My not-so-secret "surprise" trip June 9-15 About This Page:

[Chuck&Michelle]

Awww...thanks for sharing a bit of your life, you have a beautiful family.
Your plans sound good. Hope you guys have a great time.
Michelle

[BlueCinderellaEyes]

I've just read your pre-tr and my DH did not have family vacations either when he was little! Now he is more of a Disney World A Holic then I am! Thanks for sharing a little bit of yourself with all of us
Your plans sound wonderful!

Oh and Canada is a wonderful place for a vacation! Or to live! I like to call it home anyways! LOL

[mfirst]

Originally Posted by shnewell

So funny -- I turn 40 in September, and the age thing has never bothered me before, but it is starting to get to me also.

You have so many great memories of WDW! I can't wait to hear about the new memories you'll make with your family!

Thank you! I didn't do a pre-trip report for our last trip, but I'm finding that it's a way to talk about Disney without spilling the secret for the boys.

Originally Posted by Chuck&Michelle

Awww...thanks for sharing a bit of your life, you have a beautiful family.
Your plans sound good. Hope you guys have a great time.
Michelle

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by BlueCinderellaEyes

I've just read your pre-tr and my DH did not have family vacations either when he was little! Now he is more of a Disney World A Holic then I am! Thanks for sharing a little bit of yourself with all of us
Your plans sound wonderful!

Oh and Canada is a wonderful place for a vacation! Or to live! I like to call it home anyways! LOL

Thank you! I've been to Canada a few times - the falls and Toronto... remember when I said my Dad is a bit like Clark W. Griswold? We took a family vacation to Toronto with my Aunt, cousin, grandma, great-grandma, great-aunt and and great-uncle. We stayed about 15 minutes outside of Toronto and were going to go to a museum for the day - so we loaded up our family trucksters and started driving, and driving, and driving...well beyond the fifteen minute time limit. My mom started asking/telling my Dad to pull over and get directions. He kept insisting he knew how to get where we were going...right up until we saw the sign announcing the New York border was about 20 minutes away .

We haven't been back in a while because I've been too lazy to apply for our passports but we've often talked about taking the kids there.

[OhToodles!]

Finally got to read this! I love all the character intros- thank you for sharing yoru beautiful boys with us! I think Patrick & Dylan hav the exact same birthday - 10/5/07?! small world
The YES program sounds really neat - can't wait to hear about it.
And Disney on your birthday is magical!

[2Peanuts]

Hey Melissa!

I just found your PTR & I'm really enjoying it! Thanks for sharing all the stories about your sons --- I hope Patrick gets better soon. You & Coach have clearly built a wonderful, loving family together. Hope your vacation planning continues to go well & that the trip itself is out-of-this-world fantastic!

Carol

[mfirst]

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

Finally got to read this! I love all the character intros- thank you for sharing yoru beautiful boys with us! I think Patrick & Dylan hav the exact same birthday - 10/5/07?! small world
The YES program sounds really neat - can't wait to hear about it.
And Disney on your birthday is magical!

They do share the same birthday! How cool is that?
Coach and I have been "discussing" who gets to go with Nolan for the YES program because we think it sounds really cool too! I can't wait to see the look on Nolan's face when he learns about it! I probably will be the one to take him because I'm ALWAYS up early (the youngest is up and ready to go by 6:00 every day).

Originally Posted by 2Peanuts

Hey Melissa!

I just found your PTR & I'm really enjoying it! Thanks for sharing all the stories about your sons --- I hope Patrick gets better soon. You & Coach have clearly built a wonderful, loving family together. Hope your vacation planning continues to go well & that the trip itself is out-of-this-world fantastic!

Carol

Thanks Carol! We're keeping our fingers crossed for Patrick...he had his last antibiotic shot Wednesday and a clear Strep test Friday...

[mfirst]

It seems as though our trip will never get here...probably because we had originally planned for June and then moved things back a bit

It's getting to be the crazy-busy time of year around here. We have FOUR Monday's left (well three now because we're all up) of school!

