Over the River and Through the Woods to Mickey's House We Go! And Grandma is in Tow!

[Amy&Dan]

Lisa, your plans look great. We like our "nothing" days too, it always gives us some time to recharge and enjoy the resort.

I know you will have so much fun with your mom. Its been almost five years since we took my mom but it seems like just yesterday.

Just a couple more days!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I can't believe I have never posted on your PTR. I have been reading it. I hope you have a wonderful trip and can not wait until you get back so I can read a TR.

Well what's wrong with you not posting? Just kidding! I am so ready to hit the road.

coming close!! hope u all have a wonderful time and looking forward to ur report

Thanks!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I really want to know what you think of Coral Reef. We are skipping LeCellier this trip because Mark really wants to go back to Coral Reef as we've not done it in about 12 years.

This will be our third trip to Coral Reef. John can hardly wait to get the blackened catfish again. I'll be ordering steak, I'm sure. I'll be coming back with details for you.

Have a safe trip. Cant wait to hear all about it . Here's hoping this drive down will be smooth sailing. Enjoy your trip!!!!

Thanks! I sure hope it's better than last year's drive (we saw a fatal car accident happen right in front of us).

Happy Birthday Hunter! I hope your party was fantastic!

If I don't get a chance to check in before you leave.....

Have a Wonderful Trip!!!
You know I'll be here waiting to hear all about it!

I told Hunter that you said Happy B-Day. He said thanks!

 

[deedeew80]

YAY! Your trip is finally here!!! Hope you all have a great time!!! Tell Hunter HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Can't wait to here all about it when you get back!

 

[mickeystoontown]

HAVE A MAGICAL ADVENTURE! LISA AND FAMILY
CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT YOUR TRAVELS!!!!

Thanks Connie!

I think I missed you leaving!! Have an awesome trip!! I can't wait to read all the deatails!

You didn't miss me leaving. I'm kinda silly when it comes to counting down the days. John can't stand it. I don't count today (because it's already today) and I don't count the day we leave (because it's the day we leave). So, actually, we don't leave until tomorrow when I get off work.

Lisa, your plans look great. We like our "nothing" days too, it always gives us some time to recharge and enjoy the resort.

I know you will have so much fun with your mom. Its been almost five years since we took my mom but it seems like just yesterday.

Just a couple more days!

I love the nothing days. Those are the days we sleep in or do something totally unplanned.

Mama hasn't been to Disney since Thanksgiving, 2000. There's a whole lotta new stuff for her to see and I can't wait to show it to her.

YAY! Your trip is finally here!!! Hope you all have a great time!!! Tell Hunter HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Can't wait to here all about it when you get back!

I know! I told Hunter he'll be celebrating his birthday with tens of thousands of other people (just a few days late but still a celebration) while at Disney!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Now you're probably lookin' at my ticker and see that it says our trip is already here. Then, you see that I'm typin' and are wondering what's up.

Welllllllll, I have this really odd way of counting down the days until a trip. I don't count today because....duh....today's already here. And, I don't count the day we leave because....duh....it's the day we leave. I know! I know! You don't have to tell me......that's a really dumb way of counting down the days. John tells me that all the time. But, by golly, it makes an upcoming trip get here even faster so I'm going to keep counting that way.

I've talked with Dana (racefanof88) a couple times via Instant Message since she left. She said it was hot....extremely hot....at Disney. I got tickled at Dale (her husband) who said it was so hot that he saw a man burst into flames. He's so silly! We are still going to try to hang out with Dana and her family Thursday evening when we arrive. It all depends on what time we get to the Caribbean Beach Resort.

I bet ya'll are wondering if I've got all my packing done. That would be an "almost". All of John's clothes are packed. All of my clothes are packed. I have all but a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and his swimming trunks packed for Hunter. I washed them last night and pulled them out of the dryer this morning before work. I have to put those in his suitcase and he's done.

The road trip snacks are all packed up and ready to be put in the backseat. Hunter has his PSP, Nintendo DSi, MP3 players, games and all the chargers sitting on the snack bar. I say that but he's probably already gotten his Nintendo DSi off and playing with it again. Can't blame him for that since he is officially out of school.

I bought a new portable DVD player which I think I have already mentioned. It's all charged up and ready to go. Just have to put it in the case we had the old one in. Hunter will take no less than a dozen movies with him even though he knows he won't be watching them all.

