Who here is not in the "clique" like me? Part 4

[DznyFan]

Lyzziesmom - a surprise lunch? Nice!

Nicole - 6 years.... well, fingers crossed for you, too!

 

[lindakmonty]

Oh, you should do that!!!! That is SO much fun!!! We did that for the 16th B-day......

She was not a happy camper so to speak. She was confused about the license plate frame, and the book - which is an owner's manual. Then, when she looked in the book.....
she of course has to show it off.....

YES - we got her a car for her 16th birthday. (BAD parents!) But not just any car......
a 10 year old Chevy Cavalier with 120K miles on it. A/C didn't work, old fashioned crank windows, no power door locks, no CD player. We got a great deal - it had been traded in at a lot where I've done a LOT of business over the years, and they were going to send it to auction. Paid cash.

oh that is GREAT!!! I love the look like...OHHHH duh...now we're talking!!!that is awesome!!!

I'll have to steal that idea ...put the pix of it in our garage w/a bow on it and frame it , and let him open his helmet... very cool!!! he'll figure it out. Oh..I can't wait to take pix of this and its only June... this is going to take forever to get here

 

[pozey]

DznyFan.......that is an awesome story!! And the look on her face tells the whole story!! What fun!!

 

[DznyFan]

oh that is GREAT!!! I love the look like...OHHHH duh...now we're talking!!!that is awesome!!!

I'll have to steal that idea ...put the pix of it in our garage w/a bow on it and frame it , and let him open his helmet... very cool!!! he'll figure it out. Oh..I can't wait to take pix of this and its only June... this is going to take forever to get here

Feel free to steal away!!! I think that's a great idea - to have him open his helmet!

I bought her an antenna ball and the license plate frame while we were there. She opened them and thought "OK - but I don't have a car, and I don't know when I will have one." She didn't clue in, because we really played it up that she wasn't getting a car - and I am a VERY sneaky mom - when DH and I were car shopping, she and I would get online in the evenings and look. We actually looked at the very car we got her - to get a feel for how well she liked it - and when we looked at the prices (that were double what we paid for hers) I said, "there's no way - this just isn't going to happen...". We convinced her she wasn't!! We parked the car at a friend's for a couple weeks, and he drove it over to our house while we were gone - it was there when we got home.

 

[pozey]

Here is the next installment of my Grand Canyon trip report.

However, I don't have any pictures to go along with this. I think I downloaded the pictures for this segment of the trip on my home PC.

Day 5 – Wednesday, June 20th
Again, we had no plans for today at all. Just wake up and decide what to do. It is VERY cold this morning. So cold, we had to turn on the heat. It was probably in the low 40s.

We went up to the Main Lodge to have a very nice breakfast. All of the meals we had at the Main Lodge were excellent.

After breakfast, I asked the family if they would want to take about a 2 hour drive to Zion National Park. They all said okay, so off we went to Utah…..

We started on our way to Zion National Park about 11:00 am. Again, not knowing at all what to expect. I had not done any research on Zion. I had a basic understanding of Zion National Park, but that’s about it.

The drive took a couple hours, but mainly because the road is a 2 lane road with a lot of twists and turns.

We arrive in Zion, and once again, the scenery is absolutely beautiful. Once again pictures really do not do it justice.

We found out that there is a free shuttle that will take you to different spots around Zion. So, we parked and walked down to the area to catch the shuttle.

Now, since we were down in the canyon, the temperature was quite warm……..well…..it was downright hot. It was about 103 degrees.

We rode the shuttle around and got off at the first spot. We took a few pictures, and decided it was too hot to do much trail hiking. So we decided to just take the shuttle all the way around the look and just take pictures and look at the scenery from the windows.

It was nice. The “loop” the shuttle took around Zion took about an hour. The driver would describe some of the rock formations and tell about the history and such.

We returned to our original spot and sat down to cool off. Luckily, we had packed some water bottles in our backpack.

We went back to the van and headed back out the park and back toward the cabin. We arrived back at the cabin, and decided to rest up, cool off, and then go to dinner. We were all pretty hungry since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

We went back to the main Lodge for dinner around 5:30 pm. We again, had a very nice dinner, complete with a WONDERFUL Key Lime Pie Cheesecake.

After dinner we decided to drive back to the North Rim and hike our dinner off. We again hiked the same trail we did the day before. Just taking our sweet old time. Took a few more pictures.

We stayed on the rim until just after sunset, and we just marveled at the beauty.

It was getting dark on the drive back to the cabin. On the drive back, we saw dozens – yes, DOZENS – of deer grazing in the open areas just off the highway. We lost count at about 50.

Arriving back at the cabin, everyone was pretty tired, so we popped a DVD into the portable DVD Player and crashed out early.

Tomorrow, we were checking out of the cabin, and headed back to the South Rim to stay in a place called the Grand Hotel.

 

[lindakmonty]

Feel free to steal away!!! I think that's a great idea - to have him open his helmet!

