Friday, January 25, 2008

It's Brendan's turn...

Unfortunately, it's Brendan's turn to have the nasty bug... I got a call this afternoon from the nurse at his school that he had just thrown up - all over her. :( Poor lady! She told me that he was very sweet to her though. He noticed that he had gotten some on her watch, and he felt really bad about it. He said, "Oh no - I got it on your watch!" She told him not to worry, that she has others. He was still very concerned though, and asked how much money she had, and if she had enough to get a new one. She told him that she usually buys cheap watches anyway, so not to worry. She said he was very sweet about it and she could tell that he really felt bad about what had happened.

What a kind-hearted son I have! I am so proud of him. I hope he starts feeling better soon, so he can enjoy the weekend.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Poor Jake

We went to dinner last night at Cotton Patch Cafe. Chicken fried steak... Yummy! The boys both ate really well - macaroni & cheese of course! They both ate so good, that I let them eat the Oreo cookies that they give them for dessert. Everything was fine until...

Jake went to bed on time and then at 10:00, I was starting to get ready for bed and I smelled it. He had thrown up in his bed. Yuck! It was obvious what he had eaten for dinner... Jeff helped me clean him up and change the sheets. Unfortunately, Jake had it bad. I sat up with him most of the night. Every 15-20 minutes, he would throw up just a little more. Finally at around 5:30am, he seemed to be done. I finally went to bed and then he woke up at 7:45.

He seems to be doing pretty well today, although he's not eating much. He has his moments of quiet - laying on the couch, and then moments of running from room to room. I called in sick today and just told him that I was up all night sick. (pretty close to the truth!) I do not want to use another VC day this early in the year!

I really hope that Jake will be better soon. I just hate when he's sick. :(

Monday, January 21, 2008

Another day off...

Today is a school holiday for Brendan. He was also off this past Friday, so there's 2 VC days used already for 2008! He had a rough week last week at school, and came home with 4 bills for the 4-day week. Not good!! I drug him around all over the place on Friday. We went into and out of 4 or 5 stores. He was not a happy guy. That's the way it goes! He also lost his DS, TV, computer, and playing outside with his friends. Taking away those things for a few days was the best way to try and knock some sense into him. He has been better throughout the weekend, and has earned back some of those priviledges. The only one he doesn't have back yet is his DS. It's still mine for a while. I should really figure out how to play the silly thing!

I have spent the entire weekend organizing pictures on the laptop. I had a million different folders on the old computer, and I've now organized them into month/year. It was fun to look back at some of the older pictures and see how much the boys have grown!

November 2005:

August 2007:


Thursday, January 17, 2008

A new laptop!

Tuesday was Jeff's birthday, and what do we do? We buy a new laptop! We've never had one before, and have been shopping for one for a few weeks now. We found one at Best Buy pretty cheap, so we got it! How cool is that? It's basically mine, since we gave Brendan my old one, but when it comes right down to it - it's OURS. I'll just be the one to use it the most. :)

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Ebay is fun!

I've listed several items on Ebay in the past year or so, and made a little bit of money... I think it's fun to do and interesting to watch what people are interested in. Well, last week JoDee came to me and asked if I might be interested in listing some clothes that belonged to her daughter. She had several name-brand items that were in excellent or brand new condition! She said if I was interested, we could just split the profits. Cool!

So far, I've listed 19 items for her. 11 of them ended tonight, with 8 selling and 3 not selling. I was very surprised that one of the shirts didn't sell. There were 4 people watching it! That's the tricky part though... People may be watching it because they're interested in buying it, but just waiting until the very end to bid, OR they may be watching it because they have a similar item that they want to list and are curious to see how much someone else's goes for. I always get excited when I see people watching something, but I have to remind myself that it doesn't always mean a bidding war will break out! When we sold Brendan's bed, there were 39 people watching it!! I had e-mails out the ying-yang about it. I was just sure that there would be people bidding and bidding... But, we ended up only selling it for $1.50 over the reserve price. AGGHH!

Tonight I listed some of Jake's toys and some PJ's that he's grown out of. Hopefully, we'll do well with these things and bring in a little $$.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

A Disney World Thanksgiving!