We can't pack up the "last minute" stuff like shampoo, hair dryer, make-up, etc. until tomorrow since we're using them all the way up until the last minute. But, I have the bag all ready to throw the stuff into.

Mama has her stuff packed except for one pair of jeans. She is insisting that she take a couple of pair of jeans. I'm trying to tell her that she'll be sweating like a pig if she wears jeans and that she just needs to plan on wearing the capris she bought.

Mama is also stressing over her choice of purses. She and I bought her a cute little purse that's similar to a Vera Bradley hipster. She thinks she has to take her entire billfold in with her. I'm telling her that all she needs is her ID, credit card and her room key/card/ticket. She seems to think that she needs her Soc. Sec. card, insurance card, list of medicines she takes, list of previous surgeries, etc. I think John and I finally talked her into just putting those cards and the information in an envelope and locking it in the safe. Oh, and she's worried about how she's going to keep her cash handy but not in a place where everybody can see how much cash she's carrying. I am pretty sure she'll take her big billfold in her purse the first day and find out that it's just too much to carry. May be a case of just letting her live and learn.

By the way, I have a big enough bag that I'll carry everybody's poncho and "extras" in should we need them. Meaning, Mama won't have to carry anything extra.

Let's move on to Hunter's birthday. He officially became a teenager yesterday. Poor thing, it's hard to give him a real birthday party. His birthday falls right around Memorial Day, the start of our church's Summer retreat weekends and the end of school. That's why I decided to give him a family party Sunday afternoon. He got several new Play Station games, a couple of new Nintendo DSi games, a few movies, money and, the item he wanted the most.....a new larger keyboard. He has been wanting the keyboard every since Christmas. The boy has a real ear for music and can play the viola, keyboard, acoustic guitar and electric guitar.

On the office front, I have somebody lined up to fill in for me. She's not the brighest lightbulb in the chandelier but she'll be okay. All she has to do is answer the phone, greet clients and maybe make a copy or two. No typing or anything remotely like I do on a day-to-day basis. I've done all of my deadlines. I've been trying to get my boss to look at the one thing that's left (not really a deadline but I'd like to get him to look at it before I leave) on his desk that I did while he was out with his mother. Try as I might, he hasn't done anything with it yet. Oh well, let him explain it to the other attorney if they call about it.

Let's move back to the homefront. John mowed our yard and Mama's yard yesterday and he took the trimmer to everything. He also washed off the back porch. He hoed some grass out of the garden last night and tied up some tomatoes plants that are getting taller and taller by the day. I went out after fixing dinner and actually pulled grass out from under our pea and string bean plants (can't get to them with the hoe). I did that until it got dark enough that I couldn't see what I was doing.

I have a yellow squash that is just about ready to be picked but it will be a day or two before it's ready. That means that somebody else will get to pick my first squash. Gosh darn it!

My niece and her two boys were supposed to come to the house and let Oddball out of his kennel and let him run around while we were gone. I found out last night that she had forgotten that I asked her. Her mother (my sister) called my Mama and asked who was going to take care of Oddball. Of course, Mama was at our house in a flash telling me that my niece had forgotten. So, I called my sister up and asked her if she would do it when she came by our houses to do the daily "walk through". You know the walk through to make sure everything was all right. She said she would so that's taken care of. I know she won't let him out every day like my niece would have but at least he'll have food and water.

While I'm on the subject of making sure everything is okay in the house. Did I tell ya'll about the disaster we had the other day? Just in case I didn't, let me tell you.

John and I were out on the back porch swing when Hunter came out and asked if the hall closet was supposed to be going WHOOSH (insert a forceful spraying sound). We thought he was picking with us because we do that all the time. I got up and went in the house and opened up the closet door to large wave of water and hot water spraying straight into the air. Did I say the S word? You betcha! I told Hunter to go get his Daddy and tell him to hurry.

John and Hunter came running in. By this time, I had a sea of water flowing down my hallway, into the living room and in the open airway underneath the hot water heater and air/heating unit. Hunter started grabbing towels and throwing them on the floor. I opened the linen closet beside the other closet to see water seeping in. That's where I have two huge boxes of family pictures and photo albums. I had to save them but first I had to help John shut off the flow of water.

