Wait, weren't you just at Disney World? An August '14 Pre-Trip Report *updated 8/24*

[TheMaxRebo]

All caught up!

My, you guys have been doing quite a few outings these past few weeks and sounds like you're getting all ready to leave!

The MB's. Seriously. You need to do this as a side job, along with the Thank You cards. Absolutely amazing! I'm reading another TR where they decorated theirs with nail polish and thought that was a great idea, but this looks fabulous. Pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do that, so I guess i'll just try my best with the nail polish.

Score on the savings!

Can't believe you're already leaving in one week!

Yeah - definitely trying to keep busy - we have another outing planned for today, but that is a tale for another PTR update

I actually found this method way easier that paining free hand ... really just have to print out the images and apply them like you would a temporary tattoo, trim with an Xacto knife and then apply clear nail polish ... no real art talent needed.

I know .... it reall yis getting close now!

AW I LOVE the kid's shirts - and those HM ones are too cool too. Does Peter like HM? Aria is indifferent to slightly scared...

I'm SO glad you were able to get a lower rate! More trip $$!! YAY!

Emma is just SO precious!! I can't wait to meet her!! The photo of her sleeping brings back SO many memories, Aria always slept like that with her arms up. Awww babies!

Hey, how tall is Peter? I don't remember you saying. I can't remember if you said he will be able to ride 7DMT or not?

Thanks! I honestly forget how Peter did with HM - I know Olivia wasn't a fan though. Lately loud noised have upset Peter so thinking he won't be a fan either - but shall see.

Thanks again for helping me with the savings! Now to figure out where to spend those savings!

Olivia did that two with her arm - guess it is a "girl power" thing

Peter is a shortey - not even close to Mine Train ... should make Barnstormer though, but we shall see. Closer height is going to be if Olivia can make Everest - she's getting there but probably will have to pick some tall shoes for her

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Just came over to check out your pre-TR -- just in the nick of time, before it becomes a TR!!!

First of all, congratulations!! Emma is a beauty! You guys look so relaxed, total pros by #3 --- gives me hope that maybe we'll know a little more about what we're doing down the road when we add to our family!

Nice selection of local craft beers - yum!

And, your trip sounds fabulous! Love saving money unexpectedly --- $300 is a huge savings!

Thanks for coming over!

yeah, kinda have to be a bit more relaxed with baby number 3 - otherwise we would go crazy. Was kinda funny how in the hospital they would still have to go over everything with us and like 2 minutes into their speech they would be like "wait, I think you guys got this"

Did what I could with the beers considering I got them for free. We recently had a beer tasting event at work where I picked all the beers and had to give a speech about beer tasting for like 300 people - that was fun and was able to get some pretty crafty beers

 

[lovedonaldduck]

3 weeks already! Time goes so fast when they are little. She is a cutie!

Love all the Disney shirts.

Sorry to be nosey, but since you mentioned working in corporate finance, I'm curious. Are you actually in the finance side of things? I work in accounting so you are kinda speaking my language.

Congrats on the extra spending money for Disney! Hope you all enjoy your outing today!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

3 weeks already! Time goes so fast when they are little. She is a cutie!

Love all the Disney shirts.

Sorry to be nosey, but since you mentioned working in corporate finance, I'm curious. Are you actually in the finance side of things? I work in accounting so you are kinda speaking my language.

Congrats on the extra spending money for Disney! Hope you all enjoy your outing today!

so I am in kind of a unique role in that I am not in Finance but part of the client markets team - but what my team does is analyze the financial statements of our clients and look at capital adequacy and earnings volatility, etc., compare to peers, and then help develop solutions to improve areas of weakness or create efficiencies. I work for a reinsurance company so our clients are insurance companies and I am the lead for the U.S. Property & Casualty team. It's actually way more interesting than one might think finance for an insurance company would be

 

[missangelalexis]

Such cute pics of Emma! Love the shirts you purchased. And AWESOME getting that discount

 

[shan23877]

Sorry I got behind! Your trip is really close now, I can't wait to hear about it!

