We love Donald Duck, oh yes we do! - Link to the PTR - COMPLETE

[Donald is #1]

Wow, this was another great report! I'm sorry to see it end, but I guess I just have to wait until next January for the next one.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I finally was able to read your last few updates (you know I had to do it on a Friday, right? ).

Okay, the Millenium Falcon stroller tag that you spotted cracked me up -- I wish I had been clever enough to think of that when the kids were younger and needed strollers.

What a great morning at the Magic Kingdom, but how unfair to lose the last bite of your ice cream on your last morning. That's so sad.

Thank goodness the flight back was so uneventful and you were able to pass the time with that very sweet woman -- I want to be her in 30 years as well!

Hitting deer on the way home from the airport!!! I am so glad that all of you were okay.

How bittersweet that your vacation is at an end. I will really miss your trip report, so don't wait too long before starting your PTR!

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

 

[disneyfan61]

Brook, I so enjoyed your TR!! And that pic of Henry with Dut Dut is just precious!! I cannot wait to start reading your PTR. Boy there are a lot of you brave souls going to Disney during the busiest week of the year!!! Cannot wait to hear all about it!! We will be there 2 weeks from tonight. Have a wonderful Mothers Day & I will be watching for that PTR!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

What a wonderful wrap up to your trip. I can't wait for the new PTR to start.

Yikes to the deer damage. I'm from Maine, hitting a deer is like a rite of passage.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Sad to see the end of your TR! Have a blessed weekend with your mom and g-mom!

Looking forward to reading more of your adventures!

 

[ClaireW]

Loved the Mothers Day post. With a little girl some of the details are different but the sentiment's spot on!

I read somewhere recently about one mom's advice (especially when things are a little 'challenging') to imagine you are yourself in 20 years time, able to come back and do things over and be glad even when little one is hanging from your neck and slowing you down!

This just summed up exactly how I felt about savouring every moment, and that's why we have taken hundreds of photos over the past couple of years - some of favourites being 'firsts' from that WDW trip. Nice you have your TRs too as well as those 'Henry growing up' photos taken with Zurg!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Aww shucks, it's over! Thank goodness for US you have another trip coming up!! HA HA Like I mentioned before, I have really enjoyed reading your reports and eagerly look foward to your next one. Have you guys been during the Christmas Holidays? I remembered reading you went around January but not sure if the Xmas stuff was still around? We went the middle of November last year and it was nice to have the majority of the decorations up - the cooler weather was really nice too!

I loved your Mother's Day sentiments and even got a little teary eyed! I hope you and your family have a great Mother's Day with your Mom and grandmother and see you on your next trip report!!

Heather

 

[disneydusted]

Brook, I hope you have a wonderful visit with your mom! My parents are up from NC this weekend for Mother's Day and it is so nice!
Keep us posted on your new PTR!

 

[lazydoxy66]

Your TR was so much fun. You did a terrific job! I am so glad you get to go back at the end of the year. I can't wait for that report.

Sorry about the car accident. What a way to end a vacation. I glad you are happy with the new Honda.

Happy Mom's Day!

 

[MeMom]

Happy late in the day Mother's Day!

I hope you had a great time with your family!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Yes! Our days will overlap! We arrive on the 26th. There are a lot of DISers going around this time! Do you already have your plans set? I probably won't even begin to do a "tour plan" until the hours are released.

I can't help but plan a little, I'm so excited to be going at that time of year! I've made a tentative plan based on last years hours, but of course, we can't make any real plans until about 90 days out, so I'm waiting, and waiting, and waiting...........

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Oh Brook, I'm sad this is over. I've had great fun, reading the awesome report of a fellow Minnesotan. I can't wait until you start your next one. Congrats on a NYE trip. How awesome will that be?!

 

[robinm1215]

WELCOME BACK! Are you doing a TR?

