Mission: August Magic~Saving my sanity

[stepdisney]

Whew...14 days!!! That means that we are both getting close.

 

[Wonders10]

Hi Mony!

I followed your link from the Peeps thread. I'm in!

Can I get a hint what "piwos" is? It's bugging me.

Love the idea of putting the days outfits in bags! The only problem I see for me is that sometimes I have a few shirts that I could feasibly wear with a few different shorts so depending on my mood, I might not actually want to wear the combo in the bag. I like it for the kids though, definitely. My DSIL, bless her heart, is horrible at packing my niece and nephew for disney trips. I say a silent prayer every time we go that they have enough *matching* clothes for the trip.

Can't wait to hear more...are you all on the dining plan? Have any ADRs made?

 

[monymony3471]

Hi Mony!

I followed your link from the Peeps thread. I'm in!

Can I get a hint what "piwos" is? It's bugging me.

Love the idea of putting the days outfits in bags! The only problem I see for me is that sometimes I have a few shirts that I could feasibly wear with a few different shorts so depending on my mood, I might not actually want to wear the combo in the bag. I like it for the kids though, definitely. My DSIL, bless her heart, is horrible at packing my niece and nephew for disney trips. I say a silent prayer every time we go that they have enough *matching* clothes for the trip.

Can't wait to hear more...are you all on the dining plan? Have any ADRs made?

I wish i could, where did you get that from? I have a pounding headache and I just can't bear to look for it. Maybe it's a typo? Maybe I was enjoying an adult beverage or four while typing?

That's the million dollar question of the day!


I have to tell you, one of the best Trip Report writers that ever posted on the DIS is back at it. A rare occasion here lately and he's writing another TR. Nebo is back!!!! You have to read it!!!!Oils well that ends well



Nice to see some of my fellow peeps! You guys rock, thanks for coming over.

Heading up north for a quick trip and some R & R. Read Nebo's TR, you won't be disappointed, promise.

 

[Wonders10]

DH and I spent many hours trying to pick which hotel to stay at, provided it can be reserved with his frequent flyer miles and hold all six of us. Seems simple enough? It wasn’t. I believe we sat side by side for three nights looking at our options, reading reviews, and disagreeing. One night it took a few piwos each. You figure it out.

Here it is...is it supposed to be Pinots? Like Wine? I just want to be in on any secret code

 

[wlake]

Hello! We're leaving in just over a week. Good luck driving! I hate long car trips (anything over about an hour) so I just cannot imagine it.

Loved the packing list! I've got to get cracking on mine. I have a master packing list for general trips, but it's still got things like diapers, onesies, and bibs on it -- my boys are 5 and 8! It's way, way, way past time to update it! I've got a bag for Disney stuff too -- when I think of it, in it goes. But I'm hiding mine in the back of my closet because most of my friends and family already think I'm nuts.

 

[DisneyLaura]

DS2 who is 11:~ He loves the Detroit Tigers and is the biggest Detroit Tiger Fan you will ever meet! My straight A student, stubborn as all get out, turns 12 in a few weeks. This is also his sixth trip.

I have that Grumpy shirt too!

DD1 who is 5:~Her BFF in the whole wide world is Anastasia. She can’t wait to see her again and just knows that Anastasia will be just as happy to see her. She will be turning 6 in Disney this year and this is her second time celebrating a birthday in WDW. This will be her fifth trip.

Of course she'll remember your DD

We are driving down and staying at Pop Century from August 22-28. We actually leave for the drive on the 20th.

We drove in April straight through. It took us 23 hours and that was with stops for food and potty (my DD is 4 so I know about potty breaks LOL)

I have this large Tupperware container sitting on my counter that is getting full of some-of-this and some-of those things I find just running around my house on a daily basis. You know stuff that you see on that rare occasion that if you had to go and find it you couldn’t? So, when I come across it, I pick it up, and put it in the “container”.

I had one of those for our trip in april too LOL, It's a mommy thing

The zip lock bags have been doing the happy dance every time I open my pantry. They know I will be busting them loose to pack the kids things in them soon! Well, the big kids stuff too!

I remember the zip lock bags from another trip report I read of yours, very cool tip.

