Christmas Cheer!

My kids have made me play this not less than 10 times in the past two days. Enjoy!

The 12 Pains of Christmas | Funny Jokes at JibJab

WDW 2006-Some Final Thoughts

While we did spend another two days driving home, there wasn't much remarkable about it. We found two nice campgrounds with wireless access and had a very nice visit with Dave's sister in Lafayette. It surprises me to say that I'm rather proud of my BIL. He decided several years ago with no college experience or formal training that he wanted to be a pastor, and now he's an associate at a nice church. My SIL seems happy and they have three great kids. It was good to see them, we should probably do it more often.

This trip was a bit of a disappointment to me. Can't we just have one trip where no one gets sick, acts like a jerk, or gets head lice? Maybe it's too much to ask for in this life, but it sure does make me sad. I knew only four days at Disney would be cutting things short, but I can't believe we missed EPCOT altogether this trip. I know it was my choice and I don't regret spending the evening relaxing, but if we had had even one more day, it would have been better. For me, the ideal stretch of time at WDW is 6 days. You see everything with time for breaks. So I guess four days just isn't good enough for me. Does that make me a Disney snob? I think I already was one. Also, I loved the idea of Ft. Wilderness, and it is an adorable campground; but for me camping and Disney just don't mix. We would come in from the parks already tired then have to walk in the Florida heat to the laundry or the store (they want you to limit your car use at FW and don't provide parking places). I think it would be a good place to camp for a long stretch of time while you divide your days between camp activities and going to the parks. Again, the four-day trip just wasn't working for me and the heat was really oppressive too. We usually go in the late Fall, but the trip we took last summer wasn't as bad. Funny enough, that's because there was a tropical storm hovering nearby. Close enough for rain and clod cover, but far enough to keep us from danger. What are the odds of that happening again? I think I'll stick with October and November. I'm also thinking of taking our travel trailer savings and eventually buying a DVC (Disney Vacation Club) resale. We might as well...as I always say "There's always another Disney trip."

However, I'm not sure Dave and I were meant to go to WDW together. I had much more fun when I went last summer. This is actually true of most vacations we take, we just have different expectations of what a vacation should be, even when we discuss things before we go. I dread the Italy trip he wants to take with me for our 10th anniversary. As badly as I want to go back, such a trip has huge potential for disaster. I'm guessing he would frown on a 10th ainnversary girls' only trip though, wouldn't he? I have always known that Dave and I didn't quite communicate on the same wavelength, and I'm usually OK with that. In all my dating history, I never found one person that I could both talk to and have good chemistry with-it was always either one or the other. When Dave and I met up again after my mission, I wanted nothing more to do with someone in my life who "understood" me. The better someone knows you, the more they can hurt you; or such had been my experience back then. It's not that we didn't have anything but our hormones in common, I made sure we would have lots to talk about as we got older, it's just that he can't "read" me. At first, I liked that. It was good to have my own secrets. Now, it's getting a little old. I don't think it means we need separate lives, but separate vacations might not be a bad thing.

Still, the kids had a fun trip and it did make The Lion King that much more special to them when we got back. I'm sure, as I said, that we will go again. I'm hoping that when we do it will be in the Fall and that all the kids will be old enough to ride most things, but still be young enough to get excited about "the magic." I guess I'm still a little sad about Natalie not wanting to dress-up to eat with the princesses anymore. On the other hand, she is now tall enough to ride everything but the Rockin' Roller Coaster; so I guess it's all good. And if it's not too much to ask, I really want healthy kids on this next trip. No colds, earaches, sinus infections, or stomach viruses. And in the final analysis, while we all fought each other, allergies, and a 30 ft. trailer this trip; NONE of us came home this time with headlice. And for that, I guess this trip gets two thumbs-up! But I'm glad we're home.

WDW 2006-Day 10

Since it was our last day in the park and because I felt like utter crap and no longer cared what we did; I let everyone sleep in. Then, we loaded up, hitched up the trailer, and took ourselves to Animal Kingdom; trailer and all. (Yes, that's allowed.) I thought we would avoid the crowds by getting there late. Apparently, everyone else had the same idea. The entrance was PACKED at 11 a.m. and everyone else had the same plan that we did: to get fast passes for Expedition Everest. By the time we got inside the park gates, all I wanted to do was leave. But, I wasn't going without trying the new roller coaster, so we got our fast passes with their 2:30 p.m. return time and tried to make the best of the heat. Dave took the bigger kids to ride Dinosaur. Even Caroline wanted to. I tried to explain to her that it was scary and that just because she was tall enough to ride didn't mean that it was a good idea for her to do it. She insisted. So, we all took our picture by the only other existing cast of Sue the T-Rex (you might remember that the other one is right here where I live for the summer) and sent them on their way. Elisa and I tried to stay cool in the shade and met up with another woman and her mother. Apparently, the daughter was visiting mom alone for a few days and regretting that she hadn't brought the kids this trip. Like us, she has family in Florida and visits every other year or so. I told her that my trip the year before with just the older kids had been, by far, the best one I ever took and that she should enjoy the time alone. Goodness knows I would love a trip like that. We had a good chat before my crew emerged triumphant from their 'time travel.' Apparently, Caroline IS old enough to ride Dinosaur and like it. Who exactly gave these kids permission to get older? It certainly wasn't me.

After Dinosaur we grabbed lunch in a glorified McDonald's and managed to get the last inside table. Hallelujah! I would have felt bad...but I felt so lousy myself I thought I just might deserve some air conditioning. After a very contentious lunch (Dave got the 20 pc. nuggets to share rather than buying Happy Meals for each kid. Aren't they the tortured little souls? They sure thought so.), we saw short lines at Triceratop Spin which is basically the Dumbo ride with dinos. Elisa was ecstatic and that made the hot line worth it. That would be the younger kids' last ride at WDW this trip. Afterwards, we headed to the character trails for poor Tristan. He hadn't gotten more than two autographs the whole trip. It was time to reward his patience. We thought we would just to character meet and greets until it was time for our EE fast passes. As luck would have it, we found Stitch and a very short line to meet him on the way to Camp Minnie Mickey. At first, I thought Elisa would really go for meeting him. She called out to him as we waited in line and begged to be unbuckled when it was our turn. She climbed out of her stroller and ran towards him shouting "Stitch! Stitch!" Then she got close and saw how big he actually was and came running back to grab my ankles, much to the amusement of EVERYONE who saw it.
After Stitch, we met Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and finally Chip and Dale. As hot as it was, I am incredibly impressed with how smoothly those meet and greets go. Chip and Dale were really funny with the kids and a perfect way to finish up our Animal Kingdom day...almost. There was still the matter of Expedition Everest.

Since no one but Natalie, Dave, and I could ride; we appeased the other kids with ice cream and a seat by the water where the ducks were. Then, Natalie and I went first since neither one of us like to ride alone. My opinion of Expedition Everest is that it is more of a showy ride than a thrill ride, though it has its thrilling moments. In short, that made it perfect for Natalie and I, and maybe a little disappointing for Dave. (Jen, I think you would be OK with it. Half the reason I pushed myself to ride it was so that I could give you a review.) Once we were all done riding, WE COULD LEAVE! This may be the only time in my life I was glad to put Disney in the rearview mirror, but I really was this trip. We were off to Aunt P's condo and I couldn't wait.

In no time at all, we were parking our trailer at the St. Petersburg KOA. We were so anxious to see P that we forgot our bathing suits. Oops! No matter, we were there. Of course, nothing is ever that smooth. One minute you are sitting on the balcony with a Diet Coke relaxing, the next minute you are watching your beautiful kids cavorting on the beach, then one of those aforementioned kids pees in their pants notwithstanding the abundant bathrooms both in Aunt P's house and downstairs by the pool area because this child was so busy ordering us outside to the beach that they forgot to take care of 'personal business' first. Then you realize that an idyllic vacation is out of the question and you just pray to make it home safely before anything else goes wrong. Oh, and I also got scolded by Aunt P for joking that I wasn't worried about Dave being at Disney during Gay Days (we were, it just wasn't note-worthy enough to blog about, lots of same sex couples all of whom were nice to my children-no big) because he wasn't the kind of men gay guys go for. She actually got mad at me for saying that! I love Aunt P, so that hurt my feelings a bit. But, I stand by my statement and Dave wasn't at all hurt to hear he had no gay appeal. And for what it's worth, my BIL Pastor D agreed with me when I mentioned it the next day while visiting them. Regardless, my evening at Aunt P's confirmed what I knew all along; it was time to go home.

WDW 2006-Day 9

This was the morning I had been the most excited about when we had packed up that over-long trailer and pulled out of our driveway on Day 1 of this whole excursion. That was before my eternally grumpy husband, bickering children, and horrible sinus infection had rendered me a drugged-up zombie. After years of TRYING to get ressies, us girls were finally eating breakfast with the princesses in Cinderella's Castle and I could barely pry my eyelids open. Even worse was that when I did I realized that while we had, indeed, packed three princess dresses for three little girls; two of the three were Natalie's and none were Caroline's. Oh crap! If we thought Caroline was going to eat happily with the princesses while surrounded by a sea full of other girls in their princess garb, we had another thing coming. Fortunately, even Dave understood that one-but what could we do an hour before the big event? Well, we were going to have to suck it up and pay Disney prices for something, that's what. A frantic call to my mom to see if my other nieces had anything extra found nothing we could use, but MeMe did say she would meet me at Tinkerbell's Treasures to help me overpay for one. With the crisis semi-averted, we packed up the car and went back to the Magic Kingdom.

This time, we did get there just at opening time. I knew the place would be a bit more crowded than usual, but we were planning to go, eat breakfast, ride Space Mountain, and leave for EPCOT. Immediately upon arrival, we went straight for Tomorrowland and right to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The older the kids get, the more fun this ride is. I didn't get to shoot this time, but the kids and Dave did. Dave, of course, beat us all handily, but Tristan's aim is coming along nicely too. Caroline's little fingers weren't really strong enough to pull the trigger, but she still had fun. We all did. There was probably a short enough line for a second ride, but we still had the matter of another princess dress to buy before breakfast so we left Dave and Tristan to ride Buzz and Stitch to their hearts' content and proceeded back to Fantasyland. Fortunately, Natalie is finally big enough to push a stroller, otherwise we wouldn't have made it.

