Twice As Nice & Double the Fun: an offsite October PTR where “2” is the magic number

[Monykalyn]

Gina that Strong woman/strong girl/strong drink thing is certainly true around our house!
DD is set on applying for DCP for next fall. Too early to put a countdown up? I don't want to jinx her! She and some friends at schools in other states are all planning on applying together. Hope it works out!

Yay for under 6 weeks-you are in the sweet spot now! Definitely looking forward to the HDD review-2 years ago it was a toss up of that or the Luau at Poly. Chose the Luau as I was sure we'd never get to hawaii (planning that for next summer if all goes well). Also-we live by Branson and can see shows similar anytime we wanted-although the "disney" twist is probably better

Bet Jake is excited about his own place- I know I was when I moved from college housing to a "real" place.

 

[pigletto]

41 days to go until our October trip.....officially under 6 weeks!

105 to go until our Christmas vacation . And speaking of which, we FINALLY got the long-awaited ADR for the Hoop Dee Doo Revue! We are officially confirmed for December 21st with the 4 pm seating, so if all goes well, we'll be enjoying the dinner show that night, followed by Chip and Dale's Campfire Sing-Along, then our self-tour of the Christmas lights in the campground via our golf cart rental. I am so excited for our festive night at the Fort!

Congrats on securing that reservation!! Your Christmas trip plans sound awesome and your October trip is closing in! I am right behind you! 33 days until Lake Placid, and 54 until we leave for Orlando!

I woke up this morning super excited for Universal. DH went golfing with my brothers for the day, so I sat with my coffee and read trip reports in the Universal forums, and then when ds12 got up he and I perused menus and made a few more meal plans. We also made a Universal bucket list and have an entire page of things we want to do that we haven't done on any other trips (for example, we haven't done most of the interactive spells or swam in the Hard Rock pool). It was a nice way to pass a leisurely morning on one of the last days before school begins again.

We plan to go to the local Drive-In tonight if ds's allergies settle down. He's getting his butt kicked today even with his pills. I plan to try some Benadryl this evening. We usually only move to that when it's really bad. So it will have to work for him to want to go anywhere.. poor kid.

Tomorrow we take dd19 back to her university apartment, visit my brother and sister-in-law and nephew, and then... back to school . Man this summer flew by. It is so nice to have these trips to look forward to. Makes the end of summer vacation more tolerable.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Hi all! On the topic of kids leaving home, I just got back from taking our DD to University for her third year. There was a long line to receive your student ID and other admin items, they had staff walking along the line saying parents do not have line up and not to worry we will take care of your kids! They had a tent with coffee and muffins for parents. I went but a lot just could not leave the kids!

What a wonderful gesture from the university! Those little kindnesses go such a long way .

Was your DD ready and raring to return, or hating to go back?

Yay, so glad you got your ADR

We were all so excited!! I wish I knew Disney's reasoning for holding off on that block of dates for so bloody long .

YAY for Hoop De Do! We've never been, maybe someday.

We leave tomorrow. FLying into Tampa and I hope things aren't flooded anymore by then.

I am having such a good time following your trip on Facebook! Your photos are awesome and it looks like you timed your arrival perfectly as far as the weather was concerned .

I was a junior in college before I had my own vehicle and was "allowed" to have it on campus, so that year I moved myself. Now I only went to school an hour away from home, but you would have thought I was on the moon. I vividly remember pulling out of the driveway to my mom pretty much sobbing and my dad just patting her back. It got easier the next year and then when I eventually moved out of the house for good, I think she was "somewhat" okay with me leaving. As long as I called when I got there. And every 20 minutes thereafter!!!

You got the HDDR reservation! That's fantastic. I wonder why it took so long for them to post openings in December? I know you'll have a fabulous time that evening.

My mom still frets about me driving from place to place. On a snowy day, she's literally on pins and needles until I text her that I'm safely at work.....and my commute is a whopping 4 km .

It's been a rather amusing weekend where Jake is concerned. He has been in more regular contact.....texts, phone calls, inviting us over for a visit.....than he has been for the last six months. I think he misses us. For those who don't have me on Facebook, he does have a little buddy though:

This is Moo, and he's my grandcat . Tiny as a mouse but so freaking cute its painful. He's like a little Mexican jumping bean and can normally found everywhere he shouldn't be . Every once in a while, though, he needs a cat nap with Nana.....and I get to indulge in some snuggles.

