Finally getting to see the lights! Nov '11 Anniversary/Holiday/F&W PTR-New 11/4 p50

[DisFanEY]

Hi Erin!

How cool is it that we're planning the same type of trip for the same time!! Where are you staying? What are your dates?

So you've been talking about your trip with your little one but not her bigger sisters? How fun is that! It's like you two have your own little secret! How old are your kids? Does your little one have an ASD diagnosis?

Sorry so many questions... I'm so glad you came out of lurkdome & said hello!!

Happy Planning!

Hi Amy, and thanks for the welcome! I had to follow along since our trip is so similar! We are headed down Nov. 3rd-10th, POR and Hilton Bonnet Creek. We'll celebrate our 10th anniversary on the 9th, and DD's 9th birthday (11/11/11 this year!) We'll venture off Disney property and surprise her and DD6 with a trip to HP world as they are HUGE fans!

Yes, DD3 does know all about it, and we do lots of studying up so she has an idea of what to expect! As for her diagnosis, the jury is still out, I guess. Our regular pediatrician said she'd fall somewhere on the spectrum, but sent me to a developmental ped for a better evaluation. The dev ped did not think she was on the spectrum, but also wanted to wait and see how she developed once she started her speech therapy. She qualified for a special-ed preschool and loves it, goes every day, and gets speech 3 times a week. She has made tremendous progress in her communicating, but still has a long way to go.

I have loved that I get to at least be excited with her while the big girls are at school! We watch videos and I've made her 'first/then' cards, as she is so little she doesn't understand much more than that.

Anyway, that's our story!! I cannot wait to go, and can't wait to surprise the girls...we've been blessed to go to WDW several times, and thought it was the perfect year to surprise them...we can't wait!

 

[disneyfan61]

Amy I booked our room for our April trip the other day. I went crazy

I decided after being sick & being in the hospital I deserved a deluxe resort for our April trip. So I booked.........

Beach Club-1 bedroom villa!!!!

Now I just have to pay for it...

 

[Charleston Princess]

Love the scavenger hunt clues and goody bags! You are going to have two very excited boys!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi Amy, and thanks for the welcome! I had to follow along since our trip is so similar! We are headed down Nov. 3rd-10th, POR and Hilton Bonnet Creek. We'll celebrate our 10th anniversary on the 9th, and DD's 9th birthday (11/11/11 this year!) We'll venture off Disney property and surprise her and DD6 with a trip to HP world as they are HUGE fans!

Yes, DD3 does know all about it, and we do lots of studying up so she has an idea of what to expect! As for her diagnosis, the jury is still out, I guess. Our regular pediatrician said she'd fall somewhere on the spectrum, but sent me to a developmental ped for a better evaluation. The dev ped did not think she was on the spectrum, but also wanted to wait and see how she developed once she started her speech therapy. She qualified for a special-ed preschool and loves it, goes every day, and gets speech 3 times a week. She has made tremendous progress in her communicating, but still has a long way to go.

I have loved that I get to at least be excited with her while the big girls are at school! We watch videos and I've made her 'first/then' cards, as she is so little she doesn't understand much more than that.

Anyway, that's our story!! I cannot wait to go, and can't wait to surprise the girls...we've been blessed to go to WDW several times, and thought it was the perfect year to surprise them...we can't wait!

I hope you have a great trip & the girls are excited with the surprise. Be sure to say hello if you see us!

Amy I booked our room for our April trip the other day. I went crazy

I decided after being sick & being in the hospital I deserved a deluxe resort for our April trip. So I booked.........

Beach Club-1 bedroom villa!!!!

Now I just have to pay for it...

SO JEALOUS!!! We still have our BCV 1 BR waitlist... but it's highly unlikely that it will come through at this point.

Love the scavenger hunt clues and goody bags! You are going to have two very excited boys!

Thanks Jackie - I think they are going to be very excited too!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I'm happy to report that I just finished up my to do list for last week! I placed our Garden Grocer order & finished up our grocery list of items to purchase at Jeff's.

I've also been working on a decision for our anniversary cake. I'll have more to report on that soon.

