Will I be Herding Cats Again?* **** COMPLETED *****

[kaysmommie]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA!!!

Sorry I'm a day late but I hope it was a good one. I can't wait to see the video of the kids when you told them they are going to Disney! .

 

[mom2mek]

Ok. Trips over, birthdays over. START WRITIN THAT REPORT GIRL!!!!!! It's not like you have other things to do! Work? Ok, I'll be patient....

Now?

LOL Monica! You're so patient!

I'm trying...I have to get Shawn's pictures uploaded and my mom's video (that's where the surprise part is)! I will yell at Shawn for you! It's totally his fault - dragging his feet - the NERVE!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA!!!

Sorry I'm a day late but I hope it was a good one. I can't wait to see the video of the kids when you told them they are going to Disney! .

Thanks for the birthday wishes Nichole! Disney was the best gift I've ever had for my birthday! I hope to have my mom's video camera in my hot little hands so I can look at all the footage! (Our camera wouldn't keep a charged battery, so we used her camera for all the video taking and our camera for all the picture taking!) Should have something up soon! (Yeah, yeah...that's it... )

Sara

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Thanks Nicole! Hey, how'd you know?

I know everything.



J/K! Michelle said for you to have a happy birthday on her thread.

 

[Poohtigeey]

LOL Monica! You're so patient!
I'm trying...I have to get Shawn's pictures uploaded and my mom's video (that's where the surprise part is)! I will yell at Shawn for you! It's totally his fault - dragging his feet - the NERVE!!!!
Sara

I should shut up since I couldn't upload video onto the computer if my life depended on it! However, Dave finally put some of our trip video on the computer. Should I redo my trip report and add video?!

Doesn't Shawn know that your creepy internet friends NEED you to get started on this thing?

 

[mom2mek]

I should shut up since I couldn't upload video onto the computer if my life depended on it! However, Dave finally put some of our trip video on the computer. Should I redo my trip report and add video?!

Sure! Sounds good to me! I'd re-read it!

Doesn't Shawn know that your creepy internet friends NEED you to get started on this thing?

In fact, he does...I told him all about my creepy internet friends waiting so patiently.... Maybe I should just go ahead and start it without the video. I do have the few pics we took on our departure day uploaded! Then I could just upload video after that. What do ya think?

Sara

 

[disneyfanx3]

I should shut up since I couldn't upload video onto the computer if my life depended on it! However, Dave finally put some of our trip video on the computer. Should I redo my trip report and add video?!

Doesn't Shawn know that your creepy internet friends NEED you to get started on this thing?

Sure! Sounds good to me! I'd re-read it!


In fact, he does...I told him all about my creepy internet friends waiting so patiently.... Maybe I should just go ahead and start it without the video. I do have the few pics we took on our departure day uploaded! Then I could just upload video after that. What do ya think?

Sara

Did you start it yet?

 

[Poohtigeey]

Hey Sara's readers! Sara can't log on. Please stand by, and hopefully it will be resolved soon. She had an update all ready for us too!!!!!

 

[vermontgirl]

Sara, I am ready to read......

Jeanette

 

[mom2mek]

Hey Sara's readers! Sara can't log on. Please stand by, and hopefully it will be resolved soon. She had an update all ready for us too!!!!!

Thanks Monica! I'm on now (from work computer) so maybe I can get that update loaded up here during lunch. Stay tuned....

Sara, I am ready to read......

Jeanette

Jeannette, have a fabulous time! You're gonna love the party! I hope you will post how your trip was when you return (I might even have a couple of updates actually completed by then too...) Have a great trip!

Sara

 

[Poohtigeey]

Woo Hoo! Work IS good for something!!! Glad you're on. Did your mom bring the camera today? You could go on strike at work until she brings it!

 

[kaysmommie]

Hi Sara,
Hope you are able to get your home internet working again. We had problems with ours last month too. Well at least you can DIS at work . Why not post and update and load the video of the surprise later since you have it ready .

 

[mom2mek]

Ok, let's start this thing! I don't have the video yet, and I only have a whopping 3 pictures of our departure day, but I'm starting anyway...because it's driving me crazy not to!

Day 1 - Part 1 - Departure Day - October 8th, 2008

I wake up knowing that TODAY’S THE DAY! (you have to say that like the Peach, the starfish on Finding Nemo when she wakes up to the clean tank...at least I always do!)

