They adore each other, and we adore them!! Happy Wordless Wednesday!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Weekly Goals 1/29-2/4
Alright, let's try this again - here are last weeks goals and my progress!
* Complete at least 1 workout and1 run I'm not sure why I can't get something simple like this done, and well excuses are just excuses...so we will try again. I did run double what I was planning so that makes me feel a bit better.
*Clean out and organize craft room closet Sooo glad this is done...did you see my post? A big thank you to Lovable Labels for supplying the labels to make this project happen.
* Dinner with a good friend (soo excited about this, I miss you LP) So this didn't happen either...it was planned, but I woke up Monday morning with a head cold and we didn't want to risk it in case it was more than just a cold. Hoping to reschedule for this week or next week.
* Cut & organize coupons from this week, and one past week
* Review coupon deals - if good - make a trip and start couponing again I made my list for Rite Aid, CVS, and Target and went to Rite Aid & Target. CVS just wasn't worth the trip for me. Target didn't have what I wanted and at Rite Aid I bought 5 things for $2.41 and they gave me $5.00 back to use next time so I would consider that a success!
* Blog - post review & giveaway, Wordless Wednesday, & 1 additional post I'm trying really hard to keep my regular posts up. I really want my blog to grow for myself, my family and friends, and my readers. I'm also trying to get some giveaway opportunities for everyone!
* Address & Mail Owen's birthday invites Almost done with these, just have to find a few more addresses (oh and order more invites...oops)
* Finish reading The Hunger Games (1st book) Woohooo, I finished this Friday night. Awesome book, I suggest everyone read this. It's a pretty quick read too (if you don't have a full time job and two young kids!!)
* Date night/day w/Troy So upset this didn't happen. We had it planned for Saturday but O came down with a fever on Thursday. He was better on Saturday, but we didn't want to push it. We tried rescheduling for Sunday, but I woke up not feeling well and B has a head cold, so maybe next week.
Now, for my goals for this week:
* Address & Mail Owen's birthday invites
* Order O's party favors
* Complete at least 1 workout and 1 run
* Cut and organize coupons for this week and 1 past week
* Review coupon deals & hit the good deals
* Review, crop, and order Disney Photo Pass photos
* Dinner out (we have a dinner planned with some of Troy's friends - should be fun)
* Date time w/Troy
* Blog - post WW, & 2 other posts - work on obtaining another giveaway opportunity
* Reading goal - Read 1/4-1/2 of Twenty Boy Summer for Book Club
Feel free to add yours via the comments. Or, if other's are blogging about weekly goals, let me know and I'll start a linky!
* Complete at least 1 workout and
*
* Dinner with a good friend (soo excited about this, I miss you LP) So this didn't happen either...it was planned, but I woke up Monday morning with a head cold and we didn't want to risk it in case it was more than just a cold. Hoping to reschedule for this week or next week.
* Address & Mail Owen's birthday invites Almost done with these, just have to find a few more addresses (oh and order more invites...oops)
* Date night/day w/Troy So upset this didn't happen. We had it planned for Saturday but O came down with a fever on Thursday. He was better on Saturday, but we didn't want to push it. We tried rescheduling for Sunday, but I woke up not feeling well and B has a head cold, so maybe next week.
Now, for my goals for this week:
* Address & Mail Owen's birthday invites
* Order O's party favors
* Complete at least 1 workout and 1 run
* Cut and organize coupons for this week and 1 past week
* Review coupon deals & hit the good deals
* Review, crop, and order Disney Photo Pass photos
* Dinner out (we have a dinner planned with some of Troy's friends - should be fun)
* Date time w/Troy
* Blog - post WW, & 2 other posts - work on obtaining another giveaway opportunity
* Reading goal - Read 1/4-1/2 of Twenty Boy Summer for Book Club
Feel free to add yours via the comments. Or, if other's are blogging about weekly goals, let me know and I'll start a linky!
Giveaway...
Hey guys...just wanted to let you know that I've added a giveaway section on my blog....you should see it...over there on the right hand side!! I will be listing my giveaways (hoping for some more soon) as well as my friend's giveaways.
If you have a giveaway that you would like for me to add, please comment below with the details (what you are giving away, when it ends, and the link) and I'll add it. You can also email the information to me at thelacksboat@hotmail.com
I just added my friend's Amy's giveaway - it's for the workout video Get Extremely Ripped 1000 Hardcore. Honestly, if this video gave me Jari Love's body...I'm game!! Make sure you check it out HERE...she also has some other workout video giveaways coming up soon!
~Amy
If you have a giveaway that you would like for me to add, please comment below with the details (what you are giving away, when it ends, and the link) and I'll add it. You can also email the information to me at thelacksboat@hotmail.com
I just added my friend's Amy's giveaway - it's for the workout video Get Extremely Ripped 1000 Hardcore. Honestly, if this video gave me Jari Love's body...I'm game!! Make sure you check it out HERE...she also has some other workout video giveaways coming up soon!