 

[skier_pete]

I am very impressed by your organization. While we have the trip very organized, the leaving part is not. In fact I always dread the night before the trip. My wife stays up half the night and tries to take the whole house and we get very frustrated with each other. Especially flying SWA cause we cab take six bags. Since we flying out late in the say,she wants me to go to work for the am, which I might so...even though I know she won't be done packing when I get back. Though she has started packing already...as have I.

 

[KathyRN137]

I don't know how I'm keeping it a secret either! Luckily my boys aren't all that observant...

Ha! That's men for ya!

Catching up on your plans...

Can't wait to see the Scavenger Hunt / Big Reveal Video!!


Kathy

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Now we're down to 22 days!!!

Have you had waitlists come through after the 31 day mark? I don't expect anyone to be canceling at this point. I figured if it did come through, it might be in the first few days after my 31 days, when it wasn't quite 31 days for the person canceling - if that makes sense?

No, I have been very lucky. Both of mine came through way before 31 days. However, when our plans changed, they were only 2 and 1 day requests so that made it a lot easier.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Wow! What a neat scavenger hunt! The boys are going to be sooo excited.

 

[eandesmom]

I love the scavenger hunt, what fun clues!

Cute tees too

 

[DisneyCrafter]

The scavenger hunt is such a good idea! The clues are super cute, too. Great job!

My one worry: You don't think they'll figure it out before the end do you? They don't watch & comment on the Disney commercials where the families surprise their kids do they? Just from what little I know about Alex's personality, he seems very bright!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I am very impressed by your organization. While we have the trip very organized, the leaving part is not. In fact I always dread the night before the trip. My wife stays up half the night and tries to take the whole house and we get very frustrated with each other. Especially flying SWA cause we cab take six bags. Since we flying out late in the say,she wants me to go to work for the am, which I might so...even though I know she won't be done packing when I get back. Though she has started packing already...as have I.

The night before the trip is always crazy for me too - no matter how much I plan, there is still a lot of running around & stress! No matter how hard I try, I definitely overpack (thank you SWA).

Ha! That's men for ya!

Catching up on your plans...

Can't wait to see the Scavenger Hunt / Big Reveal Video!!


Kathy

We're getting closer!!! How are your preparations coming along?

No, I have been very lucky. Both of mine came through way before 31 days. However, when our plans changed, they were only 2 and 1 day requests so that made it a lot easier.

We talked about trying for a shorter period of time but weren't up for a split stay since our trip is only five nights. Being Food & Wine time, I knew our chances were slim!

Wow! What a neat scavenger hunt! The boys are going to be sooo excited.

Thank you!! I'm sooo excited! And they have no idea!

I love the scavenger hunt, what fun clues!

Cute tees too

Thanks Cynthia!

The scavenger hunt is such a good idea! The clues are super cute, too. Great job!

My one worry: You don't think they'll figure it out before the end do you? They don't watch & comment on the Disney commercials where the families surprise their kids do they? Just from what little I know about Alex's personality, he seems very bright!

They might figure it out as they go along but that's OK. They might even guess when we give them the first clue! Zach has watched the commercials & has asked us to surprise him!

 

[DisMomAmy]

We're getting really, really close!!! I'll be back Friday with a fun update, then I'll be updating every day after that!!

Things have been crazy here... lots of soccer, Alex started swimming on the swim team last week. He has been swimming on the special olympics team for a few years, but he joined the regular swim team & has practice three nights a week from 7-8! Plus practice on Saturdays... but he hasn't gone on a Saturday yet because he has soccer. Luckily he has the same coach that he has on special olympics so he knows Alex well. He's been great about letting Alex ease into things with his other sports schedules.

We also had a huge tree cut down in our yard last week. When it fell, we discovered an old dry well! The cover caved in and we had a giant hole in the yard. Luckily we know a landscaper who came over the next day & filled it in for us... and it didn't cost too much!

Snowy is as cute as ever! He scratched his face & kept scratching off the scab so we had to do this for a couple days:

Poor guy!

