Many reasons to be THANKFUL! Oh, look the baby is crying… Nov '12 (THROWBACK FRIDAY!)

[francis6306]

Originally Posted by mickeystoontown

I remember the days of going with the flow and doing whatever you could do while having a little one in the group. It sounds like ya'll were doing quite well with hitting the attractions that day.

You can tell that the girls are really into the safari. They were checking everything out.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Originally Posted by mickeystoontown

Oh I forgot to mention that I am a "do not like my food to touch" too. The family actually teases me about it. When we were in Tennessee over Thanksgiving, my nephew sent me a text and it was a picture of his plate and the title said "look, everything is touching!"

Happy New Year to you as well!!!

My B/SIL gave me some of those kiddie plates with the divided sections- like the plastic trays that school food used to be served on before I had Cortlyn! They thought it was so funny! I didn't use them (except for dinner that night at their house), but my girls use them now!

[francis6306]

Okay… I'm back!!! I wish I could commit to doing this every few days! It's hard, because I can't get online at work at ALL- even if it was allowed, I am so busy!!!! Coming home, I have these two adorable girls that just want to spend time with me and a maid that just NEVER shows up while we are at work!!!!!

We got the Photopass CD in, but I haven't uploaded the pictures yet! We did a share with some other people, so I have to work on their pictures, and then I'll upload mine and do a "catch up" post with those pictures!!!!

Okay, so after the Safari, Cortlyn wanted to head back over to the Boneyard and play. Catie decided that she knew the way, so we let her tell us where to go…


On the way, I told Corey I wanted to grab a FP for Everest. YAY!!!


We went over to the boneyard and let the girls play for a few minutes.

The guy in the picture just laughed and said "Looks like you have a little Diva!" I smiled and said- "You have NO idea!"

I decided to show the girls the area where you can ACTUALLY "dig" for bones and Cortlyn loved it… Catie did not!



We decided that it was time to head back to the resort. It was just about lunchtime and we could tell Catie was heading downhill fast. She wasn't crying (yet) but we didn't want to push our luck! I was a little bummed that we didn't get over to watch FOTLK... I did read though that they are keeping FOTLK, just moving it, so that makes me feel a little better about it!

We got the girls back to the hotel and I decided that I was going to just go right back to AK to use my FP. I had plenty of time, but i was afraid if I sat down for even a minute I'd fall asleep! So, I got the girls snuggled down and then headed back over to AK to use my FP. Sorry… no pictures, since this was time alone for me!

I got back to the park and decided that I would go over and ride Primeval Whirl for myself! While I was in line, my BF Stef called and we chatted for a while. I kinda felt bad for talking in line, but I was mostly listening… I enjoyed the ride- but MAN it is SHORT! I don't notice that it was two mirror image rides side by side. It was a fun ride though and I think Cortlyn would have enjoyed it had she been tall enough.

I decided to just walk around a bit until my fast-pass time, which was 3:05. I saw the monkeys swinging around in their area (which I was SO upset- Cortlyn really wanted to see some monkeys earlier in the day and we didn't see any!). I walked through some shops but then decided that I should find a place to sit down and rest, as my feet were hurting. I sat near the entrance Everest and just people-watched. I still had about 30 minutes til my time. I wasn't really paying attention to anything, other than some birds hunting for discarded food nearby and all of a sudden I saw this HUGE line forming. I looked around and noticed that the line was forming out of the FP entrance and I got scared! I looked up and noticed I had never heard the ride since I made my way over to my sitting place. I jumped up and decided to get in line. I decided I would wait until 3:15 and if the ride wasn't up, then I'd go back to the resort. As I got in line, some CM's came up and talked to people explaining the ride was down but they were testing soon and that they would honor ANY FP from the last 1.5 hour once the ride was up and running again.