~Amy
Friday, January 27, 2012
Random and - Nook vs Kindle vs an old fashioned book
I'm so excited that today is Friday! Tomorrow was supposed to be my date day with Troy...and I was super excited. But, Owen started with a fever yesterday, so we are just going to have a lay low kinda weekend. This is the second weekend in a row that we haven't had anything to do, and I must say, it's kinda nice. I will miss my date time with Troy...but we'll have to make sure the kiddos nap so we can get in a movie or something, just the two of us.
My "To Do" list hasn't really gotten done all week, so maybe I can play catch up tomorrow. I HAVE to get Owen's birthday invitations out, and review our Disney pictures.
I also joined a Book Club on Facebook...and well, I have to finish the last 60 pages of The Hunger Games so I can get started on the book club book. I'm really excited about this (yes, I know I'm a dork) since I've always wanted to be part of a book club. I think it's because I don't really know what a book club is,but it sounds fun. I love to read, so I figured, why not. My only problem? Well that would be finding time to read of course...and finishing the book in the allotted time. At least this book club doesn't require me to meet away from my family, it's all done through facebook on my own time.
The next randomness to cross my mind....Do I want an E-Reader...you know, like a Nook or Kindle? Last year, I totally would have said "No Way". I love the feel of a book in my hand and love to just run my fingers through the pages (yes, once again this is the dork in me...but it's me nonetheless). I also like to see my progression in the book, am I halfway or almost done. Now today I'm thinking about the convenience of an E-Reader. Say I want to read a specific book that I don't have...well with this, with a touch of a button I have it...without having to leave my house. And if we go somewhere, I can just grab this, versus grabbing two books.
So, why don't I have one? Well, that would be the money part. Not that it's too much money or I don't want to spend the money....it's that I think eventually I will break down and get an I-pad which I can install the Nook or Kindle on for free. So why buy one now to just get the other later? Plus I have 13 books that I got for Christmas which I need to read before buying others, so I would feel like I'm buying a toy that I can't play with yet.
My question to my readers - do you have either? Which do you prefer? Pros/cons?
My question to the wonderful business world out there? Anyone want me to review/test an E-Reader to tablet computer? I'm game if you are! ; )
For my Husband, my most avid reader of my blog - for my birthday you can get me an I-pad, or a really cool new computer and I'll love you forever....or you can just tell me Happy Birthday and I'll still love you forever!! : )
Oh and since I'm getting my dorkyness out and in the open...Troy and I got tickets to see Elton John in March...and I'm soo excited. I know what cd we will be listening too while cleaning this weekend!
~Amy
FYI - don't forget to enter my giveaway...it ends tonight!
My "To Do" list hasn't really gotten done all week, so maybe I can play catch up tomorrow. I HAVE to get Owen's birthday invitations out, and review our Disney pictures.
I also joined a Book Club on Facebook...and well, I have to finish the last 60 pages of The Hunger Games so I can get started on the book club book. I'm really excited about this (yes, I know I'm a dork) since I've always wanted to be part of a book club. I think it's because I don't really know what a book club is,but it sounds fun. I love to read, so I figured, why not. My only problem? Well that would be finding time to read of course...and finishing the book in the allotted time. At least this book club doesn't require me to meet away from my family, it's all done through facebook on my own time.
The next randomness to cross my mind....Do I want an E-Reader...you know, like a Nook or Kindle? Last year, I totally would have said "No Way". I love the feel of a book in my hand and love to just run my fingers through the pages (yes, once again this is the dork in me...but it's me nonetheless). I also like to see my progression in the book, am I halfway or almost done. Now today I'm thinking about the convenience of an E-Reader. Say I want to read a specific book that I don't have...well with this, with a touch of a button I have it...without having to leave my house. And if we go somewhere, I can just grab this, versus grabbing two books.
So, why don't I have one? Well, that would be the money part. Not that it's too much money or I don't want to spend the money....it's that I think eventually I will break down and get an I-pad which I can install the Nook or Kindle on for free. So why buy one now to just get the other later? Plus I have 13 books that I got for Christmas which I need to read before buying others, so I would feel like I'm buying a toy that I can't play with yet.
My question to my readers - do you have either? Which do you prefer? Pros/cons?
My question to the wonderful business world out there? Anyone want me to review/test an E-Reader to tablet computer? I'm game if you are! ; )
For my Husband, my most avid reader of my blog - for my birthday you can get me an I-pad, or a really cool new computer and I'll love you forever....or you can just tell me Happy Birthday and I'll still love you forever!! : )
Oh and since I'm getting my dorkyness out and in the open...Troy and I got tickets to see Elton John in March...and I'm soo excited. I know what cd we will be listening too while cleaning this weekend!
