More to the story

So my Dad called this morning and he was actually thinking of taking a trip to PA himself this fall/winter. He wants to go the week after Thanksgiving because my Gran's 90th birthday is that week. (Wow. 90 years.) He said we could stay at his cousin's house(she has a donkey farm) and that she has plenty of room for 2 nights and then we'd head to Philly for another night in a hotel. So that would be 3 nights total for hotel instead of 5. It would only knock maybe $200 off the cost though and maybe some food. That would bring the next issue up though- fitting 6 people into my truck. It has a 3rd row but it's too small for an adult. I could maybe put one of the kid's carseats back there though but with the 3rd row up there isn't as much room for luggage and the pack and play I'd have to bring. And once again we'd have to deal with the COLD weather aspect. Yuck. More to think about....

Weighing the Pros and Cons

Dh and I have been obsessing over discussing a trip to Pennsylvania this fall. I'd love to see my family and mostly my Grandma. None of them have met Bella yet. It's been 4 years since we last saw anyone. The trip would cost quite a bit of dough though. Money we really shouldn't spend and would mean us dipping into our small savings account which is scary in this economy (and yes we did decide to wait on Disney passes). The costs of driving up there, food on the way, and hotels would probably be close to $2ooo from what I figured. Maybe more since we'll need to find stuff to do during the day while everyone else is working or maybe slightly less but still costly.

Our plan was to go the week of Thanksgiving but it's so freaking cold then! Average temp is like 46*. Brrr. I'm a Floridian, 70 is chilly! :) So I'd have to add in the cost of cold weather clothing as well. The last time we were up there we brought normal cold weather stuff (jeans, heavy jackets, etc) and the wind seemed to blow right thru it. I'm not so keen on that again! If there isn't snow, then what's the point? So then I started thinking maybe we could go in Sept/Oct. when fall is coming and maybe, just maybe the leaves will be starting to turn colors.

But it all comes back down to the green stuff, moolah, bread, bucks, whatever you want to call it. Oh and Logan and Ian would have to take time off from school. A no-no in my Aunt's eyes! I thought we were getting the entire week off at T-Day but I'm still not seeing it changed on our school board's website so that's 2 days and more if we went earlier this year.

Sigh...I know this trip should be important too. I'm sure my family would be thrilled to see us but I'm not close to them at all. I've seen them maybe 4 times in the past...25+ years? But I feel like I should go see them even though I'd feel awkward. Ugh! Too much stress. It's be cheaper to just do a Disney vacation! LOL Dh had the brilliant idea of just bringing Gran to FL for a week and we'd take her to Disney. haha I actually think it would be a great idea to do a Grand Gathering and have the entire family and all the cousins/cousins kids come down for just that. How much fun would a family reunion at WDW be?!

So even after writing this entire post I still have no clue what to do and now it's after midnight and I need to go to bed. I guess I'll obsess over this some more tomorrow.

So Excited!!

We are getting a special family Christmas gift this year. Dh won't tell me how (or who) but a little Elf has decided to give us a weekend vacation at Disney so I just booked a Friday and Saturday night at Animal Kindom Lodge for January!! Oohhh I'm so excited!!! We won't be renewing our passes this year unfortunately so this is sort of like a last hurrah for us. Hopefully we'll be able to get them again in a couple/few more years. I want Bella to have all the fun times that the boys got there too. Oh and me too. ;)

Vacation day 2

I think I forgot to mention that dh is on vacation this week. It's nice having him around- for a week at least. We headed to the Florida Aquarium this morning to see some fish, sharks, penguins and more! Unfortunately, they are undergoing renovation so no sharks and we missed the penguin encounter so no penguins either. Ian was disappointed. I really don't see the appeal in a FA membership except if you have small kids who like to play in their Explore A Shore outdoor water area. Ian's not really into it so we didn't bother today. I guess I'm just not that into looking at fish and either is dh.

After the aquarium, we were all hungry so went to Mimi's Cafe where I got to taste my first fried pickles appetizer. If it ain't fried, it ain't the south! They were okay the first few bites but they were way too salty after that. I need to guzzle down some water tonight and tomorrow! I did have some yummy pot roast with gravy, mashed potatoes and veggies. Mmmm. It's been so long since I had pot roast- probably not since my mom last made it. I may have to make some up in the crock pot one night for the boys and I.

After lunch, it was time to go get Logan at school. We were early (I'm always there at least 30min early so I can park up front) so dh took a nap and Ian watched part of a dvd. Came home, ate dinner and off to tumbling class.

Logan is doing so well in class! He's taking direction really well. No more tears either! He can do a handstand and hold himself up with someone spotting him of course and holding his legs. I can see how his arm muscles have gotten stronger. When we first started, he had jelly arms. I just paid for October's classes tonight so you'll get to hear how he's doing for at least one more month!

Here are a few pics from today!

Who you staring at?!
(It doesn't look like it but this fish was HUGE! He could have swallowed Ian whole)







Look! It's Crush!