Then, we saw/heard the test car and suddenly the line was moving- and FAST! Suddenly cast-members started telling us to get out the fast-pass and I was at the CM that was checking FP- at exactly 3. Now, how would you have guessed seeing that line that I would have actually ended up AHEAD of my fp time?! The CM smiled and told me to just stand off to the side until 3:05. So for 5 minutes, I stood there while people went ahead of me. I wasn't upset- it wasn't my time yet, but it was slightly embarrassing! Over the next 5 minutes, there was quite a few of us "early" arrivers right there at the entrance. When it was 3:05 I looked at the CM and she said I could go, and this family next to me tried to go too. She stopped them, because their time was after mine and they got upset with her. Really?? She's asking you to stand right there instead of making you go to the back of the line!!! CHILL!!!

Anyway, I sped through the PF line and really missed out on looking at all the cool scenes they had set up. Then I saw the standby line and they were not letting any standby into the actual ride line. They were stopped and just letting FP'ers get on the ride. I guess they were catching up on the FP before they started letting the standby go. I was a single rider, and got in line and was given another single rider to ride with. The little girl was maybe 10 or 12 and she said that she LOVED riding Everest. We didn't talk much, but she didn't seem to be with anyone else in the area. Finally it was our turn to ride and I'm happy to report that we escaped the Yeti and made it safely back down!

I headed back to the buses so I could get back to AK. My feet were barking by that point- I think it was because I was wearing tennis shoes, and I usually wear dress shoes or flip flops! They don't know how to act with tennis shoes on them nowadays! When I walked in, Catie had JUST woken up and it was right at 4. Cortlyn was still out for a little bit and then when she woke up the FIRST thing out of her mouth was….

I WANT TO GO SWIMMING!!!!!

Sigh… Okay. Let's go swimming! The weather wasn't bad- but it was cold! We all got dressed and went to the pool for a little bit. THIS is how you can tell that you love your kids! You get in the pool in November!!!







The girls had a BLAST. Finally though, I decided that although the water felt fine, it was enough cold air for Catie, so Corey stayed in the pool and I took Catie upstairs and got her in the bath to rinse off. We had fun, but I doubt I'll be swimming in November anytime soon! It wasn't the water- it was fine… it was being wet and having the wind blow on you!!!

[francis6306]

Then we had the great debate… What's for dinner??! Food Court or something at DTD? We decided to go to DTD, because we weren't sure we'd get another chance to get over there! We got to the bus and I got this shot:


Doesn't everyone look so happy? It's funny to me, because we were actually in a good mood at that point. Anyway, sadly… this is the very last picture that was taken with this camera. Oh, you want to know what happened? Here… let me tell you!

After I took this picture, somehow Corey ended up with the camera. We walked around and decided to go to eat at Wolfgang Puck Express! I was excited to try this place! We placed our orders and got to our table. Catie was really hungry and she was being really fussy. Finally the food arrived and I asked Corey for the camera. He pulled it out and handed it to me. I turned it on… and…. the screen on the back of the camera was cracked. He had the camera in his back pants pocket and when he sat down he must have somehow busted the screen. There was no view finder to even see what a picture would look like, and I was NOT happy.

Not to let people down, he handed me his iPhone and I took pictures of the food.

I had an Alfredo pasta dish- it was good!


Corey had the Meatloaf Sandwich. He LOVED this… I didn't try it because it had pork in it, but he said it was one of the best meatloaves he had ever had.


We missed getting the picture of Cortlyn's meal, but it was the kid's spaghetti. It was spaghetti… nothing special.

For dessert I had the cheesecake. It was pretty yummy!!! Corey got a brownie that was prewrapped, so we just took that back to the room with us.


After our meal, we walked around a little bit. I was not in a good mood- if you can imagine, with my camera busted… it wasn't really pretty. We walked into the Christmas store to buy an ornament for our tree. We headed back to the resort and got the girls to bed… and then Corey and I MIGHT have had a little fight about the camera… In the end, Corey got a cab and headed to the local walmart to buy a new camera for the rest of the trip. I know that people use their iPhones as cameras all the time… but I don't think they take good pictures. Even if I just have a PnS, I prefer that to the iPhones!

[emmysmommy]

What a guy! Corey bought you a new camera! Whew! Glad we will have more photos from your trip! It's just not the same with an iPhone even though they can take some pretty good photos!