Departure Day is always a flurry of activity. However, this particular departure day was required to be a flurry of "undetected" activity. This trip was a surprise for the kids, and it was killing me having to keep it from them. They knew we were going somewhere (I really couldn't hide the packing so much), but they thought we were headed to the mountains to my parents' house for the long weekend. There was a part of me who wondered if there might be a moment of disappointment when they realized they were not going to the mountain house. I knew, deep down, that they would be so excited about Disney, that it wouldn't be an issue...but I had some lingering worry.

But I digress...

As we left the house, I told Grammy (MIL) that I would call her later (wink wink – we don’t get a lot of time to talk without the kids around, so I just needed to go over some of the “time” particulars regarding the trip). Michael looked back at her and said "that's probably because we are going to the mountain house after school, Grammy! And I think we are leaving early!” Turning back to me he said, “ We are leaving early, right Mommy?" I said, "I’m not sure, but I just need to talk with Grammy about what time that might be, and if that’s ok with her work schedule.”

Kids!
They are so gullible.

Then, on the way to school, Michael and Emily were talking up a storm about the mountain and what they were going to do...(again, I started worrying, and visions of the "dick's house" video - see prior post - were flashing in front of me) but after I got them dropped off at school I almost started dancing with my departure day excitement!

But wait, hold on, oh yeah….what laid in front of me was almost an entire day at work!

Ugh!

Talk about a buzz-killer!

(Note to self…book an early flight next time! Our last trip we left after working all day as well…blech).

So, the plan was for Shawn and I to both work until 2 or so, then leave to go home, finish packing all those little last-minute items, load the car, and hide the treasure hunt clues before the kids got home from school with Grammy (around 3:15 or so)!

At work, as is usual before you are leaving to go somewhere, I was swamped with things! As if these things truly couldn't wait until after I got back. I mean, really? The world is not going to end because I miss 3 days of work, people!

I also stupidly left a lot of printing to do at work. I had not finished making my "reservations" book with all our confirmation #s in it for the flight, rental cars, directions from the airport, stroller rental info, house rental info, garden grocer confirmation and phone #, etc, etc...I had all the stuff written up, but just not printed and put into my handy-dandy little folder! I also still had some laminating to finish! Ugh!

I managed to get most all of it done and we were headed out of work by about 2:30. I quickly called Grammy and told her we were running a little behind, and asked her if she could take her time coming home from school with the kids? No problem she said! She would take the long way home and stop to get them something to drink, blah, blah, blah.

GREAT!

That will give us enough time to get all the last-minute items packed, get the car cleaned out, get it loaded, and get the house prepared for our departure! I had cleaned the days leading up to the trip as I hate to come home to a dirty house (granted, the minute we came home, the house was a disaster almost immediately...but at least for those 2 seconds coming in, I could take in a sigh of relief for having arrived into a clean house).

After those things were handled, I went to hide the treasure hunt clues. Well, I hid the first and last ones and gave the other two to Shawn to hide outside at the appropriate locations.

Basically, for the next 20 minutes, we hustled around like crazy people, going over the many checklists, and getting more and more excited in anticipation of what was lying ahead of us!

Wait a minute, let me revise that...I was getting more excited…Shawn was mostly sitting on the couch trying to figure out his new crackberry…er blackberry and checking his watch for the time, while occasionally letting out a big sigh and a “where are they?”

Thanks hon! So very helpful!

But still, it was all good. I probably had enough excitement for both of us. Our trip was just about to begin, so you would not have heard me complain one bit. Besides, we had plenty of time to spare …we were covered.

Shawn makes a covert phone call to his mom (putting the new crackberry to it’s first good use) and nicely asks…”um, where are you?” It was now about 3:45 and we wanted to do the surprise, change their clothes, load them all up and be on the road by 4:20 at the latest. MIL says “oh, sorry…we stopped for a drink and then the girls needed a potty break…we should be there in about 5 minutes!” I guess, in hindsight, I should not have asked her to take her time…we were both sitting around waiting for them to arrive. (when does that happen, I ask you? Um, can we say....NEVER!!!)

Sure, I could have kept cleaning…there was still some areas of the house that needed it, but I was too excited so I just sat down and had some crackers for lunch! Then I walked outside to make one last check on everything in the car. I had the kids tiny suitcases packed with stuff for them on the plane, their “Disney activity books”, and a few other things, all our suitcases (we had 4, MIL had 2) and the umbrella stroller. We also had my carry-on, Shawn’s backpack (aka electronic bag), and MIL’s carry-on. Shawn had managed to get everything packed in the back of the Tahoe even with one of the seats in the third row down for Michael. Phew – it was seriously packed. If I even tried to add anything, he would have flipped his lid. Apparently, what we had was entirely too much as it was.