~Amy
FYI - don't forget to enter my giveaway...it ends tonight!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Wordless Wednesday - Lunch or Nap?
While eating lunch on Saturday I looked over and found Brynnleigh like this:
Right after I took the picture....she looked like this:
And yes, she is still in her pjs at lunch time, but it was a wet and cold Saturday and we had nothing to do (other than clean of course) so we had a lay low day. B stayed in her pjs until after her nap, and O was in his pirate costume once again!
Don't forget to check out my Lovable Labels review - the link is posted on the right hand side of my blog.
Lovable Labels Review and Giveaway
I am soo soo soo excited about this opportunity. Lovable Labels sent me the Mom Craft Labels to review and well, my "craft" closet really needed these! Basically all my stuff is just thrown in the closet and you cross your fingers every time you open the door.
During this organizing, I realized that I really need to start putting pictures on my pages...this isn't even all of my kits that are waiting for pictures to be added!
I put the ones that I don't expect to do in the near future in a Rubbermaid container and labeled it Scrapbooking. I also labeled my stamps and ink pads. I seriously can't explain how excited I am about this. These bins are in the back corner, so I can never see what's inside and have to pull them both out to see which has which in it. Now with the labels, I won't have to do that!
On the upper shelf of the closet I have my paper keeper, some photo albums, photo boxes, markers, Album in progress (it holds my completed scrapbook pages so I can wait and put them all in the reg. album in order), and two new albums (1 is Brynnleigh's and the other is just an extra for the family, Owen's is already started downstairs).
I do need to get some more photo boxes (or put those photos on all those pages) since I have three on the shelf, and two large boxes on the floor! (And I don't even have all my photos printed!)
So, ready for the final product? This, is amazing!
I do still want to go through my big scrapbooking bag in the back left corner, but I was too tired to tackle that today. I haven't opened that thing in at least a year. The scrapbooking I do now is once a month and the only supplies I need are a 12" paper cuter, and glue (oh and pictures...eventually). I also have all my stamps and card making supplies, and I don't really do cards anymore since the kids have come around. I'm hoping to be able to get back into it when they get a bit older, so I think I'll keep it until I need that closet for something else!
I was able to get 3 large bags of trash from the closet, and a nice pile for Goodwill. I still had my first digital camera in there...you know, the one with 3 mega pixels?
So, what do I think of the Craft Mom Labels from Lovable Labels? Well, I love them of course! They adhere great and have a nice clean look to them. I would suggest maybe a few more blank labels, but at the same time, there were a couple of times that I had a decision between which label I wanted to use because a few different ones applied. I have some leftover too that I'm going to use on Owen's craft items. I would definitely recommend these to others.
Lovable Labels has a bunch of other products you should definitely check out. I'm in love with the
Follow @mylovablelabels and @thelacksboat on Twitter and tweet "Crafty Mom Label Pack " from @mylovablelabels @theLacksBOAT linking to http://lacksupdates.blogspot.com/2012/01/lovable-labels-review-and-giveaway.html and leave a comment with the link and your email address for extra daily entries. (1 entry per day)
‘Like’ Lovable Labels on Facebook for one extra entry and leave a comment with your email address that you are a new fan (or that you are already a fan).
‘Like’ TheLacksBOAT on Facebook for one extra entry and leave a comment with your email address that you are a new fan (or that you are already a fan).
Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment with the link for one extra entry with your email address.
This giveaway ends . The winner will be selected by random draw (Random.org) and will be notified by Sunday January 29. They will have 48 hrs to respond to the notification email before another winner is selected.
Good luck!!
~Amy
***DISCLOSURE*** The product reviewed above was provided to me free of cost for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.
And yes, those are Brynnleigh's clothes hanging...these are her next size up, or never really worn clothes. She stayed so small that her summer wardrobe never really got touched in the 12 month range. I've stopped buying ahead for her, I'm sure as soon as I buy some cute things, she'll hit a growth spurt.
So, back to my labels...these little guys are going to help me organize that massive craziness in the picture above..
 |
| Sorry it's blurry, it was taken w/my phone |
I bought some 12x12 organizing cases so I can store a scrapbooking kit or two (three actually fit) w/the pictures so when I had an extra few minutes to scrapbook, I could just grab a case and get started. With two young kids, I don't have the time to find a kit, find the pictures, and then start scrapbooking, by then the kids are up, or bored with what they are working on. These labels were PERFECT for these cases!
So, ready for the final product? This, is amazing!
 |
| Idea books, and photos in two boxes below! |
I was able to get 3 large bags of trash from the closet, and a nice pile for Goodwill. I still had my first digital camera in there...you know, the one with 3 mega pixels?