As I expected, MeMe was nowhere to be found. We browsed for 10 minutes and since all the princess dresses were the same (over)price, I had Caroline at least pick something I had never seen in the pages of a Disney catalog-or at least not for a price I would pay. We settled on Ariel's wedding dress. She was thrilled, and I have to admit she did look adorable in it. With ten minutes to breakfast, I quit waiting for Mom and paid for it all myself-OUCH! I took the girls to the family bathroom and changed them all. Natalie was less than thrilled to "have" to dress up. It made me sad. She used to love it. When we met up with her cousins who were dressed up, but not as any characters, she was even less enthusiastic. Her new sun visor proved true. She is "so not a princess" anymore. Wah! (And yes, I'm now grateful for every trip we took previously when she did get into the dressing up thing. What if I had missed out on that?!) Caroline and Elisa were, of course, still delighted with themselves in their outfits. (Sadly, I think the baby Tinkerbell costume has made its last trip to WDW too. Another wah!) We gathered with my sister, her girls, Nana E, her niece, and, at last, my mother to make our first visit to Cinderella's Royal Table.

After checking in, there was still a bit of a wait. When they finally called "the Royal Lawson family" we went inside and lined up to meet Cinderella. Caroline, Elisa, Kass (the birthday girl), and Madeline ate this up. Nana E's niece, Juliet, and Victoria were polite. Natalie was disinterested to the point of almost rudeness. Thankfully, I was too loopy on allergy meds to say much. We went upstairs and were seated in the middle of the room. It is very pretty in there, and while we didn't have a window seat, I can tell the view was nice. By the time I got Caroline and Elisa seated, Natalie and the big girls had pretty much devoured the basket of sweet rolls on the table. Oh well, it's better for my diet that way. Still, Nana E and I had no qualms about ordering a "traditional" breakfast instead of a healthy one. After a week of Raisin Bran and/or diet Instant Breakfast, bring on the bacon and eggs! Meanwhile, the princesses emerged and began their meet and greets at each table. First was Belle, my favorite. She was followed quickly by Aurora and Snow White. I was dashing between our two tables with my camera because Natalie and Elisa were with me, but Caroline was with Madeline, Kass, and Janet. They must have brought out the food sometime during all the pictures and Madeline and Caroline must have been tired of cereal too, because there isn't a picture I took of them where one of them doesn't have food hanging out of their mouth or hand. Too funny! (I do remember eating my breakfast too, it was very good-even though no one goes to these character meals for the food!) After a birthday cupcake for Kass (who never would look at me even once for a picture) we had the wishing ceremony with the wands and sparkly stars the girls were given on arrival. (Little boys get swords, but after Tristan spent our last princess meal hiding under the table, I never considered bringing him to this one.)

The only thing I had asked Dave to do in my absence (besides take Tristan to see Stitch's Great Escape so that I didn't have to) was to get fast passes to Space Mountain, but not until the 11:30-12:30 window because we wouldn't be available before then. He said "I'm sure you overestimate how long breakfast will take." I said I was sure I didn't and thought that had settled it. Apparently it hadn't. We emerged from the castle at 11:15 with plans to see if there was a spot for the 11:40 Cinderellabration show (the one we missed every time on the previous trip). We were met by a frantic Dave who said our 10:20-11:20 fast passes were about to expire and that we needed to get there NOW! I was standing there with two little girls in princess dresses both of whom needed to change clothes. All three of us wanted a bathroom stop, and then we wanted to watch a show that Natalie had been waiting for over a year to see. But let's drop all that RIGHT NOW because you did things the way you wanted to instead of listening to your wife. As much as I love Space Mountain, I said 'no way.' Seething, I sent him and Tristan back for more fast passes at a later time. I changed the girls and myself in the family bathroom and we scooted in just in time for a decent spot to watch Cinderellabration, which is a 20 minute show about her coronation after she marries Prince Charming. It's not high on my to-do list, but the girls had been dying to see it since we got there. I will admit that I agree with others on the DIS boards who say it's not as cute as the previous show, but the girls loved it.

After the show, I found Dave, Tristan, and my cousin Jonathan all waiting for us near Space Mountain. The return time was decent, so we decided just to have a seat, grab some cold drinks, and wait for our fast pass time. Of course with Jonathan present I couldn't tell Dave that were we ever to split up it wouldn't be over anything big, it would be because for the millionth time he ignored my instructions EVEN WHEN I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT just because he doesn't like being told what to do and thinks those two years he has on me make him more experienced and wiser about ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. No matter that I spend hours reading Disney guidebooks or checking out websites or that I've been two more times than he has, he knows EVERYTHING about Disney and couldn't possibly learn a darn thing from me. But I digress...

Space Mountain was fun, though I don't enjoy riding it with Natalie as much as you would think. Since the ride seats each person individually, I can't reach her while it is going and I'm always sure she's going to tumble out even though she's tall enough and heavy enough to ride. I had more fun sending her back to ride with Dave and Jonathan while I took my turn watching the little kids. You see, intellectually I know she will be fine; but stick me in the ride vehicle behind her, and I'm a nervous wreck. It's that whole motherhood thing, I'm sure. After that, we went to Frontierland to ride the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. I usually try to avoid the camel "spit," this time I was praying for it. (The camels around the ride spray water on the riders.) The plan had been to got to EPCOT after that, but my Dad found us at the carpets and said my sisters had some extra fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, were we interested? Of course we were. So, after waiting around for Janet and Co. and being "gifted" with more fast passes so that all of us could ride (thank you random lady who gave them to us!) Caroline rode her first roller coaster. It scared Natalie even last year, but my little bitty Caroline LOVED it! She screamed and raised her little arms in the air. It totally made my day to ride with her. Natalie liked it much more this time too. I'm sure it had nothing to do with wanting to show Juliet and Victoria how cool and grown-up she was, don't you think?

After that, we decided to meet up and Mom and Dad's condo for some real birthday cake and celebrating for Kassidy. The plan was to bring all our left-overs, make sandwiches and salads, blow out some candles, and let the birthday girl open her presents. Then, to go back to EPCOT for fireworks. But first, I needed to get her present. I had been planning this since I read about them on the DIS boards several months earlier, and couldn't wait to see if it would be as cute a gift as I hoped. On Main St. USA, there is a glass-blowing shop. Inside, they sell little glass slippers with a birthstone for $10 and for $2 more, you can personalize it with a name or date. I got Kass a June slipper with her name on it. Not something a three year-old would necessarily be thrilled with, but something she her mom could keep on a high shelf and she could treasure later on in life. The slipper looked exactly as cute as I wanted it to, and when we met back up with Janet and Co. at the monorail, it was all I could do not to pull it out and show her immediately. Fortunately, the parking lot shuttle pulled in and Dave dragged me off before I could blow my own surprise.

We went back to the trailer for kid naps and mom to do laundry. I must admit that while the Ft. Wilderness dryer cost $2 per load, it DID get absolutely everything in that load dry. Not bad. Once the laundry was done, we loaded back up and made our way to Meme's fancy condo-and fancy it was. After discovering I could get online and relaxing on the extra-long sectional, I decided I was fine with not going back to the parks that evening and so did Dave. Suspecting we would feel that way, we had never told the kids about the EPCOT fireworks plan, so they didn't miss a thing. As hot as it was and as miserable as I felt, the party and relaxation is probably my best memory of our whole trip. It helps that even three year-old Kass loved her little glass slipper. (I wish I could have afforded one for ALL the girls on the trip.) This condo also boasted a full-size washer and dryer, so who was the silly one for doing her laundry before she left Ft. Wilderness? Oh well, now I know for next time, right? After a quiet evening, all of us went to our respective sleeping places for some packing. My sisters all had morning flights and my parents were heading home as well. We would be on our own at Animal Kingdom tomorrow.

WDW 2006-Day 8

OK, back to the business of an unfinished trip report.

The alarm went off at it's usual time, but I could barely respond to it. I had been battling allergies for several days and it was really beginning to wear on me. Dave said he would take the first shower and I began to rouse the kids. Their clothes were already laid out for the day and I pointed that out to them as I poured their cereal. When I emerged from the shower, most of them were dressed. I was glad they were excited. Between my raging allergies and the friction between Dave and I, I was feeling almost numb to the magic of Disney. I knew how out of character that was for me, and that made me sad too. We began to load the car when we noticed some very brave ducks outside. They actually walked right up to us and began to quack in a manner that clearly said "Feed me!" So, we grabbed some older bread and we did. Sometimes it's the simple things that make kids happy, isn't it?

We arrived just after the park opened. I heard that they skipped the park opening ceremony that day, so I wasn't to sad to be running a little bit behind. When we got to Dumbo and its 30 minute wait, I changed my mind. I'm usually pretty quick to get there, but we were pushing two strollers AND they changed the route a little. We couldn't walk through the castle and going around it via Sleepy Hollow took a bit longer. But, we did find the Cinderella fountain going that way and I had never seen it before so it's all good. The hot, long Dumbo wait was worth it in the end. Elisa squealed adorably and the other three kids loved it too even though they all remembered it. We hit the Pooh ride next. It wasn't as hot as it was last year, nor did it get stuck this time. I guess they fixed it. I wanted to get Elisa a little baseball cap, but didn't like any of the ones in the Pooh gift shop. While Dave got some drinks for the kids, I went and got Fast Passes for Peter Pan. That ride is slow-loading, gets long lines quickly, but is much adored by me and the kids. I was taking no chances on missing it. I came back to find everyone gone from the designated meeting place. Apparently, the drink stand they stopped at was closed and they went elsewhere. I sure wish they had told me first. In the 10 minutes I waited for them (because what else could I do?) I imagined all kinds of worst-case scenarios. Fortunately, I was wrong.

After some cooling off, we rode Snow White's Scary Adventure. Tristan threw a huge fit about having to sit with me, but overall the kids love this ride. Next up was Philarmagic-another cute show. The kids wanted to sit in the front row, so sit we did. I still felt pretty loopy and out of it, but I think that only enhanced my 3-D show experience. From there we found It's a Small World and made some friends while we waited in line. Again, the most exciting thing to me is that now, after its rehab, you can see through the water clear down to the bottom of the ride. I pointed that out to Dave. He was unimpressed. Elisa, however, loved the dancing dolls. Welcome to at least four more years of Small World torture. Oh well...It still wasn't time for our Peter Pan fast passes, but there wasn't really time to go elsewhere. So Dave and the kids made a potty stop while I checked the Tinker Bell store for a hat. They had a little Cinderella one in Elisa's size and a "So Not a Princess" visor for Natalie. That would turn out to be very fitting the following morning. By the time I paid for my purchases, it was time for Peter Pan. I got to ride with Natalie and Caroline this time-always fun and magical, even with the allergy meds. (Or is that because of them?)

