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

[Victoriasmom98]

OMG!!! Can you imagine a Power Point presentation about Disney??? That would be sooooooooo cool!!!!

Oh, and I like the title of your mini TR called "a Time for Action" for a trip report about you and your man...maybe you didn't mean to intentionally name it that, but it did come out funny!!! Just how much "action" did you get? hee hee!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Whoohoooo! I can't wait to hear about your weekend! Also can't wait to hear about ADRs and more planning for your summer trip!!

Yeah, I'm starting to write out the TR now! I'm getting really excited about ADR Day and about making other plans because it'll be fun to get input from other people. I just hope I can relinquish a little control!

OMG!!! Can you imagine a Power Point presentation about Disney??? That would be sooooooooo cool!!!!

Oh, and I like the title of your mini TR called "a Time for Action" for a trip report about you and your man...maybe you didn't mean to intentionally name it that, but it did come out funny!!! Just how much "action" did you get? hee hee!

That was completely unintentional! Or maybe I should say, "subconscious" Too funny! Well, a lady doesn't talk about all of the action she got... Good thing I'm not a lady! Let's just say we didn't do as much sight-seeing as we planned to do

 

[Victoriasmom98]

still waiting for the update.......

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

So, are you guys ready for a love story? Well, I’m not! Haha! It’s kind of freaking me out that I’m falling for this guy! Let me give you a little bit of a back story to this romance. As I wrote earlier, he and I dated when I was a Senior in High School. He and I actually went to my Senior Prom together. He was my first real boyfriend and I was completely in love. A month or so after I went away to college, he proposed and I said yes. I can’t speak for him, but I was young and dumb and didn’t know what love and commitment were really about. I wasn’t ready and I ended up breaking up with him shortly after. Amazingly, we became friends again a couple of years later and we would see each other whenever we were in the same area. By the time we both lived in Northern Virginia, we were both married to other people and had kids. Naturally, we lost touch – our respective spouses probably wouldn’t have appreciated us hanging out LOL – but he found me on Facebook years later. Ah, Facebook! The graveyard of my failed relationships! Haha! One of my friends said that I should stop accepting friend requests from ex-boyfriends! Maybe she was right, but I was glad that I accepted his. He and I went out as friends a few times over the past four years or so, but as I said before, the timing was never right. We were both divorced at that point but we didn’t go on a “date” date until a few months ago.

On our first real date in twenty years, things really clicked with us. We had that same chemistry but better! We’re both more mature. We’ve experienced more in our lives. We both appreciate the little things. We’ve had a lot of fun getting to know each other all over again.

Here’s a funny story about something I had wrong for all of these years: Somehow, I have always thought that he was two years older than me. A couple of months ago, we were texting each other and I was telling him he was still young because he was only about to turn 41 on his birthday. He corrected me by telling me he was about to turn 42! I teased him by saying something like “41 is young but 42 is just old!” and I have been calling him ”Old Man” ever since LOL! Of course, 42 is nowhere near being old, but I just couldn’t believe that after all of these years I had his age wrong! So, from here on out, I’m going to refer to him as “Old Man”. He knows that I enjoy writing (more on that later) and he knows that I am doing this PTR, but something about using his real name in this Mini TR makes things seem so official. I know. I have issues LOL!

So my Old Man picked me up on Friday night instead of in the afternoon as planned, He had to get his daughter settled in for the weekend, so I understood. Being involved with a single parent is so much easier than seeing someone who doesn’t have kids or someone who isn’t a full time parent. He and I get it when one of us has to change plans when something comes up with our kids. All parents know that something ALWAYS comes up when you have kids! Haha! Anyway, we ended up getting stuck in traffic but it was cool! He and I always have something to talk about and we always joke around, so we had fun on our road trip. After three hours on the road, we pulled up to our cottage. Yes, you read that right. We stayed in our own little romantic cottage for the weekend! I didn’t get any exterior shots that night (because I wasn’t ready to let him in on that much of my crazy yet!) but here are some shots of the interior:

This is our wrought iron King sized bed!