John stepped into the closet (that's about two foot off the ground) and into the hot spray of water. I was standing on a stool holding a flashlight so he could see. One of the top pipes had burst off the water heater. The only way to turn it off was to reach through the water and hit the cut off valve. Once John hit the valve the water spray stopped. That's when I jumped down and started trying to save our photos.

Hunter and I pulled the boxes out and started putting the pictures on the bed. Thankfully, just a few of the photo albums covers were all that got wet (besides the boxes).

I went into our bathroom to get more towels and saw that the water had seeped underneath the wall and was on our bathroom floor. Great! It was now under our wood flooring.

After about an hour, we had enough of the water cleaned up that John could go to Lowe's and get another pipe. Hunter and I finished sopping up water. Every towel in our house, as well as a few throws, were wet. We drug those outside on the back porch and hung them from anything that would hold a wet towel. We had them on the BBQ grill, Hunter's bicycle, the bench, the swing, hooks that hold my hanging pots, etc.

In case you're wondering how much power is behind the WHOOSH coming from a hot water heater.....it blew about a one inch deep hole in the ceiling sheet rock stuff above the heater.

So that was our Friday the 14th drama.

Now that I've rambled on and on, I guess I'll get back to the task of trying to get my boss on that one last thing. I am sure I'll be checking back in before I leave tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Bridora]

Craziness!

The good thing is that it happened before you left for WDW.

I'm itching like crazy to hit the road.

Y'all be safe! I'll see you there!

 

[deedeew80]

OMG Lisa...so sorry to hear about the water heater & the damage it did! Just what you needed before your trip! Well, I kinda pack how your mom packs! I ALWAYS pack jeans, sweatshirts, sweatpants, longsleeve shirts, etc when going to Disney! Everyone always yells at me! I just never know when you might need them! Better safe than sorry! Anyway! Have a great trip!!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Craziness!

The good thing is that it happened before you left for WDW.

I'm itching like crazy to hit the road.

Y'all be safe! I'll see you there!

Oh yea, I'm glad that was something that happened while we were still at home. And, I'm glad that it was something easily fixable.

I've got the itch too. I thought I might get out of the office early tomorrow but my dumb bunny boss scheduled a 3:00 appointment which will last at least an hour or an hour and a half. I won't get to leave early, I am sure.

Ya'll drive safe!

OMG Lisa...so sorry to hear about the water heater & the damage it did! Just what you needed before your trip! Well, I kinda pack how your mom packs! I ALWAYS pack jeans, sweatshirts, sweatpants, longsleeve shirts, etc when going to Disney! Everyone always yells at me! I just never know when you might need them! Better safe than sorry! Anyway! Have a great trip!!!!

If something crap-ola can happen, it's going to happen to us.

On our first two or three trips to Disney, I'd pack a pair of jeans and a jacket. After that, we realized we really didn't need them. Well, except for the time we went over Thanksgiving holiday and I did pack jeans and long sleeve shirts and a lightweight jacket. That was the same trip that we had temps in the 70s during the day but woke up one morning to a wind chill in the 20s. Needless to say, we all came home with souvenir sweatshirts and gloves that trip.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I had a dream last night about the Dis Meet. I arrived in Epcot and couldn't remember what all my Dis friends looked like. I was looking into a sea of unfamiliar faces and the only person I could recognize was Dana. The faces started all swirling together and I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. I reached out to Dana just as I was falling and asked her to point everybody out to me.

When I woke up this morning, I realized that I really can't remember what everybody looks like. Isn't it the strangest thing that you talk with somebody every day and you consider them to be a friend but you can't pick them out from a crowd even if they are standing right there in front of you? I'm upset with myself that I can't seem to put a face to a name.

So, when this little hick girl from West Monroe, Louisiana walks up to the Dis Meet on the 28th and is standing there with this odd look on her face, please come up to me and say "hey, I'm (insert name here)". Please be gentle with me.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Hi Lisa! As always it sounds like it's been eventful at your house!!

The similarities between our sons just keep growing. Isaiah's birthday is on May 29th which always falls around Memorial Day (if not right ON Memorial Day). He's also hitting the big 1 3 this year! Having a birthday close to a major "let's get away" holiday is a pain. We usually end up staying home so we can celebrate with Isaiah and, therefore, miss out on Memorial Day festivities. And trying to get his friends together at that time...forget it! Tell Hunter that Isaiah completely understands!