It was almost time for our reservations at Tony's Town Square, an Italian restaurant made to look just like Tony's from Lady and the Tramp. I've always wanted to eat there, but I'm usually too thrifty. Since we were eating both breakfast and dinner in the trailer, I thought 'why not?' As a treat and a 'thank you' for all they do, we were meeting my parents there to buy them lunch too. After a quick cell phone call coordinating our locations, we got some fast passes for Splash Mountain and headed back to Main Street USA. It took Mom and Dad a little while to get there, but we didn't mind. The waiting area at Tony's was super air-conditioned. I checked in when they called to say they were at the park turnstiles and we were called up about a minute or two after they arrived at the restaurant. The kids had found me a pressed penny machine, watched a few minutes of Lady and the Tramp in the lobby, and for a moment all was well. With four kids the ages of mine, you can't ask much more than that.

Tony's has always received mixed reviews on the DIS boards, so I was a little nervous to try it-but also very curious. Since I once lived in Italy, I'm picky about my Italian (I'm not a big fan of Olive Garden at all, but I will eat there. I'm such a sell-out.) Fortunately for Tony's, the heat and my sore throat pretty much eradicated any desire I had for pasta. I went with a grilled vegetable panini, it was VERY good. Dave got the meatball sub (as I expected he would) and the kids all wanted pizza. Mom and Dad each tried some pasta. A taste of my mom's sauce and my dad's baked ziti almost made me regret my menu choice. Both were surprisingly good. But, as is always my mantra, "there's always another Disney trip." So maybe we'll eat there again someday. Seriously. Not only was the food good, but the service was excellent. I was very impressed-especially with all the squabbling the kids were doing throughout the meal. Good grief. It cost them each a child's dish of gelato even though it was offered at a very good price. Dave talked me into ordering the smoothie sold in the souvenir Lady and the Tramp glass. The glass was a lot nicer than I thought it would be (it's a glass mug-I was expecting a plastic cup) and the smoothie felt great on my poor throat. So, I give Tony's Town Square a "two thumbs-up."

After Tony's, Caroline got her first ride on Splash Mountain. It was a big hit, though she didn't like sitting on the wet seats. At least she didn't duck at the big drop and leave me with a face full of water like her brother did on his first ride. Thank goodness. I asked her just now if she liked the ride and she said "yay!" I'm guessing that's high praise. Sadly, my kids are mostly too short to ever show up in those ride pictures they take, so I never have good documentation of their facial expressions. Then again, I do save money that was I guess. After splashing down, we met back up with MeMe, PaPa, and Elisa (who was too little to ride) and went back to the park so Mommy could get some rest. We went back to MGM later on so that Tristan could try to get picked for a Jedi Academy show and Dave and I could see Warrick Davis live and in person. Unfortunately, most of that was rained out. Luckily, it cleared up before Fantasmic, and we saw that front and center by showing up the hour early I had been recommending all along. I thought waiting the hour in our seats with Elisa would be a nightmare, but we made friends with a grandmotherly lady from Delaware who was sitting behind me. (I just love those folks either from Delaware or living there now-what can I say?) The show was another big hit with the kids and I was glad. Since my week-long allergies seemed to be progressing into a full-blown sinus infection, I wasn't sure I would make it to any other late night fireworks during our trip. This one was worth all the rest of them though, and the kids never knew the difference. I taught Natalie to say "moo" as we walked with the rest of the crowd from the Fantasmic stadium exit to the park exit. Amusingly, that was concurrent with this post by my friend Anne. Excellent timing! We all collapsed into our beds in the trailer, each one of us excited about tomorrow's events for different reasons. For me and the girls, it was finally time to eat in the castle. For Tristan, it was time to see Buzz and Stitch, and for Dave (and me again) it was time to ride Space Mountain.

One Last Funny

Before I leave tomorrow, I thought I had better post this before I forgot it. As I mentioned, my mom arrived at our trailer that first night in WDW full of conspiracy theories that we were being followed only to keep them to herself when she saw how upset I was already. In fact, I didn't even know about it until last week when my sister told me about it. (It's probably not nice that we get together once a week and spend a lot of time laughing at Mom, but she's a little nuts and not very nice either-so this is our coping mechanism.) By explanation, our "Uncle Bill" is actually one of my aunt's ex-husbands. After years of being a stand-up guy, he suddenly hit midlife crisis. He would have loved to have stayed married to my aunt, but only if she learned to 'look the other way' if you catch my drift. He is kind of a jerk and the custody battle has been nasty, but he isn't dangerous or anything. Just a big, dumb man. Also, he is a Master Mason and once knew D the 2nd and my sister's jailbird of an ex-husband, but I think they've all lost touch. Not that I sit around and think about that too much. Apparently, my mother does. But, as I've mentioned, she's freakin' nuts! Anyway...here's the funny excerpt from our conversation:

Janet: So there Mom is going on and on about how Uncle Bill is following us to Disney World with his daughters, and then she began to speculate on all the "nefarious characters" from our pasts that could be traveling with him.

Me: Or maybe, C and M just wanted to go to WDW with their Dad. I don't think he's talked to any of our exes in years. Thank God she didn't start this crap in the trailer, I might have killed her. Besides, does she not get how HUGE Disney World is-Shoot! Even if he did bring his RV, he still couldn't have found us even at Ft. Wilderness, it's too big!

Janet: Oh sure he could! All he had to do was look for the dumbass who parked his 30 ft. trailer in the 20 ft. space!

Ah, my little sister. She's not very nice, but she sure is funny. I've been her 'straight man' my whole life.

WDW 2006-Day 7

After a less-than-auspicious beginning, our Disney trip was underway. When the alarm went off, I feared that my allergies and Dave's attitude would dampen my usual enthusiasm for Day 1 at Disney. I was wrong-the minute I opened my eyes I was out of bed and in the shower. I emerged to find the kids dancing into the clothes I laid out for them the night before-so far, so good. Dave was up too and showered quickly. He immediately began helping pack the daily tote bag and putting sunscreen on the kids. I knew this was the closest I was going to get to an "I'm sorry" from him. I'm used to that, but this morning I was still a little irritated. Our first park was Disney Studios which is my all-time favorite. We made it there before the gates opened and were in a good position for rope drop. I was happy. While that was something that happened consistently on last summer's all-girls trip, it was a first for a Disney World trip with Dave.

We chatted with a family next to us who noticed Dave's OU hat. They were actually from Texas, but had graduated from OU. We joked that we had never left. The husband commented on a desire to return to that area, but the look on his wife's face (a friendly, but mocking one) said that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. IF you lived in the DFW area, would you want to move back to the OKC metro?! I'm just sayin...They seemed to have elaborated on their rope drop ceremony a bit, as soon as I saw it start, I got all excited. I am worse than the kids. Before I knew it, we were all saying "lights, camera, action!" and strolling into the park. (Yes, strolling. Clever planning on the part of Disney has put an end to the running chaos that used to ensue when the rope dropped and, as a mama with a slow-moving party, I say that's a good thing.)

It was decided that Dave and Natalie would go straight to the Tower of Terror while I waited with the smaller kids for a phone call from my sister to let me know she had arrived. Yes, I am a big chicken when it comes to the TOT. Not only does it scare me, its cycle of lifting and plummeting over and over really hurts my back. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I've had not four, but SEVEN epidural needles crammed in there over the last 8 years. (They botched my epi with Tristan, and I had to have three blood patches to fix it. Just so ya know...getting an epidural needle inserted when you are no longer in labor really HURTS-but the spinal headaches hurt worse.) Anyway, that's gotta be it-I couldn't possibly be getting old could I? Tristan and Caroline are technically tall enough to ride TOT too, but they declined on this trip. Smart kids. (But I do think everyone should ride this at least once in their lives-and I've covered that already.)

I was so happy to be back at WDW, that I bought Tristan a replacement pin lanyard and an autograph book for everyone but Elisa. Still waiting for either my sister to call or Dave and Natalie to return, I'm sure I looked silly standing around with two strollers while everyone else dashed to their favorite rides; but it was fun to people-watch. Almost simultaneously, my sister and her crew arrived from one side as Dave and Natalie strolled back into view on the other. Natalie loves the Tower of Terror and would ride it all day if I would let her. While I worry jokingly about what this will do to her spine as an adult, I'm glad she's not a big chicken like her mother. Soon, she was rushing off again with her Aunt Janet and her cousins to ride it again. I took everyone's park tickets and went to get fast passes for the Rockin' Roller Coaster. My kids are all too short, but Lady Capulet and Queenie were going to ride for the first time this trip. Yay!

After I secured the fast passes, I escorted my BIL, his mother, and the smaller kids to the ABC Commissary for breakfast and a potty stop. One of the many fun things about my sister's MIL is that she dotes on my kids too. I guess it's no big deal, but you can't help loving someone who loves your kids. Know what I mean? Anyway, I've never really stopped long enough for breakfast before and while all I had was some juice, it was fun to stop. I never thought a park commando like me would say that. We finished there at just about the same time the girls got back from the TOT. There was still a half-hour before our fast pass time, so we hit the nearby Great Movie Ride.

One of the things I LOVE about Disney is when you get to the front of a ride, say "party of 13" and they don't blink an eye when it comes to grouping you on the ride together. Of course, the Great Movie Ride is better-suited to something like this than say a roller coaster ride, but it's still nice to be able to keep a large party together with little difficulty. Once aboard, we were just getting to know our tour guide "Chris" when suddenly, a bank-robbing cowboy commandeered our vehicle and left poor Chris behind. I worried a little bit about M and Caroline who were sitting in the very front with Nana E, and close to that action. I guess the guy who portrayed the Cowboy sensed my apprehension, because he broke character a little bit as we left 'the old West' and headed into 'outer space' by trying to make nice with the three wide-eyed little girls to his immediate right. Caroline visibly relaxed the minute he smiled at them, but Miss Madeline (my niece, same age as Caroline) REFUSED to shake his hand when he offered it. He was a "bad guy" and no amount of friendly smiling was going to win over her affections. Of course, her mother and I would have LOVED to shake hands with the adorable cowboy, but we were seated another few rows back and we aren't nearly as irresistible as our four year-old daughters.
After Chris came to our rescue in Ancient Egypt, we finished the ride and made our grand "exit."