I'm so relieved to hear that FOTLK will not be gone for good but just relocated. We finally saw that show and I love it!!

So the pool must have been heated?? Or else you guys would have been not so happy looking! You are an awesome mom to take the girls swimming in November!

I love WPE - I'm a big fan of everything we have eaten there. Yum.

I hear you about the maid not showing up!! I'm still waiting for mine too.

[mickeystoontown]

Yay for getting a little "me" time by going back to ride Expedition Everest. There really was no need for you to feel embarassed for having to stand to the side. We've had to do that before. You couldn't have helped but to get antsy when you saw that line.

I can't imagine getting into a pool in November. Like you said, though, a parent;s gotta do what a parent's gotta do.

Oh no! Not a broken camera! I had that happen to me several years ago and we went searching for a Walmart at 2:00 in the morning. At least Corey was sweet enough to go to Walmart and get a new one for you.

[francis6306]

Originally Posted by emmysmommy

What a guy! Corey bought you a new camera! Whew! Glad we will have more photos from your trip! It's just not the same with an iPhone even though they can take some pretty good photos!

I'm so relieved to hear that FOTLK will not be gone for good but just relocated. We finally saw that show and I love it!!

So the pool must have been heated?? Or else you guys would have been not so happy looking! You are an awesome mom to take the girls swimming in November!

I love WPE - I'm a big fan of everything we have eaten there. Yum.

I hear you about the maid not showing up!! I'm still waiting for mine too.

Yes, the pool is "heated" but it's a REALLY big pool, so it wasn't as warm as I would have liked! I did find the little vents where they pumped the warm water up and I stood around those! I don't think the girls would have noticed the temp of the water though! They could play in their baths for over an hour with freezing water!

Originally Posted by mickeystoontown

Yay for getting a little "me" time by going back to ride Expedition Everest. There really was no need for you to feel embarassed for having to stand to the side. We've had to do that before. You couldn't have helped but to get antsy when you saw that line.

I can't imagine getting into a pool in November. Like you said, though, a parent;s gotta do what a parent's gotta do.

Oh no! Not a broken camera! I had that happen to me several years ago and we went searching for a Walmart at 2:00 in the morning. At least Corey was sweet enough to go to Walmart and get a new one for you.

Well I was REALLY antsy! I just never expected the line to start moving so quickly once I got in line! But I think they must have started the line at the actual entrance, so maybe that's why it was so long?

This new camera isn't as easy to use as the one that it replaced. It's gonna force me to get a new dSRL camera soon. You will see later on, the pictures just didn't turn out as well!

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!

[francis6306]

Originally Posted by MelMel11

Count me in!!

Welcome!!! Hope to keep you entertained!!!

[francis6306]

It's 3am and I'm not sleeping… I've caught up on all the TR's that I'm behind on, so why not add another update to mine?!

So, the next day was our Hollywood Studio's day!!! I was soooo looking forward to this park. Let me just say that if you are pregnant (as I was in 2010!), HS isn't a fun park to go to! So, I had a LOT to make up for here at HS!!!!

We got up and quickly got ready. So quickly in fact that I didn't get my morning picture of the girls in the stroller! Hope we don't lose them before I get to the park!

We had to hurry, because we had a before-the-park-opened ressie at Hollywood and Vine!!! My girls LOVE some Disney Junior, so this was right up their alley… or so I thought… Well… you will see.

Momma's little Diva!


Peaking in to see the characters!!!


We had to wait a little bit and the porch was pretty crowded. I think we had the most deadpan seater… so many other seaters were so creative with calling the names… our seater just said our name and we followed. Oh well… our server MORE than made up for it! He was great… of course, I didn't get his name… so I'm fired!

Now, please remember, I had the camera that I am now using for less than 12 hours at the point of this breakfast… For the rest of the trip, I was trying to figure it out!

First off, Catie realized that there were characters… and lots of them close to her… She was thrilled.