I bought her an antenna ball and the license plate frame while we were there. She opened them and thought "OK - but I don't have a car, and I don't know when I will have one." She didn't clue in, because we really played it up that she wasn't getting a car - and I am a VERY sneaky mom - when DH and I were car shopping, she and I would get online in the evenings and look. We actually looked at the very car we got her - to get a feel for how well she liked it - and when we looked at the prices (that were double what we paid for hers) I said, "there's no way - this just isn't going to happen...". We convinced her she wasn't!! We parked the car at a friend's for a couple weeks, and he drove it over to our house while we were gone - it was there when we got home.

oh that is too awesome!!! must have been pretty convincing that is so awesome!!! I take it she must have liked it to begin with.... that is so cool!! That is what I did w/him last weekend, took him to the atv place to get a feel for what he liked best. thankfully I have years b4 I have to worry about the bigger vehicles!!

pozey...103 degrees too hot for me..sunset must see some pix!!!

 

[lyzziesmom]

DznyFan: Great pictures and story about the birthday car! I had kind of the opposite experience - on my 17th birthday I got a car key and I was SO excited... until I was told the key was to Mom's minivan and I could only use it during the day and with advance permission. I think that was the year I also received a can of SlimFast. I looked very much like Erin in the first series of pictures.

 

[lyzziesmom]

pozey: You must have very patient kids, it sounds like you guys spent a LOT of time driving from place to place, not to mention the long drive there & back. Sounds like you had another lovely day. What a variance in temperature - that would have just about killed me! You definitely made the right choice to stay on the shuttle.

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

Pozey- Great installment! 103 degrees, too hot!

Dznyfan- Great story, you were very sneaky!

 

[pozey]

pozey: You must have very patient kids, it sounds like you guys spent a LOT of time driving from place to place, not to mention the long drive there & back. Sounds like you had another lovely day. What a variance in temperature - that would have just about killed me! You definitely made the right choice to stay on the shuttle.

The kids were unbelievably fantastic in the car the entire time. They did have their moments when they would get a little crazy, but most of the time they were great.

It is funny.......the ONLY time anyone had a hard time with being in the car.......we were 5 miles from home on the way back. I mean, we were in our home town.....it was nearing 10:30 pm and it's dark, and Courtney just is TIRED. She starts crying and saying she wants to sit in someone's lap. I told her that we would be home in just a few minutes, but she just couldn't stand it. Anyway, we were very low on fuel, so I pulled into a QuikTrip and put in a few dollars worth of gas and let her get out and stretch her legs. That helped and she was alright the rest of the way home.

 

[pozey]

pozey: You must have very patient kids, it sounds like you guys spent a LOT of time driving from place to place

Just had to add.....the van we rented had an "elapsed time" meter. So, all in all, the whole trip, we were driving 55 total hours. So, yes, we did spend a lot of time driving.

 

[DznyFan]

oh that is too awesome!!! must have been pretty convincing that is so awesome!!! I take it she must have liked it to begin with.... that is so cool!!

VERY convincing. Plus - she knows that we don't have tons of extra money to throw around on vehicles like a lot of her classmate's parents do - there are some NICE vehicles in that HS parking lot - she knew we had a WDW trip coming up, and Christmas - so that helped in the deception, and helped that she settled for an older, slightly more used vehicle. The old adage 'beggars can't be choosers', you know? She was happy though, that she didn't get a "beater" which is what she expected.

Lyzziesmom - a can of Slimfast????? you're joking, right?

Pozey - great 5th day - sounds just wonderful! I bet the sunsets were gorgeous!

 

[lindakmonty]

that was the year I also received a can of SlimFast.

oh...please tell me you're kidding

Just had to add.....the van we rented had an "elapsed time" meter. So, all in all, the whole trip, we were driving 55 total hours. So, yes, we did spend a lot of time driving.

wow..that is a LOT of driving!! About like us driving to Yellowstone...we were at Old Faithful and Kenny wanted a drink...I bought him a choc. milk and he stayed by the car w/Mike when I ran to get something else...he DOWNED the whole bottle of choc milk fast..we started to drive to the next place and he just starts throwing up...he drank it way too fast and was sick for hours oh, that was not good...esp since driving around Yellowstone takes forever and took about 40 minutes to get back to the hotel!!! wow, I'd say your kids did fantastic!

VERY convincing. Plus - she knows that we don't have tons of extra money to throw around on vehicles like a lot of her classmate's parents do - there are some NICE vehicles in that HS parking lot - she knew we had a WDW trip coming up, and Christmas - so that helped in the deception, and helped that she settled for an older, slightly more used vehicle. The old adage 'beggars can't be choosers', you know? She was happy though, that she didn't get a "beater" which is what she expected.

thankfully my grandparents bought my first car it was still a 10 year old car w/80k miles but it was fine w/me about normal for our school at least she sounded very appreciative! that is important to me w/Kenny. I don't want him to be a spoiled brat that expects it all!!! Mike thinks I give him too much as it is...but I try to teach him right You've done an awesome job w/Erin. She has grown up into a beautiful young lady w/a great attitude! I think that is saying a lot these days like you were saying w/the other kids she goes to school with ... these parents buy them new cars... no way. I am so glad I started w/an older car. I had to pay my own gas, repairs, insurance...everything. You take better care of things when its your responsibility to do so. I'm sure when Kenny is that age I may feel differently if he's doing very well in school and I don't want him to get a job so he can study more or something...but you know how that goes...just go w/the flow.

