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

[mom2mek]

Well, you will have to get the chocolate wave for sure next month - after all, it's included in our package.

Yep - for sure!

Great update as usual. Now I'm annoyed because my NY strip didn't come with potatoes Au Gratin it came with some nasty red skin potatoes. I was so looking forward to the Au Gratin potaotes again this year too.

Anyway the menu's are too cute, glad they found them. The diver is the best though, isn't it . I hope your not late for your grocery delivery .

Thanks Nichole! I don't know for sure if the au gratin ones came with it - I know he got the steak and that's what the menu says...so I was assuming so! I can ask him to make sure (as if he remembers... )

The menus and the diver were fun! I think I heard that they are stopping doing that, which is a shame as it was a nice touch! Maybe it just got to be too much to handle!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Day 2 - EPCOT
Part 6 - Crash Test Dummies!

The time was a little after 1:30, so we hightailed it over to Test Track and jumped in line! Even with our fastpasses, we still waited about 10 minutes before getting into the pre-show, mostly standing right outside the doors TO the pre-show. Funny how waiting 10 minutes has become a “chore” for us – we have been very spoiled!

Finally the doors opened and we scooted all the way to the other doors to watch the “briefing”! The kids were all very excited. This would be the first time on Test Track for my Mom, MIL and of course, Katie. Luckily, she still showed as 40" and gained approval from the CM to ride! Phew!

Since there were 8 of us, we figured on 6 in one car, and 2 in the 2nd car. That way, I figured, we would get one of the cars completely filled with just our group! However, when we got up to the front of the line where they ask you how many are in your group and assign you a lane #, we were split 5 in one, 3 in the other. Oh well…now instead of having at least one picture that is all “US” we will have two pictures that are partial “US” and partial “SOME OTHER PEOPLE”.

My MIL and Emily rode with me, Katie rode with Pop Pop and Grandmommy, and Shawn rode with Michael and a stranger!

Here is Emily waiting for our car!

I tried snapping some pictures of Emily on the ride, but I am so bad (and so nervous) about holding the camera out during rides. Shawn, however, is not. He usually takes lots of ride pictures and video and this trip was no different – he took video of Katie from his seat in the front and turning around almost the entire time! Her little face is so cute. (again, I will add the video when I get the time to figure it out...hey, at least I'm writing the report, right? geez...beggers can't be choosers....)

Here are my pics of my group:

Once we were outside:

That ride is just so much fun!

Emily, my MIL, and I finished first and waited to see how Katie did on the ride. After riding it I was concerned that she might have been frightened with the speed. Well, no worries there! She loved it! We tried to hurry down to see our photopass pics, but apparently had missed them on the screen. Tends to happen when you are talking, laughing, and on a Test Track “high”! Oops!

I had read about someone going to the gift shop and asking about pulling up their picture, so I headed over there and in less than a minute, he had our pics on the screen and we were on our way. Well…almost.

Here are the pics:

Cropped a little closer to remove the kind strangers in front of us!

The other car - Shawn and Michael up front (with a stranger completely blocking Michael) and Mom, Stepdad and Katie in the back.

Cropped a little closer:

Her little face cracks me up! (as does my step-dads!)

(Still couldn't get that guy out of the picture...)

Back to the giftshop....I tried to impress upon everyone the urgency of not "dilly-dallying" due to our Garden Grocer delivery back at the house. However, my MIL manages to ignore urgency as much as possible, and had started searching for a Test Track pin for her lanyard. Ugh! Then my step-dad wanted to shop for a hat. Double Ugh! I was getting nervous at this point. They were waiting in the check-out line so I told them that Shawn, Michael, and I were going to go out and get the stroller and that we would also obtain fastpasses to use after we came back that night. We told them to just meet us at the stroller. In a few minutes they emerged and we set out to the exit.

On our way past the giant pin area behind Spaceship Earth, my MIL felt the urge to go shopping again. Oh dear Lord, help me.

I can’t be firm with my MIL so luckily Shawn stepped up and said “Mom, we will be back in a couple of hours and you can shop with a lot more time”….

"Oh! OK!” she said.

Well, DUH!

Sorry, but urgency escapes her and I just don’t get sometimes how you can be so oblivious! Rant over. Love her though.