This was about as close as she liked to see the characters. I wish I could have put her on the inside of the table, but we were at a booth with chairs, and she needs a highchair still, so she had to sit on the outside.


As you can see, I had quickly jumped up to get Catie a little bit of food, but before we could really get our first round of breakfast, we had a character stop by the table!



Cortlyn wasn't as impressed as Catie was with the Characters…


Here is another shot at a character for Catie… She looked like she might have wanted to see Oso, but then NOPE! haha…


Cortlyn enjoyed it! And Oso was quite understanding with the camera deal!


Then we met Jake! Now, if you haven't seen this new show- it is SUPER cute! I love it!!! I could totally see Disney doing a whole "Pirates" character meal, with Jack Sparrow, Peter Pan, Hook and Jake! Wouldn't that be an AWESOME character meal?? Kids of ALL ages would have someone to "meet" at one time… sadly, I don't think Disney cares about my suggestion…


Now, on to the FOOD! In no particular order- because I really don't remember the details… I didn't get many pictures, but I was also trying to calm Catie from her fear of the characters! I also want to say that they only served Chicken Sausage, so I was free to eat the sausage from the buffet.


I do remember that they had two types of syrup and Cortlyn wasn't sure what she would like, so I had to get a little of both the regular syrup and the strawberry. In the end, she didn't like the strawberry- but I thought it tasted good!




I did have an Omelette here and it was tasty! However, I didn't see that they had spinach- it wasn't out in the "example" pile. I was really disappointed when the guy after me asked for it and they had it under the counter! Oh well… I still enjoyed it!


Our last character was Handy Manny.


Overall, we had a good time at this meal. Was it exceptional? No… There was nothing "special" about this meal, other than the characters. But the food was good and we had a really great server! We sat next to a family with two boys that were older than my girls, but they were about the same age distance. The mom and I had a lot of laughs and they were a nice family to be next to for breakfast! We actually saw them several times throughout the day!

So, while we were waiting on the check, Corey decided that he should run over to get a FP for Toy Story!!!! It was a little before opening and our server had not only encouraged but actually SUGGESTED that the dads (Corey and the guy at the other table!) go get those FP's now before the park opened!

Okay… I'm hoping I can get some sleep now! Good night, folks!

[sbprincess]

Okay, so I was only able to read through page 2 on my lunch break but wanted to reply thus far.

Cortlyn is hilarious only wanting to get a haircut in Disney! And you got the same guy?!?! Just one more excuse for more frequent trips

Brian bought me the new Tinker Bell movie for Christmas and we (yes, WE!! I swear, it was his choice and he shocked me by picking it!) watched it over this weekend. (He might have felt bad for me because I was sick...or at least that is what he would say ) I thought it was very cute. Anyway, I'm glad I did now because I would have had no clue who the white hair chick was in this. Did Cortlyn like the movie? I think you said ya'll bought it, right?

No food pics?!?!

[danielle79]

All caught up, and your girls are sooooo cute! I have 3 girls a bit older than yours and can't wait until our next trip. We have gone when each of them has turned five. You are brave for taking them so young!

[francis6306]

Originally Posted by sbprincess

Okay, so I was only able to read through page 2 on my lunch break but wanted to reply thus far.

Cortlyn is hilarious only wanting to get a haircut in Disney! And you got the same guy?!?! Just one more excuse for more frequent trips

Brian bought me the new Tinker Bell movie for Christmas and we (yes, WE!! I swear, it was his choice and he shocked me by picking it!) watched it over this weekend. (He might have felt bad for me because I was sick...or at least that is what he would say ) I thought it was very cute. Anyway, I'm glad I did now because I would have had no clue who the white hair chick was in this. Did Cortlyn like the movie? I think you said ya'll bought it, right?

No food pics?!?!

Yes, we bought the movie back in Oct. But thing of it that makes me mad, is that Disney showed it before stinking Christmas on their channel!!!! That didn't make a lick of sense to me, but we've watched it several times and I'm glad that we got it.

Stop working so hard!!! GOSH!!