And speaking of doing way to much at once, I just had to leave and come back. I found out that I have these ugly grotesque insects all over my zucchini and pumpkin plants. I did an on-line search and found out that aphids have invaded my garden. I am not a big fan of pesticides, so I made a soapy solution like the website said and I went all Bruce Willis on them. It made me feel like I brought half of them in the house on me. I hate creepy crawly things especially when said creepy crawly things are on ME!

I went and looked them up because I wanted to see what they looked like, now I'm itchy LOL

 

[monymony3471]

Here it is...is it supposed to be Pinots? Like Wine? I just want to be in on any secret code

Oh, lol, we are polish and that stands for beer. Man! That was a bad headache!

Ack! They were NOT aphids, they turned out to be squash bugs. They ruined my zuchinni, melon, squash, and started on my cucumbers.

The soap and water works, but you have to snub out the eggs. There were so many and my plants were so gone that I ripped the plants out that were being infested and I'm going to burn them. Those suckers will keep coming back if you don't totally get rid of them. They can make it through the winter too. Ugly lil bugs I tell you.

Back from up north. It was great!

 

[wlake]

Ack! They were NOT aphids, they turned out to be squash bugs. They ruined my zuchinni, melon, squash, and started on my cucumbers.

Oh no! That's awful! What do they look like? We've got cucumbers and watermelon, both for the first time, and I'd hate to lose them!

 

[DisneyLaura]

Ack! They were NOT aphids, they turned out to be squash bugs. They ruined my zuchinni, melon, squash, and started on my cucumbers.

So sorry hopefully with pulling out the plants they'll be taken care of

 

[monymony3471]

Oh no! That's awful! What do they look like? We've got cucumbers and watermelon, both for the first time, and I'd hate to lose them!

These red dots are found under the leaves and are the eggs.

young squash bugs, the reason I thought they were aphids.

An adult squash bug which I've found to be as big as my thumb nail bed.

My destroyed plants.

More destroyed plants.

 

[wlake]

Loved the title of the post! Thanks for the pics -- we had aphids earlier this summer, so I was a bit nervous. They really did a number on your plants!!! I'm off to go inspect! Hopefully I won't find any surprises!

 

[monymony3471]

10 more days!

Today is my Zack's 12th birthday! The first of three August birthdays we have to celebrate. The baby's is the 13th and currently she has been fighting a fever since Saturday.

My 5 year old woke me up this morning, "Mom? Mom!" I open my eyes to my beautiful daughter's face. "Mom, my neck hurts!"

And it starts.

I have a licensed day care in my home, and last week one of the day care children had a fever, but his only lasted a day.

10 days before disney and this has to go through my family of 6! No other symptoms, just a fever and loss of appetite.

Those I can handle. I just hope it doesn't get to be anything else.

Have you ever had to use the medical services while at disney?

We got to experience it first hand in Dec of 2008. Our very first park day just as we sat down to have dinner at Rain Forest Cafe,

my Zack burst out in tears that his ear hurt!

We ended our Animal Kingdom park day after dinner and I spoke to the front desk at Pop where to take my son to be seen.

There is this nice place that sees disney guests and employees.

:

I wasn't told this part but you can have your resort ring the complimentary shuttle service to come pick you up from your resort and bring you back. Don't hail a cab like we did on the way there. The clinic actually informed me of this and they called the shuttle service to take us back. My son needed antibiotics and the pharmacy which is right next door fills the script and gives you the paperwork to submit to your insurance company.

What I didn't know is the insurance most of us purchase when booking a disney vacation, the visit and prescription are listed as benefits. Just thought I'd let you know!

I am not a big fan of finding things out after the fact!

Can you imagine telling your 10 year old he has to sit on that?:rotfl

The staff at the clinic was wonderful and the wait was not that long.

That year the doctor said be grateful you are here for an ear infection, yesterday our office was loaded with patients and we had to give each one of them a bucket. He couldn't emphasize enough to not touch much in the parks and wash your hands!

A few days later, I heard that horrible sound of someone tossing their cookies in the middle of the night. My husband. He lost a day, and rebounded pretty quickly. The rest of us, dodged that one.


10 more days until we leave, and 2 of my kids are sick.

 

[monymony3471]

I wound up taking the girls to the Dr. this morning because they still woke up feverish.