Day 1 – Sunday, November 18, 2007

Wake up at 3:45am for a 6:15 flight. We are all up, ready, and in the car backing out of the garage at 4:45. Right on time! Flight was un-eventful and we arrived in Orlando on time. Went to check in for Magical Express and were immediately escorted to a waiting bus. Off to Caribbean Beach Resort! Check-in went smoothly – except for the part where they asked for a company ID for our discount! Neither one of us had remembered to bring our ID, so I panicked just a little… Luckily our insurance cards have the company logo on them and the CM’s manager accepted them as ID. Whew! That was a lucky break. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we checked our 1 carry-on bag with bell services and were off to the parks by 10:30.

The first bus that showed up at our stop was headed for Epcot, so we jumped on that one. Our plan was to go to MK, but we just wanted to get going to anywhere! We arrived at Epcot and went straight to the monorail over to MK. (I’m sure this took longer than if we had just waited for a MK bus, but we like riding the monorail!) We asked to ride up front, and were lucky enough to do it.

Got into MK and had to catch our breath. Yikes, it was crowded! Wanted to stop at the Barber Shop, but the line was out the door, so we decided to come back later. Got Fastpasses for Space Mountain for 2:55-3:55. Rode TTA and then stopped and had a quick bite for lunch. Gotta love those turkey legs! Had some time to wait before Fastpass time, so we walked over to Frontierland. Standby time for BTMRR was 75 minutes. Normally, we don’t wait that long for anything, but at that point we didn’t have much of a choice. Plus, Jake had fallen asleep in his stroller and we wanted to let him sleep for a while. Jeff and B waited in line while I walked around with Jake. I found a quiet spot in Liberty Square to stop and sit for a bit. It was behind the Christmas shop, and part of it was actually a smoking area. Luckily, it was not very crowded there, so the smoke didn’t bother us at all.

Got a text msg from Jeff that they were done with BTMRR, so I met them back over there to ride with B using the Rider Swap. (Having a little one who can’t ride the bigger rides, I really think that the Rider Swap is an awesome idea! It also really works out well for B, since he usually gets to ride everything twice!) It was time for FP on SM, so Jeff & B head off to ride that while I go try the Barber shop again. (Both boys seriously needed cuts, so I was determined!) There were only a few people in front of me waiting, so we stick around. Jeff calls to tell me that SM is shut down at the moment, so they head over to the barber shop too. Saw the 3:00 parade from there... Not a bad location! B and Jake both got cuts. B got the colored gel and pixie dust. He just loves that he has a hidden Mickey on the back of his head! We had gotten Jake’s first cut done there last year and it was a breeze. This year, not so much. I ended up sitting in the chair holding him – facing me – while Jeff blew bubbles behind me to distract him. He would calm down for a minute, but then look in the mirror and freak out again. Crazy kid!

Hopped on the monorail back over to Epcot for our 5:30 dinner reservations at Le Cellier. On the way in, we checked out the new stuff at the exit area for Spaceship Earth. B loved the games! Jake was running around and tripped on the edge of the carpet. Got a nice quarter-sized bruise on his forehead. He shakes things off pretty quickly though, and was back to running around in no time.

Went to dinner at Le Cellier. I have to say, this was a very good meal! I think the only thing that would have made it better was if we didn’t have to pay for it! We got spoiled last year with the free dining plan, so this year I cringed just a little when I had to actually pay for food! But, it was good and we enjoyed ourselves very much. Stopped in to watch the 360 movie – O’Canada. I don’t remember everything about the previous version, but I know it’s been updated recently and I really liked it.

We were all tired, so we headed back to CBR around 7:30. Somehow, on the way back, B convinced Jeff to take him back to MK for EMH. MK was going to be open until 3:00am. B kept saying that he wanted to try and stay up that late – even though he had been up since 4:00! Jeff agreed to take him back once we got back to the room and had unpacked a little.

Got to our room – 4505 in Jamaica – and unpacked. A little about this resort… I was concerned because it was so big, but we had a great location. It was a short walk across the lake to Old Port Royale to the food court and gift shop, and it was also close to a bus stop. It turned out that Jamaica was usually the first stop coming back from the parks, so that was nice too! We loved it, and would definitely stay here again!