Hmm…who knew?
Sara?
Overpack?
Nah!!!!

I finished washing up the few dishes that didn’t make it into the last cycle of the dishwasher and were sitting in the sink, when I heard…. “They’re here!”

Ok, Sara…play it cool. Be smooth. Don’t give it away with your excitement.

Michael was the first one in the house…he immediately started walking around talking about leaving for the mountain house, and he started to wander into the dining room where I had put their goody bags with treats for the plane, little goodies for the trip, etc, etc…all in cute little Mickey gift bags.

I diverted him by calling him into the living room.

“Um, Michael..we are just about ready to get going (to the mountains…) but before we do, I just want you kids to do this one little thing to help me out, K?”

“Ok, Mommy..what is it?”

Well, let’s wait for your sisters to get inside….(man they were some-kind-of-slow getting out of the car)

They get inside, and Michael calls them over. I told them I had a little treasure hunt for them to do for something to have on our trip….

I gave Michael the first clue (since he is the only one who can read) and told him to read it out loud so everyone could hear!

And so it began….

Here is where I would insert a nice little video montage of our little treasure hunt, but since I don’t have that yet…I will just tell you. ​

Michael reads the first clue (totally not reading it in rhythm, so the rhyming thing kind of escaped them, duh…)

Michael, Emily, and Katie
Please look around to see
your first clue of this treasure hunt is
out back by the willow tree


They ran off to the back yard (that is largely overgrown due to a broken lawnmower…ugh…please ignore when you see the video). They found the second clue in short order,

You found it, that’s good!
Now ready for more?
Katie’s birthday is soon,
And she will be four!
She really loves climbing,
And this we all know
To find the next clue,
Look where the climbers go!

And were off to the next hiding spot. (after a little prodding by their impatient mother, LOL, "where do you go back here when you want to CLIMB something"....etc, etc)

This one was the funniest. It was hidden up in the fort, so instead of going up the steps in the back of the fort, they decided to go up the slide. Well, Katie had her slippery flip flops on, so she was having trouble climbing the slide, and Michael went on ahead and got the clue... but she kept trying to climb…he just wanted to read… she was panicking…wait Michael, wait…you get the picture… ….. Finally I said, just come down the slide Katie, and Michael wait until everyone is listening before you read the next clue.

Sigh.

Yippee! Yippee! You’re getting good at this!
To find the next clue,
be sure not to miss
The place where we go when we need to eat food
This next clue will put you in a great mood

The next one was hidden inside the pantry, and they found it fairly quickly, which gave them their last clue…

Ok, you are close,
just this one last clue to go
Your treasure is hidden
but where you do not know!
You will find this last clue in the place where TV is seen
Look behind the coffee table for a treasure you won't believe!

That led them to the treasure chest hidden not-so-well by yours truly, next to the coffee table. When they opened it, Michael’s eyes got really wide as he pulled out the shirt, but I’m not sure he really understood what it meant. There was that oh-so-friendly-fill-in-the-blanks-by-Mom where I said “We’re going to Disney World!!!”

Overall, I would say the treasure hunt was a success...the kids were excited to do it, and I was just as excited to see them do it!

After we got them changed into their shirts, I pulled out our “tickets” and told Michael that I had a ticket for everyone who was going to Disney.

I said something like...
“here you go, Michael..."
"here’s yours Emily..."
"yours Katie..."
"here’s one for Daddy..."
"and one for me..."

"Hmmmm…I have another ticket in here! Michael, who is it for?” I gave him the ticket and he said “GRAMMY!!!” She was very excited to finally tell them that she was indeed going with us this time!

It was sometime around now, that I think it really HIT Michael that we were going right then!

He just kept saying “you were tricking us, huh?” And “we aren’t going to the mountain house” Fearing a reaction, I said something like “yeah, well…the mountain house will still be here when we get back, we can go there any time” or something like that!

He was all smiles.
It was all good.


So, before we headed out, I gave them their Mickey goodie bags and we made our way out to the overloaded Tahoe! We took off out of the driveway and squealed out of the neighborhood at Disney speed.

Ok, just regular speed, but we were hoping others saw us leaving with looks of joy on our face that said “We’re going to Disney World, nanny nanny boo boo!”

We were on the road and headed to the airport by ten minutes past 4:00! Woo-hoo! Ahead of schedule! Well, from Shawn’s attitude, you would have thought we were way behind. I told him to "find his happy place", and "Get over it, buckaroo"! We are on our way to Disney! I love my husband, honest I do…he is a very sweet, charming, funny man but when it comes to traveling (with children and mother in tow) he turns into a bit of a crazy grump! Sometimes it’s understandable, but this was at the very beginning of the trip! For pete’s sake! I told him he just needed to relax a little! Luckily, we balance eachother out!

