My update is a bit overdue, but I have lots to report this time around. First, and most importantly, we have only 19 sleeps left before we leave for our trip!!! That calls for happy dances! I am bursting at the seams with excitement, and I think Jayden can tell something is up. Her "mickey boat" comments are increasing. Jeremy and I are talking in code, but not very well...we also had a couple minor slips. For example, I was telling him in the car today how packed the islands are going to be because there are so many other ships in port at the same time. My code went something like, "I'm happy we picked the E-X-C-U-R (he got it so I stopped spelling) we did because there are going to be a ton of people at the same places we will be." Him: "huh?" Me: "Well, you know that thing we will be on to get there....there will be a lot of those in addition to ours." Him: "Oh, but not Disney boats." No noise came from the backseat, so she either wasn't paying attention, or just thought quietly..."I knew we were going on the Mickey Boat!!!" Either way, she will be surprised and SO excited! We have finally nailed down the surprise plan, but more on that later.
My parents informed us that they booked their vacation this weekend. They leave on Thursday, so they will not be joining us in San Juan. It would have been fun, but we finalized plans for a trip to WDW in December with them. I need to get past this vacation before even trying to plan that one, and I know I will need to do lots of research. WDW seems so overwhelming to me!
In other news, I called The Perfect Gift on Friday to order our baskets. I just have to say that those folks are about as nice as they come, and they are incredibly busy. I ended up ordering two baskets -- one for Jayden and one for Jeremy and me to share. For Jayden, we requested sand toys (so I don't have to pack them) and all of her favorite candy aka "parental bribery tools," her favorite cookies and crackers, and some princess bling. I saw their baskets online and knew that the snacks/food we were requesting would not fit into their categories, but they had no problem at all customizing for us. For Jeremy and me, I ordered snacks that are not available on the boat and of course, his Dr. Pepper. She asked what I wanted it put in, and I told her I didn't care if they put it in a plastic bag as long as she didn't forget my Reese's! The nice lady taking my order assumed that I was ordering a basket for Jayden and Jeremy only, and she laughed a little when I said the second basket was for both Jeremy and me. I quickly followed it up with, "there is no way Cinderella would forget Mom!!" One more item checked off....woohoo!!
While researching the December WDW trip, I came across the Creative DISigners board and decided to do an autograph book for the cruise. What a project! It took me two times downloading all of the images because I did it the wrong way the first time, and then I had to research to figure out which characters were onboard. I ordered the autograph book through Shutterfly. It took me a couple tries to get it to work the way I wanted, but in the end, I think it will be good. It should arrive at our doorstep this week, so I suppose if it isn't very good, I can figure something else out. Then again, we don't even know if Jayden will get near the characters, so I may not need it for anyone other than the princesses and Captain Jack Sparrow. Because...um...er...I'm sure Jayden will definitely get Jack Sparrow's autograph, right?
And, finally, the big surprise. We have changed our plans for this a few times, but I think we finally settled on what we are doing. We have a noonish flight that day, so while one of us is waking sleeping beauty up, the other is going to be putting a package/present on our front door step and ringing the doorbell. We are going to have her open the door to find that someone left us a package. The package is going to be an invitation from Mickey Mouse himself and our coordinated shirts for the first day of the cruise. For this cruise, I went with "throwback" Mickey/Minnie shirts for all of us. They don't match per se, but they won't look too bad together in a picture. I made the invitation from Mickey with assistance from milliepie -- I started with one of her "blanks" and added the text in myself.
I still need to make the envelope, but that part should be easier! So, after Jayden finds out we are going on a cruise, our hope is that getting her ready and out of the door will be easier. We plan on stopping at one of our favorite places to get breakfast, and then will head to the airport.
We have reservations at 1900 Park Fare on Friday night, but we are not going to tell Jayden until we make it to the Grand Floridian. My fear is that our flight will be delayed, and we will miss our dining reservation. If she doesn't know it is in the plans, she can't be disappointed. Once we get to the Grand Flordian, while I am checking us in, I plan to slyly pass the invitation to the person checking us in and ask them to tell Jayden they have something for her. Hopefully this will work! Either way, it will be this invitation:
Again, I still need an envelope.
We are hoping we will make it back to our room in time to see Wishes! Seems like a nice evening to start our vacation (of course, this is in my head, and I am more than prepared for all of the things that will not work out exactly as I want them to).