On our way out of the park, I got another phone call from Carlos. He is at the house waiting. Oops. It was now 2:25. We hustled on out of the park, got to the car, loaded up, and scooted on out of there.

Here is where we made a little sna-fu. Shawn had his “girlfriend” (aka the GPS) with him, but had left it in the other car. Ok, we can figure it out. It’s well marked and we didn’t have any trouble getting here this morning. Well, when you are in a hurry, and you are going AWAY from a large theme park…things just don’t look as well marked. Go figure!

Shawn remembered though and we were on the main drag leading to the house in about 5 minutes. Then we got stopped at the longest light known to man to turn onto the street the neighborhood is on. My stomach started to hurt. I don’t know if it was the Lunch/Test Track combo, or if it was nerves or frustration with the traffic light….but I just felt awful while we were sitting there.

We got to the house at 2:45 and Carlos was waiting for us with a big smile. No problem, he says. It’s fine. Katie had conked out in her carseat almost immediately upon entering the car, so I jumped out to handle the grocery order, while my Mom got Katie out of her seat and brought her into the house and laid her down on the couch.

Think she was tired?

The other two kids were wide awake and itching to go swimming. Carlos brought all our food inside and unloaded it and was out of there in mere minutes. They do such a good job. I just love Garden Grocer.

Shawn and my step-dad decided to lay down in their respective rooms, and my MIL decided to get a book and sit on the couch to read. Mom and I took Michael and Emily out to the little splash pool and sat down with a cold drink. Before long, my mom was dozing off herself. I looked inside the house, and my MIL was no longer reading, but sleeping on the couch.

Ok….great! Sara…stay awake…these kids can’t be swimming around completely unsupervised! Geez! It was just me, Michael, and Emily at this point! And boy was it getting harder and harder to keep my own eyes open!

Up next…are they ever gonna wake up?

Sara

 

[DisneyJo]

The TT photos are so cute but I hope next time you said you were a 6 and a 2 We hate having extra people in our car and will the single rider queue to stay empty till we've loaded

OMG how cute is Katie asleep

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Love the update Sara! Your kids are just too cute - always smiling! Love the pics of them on Test Track - I'm glad Katie liked it!

I can totally understand your frustration trying to get MIL to move it! LOL Thankfully Shawn stepped up and she got it. I hope she got to shop for pins later!

Love the picture of Katie asleep on the couch! She sure does look beat!

Can't wait to hear about the evening! Unless you fell asleep too.......

 

[mom2mek]

The TT photos are so cute but I hope next time you said you were a 6 and a 2 We hate having extra people in our car and will the single rider queue to stay empty till we've loaded

OMG how cute is Katie asleep

Thanks Jo! I decided at that point that I would be the one to tell the CMs how "many" of us there were! Katie was soooo tired...she didn't move from that spot the whole time!

Love the update Sara! Your kids are just too cute - always smiling! Love the pics of them on Test Track - I'm glad Katie liked it!

I can totally understand your frustration trying to get MIL to move it! LOL Thankfully Shawn stepped up and she got it. I hope she got to shop for pins later!

Love the picture of Katie asleep on the couch! She sure does look beat!

Can't wait to hear about the evening! Unless you fell asleep too.......

Thanks Michelle! No, I stayed awake...someone had to supervise 2 kids in a pool, right? MIL and her pins became an issue more than once...


Sara

 

[MEK]

Hey MOM,

I haven't checked in on your trip report since my first post last month, but I have to say your pics and your trip are fantastic. I haven't caught up yet, but I love what I've read so far. If I wasn't already your illegitimate DIS child, I would ask you to adopt me. I want in on your next trip!

Love, MEK

 

[faerieprincess]

Sara i love reading your trip report, you seem like you are having so much fun!

Will you adopt me, too?

 

[Poohtigeey]

Don't you love how hubbies just go off and go to sleep assuming you've got it covered? What would happen if we just walked in the door, down the hall and went to bed? Chaos I tell ya!

I LOVE your family pic at Coral Reef! You'll definitely have to have that one framed! I'm glad your surprise worked out! It's nerve wracking though isn't it? I was the same way. Luckily Dave was in on it so he could steer the family away from the counter. I love Coral Reef, but the hosts/hostesses aren't the greatest. I'm so excited to be there w/ you in 3 weeks!!!!