I told him we should try for curbside check-in so we could avoid having to lug all that luggage inside while he was parking the truck. Me and my MIL, with 3 kids, 6 suitcases, 3 carryons, 3 kids’ carryons, and a booster seat…I don’t know…call me crazy…but I just thought it might be easier to do curbside.

So, our conversation on the way to the airport consisted of the nice back and forth exchange regarding curbside check-in, how it works, how he thinks he should just drop us off on the corner, go park, and then meet us inside, blah, blah, blah…Eventually I just said…fine, we will go inside and wait for you in there, I just hope they have one of those smart carte thingamabobs there when you drop us off.

The other funny thing on the way to the airport was Michael talking about how Grandmommy and Pop Pop were going to be really surprised when they got to the mountain house and we weren’t there!

“I hope they aren’t too sad”, he said.
LOL! (They were already at the airport waiting for us!)

About 10 minutes away from the airport, Katie pipes up that she has to use the potty…LIKE NOW!!! She starts looking a little panicked, but there was really no place to stop at that point that would have been any faster than waiting for the airport. So when we pulled up to the curb at the airport, Grammy jumped out and took Katie inside while Shawn and I unloaded all the bags and got them loaded onto the smart carte!

Shawn left to go park the car in long-term parking, and I started wheeling the ginormous cart towards the door when Grammy and Katie reappeared and joined up with us. Phew – crisis averted! Both the potty crisis and the suitcase crisis!

(BTW…there was no one working at the curbside check-in, so we wouldn’t have been able to do that anyway…- Shawn made sure to point that out to me, the little booger!)

We waited for Shawn to meet back up with us and then moved through the non-existent Southwest line to check in. Easy-peasy and we are off! One of our bags weighed in at 52 lbs, but the lady checking us in nicely said...I think our scale is off by a pound or two...thanks nice-Southwest-check-in-lady!

I made a quick “covert” call to my mom just to see where they were hanging out upstairs at the airport, so we could “casually” pass them and they could wave their “tickets” at the kids!

They were upstairs by the pizza place, so off we went.

The kids were none the wiser…

 

[mom2mek]

Day 1 - Part 2 - Departure Day continued...

As we got to the top of the escalator, Emily (bless her heart) pointed out that there was a Starbucks up there for me! It was right next to the pizza place, and I thought for sure she must have seen the grandparents, but no…she was just pointing out the Starbucks! We walked almost all the way to my parents before the kids noticed who was sitting there!

Hey! I never said they were the most observant of kids, now did I?

Grandmommy and Pop Pop had their fake “tickets” and showed them to the kids saying “does this mean we can go too?”

The kids were very excited, lots of jumping, lots of “you tricked me again, mommy,” and the funniest observation…

“who is going to the mountain house, then?”

DUH!
No one, Michael!
LOL!


We ordered up some yucky pizzas and got a cup of coffee, which is when I got a text message from a friend.

A little confession…I don’t know how to text (I know…it’s sad…) so I was laughing hysterically about how to text back. I finally figured out how to send the pre-set “YES” message back, so that’s what I did!

Seeing as how it was a whopping hour and 15 minutes still before our flight, the men, (being men and therefore slightly irrational ), decided we really needed to get back to the gate!

OK? This is NOT JFK airport, folks. The gate is a whopping 5 minute walk, and the airport was dead in regards to crowds…but ok…let me gulp down my piping hot latte that I just bought, since I can’t take it back through security with me! Ugh.

So, here are the kids in their shirts before we made our way through security.

And the back:

(Katie's face just cracks me up!)

We made our way down the long hallway to security...

And made it through security with only minutes to spare!

Just kidding! We had plenty of time! DUH!

But we did get stuck at security – apparently pop-tarts in a mom’s carry-on bag is cause for suspicion! Who knew? They pulled my carryon bag out of line, took tons of stuff out of it (It took me forever to get it packed “just right” don’t you know? ) and then re-ran it through security!

Geez! But I won’t complain! I know they are only doing it for our safety, right?

Plus we were waiting anyway, because apparently my MIL has a metal plate in her head or something, because she kept getting beeped and beeped. Before too long, she was down to just her bare minimum clothing and I thought they might ask her to take a shower next!


For pete’s sake.