Jeff & B went back to MK, and I got Jake ready for bed. He wanted no part of sleeping in that pack & play though! I ended up laying him in our bed until he fell asleep and then moved him. I fell asleep and never heard the guys come in. Jeff said they got back around 12:30. I don’t know what all they did, but he said they did check out the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor and thought it was pretty funny.

Up next… We’re joined by Jeff’s parents – from here on out, known as Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa.

Day 2 – Monday, November 19, 2007


Since I was asleep by 10:00 the night before, I was up at 7:00. I got dressed and ready and woke the boys up at 8:30. We walked over to Old Port Royale to get some breakfast, and then headed to the Custom House to meet up with Jeff’s parents. We walked up just as they were getting off the Magical Express bus. Great timing! They got checked in and we went back to our room so that they could change clothes and drop off their carry-on bag. Then off to Animal Kingdom!

We went straight over to Expedition Everest, and ended up getting the front row! AK is not ever high on our “to-do” list, but we all love this ride! It was at this point that I hear Pa-Pa say, "Oh jeez... I guess we have to go backwards now, huh??? AAAGGGHHH!!" I was cracking up so much that I couldn't get any other pictures!

Jeff’s parents were pretty hungry by this point, so we stop and get a bite to eat. After that we headed off to the Kilamanjaro Safari. The wait time said 50 minutes. Right! It ended up being more like 75. Not a good idea for Pa-Pa to be standing that long with such little movement! He has issues with both of his knees and walks with a “walking stick” (and don’t ever call it a cane!). We had offered to rent an ECV for him to use, but he refused. Anyway, he was quite relieved when we finally boarded our jeep for our excursion into the savanna!

After checking out the animals, we headed out of the park to go over to MK. We were slowed temporarily by the Jingle Jungle Parade, so we just hung around and waited for a few minutes.

This is also the point where I witnessed the loudest yelling-at-another-family-member exchange ever! Ma-Ma and I were making our way through the crowd to a spot to stop and wait for the parade to pass. I hear a woman say something to her (I assume) husband about wanting to get closer to watch the parade. He didn't hear her, so he shouted "What are you doing?" She replied with, "I'm getting closer so I can see better!" and then proceeded to walk off. His response was, "JENNY!!!! COME GET YOUR DAUGHTER!!!!!" Seriously, I think the CMs - in costume - on the floats could have heard this guy. I think people riding EE clear across the park could have heard him. It was unreal.

Anyway... We had dinner reservations at The Plaza for 6:00pm, so we grabbed a bus and went to MK. We walked down Main Street just as the “lighting of the castle” show was starting. (I have no idea what they were really calling this, so this is just my made-up name for it!)

I really thought that the castle looked beautiful and I know I took way too many pictures of it, but… Oh well!

Dinner was good, and the price was a lot easier to swallow than at Le Cellier! As we were leaving, we ran into a co-worker of Jeff’s who was also there with his family for the week. We ended up seeing him every day we were there! How crazy is that!?

We spent the rest of the evening at MK. We were able to check out Space Mountain, TTA, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Indy Speedway, Mickey’s Philharmagic, and the Hall of Presidents. Jake and B really enjoyed running around in the entry area of the Hall of Presidents. My apologies to anyone Jake may have run in to, cut in front of, or otherwise annoyed! We ended up staying at Magic Kingdom until around midnight that night. Pa-Pa’s knees were bothering him, but he hung in there and really had a good time. Ma-Ma surprised me and even rode Space Mountain twice! What a fun evening we had.

Up next… We have a date with a mouse!

Day 3 – Tuesday, November 20, 2007


We slept in a little bit and made our way over to the Contemporary for brunch at Chef Mickey’s at 10:40am. We took the bus to MK and then hopped on the resort monorail to the Contemporary. Jeff, his parents, and B got to ride up front. They were pretty impressed with the view!

Arrived at Chef Mickey’s and checked in. They handed me a beeper thing and said it should just be a few minutes. Boy, were they right! I turned around and went to find the rest of the family, and as soon as I sat down, the beeper started buzzing. Cool! We sat down at our table and were immediately greeted by Pluto. So cute!

