Tim and Lesley Year of Million Compromises/TONS pics- 8/5 help me pg. 164!!!

[timandlesley]

Ok... I just finished your 2006 trip report. That sounds like a terrific vacation!! Getting to be the flag family, having your parents suprise you, a special night out for you and Luke, how COOL!!! I am so jealous of your annual trips. One of the things we had to give up when we decided I would stay at home were yearly vacations. I can't wait to read more about the plans for this year's trip. Tomorrow is one month!!! WOO WOO!!!

So glad you found the old one and enjoyed it, it was such a magical vacation, hoping to make brand new magical memories in ONE MONTH!!!!
Lesley

Happy Mother's day to everyone.

My husband totally surprised me with a pair of red and black Mickey crocs, I am not a fan of crocs, but he was so excited to give them to me. I will have to exchange the size, but I just don't think I have the heart to return them. He is so sweet, we had all three of our children home for dinner, that was the second best present. My husband and our oldest daughter did the cooking, and the kids did the dishes too.

I also was taken out to lunch by my older brother, he took out his wife, our mom and my sister too, what a nice day. Last year at this time my mom was in a nursing home, and really was doing poorly, so we are very blessed.

Lesley, I can't wait to see your new pics. The pal Mickey is so cute.

I'll take the new pics sometime this week (busy with work and UOP today for sure, hopefully can do it tomorrow- also have tons of mothers day flowers to plant this week). Sounds like you had an incredible mothers day, the Disney Crocs are cute, but I know what you mean, I'm not too into the traditional style either, but at Disney you will fit in for sure! Hope you enjoy them, they are comfy aren't they!
Lesley

Look at all the cool stuff you've gotten! Luke looks like he really enjoys PM and I just love how he's got his eyebrow raised like that - too cute! Glad you had a wonderful Mother's day!

Yeah, we keep getting lots and lots of stuff, didn't even notice his eyebrow until you commented, how funny!
Lesley

Lesley, I see you've been busy with the shopping since I've been gone! Everywhere I looked in the parks there were Disney crocs - they have really taken over! We had a great time, and when I catch my breath I'll start posting my trip report. Any questions I can answer now, fire away y'all!

Welcome home, can't wait to read all about your trip. Hope you had a wonderful Mothers day!
Lesley

 

[fterie4u]

Ooh, I can't wait to see your new shirts! I wonder if your Minnie tank top is the same one I just got! I will be watching for your pics!
I am glad you had a nice Mother's Day! Have fun planting all of your flowers!

 

[timandlesley]

Ooh, I can't wait to see your new shirts! I wonder if your Minnie tank top is the same one I just got! I will be watching for your pics!
I am glad you had a nice Mother's Day! Have fun planting all of your flowers!

I will post a pic tomorrow night. I just had a long day of work, Luke's t-ball pictures, and I planted all of my Mother's Day flowers, gave the kids baths, got them into bed and then I had 2 University of Phoenix courses starting tonight so I am WIPED!!! (Tim's working 5-11 tonight for 800 Flowers, poor guy taking all of the complaint calls today after Mothers Day- oh well, pays the bills). Tomorrow I will post pic's of the shirts AND my awesome Sunshine Reward money that came in the mail today, they are CUTE and they even threw in a little bonus. . .to be continued.
Lesley

 

[timandlesley]

O.K., so you know I've been on the fence about LeCellier, so today I made a reservation for Kona Cafe on the same night we have LeCellier and I think I will cancel LeCellier, Kona seems more kid friendly and on the food porn thread (my favorite thread here on the Dis) someone posted some awesome pic's of the steaks and deserts at Kona that just look SOOOO yummy I want to try it.
I am also working on our Mousekeeping tip envelopes, I'll post a pic of those, my t-shirts and the Sunshine reward money plus bonus that arrived in the mail today after tomorrow, I need my sleep, I'm pooped!!!
Lesley

 

[PittypatBR]