Bella in our Mei Tai Baby.

Downtown Disney (final installment I think)

Boy I can drag out a 2.5 day weekend vacation, huh? LOL

We checked out of the hotel Sunday morning. On our way out, we passed a guy who was sitting outside his room. Mind you, it's like 9:20am and there's already one beer bottle outside his door and he has another one in his hand and a cigarette in the other hand. Classy. Maybe he has kids like mine though that drive you to drink or at least wish you had a drink.

We drove over to Downtown Disney (like a 5min drive) and it was so empty! We've never been there that early before so it was nice. We walked around one of the Disney shops and took some pics with a lifesize Buzz. The boys each made a LightSaber which Ian had been asking for all weekend. I forgot to get pics of that. Then we walked over to McD's for brunch for the boys and back across the plaza to Earl Of Sandwich for Dh and I to eat. And back again to the Lego store. We got plenty of walking in! ;)

The boys were in Lego heaven (and so was dh). The one thing they really love is making Lego people so we found the station where you can do that. They each made 3 people and got a lanyard to put them in. They have a wall of Lego People (presumably all different in some way) across the front wall of the store. The back wall is all bins of different colored/shaped Legos in bulk you can buy. Oh boy. Dh had a ball with that! I even found a few cute things like little Lego flowers and trees. :) Had it not been Bella's lunch time, I'm sure they could have spent hours in there. (It was just too hot outside to nurse and too crowded inside)





This is the new T-Rex cafe they are building. It's by the same owners of the Rainforest Cafe. Looks very cool!!





Wall of people

Bella's 1st swim

Here are a few pics from the hotel's kids pool. Bella really liked it. Since it was in the sun all day and is shallow, it was very warm- much like bath water. I guess I shouldn't be surprised she liked it. Afterall, she was born into a tub of water!

Dressed and ready to go! Her suit is a bit big but it did the job!

The Accident plus more

I know you've been waiting with bated breath for this post right?

We had just left DHS to head back to the hotel for the day. Dh was unloading the stroller and I believe Ian was still sitting in it. I had Bella and was about to put her in her carseat (I was still holding her but had already opened the door) and Logan was standing next to me. All of a sudden I heard a bump and the truck moved. I thought it went into gear somehow or dh threw the stroller in or something. Someone hitting us never occurred to me.

I looked back at dh to ask him what he was doing and he was walking around the truck towards the car and told me we had gotten hit. I was still confused- I never even noticed the car backing into the space in front of us. (FTR, all spaces run one way and he was obviously going the wrong way if he was able to back into a space. I'm not sure how he even got past a CM to do it.) So dh is yelling at the guy and the guy hits us again!! Now dh is flipping out and I think he may just clock the guy. LOL Dh is yelling about me(not at me) standing there with the baby. The guy gets out and is apologizing up and down to us. He said his foot slipped off the brake the first time and then everyone in his car was yelling at him so he got nervous and did it again. No damage was done to my truck thankfully and it looked like he may have had a minor scratch on his car. He and dh shook hands and he continued to apologize. Even his passenger got out and was apologizing to us. Talk about an adrenaline rush (although not a good one).

Of course, Logan being the little know-it-all was scolding dh for yelling at the guy. Haha!! He kept saying it wasn't very nice and you shouldn't yell at people. He didn't understand why dh was yelling but at least he gets that it wasn't nice.

After that, we were hot and hungry. We were driving back to the hotel and decided to stop at a shopping plaza nearby. I ran into this grocery store called Goody's. Do not shop there if you are a bargain shopper or on any kind of budget. Good heavens! You know they sell to the tourists! Some things seemed to be normally priced. Then there were things like a package of Oreos for $6.09 that made me go bug eyed! How about a 12pack of SS Nabisco cookies for over $8. Holy cow! I did not buy those! Dinner ended up consisting of subs from Quiznos for us (their $5 sub specials) and McD's for the kids plus some normal priced chips from the store (at least Frito Lay had those price fixed).

Next up....swimming! Bella's first actual swimming pool experience included!

Toy Story Mania (what are we on- part 4?)

TSM is the newest ride at WDW. It is based on the old carnival games where you shoot targets or throw a ring. To get on this ride you HAVE to get a FastPass or you will be forced to wait upwards of 40min or more(early morning). I've seen the line at 90min and more!

We got the DHS just after 9am and went straight there to grab a FP. There were lines to even get a FP but thankfully those are quick lines. When we came back at our FP time, dh and Ian went on first (Bella can't go on it and there are only 2 seats) and we grabbed a Baby Swap pass from the Castmember at the front. This would get Logan and I on without having an official FP or having to wait in the stand by line when dh and Ian got off. We went to find some shade so I could nurse Bella and wait. When it was our turn, Logan and I went in. Wow! It's so cool in there. My only complaint is that the FP line doesn't get to see all the decor the people in standby do. When you are in line, you are one of the toys in Andy's room. Everything is giant size- there are giant crayons, dominos, cards and more. There's also a talking Mr Potato Head that entertains you in line. You can find videos on You Tube of the ride and MPH.