Michele and Lesa will be home soon....

 

[lyzziesmom]

Lyzziesmom - a can of Slimfast????? you're joking, right?

Sadly, no. It was a big can of the powdered stuff. Mom's reasoning was, "You drink it all the time, so I thought you'd like it." Thanks Mom! (thumb?)

Linda: I know what you mean about the cars & stuff. The high school I went to was in a very priviledged area. The neighborhood across the street from ours was multi-million dollar homes - several had helipads on the roof. Some kids arrived at school in limos. It was crazy. Everyone expected a car for their birthday, and many would pout if it was used or even a "plain" car like a Toyota or a Honda. It was disgusting. Lyzzie's dad's family is by far not rich, but they have always provided everything for him and still do. He used to kick his car when he had a temper tantrum (usually fueled by beer). Once he kicked in the door so badly he couldn't open it, had to use the passenger side door. He drove his car into a fence, got a DUI, and his parents bought him a new car to replace his. This was about 3 years ago -- they also helped him lie to me about the DUI because it was with a minor in the car (his "date" for the evening, gross!). Guess none of them realized it is all a matter of public record. Anyway, my point is that the man does not appreciate anything because he has never had to work for anything in his life. He doesn't have much, but everything he has has been given to him, and he treats it all horribly - punches holes in the walls, burns everything with cigarettes, has spilled drinks into more than one computer and fried them, only to have his parents buy him a new computer because they can't stand to hear him complain about not having one. It makes me sick.

Now my parents are trying to talk me into inviting Lyzzie's dad and grandparents to join us at WDW -- no WAY. I've done that 3 times already. I mentioned to Lyzzie's dad that we might be going and he said he wishes he could come but doesn't have the money. BS, he HAS a job! He is a karaoke DJ 3 or 4 nights a week and makes about $100 a night, tax free and has NO bills other than $168/month for child support. Yet he can't save enough money in 4 months to come see his daughter 3 hours away for one day. So I explained to my mom that I gave him the opportunity to see Lyzzie, but he just can't make it a priority. He'd rather spend his money on DVDs and video games and beer and drugs. Oh well, his loss. I feel bad for Lyzzie, but what can I do?

 

[lindakmonty]

lyzziesmom...lyzzies dad sounds like my ex...except the alcohol..his parents bought him a brand new car after his 1st divorce b/c he was depressed handed him 10's of k's in $ if not more...it is sickening. He does have to pay a decent amount of child support but that's only b/c I fought and fought in court! He has to be responsible for some of his actions in life. Now, he is living w/his parents again for free so he can save major $$$ and complain to poor Kenny how he gives all his $ to me it makes me sick but Kenny is smart and he'll see when he gets older how his dad really is.

wow...yeah, he doesn't want to try very hard to see his own daughter does he yeah, the only one that suffers is Lyzzie. she deserves better...so does Emma...at least they have you there for them!!yes,it is totally his loss. It is probably better Lyzzie doesn't see all that anyway. I wouldn't want to tell them you're coming either!

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

Dznyfan, those pictures are priceless.

Nicole, Mike and I dated for 5 years before we got married (we actually got married on our 5 year anniversary).

Lyzziesmom, that's terrible that her dad won't even visit her for a day. I agree with Linda; it's probably best that he not be in her life too much if he is on drugs and drinks.

 

[Linzybrooke]

Are we going to Disney World? I'm so behind and so confused!!!

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Hey, friends!

How is everyone doing?

I didn't work today, so we went to the movies! We intended on seeing Ratatouille, but the next three shows were sold out, so we went to see Evan Almighty and then we sneaked into Nancy Drew! Aren't I bad?

Both were super cute!

Did any of you see Ratatouille? If so, how did you like it?

 

[lindakmonty]

Are we going to Disney World? I'm so behind and so confused!!!

lets see... I think YM is going Dec. 16-22... Mike, Kenny and I are going Dec. 16-26...and Ashley and Jeremiah might be coming 19-26 wanna come???Were staying 3 nights at SOG and 7 at the Poly!!!!shhhh Mike doesn't know where we're staying or about the MVMCP...or the CP or the adr's...

Hey, friends!

How is everyone doing?

I didn't work today, so we went to the movies! We intended on seeing Ratatouille, but the next three shows were sold out, so we went to see Evan Almighty and then we sneaked into Nancy Drew! Aren't I bad?

Both were super cute!

Did any of you see Ratatouille? If so, how did you like it?

Hey there Bonnie...I just posted on your 100 days of sex thread...that wears me out just thinking about it too bad it doesn't burn the calories thinking about it Cool you didn't work. Ratatoullie sold out..bummer. At least Evan Almighty and Nancy Drew was good hahaha...nah you're not bad. I'd like to take Kenny to see Ratatoullie and Evan Almighty. I could never sit for two in a row though...I'm doing good to get Mike through one movie w/his back..no way would he sit through two. I could though

 

[lindakmonty]

Are we going to Disney World? I'm so behind and so confused!!!

How was your cruise?????