LOVE those magic bands! I'd heard about people using temporary tattoos, but I had no idea you could buy the paper and make your own! I tend to have to try those kinds of things at least once. Did you order it or were able to find it at a local craft store?

Your Thank You cards are fantastic. I love them.

Thanks for the Baby Emma pics, she's gorgeous.

Awesome shirts!

 

[Marsheliz]

LOVE the magicbands! how creative are you???!! I need to try to be more creative, LOL!

Love those HM shirts as well.

OMG! One week!! So jealous! School starts here Monday & we just signed up our oldest for football so I will be running around like a crazy person while you are getting your vacation on!

Thanks for sharing the pics of Emma- she really is perfect!

 

[MissDisney121]

I just wanted to say that I love your magicbands. I have seen a lot of magicbands designs and I think yours are the coolest. I also love your thank you cards. I've done the mousekeeping envelopes before but not the thank you notes, I think I will have to do that next time.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Such cute pics of Emma! Love the shirts you purchased. And AWESOME getting that discount

Thank you Alexis! Unless she is making some weird face she tends to take good pictures.

Sorry I got behind! Your trip is really close now, I can't wait to hear about it!

LOVE those magic bands! I'd heard about people using temporary tattoos, but I had no idea you could buy the paper and make your own! I tend to have to try those kinds of things at least once. Did you order it or were able to find it at a local craft store?

Your Thank You cards are fantastic. I love them.

Thanks for the Baby Emma pics, she's gorgeous.

Awesome shirts!

No worries - I get way behind some threads - it is getting really close though ... this Pre-Trip Report will turn into a Trip Report pretty soon!

So the temporary tattoo paper I just ordered from Amazon - the brand I got is silhouette and so far so good but will see how they hold up

Thank you so much!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

LOVE the magicbands! how creative are you???!! I need to try to be more creative, LOL!

Love those HM shirts as well.

OMG! One week!! So jealous! School starts here Monday & we just signed up our oldest for football so I will be running around like a crazy person while you are getting your vacation on!

Thanks for sharing the pics of Emma- she really is perfect!

Thank you - I think I have my moments of creativity

I am super happy with the HM shirts - glad they became available in time for my trip.

Haha - we will probably be doing some crazy people actions as well. Funny only living in the Northeast I've only experienced starting school after Labor Day - but there are some people who went back like 3 weeks ago already.

I just wanted to say that I love your magicbands. I have seen a lot of magicbands designs and I think yours are the coolest. I also love your thank you cards. I've done the mousekeeping envelopes before but not the thank you notes, I think I will have to do that next time.

Thank you very much, really appreciate it. Hope things work out and we have a lot of opportunities to give the Thank You cards away!

 

[MidnightParade]

Ummmm...where did you get those DC/Haunted Mansion t-shirts?!! LOVE them!

Emma is so precious!! So adorable!

Trip is so close now! Yay for big savings in the car! More Disney souvenirs to bring home now!!

 

[amberg93]

Annnnnnd I fell behind again. This always happens. I apologize.

Okay the zoo is super cool. Especially cause the animals are all native to NY.

And makes sense, you shouldn't annoy the animals

Oh my gosh that Pooh bear shirt for Emma. I'm dying. It's adorable.

The magic bands look great. I'm too lazy to do anything with mine like that but honestly, they all look amazing.

Very cool thank you cards. I'm sure CMs will love getting them.

Question, does Emma know how to stop yet? Cause she needs to stop being so adorable. I can't handle that much cute.

Oooh I like the custom shirts for in front of HM. That'll be an awesome picture if it happens.

And saving money is always a good thing, especially that much!

So close, you must be like happy every day that you wake up just because it's a day closer

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Ummmm...where did you get those DC/Haunted Mansion t-shirts?!! LOVE them!

Emma is so precious!! So adorable!

Trip is so close now! Yay for big savings in the car! More Disney souvenirs to bring home now!!