I'm really glad to hear you had a great view and enjoyed SSR!! And seeing Kidani!! Ooooooh! I've been watching a lot of threads for updates on it all, it seems just beautiful. I've read the lobby is small-when compared to Jambo House's. Have you ever been in the lobby of the VWL? That one is really pretty small too. Please feel free to share ANY pics, I would love to see any and ALL!

And yep, that is where we are staying in December!!

Thanks! Not sure I'll be doing a TR -- maybe next time. This last week has been nuts trying to get back in the swing of things and I am just now catching up on the rest of your report.

I loved reading about your last day at MK. Space Mountain with the lights on is freaky. I saw it that way once too -- actually we were almost to the front of the line and the lights came on. I like that it's in the dark so I don't know where I'm going but seeing it with the lights on made me reconsider my decision to ride, although I've been on tons of times before. My friend's kids of course thought it was hysterical that I didn't want to go on I did end up riding and it was just fine

I love the pic of Henry on the TTA and the one of him with Dut Dut at the pool at SSR. So cute

Sorry to hear about your encounter with the deer on the way home but glad everyone was okay (except for the car) and that you ended up getting a new car!

About Kidani, yes, the lobby is small, but it is still beautiful and much more intimate than Jambo. I've never been in the lobby of VWL but I'm guessing it's pretty similar in size. I still thought the resort was great and I'm sure you will love it there. I do have pics but I honestly don't know how to post them here. I have them uploaded on the Kodak Gallery so if you want to pm me your email address I'd be happy to share them with you!

I'm sad that your trip is over but am looking forward to hearing all about your New Years trip. That is going to be so much fun. I've never been to Disney for any of the holiday stuff so I am jealous. We're thinking of doing it in 2010 but that is a long way off. Now just working on planning the August trip -- we can make our ADRs on Friday! Nothing like coming home from one trip just to start planning the next one!

Hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day with your adorable little boy and husband and hope you had a great visit with your mom and grandma!

 

[CJsMom]

I'm all caught up - and so sad your trip is over! I loved the pictures of Henry & Zurg and Henry and Dut Dut! And ohmygosh your car!! Thanks so much for sharing the trip with us (I am still laughing about Ghetto Gas ) and I'm looking forward to the next one!

Happy Mother's Day!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Great ending to a great TR, Brook! I'm sooooo glad you're going again, so I won't go through Brook withdrawals!! LOL!! You're going to LOVE it that time of year, it was my favorite trip last time when we went in December, it just makes it that more magical, if that is at all possible!!?

So sorry to hear about your car and the deer! So glad you're all okay though and you got a new car!! And you go girl for paying cash!!!

Love all the last pics, especially the one with Henry and Dut Dut...my 'baby' is calling Ducks "duts" now, too!! LOL!! Too cute!!

Thanks for sharing your trip and your family with us....it's been a great ride!!!!

Looking forward to the next trip!!!
Happy Mother's day!!!
Kristen

I am really glad to hear you enjoyed your trip over the holidays. The fact that it is the busiest time of the year has me a bit nervous, but excited at the same time! I think if I prepare myself fully for crazy crowds, I'll be alright.

We were SO excited to pay cash for a car! The first dealership we went to was NOT going to drop their price enough for us to pay cash, so we had to walk away and had spent over 3 hours there. We actually liked that Element better (lower miles, and it was orange!), BUT, I said 400 times to the Sales guy, "We are not doing a loan." they just didn't get it why. They also told us there would be no way we would find an Element that could go at a lower price. 15 miles away, we found it!

That is so cute about your little one calling ducks 'duts'!

I hope you had a great Mother's Day!

Well said Brook!! There is nothing quite like being a Mommy....as much as I have given up to be a Mom, I wouldn't trade it for the world, my boys have given me SO much more than I could have ever asked for!!!! Enjoy your special day with your baby boy!!

Thank you! It was a GREAT day. We were traveling back from my Moms/Grandmas, but we took our time and enjoyed the travelling after a really wondeful stay with my family! I hope your day was wonderful as well!

That's such a sweet picture of Henry and his pal!