This is the Jacuzzi tub!



This is a picture facing the front door. I love how they had little Christmassy touches throughout the cottage. The little Christmas tree in the room was totally unexpected



Our cute little dining table



Half of the kitchen (pay no attention to the liquor on the counter! LOL!)



The other half of the kitchen and the door going out to the deck – I loved that there was a full sized fridge and that the cabinets were fully stocked with spices, pots, pans, dinnerware and utensils!



OK, so this ceiling fan isn’t too interesting, but my intention was to get a picture of the woodwork on the ceiling. It was really really cool and my Old Man was so impressed by it that he kept looking at it to figure out how he could replicate it



Here are three pictures of the same lamp! LOL! I don’t know why I loved this lamp and doily – the shabby chic thing isn’t my favorite type of style – but something about this little combo really spoke to me







There was a nice sized and fully stocked bathroom









There were real oil lanterns on the mantle as well as Good Old Saint Nick visiting for Christmas



A comfy little armchair



Now, while I was taking all of these pictures, I was expecting him to think I was some sort of weirdo. I even said, “I take pictures of everything. Just so you know.” He simply said, “OK,” and went about his business of unpacking. I think I stood there stunned for a few seconds. I don’t know what kind of reaction I was expecting from him, but I was glad I didn’t get it. I’m still getting used to the fact that I can be myself around him. Issues, I tell ya! Issues! LOL! I’ll just say this: sometimes you have to go through a few bad relationships to know when you’re in a good one. This is a good one. How do I know? While I was unpacking, he was bringing in firewood from outside. I didn’t even have to ask! Then, as I relaxed on the sofa, he built a fire in the fireplace.







After he got the fire going, he was finally able to snuggle up next to me under the comforter. That lump to the right of me is him LOL



We spent the next few hours drinking beers, watching funny movies and generally enjoying each other’s company.

Next up – Touring Natural Bridge

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Oh my gosh Erin!!!! I'm SO excited and happy for you!!! I'm glad to hear he's a single parent as well, I think that would make it SO much easier and you have one of the most important things in your life in common! I can't wait to hear more!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Thanks, Karen! He really makes me happy and we always have a great time together. He's not like all of the losers I've dated in the past 7 or so years and he's really down to earth.
Hopefully, I'll have the next installment up soon!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

OMG!!! I really want to comment Erin, but they are really getting stirct about internet use at work.....believe me, though, I really want to comment......I'll say one thing really quick ----- there were 2 of you, why only one bed????

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Um... He slept on the couch? Yeah! That's the ticket!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Erin, congratulations on the new "old" man! He sounds great!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Thanks, Kelli! He really is an awesome guy and we are having a lot of fun

BTW, I'm working on getting another post up by tomorrow morning!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Hey, real quick, have you guys seen that they have Murphy beds at POR now? From what I read on allears.net today, they are in the renovated Alligator Bayou rooms! Here are a few pics I borrowed from allears:







How awesome is that? I know my kids would get a kick out of using a Murphy bed. Way cooler than the trundle, IMO! What do you guys think about it? I think we may have to stay at POR on a future trip just for the Murphy bed

... Oh! I just noticed as I was previewing my post that Louis from The Princess and the Frog is visible when the bed is down! So cute! The perfect Disney touch, as usual!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Yep, I saw they were putting these in a while back and was excited b/c I think they look way better than the trundles (which look too close to the dirty floor for my liking. If we ever go back just the 5 of us, POR would be the cheapest if we were all willing to scrunch in 1 room!

 

[micandminforever]

More pictures of the new rooms at POR http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2744783&page=228, scroll down to the bottom of the page. I love the pillows.