Jake was so excited to see all the characters! Brendan is starting to get to an age where he’s not overly excited to see them because he knows that it is a real person in a costume. He still seemed to have fun though, and he’s such a sweet guy, that he was happy to see his little brother so happy. Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa seemed to really enjoy themselves too! The food was great, and the atmosphere was fun. We have eaten brunch here 3 times now, and will continue to do so in the future. We love it! There’s something for everyone, and we’ve never felt rushed to get in and get out.

Everyone stopped by to visit our table: Chef Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, & Goofy. When we finished our meal, we rolled out of there and made our way to the bus stop. We were off to MGM Studios! I couldn’t wait to ride Rockin’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror!

Unfortunately, the bus stop at the Contemporary was where we had our first meltdown from Jake. He had become enthralled with my cell phone and insisted that he hold it. Well, I wasn’t thrilled with this idea, but I let him hold it for a while. He was cute with it for a few minutes pretending like he was taking pictures and saying, “Picture! Cheese!” I changed my mind about the arrangement when he dropped it a few times, and he threw a HUGE fit when I took it away from him. I ended up walking away with him to the end of the bus stop area and just sat there letting him scream. There was no consoling him and no getting him to shut up. I just shook my head. I didn’t know what else to do. A few minutes of screaming went by and then Jeff came down to tell me that the bus was here. I picked up Jake and carried him to the bus – screaming all the way. I could tell that the other people were just thrilled that they were going to get to ride with a screaming 2-year-old all the way to MGM, and I felt bad for them. But as soon as I stepped onto the bus, he gave the bus driver a huge smile and said, “Bus! I get on Bus!” Little Stinker!!

We arrived at MGM and again tried to offer to get Jeff’s dad an ECV. Again, he refused. I don’t know if it was pride, embarrassment, or just plain stubbornness, but he insisted on walking and not using an ECV or even a wheelchair. OK, then – off we go! We all walked over to Rockin’ Roller Coaster. The FastPasses we got were for 6:55pm – 7:55pm. That was several hours away… But the CM at the entrance said that the Single Rider line was only about 30 minutes or so. Jeff, B and I talked to Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa and they said they would stay with Jake while we waited in the single rider line. Pa-Pa had really wanted to ride this too, but didn’t want to stand in the line. It’s a good thing he didn’t, because the “30 minutes or so” turned out to be over an hour!

We met back up with Jeff’s parents and Jake and started walking toward the Lights, Motors, Action! Show. We hadn’t bothered to check a times guide though, and soon realized that we would have to wait over an hour until the next showing.

OK… Plan B. We got in line for the Backlot Tour. It would only be 10 minutes until the next showing for that, but Pa-Pa refused to wait in the line with us because his knees were really hurting him. He just wanted to sit on a bench and wait for us. UGH! How much fun is that??

OK… Plan C. We then decided to leave MGM and go over to Downtown Disney for a little shopping and just hanging out. We took the bus to Saratoga Springs and then another bus to Downtown. We went into Once Upon a Toy so B could make his own Light Saber. This was a really cool thing for him to do. The CM (I don't remember his name - sorry) was great with him and very helpful. He got to pick out all the pieces and put them together (with a little help) and then they also provided the batteries for it. He also got a pin - his choice of either a Jedi or Sith pin. It was pretty neat.

Ma-Ma decided to take Jake and B on a ride on the little train that is there. At first, Jake didn’t know what to make of it, but by the end he was loving it! Pa-Pa wanted to go back to the hotel and rest, and the rest of us wanted to go back to MGM, so we split up and did just that. Jake fell asleep on the bus on the way to MGM, and ended up staying asleep for quite a while. We walked through the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights. It was amazing! The music was awesome, and the lights were just unbelievable! I was really looking forward to seeing them, but Jeff was just concerned that it would be so crowded that we wouldn’t enjoy them. No worries though… there was plenty of space to walk around comfortably and enjoy the sights.

We still had the FastPasses for RnR that we had gotten earlier in the day, so we walked over to take a ride to see Aerosmith one more time. Ma-Ma stayed with Jake while the 3 of us rode the limo. We had gotten a Rider Swap for her to use, but by the time we had returned from L.A., she had changed her mind about riding and so we used the Swap to go a second time.