Next up....definitely more countdown updates. I realize these are not as fun, but they are SO fun to me! I love thinking things like, "in X number of days at this time, I will be doing [fill in the blank]." I also ordered pirate shirts off of Etsy that I will share, and finally, some packing updates to keep me sane and ensure I am not forgetting anything really important! Speaking of that...the camera and video camera are going in the packing basket. I would be heartbroken if I forgot those!
My parents informed us that they booked their vacation this weekend. They leave on Thursday, so they will not be joining us in San Juan. It would have been fun, but we finalized plans for a trip to WDW in December with them. I need to get past this vacation before even trying to plan that one, and I know I will need to do lots of research. WDW seems so overwhelming to me!
In other news, I called The Perfect Gift on Friday to order our baskets. I just have to say that those folks are about as nice as they come, and they are incredibly busy. I ended up ordering two baskets -- one for Jayden and one for Jeremy and me to share. For Jayden, we requested sand toys (so I don't have to pack them) and all of her favorite candy aka "parental bribery tools," her favorite cookies and crackers, and some princess bling. I saw their baskets online and knew that the snacks/food we were requesting would not fit into their categories, but they had no problem at all customizing for us. For Jeremy and me, I ordered snacks that are not available on the boat and of course, his Dr. Pepper. She asked what I wanted it put in, and I told her I didn't care if they put it in a plastic bag as long as she didn't forget my Reese's! The nice lady taking my order assumed that I was ordering a basket for Jayden and Jeremy only, and she laughed a little when I said the second basket was for both Jeremy and me. I quickly followed it up with, "there is no way Cinderella would forget Mom!!" One more item checked off....woohoo!!
While researching the December WDW trip, I came across the Creative DISigners board and decided to do an autograph book for the cruise. What a project! It took me two times downloading all of the images because I did it the wrong way the first time, and then I had to research to figure out which characters were onboard. I ordered the autograph book through Shutterfly. It took me a couple tries to get it to work the way I wanted, but in the end, I think it will be good. It should arrive at our doorstep this week, so I suppose if it isn't very good, I can figure something else out. Then again, we don't even know if Jayden will get near the characters, so I may not need it for anyone other than the princesses and Captain Jack Sparrow. Because...um...er...I'm sure Jayden will definitely get Jack Sparrow's autograph, right?
And, finally, the big surprise. We have changed our plans for this a few times, but I think we finally settled on what we are doing. We have a noonish flight that day, so while one of us is waking sleeping beauty up, the other is going to be putting a package/present on our front door step and ringing the doorbell. We are going to have her open the door to find that someone left us a package. The package is going to be an invitation from Mickey Mouse himself and our coordinated shirts for the first day of the cruise. For this cruise, I went with "throwback" Mickey/Minnie shirts for all of us. They don't match per se, but they won't look too bad together in a picture. I made the invitation from Mickey with assistance from milliepie -- I started with one of her "blanks" and added the text in myself.
I still need to make the envelope, but that part should be easier! So, after Jayden finds out we are going on a cruise, our hope is that getting her ready and out of the door will be easier. We plan on stopping at one of our favorite places to get breakfast, and then will head to the airport.
We have reservations at 1900 Park Fare on Friday night, but we are not going to tell Jayden until we make it to the Grand Floridian. My fear is that our flight will be delayed, and we will miss our dining reservation. If she doesn't know it is in the plans, she can't be disappointed. Once we get to the Grand Flordian, while I am checking us in, I plan to slyly pass the invitation to the person checking us in and ask them to tell Jayden they have something for her. Hopefully this will work! Either way, it will be this invitation:
Again, I still need an envelope.
We are hoping we will make it back to our room in time to see Wishes! Seems like a nice evening to start our vacation (of course, this is in my head, and I am more than prepared for all of the things that will not work out exactly as I want them to).
Next up....definitely more countdown updates. I realize these are not as fun, but they are SO fun to me! I love thinking things like, "in X number of days at this time, I will be doing [fill in the blank]." I also ordered pirate shirts off of Etsy that I will share, and finally, some packing updates to keep me sane and ensure I am not forgetting anything really important! Speaking of that...the camera and video camera are going in the packing basket. I would be heartbroken if I forgot those!