 

[-Hope-]

Wow, I quit Dising for a while and I miss the little tidbit that Erin went and found herself a man! :rofl:

Seriously, I am SO happy and excited for you! (And I think I might have gotten a little clue on FB now that I'm thinking about it but it didn't fully register.)

Those Murphey beds are AWESOME. Just the idea of a bit more floor space and an extra little couch is nice.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

More pictures of the new rooms at POR http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2744783&page=228, scroll down to the bottom of the page. I love the pillows.

WOW! I'm loving the new decor as well, I didn't like the old AB decor, I thought it was too old fashion/too rustic, but I like the new look. Hmmmm, may have to plan another family trip after this one, after all!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Yep, I saw they were putting these in a while back and was excited b/c I think they look way better than the trundles (which look too close to the dirty floor for my liking. If we ever go back just the 5 of us, POR would be the cheapest if we were all willing to scrunch in 1 room!

After seeing that, I actually started pricing out this trip in POR but with FOUR girls and one bathroom? Poor Coy would never get bathroom time and my sisters and I would be jockeying for a place in front of the mirrors all morning! Right now, it looks like the best rate will be if we get 2 rooms at a Value rather than a suite... but I'm getting ahead of myself

More pictures of the new rooms at POR http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2744783&page=228, scroll down to the bottom of the page. I love the pillows.

Thanks for sharing the link to those pictures! I love the bedding and the pillows are really cute

Wow, I quit Dising for a while and I miss the little tidbit that Erin went and found herself a man! :rofl:

Seriously, I am SO happy and excited for you! (And I think I might have gotten a little clue on FB now that I'm thinking about it but it didn't fully register.)

Those Murphey beds are AWESOME. Just the idea of a bit more floor space and an extra little couch is nice.

Yes, I found a man! Hopefully, I'll have the next post up tonight if I don't fall asleep before Coy finishes his homework on my laptop! Yeah, more than likely it'll be up in the morning!

WOW! I'm loving the new decor as well, I didn't like the old AB decor, I thought it was too old fashion/too rustic, but I like the new look. Hmmmm, may have to plan another family trip after this one, after all!

I didn't like the old decor as much either. I really really really want to plan a trip at that resort now too!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

OK, guys, I know I was supposed to have a Mini TR update posted by now but Coy was on my laptop all night! I had it all written out, so I thought about posting from my work laptop, but I didn't want to leave a paper trail on there for big brother to find! Last thing I need is to have my job find out how much time I really spend DISing! I have to get my own laptop or netbook! I was thinking about replacing my Dell with an Asus Eee PC, which is a little 12" notebook. I need something that is just for me so that I can get online at home when I need to... other than getting online on my phone - which is what I'm doing now! - or using my work laptop. My coworkers keep telling me to get a Mac. I like the MacBook Air but it is twice as much as the Asus at $1000! Maybe I'll get that when my Dell completely breaks down. My coworkers told me that Macs never get viruses, so I'd like my kids to have something like that. I'm actually looking forward to my Dell laptop going kaput because one of the classes I'm taking requires me to eventually take apart and put together a laptop and a desktop! So cool! Anyway, I probably won't be getting a netbook or a MacBook for at least another couple of months, so let me get off of this tangent and tell you guys about something I did get. I just brought tickets for...

.

.

.

.

.





Phineas and Ferb: The Best Live Tour Ever!

Right now I'm debating if I should add this to their Christmas presents or if I should wait until the day of the show and say, "Coy! True! I know what we're going to do today!" In any case, I'm excited to be able to look forward to more Disney magic! It really makes waiting for our trip a little easier for me because I know we get to see a little piece of Disney. At the same time, it makes it harder once we get there because I'm surrounded by Disney merchandise and it makes me long to be in the parks!