So, what do I think of the Craft Mom Labels from Lovable Labels? Well, I love them of course! They adhere great and have a nice clean look to them. I would suggest maybe a few more blank labels, but at the same time, there were a couple of times that I had a decision between which label I wanted to use because a few different ones applied. I have some leftover too that I'm going to use on Owen's craft items. I would definitely recommend these to others.
Lovable Labels has a bunch of other products you should definitely check out. I'm in love with the
Zip It Tags, I hate having to write Owen's name on his jackets to know that he will outgrow it and someone will be wearing a jacket with his name on it. My other issue - hats and gloves/mittens. How in the world do you label gloves/mittens who don't have a tag?
Okay okay...on to the good stuff! Lovable Labels has generously supplied me with a pack of "Craft Mom Labels" for one lucky winner! Thanks, Lovable Labels! (Open to US & Canadian residents ages 18 and older only - sorry)
To Enter:
Mandatory : Go to Lovable Labels and leave me a comment with your email address telling me which one of their amazing product is your fav! Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries:
Become a follower and leave a comment that you are a follower (or that you are already a follower) with your email address.
Follow @mylovablelabels and @thelacksboat on Twitter and tweet "Crafty Mom Label Pack " from @mylovablelabels @theLacksBOAT linking to http://lacksupdates.blogspot.com/2012/01/lovable-labels-review-and-giveaway.html and leave a comment with the link and your email address for extra daily entries. (1 entry per day)
‘Like’ Lovable Labels on Facebook for one extra entry and leave a comment with your email address that you are a new fan (or that you are already a fan).
‘Like’ TheLacksBOAT on Facebook for one extra entry and leave a comment with your email address that you are a new fan (or that you are already a fan).
Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment with the link for one extra entry with your email address.
This giveaway ends . The winner will be selected by random draw (Random.org) and will be notified by Sunday January 29. They will have 48 hrs to respond to the notification email before another winner is selected.
Good luck!!
~Amy
***DISCLOSURE*** The product reviewed above was provided to me free of cost for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Weekly Goals 1/22-1/28
Okay...lets see how I did last week...
Last Weeks Goals:
* Keep the kitchen island cleaned off (this has to be done nightly, it collects EVERYTHING) There may have been one (or two) nights this didn't happen, but overall it was clean!
* Complete at least 1 workout and1 run - So...I totally kept this easy so I would get it done...and well, I didn't. I did get my run in, I walked a mile, to run a mile, to walk a mile home, in the COLD & RAIN! I did have every intention to do my workout on Monday, but Troy wanted to watch the Bachelor (just to see Shawntel) and well, I wanted to watch it with him. Tuesday & Wednesday Troy was sick, Thursday we ate dinner at his parents, and Friday we watched a movie. So Mr. Anonymous who asked when I would hang out with my husband, that's when! ; ) (FYI, Anonymous was Troy)
*Order Christmas Thank you notes - I didn't do this, but am marking it off my list. Troy doesn't know why I do these, and it's already a month later, so to all who got us gifts - Thank you!
*Pick out Owen's birthday invitations - Woohoo, done, ordered, and I should have them by Wednesday!
*Post to blog - Disney Trip & Wordless Wednesday - Done, hope you enjoyed!
*Clean out & organize craft room closet (this could easily take all week) - Okay, this got pushed off, but I did it today, so I'm carrying it over to this weeks goals, and it feels good to already have one done!
*Clean out coupon organizer, cut & file last week and this weeks coupons - I did get my organizers cleaned out and this weeks coupons cut and organized, I did not get to last week's however.
*Review coupon deals - if good - make a trip and start couponing again - I looked, but I didn't make any trips, hoping to do so this week.
Overall, pretty good. Now onto this week!
* Complete at least 1 workout and 1 run
* Clean out and organize craft room closet
* Dinner with a good friend (soo excited about this, I miss you LP)
* Cut & organize coupons from this week, and one past week
* Review coupon deals - if good - make a trip and start couponing again
* Blog - post review & giveaway, Wordless Wednesday, & 1 additional post
* Address & Mail Owen's birthday invites
* Finish reading The Hunger Games (1st book)
* Date night/day w/Troy
It's a lot, but I'm not going to lie, I've already done some today, this list is very possible this week!
Feel free to post your own list, or link up to yours in the comments!! If I have a lot of feedback I can start this as a Linky next week!
Last Weeks Goals:
* Complete at least 1 workout and
*Clean out & organize craft room closet (this could easily take all week) - Okay, this got pushed off, but I did it today, so I'm carrying it over to this weeks goals, and it feels good to already have one done!
*Review coupon deals - if good - make a trip and start couponing again - I looked, but I didn't make any trips, hoping to do so this week.
Overall, pretty good. Now onto this week!
