When last we met the Campbellscots had arrived at the lodge and been welcomed home!
I love that...when they say "Welcome Home". Those early moments...after you've just arrived, before you check in...sort of complete the transformation from "Everyday Self" to "Disney Self". My Disney self is still neurotic and obsessive...and Donald Duck-ish...but she can certainly breathe easier than she does in normal life. Those first Disney moments are like a big old time release dose of Xanax. Just thinking about it made me take a deep breath. My dog just snuggled closer...he can tell when mommy isn't as high strung as she normally is!
I didn't even see any people checking out. Wasn't reminded that we would have to leave. No...erm...Disneyfreude is it? Or does that come at the end of the trip? That Zzub has coined some phrases that perfectly describe a lot of Disney moments...but he's a lot smarter than I am. So I may misuse said phrases of description.
I personally hate it when people misuse words...like IRregardless. People will say that word...feel pretty superior about it b/c it's a big word...but don't realize that it isn't even a word. If someone is trying to make a point and adds "IR" to the world regardless...they've lost the point. KWIM? Then again, I probably misuse words ALL the time...and nobody tells me...b/c they are distracted by my beauty...or stupidity...probably it's the stupidity...
Did I wander off the point again? Those darn digressions get me EVERY time.
Where were we? OH...Happy Disney Bubble PRE-check in.
The bags were out, the Towncar was on it's way...probably with the driver muttering to himself about insane tourists having laugh/cry fits in his car.
I directed the very excited munchkins to the benches outside the doors to wait for daddy. I took some pictures and willed myself to "STAY" in the moment.
then the cell phone buzzed
Y'all will NEVER guess who it was...
yep...it was.
And I had a problem. I could interrupt Jay and stop our baggage check in process...or I could answer the phone myself.
Both weren't going to work. I didn't want to interrupt my husband. He was starting to get that relaxed, easy laughing, Disney self on. I didn't want to watch the hard, businesslike self jump back on to his face. He needed to relax more than any of us. We'd all been through the ringer as of late. He takes it all on his shoulders so the rest of us won't crumble under the weight of it all. I was NOT going to drop a cinder block onto his shoulders just when he was starting to breathe again.
nope. not doing it.
The last time I spoke to his ex wife on the phone she was very rude. I may be a lot of things, but I have impeccable phone manners. *ahem* Which means once I answer the phone, I do not hang up until I know what the caller was calling to inquire about, and I have a clear message to give to the intended recipient of the call. Which also means I was subject to some very hateful words and comments about my person.
Y'all should have heard THAT phone message delivery..."Hon, your ex wife just called. She wanted you to know that she thinks I am a stupid, scrawny bi...what, no SCRAWNY...I think it's supposed to be more insulting than skinny...yeah...anyhow, A stupid, scrawny #@!*$. The children hate me and she doesn't care how many Disney trips we take they will still hate me deep down...yep, that's all...uh-huh...oh and could you pick up some milk on the way home? Thanks.
yeah...not very nice. It's all pretty upsetting. I didn't know Jay until after he was divorced. He'd been divorced a year before we started dating. I think sometimes that she sees what a wonderful man Jay truly is. She realizes what she sent away and it's somehow MY fault.
Too Bad. So Sad. He's mine now. YAY me!
*CAMPBELL...THIS IS YOUR BRAIN...YOU ARE NOT IN THERAPY...PLEASE GET BACK TO THE POINT...*
oops...sorry.
So...the cell phone is buzzing away and I have to DO something. Since my mommy always says "If you can't say anything nice..." It wouldn't be appropriate of me to answer the phone...now would it?
SO...I put her on IGNORE. Sent her straight to voice mail. Buh-bye.
I knew he'd get the "voicemail buzz" once he got the phone back. Then HE could decide how to proceed.
Do y'all SEE how that call destroyed my ability to STAY in the moment? Even in a trip report I followed that big fat rabbit down a dark and twisty rabbit tunnel didn't I?!
ANYHOW
Kids are sitting on the bench, being as good as they can be. They're feeling the anticipation too. Jay finished with the bag situating and joined us at the benches.