Standby times for nearly everything were at least 45 minutes, so we were ready to get going back to the hotel. B really wanted to go swimming, so we caught a bus back to CBR. Jake didn’t wake up until we walked back into our room! He had slept for over 3 hours!

We all went down to the pool so B could swim and Pa-Pa could hang out in the hot tub for a bit. We enjoyed a few adult beverages and then called it a night.

Up next… Did you know that Test Track has a VIP lounge??

Day 4 – Wednesday, November 21, 2007


We decided that we needed to get up early today to arrive at Epcot’s 9:00am opening. This was the only way that we figured we’d be able to get on Soarin’, Test Track and Mission:Space without too much waiting. We were trying to spare Jeff’s dad more pain because – once again – he refused the offer for an ECV. We arrived at 8:45 and waited – not so patiently – for the opening. Jake started to get antsy, but then the rope dropped and we were off.

Jeff ran over to Soarin’ to get us all Fastpasses, while the rest of us headed for Test Track. We got a Rider Switch pass, and Pa-Pa, Ma-Ma and Brendan went on to ride while I took Jake through the gift shop to check out the cars. He was enthralled with the Richard Petty Experience race car that was on display, and kept pointing it out to me. “Mommy – Car! Mommy – Car!” The place was empty, and we struck up a conversation with the CM that was working there. She told Jake that since he was the first person to check out that car, he got a special prize! She walked back to the desk and came back just a minute later. I figured she had some sort of toy car for him or something, but then she handed me a business card. She explained that it was a guest pass for the VIP lounge located above Test Track! I never knew such a thing existed! She said there were free beverages up there, as well as amazing views of Epcot and the inside of the ride that not many people ever get to see. We would also get a pass to go to the front of the line to ride Test Track when we left the lounge. The pass was only good for that day, and they would close at 4:30pm. No problem, we’ll be there!

B and Jeff’s parents finished their ride, and then Jeff showed up, so the grandparents stayed with Jake while Jeff, B and I went to ride. We decided to come back in a bit to check out the lounge and headed over to Soarin’. I think this is my absolute favorite attraction in all of Walt Disney World. I love everything about it - the music, the sights of California, the feeling of flying… And I love that the pre-boarding announcement is done by Patrick Warburton (Puddy from Seinfeld)! He just cracks me up!

We did the Rider Swap on this one too, and when we met up with Jeff’s parents in the food court seating area after our flight, we learned that the people at the table next to us were winners of the Cinderella Castle stay for that night! They had just come off of Soarin’ and the actual winner was a girl who looked to be around 15 or 16 years old, and her mom was signing a ton of paperwork. There were about 7 or 8 Dream Squad Members with her and her family. She looked completely overwhelmed! I don’t know if she really understood all of what would be happening, or if she was just in shock. I just kept looking at her like, “Ya know, if you don’t want it… I’d be happy to take your place!” But, I’m sure they had a great time with it and congratulations to them!

We were off to get some lunch at the Electric Umbrella and then take a ride to Mars on Mission:Space. On the way over to that side of Future World, we took a look around Mousegears and got to see the Jammitors play. They are awesome! Jake was really impressed by them, and wanted to join in. After they finished and handed out stickers to all the kids, they let Jake play with the drumsticks for a few minutes. He loved it! One of the guys decided to just let him keep the drumsticks since he was having so much fun with them. So nice!! Jake was thrilled! Ma-Ma now seems to think that a drum set would be a nice Christmas gift for him!? Oh no!!

We made it over to Mission:Space and somehow convinced Ma-Ma to ride the orange side with us. Bad move. She was not well for several hours afterward. I really felt bad for her. Jeff had stayed with Jake at the play area and then we switched so he could ride. Jake had a lot of fun playing there. I have to say a big Thank You to Disney for having this sort of area for the little ones. He was content to stay there for quite a while!