* Complete at least 1 workout and 1 run
* Clean out and organize craft room closet
* Dinner with a good friend (soo excited about this, I miss you LP)
* Cut & organize coupons from this week, and one past week
* Review coupon deals - if good - make a trip and start couponing again
* Blog - post review & giveaway, Wordless Wednesday, & 1 additional post
* Address & Mail Owen's birthday invites
* Finish reading The Hunger Games (1st book)
* Date night/day w/Troy
It's a lot, but I'm not going to lie, I've already done some today, this list is very possible this week!
Feel free to post your own list, or link up to yours in the comments!! If I have a lot of feedback I can start this as a Linky next week!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Disney Trip - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
In case you missed it, we were in Disney last week. We left early Friday morning (6th) and didn't get back until last Saturday night (14th). Troy and I participated in the marathon weekend and then had a fun family vacation afterwards. Troy ran the "Goofy" which is the 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday and the full marathon (26.2) on Sunday. I only ran the 1/2 on Saturday.
Initially my main concern was that Troy and I would be able toenjoy walk the rest of the vacation. Well, that was the least of my concerns.
Don't get me wrong, 99.9% of our problems were not Disney related - it was just one of those times that nothing seemed to go right. Here's the break down of our trip - filled w/lots of pics too.
Friday - we arrived on property at 9:30-10 am - our rooms weren't ready yet since it was so early...but it didn't take long for one of our 5 rooms to free up. But, since we were there during the "marathon" weekend, we were blacked out of all the deals for that weekend (deal at the time was the free sit down meal plan). Troy & I decided just to opt out all together, so we would not have to check out and check back in on Sunday morning while running a marathon and trying to keep 2 young children happy....well everyone else in our group did two packages, one for Friday-Sunday and another for Sunday - Saturday....well that messed up a lot of things...our rooms (the proximity of where we were to each other) and they were going to have to check out and then check back in on Sunday - no guarantee that they would stay in the same room. (Dear Disney - here's my 2 cents - if you are offering a "free" promotion w/black out dates...if the person is staying longer than the black out dates (especially 6 days afterwards) maybe you should just allow them the free promotion without all the strings). Went to head out to Magic Kingdom to ride Dumbo (it was shutting down on Sunday to be moved) - stroller tires were flat - luckily the resort had an air compressor and pumped them up for us. After waiting over 20 minutes for our bus (this has NEVER happened, normally it's a 5 minute wait tops) we headed to out.
Saturday - Troy and I got up at 3am to go run the 1/2 marathon that started at 5:30 am. Of course 3 miles into the race I had to go to the bathroom - and had to wait in line to use a nice "clean" port-a-potty for 6+ minutes....so much for time! We were done and back at the hotel by 10 am - showered and went to head to the park and the stroller tire was flat flat - worse than Friday. Waited for the place at our resort to open at 11 am - went to get tire pumped, and it would not hold air - had a hole. Great, what are we going to do in a crowded amusement park with a 4 year old and a 15 month old? So we rented a stroller at a great cost of $15.00 a day hoping we could find someone or some duct tape to fix our tire for the rest of the week.
Sunday - Troy ran the marathon - we tried to get to the finish line to see him finish...and waited FOREVER for the bus to come, and missed him. If you'd like to know how long FOREVER is - it's the same amount of time it took Troy to run 2-3 miles, go through the finish, medal, food, and picture line, waiting in line for the marathon bus and arrive back at the hotel. He got back, before the bus even got to us...so yes folks, we missed him run his last marathon. I felt like such a great wife at that point! Luckily Troy is awesome, and was still on a runners high and didn't seem bothered by the fact that NONE of us were there. I sent O w/my parents to Animal Kingdom and helped make sure Troy was okay and wait for the random stroller fixer guy to come check out the stroller. Guess what was wrong....yep, they over inflated the tires, and it blew. He replaced it, and checked the others....and was it expensive? Not at all - $17.00, so much better than having to rent a stroller the rest of the week.
Later on Sunday, while eating lunch, O was trying to be a great big brother and catch Brynnleigh's fork as she dropped it, and completely fell out of his chair on his head...luckily he was okay, but I was about done at this point.
Monday - pretty sure this was a normal day, believe it or not. But sometime between Sunday and Tuesday we lost Owen's Flying Squirrel hat, and yes, I've called every lost and found, it's no where to be found. He LOVED that hat, but I'm pretty sure it can be replaced, so it could be worse.
Tuesday - Nothing crazy this day either....just a tired cranky Troy...but he had just run 39.3 miles and had 3 - 3am wake ups, so he deserved to be cranky!