At this point, BIL and his mom took the smaller kids to the Muppet theatre while Dave, Janet, L.C., and Queenie made our way to the Rockin' Roller Coaster. You've just gotta love those fast passes. L.C. really wanted to ride with me, so that left Queenie paired with her mom and Dave on his own. He didn't care. I screamed my head off as usual, but so did L.C. I have the ride photo to prove it. The girls proclaimed their first ride a success, and we went back to re-join the others.
To our great delight, the churro stand was open-so we grabbed some snacks to go! You may find it odd that I sent the family off to see the Muppet show without me, but the fact is that they haven't changed that particular show one bit in the last 5 visits I've made to the park. I now have more interest in shopping the little Muppet store than I do the 3-D movie. So that's where we met. Again, I didn't find nearly enough Muppet stuff there to suit me, but they had a new women's baseball cap and a new t-shirt. That would have to do.

While we were shopping, my parents, youngest sister and BIL, and my cousin arrived at the park. We all met up by the Playhouse Disney and Little Mermaid shows, but it was too close to the lunch reservations I had made for my family for us to do anything else. We agreed to meet up later and separated. I was pretty excited. On every trip we've ever made to WDW, I've passed the Sci-Fi Dine In restaurant and wished we could eat there. This time, we did. The restaurant itself is adorably themed. You go inside and it looks like a big drive-in theatre. The screen at the front shows clips from funky 50's sci-fi films with the occasional classic drive-in snack bar commercial thrown in for good measure. The tables are shaped like cars and they seat six. Each car seat holds two "passengers" and you all face the screen. Natalie and Tristan sat up front, I sat with Caroline behind them, and Dave and Elisa sat in the back. Natalie had her usual hamburger, Tristan and Caroline ordered mac and cheese, and our server (who I LOVED) actually suggested we split one of the mac and cheese orders between Caroline and Elisa. Thanks to the heat, I wasn't very hungry and I ordered a turkey sandwich and I think Dave had a burger. I was surprised he didn't order the prime rib sandwich like I thought he would. I guess he was hot too. The food was just OK and all of us were too hot to eat too much, BUT the atmosphere and the novelty of the place was why we were there in the first place. It IS a little dark, but that's the whole point, right? Natalie and Tristan were really taken with the place, so I'm sure we will be back.

After lunch, we met up again. This time at Star Tours. Woo Hoo! Caroline was finally tall enough to ride. Sadly, poor Madeline wasn't. She's not even three months younger than Caroline, but I forgot to take into account the fact that her parents are Janet and Marty. I think Marty may be 5'6" and Janet is 5'2". Poor Miss M seemed to roll with it though. She, her sister Kass, and Elisa all got honorary shuttle licenses while waiting with me and Nana E in the baby switch area. Nana E had never baby switched before (she usually doesn't do thrill rides, but thought a motion simulator might be OK) and she was impressed not only by how organized it was, but also by the fact we were able to take some of the bigger kids back on the ride with us after we handed off the little ones to their Dads. Elisa was much more conscious of the fact that she wasn't getting to ride than any of my other children were back when I used to baby swap them-I resolved then not to go back to WDW until she is 4 and can ride most things too. (It goes without saying that I always love a little shuttle ride to Endor-but why do I keep getting those first time pilots?!)
Surprisingly, we didn't shop much in the Star Wars shop. It was PACKED with people excited about the Star Wars weekend starting tomorrow. I hate crowded stores, so we left.

After a few speeder bike photos, we split up again. Tristan wanted to see the lightsaber challenge show they were doing outside of Star Tours (I wish he could have been picked-maybe some other time...) and the girls and I wanted to see the walk-through Narnia exhibit. As we arrived, we ran into my parents and my sister again. We waited about five minutes, then we were led to THE wardrobe (Actually it was just a very nice facsimile, but still...)

We spent a nice 15-minutes inside the wardrobe watching movie highlights, seeing props from the set, and being taunted by the White Witch. Cute and fun. Then, it was show time! We saw The Little Mermaid first. I wasn't sure Elisa would sit still, but she did OK. She loved both the "real" and the animated versions of "Max the dog" and would point and yell "puppy!" every time she saw him. A real funny moment happened at the end of the play when the stage "Eric" is washed up on the shore. As the film clip ended and the lights came up, a little boy looked at the actor on stage and yelled "He's dead!" The actor must have broken a rib holding in his laughter (he buried his face in the rocks on stage), thank goodness the rest of us didn't have to. The Playhouse Disney show was next, and we all met up again for that. I have to admit, I'm a more than a little 'over' this show. BUT, the little girls still love it. I was sad to see they replaced Rolie Polie Olie with JoJo's Circus, but that may have been Elisa's favorite part. After Playhouse Disney, us grown-ups dragged ourselves off the floor and made more plans. Nana E was very insistent that Janet and I get to see Muppet 3-D, how could I refuse? She saw it again with us.

Then just about everyone else went to see the Lights, Motor, Action Stunt Show. Elisa had fallen asleep at this point and waking her up to sit through yet another show was at the very bottom of my to-do list. So, my cousin J took the older girls back for another ride on the Tower of Terror, just about everyone else went to the show, and Caroline and I sought refuge with cold drinks under the shade while Elisa slept. Not a bad way to end things...If only we had stopped there. After the show, the plan was to pursue our own dinner and shopping plans and meet up at the Fantasmic theatre ONE HOUR BEFORE THE SHOW. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy and no one showed up at the appointed time but me. Typical...Imagine their surprise at the announcement that the show was "standing room only" when they all came rushing up 30 minutes 'till showtime. I wasn't angry, it was too hot for that and I didn't have the energy. I also knew I could come back tomorrow and try again on my own time schedule if I wanted. There was no way I could imagine chasing four kids in the jam-packed standing area, so I decided to go back to the campground and try again tomorrow. My sister and her kids (two of whom had seen the show with me front and center the year before) agreed. Dad was miffed at my 'I told you so' attitude (his words, not mine) and that I had successfully broken up a promising family get-together. (Chasing the nine grandchildren in the standing-room only area did not sound "promising" to the rest of us, but I digress...) So, I unabashedly took my little brood home with the promise of a real seat at the show tomorrow. There were no hard feelings on my part otherwise because this meant I GOT TO GO TO BED EARLY TONIGHT! And let this be a lesson-get to Fantasmic an hour early. Buy snacks from the vendor or bring them yourself, bring stuff for your kids to do or let them have that souvenir they've wanted all day to occupy themselves, but GET THERE EARLY or you will not get a seat. The hour goes by fast and, to me, the show is worth it. And that's all I've got to say about that.

I'll pick this back up when I get back from Girls' Camp on Saturday! The rules don't say 'no laptops' specifically, but I'm quite sure it isn't allowed and there's no wi-fi out there anyway. Take care ya'll! And you can always check out the Jan. or July 2005 archives for a Disney trip report fix in the meantime.

WDW 2006-The Rest of Day 6

I left the end of Day 6 for its own separate post because those last few hours shall go down in infamy as the day I almost left my husband. You know, the Magic Kingdom's Main Street USA has lots of cute features that help it mimic anyone's favorite small hometown. There's a working Barber Shop, a little theatre (that now houses the Virtual Magic Kingdom, but still...), a Bakery, and even a City Hall. Fortunately for Dave, it lacks a courthouse and an attorney's office. Neither probably fit in with that happy slice o' hometown life that Walt wanted to represent when he built the park. That was a lucky thing for my husband.

I was already a little miffed at him because, at a rest stop just before we left Georgia, I asked him to buy some peaches. You know, Georgia peaches? On road trips with my grandparents in days long past we ALWAYS stopped for local produce. And even better, my family had a real and working refrigerator in the trailer behind us. No more stopping just shy of the next state's border to cram as many cherries and other fruits into our mouths as possible so grandma could get her "money's worth" before the next state made us throw it away. (This was when we used to drive from Las Vegas to Oregon through California during the fruit fly epidemic of the early '80's.) I really wanted me some peaches. Especially since my allergies were in full swing and my dry, scratchy throat was getting harder and harder to soothe with meds or cough drops. Dave looked up at the stand, shrugged that they were only selling them in big bags, AND IMMEDIATELY STARTED THE CAR AND PULLED RIGHT OUT OF THE GAS STATION WITHOUT ANOTHER THOUGHT! Now, turning around wasn't an option in the trailer unless I wanted my kids exposed to even more of his grumpiness and swearing than they had already encountered on the trip thus far. So, I said quietly that I would have liked the big bag and why didn't he ask me before just taking off. He said I could have had the peaches if I "really wanted them." How? By throwing myself out of a moving car to prove my devotion?! The translation to this was that he didn't want anymore produce taking up his precious Coca Cola storage space in the fridge nor could our hectic schedule possibly afford the five minutes it would have taken me to make the peach purchase. BUT, since I was calling him on it, he was going to rewrite history and make things out to be all my fault for not speaking up, as usual.

The problem with this strategy is that it's been used against me so often that I no longer fall for it. The second problem? I am SO OVER that "whatever you want to do, Dear" part of my marriage. I will admit that in the early years, there were several misunderstandings that stemmed from me being too afraid to tell him what I wanted or expecting him to read my mind. That's definitely not the problem anymore. Unfortunately, Dave got so used to not hearing what I wanted and making up my mind for me, that he still does it and then is bitterly disappointed when I dare to protest. That spat notwithstanding, we still managed a fairly uneventful drive into Florida. Especially when we finally managed to pass the scary old man driving 40 mph. all along the downtown Orlando stretch of I-4 and arrived at Ft. Wilderness. I was relieved that we got there with plenty of time to send the kids to Chip and Dale's camp fire because this was the only night on the trip we would have a chance to go. Afterwards, I was to get a meal ready for the rest of my family who would be joining us later. I had hoarded 4 lbs. of chicken breasts and a couple of pounds of ground beef to feed us all. Dave had pulled it out of the freezer to defrost a few rest stops earlier in the day. Or so he had told me...

Check-in at Ft. Wilderness was quick and painless. We had requested a preferred site for its cable hook-up and wireless internet, and were assigned to one of the preferred loops. However, when we saw our campsite, I knew there were troubled times ahead. First, it was a back-in site rather than a pull-through. Dave hates those. Second, it was entirely too small for our 30 ft. trailer. Even I saw that-and I'm not very spatially-oriented. In fact, it has been suspected since childhood that I suffer from some form of this neurological disorder, though I could always read and spell better than most of my classmates. Since there's no treatment for it, and I've long since learned to live with it, my parents and I never did much about it. However, I'm not very good at giving directions unless I'm the one driving and I'm very nervous about giving quick commands to turn left or right because I really can't tell the difference between the two unless I look at the scars on my right-hand or the wedding rings on my left. As an otherwise "smart kid" growing up, I am more than a little sensitive about this particular "quirk" in my personality, and I don't talk about it much or do much that would point it out. Dave knows all this, which is why I was shocked when he asked me to hop out of the car and "direct" him into the overly small space where he was determined to park the trailer.