He says in his most dashing voice
"Shall we go in?"
YES!!!! was the overwhelming answer. Teddy grabbed my hand, which he is still little enough to do automatically before we enter any building he has never entered before. Sally grabbed her daddy's hand, who then grabbed my hand. Teddy said "Look, we're like a family now!" That child kills me every time with his extemporaneous declarations of what a "family" looks like. To him it's pretty typical...Dad, Mom, Sister, Teddy. A family. Period.
can someone hand me a dang kleenex.
That first step into the Wilderness Lodge always blows me away. The lobby of this place is too cool for school. The Wilderness Lodge music is playing, little woodland creatures peak out at you from the logs that were flown in from the Pacific Northwest. Disney is ALL ABOUT the DETAILS!!!
Teddy couldn't believe his little eyes.
MISS CAMMIE LOOK!!!! THERE'S A FIREPLACE,TREE,ROCKING CHAIRS,FIRE IN THE SUMMER!!!! LOOK!!! LOOK!!! LOOK!!!!!
Sally was not as forthcoming with her awe. She was more embarrassed that her little brother was SHOUTING.
"Teddy, INDOOR voice." She smacked him with an eye roll. But she was smiling. She was looking around slowly. Taking it all in.
"MissCammie, this is SO cool. I mean, it's really...we get to STAY HERE?"
ack...crying again. Dang those emotions I can't seem to keep in the cage these days.
Yep kiddos it IS cool and we DO get to stay here. Cuz we are cool like that. And I didn't even have to bleed to make it happen! WooHOO!!
Teddy discovered the crayons and television after that and scampered over to start "Drawing a picture of the FIREPLACE IN THE SUMMER TIME!!!"
I got in line to check in. I was next up. In front of me was a man with two blond, ringlet having little girls. They had Cinderella wands. I smiled at how darling they were in all their ringlet-ed glory. They must have been to Magic Kingdom that day. I found myself smiling at the idea of these darling little girls strolling through the Magic Kingdom...Holding hands...feeling the magic...
*WHACK* I HATE YOU you STUPID UGLY BRATFACE!
*pop* went the Disney Bubble reverie of ringlet-ed little girls
OUCHOUCHOWIEOUCH DADDY SHE HIT ME WITH HER STUPID WAND!
*BASH* SO I GOT YOU BACK STUPIDER UGLIER.
The father of these *darling* little minions was totally ignoring them. He kept waving his hand behind him as though he were trying to rid the air of a pesky mosquito. He didn't turn around, he kept talking. The screeching and bashing back and forth with the pretty pale blue Cinderella wands got worse and more violent. Finally the dad turns around. He grabs a wand from the smaller girl.
Stop it Violet...(wait did he say VIOLENT or VIOLET?)
YOU GIVE THAT BACK YOU STUPID DADDY. GIMME IT!
She swiped it back and smacked her dad with the pretty pale blue wand. Then whacked her sister again just to prove that she could do it if she felt like it. He sighed...I think he said "cut it out will ya"...then he turned back to the counter. The bashing and name calling resumed.
I tried to ignore it. I tried to transport myself to a place that did not include violence with a Cinderella wand. I tried to focus on the darling details of the Wilderness Lodge.
BLESSEDLY my turn came up before my urge to yank those little girls up off the floor by their arms over took me. Somebody should have done SOMETHING. That dad needed a good shaking too. We do NOT treat our sister that way. We do not HIT. We do not say ugly things. This is your SISTER. Your jobs are to LOVE EACH OTHER!!! Do you hear me?! Now STRAIGHTEN UP or we are headed to FIST CITY. (that was my mother's favorite threat. I always thought she was saying "Fiss City". I never knew where it was...but I figured it must be a boring place with black and white television and matted down green carpet...like my baby sitters house...*ahem*)
I walked up to the counter and was checked in by a very nice young man called Troy. He gave me all my paperwork. Descriptions of the dining plan, room service menus, etc. I needed to sign a paper to acknowledge that I now knew that Disney Resorts were now NON SMOKING. PERIOD. NO EXCEPTIONS. Wow...good to know! He gave us our KEYS TO THE WORLD!!! YAY, love those!! Especially the ones with the ROOM charging privileges!! CHa-CHING!! He then handed me two very darling "Anniversary" Buttons. Mickey and Minnie in all their anniversary bliss decorated the front of the button. LOVED THEM!!! It was just another instance of Disney Magic...I didn't remember mentioning it was our anniversary...but it was...and the Mouse KNEW IT!!! We had the Mickey and Minnie just got married buttons last year...THIS year the "Just married" Buttons have Cindy and her Prince. They are a little more swank than last years buttons. A lot of things looked upgraded this year at Disney...which may account for the increase in prices as well. *cough*
The kids joined me just as I was about to get the room number. Troy looked down at Miss Sally Rally. He asked her if she could keep a secret?