I went to college in San Francisco, a 12 hour drive from home or a plane flight. Thought I could make it until Christmas without going home for Thanksgiving, haha didn't happen. I ended up having one of my parents fly me home for Thanksgiving. The hardest thing, even when I was out of college and older, is being sick and by yourself, you either have to find someone to get stuff for your or you just have to suck it up and go to the store yourself or drive yourself to the dr. I had to drive myself to urgent care to find out I bruised my tailbone curling (yes I curl and I learned in Charlotte, NC I'm a charter member of the curling club and won two league championships. I'll finally join the Seattle club this year but just to sub and practice, leagues are too rich for my blood this year). So I know how it can be from Jake's side, super exciting but it's a big adjustment not having your parents right there for things.

Luckily, we're not too terribly far away if he needs a little extra attention from Mom and Dad. 12 hours is tough.....especially for a first time away from home. I don't know if that would have been harder on him or me!!

Gina that Strong woman/strong girl/strong drink thing is certainly true around our house!
DD is set on applying for DCP for next fall. Too early to put a countdown up? I don't want to jinx her! She and some friends at schools in other states are all planning on applying together. Hope it works out!

Yay for under 6 weeks-you are in the sweet spot now! Definitely looking forward to the HDD review-2 years ago it was a toss up of that or the Luau at Poly. Chose the Luau as I was sure we'd never get to hawaii (planning that for next summer if all goes well). Also-we live by Branson and can see shows similar anytime we wanted-although the "disney" twist is probably better

Bet Jake is excited about his own place- I know I was when I moved from college housing to a "real" place.

It is definitely not too early for a countdown . Of course, this from the woman who has the next, next trip planned before the upcoming one is over!

How did you enjoy the Luau at the Poly? I have heard mixed reviews on that event and would love to hear your thoughts and impressions.

Jake has been VERY excited about his move: he was actually quite laughable as he bounced out the door to do groceries for the first time. All that bubbly enthusiasm .... and all I could think was, yeah, the novelty of that will wear off eventually .

Congrats on securing that reservation!! Your Christmas trip plans sound awesome and your October trip is closing in! I am right behind you! 33 days until Lake Placid, and 54 until we leave for Orlando!

I woke up this morning super excited for Universal. DH went golfing with my brothers for the day, so I sat with my coffee and read trip reports in the Universal forums, and then when ds12 got up he and I perused menus and made a few more meal plans. We also made a Universal bucket list and have an entire page of things we want to do that we haven't done on any other trips (for example, we haven't done most of the interactive spells or swam in the Hard Rock pool). It was a nice way to pass a leisurely morning on one of the last days before school begins again.

We plan to go to the local Drive-In tonight if ds's allergies settle down. He's getting his butt kicked today even with his pills. I plan to try some Benadryl this evening. We usually only move to that when it's really bad. So it will have to work for him to want to go anywhere.. poor kid.

Tomorrow we take dd19 back to her university apartment, visit my brother and sister-in-law and nephew, and then... back to school . Man this summer flew by. It is so nice to have these trips to look forward to. Makes the end of summer vacation more tolerable.

Where have you decided on for your meals at Universal? Are you still planning on trying Toothsome while you're there? I will be eagerly looking forward to your review of Toothsome (assuming you go) as we plan to visit there in December. I know they had a few kinks while in preview mode but overall I am so excited about that new dining location!

I hope your poor DS was able to get out to the drive-in movie as you had initially planned. Allergies are the worst, and this super dry summer hasn't been kind to most people. I guess there's at least ONE reason to look forward to winter....but only one .

You have a busy day on deck tomorrow: all the best to your DD as she starts her second year in university. You must be feeling a little melancholy about her leaving home again. Does it get easier or is it harder the second time around?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Today we finally

39 days to to until our October trip , 103 until our Christmas trip .

I have been trying to absorb all of the updates and information on this year's Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, but so far haven't found anything startlingly different from last year's event (which is fine with me, because we had such great nights at both parties).