I have had the coconut things. I kept the package and it's with my Chef Mickey in my cupboard, along with some other Disney candy and cookie boxes.

We'll see you sometime during the New Year's trip!

You are so funny about keeping the packaging! But, I COMPLETELY understand why!! It's DISNEY. Plus, it's usually really cute packages.

I'm so looking forward to meeting you and your brood!

Happy Mother's day!

Thank you!

Wow, this was another great report! I'm sorry to see it end, but I guess I just have to wait until next January for the next one.

I'm bummed that our paths won't meet anymore on the December trip! I'm excited about our dates, but there were several DISers I was really looking forward to meeting! Hopefully they will line up again sometime in the near future.

I finally was able to read your last few updates (you know I had to do it on a Friday, right? ).

Okay, the Millenium Falcon stroller tag that you spotted cracked me up -- I wish I had been clever enough to think of that when the kids were younger and needed strollers.

What a great morning at the Magic Kingdom, but how unfair to lose the last bite of your ice cream on your last morning. That's so sad.

Thank goodness the flight back was so uneventful and you were able to pass the time with that very sweet woman -- I want to be her in 30 years as well!

Hitting deer on the way home from the airport!!! I am so glad that all of you were okay.

How bittersweet that your vacation is at an end. I will really miss your trip report, so don't wait too long before starting your PTR!

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

It was completely unfair to loose that last bite. The last bite of Disney food. Only two-hundred and thirty-some days left for me.

I was very, very thankful for the calm flight back. No mishaps at all! Quite the change from November! Other than the deer.

But, I'd take the deer and a Honda Element anyday over changed flight, no dinner and lost luggage!

I hope your Mother's Day was wonderful CP!

I'll be starting the PTR very soon..hopefully tomorrow. I just have to think of a title...! Isn't that always the hardest part?

Brook, I so enjoyed your TR!! And that pic of Henry with Dut Dut is just precious!! I cannot wait to start reading your PTR. Boy there are a lot of you brave souls going to Disney during the busiest week of the year!!! Cannot wait to hear all about it!! We will be there 2 weeks from tonight. Have a wonderful Mothers Day & I will be watching for that PTR!!

Thank you!! I am a bit (okay, a LOT) nervous about going during the busiest week! I am going to be doing a ton of reserach to really find out how crazy the parks get and all that...it should be interesting!! Hopefully if i prepare myself enough mentally, it'll be alright.

HAVE A MAGICAL TRIP! Two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!

What a wonderful wrap up to your trip. I can't wait for the new PTR to start.

Yikes to the deer damage. I'm from Maine, hitting a deer is like a rite of passage.

Hitting deer around here is like a rite of passage too. People couldn't really believe it that I never had hit one before!

I can't wait for your TR! You leave so soon! You are going to have a great trip-I was just telling Joe about your plans on the way to work this morning, your Mom coming and Jen, and being solo all wrapped up into one!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Sad to see the end of your TR! Have a blessed weekend with your mom and g-mom!

Looking forward to reading more of your adventures!

I had a GREAT weekend with my family!! It was wonderful to see my Grandma and Mom. I got to see my sister too-which I didn't expect!

Loved the Mothers Day post. With a little girl some of the details are different but the sentiment's spot on!

I read somewhere recently about one mom's advice (especially when things are a little 'challenging') to imagine you are yourself in 20 years time, able to come back and do things over and be glad even when little one is hanging from your neck and slowing you down!

This just summed up exactly how I felt about savouring every moment, and that's why we have taken hundreds of photos over the past couple of years - some of favourites being 'firsts' from that WDW trip. Nice you have your TRs too as well as those 'Henry growing up' photos taken with Zurg!

I was thinking as I was writing it, "the Moms with girls aren't going to quite get these details, but they will understand the meaning!" I tried at first to write something gender neutral, but I don't know what it's like to have girls!

That is great advice about imagining yourself in 20 years. I try to think about that sort of thing often. Like today after work, all I wanted to do was to come inside and sit down and relax. Henry wanted to run around in the yard and watch Daddy do yard work. So....we did! And we had a GREAT time running down our little hill, rolling around in the grass, spinning circles. The memories made are so worth the extra energy it takes!!