Lesley, we ate at both Kona and le Cellier, and those were our two favorite meals of the trip. Throw out something else and do both of them! The kids had fun at both, and the food was wonderful! I will post reviews later but at Le Cellier I had the mushroom filet, DD and DH had the plain filet, and DSIL had salmon I think. DGS had the kids steak, and it was yummy looking also. They were all cooked just as we ordered. At Kona, DD, DH, and I had the filet again, and it was just as good or maybe even a tiny bit better. DSIL had the Mahi Mahi and like it as well. The kids had hamburgers this time, as there aren't many places now at DW where you can get a hamburger in a kid's meal, believe it or not. The crab cake appetizer at Kona was very yummy too. And both places had scrumptious deserts. I need a "licking my lips" smilie for this post!

 

[ReneeDisney]

Lesley, we ate at both Kona and le Cellier, and those were our two favorite meals of the trip. Throw out something else and do both of them! The kids had fun at both, and the food was wonderful! I will post reviews later but at Le Cellier I had the mushroom filet, DD and DH had the plain filet, and DSIL had salmon I think. DGS had the kids steak, and it was yummy looking also. They were all cooked just as we ordered. At Kona, DD, DH, and I had the filet again, and it was just as good or maybe even a tiny bit better. DSIL had the Mahi Mahi and like it as well. The kids had hamburgers this time, as there aren't many places now at DW where you can get a hamburger in a kid's meal, believe it or not. The crab cake appetizer at Kona was very yummy too. And both places had scrumptious deserts. I need a "licking my lips" smilie for this post!

I agree! We love both the KONA and Le Cellier. They both offer great food options and yummy desserts! Your kids will love the pretzel breads they serve the table at Le Cellier and I've found their wait staff to be super friendly!
ENJOY!!

 

[timandlesley]

Thanks guys, o.k. so you convinced me, I called this morning and instead of hitting Primetime Cafe our first night in the parks I made a 5:00 reservation for Kona. That way we'll check in after our flight arrives at 10:00, be at MGM by around noon, catch a few rides and the parade and then head out to the Poly by 4:30 by bus, we can then jump on the monorail after dinner and maybe catch some fireworks or head back to the room for a swim depending on how tired the kids are. Thanks for the advice, now we'll get to try two new yummy places, Kona and LeCellier this trip, can't wait to report on them.
Lesley

 

[dddisrunner]

Hey Lesley,

Just wanted to let you know that we ate at Kona on our recent trip 4/24-5/1/07. We LOVED it! I wrote a little about it in my trip report. They were extremely accomadating when the kids wanted to substitute and the boys loved the sundaes! Watch out though their macadamia nut butter is to die for! I remember reading further back in your report about the cool dude package for Luke and the pirate cruise? I think that was you anyway we did both and the boys absolutely LOVED doing both. I also posted pics. of them on my TR. Have a great day!

 

[KatGarcia]

How I missed your TR i have no idea! I'm hooked and ready for more!

 

[timandlesley]

Hey Lesley,

Just wanted to let you know that we ate at Kona on our recent trip 4/24-5/1/07. We LOVED it! I wrote a little about it in my trip report. They were extremely accomadating when the kids wanted to substitute and the boys loved the sundaes! Watch out though their macadamia nut butter is to die for! I remember reading further back in your report about the cool dude package for Luke and the pirate cruise? I think that was you anyway we did both and the boys absolutely LOVED doing both. I also posted pics. of them on my TR. Have a great day!

Thanks can't wait, we now have it starting our trip on June 14th, CAN'T WAIT TO TRY IT. I checked out your report and posted there, loved it. Don't think we are doing the pirate cruise this year and I asked Luke about the BBB for guys and he said he'd rather go with Tim and explore Downtown Disney, oh well. Lauren is going to LOVE it.
Lesley

How I missed your TR i have no idea! I'm hooked and ready for more!