I told him just to drive back to the front and tell them the problem and that we needed a different site. Afraid he would lose his precious cable hook-up, he refused. Since I really wanted to do the 'live from Disney' blogging thing, I didn't push him as hard as I should have. But, I did start to tell him how insecure and terrified I felt at the prospect of trying to do something that I was sure would damage either Disney property, our rented trailer, or both. I ventured shyly that "I wouldn't have the first clue..." to which he snapped "You're right, you wouldn't! Just get your useless ass out of this car and make sure I don't run over any kids!"
For the next 45 minutes, he swore at me and the kids as he endlessly tried over and over to cram a 30 ft. trailer into a 20 ft. space. No amount of gentle suggestion or rude demanding (and I alternated between both) could convince him to just PLEASE ask for a new campsite. He yelled, he bumped something, he cussed us all out for wanting "another damn Disney trip," then moved the trailer another few inches. Lather, rinse, repeat for the better part of an hour. In the end, he moved the picnic table and shoved the trailer into the spot. By the time he was done, me and all the kids were in tears, we had missed all the campground activities, and I didn't want to be there or anywhere near him anymore. In fact, had we not already paid for the Disney tickets, I would have found some way to leave him there and go home that same night. To add insult to injury, I opened the trailer to find that he had only defrosted 4 chicken breasts for a party of 16.

My family arrived at the appointed time to find me a frazzled mess who was trying desperately to defrost another four pounds of meat in time to serve a decent meal. My Dad, always the thinker, discovered Crockett's Tavern (a take-out place within the campground) and brought over two pizzas and a bucket of fried chicken. I made a salad and discovered I had forgotten the can opener for the fruit salad I was going to make. At that point, I lost it completely. My BIL S (always the voice of reason in moments like this) told all the kids to leave me the heck alone and give me a break since nobody else was. Again, with all due respect to my other BIL's, S is my favorite. The bright spots of the evening (and there were 2) were that my already high-level of anxiety was even noted by my mom who spared me the drama of her belief that our ex-Uncle Bill was "following us." Apparently, he was taking his daughters to Ft. Wilderness and WDW this summer too. Clearly part of an evil plan to stalk us, because no one else could possibly plan a trip to WDW in June with their kids unless it was part of a plot to spy on us. And where there was ex-Uncle Bill, could my sister's ex-husband and one of my ex-boyfriends really be that far behind?! (They are all acquainted, but I don't think any of the three have interacted in years.) Yes, my mom is nuts, but luckily for me only my sisters were tortured with that particular conspiracy theory. I'm still angry about me and the kids starting our four days at Disney in tears, but if it spared me hours of listening to mom go on and on about that, it's not the worst thing that could have happened. The other funny? When, as I sat at the table eating salad and sniffling, my sister Janet said "Why do I feel like we're in the episode of Roseanne where everyone goes to the trailer to make Becky feel better?" I smiled then and, for a rare moment, I was glad my family was with me. I told Dave later that night that I saw no way for him to "make this up to me" anytime soon, but I knew that as long as I had my sisters and my kids had their cousins; this trip wouldn't be a total bust. As I lay across the bed that night, I didn't know if my constantly watery eyes were from my allergies, my attitude, or both.

WDW 2006-Days 5-6

After some fun days at the grandparents' house, Dave and his dad hitched up the trailer with a less-than-polite refusal of my help. This annoyed me a bit because who did Dave think was going to help him for the rest of the trip? But, whatever (insert sigh of disgust here). I busied myself with my camera and took those family pictures I posted to the Flickr account yesterday. I think I got some good ones. After some nice, but not drawn-out goodbyes; we were on our way.

The winding roads and steep grades while driving through east Tennessee and North Caroline really freaked me out, especially with a 30 ft. trailer rolling behind us. Oddly, Dave did less yelling at us on this drive than he did when we came into Tennessee just a few days before. (He was saving it up for the next day, I just didn't know it yet.) After all the years of hearing Uncle Johnny wax nostalgic about growing up in North Carolina, I finally drove through it. Not the area he lived, but I still thought of him the whole time. Soon enough, we were in South Carolina, then Savannah, Georgia where I had begged to stop for a visit.

We've been to Tennessee before, we've definitely been to Disney World. But Savannah I had never seen and I had wanted to ever since I borrowed Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil from my Dad. We found a nice campground, checked in, and to my delight; I discovered the wireless internet connection. I posted a small update, noted my misspelled title in a previous, and planned to change it later that night after some sightseeing. We unhooked the trailer, powered it up, coaxed the kids back into the car, and set the GPS system for Savannah. We still managed to get lost.

I guess we finally found the historic area and a parking place at about dusk. The Savannah riverfront after dark is not such a great place for kids. We took them to the first cafe we found and bought them some promised ice cream (How else do you think we coaxed them into the car?). Natalie had seen Samantha Brown eat some when she watched Great Hotels and knew that just HAD to be part of the Savannah tourist experience. After their ice cream, we let them watch a juggler near the docks, but my sense of unease was growing. I felt like we should just get back to the campground. Dave thought I was overreacting until he spotted something he had never seen before: a female pimp telling her 'girls' to start recruiting customers more aggressively. He only needed to hear a minute or two of that dialogue before he too felt that it was time to leave. (I missed that, I was just glad he suddenly agreed with me. I probably would never have known about it had he not told his sister and BIL about it while we visited them in Louisiana).

We got just slightly less lost on the way back to the campground. We did see a spectacular bridge going from Savannah to one of the islands off the coast, but we had no reason to cross it. Unfortunately. Upon returning to the campground, we hosed off the kids in the little shower and put them to bed. Oh the blogging plans I had as soon as the place was quiet...But, by the time everything was cleaned up, the server was down. I consoled myself by going to bed early. My throat had been a bit scratchy since Tennessee and I thought it was something a little rest would cure. (Ha Ha)

The next morning we got up early so that we could do a bit more sightseeing at a better time of day and still check out of the campground by 11 a.m. A note to any would-be Savannah tourists is that in the early morning, things are still humid, but not so miserable. Also, the riverfront area was practically deserted and yet most shops and restaurants were still open. I highly recommend visiting in the earlier part of the day. I took pictures here and there throughout the historic district, but would love to go back when the kids are old enough to want to explore with me. Natalie got excited about the Julliette Gordon Low house, because she founded Girl Scouts. Leave it to us to visit on the one weekday that the place is closed. If we had a bit more time, I think the kids would have liked Forsyth Park too. But, we settled for quick pictures there and a walk up and down the riverfront before loading up for the short(er) drive to this evening's final destination: Walt Disney World's Ft. Wilderness. And can you believe it-I helped him hitch up that trailer just fine. Apparently, you don't need to be male to ease on and off the gas pedal while you're reversing into the hitch. Who knew?!

WDW 2006-Days 3-4

Since we spent a few days at the grandparents' it seems pointless to blog those day by day. Instead, I'll just hit the highlights:

I've already mentioned the cooking, but I'll say it one more time-THE COOKING! Good stuff! Dave's aunt lives in a house on the same plot as Mamaw and Papaw (as does his cousin and her family-away on a camping trip for this visit), but she still eats with her parents more often than not. I don't blame her.

Mamaw's ultimate capacity Maytag Atlantis washer and dryer! I don't know why a little ol' Southern grandma who lives with just her husband needs larger and fancier laundry equipment than my family of 6, but it sure was fun to borrow it. I really, really want my own!

Watching my kids play outside every day instead of watching TV (though they did that too). Mamaw and Papaw landscaped the one-time family farm into a gorgeous plot of land that has three different homes on it and doesn't look crowded at all. The kids loved to run from one end of it to the other. Even better was that the place they set up for the trailer was in a spot that blocked the reception of Dave's satellite DISH. Ha! Ha!

Listening to Papaw and Mamaw gripe about their "rich Yankee neighbor" who lives on land that was once part of their farm. His latest offense was messing up the corner edge of their yard with the trucks that came in to install his pool. He gave all three families a $30 Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift card and Papaw marched all three of them back to his front porch to explain that "in Tennessee, you only have to say you are sorry." While I feel bad their yard was slightly damaged, I almost feel worse for the "rich Yankee neighbor" who probably thought he was just buying up a bunch of no-longer farmed Tennessee land for a good price where he could build a peaceful home for himself and his family. Think again, Yankee.

Blogging briefly at McDonald's while my kids played on the playground and knowing more about using a laptop with a wireless connection than any of the employees did. I was right in assuming that the place had been built since our last visit. I'm not sure where they found the kids who work there, though. They are not exactly the representation of Southern hospitality and charm that you would expect from a little Tennessee town.

Sightseeing in Jonesborough-just the downtown area alone inspired many pictures and made me wish for the 'eye' my friends Toni and Jen have for photography. I tried my best, ladies. I will post my efforts on Flickr later today or tomorrow. Living in one of the 'newer' states (the Oklahoma centennial is next year) there is very little that's truly "old" here. After living in Europe, I really came to appreciate the things that are truly historical. While we will never be as old as the European nations, it's nice to see the U.S. has a few treasures too.

Listening to Papaw's family stories. While I believe Mamaw's claims that Alzheimer's may be setting in, it's still very gradual and not noticeable to those of us who don't seem him every day. I had Dave write down as much as he could because I'm guessing it's just a matter of time before those stories are gone forever.

Seeing how much Papaw and Mamaw love my kids. Since my grandparents are here or in Tulsa, they see my kids all the time. I love that they had a chance to bond with Dave's family too.

All of us on Dave's side staying in close proximity and really, really getting along with each other. I have the receipts to tell you exactly how much this trip cost, but you just can't put a price tag on that.

WDW 2006-Day 2

Fortunately for me, I was still on 'get up early to get the kids to school' time and we finally got off to the early start Dave wanted each day of this trip. One of the best things about leaving so early was that the sun was still rising as we crossed the bridge into Memphis, TN. Of the many things I love about taking an I-40 eastbound road trip, crossing this bridge is in the top ten favorite list. There would be no stops, no pilgrimages to Graceland on this trip as there have been in the past, but I loved crossing that bridge and telling the kids to look out their windows. It really put me in a better mood.