We then decided to go check out this VIP lounge at Test Track. There is a door just to the right of the entrance that is marked with the GM logo. If you go through that door, and down a hallway, you’ll run into an elevator. There is a security camera with a button on it. We pushed the button and the receptionist asked if we were GM employees. We told her that we had a VIP pass, and she buzzed us right up. We had to sign in the guest book, and then were free to roam around a bit. It was really nice. There were conference rooms in the middle, but they were all closed up. The receptionist sat at a large desk that faced a small room with a few chairs in it. This room had some drinks in it – coffee, tea, and fountain drinks (Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite). This room also had a window that overlooked the inside of the ride. We could watch as people rode in their cars through the different tests. On the opposite side of the room was a wall made entirely out of glass. This looked out onto the entrance area for the ride. (Next time you’re there – look up as you walk toward the entrance and you’ll see the glass. It’s above the track where the cars go by.) This area had several big comfy chairs to sit and rest in and also a couple of tables with chairs. The whole place was very quiet and peaceful and a really good spot to relax and recharge.

When we were ready to go, the receptionist asked how many of us wanted to ride Test Track. Ma-Ma decided to sit this one out – she was still recovering from Mission:Space. The receptionist directed us to a different elevator that would lead us to the exit area of the ride. When we opened the door, we were right where you step out of the cars! Ma-Ma took Jake to the exit gift shop area and the rest of us went up some stairs and across the track and were put at the front of the line to ride. We felt like we really were VIPs! We owe a big “Thank You” to Jake and a very nice CM named Milo for this awesome experience!

We started to walk over to ride Soarin’ again with our Fastpasses. On the way over we stopped in at Club Cool to try some Beverly. We couldn’t get our cameras out fast enough to catch the looks on Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa’s faces, but let’s just say they didn’t enjoy it!! We tried some other drinks and decided that we had quenched our thirst, but we felt like we needed a little snack. So, we all got some ice cream at Edy’s ice cream parlor. Yummy!!

We went towards The Land, but stopped in Innoventions first. B found some video games to play, Jake ran around with Ma-Ma close behind, and Jeff, Pa-Pa and I did the quick Segway tour. I have always wanted to try this, but just never did. It was really cool! We watched a short video about the inventor and how the Segway came to be. Then we each got to try it for a quick 2-3 minutes. This was not nearly enough, but it was still fun. I would really like to try one of the longer “real” tours sometime in the future!

We went to visit Nemo and friends, and rode Soarin’ one last time before heading over to World Showcase to stake out a spot for Illuminations. We ended up finding a bench in Japan where we stayed for the remainder of the evening. We each got something different for dinner and hung around there waiting for Illuminations. Pa-Pa was obviously tired from all the walking back and forth across Future World, but he was hanging in there better than the day before. He really enjoyed himself that day and actually seemed to be warming up to the idea of renting an ECV the next day. (Yippee! Progress!)

We watched Illuminations together and everyone just loved it. I even found myself singing along… We made our way slowly out of the park and back to CBR. We called it a night and made plans to have breakfast the next morning at the food court together.

Up next… It’s someone’s birthday!

Day 5 – Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

We were up early and at the food court by 7:30 for breakfast. We were celebrating Pa-Pa’s birthday today! (His actual birthday was on Saturday - the 24th) We had gotten him a Disney t-shirt and a plaque that he can mount inside his airplane that has the aircraft tail number on it. He loved his gifts! We had also gotten him a “Happy Birthday” button from the concierge, so he wore that all day. He loved all the attention that it got him throughout the day!

We finished our breakfast and then headed over to MK. Surprise, surprise… Pa-Pa agreed to get an ECV!!! I went to get one for him and found that they were already all rented out! It wasn’t even 10:00am yet! They had a waiting list started, so I put my name and cell phone number on the list and was told that they would call me when one was available and I would have one hour to go claim it before they went on to the next person on the list. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long…

We arrived just as the Thanksgiving parade was starting. It’s hard to actually call this a parade, but that’s what they called it. It lasted all of about 5 minutes. We saw the official presidential “pardoned” turkey – May - riding a float. He was very calm and we wondered if he was sedated or something!

The “parade” was over before you knew it, and we made our way to Frontierland to ride Splash Mountain. Jeff had gotten over there before the parade and got Fastpasses for Big Thunder and then met us at Splash. I stayed with Jake in the Laughing Place play area while the others visited with B’rer Rabbit and the rest.

We swapped and I rode Splash with B. I got soaked! What a great idea to start the day! After my ride, I stayed with Jake at the Laughing Place while the others went on the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness! After that we checked out the Railroad. We took this all the way around the park and then stopped in Toon Town. Jake fell asleep riding the train, so when we got to Toon Town, Pa-Pa sat and rested with him while we checked out Mickey’s and Minnie’s houses. They were all decked out for the holidays. We saw the 2 pardoned turkeys - May and Flower - in the backyard of Mickey's house.