Now…Southwest…it’s been a while since I’ve flown Southwest. We got $60 one way tickets, so I’m not complaining.

But the boarding process, when traveling with grandparents (who are a bit neurotic about flying…ahem…Pop Pop) and kids (small kids…) is, shall we say, a little un-nerving. I just prefer KNOWING where I’m gonna sit prior to the actual boarding process! We managed to get everyone situated with who they wanted to ride with (boys together, Mom, Katie, and myself together, and Emily with Grammy) and we all loaded on to the plane without too much stress!

The flight was uneventful, thank goodness, and Katie was a riot the whole time. She never stopped talking.

Oooo….
Whoa….
Here we go….
Wow….
I see the castle! (5 minutes after taking off from VA, mind you)

Bless her little heart, she also wanted me to color, and I was happy to do so! LOL! It’s a great distraction for me to have something to do with my hands. Crosswords and magazines don’t quite occupy my hands as well as constant motion of the crayon…LOL!

I can’t really break out the coloring books until one of the kids asks me to…don’t want to look like I’m completely on the verge of losing it…which I am. I like to fool everyone around me into thinking I am a calm flyer, when in fact, I am visualizing the plane being lifted off the ground by god’s hands and being cradled there in safety until we land (it helps, really).

Anyways, she always starts out doing the coloring herself, but quickly changes to wanting me to do it while she tells me which colors to use! A little "coloring director", if you will!

Works for me!

Up next…we arrive in Orlando….woo-hoo…and are on our Disney “high”!

Bring on the mass amounts of baggage and the rental car lines!


Sara

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

subscribing!

 

[kaysmommie]

Loved the updates! The treasure hunt is such a cute idea. i would love to surprise my kids but I would have to plan it 2 weeks before because I can't keep a secret to save my life. So funny that Michael was still wondering who was going to the mountain house . Your tickets are so cute too. You did a great job on this surprise . Waiting for more .

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Great start Sara! I can just imagine the kids reactions when they learned of the Disney trip! The kids are just adorable in their red shirts!

And yes - you need to work on your texting skills! (I was the friend who texted her - just to see if they were at the airport - my response was a bunch of strange symbols and the word yes!)

And I also have the crackberry, I mean blackberry - tell Shawn to beware - very addicting. You should learn how to use it - there is a facebook application for it!

Can't wait for more of your report!!

 

[mom2mek]

subscribing!

Thanks and aboard! I hope to not take too awful long writing this one!

Loved the updates! The treasure hunt is such a cute idea. i would love to surprise my kids but I would have to plan it 2 weeks before because I can't keep a secret to save my life. So funny that Michael was still wondering who was going to the mountain house . Your tickets are so cute too. You did a great job on this surprise . Waiting for more .

Thanks Nichole! I thought that was pretty funny myself - Michael still wondering who was going to the mountains! Sometimes, that kid makes me wonder.... Keeping the secret was hard. It had it's advantages and it's disadvantages, but overall I think it was a great success.

Great start Sara! I can just imagine the kids reactions when they learned of the Disney trip! The kids are just adorable in their red shirts!

And yes - you need to work on your texting skills! (I was the friend who texted her - just to see if they were at the airport - my response was a bunch of strange symbols and the word yes!)

And I also have the crackberry, I mean blackberry - tell Shawn to beware - very addicting. You should learn how to use it - there is a facebook application for it!

Can't wait for more of your report!!

Thanks Michelle! I figured it was you! Hey now! I felt pretty proud that I was able to get the word YES to go back to you!

Oh, Shawn has had his crackberry a loooonnnnnggggg time now...this was just a NEW one! He wore his other one out! This new one is a lot better than the old one but still highly annoying having it on vacation with us! He had work on the brain more than he should have!

Oooo...the facebook application...that's how you were doing that....I was wonderin...very cool, Miss High-Tech!

Sara

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

So awesome Sara! I wonder if I could trick my kids... ... probably not. Anyhoo... I can't wait to see the video but even so, you did a great job explaining it! I felt like I went on the hunt too!

 

[julezdisney]

Your journey begins! Yayyy!

 

[mom2mek]

So awesome Sara! I wonder if I could trick my kids... ... probably not. Anyhoo... I can't wait to see the video but even so, you did a great job explaining it! I felt like I went on the hunt too!

Thanks Nicole! I figured the surprise thing was probably a one time thing because they would be on to me now! Plus, as they get older they get smarter - dangit!

Your journey begins! Yayyy!

Thanks for coming along Julia! I finally figured out the chapter links with your instructions! They are on the 1st page. Thanks!

Sara