Originally Posted by danielle79

All caught up, and your girls are sooooo cute! I have 3 girls a bit older than yours and can't wait until our next trip. We have gone when each of them has turned five. You are brave for taking them so young!

Hey, they are FREE when they are young!!!! It's not really that bad, because I like to take an afternoon break anyway. I can't wait til our next trip either!!!

[sbprincess]

Yea - completely caught up! Being the nerd that I am, I made a few notes of what to comment on. Yep, I'm awesome.

Brian is surprisingly obsessed with Dinosaur! I'm not sure what it is but he loves that ride. I think we rode it 3 times in November. Luckily, I'm okay with it. But once is enough for me. I do like seeing Claire Huxtable as part of the scientist crew

Oh - when I was reading about not going with friends/family, I was ready to cuss you out! But then you listed me as the exception. So we're friends again.

I'm sure this is just something I knew once upon a time...but you hate to have your food touch? I knew Megan (Rundell) hated it, but did not remember that about you. Weirdo.

I'm glad you got some alone/adult time! Did I tell you Brian and I did this toward the end of our trip. We just wanted to do different stuff so we split up. The only bad part of it was that I had to ride the horrible bus back and it took FOREVER! Did Corey just nap while you were out?

Brian loves the meatloaf at WPE. We didn't go this last trip so I didn't know that had the sandwich! We did go to the Cafe one night for dinner in November. I can't remember for sure right now, but I think he had the meatloaf there and loved it just as much. Unfortunately, at the rate I'm going that review won't go up until probably, oh...August of this year? Just kidding - I promise!

I hate that Catie isn't enjoying the characters yet! But I am very glad to see Cortlyn's having fun!

[jenseib]

yay for some alone time. I love to wander on my own every so often. I did not know that primevil whirl was two tracks. probably why I never saw my family go through the hill that I kept watching. Yeah, If Skip would've broke my camera, there would've been a news report about a murder.

Good thing Corey was smart enough to go and buy a new one.

[francis6306]

Originally Posted by sbprincess

Yea - completely caught up! Being the nerd that I am, I made a few notes of what to comment on. Yep, I'm awesome.

Brian is surprisingly obsessed with Dinosaur! I'm not sure what it is but he loves that ride. I think we rode it 3 times in November. Luckily, I'm okay with it. But once is enough for me. I do like seeing Claire Huxtable as part of the scientist crew

Oh - when I was reading about not going with friends/family, I was ready to cuss you out! But then you listed me as the exception. So we're friends again.

I'm sure this is just something I knew once upon a time...but you hate to have your food touch? I knew Megan (Rundell) hated it, but did not remember that about you. Weirdo.

I'm glad you got some alone/adult time! Did I tell you Brian and I did this toward the end of our trip. We just wanted to do different stuff so we split up. The only bad part of it was that I had to ride the horrible bus back and it took FOREVER! Did Corey just nap while you were out?

Brian loves the meatloaf at WPE. We didn't go this last trip so I didn't know that had the sandwich! We did go to the Cafe one night for dinner in November. I can't remember for sure right now, but I think he had the meatloaf there and loved it just as much. Unfortunately, at the rate I'm going that review won't go up until probably, oh...August of this year? Just kidding - I promise!

I hate that Catie isn't enjoying the characters yet! But I am very glad to see Cortlyn's having fun!

You are ALWAYS the exception! The friend that I didn't want??? OF COURSE I want you around!!

Well, you remember, Cortlyn wasn't interested in the Characters until she FINALLY met Minnie and Daisy on our first trip… She did great with the face characters- so that's good!

YEs- Corey napped! He had a long night with that ride to Walmart to get the new camera….

Originally Posted by jenseib

yay for some alone time. I love to wander on my own every so often. I did not know that primevil whirl was two tracks. probably why I never saw my family go through the hill that I kept watching. Yeah, If Skip would've broke my camera, there would've been a news report about a murder.

Good thing Corey was smart enough to go and buy a new one.

He MIGHT have had a suggestion to go to walmart…

And we try to not fight in front of the girls. Doesn't always happen, but we do try! So, no Murder, because we were in a small family suite...