An hour later, we were stopping in Jackson to have breakfast at Casey Jones Village. The food was just as good as ever, but a lot of the other visitors and ESPECIALLY the man that seated us, were rude. It was a bummer. Equally sad was that the cute little train museum/gift shop has now been overrun by Thomas the Tank Engine. Make no mistake, I love Thomas. His shows have saved many an otherwise disastrous babysitting adventure and my kids love him too. But, this was not the Thomas museum, it was a tribute to Casey Jones. Even if I am the only one who still knows that. I guess recent developments in Jackson have created more competition for my beloved restaurant, but it was still a little disappointing to see how much things have deteriorated since we last visited in 1998. I hope I was just there on an off-day and the fact that I visited at all was still much-envied by my Dad who first took us there as kids en route to see our Aunt K in Philadelphia (yes, that same aunt who is childless because I once broke her fiancee's sunglasses).

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful and, thanks to our early start, relatively traffic-free. Sadly, our GPS system kept us from getting lost in Nashville and inadvertently driving past the Grand Ole Opry as we did on both our previous Tennessee trips. It's a silly thing to be disappointed by, but I was a little. I blame it on my recent viewing of Walk the Line. In keeping with tradition though, I did make sure to annoy Dave and the kids with as much Elvis and Johnny Cash music as I had on CD and iPod (sadly, that's not too much) though I did forget my Loretta Lynn CD, much to my own chagrin. (We didn't stop in Hurricane Mills at all this time either, sigh).

I think this is the day I realized that I couldn't take anymore lunch or dinner stops in the trailer unless we had already arrived at our destination and were 'plugged in.' After two hot, miserable meals in the unairconditioned sweatbox; I said "no more" AND I stopped taking all bathroom stops in there too. I should have done THAT much sooner. Once he knew a bathroom stop may or may not mean more quality time in the trailer, Tristan didn't request nearly as many. The definite low point of the day was when Dave decided to switch off his "navi-computer" and drive to his grandparents' house "on instinct." I never thought I would say this, but maybe that boy has seen Star Wars one too many times. All I'm saying is we got completely lost while driving through a lot of twisting, winding roads and pulling a 30-foot trailer, and never once did I hear the voice of Obi Wan telling us to "use the force" and "let go." Constant cell phone communication with his Dad eventually got us into the right place. I do regret that I didn't spend any of our time wandering through the hills of Jonesborough taking pictures. There were some beautiful farms there, but there was no way was I asking Dave to drive back through there so we could get lost again.

Mamaw and Papaw were still up and, as I've mentioned, there sure was some good food waiting for us when we got there. Elisa climbed all over her grandfather and her great-grandfather while Tristan pretended that he couldn't talk and insisted on communicating with Mamaw like this. She indulged him until he couldn't help himself and started talking to her. Like my grandmothers and Dave's Aunt P, she's got the Tristan touch. I was impressed. We drifted off to sleep that night in a much better place-hooked up at the end of Dave's aunt's driveway. No neon signs, highway lights, or hyper kids. Just croaking frogs, southern breezes, and bellies full of good food...good times.

One Last Digression

I know I am in the middle of a trip report, but I'm going to have to digress one more time for a special edition 'Week In Review.' No I haven't read anything new, seen any shows (not even the season finale of Big Love-gasp!), nor have I got anything new from Netflix to review. However, yesterday Dave and I returned home from conference with just enough time to iron three little outfits, toss four little kids in the car, and head north to Tulsa to see The Lion King. As tired as I was from the vacation/conference combo, as much as the kids fought in the car, as unpredictable as Tristan's behavior is on any good day, AND as freakin' HOT as my grandparents' house was once we got there; I seriously questioned my sanity for spending as much as I had on tickets to a show that there was no way the three kids accompanying me were going to let me enjoy. I just prayed their antics wouldn't annoy Chris, Lanie, Vickie, et al when we met up with them at the theatre. I should have known that free parking space we found so close by was a good omen.

The show, in and of itself, was amazing. I highly recommend it to anyone. The effect it had on my kids, and Tristan in particular, brought tears to my eyes several times throughout the performance. It was that good. From the opening notes until the curtain fell at the end, Tristan was mesmerized (so were the girls, but we knew that would happen). He cheered and applauded in all the right places. Several times, his eyes got big and he would say "thank you for bringing me, Mommy." Or "this is the best thing I ever saw!" Natalie already shares my love for Broadway, and if last night was any indication, so does Caroline. But to be able to share something so special to me with my son was a really wonderful thing for both of us. I don't say this often about the things I do with my children, but this was worth every penny I spent-and that was a fair number of pennies.

There was so much about the show that was good, I'll just hit on the highlights: First of all, Lanie scored us some awesome seats! As the administrator of our season ticket operation she always comes through for us; but this time she really outdid herself! Never have I had such good seats at the Tulsa PAC-thank you! (And again, congrats on the new house!) As the show opens, some of the characters are already on stage, but then they are joined by others. Some of these come through the doors at the back of the theatre, others are already stationed somewhere in the audience. Last night we happened to be seated just below one that popped up in the Mezzanine and started singing. Tristan was entranced from that moment on (and it was tear-up moment number one of about 100 for me). Just as he recovered from that surprise, he looked to his right to find an elephant making its way to the stage to the delight of his sisters who spotted it before I did. A young pair of male and female actors (Young Nala and Simba, of course) take up a large amount of time on the stage for the first act, and I thought they both were incredible-both as far as their talent and their stage presence. I read in their bios that they are 11 and 12-Wow! While most of the animals take on a more traditionally African appearance for the play, they left Timon and Pumbaa cartoon-like, to my great relief.

The costumes were worthy of every bit of hype that they get and the cast was all top-notch. It's different from your standard musical in so many ways, and yet just as engaging. (Toni, I know musicals aren't your thing; but I think you would really like this-it's that good!) Of course, it didn't hurt that the adult Simba was so wonderfully yummy to look at either. (Yes Dave, I know, he's probably gay-though I think you just say that because you are jealous! He's still good to look at-that's all I'm sayin') I just hope when they look back on this in a few years, my kids will realize that they really saw something special. But even if they don't remember, I will. And that will be enough.

Thanks again to Lanie not only for orchestrating the evening so well, but also for holding Caroline through all of Act 2. I hope you and Chris realize my kids halfway come to the occasional show not so much to see it as to hang out with their beloved favorite aunties. Sometimes it's really nice to know there are other people out there who love your kids almost as much as you do. Anyway, sorry to turn this post into a bunch of small emails instead of one big musical review. So, in summary, The Lion King is worth every bit of what my husband jokingly calls 'overpriced Disney hype' and was loved not only by my kids, but by all the adults too. It really is worth all the attention it gets and it made a perfect ending to this summer's Disney vacation.

WDW 2006-Day 1

Notwithstanding the fact that we packed the car and trailer until it got dark and set our alarms for 6:30 the following morning, we still didn't make it to I-35 until 10 a.m. this morning. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that we had to turn back once to lock up the kids' bikes and yet again to grab the Disney tickets from their "safe place" in the house. No, that couldn't have been it at all. Either way, we were on the road and I was happy. I wish I could say the same for Dave. On a typical family trip, I'm the one who wants to get up early, be there early, and watch our budget. Dave is the one who is "on vacation." I thought he would really enjoy this trip because, after a crazy-busy semester, I had planned to take my trip-commando tendencies down a few notches. I just didn't have the energy for it. Also, I had been saving money for this since January, and I wasn't going to worry about that as much either. Rather than enjoy these things though, Dave felt the need to 'step up to the plate' for me. I've never seen him more worried about time or money in my life, and it was the one time I really didn't want to see him do that. Oh well, that's life-or more appropriately, that's marriage.

So, Dave spent a lot of that first day telling us where we 'should be' on the road (as opposed to where we were based on our actual departure time), how much he hated driving the trailer, and how worried he was that the kids would misbehave at his grandparents' house. Finally, I told him if driving a trailer was going to make him such a jerk, it would be over my dead body that we ever purchase one. He really wants one (albeit a smaller one that what we rented), so he chilled out just a bit when he heard how deadly serious I was; but only a bit.

So, between Dave's incessant griping, Tristan's constant bathroom stops, and lots of kids squabbles; we found ourselves behind schedule and approaching a lightening storm in east Arkansas at dusk. So much for camping in Jackson tonight. Since it was Friday night and Memorial Day weekend, we knew no self-respecting state park would have a place for us. So, we joked that we would just look for the seediest RV park on the interstate to stop at. Well, when we spotted a run-down motel/RV park campground near West Memphis, we knew we had our spot. All I can say about it now is that it was cheap and that no one shot out our windows while we slept. What more can you ask for in desperate circumstances? Of course, the kids thought it was great and bounced excitedly on their bunks for at least half an hour before falling asleep. Elisa, on the other hand, loudly protested her pack-n-play for a good half-hour too. So far, our little trip was not off to a very good start. Once all was quiet, I stared at the ceiling trying to block out the neon motel lights as they winked between the blinds and I hoped it would get better...

Notes from the Road

Despite forecasts to the contrary, we enjoyed a pleasant evening and morning in Savannah. Wow! I sure hope to come back here again sometime. Preferably when my kids are old enough to get excited about being here. I did manage to snap some good historical pictures and the river area was a big hit with the kids. So far the trip breaks down like this:

The GOOD:

The DVD player in the car-but we knew that one already!

The trailer rental-it’s a clean motel room on wheels, and has more of the comforts of home than even I am happy about. (As Roseanne once said, all trailers and RV’s do is take everything that moms do at home and put them on wheels. Still, it’s nice to have the option.) Also, it gave Dave’s grandparents the opportunity to bond with my darling children while providing us a place to sotw the aforementioned angels when they were acting not-so-heavenly.

Bringing the kids to see Papaw-we think he’s developing Alzheimer’s, but was still pretty quick with the smiles, hugs, and family stories this trip and three of my four kids are old enough to remember that as they get older.

Believe it or not, I bonded with step-MIL. I thought I would enjoy Mamaw playing ‘favorites’ with me at her expense, but when she did, I really didn’t like it at all. I guess I knew it could just as easily be me So, J and I bonded over being the DIL’s of a formidable (and amazing) Southern grandma, our love for little tourist-y spots like downtown Jonesborough, and the never-ending struggle with food addiction. We decided since neither one of us will ever cook like Mamaw, we should just enjoy her good food in moderation-and we did! (turkey, ham, gravy, mac and cheese, stuffing, coleslaw, chicken fingers, and lemon cake as only a little ol’ Southern lady can make them!)