When you get thru the line, you get your 3D glasses and get in your ride vehicle and off you go. It spins you from wall to wall where you play the carnival games. There are also a few 3D/4D effects. You have to pull on a string on your shooter and man, your arm gets tired after a while!! It is soooo much fun though!! I can't wait to get to go on it again!

I forgot to bring my camera inside but here are some outside shots. You'll notice one of them at the top of my blog.

That's P.M. folks- and that was at around 12:45/1pm in the afternoon!

Since we're talking Star Wars

You have to check out this hilarious video. We didn't get to see this while we were there but I would have loved to!

The Main Event (part 3)

Star Wars Weekend(s) is why we went to DHS in the first place. My boys love SW. They can both name characters I don't know. Logan even corrected dh on the correct name of one of them yesterday (dh said Sand People which is correct but I guess technically they are Tusken Raiders).

At SWW there are actors you can get autographs for if you get in line early enough like Warwick Davis who played Wicket (also Willow in the movie Willow and also in Harry Potter). We saw them in the parade but didn't care about autographs so we walked around the park looking for other characters. I'm not a big SW junkie but it was neat to see all the characters walking around. The boys were taking it all in. Ian wasn't so gungho about going up to them though like Logan was. He's fine with giant ducks and mice, but forget StormTroopers and Jawas. ;)

At one point we saw Chewbacca. We pointed him out to Logan and got a few pics with other people in them knowing we wouldn't get thru the line. Next thing I know, Logan is gone! He apparently line jumped just to stand next to one of his fave SW characters! Chewwy didn't even know he was there. LOL We did get a few pics though before scolding him about walking away from us and line jumping. Poor Logan. I know he was just super excited.

I can see us doing this again next year (heck I'd go again this month). It was fun!
Can you imagine how HOT these costumes are??

Chewbacca

Jawa

And a few parade pics. What's neat is that you can sign your kids up to be in the parade as Jedi Trainees.

Tusken Raider aka Sand People (if you look in the crowd you'll see someone dressed in Jedi garb- there are regular people who dress for this event)



Warwick Davis



Boba Fett (I had to ask Logan LOL)

Breakfast and a few characters (weekend part 2)

Did I mention how horrible the beds at the hotel were? After reading comments about the Nick Hotel (also a Holiday Inn) I don't think we'll be staying there...ever. The next hotel I pick will have "pillow top mattress" in the description of the rooms. Thank goodness for my bed last night!

So anyway... Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We had reservations at Hollywood & Vine at 10:05am for breakfast so we fed the kids a light snack beforehand. We got to the park shortly after opening (like 9:05am) and after watching the StormTroopers a few minutes we went straight over to Toy Story Mania to grab a Fast Pass.




Fastpasses were already set for 11:45-12:45! I think the stand by wait was 70min at that time already. Wow. After that we wandered around a bit until it was time for our breakfast. I was wearing Bella that day and the CM (castmembers) were kind enough to let us bring in our double stroller so I wouldn't have to eat over her head.






She loved looking around and was staring at the characters. She didn't know what to make of them!

We also met up with Stitch!
I'm not sure what Ian's doing but it's not what it looks like! LOL

And we're back...Part 1

I think I'll give you a little bit each day this week so I have plenty of blogs to write and I can keep you all in such suspense as to how our trip went. I know it was only a 2 day trip but I have a lot to say! ;)

Friday night we checked into the Holiday Inn SunSpree. It was an okay hotel. It had some nice features but a Disney hotel it was not. Dh commented on how dirty it was (I never noticed) and how there were people smoking everywhere (did notice that). It had a kid's movie theatre, arcade, kid's pool and regular pool, and "basketball court" (maybe a quarter size one- out in the parking lot). It also had a kid's check in desk where they could get goodie bags although all I saw were some coloring pages and single crayons. The rooms were called "Kid Suites". They were a slightly larger than average hotel room with half of the room partitioned off into the Kid's Suite. Our KS had bunkbeds, a toddler bed, and a TV and desk/dresser area with 2 kid size chairs. #1 problem- it was dark in there but we could live with that. #2 and major issue- the bunk bed ladder was loose as was the top protective railing! We had Logan sleep in the bottom bunk and Ian in the toddler bed. We brought Bella's pack n play so she had her own familiar bed. There was also a small kitchenette in the room. We had a king size bed that was no lie- ROCK HARD. We would have slept better on the floor. Both dh and I are complaining about back pain from sleeping there. We did nothing but toss and turn. Horrible. Dh says never again will we go stay somewhere that's not Disney. I say we'll just find a better hotel or a condo. Here are some pics of the room...

There were 2 chairs and a small table as well as the tv stand/dresser across from the bed.


The TV and desk are off to the right


Kitchenette. The safe was under the counter.


Decent size bathroom- the whole right side was mirrors. The sink is behind that wall.


Bella hanging out on the king size (and royally hard!) bed.


Part 2 tomorrow...