It sounds like you are well on your way to hittin' the road! How exciting! Your mom is going to wish she hadn't wasted room in the suitcase for those jeans! Oh well...sometimes you just gotta learn the hard way!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip when you get back...have a MAGICAL time!

 

[Peter Pan Fan 22]

Sorry to hear about the water heater ordeal Lisa. Thank goodness your photos weren't ruined and that Hunter caught it when he did!

I hope you and your family have a WONDERFUL trip!! Safe travels!!

 

[KatMark]

Oh my goodness, Lisa. I cannot believe it. Isn't that the second time in the last few months that you've had water problems. I guess if there is anything good about the scenario it is that it happened WHILE YOU WERE STILL HOME and not while you were gone and nothing could be done abou ti.

Here's hoping that you have an extra magical trip to Disney.

 

[PittypatBR]

Wow, just think if that leak had happened while y'all were gone!! :-0 I hope you get out of work on time and have a great trip. I am finishing our itinerary and starting to think about packing. I have a lot to do before I am ready to leave!! And I have book club tomorrow at my house, so that will not be a day to get much done.

Hope we can make it half way before we have to stop for the night Saturday. We had thought about trying to make it to a park for a while Sunday, but after seeing crowd projections of 10, we decided that we would just check in and settle in, go to the store, swim, and relax. If the teenagers want to go to the park, they can just go ahead. However, we will be up bright and early on Monday morning and leaving for MK, so they can get going early or come later!

Hope you have a wonderful, magical trip, and I look forward to hearing about it. I will look for you in the parks!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

WOW! Lisa...as a PP said glad your water problem happened while you guys were home. And I am soooooo happy that your pictures were not ruined! my heart fell when I read your pictures were in there!

Well, you are off today and will be meeting Dana tomorrow! and the rest of the gang this weekend! I am so happy for all you guys! have a great trip and I hope the heat breaks soon but without the rain!

Have a great time! you guys!!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi Lisa! As always it sounds like it's been eventful at your house!!

The similarities between our sons just keep growing. Isaiah's birthday is on May 29th which always falls around Memorial Day (if not right ON Memorial Day). He's also hitting the big 1 3 this year! Having a birthday close to a major "let's get away" holiday is a pain. We usually end up staying home so we can celebrate with Isaiah and, therefore, miss out on Memorial Day festivities. And trying to get his friends together at that time...forget it! Tell Hunter that Isaiah completely understands!

It sounds like you are well on your way to hittin' the road! How exciting! Your mom is going to wish she hadn't wasted room in the suitcase for those jeans! Oh well...sometimes you just gotta learn the hard way!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip when you get back...have a MAGICAL time!

It DOES seem like our families have many similarities. That's fine by me 'cause I think you've got a fine family.

Poor Hunter and Isaiah....never can get a really good birthday party 'cause of when they were born. Tell Isaiah an early HAPPY BIRTHDAY for me.

I have a feeling Mama is going to be leaving the jeans in the resort room and wearing the capris every day.

Sorry to hear about the water heater ordeal Lisa. Thank goodness your photos weren't ruined and that Hunter caught it when he did!

I hope you and your family have a WONDERFUL trip!! Safe travels!!

Oh my goodness, Lisa. I cannot believe it. Isn't that the second time in the last few months that you've had water problems. I guess if there is anything good about the scenario it is that it happened WHILE YOU WERE STILL HOME and not while you were gone and nothing could be done abou ti.

Here's hoping that you have an extra magical trip to Disney.

Don't I know it! John and I both said we were glad it happened while we were at home. I can just imagine what my house would have looked like if we hadn't been.

Wow, just think if that leak had happened while y'all were gone!! :-0 I hope you get out of work on time and have a great trip. I am finishing our itinerary and starting to think about packing. I have a lot to do before I am ready to leave!! And I have book club tomorrow at my house, so that will not be a day to get much done.

Hope we can make it half way before we have to stop for the night Saturday. We had thought about trying to make it to a park for a while Sunday, but after seeing crowd projections of 10, we decided that we would just check in and settle in, go to the store, swim, and relax. If the teenagers want to go to the park, they can just go ahead. However, we will be up bright and early on Monday morning and leaving for MK, so they can get going early or come later!