5 yr old has an ear infection

3 yr old has viral infection.

One is on antibiotic, one is not.

I have had stomach issues this morning and my 12 yr old is complaining of body aches and his tongue. Dr. told me stomatitus is going around which is viral.

I am glad the plague has hit now and hopfully we can be strong and avoid any yuck the time we are on vacation.

The antibiotic is for 10 days and that means she has to finish taking her meds while on vacation.

I have been looking at the disney world crowd calendar and decided to let the experts pick my park days.

Sun 22: Only day I am not going to take their advice and visit MK, we have dinner ressies at 1900 Park Fare and my family wants to visit MK FIRST!

Mon 23: Epcot

Tues 24: Animal Kingdom

Wed 25: Hollywood Studios

Thur: Animal Kingdom

Fri: Magic Kindgom

Sat: Open but its recommended to visit MK, EP, or HS. I've read conflicting dates of the re-opening of TSM and it could open up on the 28th. So, that might influence my decision. But as I'm typing this, I am picturing everyone else heading to this park for the same reason. The DWCC website says avoid HS the 29th, so maybe they know more than the other sites.

Which means if I want to ride TSM ever again, which of course I do, it will have to be during a future trip.

 

[wlake]

Oh no! I can't believe you're all getting sick! You're right, better now than later. Thanks for the info on the clinic, although I really hope I never need it. Feel better soon!

 

[DisneyLaura]

These red dots are found under the leaves and are the eggs.

young squash bugs, the reason I thought they were aphids.

An adult squash bug which I've found to be as big as my thumb nail bed.

My destroyed plants.

More destroyed plants.

Those poor plants. So sorry

Hope no one else gets sick for you. I know my DS11 had a birthday party the weekend before we left for Disney in April and one of his friends went home with a fever and was sick for a week, we left for Disney 4 days later and thank God no one in my house got sick.

you're closer now - 5 more days I believe.

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Hi Monica! I couldn't resist reading along when I saw your ticker over on Nebo's TR!

Sorry about the yucky bugs ... both kinds ~ the plant ones and the sicky icky ones! Hope you all get over them quickly!

 

[nebo]

Is everybody better yet?
geesh!

And I didn't know you were driving down, I thought we were the only ones that stupid to keep doing that. Thanks for the call out, didn't know you did that.

And whatever you do, don't forget the vikes like somebody else did.
Don't forget a kid either, I've done that in the past also. Nothing worse than asking your son what he wants to go on first and find out the reason he's not answering.
What I'd like to know is did you request a certain room or area? It can really help. Pool views at Pop are no extra charge. ]
Hope you have a great trip Monica, and don't drown yourself this time getting a rocking chair picture.

 

[monymony3471]

Hi Monica! I couldn't resist reading along when I saw your ticker over on Nebo's TR!

Sorry about the yucky bugs ... both kinds ~ the plant ones and the sicky icky ones! Hope you all get over them quickly!

Hey you! How are you? Aren't you a doll for coming over here. We are better, baby has a yuckety nose, but she is holding her own.

Is everybody better yet?
geesh!

And I didn't know you were driving down, I thought we were the only ones that stupid to keep doing that. Thanks for the call out, didn't know you did that.

And whatever you do, don't forget the vikes like somebody else did.
Don't forget a kid either, I've done that in the past also. Nothing worse than asking your son what he wants to go on first and find out the reason he's not answering.
What I'd like to know is did you request a certain room or area? It can really help. Pool views at Pop are no extra charge. ]
Hope you have a great trip Monica, and don't drown yourself this time getting a rocking chair picture.

I actually like to sleep at night, no pool view for me, those pools are jammin' even at midnight.

I hope the heavens don't open up on us like last time, remember this?

My son is in the soaked gray shirt.

As for driving, we are giving it another shot.



Thanks for reviving my TR, I've been crazy busy, and Marita introduced me to Riglee's TR.

OMG! She is brilliant! Between Nebo's TR and hers, I am thankful I don't have any classes right now!

I forgot about mine!

I update mine tomorrow, if the arrest scence doesn't distract me.........

 

[monymony3471]

It's almost time to leave!!!

I worked all day yesterday getting us packed.

I have 4 children and their ages are 13, 12, 5, and 3. I spent the majority of the day trying to find their clothes!! Clothes that were not in their drawers, but others, clothes I know exist!