And in car news, we've been working our local Honda dealer & have gotten their offer down to an affordable level so it looks like we'll be going with a new Honda Odyssey!! We like the Chrysler Town & Country but Honda has such a great track record & has no scheduled maintenance for 100,000 miles! Just oil changes & tire rotations! Can't beat that. After constantly visiting the Kia dealership, I'm looking forward to fewer trips to the garage! The Town & Country was at the top of our list, mostly because of price, but the price we've found from Honda has sucked us in! The Toyota was OK but we couldn't get all the features we wanted without going way up into the highest price range. And the dealership hasn't been all that responsive. Still waiting for a date from Kia, but I think we're getting close. They finally contacted our bank to get a payoff figure and that is only good for 10 days. Tim is being very funny & he suggested that if we have our new van before our trip, that we take a shuttle to the airport & not leave the van in the parking lot! We'll see... it has to be left in a parking lot eventually!

Anyways... I wanted to talk about souvenirs today! I know we want to buy Christmas shirts to wear to MVMCP! I want a 16 month calendar that I can start using now because my current kitchen calendar is falling apart! I'm also excited to pick up some new Mickey ear people sticker/decals for the back of my car! I might pick up another 40th anniversary souvenir or two and we need to pick up a few souvenirs for people back home… my mom, Tim’s mom, neighbors who will be watching our house & cat/gerbils. Depending if we see anything that could make good Christmas gifts, we may pick up a thing or two. I’m sure we’ll spend some money at the Lego store & the sports store at DTD.

As far as souvenirs go for the boys, rather than giving them money this time, we are going to reward them with a souvenir each day. Luckily it’s a short trip! If they behave, they can choose a souvenir toward the end of the day. I’m not totally sure how it’s going to work if they see something they HAVE to have early in the day. We are park hopping so the same souvenir might not be available elsewhere… We may have to do the sneak attack & have one of us run back to a store to pick something up & hide it or have it sent to the front of the park for later. We may have to break this rule a bit at DTD unless we let them pick something out & make them save it for later! But I'm not sure how well that will work!

That's it for now... tune in Friday for my first of the every day updates!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm glad you are getting closer to a new van Amy! That picture of Snowy is too cute! I bet Alex is a great little swimmer!

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Your cat is just adorable!!! Congrats on getting a new vehichle. That is always exciting.

Oh, your are getting so close!! We finally hit less than 30 days today!

 

[MEK]

Woo Hoo for 17 days! Probably around the time I get back from HHI you will be leaving!

I think the honda is an excellent choice. You will love just waiting for the light and the wrench to come on to tell you when its time for service. Plus, there is this oil life reading, so you know when you are getting to 20% its almost time. Hondas are exceptionally reliable. They run forever! Enjoy!

 

[skier_pete]

NO! Not the cone of shame!

 

[disneyfan61]

That is great that Alex is on the swim team!! Great activity to keep him in tip top shape.

Snowy is adorable!! My cat Willow found my new blanket that my friend gave me last week. It is that really soft fleece & she is curled up in a ball right now on it. The blanket is a beige color so it looks like I will be washing it often.

Glad to hear you decided on a Honda. They have a great reputation & I hope you will be pleased with it. Good idea to get some decals for the new vehicle. I have them on my windows also. I also want a 16 month calendar. I buy one every year through Laughing Place but did not order one yet. I will see what they have when we are there ( in 1 Week).

Can't wait for your update Friday.

Check out my TR so I can get your opinion!!

 

[irish dancer]

NO! Not the cone of shame!

LOL, that's what I was going to say!!

Poor Snowy, hope he's better soon!

Love the countdown photo, BW is so pretty at night with the lights, etc.

Yay on the Honda, I think you'l lbe happy with your purchase.

Best of luck with the daily souveniers, that is one area we have struggled with in the past.

Can't wait for the continued countdown! It's going to be here before you know it!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

They might figure it out as they go along but that's OK. They might even guess when we give them the first clue! Zach has watched the commercials & has asked us to surprise him!

That's right, you mentioned that before about Zach wanting to be surprised didn't you? Oops!