Hope you have a wonderful, magical trip, and I look forward to hearing about it. I will look for you in the parks!

We hope to at least get 6 hours of driving under our belt this evening. Sure does make that second day of driving easier. We'll probably hang out at the resort that evening so we can rest up for Epcot the next day.

Ya'll be careful driving and have a great trip! Be sure to stop me if you see me.

WOW! Lisa...as a PP said glad your water problem happened while you guys were home. And I am soooooo happy that your pictures were not ruined! my heart fell when I read your pictures were in there!

Well, you are off today and will be meeting Dana tomorrow! and the rest of the gang this weekend! I am so happy for all you guys! have a great trip and I hope the heat breaks soon but without the rain!

Have a great time! you guys!!!!

Girl, I was soooo happy that the pictures were saved. I was scared to death that the water had ruined them.

 

[mickeystoontown]

It's a little after 3:30 and I am waiting on a client to come by to review and sign a document. She was supposed to be here this morning but called to say it would be after 3:30 p.m. before she could get here. She better not wait until 4:30 before she shows up. Hum....this sounds quite a bit like my last day at work before last year's trip.

Right after lunch, my boss made one last look at the calendar to make sure we hadn't missed any deadlines. Nope, no deadlines missed. EXCEPT......we thought a custody case had been settled last Friday but found out, this morning, that it wasn't going to settle. Guess that means that we have to get a 7 page Affidavit out by the end of the day. Man, I grabbed that file off my boss' desk before he could blink an eye. I had the Affidavit done in no time at all. But, you guessed it, I couldn't get hold of the client to confirm two things on it. After about an hour with no return call, I left the blanks (nothing major at all) and got the Affidavit out priority mail. Done and done!

My boss' 2 p.m. appointment which was supposed to be just an hour long didn't leave until 5 minutes ago. Now, he's running at least 35 minutes behind. From what I can hear through the wall, his 3:00 appointment is going to be asking all sorts of questions and probably won't get out of here until way after his hour is up.

I don't mean to sound fussy about this next thing but it is a little bit of a pain in my behind. My boss has an account that is just for payroll. Payroll meaning....ME. He only deposits money into the account on the 1st of the month. Just a few minutes before lunch, he asked me if I want to go ahead and get my June 1st check today. Of course, I wasn't going to tell him no. But, the bad thing is, I have to stop by the bank and make the payroll deposit on my way home and then stop at my bank and deposit my check. I REALLY didn't want to have to make any stops on my way home. Oh well, I can't complain about getting my paycheck early. There are worse things.

I almost forgot to print out mousekeeping envelopes. I remembered about 30 minutes ago and printed those from my office computer. They aren't in color but at least they are cute.

Let's see....what else? I brought the camera battery charger with me so I could charge up the camera so it'd be ready for me to snap pictures of our road trip.

The girl who is going to answer phones for the office came in this morning and stayed for a couple of hours just to get a feel for the office. She's a client's wife so she's pretty familiar with everything already.

Hunter has texted me two times today saying he is excited about leaving. I know how he feels! I am about to burst at the seams to hit the road. He said Mama has come to the house only once today. I figured she would have been over there two or three times by now.

I couldn't find my piece of paper where I wrote down our Cape May Breakfast ADR info. I knew what day it was on but I couldn't remember the time. So, I called Disney Dining at lunch and got the info. Of course, after looking through my trusty notebook, I found the original note. It was there all along.

When I get home all we have to do is put the small ice chest, the portable DVD player, Hunter's backpack and the two overnight bags in the car. Oh, and the snack box. Can't forget the snack box!

If I don't get to say BYE again today.....I hope that everybody has a good Memorial Day holiday! I'll take lots of pictures and lots of notes so I can come back and write another trip report.

 

[KatMark]

Lisa, you SO need this trip. Have a wonderful time and we look forward to your trip report when you get back. Safe travels, Dis sister. Love ya.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Lisa, you SO need this trip. Have a wonderful time and we look forward to your trip report when you get back. Safe travels, Dis sister. Love ya.

You're right, I absolutely DO need this trip.

The lady still hasn't shown up to look at the papers. I left her a voice mail telling her not to come now but to wait until tomorrow. Let the boss handle it.

Hugs right back at ya!

 

[jenseib]

I'm so excited for you! Have fun!