Seeing pictures of Dave’s mom and Dave as a kid. Mamaw’s collection is far more extensive than FIL’s AND it’s still on display. Step-MIL and I again bonded, this time over MIL’s always-slim figure and perfectly coiffed hair and styled nails and how basically we always felt like slobs sitting alongside her. (They were co-workers long ago and their husbands were friends.) Through that conversation, I think I understand a little better why J doesn’t love hearing about MIL very much, and as J looked at the pictures of a very excited pregnant girl clowning around with her much-loved MIL not knowing they only had a matter of weeks left as friends, I think she understood a little better why I still feel so short-changed almost 8 years later. I may have to edit my ‘100 Things’ list on the right. I think we are all going to get along a little better now.

The BAD:

The drag on the trailer really makes me carsick, and I rarely get carsick. It sucks.

All the 4-7% grades coming in and out of Tennessee and through North Carolina. Dave, who is driving, had no trouble with them-but they scared me to death. Also, I scanned and Appalachians on each side of the road, and saw no Emergency Room anywhere. (LOL!)

Just having a trailer really slows you down-Dave and I pride ourselves on making good time, and that just isn’t happening for us this trip. However, the trade-off has so far been worth it.

Allergies! Apparently, Elisa and I are allergic to the South. I can breathe, but appear to be crying day and night and my throat is killing me. I finally bought some Claritin today-I hope it works…(edited to add ‘Whee! It’s working!’ And apparently it makes me very absent-minded and prone to saying things like “Umm…sure!” and “Whatever you think, Honey.” I’d better watch out, he’s going to start slipping into my food daily.)

Also, I seem to have brought too much food. Six days into the trip and the fridge is still full. I guess we will cook more now that we have left the grandparents’ house.

The UGLY:

Tristan’s apparent need to use the bathroom EVERY hour on the hour. That trailer (where he insists on taking all bathroom stops) sure gets hot by midday not to mention, we are already a slow-going operation.

The fact that the trailer only powers the fridge, water, and fan on battery. Dave thought we would eat in there during road stops, but it is WAY too hot for that.

Natalie and Tristan’s inability to stop fighting EVER!! My Dad used to have a running joke about seeing a sign that said “Last chance to stop and beat kids!” I haven’t said it yet, but I will on this trip, I just know it. (As I typed this, Natalie shouted that Tristan had, yet again, removed his seat belt; and then he slugged her. Fun! Fun! Fun!)

On that note, Tristan’s inability to keep his seatbelt on his body.

Elisa’s loud shrieking to express EVERY emotion she has every single minute she is having it. Happy, sad, angry, excited? She’s got a scream for ALL occasions-and she doesn’t sleep much. (But she’s sleeping now-Woo Hoo!)

Caroline’s bedwetting and a Daddy who put her to bed without a Pull-Up then lied and told me he did so he wouldn’t have to wake her up. And yet, who had to wash all the rented bedding for the rented trailer? Not Daddy that’s who. I doubt he’ll make that mistake again! (Does anyone have a timetable for when Dave will realize that I know when he’s fibbing, I’m inevitably going to bust him, and he ought to just give it up already?!)

Listening happily to XM radio On Broadway only to have it suddenly switched to Fox News when someone thought I was sleeping-now THAT got ugly…

Drivin' Through Memphis

And Nashville…and Knoxville… and a whole lot of other ‘villes’ before we finally reached Jonesborough. But, we made it. Tennessee looks like a long, straight line on the map, but that doesn’t even begin to describe how long it feels to drive from one end of it to the other with four screaming kids, a travel trailer, and a husband who refuses to stop and ask for directions. (At least he does stop to fill the car with gas). Oh, and lots of steep grade, winding roads. I’m glad I wasn’t driving, that’s all I’m saying.
We were greeted with open arms on arrival and a not-so-healthy dose of Grandma Gregg’s very southern cooking. (chicken fingers, homemade coleslaw, and twice-baked potatoes with cheese) If Dave had lived closer to her growing up he wouldn’t even be able to eat my cooking to be polite. As it is, he may be ruined for it before the weekend is over. Come to think of it, I may be too. I’m glad to see Grandpa Gregg is still fairly lucid and mobile and very elated to see these great-grandbabies for what may be the last time. I had intended this first post to be a very amusing travelogue of all the mishaps that come with hooking up a travel-trailer and hauling four kids over 1,000 miles. But all I can say at the moment is how very glad I am that we bothered to do so.

Don’t worry, there are lots of stops left on this trip and my ‘attitude of gratitude’ generally has a pretty short shelf-life. I’m sure the whining will commence shortly…

On the Road Again...

Cue the Willie Nelson music...no seriously, cue it. I love that song.

In a couple of hours we will be finished loading "the monstrosity" (aka the rented travel trailer) and take off for Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. Planned stops along the way are visits with Dave's grandparents, a trip to Savannah just because I've always wanted to go there, and, of course, a pilgrimage to see Mickey because not only can I not live without him; now my kids can't either. (Much to Dave's chagrin. Hee!Hee!) On the way home we will stay with Aunt P (this time AFTER Disney) and likely Dave's sister in Lafayette, LA. I always dread that last one just a little. My BIL used to be so nice and so funny, then he went from being the drummer in a Christian rock band to an assistant pastor at a non-denominational church. Needless to say, the longer he's been employed as such, the worse his treatment of us heathen Latter-Day Saints becomes. For our last two visits, he hasn't even bothered to be there. Maybe he'll do that this time too. One can only hope...

Anyway, fear not, I will still be blogging. It turns out there are tons of wi-fi hotspots on every possible stop on our trip. Even one at the McDonald's in Jonesborough, Tennessee (home of Dave's grandparents). I didn't even know there was a McDonald's there. In fact, I'm sure that during our visits in 1998 and 2001, there wasn't one. I guess progress (or something masquerading as it) eventually spreads everywhere, doesn't it?

So we're off...tonight's destination is Jackson, TN which means Casey Jones Village for breakfast tomorrow! A family tradition on the Lawson side for two generations. Breaking with Lawson family tradition, I doubt we will run out of gas on the side of the road even once before we get there.

Whirlwind Trip!

I've only had this blog for about two years and yet my archives already include two Disney trips-you might say I'm a little addicted. However, I had planned on taking a bit of a break for the next couple of years. With the exception of a new roller coaster at Animal Kingdom and the ever-elusive breakfast at Cinderella's Castle, I've pretty much covered everything I want to do there. I was planning another trip when the kids were older. My mom, however, is spending two weeks at her time share there this summer and really wants the company of some of her adorable grandchildren. Since my sister has four kids too, I suggested them. Esepcially since we will be in Tennessee for most of her Orlando timeshare slot. She pointed out that Dave's grandparents are only a day's drive from Florida, and suggested we detour on our trip home. I mentioned this to my sister on the phone this morning, I was actually mocking the plan when suddenly my sister gets all into too and says maybe we should celebrate her youngest daughter's birthday there-and maybe even with a Cinderella Breakfast. Well, now that you can make reservations for that place 6 mos. in advance instead of three, I kind of jokingly told her that if she could get a table for 12 at Cinderella's breakfast on June 3rd, I would go. I have to explain that exactly 90 days before three of the five Disney trips I've ever taken, I've awakened at 5:30 a.m. and spent at least 30 minutes trying to get these coveted reservations to no avail. Ten minutes after we hung up, my sister called with the news that she pulled it off and we were eating breakfast with Cinderella on June 3rd! I guess we're going to Disney World, folks...

In Summary

I'm so glad I finally got the trip report finished so that I can move on with my regularly scheduled blogging. But first, some final thoughts on the trip:

First, spending time at Aunt P's is probably better as the concluding part of the trip because it is so relaxing. Also, as much as I hate a small carry-on bag with back-up toiletries and an outfit, I need to start packing one again. (I gave it up when security was tightened at airports because I dreaded the idea of that type of bag being searched in front of everyone at the checkpoint). Oh, and it's amazing how many cheap clothes and toiletries you can buy at Wal-Mart if you shop the clearance racks.

Disney hotels are worth the money for their atmosphere and convenience as long as you know where to stay. I loved Port Orleans. You pay a little more, but you save on parking if you want to drive to the parks. ($8 per day unless you are staying on property) I also recommend the use of a car over the bus service. We did busses only on our last trip and spent a lot more time waiting around than we did with the rental car this time. Because we were on property, we didn't use a lot of gas going from park to park either. Fortunately, Disney has accommodations to suit all price ranges. I haven't yet tried the campground (Ft. Wilderness) or any of the All-Star (budget) resorts, but I'm sure I will in the future.

To see parades and shows, get there early and, if you know in advance you are staying for the afternoon or evening parades, keep a beach towel in your bag to use as a seat. Not only does it keep you off the ground, it gives your family's seating area some definition to ward off the encroachers that practically sit on your lap. Other tote bag necessities are band-aids, baby wipes, some type of little snack, fold-up rain ponchos and if there's room-bottled water. Sunglasses and ball caps are nice to have too. (and you want to get most of that at places like Wal-Mart or Dollar Store before you go, not when you are on Disney property). The nice thing about going with no stroller is obviously that you don't have to drive it through the crowds, the drawback is there is no big basket to pile your stuff in as you tire of carrying it.

The edge of Main Street is the best place to view both parades. If the parade starts in Frontierland, you can actually show up after it starts and still see it from there. (afternoon parade strategy) If it starts on Main Street, you want to get there 30-45 minutes early, but then you are part of that first group out of the park. (obviously, a good exit strategy) Parade waits are always better with a snack and a drink whether you buy one or bring one yourself. I'm told the afternoon parade at Animal Kingdom begins and ends in Africa, and that you can get a good spot there to see it end after it has passed through there the first time, but I haven't tried it yet for myself. Fantasmic is definitely not to be missed, and you probably do need to get there 45-60 minutes early. Make it a picnic dinner and you won't mind so much. Also, one Gameboy does help keep three girls happy during long waits, but three Gameboys probably would have been better. (I told MeMe and PaPa what I thought they should give Queenie and Lady Capulet for Christmas-hee hee!)

I would definitely allow at least five, and preferably, six days to see the four parks. That leaves time for lots of rest breaks and other non-Disney related outings, and you don't leave feeling that you've barely scratched the surface of what you wanted to do. Their new ticket pricing makes that affordable with just two to three dollars price difference between the number of days you stay. The feature I dislike about the new tickets is that now you pay extra to go from park-to-park on the same day. I bought that option this trip because that's how I preferred to visit the parks on previous trips. We did use that option two or three times on the trip, but next time I think I will skip it and save myself $30.

