Thank you. I try to keep those kinds of quotes in mind for my rainy days, too.Is this your trip for which I've totally fallen behind on the ptr? I hope you have a great time!
This isn't our Disney trip; this is our week in Marco Island while DH works and I play.
TK- Congrats on the house! There will be many, many trip to Home Depot... did I mention many?
Love the birthday story of your mom.
Trying to keep up here and there on the DIS but it just isn't possible!
I was wrangling a toddler and had missed my mouth with my water bottle at the same time, so I had water streaming down my face and a 3 year old in my arms. Honestly, I'm kinda glad she didn't see me in THAT moment. 
I love how you ran the 5k with Tink and LegoMom! Very cool. I saw Tink at Epcot, but didn't get to say hello.
You know what, even if she'd met you then, she would have totally understood! She's seen some of my not so fine with kid moments, but I totally understand what you mean about wrangling the toddler and everything. If heaven is the GF Tea room, I'm SO okay with that!
Well, I was going with the 'many' theme but yes, there will be several!
LOL No worries!Tell me about it! I'm lucky I get on my thread, never mind everyone else's! I see you've finished yours and I still haven't caught up!
Well, I was going with the 'many' theme but yes, there will be several!
I have my BIG 5 year old now!
March 11th!Oh, wow! When did little miss have her birthday?
Glad to hear it. I think of you guys a lot.
I don't.
And that's the short answer. The long answer is this.
Hi.For those of you who don't know me, I'm TarzansKat. Also known as TK, also known as Kat, also known as Tinkerbellarella's long lost DIS twin. Just judging by the sheer amount of names I have, I think it would be safe to say I fill a lot of roles.
Wife. Mother.
But the role that I most want to talk about today, the role that I most need you all to understand is daughter.
I lost my mother suddenly in April. I would have to say it has been one of the most defining events, if not the most defining event of my life. Nothing, and I mean nothing, will change you like losing a parent.
And that's what it is. A terrible, terrible loss. And it's colored my whole perception of everything. Of how I want to live my life. How I want to raise my children. How I want to treat my friends and those I come in to contact with, and in return, how I want to be treated.
If having children will shift your priorities, losing a parent will do it as well, but in a wholly different way.
And that's what my mother's death has done. It has wholly shifted my priorities. I am strong enough to realize that what I had to endure, what my sister, my father, and my grandmother and I had to endure in the last few days, the decisions to be made, the realizations we all had, the emotional places we had to go to, are something that have changed me for the better. But the price, oh my god, the price. To have to lose my mother in order to understand what's really important. God. I still want to know why, and I'll never know.
I'll never know why the world keeps turning without that brilliant, vital spirit in it. And I know that in some way, she's still here. She's with me when I put Nemo on the bus to kindergarten. She's with me when Squirt smiles and laughs for the first time. She's with me as I write this post, and she's whispering in my ear, telling me that it's okay.
It's okay to let go.
So I did.
I booked a trip. And that was really the first step.
Disney is something that my mother gave to me. She instilled this love, this tradition, and I'll get into it more in the coming posts. This will be just as much a pre trip report as it will a tribute to my mother, who gave me values and traditions that I want to give to my children. There was a grace and dignity about her that I can only hope to emulate..
March 11th!
Aww... thanks!
I stumbled across your TR and I have to say, alebeit way late, I'm so sorry for your loss, and I completely understand. My father passed away this January unexpectedly, and EVERYTHING you describe above is exactly what I've been going through.
We booked a trip too. My father brought me to Disney as well, and I want to take his memory back there with us.
I look forward to reading the rest of your report and updates!
I think this pre trip report has been really helpful as part of my grieving process, and I'm really touched by how many people have expressed condolences or shared their own painful stories.
It was so sweet.
You are in store for a lifetime of wonderful moments with those boys.....I just know it! 
I hope to have a child someday to share the World with also! 
I love how you ran the 5k with Tink and LegoMom! Very cool. I saw Tink at Epcot, but didn't get to say hello.
at that Brook!To this day, I still have no idea what Aladdin said. DS wasn't old enough at the time to tell us, so it's between them. I can just tell you there was a lot of talking, and laughing. The PP, seeing a prime opportunity, hopped the fence and started taking picture after picture. I have the best picture of DS and Aladdin, their heads tilted together, smiling into the camera. I may be a Tarzan/Jack Sparrow girl, but I love Aladdin now. He made my night.
The funniest thing about this was that afterwards, the PP was saying, please don't tell anyone I did that.
Even better?
When I got to Goofy and was getting ready to take my photo with him, I had quite the surprise!
It was the SAME photopass photographer. I recognized him immediately, and so one year later, I said, "do you remember me? You..." and we said at the same time, "jumped the fence." Can you believe that? He remembered us, and I told him it was one of the best photos I've ever had of my son on a Disney trip. How often do you get to offer that compliment, you know? It was such a great moment.
And then Goofy was a huge flirt, so he got some great photos of us there.
I think what amazes me about this particular memory is how much Nemo has changed throughout the years. I can really measure his growth in Disney trips. It's like when you take a picture in the same place every time and then put them side by side, you know? I feel that way about our vacations, and I really can't wait to start new traditions with Squirt and see Nemo give the World to his brother.
LOVE those memories!!! Can you imagine how many are in store for Squirt.....and then also Squirt AND Nemo memories together!!!!!
I love all of your Disney memories so far, especially the Nemo and Aladdin memory!
I know I owe you an email, I'll try to get to that tonight! Oh, and come stop by my new PTR if you get a chance!
Don't worry, only one week left. 
...and every morning, she would gently pat my belly, and say, "Good morning, jelly bean."