Welcome aboard, I'm going to post a TON of updates tonight, so hold on tight
Lesley

 

[timandlesley]

O.K, so I was sitting around tonight with the kids and it hit me, TOMORROW WE WILL BE 29 DAYS AWAY FROM DISNEY!!!

Then it also hit me TOMORROW WE ARE 29 DAYS AWAY FROM DISNEY

So. ..the Disney planner in me came out FULL FORCE. Tonight I will be updating how much planning I got done in one night (you will be amazed, maybe a little overwhelmed like Tim is right now ). First I promised pictures of the lovely gifts Tim and the kids gave me for Mother's Day. Here they are :
My t-shirt from the Disney store I've wanted for a LONG time but just would never spend the money on myself:

Here is a nice charm bracelet with Tink on it that I plan on filling with charms on our trip:

And here is my new Minnie Tank Top that will be full of sweat next month in Disney (o.k, gross mental picture, sorry)

I also was SO excited when the mail came yesterday to find these sitting in an envelope:

Aren't they cute, I love the Ariel one, Lauren went nuts. Notice it is 21 dollars, guess the people at Sunshine Rewards felt bad that they forgot about my 20, aren't they great!
So those are the new items and the last of the Sunshine rewards cash, now I will post about all of the planning I did tonight in the next post, Trying to break them up due to the amount of pictures total in posts.
Lesley

 

[timandlesley]

So as I was saying, tonight it hit me, tomorrow we are at the 20 mark. I start furiously getting bags together, making lists, doing what I do pre Disney trip. Tim came up on his break from 1800 Flowers and I said "I've been busy, and I have lists" He said "I was just wondering when this was coming" He looked at them and then you know what he said "You need to type these up" O.K. people, so I ask you, who is the anal one here. . .huh
So like I said, I've been busy. I started thinking about carry on's we would need since we will get there early and head right to MGM we need what we would need for the parks that day, etc. So I went and got this bag:

Notice how it is packed to the gills? Well, it contains all of our raincoats, Tim's poncho and our double stroller rain cover, who knows, with the June weather we've experienced I am not walking into a park without these (especially with our MGM history and rain - if you've read previous TR you know what I mean) So ladies and gentleman. . .we have Carry on Number 1 completed.
Then I start thinking about the other bag we need in the parks. Here is what it will have in it:
batteries, sunglasses, camera, spray fans, itinerary w/ ADR's, Sunscreen, Pal Mickey - our new best friend cell phones, snacks/water, autograph book and lanyards but then as I thought about it I will not be carrying a purse on this trip, Tim will carry my I.D. and the cash we have on hand so this bag will also double as my purse so I also need to squeeze in an activity pad for each kid for the plan, gum for the plane, sunglasses makeup (yes ladies, I travel with a compact and lipstick, sorry). Here is the bag as is right now:

Good luck to me getting the rest of the stuff in here on travel day.
Here it is with the list sticking out of what is missing, told you I was busy tonight:

So then, onto other carry on's. Two years ago I FORGOT MY SUITCASE AT HOME, oh yes, we were at the airport and I was looking around checking off in my head everyones bag and realized MINE WAS MISSING, even had the suitcase full of snacks but NO SUITCASE FOR LESLEY. So needless to say the carry on bag is now crucial in my packing because that year it was all I had (let's just say I found out they even sell underwear in Disney- thank Goodness)
Here is what I plan on taking in that carry on:
Change of clothes for each of us
Deoderant
hat (for a bad hair day)
swimsuits for all
ponytailholders
makeup
hairdryer
hairspray
batteries and charger
PJ's for the kids,
Travelers Checks (I also made the decision tonight that we need to go and get 600 dollars in travelers checks, I don't want to carry all of our travel money around in cash, that's just asking for trouble- told ya, made lots of decisions tonight)
cell chargers
AAA package info
2nd copy of our itinerary for the trip
Mousekeeping envelopes (I'll show photo's of those in a minute that I made up tonight)

