough by the time the trip comes around. There are 2 more Fridays that I will need to leave early, but that should work out. You need to do what is best for your family and what is less stressful.

Coy seems to have such a wonderful attitude over the whole thing. You'll love the Christmas party. We had a lot of fun during it in 2009!! Your ADR's look awesome!!!!! I really hope this one works out for you!!! And remember we have a family trip to go on next year......yes, I still consider myself your long lost sister!!!

PTO is a PITA I hope I have more wiggle room with my PTO than I'm anticipating because I don't like taking unpaid time off. Talk about a stressful vacation! Coy really can be laid back about certain things, which is helpful when he can be the voice of reason for True if she gets upset about something. She's my emotional child LOL but at this point, I think they just want to go to Disney and won't care if it's Halloween or Christmas. We had a ball at MVMCP before and I really want to go again. I was just looking forward to doing something different than Christmas this year. But you're right, there's still next year's family trip, oh sister o' mine! We will have a very different trip next summer. Yeah, I have some decisions to make!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Oh boy! Well, you know I'm the queen of postponed trips, so I'm totally onboard. Actually, I would pick the later trip only because it's 10 days instead of 7! That would seal the deal for me, but I know it's hard to push it off a month. A month isn't really that much time in the long term though!

We've pushed ours to the end of Jan and I'm looking forward to the cooler temps but will miss MNSSHP and F&W!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Oh boy! Well, you know I'm the queen of postponed trips, so I'm totally onboard. Actually, I would pick the later trip only because it's 10 days instead of 7! That would seal the deal for me, but I know it's hard to push it off a month. A month isn't really that much time in the long term though!

We've pushed ours to the end of Jan and I'm looking forward to the cooler temps but will miss MNSSHP and F&W!

If you are the queen of postponed trips, then I am the dutchess I'm leaning toward the 10 day trip too because I want this vacation to really be special. I keep telling myself that MNSSHP and F&W will still be there, but I'm having a hard time giving it up. So you're going in January? Cool! I have to catch up on your PTR today