You know what? I just realized that I never told you guys how Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream was when I went with True! Oops! Well, I didn't take any pictures because I only had my cell with me and the light was bouncing off of the ice when I did try to take pictures. Oh wait! I took a few pictures! Let me upload them to Flickr while I write this... Done! That was like no time at all, right? The miracle of the Interwebz! So this is the stage





This was a Sno Cone in a souvenir Rapunzel cup




Clearly, my plan to not buy souvenirs failed! She still uses the Rapunzel cup, so it was a good purchase! She also got a bag of cotton candy to take home to share with Coy. It came with a tiara that she was able to decorate with little stickers that looked like gems. She decorated it during intermission



Coy, by the way, changed his mind about going to the show at the last minute! Unfortunately, I couldn't get an adjoining ticket by that point and I couldn't find anyone to go with us so that he could sit with them. So that is another reason I'm glad I was able to get the Phineas and Ferb tickets today. There is another Disney on Ice show coming up in a couple of months, so we might go to that too. Tickets go on sale January 2nd, so I still have some time to decide. I digress... As usual...

Back to this Disney on Ice show, it was a very emotional moment for me when the lights were lowered and the show started. Mickey and Minnie came out to start everything off. When True saw them skate onto the stage, her face lit up and she nearly burst with happiness! During intermission, I updated my Facebook status, "I know I'm a total sap, but I don’t care LOL When the iceskaters took the stage, True had an expression of pure joy and it brought tears to my eyes". It was a wonderful moment as well as a wonderful show. True and I really enjoyed ourselves. This is a blurry picture of her outside of the venue with her tiara and her cup - but you can definitely make out that smile on her face!



Unrelated, but here's a close up of her nails. She got them done at a birthday party with a few of her girlfriends



They grow up so fast! Only 8 and she has a manicure better than Mommy's! Well, I'm going to get in as many ice shows and other live shows as I can before the kids think it's "lame"!

Well, I'm about to leave work now. When I get home, I'm going to post the next installment of my Mini TR if I have to wrestle the computer from the kids!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

On Saturday morning, we finally rolled out of bed at about 10. This was sleeping in for me because True usually wakes me up by 7am at the latest! That is not good because I am not a morning person. I cannot stand when someone wants to talk my ear off first thing in the morning. My mom is a morning person and my daughter is clearly a morning person. I love them both dearly… but sometimes I just want them to shut the heck up! LOL! They both know this about me but they still start talking first thing in the morning regardless of if I am actually listening. I’m letting you know all of this because I was worried that the Old Man might have been a morning person too and I might scare him off with my morning crankiness! Speaking of which, my son is not a morning person either, so we understand each other. He refers to the prospect of waking me up in the morning as “poking the bear” LOL! Anyway, my point was that I was trying to think happy thoughts so that I wouldn’t snap on the Old Man if he started getting chatty! Well, I was pleasantly surprised when we both got ready in silence. It wasn’t weird or awkward at all. You know what I mean when there is that deafening silence? That silence that is just begging to be filled up with idle conversation? Yeah, I bet you can tell by now that I have been in some pretty messed up relationships since my divorce, can’t you? LOL! Well, as I said, it was nice that we could both get ready and just be. You know what I mean? Little things like this happened throughout the weekend and it made me truly appreciate how naturally comfortable we were around each other.

We then left to go get breakfast because we were both starving. We basically had beer for dinner the night before. Not exactly filling! I looked on the Foursquare app on my phone to see if there was a diner nearby. I was trying to pay attention to my phone but the scenery out the car window was just gorgeous! The town where we were staying was called Lexington and it was close to VMI so I was expecting a college town, but it was a quiet little town with antique shops and Victorian houses. It was a very pretty area.