Wednesday - Oh Wednesday...the one day we had reservations - Chef Mickey at 8:40 am...2 seconds before getting on the bus, Brynnleigh throws up on me, her, and her personalized, matching cousin/brother dress. We get her cleaned up and think it was just bad milk, or unsettled milk. Go to meet everyone back at the restaurant (we were running - walked in the door at 8:41am) and at this point I'm a nervous wreck. Brynnleigh does great, grabbing food off my plate and shoving it in. She's good....then 30 minutes later while on the monorail....she throws up again....everything she just ate. Luckily we were the only ones in the monorail car at the time. So what happens next....the monorail stops for maintenance for 17 minutes. We finally get to the Magic Kingdom (which we could have walked to from breakfast in 5minutes, but O LOVES the monorail, so we let him pick) I send O w/my parents & brother (thank God for them so he didn't miss out) and head back with Brynnleigh who is asleep at this point. We were also lucky that we were the only ones on the bus headed back to the hotel since she was so nice and clean (oh yeah...and that wonderful stroller, yeah, that needed to be cleaned). Luckily Brynnleigh didn't get sick anymore after that.
Thursday - seemed to be a back to normal day. Spent the day in Magic Kingdom and stayed for the light parade. After the light parade they had decided to show some show on the castle (pretty cool by the way) but it made it IMPOSSIBLE to get out. Then, at the end of Main Street, right below the train station, right in front of the hat cart, O jumps out of the stroller, and pukes EVERYWHERE...yep, that's right folks, right during the fireworks, my child throws up on Main Street USA. We get him calmed down/cleaned up and head to the bus....and of course we had to wait for the bus, which then meant it was PACKED. Troy, Owen, my dad and I jumped on and stood up front as far away from people as possible. My Mom & Troy's parents stayed with Brynnleigh and brought her on another bus...Owen slept the whole way home...and we thought he was done...and we were wrong. He was up every hour or two until 4 am getting sick. At 4 am he was asking for a bath and at 6-6:30 am both kids were up for the day. My poor baby asked to go home all night long and I felt so bad for him.
Friday - we laid low, I didn't want to press our luck with Owen with food or rides. We ate breakfast and took O to the playground at the resort. We then went to Downtown Disney just to walk around and get some fresh air. We also didn't want to go too far since at this point Troy's Mom and brother had the sickness (they were in the hotel room beside us). Troy's brother is disabled and is very frail, so the littlest bug tends to affect him a lot more than others. They weren't sure they were going to be able to make the plan trip on Saturday.
Saturday - we were ALL ready to go home...but our flight was not until 9pm. So we let O go where he wanted and he picked "Efcot". We got to "Efcot" and O didn't want to do anything...he didn't want to ride rides or really do anything. I think he was still not 100% and was scared. We walked around a bit and then let O ride the monorail one last time before we left. When exiting the monorail, O asked if he could ride the white ride that takes you anywhere you want....yep folks..he wanted to ride the parking shuttle ride...when I explained that it was taking you to your car in the parking lot and we didn't have one of those...he replied "I know Momma...we can just ride around the parking lot and come back" We didn't ride it...but I did consider!
So we wait for our shuttle bus to pick us up, and the lady immediately throws and attitude at us when she sees that Troy's brother is in a wheelchair, telling us we needed to make a reservation for a wheelchair. This is when our frustrations got the better of us. And Mrs. Bus driver lady, I apologize...but I still stand by our statement "Ma'am he came here 9 days ago in a wheelchair and you transported him, he stayed in a handicapped wheelchair accessible room for 9 days, and is still in that same wheelchair to leave...and everything was set up and no one said anything about needing a reservation. It probably would not have been so bad if she hadn't gotten an attitude first (that and we were all waiting to see who was going to get sick next)!
So, we are all back home safely...and Troy's Dad got the sickness on Monday, and Troy has it now while I type this....so I'm the only one out of our little group...and I'm starting to think it's just a matter of hours before it's my turn.
Those of you thinking about Disney, or planning Disney....Do it. 2 years ago we went and it was a magical place, everything was WONDERFUL. This year, we just had bad luck. But Disney, if you want to make it up to us and offer us a free trip back, we'd gladly take it! ; )
We will go back...we just don't know when (2 years ago, we were already planning to go back the next year...then I realized that we had a Disney Souvenir...and she would be too young to go in January...so we pushed it back a year). This year, no permanent souvenirs! ; )
Owen's favorites this year - The Mickey Train (Magic Kingdom), Tomorrowland Speedway (Magic Kingdom), The People Mover (Magic Kingdom), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Magic Kingdom), The Monorail, Test Track (Epcot), Toy Mania (Hollywood Studios) and Indiana Jones (he hated it at first, then asked to go back - Hollywood Studios)
Brynnleigh's favorites this year - The Monorail, all the characters (she would walk up, turn around, and back into the "picture"), Disney JR show (Hollywood Studios), and the Light Parade (Magic Kingdom)
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| Just walked into park, taking it all in |
Initially my main concern was that Troy and I would be able to
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| Brynnleigh & Daddy on Dumbo |
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| Aunt Liz, Uncle Jamy, & Kyra on Dumbo |
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| Owen & I on Dumbo |
Don't get me wrong, 99.9% of our problems were not Disney related - it was just one of those times that nothing seemed to go right. Here's the break down of our trip - filled w/lots of pics too.