Sally's eyes lit up. SHE was the best secret keeper EVER. She gave Troy a solemn nod.
He wrote down our room number and handed it to her. He told her not to show anybody. She was the one who was to lead us to our room. He gave directions to the room and we were off. She looked up at me and said "Did you hear the directions too MissCammie?" Sally always has a back up plan. Brownies are ALWAYS prepared...or is that the boy scouts? Either way, the girl is no dummy. She thinks ahead!
While we are on the subject of the room...we requested a ground floor room. Why would we do that you may be wondering...well...let me tell you...
Our Teddy is impulsive. VERY impulsive. He acts first...sometimes never gets to the "think" part. We found out earlier this summer how dangerous this could be. He was with his grandparents for a weekend. They took the kids to Niagra Falls and stayed in a hotel on the third floor. They had a balcony. Teddy was on the balcony...ALONE...when he noticed a quarter on the ground below. Teddy wanted the quarter. It was just below him. So he jumped. Off the third floor balcony. By the grace of God the VERY full bushes that he landed in cushioned his fall. He was very scraped up, but amazingly he suffered no other injuries. It did NOT occur to him that he could have been killed. All he would say was that he wanted the quarter.
SO...Ground Floor it is.
We headed towards Artist Point, and had nearly started down the "hill" toward Roaring Fork when Teddy realized there was a RIVER INSIDE!!
OMIGOSH DADDY MISSCAMMIE LOOKLOOKLOOK!!!! THERE IS A RIVER INSIDE!!!!! He was dancing around, barely able to contain his excitement that something was indoors that was supposed to be OUTDOORS. Teddy loves him some freaks of nature! Even man made ones!!
Unfortunately there was a barricade over the little bridge. It was asking us to pardon it's appearance. Pardon it's appearance indeed! It was RUINING a planned photo opportunity!! DRAT that barricade and the horse it rode in on!
Oh well...we were still at Disney. So I could forgive. But I smacked the barricade around with a dirty look anyhow...just for being there.
Sally wasn't nearly as impressed. She had a secret just burning to get out. We had a room to see! LET'S GO PEOPLE! MOVE IT OUR LOSE IT!! I MEAN NOW!!!
she didn't say any of this, but I could hear it loud and clear anyhow!
Okay...back down the "hill" toward Roaring Fork. On our way we passed another lovely family scene...two VERY BLOND headed little ones. One is crying loudly while the other says "YOU AREN'T MY BEST FRIEND ANYMORE AND I HATE YOU AND I DON'T CARE!!!!" The crying child responded by running over and grabbing a handful of her brothers hair and SCREAMING in his ear. Lovely.
The father was smiling blandly as he watched the scene.
WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?! THIS IS DISNEY!!! THERE IS NO FIGHTING AT DISNEY!!! OR CRYING!!! OR BEING UGLY TO YOUR SIBLINGS!!! WHERE IS MY XANAX?!
Sally looked at me and said:
"You wouldn't put up with that would you MissCammie? Why is that dad just standing there? He needs to parent something right?Those kids need a NAP AND they need to lose privileges...and something else. Right?"
I had to laugh. He needs to "parent" something.
Right Sally Sue. Those kids definitely NEED a nap!
We made it past the screeching children and headed down a very long hallway.