I am pretty pumped about the Headless Horseman magic shot: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-during-mickeys-not-so-scary-halloween-party/ .

You can bet we'll be on the look out for that one!!

 

[Raeven]

I love the magic shot I can't wait to get it.

 

[bankr63]

Hey, that can't be Moo, THIS is Moo...


Although size wise, reminds me more of our little rescue Pixie (actually Pixel for the one white dot on her chest):

This picture is old though, Pix is now about the same size as our Moo. They grow up so fast...

And speaking of growing so fast; the house has been very quiet this weekend. DS is here, but frosh has started at Ottawa U - his first year. Think I've seen him for about an hour all weekend. I think he's enjoying University a little TOO much already.

 

[pigletto]

Where have you decided on for your meals at Universal? Are you still planning on trying Toothsome while you're there? I will be eagerly looking forward to your review of Toothsome (assuming you go) as we plan to visit there in December. I know they had a few kinks while in preview mode but overall I am so excited about that new dining location!

I hope your poor DS was able to get out to the drive-in movie as you had initially planned. Allergies are the worst, and this super dry summer hasn't been kind to most people. I guess there's at least ONE reason to look forward to winter....but only one .

You have a busy day on deck tomorrow: all the best to your DD as she starts her second year in university. You must be feeling a little melancholy about her leaving home again. Does it get easier or is it harder the second time around?

Our Universal meals that we know of so far will be Toothsome (can't miss this one!!) and many counter service lunches in the parks and at City Walk. The rest of our dinners will be offsite and so far on deck we have Hash House A Go Go (new for us), The Mellow Mushroom (new for us), Miller's Ale House (Dh and Ds are crazy for Rib night), O'Charley's (another new to us.. got a Restaurant.com certificate for this one), and... that's it so far. I think one night will be counter service because Ds and I will be over at Magic Kingdom for MNSSHP and Dh and DD will be doing HHN. That only leaves one dinner to figure out. Nothing has jumped out at me yet, but the kids did ask about maybe doing the golf and meal deal again and going to Margharitaville. We will see.

Thank you for the good wishes for dd. I thought I was fine this year but I've been pretty sad since we got home. I'll come around, but it isn't the same without dd here.

All the more reason to look forward to this trip for all of us to spend a week together!

Your grandkitten is adorable!! And that's too cute about Jake being so excited for groceries. I specifically remember how excited I was to shop on my own and get what I wanted for my first place. And you're right.. it sure did get old fast .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I love the magic shot I can't wait to get it.

Since you travel before we do, I hope you will drop back in after your trip and share yours with us!

Hey, that can't be Moo, THIS is Moo...


Although size wise, reminds me more of our little rescue Pixie (actually Pixel for the one white dot on her chest):
Your
This picture is old though, Pix is now about the same size as our Moo. They grow up so fast...

And speaking of growing so fast; the house has been very quiet this weekend. DS is here, but frosh has started at Ottawa U - his first year. Think I've seen him for about an hour all weekend. I think he's enjoying University a little TOO much already.

See, I *knew* there was a reason I liked you so much! You're a cat person!

Your babies are simply adorable....and I think its awesome that you have a Moo, too! (Jake will get a kick out of that......I'll have to show him a your Moo's picture next time I see him)

Glad to hear your DS is enjoying his foray into University life....even if its tough on dear ol' Dad's heart. They're the best days of a young person's life, but a big adjustment for parents .

Our Universal meals that we know of so far will be Toothsome (can't miss this one!!) and many counter service lunches in the parks and at City Walk. The rest of our dinners will be offsite and so far on deck we have Hash House A Go Go (new for us), The Mellow Mushroom (new for us), Miller's Ale House (Dh and Ds are crazy for Rib night), O'Charley's (another new to us.. got a Restaurant.com certificate for this one), and... that's it so far. I think one night will be counter service because Ds and I will be over at Magic Kingdom for MNSSHP and Dh and DD will be doing HHN. That only leaves one dinner to figure out. Nothing has jumped out at me yet, but the kids did ask about maybe doing the golf and meal deal again and going to Margharitaville. We will see.

Thank you for the good wishes for dd. I thought I was fine this year but I've been pretty sad since we got home. I'll come around, but it isn't the same without dd here.