Friday - we arrived on property at 9:30-10 am - our rooms weren't ready yet since it was so early...but it didn't take long for one of our 5 rooms to free up. But, since we were there during the "marathon" weekend, we were blacked out of all the deals for that weekend (deal at the time was the free sit down meal plan). Troy & I decided just to opt out all together, so we would not have to check out and check back in on Sunday morning while running a marathon and trying to keep 2 young children happy....well everyone else in our group did two packages, one for Friday-Sunday and another for Sunday - Saturday....well that messed up a lot of things...our rooms (the proximity of where we were to each other) and they were going to have to check out and then check back in on Sunday - no guarantee that they would stay in the same room. (Dear Disney - here's my 2 cents - if you are offering a "free" promotion w/black out dates...if the person is staying longer than the black out dates (especially 6 days afterwards) maybe you should just allow them the free promotion without all the strings). Went to head out to Magic Kingdom to ride Dumbo (it was shutting down on Sunday to be moved) - stroller tires were flat - luckily the resort had an air compressor and pumped them up for us. After waiting over 20 minutes for our bus (this has NEVER happened, normally it's a 5 minute wait tops) we headed to out.
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| Troy, Owen, & Papa on the People Mover |
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| Brynnleigh & I on the People Mover |
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| MeeMaw & Brynnleigh on the People Mover |
Saturday - Troy and I got up at 3am to go run the 1/2 marathon that started at 5:30 am. Of course 3 miles into the race I had to go to the bathroom - and had to wait in line to use a nice "clean" port-a-potty for 6+ minutes....so much for time! We were done and back at the hotel by 10 am - showered and went to head to the park and the stroller tire was flat flat - worse than Friday. Waited for the place at our resort to open at 11 am - went to get tire pumped, and it would not hold air - had a hole. Great, what are we going to do in a crowded amusement park with a 4 year old and a 15 month old? So we rented a stroller at a great cost of $15.00 a day hoping we could find someone or some duct tape to fix our tire for the rest of the week.
Sunday - Troy ran the marathon - we tried to get to the finish line to see him finish...and waited FOREVER for the bus to come, and missed him. If you'd like to know how long FOREVER is - it's the same amount of time it took Troy to run 2-3 miles, go through the finish, medal, food, and picture line, waiting in line for the marathon bus and arrive back at the hotel. He got back, before the bus even got to us...so yes folks, we missed him run his last marathon. I felt like such a great wife at that point! Luckily Troy is awesome, and was still on a runners high and didn't seem bothered by the fact that NONE of us were there. I sent O w/my parents to Animal Kingdom and helped make sure Troy was okay and wait for the random stroller fixer guy to come check out the stroller. Guess what was wrong....yep, they over inflated the tires, and it blew. He replaced it, and checked the others....and was it expensive? Not at all - $17.00, so much better than having to rent a stroller the rest of the week.
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| Owen & Papa on the Safari |
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| Brynnleigh on the Safari |
Later on Sunday, while eating lunch, O was trying to be a great big brother and catch Brynnleigh's fork as she dropped it, and completely fell out of his chair on his head...luckily he was okay, but I was about done at this point.
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| Lunch - 10 minutes before he fell |
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| Owen & his cousin Kyra waiting for a parade |
Monday - pretty sure this was a normal day, believe it or not. But sometime between Sunday and Tuesday we lost Owen's Flying Squirrel hat, and yes, I've called every lost and found, it's no where to be found. He LOVED that hat, but I'm pretty sure it can be replaced, so it could be worse.
Tuesday - Nothing crazy this day either....just a tired cranky Troy...but he had just run 39.3 miles and had 3 - 3am wake ups, so he deserved to be cranky!
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| O & I after Big Thunder Mountain Railroad |
Wednesday - Oh Wednesday...the one day we had reservations - Chef Mickey at 8:40 am...2 seconds before getting on the bus, Brynnleigh throws up on me, her, and her personalized, matching cousin/brother dress. We get her cleaned up and think it was just bad milk, or unsettled milk. Go to meet everyone back at the restaurant (we were running - walked in the door at 8:41am) and at this point I'm a nervous wreck. Brynnleigh does great, grabbing food off my plate and shoving it in. She's good....then 30 minutes later while on the monorail....she throws up again....everything she just ate. Luckily we were the only ones in the monorail car at the time. So what happens next....the monorail stops for maintenance for 17 minutes. We finally get to the Magic Kingdom (which we could have walked to from breakfast in 5minutes, but O LOVES the monorail, so we let him pick) I send O w/my parents & brother (thank God for them so he didn't miss out) and head back with Brynnleigh who is asleep at this point. We were also lucky that we were the only ones on the bus headed back to the hotel since she was so nice and clean (oh yeah...and that wonderful stroller, yeah, that needed to be cleaned). Luckily Brynnleigh didn't get sick anymore after that.