Cute pics of Emily on Test Track. What did Katie think? Well, the guy next to Michael looks like he's having a great time!LOL! And you do too! Love the blowing hair look.

 

[kaysmommie]

Love the test track pics. So glad you made it to the house in time to meet the groceries. The sleeping picture of Katie is so funny .

 

[mom2mek]

Hey MOM,

I haven't checked in on your trip report since my first post last month, but I have to say your pics and your trip are fantastic. I haven't caught up yet, but I love what I've read so far. If I wasn't already your illegitimate DIS child, I would ask you to adopt me. I want in on your next trip!

Love, MEK

Thanks illegitimate DIS child! Was wondering if you had "run away" from my report! Glad you're back!

Sara i love reading your trip report, you seem like you are having so much fun!

Will you adopt me, too?

Sure...we're all one big family here!

We were having fun, that's for sure!

Don't you love how hubbies just go off and go to sleep assuming you've got it covered? What would happen if we just walked in the door, down the hall and went to bed? Chaos I tell ya!

That is so true Monica! They don't even bat an eye! Shawn went right upstairs and was out cold! Hmm....I don't recall you getting less sleep than me last night...in fact, you got a couple hours MORE! Men!

I LOVE your family pic at Coral Reef! You'll definitely have to have that one framed! I'm glad your surprise worked out! It's nerve wracking though isn't it? I was the same way. Luckily Dave was in on it so he could steer the family away from the counter. I love Coral Reef, but the hosts/hostesses aren't the greatest. I'm so excited to be there w/ you in 3 weeks!!!!

Yeah, it's a keeper, huh? The surprise was a little un-nerving, especially considering I was the only one in on it! But it was worth it! What is up with the CMs there, anyway? A little slow on the uptake it seemed! Maybe they were all in training....

Cute pics of Emily on Test Track. What did Katie think? Well, the guy next to Michael looks like he's having a great time!LOL! And you do too! Love the blowing hair look.

LOL! I know - that guy looks like he is the long lost cousin in our family! In addition to us not telling them 6 and 2, Shawn should have let that guy go in first so we could see Michael in the pic! Oh well...lessons learned!

Love the test track pics. So glad you made it to the house in time to meet the groceries. The sleeping picture of Katie is so funny .

Thanks Nichole! She was out the whole time we were home and she never moved from that spot!

Sara

 

[Ellester]

I've been away from the trip reports boards too long I guess! I didn't even know you had another one started! It's been a good way to spend the afternoon (I'm recovering from some sort of stomach bug ).

Great report so far! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[mom2mek]

I've been away from the trip reports boards too long I guess! I didn't even know you had another one started! It's been a good way to spend the afternoon (I'm recovering from some sort of stomach bug ).

Great report so far! Looking forward to the rest!

Hey Ellen! Hope you are doing well and that the stomach bug is gone - that is awful when not pregnant, but beyond awful when you have another human wiggling around inside the upset stomach! On the bright side, not too much longer for you now, right? A month or so? Are the kids getting excited for a new sibling?

I haven't made it too far in the actual trip, but it was a great one! Still herding, but a little less of a herd this time. It was great to be able to take my MIL with us! A little awkward with my brother and sister though...telling them about the trip! We offered for everyone to come again if they wanted, but it was such short notice (even for me)! I'm hoping to do another trip with everyone soon as the kids really missed their cousins on this trip! Let me know how you are doing and I will be thinking of you and your little one and hoping for a quick rest of your pregnancy!

Sara

 

[vermontgirl]

Awesome update Sara! I just wanted to share that when we were at Coral Reef a few weeks ago, I was chatting with our waiter about the menus and divers, he was sure that they would still be around, however, they were going to start charging at some point....may be Jan. 09 to coincide with the "what are you celebrating"? We are going in April for the girls 10th b-day, I so want to do a menu and divers....they loved it when they saw other folks getting the divers. Can't wait to read more...........get typing

Jeanette





The menus and the diver were fun! I think I heard that they are stopping doing that, which is a shame as it was a nice touch! Maybe it just got to be too much to handle!

Sara[/QUOTE]

 

[princessjv]

Sara-

OMy sleeping baby! So darn sweet. You made it back in time! The test track pictures are great. We are trying to make 40... but I think she is going to miss it.