The boys help me out with the chores, but I'm thinking of NOT letting them touch the laundry anymore. I had to literally find our clothes.

I found a pair of shorts I've been missing ALL SUMMER buried in one of their drawers. Tsk Tsk!

Then I had to make sure that the clothes I did find were clean.

How?

Yes, I had to smell them. There is nothing worse than finding a dirty shirt with your nose in the pit of a sleeve. Can I get some chilli to go with these onions???

Ugh! Teenage boys.

I have no less than 5 different kinds of deodorants in the house for them. Seriously.

At one point I was sitting in the middle of heaps of clothes on my living room floor, now that would have been a lovely picture.

The laundry is still caught up, bonus!

And on a more positive note, I did clean out the boys drawers and tomorrow I take the small clothes to Good Will.

I'm trying so hard to keep from over packing. I don't want to open our car door at a stop and have my kids sliding out from the avalanche of stuff. I want it to be roomy and cozy. I really think I will be able to pull this off.

I have two large suitcases that would cost a small fortune to check with the airlines and a duffle bag that is holding two outfits per person and the toiletries.

The suitcases are actually for when we are on disney property.
The duffle is for the two nights leading up to us checking into Pop. That way we can leave the large suitcases in the car, less to unload.

Then I will have what I call a media bag. That will contain the ipods, dvds, DS Lites and their games, a leapster and games, and headphones. I do have a separate bag for my laptop and camera. I bring a clear backpack for the parks and it holds my life! My purse and my passporter.

Oh, I have these really cool over the chair organizers that hang from the front seats for the backseat passengers.

The other large item is the cooler and I'll have one other bag for snacks. I have stow and go compartments that can hold the bag of extra shoes, each family member is allowed 2 pairs of shoes TOTAL.

I have been tossing the idea of packing a coffee pot. I have to have coffee as soon as I am awake. I don't care for wdw coffee, so I think I can hide the coffee pot in the stow and go. I'm afraid that the mere mention of packing it will create a unnecessary loud conversation between me and DH. Unnecessary because I will pack it regardless at this point.

Ugh! I forgot the stroller, but this should still work. I don't want to store anything on top of the car.

Our plan is to back the car into the garage Thursday night and pack with the door closed. I don't want to broadcast to the whole neighborhood we are going away. I have a mental image of how to pack the stuff in the car. I hope my DH has this same image or it could get a teensy bit ugly.

Sleep.

Leave at 5am.

Shoot! I still have to vacuum the car out and pick up anything the kids felt the need to just toss on the floor.

I downloaded some movies on i-tunes today and now I just have to sync the ipods for the kids. I purchased some videos yesterday and some doodle pads for the girls. I think I have the entertainment parts covered. Dear Lord, I pray that I do!

A few misc things left and I think that we are good.

To answer Nebo's question:

I have requested a view of Hour Glass Lake 4th floor. I like to stand on the balconey and watch the fireworks from Epcot and Magic Kingdom.

 

[monymony3471]

Woo Hoo!

Its the night before we leave!

After work we went out to dinner. We always do this on vacation eve.

On the way home our radio station was interrupted by a weather announcement, we were under a tornado warning.

We rarely get those where we live. We stopped to fill up with discounted gas from Kroger using our 700 points which gave us 70 cents off a gallon, and beat the storm home.

Thoughts of a tornado cancelling our trip filled my head, a bunch of what ifs and maybes went through my mind.

In the end, we barely got any rain and witnessed some very cool displays of lightning.

We packed the car. Took us 5 tries, and one little spat, to get it right. You would think 2 large suitcases, a large duffle, and a stroller would fit in the back of a Town and Country Tourning Signature Mini-van without too much trouble. Wrong.

Usually we head up north for a weekend at the cottage with more stuff than we have packed now. I am just determined to have the least amount of stuff possible which will allow my kids to travel comfortably and save my sanity.

Today I found a lost DS and trading pin lanyard, so I am the bestest mommy at the moment. Once again, saving my sanity. Maybe I should have titled this report just that.

This brings the pre-trip report to its end. Thank you for following along and I will report back with the actual trip.

We hit the road at 5am tomorrow morning!!!!!