Jake was still asleep, and it was starting to sprinkle just a bit, so I walked to a covered area while everyone else went flying with Peter Pan. I found a spot just inside the Columbia Harbour House to stay dry while Jake slept. Jeff sent me a text to let me know that they were done with Peter Pan and to just meet them all at Crystal Palace for our lunch reservations at 2:35pm. I walked that way when I finally got the call that an ECV was available.

I met up with everyone at the Crystal Palace, and Jeff ran to the entrance to get the ECV. I didn’t know anything about renting one of these, and neither did Jeff. When he showed up to get it, the CM asked if it was for him. He said, “No, it’s for my dad.” “Well then, your dad needs to be here” was the CM’s reply. So Jeff said, “No – that’s right… It’s for me.” Ok then, sign this, pay that, and you can be on your way! He was told that no one else should drive it since he had been the one to rent it (kind-of like renting a car!), but we all know that Pa-Pa was going to be the one behind the wheel. What can ya do, ya know?

So Jeff took off and drove it back to the Crystal Palace to meet us for lunch. He said that he got quite a few looks along the way. I guess since he looks like a perfectly healthy man, that no one thought he should be driving it. No, technically, he shouldn’t have been driving it, but he was just trying to help out his dad by not making him walk all the way back up to the front to get it himself. We were all so happy that Pa-Pa had agreed to it today! (I think he was too.)

Jake woke up, and I missed some excitement while I took him to the restroom for a diaper change. Apparently, there was a family that had had enough of each other… Two women (probably in their early 30’s or so) were arguing about something. Then one of them spit in the other’s face! The Spit-recipient said to their dad, “You better do something about your daughter!” The dad didn’t do anything. Then the Spitter stormed off towards Main Street. The husband of the Spit-recipient walked after her – apparently to try to talk to her and calm her down – and came back with a red eye!! It was obvious that he had gotten punched! He then said to his wife (who was still wiping the spit from her face!) that “She is not allowed around our kids ever again!!” Yikes!

Anyway… We had our meal at the Crystal Palace with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet and it was a lot of fun. The food was good, and the characters were fun to interact with. Jake really enjoyed jumping with Tigger!

Our server had noticed Pa-Pa’s Birthday button, and without mentioning it to us (which was very cool!), brought him a cupcake with a birthday candle on it. She also brought him a birthday card that had been signed by the characters. It was very thoughtful and a nice surprise!

We spent the rest of the evening checking out Buzz, Space Mountain, the TTA, and the Jungle Cruise. Jake got to play in the play area in Toon Town – which he loved!

We started to do a little shopping on Main Street when we realized that we had lost Brendan! I had stopped in the Baby Care Center for something and everyone else headed to Main Street. When I caught up with them, Pa-Pa was sitting in the ECV outside of one of the stores. I asked where everyone else was, and he said they were all inside. I found Jeff, and then his mom (who was pushing Jake in the stroller), but I didn’t see B!! I asked where he was, and Jeff said that he was outside with Pa-Pa. Um, no he wasn’t! I panicked!! Jeff found a CM right away to let her know we were looking for him, and we searched and searched. It’s really difficult too, because those stores look like individual stores from the outside, but on the inside – they go on and on! Finally, he shows up and is just talking to Pa-Pa outside like nothing had happened. I was so relieved! I have never felt panic like that before, and I don’t ever want to again!

Once I had calmed down, we decided to get our spot for Wishes, and Jeff went to get us all ice cream. We all really enjoyed the fireworks and when they were over, we were ready to get going back to the hotel. This is where we had Major Meltdown #2. Jeff had taken B to ride TTA one last time, and his parents and I were going to take Jake and stroll through the shops on the way to the exit. I had been letting Jake wander around our spot for a while, but he kept going farther and farther away. He would look back at me with that sneaky little smile – like he knew he was doing something wrong, but wanted to see how much he could get away with. I warned him that if he went that far away from me again, that he would be going in his stroller. Well, of course he went away from me again! So I promptly picked him up and strapped him in his stroller. You would have thought I had really hurt him with the way he screamed! It was ridiculous! He screamed for about 15 minutes – without stopping. UGH!! He finally stopped as we were going through the exit and heading to the bus stop. So much for strolling leisurely through the shops! I didn’t even go in any! Oh well… I saved some money I guess, huh?