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| Pretending not being sick |
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| Kyra, Donald, & Owen |
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| Donald & Brynnleigh |
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| O shared his whip cream w/me |
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| My poor sick baby! |
Thursday - seemed to be a back to normal day. Spent the day in Magic Kingdom and stayed for the light parade. After the light parade they had decided to show some show on the castle (pretty cool by the way) but it made it IMPOSSIBLE to get out. Then, at the end of Main Street, right below the train station, right in front of the hat cart, O jumps out of the stroller, and pukes EVERYWHERE...yep, that's right folks, right during the fireworks, my child throws up on Main Street USA. We get him calmed down/cleaned up and head to the bus....and of course we had to wait for the bus, which then meant it was PACKED. Troy, Owen, my dad and I jumped on and stood up front as far away from people as possible. My Mom & Troy's parents stayed with Brynnleigh and brought her on another bus...Owen slept the whole way home...and we thought he was done...and we were wrong. He was up every hour or two until 4 am getting sick. At 4 am he was asking for a bath and at 6-6:30 am both kids were up for the day. My poor baby asked to go home all night long and I felt so bad for him.
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| Watching another parade |
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| Me, Brynnleigh, Owen, & Troy in front of the castle |
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| O & I on the teacups (6 hrs before the fun began) |
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| Race Car Driver Owen w/PawPaw |
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| Brynnleigh playing the pumpkin drums |
Friday - we laid low, I didn't want to press our luck with Owen with food or rides. We ate breakfast and took O to the playground at the resort. We then went to Downtown Disney just to walk around and get some fresh air. We also didn't want to go too far since at this point Troy's Mom and brother had the sickness (they were in the hotel room beside us). Troy's brother is disabled and is very frail, so the littlest bug tends to affect him a lot more than others. They weren't sure they were going to be able to make the plan trip on Saturday.
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| Lego Land Racers |
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| Kyra, Owen, & Papa |
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| Cousins |
Saturday - we were ALL ready to go home...but our flight was not until 9pm. So we let O go where he wanted and he picked "Efcot". We got to "Efcot" and O didn't want to do anything...he didn't want to ride rides or really do anything. I think he was still not 100% and was scared. We walked around a bit and then let O ride the monorail one last time before we left. When exiting the monorail, O asked if he could ride the white ride that takes you anywhere you want....yep folks..he wanted to ride the parking shuttle ride...when I explained that it was taking you to your car in the parking lot and we didn't have one of those...he replied "I know Momma...we can just ride around the parking lot and come back" We didn't ride it...but I did consider!
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| Arggg!! |
So we wait for our shuttle bus to pick us up, and the lady immediately throws and attitude at us when she sees that Troy's brother is in a wheelchair, telling us we needed to make a reservation for a wheelchair. This is when our frustrations got the better of us. And Mrs. Bus driver lady, I apologize...but I still stand by our statement "Ma'am he came here 9 days ago in a wheelchair and you transported him, he stayed in a handicapped wheelchair accessible room for 9 days, and is still in that same wheelchair to leave...and everything was set up and no one said anything about needing a reservation. It probably would not have been so bad if she hadn't gotten an attitude first (that and we were all waiting to see who was going to get sick next)!
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| Brynnleigh on the Pooh ride |
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| PawPaw & O on It's a Small World |
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| Troy, Brynnleigh & I on Its a Small World |
So, we are all back home safely...and Troy's Dad got the sickness on Monday, and Troy has it now while I type this....so I'm the only one out of our little group...and I'm starting to think it's just a matter of hours before it's my turn.
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| Owen & I on the Astro Orbiter |
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| Troy flying high & fast |
Those of you thinking about Disney, or planning Disney....Do it. 2 years ago we went and it was a magical place, everything was WONDERFUL. This year, we just had bad luck. But Disney, if you want to make it up to us and offer us a free trip back, we'd gladly take it! ; )
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| Me, Troy, & Missy on Pirates of the Caribbean |
We will go back...we just don't know when (2 years ago, we were already planning to go back the next year...then I realized that we had a Disney Souvenir...and she would be too young to go in January...so we pushed it back a year). This year, no permanent souvenirs! ; )
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| O always needed a map |
Brynnleigh's favorites this year - The Monorail, all the characters (she would walk up, turn around, and back into the "picture"), Disney JR show (Hollywood Studios), and the Light Parade (Magic Kingdom)
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| Owen, me, & Jake |
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| Papa & his grandkids |
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| Diva in training |
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| Owen & Kyra killing time at Pizza Planet |
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| Owen & Missy At Indiana Jones |
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| MeeMaw, Uncle Todd, Owen, & Troy |
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| Brynnleigh rocking out the monorail (saying Weeee) |
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