All the more reason to look forward to this trip for all of us to spend a week together!

Your grandkitten is adorable!! And that's too cute about Jake being so excited for groceries. I specifically remember how excited I was to shop on my own and get what I wanted for my first place. And you're right.. it sure did get old fast .

Aw, I am sorry to hear this has been a tough day . I am sure your house must seem super quiet tonight . Was she a little blue to head back to campus, or excited to get back to class? Having your trip to look forward to is an absolute blessing, isn't it? Makes all the expense (and even the exchange rate) worth every penny.

I will be very interested to hear how you like Mellow Mushroom's pizza. We have seen it on Groupon many times and have always thought about giving it a try (but for some reason....never have ). Speaking of pizza, if anyone is traveling within the next few months, Cici's is back on Groupon.....dinner for 2 for $8, or dinner for 4 for $16.

I have always been a cat person, so I must admit I fell hard for that little kitten (I can only imagine what I'll be like when he gives me an official grandchild someday!! ). But oh, he started something bad.....more on that in the next post .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Soooooo............Steve and I found the cure for our empty nest syndrome .

We got the call tonight that our adoption application for these two cuties has been approved, and we will be welcoming them home later this week:

Meet Violet & Dash . Two little sweethearts who were rescued by Fixed Fur Life, and needed to find a home together since Violet cries for her brother when they're separated (FFL actually declined several applicants who were willing to take just the male: they were determined that these two would retain their family bond in their new furever home).

The are 9 weeks old and absolute bundles of energy. When we met them on Sunday afternoon, though, they both laid back in our arms and snuggled right in (purring like little motorboats). We were hooked. With Jake gone, our house was painfully quiet......and after spending time with his little Moo over the course of his move, we knew it was time. Our beloved Patches has been gone a year and a half now, and our hearts have healed enough to move forward. These little rescues needed a loving home, and truly: we need THEM.

So, my quiet life is poised to be not so quiet anymore! Tomorrow I will spend my lunch hour picking up kitten chow, litter pans, cat toys, and whatever other cool stuff I can find in the pet supply store. These little ones might be babies, but they are HUGE in comparison to Moo (who is virtually the same age). The animal care staff at Pet Valu (where the kittens were featured on behalf of Fixed Fur Life) suspect from their size and colouring that they may have Maine Coon in their lineage somewhere: if that's the case, they're going to be the size of small dogs. Better make that kitten chow a super-sized bag .

@Callie made a very good point to me on Facebook tonight: these two newest family members fit perfectly with my PTR title too! Twice as Nice & Double the Fun, indeed .

 

[pigletto]

Oh My Gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are BEAUTIFUL!!!! Congratulations!!!!! We are both dog and cat people in this house. We just love animals, and providing a good loving home for any animal in need is such a wonderful thing to do!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh My Gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are BEAUTIFUL!!!! Congratulations!!!!! We are both dog and cat people in this house. We just love animals, and providing a good loving home for any animal in need is such a wonderful thing to do!!

You know what was so amazing? The Director of Fixed Fur Life even offered to care for them for us, free of charge, while we are away on vacation in October. I was absolutely blown away by that level of kindness.

And in another show of perfect timing, they will be due to be spayed and neutered as soon as we come home from our December vacation. If our vet can do the operations between Christmas and New Years, Steve and I will even be home with them to give them a little extra TLC. It all fell into place so well, it was the affirmation I needed that we were doing the right thing.

 

[grantclaire]

What a wonderful gesture from the university! Those little kindnesses go such a long way .

Was your DD ready and raring to return, or hating to go back?

No ,she could not wait to get back! Once they get a taste of independence it can seem a bit boring around the old house!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

No ,she could not wait to get back! Once they get a taste of independence it can seem a bit boring around the old house!

Yep, I can see that!

For all my northern friends whose kids have headed back to class this weekend or are doing so tomorrow, this is cute and worth a share:

 

[pigletto]

You know what was so amazing? The Director of Fixed Fur Life even offered to care for them for us, free of charge, while we are away on vacation in October. I was absolutely blown away by that level of kindness.