I tried to look up Baby Twinkle Star on ebay, but only baby items showed up. I am still pretty new at ebay, so I most likely did something wrong. I do have several customs. I am so excited!! I leave in jusT ABOUT 9 DAYS.

 

[mom2mek]

Awesome update Sara! I just wanted to share that when we were at Coral Reef a few weeks ago, I was chatting with our waiter about the menus and divers, he was sure that they would still be around, however, they were going to start charging at some point....may be Jan. 09 to coincide with the "what are you celebrating"? We are going in April for the girls 10th b-day, I so want to do a menu and divers....they loved it when they saw other folks getting the divers. Can't wait to read more...........get typing

Jeanette

That's right Jeanette! I think I had heard that as well! I guess most people who get it going forward, won't know that is used to be free! Wonder if it will be pricey? Hope you can still do it for your girls! It was a lot of fun!

Sara-

OMy sleeping baby! So darn sweet. You made it back in time! The test track pictures are great. We are trying to make 40... but I think she is going to miss it.

I tried to look up Baby Twinkle Star on ebay, but only baby items showed up. I am still pretty new at ebay, so I most likely did something wrong. I do have several customs. I am so excited!! I leave in jusT ABOUT 9 DAYS.

I don't know about the ebay thing. It comes up for me when I type in Baby Twinkle Star under store name using the advanced search feature.

Anyways, I can't wait to see the pics - are you doing a pre-trip? Have I missed it?

9 DAYS????? Wow! That is so close! Which means my weekend trip is getting close too! So looking forward to you!

Sara

 

[jillyb]

Man...that stinks if they are going to start charging for the diver and menus. We did this for my DD in June and it was so cool! I guess they got overwhelmed with requests and decided to charge. That's the only bad thing about somebody finding out about this and then spreading the word. LOL

 

[mom2mek]

Man...that stinks if they are going to start charging for the diver and menus. We did this for my DD in June and it was so cool! I guess they got overwhelmed with requests and decided to charge. That's the only bad thing about somebody finding out about this and then spreading the word. LOL

So true Jill! I guess with the new promotion (What are you celebrating) it's a nice tie-in!

Sara

 

[julezdisney]

Ok, as usual, I read the updates first and updated myself on pictures here at home later. TOO ADORABLE! Neat-o menu. Great pix of the kids at dinner.... and I can't wait to ride Test Track on our next trip!

 

[OhioTony]

Catching up with your posts on my day off. That's the only time I get to read and post!

Your pictures are incredible. They are making me very jealous that you are going to be back there in a couple of weeks and I am not! LUCKY!

I'm so happy that everything worked out at CR! Man that dessert looked good! And what you had written on the menu almost made me cry it was so sweet!

What's with everyone sleeping on a Disney vacation?! Let me guess- you "accidentally" drop a large skillet on the tile floor in the kitchen! Come on people ..do you think this a vacation or something! There are things to see, rides to ride, ice cream to eat!

Great updates Sara!

 

[mom2mek]

Ok, as usual, I read the updates first and updated myself on pictures here at home later. TOO ADORABLE! Neat-o menu. Great pix of the kids at dinner.... and I can't wait to ride Test Track on our next trip!

Thanks Julia! Test Track is so much fun! I was so happy that Katie loved it!

Catching up with your posts on my day off. That's the only time I get to read and post!

Your pictures are incredible. They are making me very jealous that you are going to be back there in a couple of weeks and I am not! LUCKY!

I'm so happy that everything worked out at CR! Man that dessert looked good! And what you had written on the menu almost made me cry it was so sweet!

What's with everyone sleeping on a Disney vacation?! Let me guess- you "accidentally" drop a large skillet on the tile floor in the kitchen! Come on people ..do you think this a vacation or something! There are things to see, rides to ride, ice cream to eat!

Great updates Sara!

Thanks Lynn! The special dessert was indeed yummy, but I still was longing for the Chocolate Wave - I will definitely be getting that in a couple of weeks! So funny about the sleeping - we were all so tired. I totally could have gone to sleep as well...but you know...safety of the children and all... I really wanted to be able to stay for Illuminations tonight so I'm glad the bulk of everyone got a little shut-eye. Unfortunately, 2 out of 3 kids didn't sleep a wink....hmmm...think they make it through the night?

Sara