So I got the DC/HM shirts from teefury.com ... they happened to be the t-shirts of the day so they were only $11 which I thought was good

The site is cool for mixing up different geeky things ... they recently did a bunch related to Frozen, and thought about getting this one which mixes Frozen with Dr. Who:

I know - it's not like I actually saved money ... just more moved it around to different accounts

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Annnnnnd I fell behind again. This always happens. I apologize.

Okay the zoo is super cool. Especially cause the animals are all native to NY.

And makes sense, you shouldn't annoy the animals

Oh my gosh that Pooh bear shirt for Emma. I'm dying. It's adorable.

The magic bands look great. I'm too lazy to do anything with mine like that but honestly, they all look amazing.

Very cool thank you cards. I'm sure CMs will love getting them.

Question, does Emma know how to stop yet? Cause she needs to stop being so adorable. I can't handle that much cute.

Oooh I like the custom shirts for in front of HM. That'll be an awesome picture if it happens.

And saving money is always a good thing, especially that much!

So close, you must be like happy every day that you wake up just because it's a day closer

Definitely no need to apologize! Glad you have caught up though

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the zoo but it was really fun and something a little different. Not something you need a ton of time with but for a few hours with the kids it was great!

And the pooh shirt was on the clearance rack so it cost like $2.99 or something -super happy about that find

Thank you! Well, you guys always have the amazing mousekeeping envelops so you have creativity covered!

Well, Emma does have moments of not being cute - like when she gets mad (and she does) and also sometimes she falls asleep with here eyes open and it is a little creepy (apparently it's something babies do, but she does it a lot more than our first two kids did)

Every day we wake up and it is like "yeah! One more day closer to our trip" ... "but it is also "oh no! one less day to plan and pack and we aren't ready, and ah, ah, AGH!!!"

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Pre Trip Report: Part 34 - Beer, Food, and Lego's Oh My! - Part 1​

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Yeah, it's time for another family outing! I mean, we had been home for like 2 days without doing anything

This update I will split into two parts as I have too many pictures to fit into one and just so I have time!

For our outing on Wednesday 8/13 we went to Westchester's Ridge Hill. Yup, a mall. But not just any mall, as you will see later on.

Our first stop was for lunch, and when we got to Ridge Hill we always go to The Yardhouse:

Why do we always go there? Because they have over 100 beers on tap:

(this is only one side of the bar, the other has more different taps).

Good thing is they arrange the menu by style to make it a little easier to pick one.

They also offer large volume vessels for said beer as evidenced by this:

That would be a 1/2 Yard of one of my favorite beers Mother's Milk by Keegan Ales. Actually, with how often Emma wants to nurse that was a pretty appropriate beer to get

Judi opted for a slightly smaller glass, and got a Hoegaarden with Chambord in it - she really liked it!

The other reason we go here is because the food is really good!

I got a flatbread with gorganzola, pear, and balsamic. It was quite good, though the bears were cut very thin and got overpowered at times:

I also got a taco with Korean pork belly - which was really good!:

Judi ordered the tuna poke bowl ... though this picture of it makes it look like the tuna poke stack (bit of foreshadowing there):

As well as two tacos - I believe one was the Chicken Chipotle one and the other the Baja Fish one.:

Judi liked all her food a lot but the tuna was a bit overdressed and made it hard to really taste the tuna.

Olivia had the kids fish sticks - which were really good. Plus she loved carrots and dip and we were even able to get her more of them!

Peter of course ordered the Mac & Cheese which he has really been into lately. And you could tell this was real mac & cheese and not out of a box which was nice. He did pretty good on it but it was a huge portion and came with a separate plate of fries!

The kids meals also came with dessert so both kids got rice krispie treat with oreo cookie pops - I had some and it was really tasty. Olivia of course had to pose with hers:

So everything was great but then the bill came and we saw that they charged us for the Tuna Poke Stack rather than the bowl we ordered (which was like twice the price) - and we had checked with the waitress after it came and she assured us it was the bowl and just that is how it is served. Since it was like double the price I pointed it out and they got it corrected. Actually better than that as the manager came over, apologized and just took the entire cost off the meal. Definitely wasn't asking for that nor expecting it but was very pleased about it.