Oh the anticipation was fabulous. We were almost there. Room 1008 came into view and our Keeper of the Secret stopped. She had a HUGE smile on her face.
THIS *dramatic pause* IS OUR ROOM.
I handed her the key to HER world. She stood up straighter, squared those shoulders and opened the door. On the first try.
BUNKBEDS!!!!!! was the cry from Teddy who had zoomed in ahead of us.Oh the glory. He was SO excited.
MISSCAMMIE!!! HOW DID MICKEY KNOW WE LIKE BUNKBEDS?! HOW DID HE KNOW?!
My pat answer the whole vacation was "Magic".
Sally stayed behind me...as she tends to do in any new situation. No matter what it is. She can be a little timid. New rooms may have scary things...or things we haven't encountered...or dirt. She knew I had the clorox wipes in my carry on, and she wasn't going to make a move until I had wiped everything down. But FIRST...I had to take a picture...cuz GUESS WHAT I SAW?!
Towel ANIMALS!!!! (sorry if one of those pictures is huge...it won't resize the way I want it to!)
But aren't they DARLING?! I'm easy to please I guess, but I was pretty thrilled to find them there!!!
Then I set to work wiping down the room. I'm glad to say it was pretty clean over all. But I wanted to do a once over on every single solitary surface in the room...y'know...just to be safe.
Once we were all cloroxed and clean and the bed spreads had been lysol-ed and hands were washed...
(I KNOW...I admitted I was nuts...but Jay was HELPING. He's crazy too!)
...the ceremonial climbing up and down on the bunk bed ladder could begin. Sally was not happy that Teddy was climbing up on to HER bed, but I gave her half an eyebrow arch and told her to let him have fun for a second. Sally has a big "personal space". But she endured her little brother for longer than I would have expected. Mostly b/c she loves him...and I think she loves me...and I KNOW she loves her daddy...and she wanted to be agreeable.
Here's a picture of our "backyard"...the back yard that could not be fallen on from any sort of height. Cuz we plan ahead.
It was nice. The little pond had ducks and there were rabbits frolicking hither and yon...VERY Disney. The kids got a kick out of the oft noted "fat grass". Sally was pretty sure it wasn't "real". That would be an issue often revisited on this trip...what was real and what was not. Sally is just at that age where she is beginning to question the reality of things like Santa Claus...and Pinkerbelle...she's very bright and that belief in magic is beginning to fade a bit. After the year she's had I'm surprised she hasn't turned into Scrump the Bitter Troll of the North...know what I mean?
I assured her that the fat grass was indeed real...along with everything else at Disneyworld. The magic IS real. It is...it has to be. Something has to be real and solid and make sense in a nonsensical sort of way. It has to. Because I said so.
And since this Chapter has turned into the longest chapter known to man and people probably stopped reading a long time ago...and my back is screaming from my bad posture and the chubby puppy who has his heavy head on my hand as I try to type...I'm going to sign off.
Up next: The swimming pool with the SLIDE, Chef Mickey's and The Pirate and Princess Party...in which MissCammie has a MOMENT with Captain Jack Sparrow...a REAL moment...in a Disney way...real.
It is great that Sally was able to point out that that kind of behavior is wrong.
I don't blame you for wanting a ground floor room.
Complete with hat and umbrella 
I am thoroughly enjoying your report and can't wait to read more!
*ahem*...so it was a hard habit to break him of. We decided to clean out his room of everything but his bed. As time passed without aggression or ugly words, he earned his toys back one by one. It took a LONG time. He's a stubborn boy. But I grew up in a house with a sibling who beat me bloody on the sly. I didn't want to tell on her b/c she threatened me with worse if I did. I wasn't going to to live with that in my house, nor was Jay. Teddy is now to a point that he knows to say "I feel MAD" or what-have-you when the situation calls for it. He has moments where he forgets, but he is MUCH better than he used to be.
Guess i need to read with tissues near by.
But it's a happy cry!
Can't believe you didn't break down and sob when the nice man said "Welcome home". I'm here for the long haul. and trip reports are never too long.
P.S. it is all about the parenting. Here's this for you
we think you are a great parent.