Finally, I have learned that no matter how many neat shampoos and home remedies there are for head lice, nothing works better than a bright light and a fine-toothed comb. Unfortunately. My nieces are now sporting much shorter 'do's, but Natalie and Caroline preferred the comb-out torture. Lucky me. That was one childhood rite of passage I could have done without this summer.

So now I'm caught up and to catch you all up, as I've written these reports I have applied for a job at a museum in OKC (I'd be happy just to get an interview), started teaching the six-year olds at church (not my favorite, but not as terrible as I thought it would be), purchased the Harry Potter book at a release party (good story there, maybe I'll blog about it tomorrow) and finished it. Don't worry-no spoilers from this blog!

The Trip Pt. 19-The Big Finish

After a big fun evening of packing suitcases and picking through hair with a fine-tooth comb, I determined that neither Queenie nor Natalie had any bugs as of yet, and that I didn't know how I was EVER getting rid of Lady Capulet's. I was frustrated to say the least, and more than a little glad to go home and make it her mother's problem instead of mine. (though I was pretty sure with all the close contact between her and Lady Capulet, I would have my own problems once we got home.)

We spent the next morning loading the car, charging the cell phone, Palm Pilot, and the Gameboy; and loading unnecessary items into the car. At around 2:30 p.m., we made our final trip over to the Magic Kingdom. I had learned a little parade trick during our last visit, and wanted to see if it would still work during the busier season at the park. If you read my last trip report, you know that when we arrived at the park at around 3:30, we were sure we had missed the 3 o'clock parade, only to see it coming right at us at the relatively uncrowded front part of the park as it concluded. So, I tried it again and again it worked! It was very hot, though. But, with bottled water, spray fans, and a parade passing; the girls didn't complain too much.

Immediately after the parade, we got fast passes for Space Mountain and spent the rest of the day fighting massive crowds. As empty as the Magic Kingdom was on Saturday (which was a huge surprise), it was jam-packed on Sunday. (yeah, yeah, I know...let it be a lesson to me, and believe me it was) There were three hours before our fast pass time return, and we didn't accomplish much in that time. We rode the Astro Orbiter (which I usually avoid because I hate being up so high), Goofy's little roller coaster in ToonTown (during which I refereed MANY spats while we waited in line), the spinning tea cups, and we waited for yet another cancelled showing of Cinderellabration. (Poor Natalie, it just wasn't meant to be on this trip) Finally, our fast pass time came up!

I LOVE Space Mountain. It is possible my favorite roller coaster and has been since my friend Joy and I took a bus trip to California our senior year in college to visit Disneyland. (Bus trip? Yes, and I don't know what we were thinking either.) However, I have been anxious about letting Natalie ride it. She is tall enough, but very thin. The ride doesn't have a safety belt, just a lap bar, AND you ride it individually. I had these horrible visions of her flying out of the ride and tried to calm my nerves by sitting in the car just behind hers and holding onto her shoulders. (Yes, I know, I have some serious issues with 'letting go.') She was fine and loved the ride. I can't remember a less-enjoyable ride myself. She was fine and I'm sure the ride engineers know what they are doing when they set the height limits, but I'm still glad our next trip will be when she is a few years older and (hopefully) a few pounds heavier.

When we exited the ride into the gift shop it was POURING rain. (I guess they knew what they were doing when they cancelled the show) I was determined to wait out the rain there, but persistent cries of "Can I have..." finally convinced me we needed to get out of there. I realized that Stitch's Great Escape had a covered line and decided that no matter how long the stand-by wait time was, we were staying. When I saw that it was 45 minutes, I balked a little, but we had done everything else and I sure wasn't standing in another store with three girls who had bad cases of "the gimmies." I pulled out the Gameboy, timed their turns, and we waited it out. In the end, the older girls weren't too impressed with the show/ride, and it's not my favorite either. Natalie, on the other hand, loved it more than she did on our last visit.

We lined up for the early evening parade only for it to be (guess what?!) cancelled. So, we got some dinner at Cosmic Rays. It turns out that the $13 chicken and rib platter plus one $4 kids meal was enough to feed all four of us abundantly. That was probably our cheapest dinner of the trip. I wish I had figured that our sooner. After dinner, we were amazed to find a good fireworks viewing spot with a bench! It was wet, which is why it wasn't occupied. I'm glad I carry one of those small microfiber towels in my tote bag. Woo Hoo! We rested until the fireworks started. They were great, and we thought maybe grabbing some ice cream as we walked to the exit was how we would end our evening. Fortunately, we got one last sprinkling of pixie dust. As we exited the ice cream parlor, we heard that the later parade was definitely a go. Then, we found seats at the edge of Main Street (this meant good parade viewing AND a quick exit as the parade was still making it's way towards Frontierland).

The older girls tried to act 'cool' during both the day's parades, but you could tell they were getting into it. All I could think as I watched their happy faces was "Thank goodness I didn't wait another year to bring them!" Lady Capulet is teetering dangerously close to adolescence, and I'm glad to see that, if you show her a good parade and toss in an ince cream cone for good measure, there is still a little girl in there somewhere. And again, their enraptured faces convinced me that they won't look back on this as just "the head lice trip," though I'm sure someday we will look back on that and laugh. Just not any time soon.

We made it back to the car with a minimum of crowd trouble thanks to our good parade spot. At about 11:30 p.m., it was no trick to get the girls in bed after some more combing and hair checks. We got up the next morning and did our final loading before grabbing a late breakfast at the Food Court. I found the airport with little trouble and turned in the rental car. We lugged all our junk into the check-in desk and got to the gate with lots of time to spare just like I like it. The girls were a little bummed that because I was with them, they didn't get to pre-board, but excited to get to sit together on the plane.

The flight was uneventful. I finished The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and started Little Alters Everywhere (loved the former, not so keen on the latter). We got to baggage claim and didn't see Dave yet. When he did stroll through the doors, he was a lot better-looking than I remembered and I can't say enough about how nice it was to have another adult to talk to. All in all it was a worthwhile trip, but I certainly am glad to be home.

P.S. Elisa remembered me-just like everyone promised!

The Trip Pt. 17-The Magical Magic Kingdom

Lady Capulet insisted on shampooing again with that nasty lice killer, even though I was worried about its effect on her hair. I combed out as much as I could find the evening before, and we did it again for good measure the following morning. I'm sure the truly responsible thing to do would have been to keep us all in the room until her hair was perfectly nit-free, but this was our last full day in the parks. For those of you familiar with real "nit-picking," you know I would have had to extend the trip by at least a week before her head was truly clear. So, I combed out everything I could, pulled her hair back, gave her a hat and silently asked the other park guests for forgiveness. Then, we went to the Magic Kingdom.

If you miss the park opening at every other park, don't miss it here. It was very well-done and fun for the kids. Even Lady Capulet liked it. Today we were following that Unofficial Tour plan to the letter. That meant our first stop was Dumbo. We were in line less than 10 minutes-another welcome first for a Disney trip. (it's a slow-cycle ride with very limited capacity and the ride line grows very quickly) Then, we hit the Pooh ride, Snow White's Scary Adventure, Mickey's Philarmagic, and It's a Small World in rapid succession. The girls still love Pooh, I'm glad I waited until Natalie was older to start riding Snow White (it would have terrified her when she was little), Mickey's Philarmagic is still the neatest new attraction at the Magic Kingdom, AND you can see down to the bottom of the water in It's a Small World now! The girls were busy looking at the repainted and repaired dancing dolls while we rode while I just couldn't get enough of how clean the water was. This was only the third time I've ever been on that ride that I didn't use it as a chance to discreetly nurse a baby. I wonder what it's like to have a family full of older kids. I guess that's what lies ahead for me.

It sprinkled lightly while we went from ride to ride, but nothing too bad. After a ride on the carousel, it was time for the Haunted Mansion. They seem to have tweaked it a little since the movie came out, but it still isn't too scary. We went to get a fast pass for Splash Mountain and were pleasantly surprised by a short line. Again, it just wasn't wet enough for my nieces, but I was glad to have them instead of Tristan sitting in front of me this trip. (he ducked under the front of his seat and let me get soaked on a previous visit) We grabbed fast passes for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and went to Pecos Bill's for lunch. I've heard about their amazing burger 'fixin's' bar for a few years now, and I wanted to try it out. It did indeed live up to the hype. There were grilled onions, mushrooms, and any other regular condiment you could want on a burger.

We got there again at the magic hour of 11 a.m., and again we watched the place fill up while we ate. I wish we had grabbed a slice of the chocolate cream pie before we left, but I was feeling both budget and weight conscious and decided to go ride the roller coaster instead. All things considered, Lady Capulet and I had really earned a slice of that pie. Oh well, we would make up for it later.

We got to the ride five minutes before our fast pass time with only a fifteen minute stand-by wait. We decided to ride twice. Once in the regular line and once again with the last passes. Unfortunately, Natalie and I were seated in the very back and all the rattling around on the first ride was enough for her to skip a second one. I sent the older girls alone and handed my fast passes to the first couple I spotted. In another ten minutes, they were done and we were off the The Pirates of the Caribbean. As usual, it wasn't too crowded and it was lots of harmless fun. Before I knew it, we also had the Tiki Room and Aladdin's Magic Carpets finished too. And, of course, it was raining.

Natalie really wanted to see the new show at the castle, Cinderellabration. Since it was a light sprinkle, we waited outside the castle until they cancelled the show five minutes before it was due to start. Natalie was disappointed, but we still had tomorrow to try again. We detoured to the Main Street Bakery and the girls had dirt cups while I tried some cake. It was good stuff. After watching some glass-blowing in the crystal shop, we realized we had seen everything we wanted to that day, and it was still only 2 p.m. We decided to enjoy some small attraction rides in Tomorrowland before leaving. To my great delight, the Carousel of Progress was open. It never has been on a previous trip. It isn't a thrill-a-minute ride, but it is quintessential Disney. Next, we took a ride around Tomorrowland on the TTA (Disney's idea of what future transportation would be like) and finished up when we found a surprisingly short line for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. This ride goes slowly through a glow-in-the dark display of Emporer Zurg's headquarters while you shoot at little targets. Your score is posted in the ride vehicle and each one accomodates two shooters. I usually let whatever baby is on my lap do the shooting, so I was excited to try it for myself this trip. Lady Capulet is a better shot than me, but I didn't have the lowest score possible either. The girls had been a bit reluctant to stay and visit Tomorrowland, but were glad we did after Buzz. I decided to leave on a good note. We still had lots of packing and, unfortunately, nit-picking to do before bed that night. At least Lady Capulet was in a better mood after a magical day. I didn't want her to remember this trip only as "the head lice trip." I don't think she does.