And like you said, I am grateful for the hundreds and hundreds of pictures. One of the biggest reasons I invest the time into the TRs is for the memories. I am grateful later for the detail I put into these sorts of things.

Aww shucks, it's over! Thank goodness for US you have another trip coming up!! HA HA Like I mentioned before, I have really enjoyed reading your reports and eagerly look foward to your next one. Have you guys been during the Christmas Holidays? I remembered reading you went around January but not sure if the Xmas stuff was still around? We went the middle of November last year and it was nice to have the majority of the decorations up - the cooler weather was really nice too!

I loved your Mother's Day sentiments and even got a little teary eyed! I hope you and your family have a great Mother's Day with your Mom and grandmother and see you on your next trip report!!

Heather

Thank you! We never have been during the holidays really. In November MK was decorated and the decorations at Epcot just started going up on our last day. The resorts were not yet decorated-I was hoping we would get the "go to sleep undecorated, wake up decorated!" that trip, but nope! I am really looking forward to seeing it all in person. One thing I hope to squeeze in is exploring the resorts decorations.

Brook, I hope you have a wonderful visit with your mom! My parents are up from NC this weekend for Mother's Day and it is so nice!
Keep us posted on your new PTR!

It was a great visit with my Mom!! I'm glad you were able to see your family as well.

The new PTR will *hopefully* be started tomorrow...I'll be sure to post a link here!

Your TR was so much fun. You did a terrific job! I am so glad you get to go back at the end of the year. I can't wait for that report.

Sorry about the car accident. What a way to end a vacation. I glad you are happy with the new Honda.

Happy Mom's Day!

Thank you! It was quite a way to end the vacation-drama right until the end!

Happy late in the day Mother's Day!

I hope you had a great time with your family!

Thank you MeMom!

I can't help but plan a little, I'm so excited to be going at that time of year! I've made a tentative plan based on last years hours, but of course, we can't make any real plans until about 90 days out, so I'm waiting, and waiting, and waiting...........

I'm so excited too! I remember you saying you were going over Christmas and me instantly thinking about "holy crowd levels" and here we are! I'm sure I'll be right along with you making a zillion tentative plans.

Do you subscribe to TourGuideMike or RideMax or any of those sorts of programs?

Oh Brook, I'm sad this is over. I've had great fun, reading the awesome report of a fellow Minnesotan. I can't wait until you start your next one. Congrats on a NYE trip. How awesome will that be?!

Thanks! It was really fun to write the TR and share our vacation memories with you all! I am excited about the NYE trip-and nervous!

Thanks! Not sure I'll be doing a TR -- maybe next time. This last week has been nuts trying to get back in the swing of things and I am just now catching up on the rest of your report.

I loved reading about your last day at MK. Space Mountain with the lights on is freaky. I saw it that way once too -- actually we were almost to the front of the line and the lights came on. I like that it's in the dark so I don't know where I'm going but seeing it with the lights on made me reconsider my decision to ride, although I've been on tons of times before. My friend's kids of course thought it was hysterical that I didn't want to go on I did end up riding and it was just fine

I love the pic of Henry on the TTA and the one of him with Dut Dut at the pool at SSR. So cute

Sorry to hear about your encounter with the deer on the way home but glad everyone was okay (except for the car) and that you ended up getting a new car!

About Kidani, yes, the lobby is small, but it is still beautiful and much more intimate than Jambo. I've never been in the lobby of VWL but I'm guessing it's pretty similar in size. I still thought the resort was great and I'm sure you will love it there. I do have pics but I honestly don't know how to post them here. I have them uploaded on the Kodak Gallery so if you want to pm me your email address I'd be happy to share them with you!