We made it back to CBR and started packing. Unfortunately, we would all have to leave the next day.

Up next… Our final day, and I finally get to step into the Twilight Zone!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Sadly, this is our last day. We’re up early so that Jeff and his dad can get all of the luggage to the Custom House at 7:45 and get everyone checked in for flights home. Ma-Ma and Pa-Pa were then going to the airport; they had a flight home at 12:00. We said our good-byes and they were off to get breakfast and then board a Magical Express bus to the airport.

We decided to go over to MGM for our last day since we didn’t get to see or do much there earlier in the week. We got there at the 9:00am opening and went straight down Sunset Blvd – with about a million other people! Jeff went to RnR to get us all Fastpasses, and B and I waited at Tower of Terror for him. I love how the Standby sign says “13 minutes”! I watched it change to 45 while we were standing there though… We got a Rider Swap pass and Jeff and B were off to ride. I waited in the exit area – where you buy the photos. Jake got to play a little bit here and was content. The guys returned, and then I went to ride with B. I was pretty happy, because I really like this one! I love the theming of the lobby and then the “unknown” of the drops is so cool! It’s never the same ride twice!

We walked over to the Jedi Training Academy show. Brendan is really into Star Wars, so I knew he would LOVE this! We waited patiently for it to begin, and kept our fingers crossed that he would be picked to go up on stage. They were encouraging all the kids to jump up and down and act excited, so Jake was into it! B wasn’t sure if he wanted to really jump around or just stand there, so he did a little of both. Unfortunately, he wasn’t picked. Oh well. It was a pretty cool show, and Darth Vader gave B a hard time when he shouted something at him. Vader came to the edge of the stage and pretended like he was wrapping his fingers around B’s neck and then picking him up. It was funny! After the show, we went into Tatooine Traders to buy B a book he had been wanting all week.

It was time for our Fastpasses for Rockin’ Roller Coaster, so we then walked over to ride in the Limo one last time. While Jeff and B rode RnR, Jake decided he needed to have Meltdown #3. I was hanging out with Jake near the entrance, and he was happy for a while... He was walking around and checking things out when he found a doorway to backstage that was not completely closed off. He decided he needed to go back there and see what was going on! I kept trying to re-direct him, but he kept going over there. I finally had enough and strapped him in the stroller. He did NOT like that!! I took him into the family restroom and away from people for a few minutes. This of course didn’t make him any happier, but it was more for me to not let everyone witness my own breakdown! While we were in there, Jeff called me to let me know that he and B were done, and it was my turn. Cool! Someone else can deal with the screaming kid! Wouldn’t you know it though… Jake takes one look at Jeff and immediately stops screaming, grins and says, “Hi Daddy!”

I take B and we head over to the Aerosmith concert. It was awesome, as usual! By the time we were done riding, Jeff had sent me a text that Jake was sound asleep. Of course he was. We were planning to go to Downtown to shop a little bit, but instead of waking Jake up and getting on a bus, we decided to walk over to the Boardwalk. It’s a nice walk, and it let him sleep for a while longer. We stopped and ate some pizza there and then caught a bus to Downtown.

We bought a few souvenirs and then went back to CBR. We re-organized our carry-on bag with our purchases and got on the Magical Express bus to the airport. I think we all had mixed feelings about leaving. We were sad to be leaving, because we always enjoy ourselves so much when we’re there. It’s so nice to relax and play and not have a care in the world. But at the same time, we’re ready to get home to our own house - with our own beds – and our “normal” lives. I’m really glad that Jeff’s parents were able (and willing!) to join us there, and I hope we can do it again one day.

So long for now Mickey! See ya real soon!

Just Because...



Jeff went to the grocery store on Saturday night to pick up dinner. He came home with sushi for himself and chicken for me. And - a dozen roses! I was so surprised! Sometimes he can be so sweet and thoughtful... I am a lucky woman to have him in my life!