So if you ever see a Yardhouse in your area, give it a shot!

After lunch we headed to our main destination which was a surprise for the kids ... but that will come next update.

TTFN

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Pre Trip Report: Part 35 - Beer, Food, and Lego's Oh My! - Part 2​

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So we were off to our main attraction of the outing ... the Lego Discovery Center! It's like a indoor mini-Lego Land!

Upon arrival you go through the first area - I enjoyed the Lego guys popping out of pipes:

You then go through the "factory" where you see how Legos are mad and there are some interactive things to, well, interacts with:

You then go through Miniland - which basically has a ton of New York ladmarks done Lego style. I took a ton of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites:

Construction zone where they found some dinosaur fossils:

George Washington Bridge and the NYC skyline - including the new Freedom Tower:

Even had a subway running around the bottom which was definitely Peter's favorite part:

Close up of some of the Time Square Signs they made up ... the iPood sign makes me laugh

You could see into some of the buildings - in this one a disco was happening:

and this one show hippies with Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors:

They also has most of the local stadiums done up. This is Metlife stadium with the Giants and Jets play ... I loved how many Lego people they crammed into it:

They have two main rides at this location - one is called Merlin's Apprentice and is basically like a Dumbo type ride but there are pedals that you have to use to get the unit to go up:

and then one called Kingdom Quest which is a lot like Toy Story Mania where you have to shot things in movies playing (though not in 3D) - it was actually way more impressive than I was expecting. Only have my ghetto ride photo as proof though:

They also have a 4D movie that the kids didn't want to do so we passed and some other play areas. Peter's favorite was where you stack Lego's on a plate and then push a button and the plate shakes - to simulate an earthquake - causing your Lego tower to crash down.

After spending a few hours there it was clearly time for more dessert so we headed to Frannie's for frozen yogurt (one of those pay by the ounce places) - the kids love picking tons of toppings that they seem to enjoy but we get grossed out by the combinations:

I used a splitter in mine so could have cookies and cream on one side and the other I had Belgium Waffels frozen yogurt with strussle toping, whip cream and melba sauce ... that side was really yummy!

We then headed home and the kids were a little tired:

But that helped them get some more energy to play with the Legos we bought them. Peter got a really cool duplo train that really moves and has sounds and stuff - kid loves it!

Olivia picked Cinderella's carriage (hey, we had to have some Disney mention in this update!) - she was over the moon with the whole day and just saying how awesome it was. It was fun to put the set together with her as it was her first "real" Lego set:

All-in-all it was a really fun day ... but really exhausting and I actually had to go in to work today to conduct midyear reviews with my direct reports and have mine with my manager - so the kids weren't really happy with me leaving this morning. Hopefully all is well at home.

TTFN

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, Phil.

Emma is darling; love the t-shirts you got the older kids.

Mark went to a Yard House for the first time in March in Vegas and continues to rave about the place. I just found out we have one in a suburb about 40 minutes from us...now we just have to find the time to go.

The Lego Store looks like a lot of fun. Olivia looks quite pleased with her choice and no doubt that Peter loves his.

IPood

 

[schmass]

I love the Yard House! Hoegarden is one of my favorite beers, and the addition of Chambord sounds really good!

That Lego Discovery Center looks awesome!

And the splitter for the Froyo is genius. I have never seen one of those before!

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

I remember seeing those shirts on Teefury! I think half of my wardrobe is from that site.

I also own the Frozen/Doctor Who mashed potato you pictured earlier. The artist who designs arguably the most popular Disney/Doctor Who mashups is Karen Hallion. She's making a great Star Wars/Haunted Mansion series as well!

 

[lovedonaldduck]

Thanks for sharing the website - I'd never heard of teefury before but I will be watching for shirts for our girls weekend!

That Lego place looks great! You guys sure know how to have fun - and eat and drink well.

The way you describe your job does sound interesting (especially to the numbers geeks in me) - way better than if you say you work in finance for an insurance company