And in another show of perfect timing, they will be due to be spayed and neutered as soon as we come home from our December vacation. If our vet can do the operations between Christmas and New Years, Steve and I will even be home with them to give them a little extra TLC. It all fell into place so well, it was the affirmation I needed that we were doing the right thing.

That is wonderful to hear. They sound like an awesome group. I saw some dogs at an adoption event at a PetSmart last weekend. We wholeheartedly want to adopt another dog to be part of our family. I just don't know about the timing though and I need to know in my heart when it's right. I feel like you, that when it's time I will be sure. Soon, but not yet.
I'm so glad it worked out for you and your new fur family!

 

[J'aime Paris]

Congrats on the new additions, they are truly adorable

We have 2 dogs and 1 cat. My heart melts for animals

 

[mandas08]

Congrats on your little kitties. So nice that they are able to stay together. That's very nice that they volunteered to look after them while you are gone . I feel like the last 30 days seem to go pretty quick, so its nice you wont need to try to coordinate anything for them. We are at 48 for our beach trip, time seems to be going pretty slow for us, but I don't want to rush into fall and winter so I will bet patient. My lo keeps reminding me that I need go through all of our boxes and things down in the basement and find our vacation countdown board so he can start crossing off the days . While I'm excited for the beach getting the Sea World flier with all the Halloween events made me a little sad, they seem to have lots of great Sesame Street events for the little ones, I had no idea.

 

[Monykalyn]

ahhhh sweet lil kitties!! We have too many allergic kids around here to get a kitten-not to say the chickens would probably shred a kitten right now-our neighbors cat is very sweet and has been trying to see the chickens for over a year now-they are very curious about each other but we have one who is a "mother" hen and chases everything off. Would love to foster an animal or 2-and have talked to the kids and DH about this-but with the chickens we just can't right now. Our lil hens, while they have their own space and is fenced off, are our babies now. Sounds silly but I never knew that they would have such distinct personalities! Very sweet that the kitty family will be able to stay together-animals do miss their family!

As to the Luau-it was OK. The story line was a little cheesy, the food was OK and we enjoyed it.Got the leis and family photo although a storm was threatening to blow in, so the actual luau story was delayed by about 45 minutes. Think that made it go down in "good time" factor as it made the night longer. The fire dancer at the end was pretty awesome though.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Adorable kitties! We have 3- 2 old men and Pringles the 1 yr old. You may have seen some of Pringles' adventures on facebook. One of his favorite sleeping spots is on top of the kitchen cabinets.

We are headed to Gatorland this morning and then Animal Kingdom tonight for the DVC party (free ticket into the park!) Tomorrow is Sea World.

Bonnet Creek has really emptied out. When we arrived on Saturday the place was wall to wall people. Yesterday we could atually swim in the pool. Hoping to find zero crowds in the parks starting today. Universal on Sunday was a madhouse!

I am happy to report Duncan actually asked to go on ET! We were all very excited aoubt that!

 

[ElenaJane]

Hooray for getting the Hoop ADR!!!

And I am a huge cat fan! Moo is so adorable and I love your new twins!! I have had Bijou, my one and only cat-child, in my life longer than my husband. Even though I was the one who "rescued" her, she fell in love with Will the first day she met him, and always prefers his lap! She will be 13 next month.

 

[Lynne G]

Aww so nice of you to give the kitties a forever home, and babysitting for them while away too. That's awesome.

I like cats, grew up with one, but to my amazement, my DH is severely allergic to them. So, dogs for us. And thankfully no family allergies to dog dander. My cousin has a Maine Coon cat. He's big, and loves to sit on the little table next to the chair and swat at the dog. He's very affectionate and purrs so loud. I love that cats come in all sizes. After house breaking 3 puppies, if we get a dog again, we'll not buy one so young. Hoping it will come already house broken. I'm getting too old. LOL

3 weeks, until I fly. Time is flying. Little one starts her 10th grade in 2 days, and DS has been at college for over a week now. Back to school routine is well underway.
And that darn mouse, had to change around my schedule again. I guess I need to be in the habit of checking times at the end of the week, and just before I leave. While I don't mind doing things on the fly, doing so with the mouse is not always so easy.

Oh, and Gina, did you see the pictures posted by Robo in the US thread? I can totally see you putting that Halloween stuff in your yard!