We eventually drove by a little Mom and Pop diner, so I suggested having breakfast there. My Old Man just looked at the place and suggested that we find a Denny’s or an IHOP. Seriously, Dude?!? Yes…he was serious. It appeared that he didn’t like to try unknown restaurants and preferred chains. There’s nothing wrong with chain restaurants but I have always preferred to try someplace new. I especially like to do that when I am out of town. Some of the best food I’ve ever had has been at an unknown diner or a dive bar. Oh well. No one is perfect and my Old Man was bound to have some flaws LOL! So anyway, I looked at the app on my phone again and saw that there was a Waffle House close by. He pulled over so that he could put the address in the GPS. When he took back off again, I saw the Waffle House right in front of us and said, “Look!” We both laughed about not noticing something that was just a few hundred yards away. That might have been one of those you-had-to-be-there moments, but it was hilarious and we were cracking up. As soon as we stepped into the Waffle House, people were saying, “Hello!” and “Merry Christmas!” It was very welcoming. The food was OK. Not food porn worthy by a long shot. It’s only been a week and can’t remember what I had. I just remember those signature round hash browns. When I was in college, I thought Waffle House was so good! I guess it was better at 3am after drinking all night! Anyway, during breakfast, we decided to go to Natural Bridge.

It was a peaceful 20 minute drive to Natural Bridge. On the way down, we saw signs for a bunch of funny tourist attractions such as the Haunted Monster Museum, Escape from Dinosaur Kingdom and some sort of a petting zoo. Then we passed by Foamhenge and I said, “I have to take pictures of that later!” When we pulled up to the Natural Bridge area, we saw the entrance to the Wax Museum and the Natural Bridge Hotel.



This was the hotel that started it all because this was where I originally planned for us to stay that weekend. It seemed to be a really pretty hotel but I wanted to see what else was in the area. For about the same price per night, we were able to have a whole cottage to ourselves instead of just a room. I do think the hotel would be a nice place to stay if we were going to see all of the attractions. It also looked like a nice place to have a wedding reception. Yes, I did actually think about how romantic it would be if we came back here some day in the future and he proposed to me! Haha! Sometimes I really let my imagination run wild. My imagination is always about ten steps ahead of reality!

My Old Man and I went inside the massive gift shop to get our tickets for Natural Bridge. I wanted to take pictures of the gift shop but then I started asking myself, “Do people only do that in Disney?” so I didn’t! LOL! To get to Natural Bridge, we had to walk down about two flights of stairs. At the bottom level of the building was a toy museum and a butterfly exhibit. My Old Man asked me if I wanted to go see the butterflies first – what a nice guy – but I wanted to head outside while the sun was still high in the sky. It was a cold day and I didn’t want to be outside when it got colder.











There was a sign that said there were 137 steps to get down to Natural Bridge. There’s my Old Man, down at the bottom of the first set of steps



At the bottom of the 137 steps there was a little outdoor eatery that was closed for the season. There was a covered seating area as well as an area in the sun



It was really adorable. I could picture it as a place for a reception, perhaps…LOL! There was also a fire going in the fireplace



My Old Man and I stood there near the warmth of the fireplace as we took in the view from the covered patio



After warming up, we started walking down the path to Natural Bridge.







These pictures cannot even begin to convey the magnificence of this natural wonder





It was humbling to walk under. This was the view from underneath



The rocks and the flowing water were a testament to how the Natural Bridge was formed

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

After walking under Natural Bridge, we walked on Cedar Creek Trail. The trail was about a mile long and led to a waterfall. Along the way was a beautiful creek











We even saw several squirrels and woodpeckers. The woodpeckers were quick to fly away but the squirrels were very calm about having people in their territory. I guess it was because of their excellent camouflage. I could barely make out the squirrel on the fallen tree trunk in this picture when I first looked at it!



After walking about a quarter of a mile, we saw that the path was washed out from the previous week’s heavy rain





We turned back around on the path and started making our way back





I loved those mossy stones! They were just around a blind corner and after we rounded that corner was a long row of about twenty benches along the stone wall. Obviously, we passed these benches earlier but as we walked by this way – with the benches facing Natural Bridge – I could picture myself in a wedding gown as I was walking down to Natural Bridge as the altar! I’m crazy, I know this! And knowing is half of the battle! LOL! Really, it’s not a unique idea because people get married there all of the time. I could just imagine it in the fall with the leaves changing and… OK, let me snap back to reality! Marriage is a long ways away! A girl can dream, though!