So that takes care of Carry on #3

Then we will also have Tim's laptop, unfortunately I'll be teaching a University of Phoenix class while we are out of town (never can take a FULL vacation) so it is a necessity.
We will also carry on a small umbrella stroller for Lauren for the airport and our Downtown Disney night.
I called Airtran tonight too see if these were too many, turns out laptops don't even count because they are considered a personal item, so we are only technically at 3 and allowed 4- sigh of relief

Here are the Mousekeeping envelopes I found on this website:
http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads/trip/mousekeeping.shtml
they have the cutest designs. Luke helped me pick ours out, we have a different one for each day, here are my favorites:

So. .like I said, I've been busy tonight. I feel a little more at ease.
Tim has a list of things to do tomorrow like cashing a check and getting all our Disney disney money in an envelope and then I'll go to the bank and get our travelers checks this week.
Still waiting for that AAA envelope with our documents, the wait is KILLING Me.
So TOMORROW we are in the 20's and the madness has begun. Stay tuned for more. . . .
Lesley

 

[rentayenta]

Love love love this report!


Where did you print out those cool tipping certificates?


ETA: I just graduated from the U of P with my Masters!

 

[dixie lolly]

"I am so glad to know that i am not the only one worried about having too much luggage and carryons. i keep thinking that i will carry less each time but i never can get rid of anything...it is all necessary. I also did the mousekeeping envelopes and have already got them stuffed and ready..now all i have to do is pick which one to leave each day. our day is getting here quick ....i hope i have it all together.

 

[dddisrunner]

UGH! The carry on's were my biggest nightmare too! I knew I needed sunscreen but you can only have 3oz. in your carry on blah,blah,blah it's enough to give you a headache You are such a good planner though I'm sure you'll have everything all set w/more than enough time to spare! Too funny about you forgeting your suitcase That is something I would do, always worried aboout everyone else except myself! When you said "Tim came up on a break from 1-800-flowers" I got the funniest picture in my head like he had been trapped in the basement and now has a big long beard and an empty coffee mug in his hand! I love all your t-shirts and charm bracelet!

 

[kribit]

Oh Lesley, I look forward to all your photos. If your pre-trip is this much fun to read, I can't even imagine how good your trip report is going to be.

I did have a question for you about Sunshine Rewards when you have a sec.

I just cashed out my first $20.. Did you buy some of the offers to get so much more than $20? I feel like I've completed just about every free offer they have and that I'm now maxed out. I'd like to get a couple more cash outs for my kids before our trip in August...they would be thrilled!! Any tips? thanks bunches!!!

 

[daisy_77]

I love your new tops and charm bracelet for Disney! That was so sweet of your family to think of you on Mother's Day!

Great mousekeeping envelopes, too!

 

[moparop]

Wow woman!! You have been busy! I am getting all excited and I am not even the one going! Those Disney dollars are so cute!! Do they ever expire or could I start doing Sunshine Rewards now for a trip way in the future?

Oh and expect a PM from me. DH got the job in the Cincy area and we are moving in the next month!!

 

[KatInHat]

You are a super planner !! I wish I could be as organized as you are. I make lists and then can't find them when I need them (and guess what, I'm a teacher ) I love your Disney tshirts and the charm bracelet, very cute. I bet the kids are getting super excited.

 

[PittypatBR]

Great presents! I thought I was a pretty good pre-planner, but you take the cake! I actually didn't do as well as I expected - had all my stuff laid out but waited until the night before to actually fill the suitcases and was up much later than I expected, trying to stuff it all in. I have one big tip for you - space bags. Those things really work. I used them for the beach towels and for the matching shirts for everyone and it allowed me to actually fit them in the suitcase after I thought I was maxed out! I had the kind that you roll up instead of using the vacuum. (Otherwise they wouldn't help much on the way home!) I am going to use them for storing spare bedding while I don't need them for travel.