I'm sad that your trip is over but am looking forward to hearing all about your New Years trip. That is going to be so much fun. I've never been to Disney for any of the holiday stuff so I am jealous. We're thinking of doing it in 2010 but that is a long way off. Now just working on planning the August trip -- we can make our ADRs on Friday! Nothing like coming home from one trip just to start planning the next one!

Hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day with your adorable little boy and husband and hope you had a great visit with your mom and grandma!

I agree with you about the lights on in SM! Each ride I have done after I saw the maze of track in there after November I haven't been able to put my hands up. The engineers for that sort of coaster were brillant though to pack that much in such a small area!

I would LOVE to see your Kidani pics! I will PM you. Thank you for sharing!!!

That is soooooo great about getting to plan already for your next trip!!!! If you do a TR on the August trip, please let me know.

I'm all caught up - and so sad your trip is over! I loved the pictures of Henry & Zurg and Henry and Dut Dut! And ohmygosh your car!! Thanks so much for sharing the trip with us (I am still laughing about Ghetto Gas ) and I'm looking forward to the next one!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I'm still laughing about the Ghetto Gas too. Life was seriously absurd at that moment! I have very vivid memories of me frantically wiping hystical Henry's bottom next to the Diet Pepsi. I think those might be with me forever!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I just wanted to share a few pics from my weekend with my Mom and Grandma.

On Saturday morning I woke up to get the creamer out of my Grandma's fridge for my coffee and not only did I find coffee creamer, but I found...

One of these things is not like the other

I'm guessing that won't be the only time I'll find a truck in the fridge!

We went to a small cafe just over the border in Wisconsin for an early dinner. It was good home cookin' food.

After dinner we went down the road a bit to the local creamery. They sell LOTS of cheese and ice cream!

Cheese. Every variety you have ever heard of, and at least 20 kinds you didn't know exisisted!

Yes please.

If this mouse was real, I might be dead!

A little boy with an ice cream beard.

The sitting area had some great light and I loved the old stone.

That's my Grandma and Mom chatting

Beautiful window, beautiful ladies!

Have you ever heard of a cheese curd? I thought a cheese curd was a common term, but as I became friends with Okies over the past few years they have never heard of them! This my friend, is a cheese curd. Small curds of cheese. Sometimes they are deep fried. I am not a big fan of cheese and I LOVE cheese curds!!!!!!! Being I am also a big fan of garlic, these smelled devine.

H playing on the stairs

The picture I have been meaning to get for years! My Grandma, my Mom and me. 3 generations.

A very happy Henry on the way back to my Grandma's house

I can see Minnesota from here!

Joe climbed the bluff behind my Grandma's house. Here is a view of her house from just about 1/3 the way up.

We stopped at the Mall of American and Ikea on the way home on Sunday. Henry rode a ride at the Mall and we stopped at the Disney store where we spent $14 (and a $40 gift card! ). One item we got was this Cars shirt for Henry, it's a "work shirt" and insanely cute. Lightening McQueen is on the back.

Best quote of the weekend...they were discussing something where my Mom is still able to do, but it's not so wise for my Grandma (87 years old) to do:

Mom: "But I'm 60 and your 80, that's a big difference!"
Grandma: "I wish I was 80! That's young!"

She's so fantastic!

It was a great weekend. Moments with my Mom and Grandma are highly treasured!!

 

[PopArtGal]

I love cheese curds.

We use them in "poutine" here. Fries with cheese curds, covered in brown gravy. It sounds disgusting but it's great. Junk food. Not healthy...but great lol

 

[shebaxric]

Love the three generations pictures!!! Those are treasures! How cute is Henry??? If I have a child that is half as cute as him, I will count myself lucky! I've heard of cheese curds, but I didn't know that they actually packaged them and sold them for consumption. I thought they were a by product of the cheese making process. Goes to show how much I know...

Love that Cars shirt!!! Maybe they make that one in an adult size that I can get for DH, too!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Nope, never heard of cheese curds.

I'm so glad you had such a lovely weekend!

H's work shirt is absolutely adorable!!!

Can't wait for the PTR! Did you think of a title yet?