Here’s a picture of me and my Old Man at the end of the path



After that, we started walking back to the gift shop… up all 137 steps! Keep in mind that these were not regular steps like you would find in a house. These were wide and uneven steps in a strange incline going up a huge hill! My thighs were burning b y the time we made it to the top! Of course, the show off said that he could have kept on going! Sorry, no pictures of the torture – I mean steps – going up! I was too busy trying to catch my breath! At the top of the steps, I told myself that there was no way I would get married there! Haha!

We went into the bottom level of the gift shop building again, but I was not ready for more steps! We decided to pass on the butterfly exhibit and went into the Toy Museum. The Toy Museum wasn’t that great but there was one toy there that immediately caught my eye. I had this Flip Wilson doll when I was a little girl! It was a pull-string doll with Flip Wilson on one side and his character “Geraldine” on the other





I can’t remember what the doll said but I do remember that the voice alternated between Flip and Geraldine. A quick Google search reminded me that at least one of the phrases it said was Geraldine’s tag line, “The devil made me do it!” LOL!

I’m adding this next picture to illustrate how much I think I need bifocal contact lenses! I took this picture of an old school Nintendo to show my kids because they have never seen such primitive technology!



As you can see, the picture is extremely blurry! On my camera, it looked just fine! Could it be that I really need bifocal contacts?!? I have become one of those people who has to look over her glasses to read small print! I’m only 38! Ugh! LOL!

I finally had feeling in my thighs again, so we walked up the two flights of steps and headed out of the gift shop. My legs weren’t killing me at the end of those two flights since they were steps that a human could climb LOL but I wasn’t in the mood for walking anymore! My Old Man and I decided not to go to the Wax Museum. We also decided not to go to a winery as we had planned because we both wanted to get back to the cottage. On the way back down the road, my Old Man asked, “Didn’t you want to take pictures here?” and pointed at the sign for Foamhenge. He remembered! What a sweetie! This may not have seemed like much, but when I thought about how he actually remembered and acknowledged a comment I made in passing a couple of hours before, it was a big deal to me. He pulled into the parking area and I was able to get out and take a few pictures









I could have walked up the hill for some closer shots but…well, no. I’d had enough of walking up steep inclines for the day! I had to reserve some energy for the rest of the day! So after I took my fill of pictures, my Old Man drove us back to the cottage.

Up next: One more night in our peaceful getaway…

 

[Victoriasmom98]

What a nice mini trip report! I am loving everything about it!! Your little cabin was sooo cute and “homey”, although I’m still thinking about poor Old Man having to sleep on the couch! Next time you make sure there’s another bed for him, ok? We don’t want him to be uncomfortable. Would you believe I have never been to a Waffle House? There aren’t any up this way. I hear they are open 24 hours a day though, popular spot after drinking and the bars close. OMG!!! Speaking of food, we FINALLY have a Cracker Barrel up in Maine! It’s in South Portland which is an hour away, but we have one!!! I’ve only to been to one once and that was down in Florida on my first honeymoon (yes, with the sperm donor!) I just think they are so cute! I wish you would have taken a picture of the gift shop so we could see it. Now, is it a gift shop just for the Natural Bridge or are there other attractions in that same area? The daredevil in me really wants to cross the path where the water has overflown……I hate being told not to do something. Like “no trespassing” signs are like a magnet to me! Hee hee! Does the trail go on much longer than that point? I think Foamhenge is a riot!!! How cool is that to have a replica made of foam??? Wouldn’t the rain and snow ruin it, though? Obviously not if it’s still standing. And then there is my favorite picture of you and the Old Man sitting on the bench…..can we hear an “awwwweeeeeeee”…….

So, when are you going to enlighten Old Man on the wonders of Disney???