I have been focusing on my graduate studies - I finished up my year long internship (five huge essays and an action research project) Friday and had another class - Educational Law finish Sunday. The other class has "simple" requirements of work due once a week. I get to pre-conference, observe and post-conference a teacher all on my own! As of June I have FOUR classes left until my I complete my Master's degree - this time next year, I will be graduating!

Nolan's home opener was supposed to be Saturday, but it was 43, with 30+ mph wind gusts and alternating rain and hail...so the games were cancelled. Coach decided to take the youngest grocery shopping while I did an art project for Mother's Day with the older two. It took him 1 1/2 hours to grocery shop because Cullen refused to ride in the cart. Is it wrong that I wished I had witnessed Coach handeling one of his temper tantrums?

When he returned home, it was still gross and I needed to focus on my Educational Law assignments (I had FIVE due by 9pm Sunday). He took them to see the pirate movie (he said it was okay, not great and really not all that funny...he said it must not have been a Disney movie. Funny statement coming from him because he never got into "kid" movies until Nolan was around 3 or so.

By dinner time, I realized a) I'd forgotten to defrost anything and b) the kids were chomping at the bit and fighting because they'd been cooped up all day. We headed to the next town south to McD's (ours has been torn down) to get the kiddos a bite to eat and let them burn off energy in the indoor playplace. Still love the fact that I can get a 20 piece McNugget and 2 medium fries and split it five ways . By the time we left, it was close to bedtime and the boys were EXHAUSTED. One of the nice thing about having high energy kiddos is that they fall asleep quickly each night!

I spent yesterday on the computer...finishing up that blasted law work and taking my timed final exam (49/50). I finished the class with an A so it was definitely worth the hard work! While I was typing away, Coach had the boys oustide workiing on a surprise for me. They weeded (not a small task considering how much rain and warmth we've had this spring), mulched and...put in all new lights outside. I'll try to post a picture soon! It's still a "work in progres" because we haven't planted our flowers, gotten our hanging basket or replaced the hostas that didn't make it through the winter.

While we were doing all this, my parents and brother were scheming. My younger brother lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. and I rarely get to see him. He's a professor at Columbia and travels bi-monthly to Africa to evaluate the AIDS clinics he's in charge of. Anyway, it's been 2 1/2 years since I've seen him...actually Cullen was 2 months old when we last saw "Unka". Unka and Auntie have rented a cabin in Ohiopyle,PA for a week and we're going to be joining them over Memorial Weekend! I can't wait! We've never been to that part of PA before and the boys LOVE hiking the nature trails around our area. I can't wait to just hang out with my brother and Jill...and not have to share them with any other family (other than my parents who will be joining us too).

We've talked about doing something like this for many years, but just haven't gotten around to it. Partly because I wanted the kids to be beyond the "crib" phase, partly because our schedulles were tough to line up and partly because...no one took initiative. This past year, my mom was diagnosed with Uterine cancer. She had surgery and the doctors were able to remove all the cancerous tissue, but recovery has been slow and painful for her. She's finally starting to feel a bit better, and Matt kept reminding us that we need to make family a priority NOW while we can.

On to the busy week ahead...Coach has meetings all day Tuesday, and I have my classroom observation to complete. My mother-in-law is coming today to spend the night and take care of getting Patrick back and forth to preschool, and occupy Cullen while I complete my observation. Tuesday night, Nolan has a baseball game. The boys have their music class on Wednesday. Thursday is going to be insane! Patrick has a field trip, Cullen has a classroom speech assessment, Nolan has baseball and we're down a car in the afternoon while the van has some warranty work done...Friday is a bit calmer with "only" a birthday party for Nolan's buddy in the evening. Saturday is a baseball double header, and my parents arrive Sunday for the night. Monday is "Silver Bee" aka Grandparent's day at Nolan's school. My parents get to meet his teacher, tour his school, have doughnuts and cofee with Nolan and see a program put on by the kids. I'm really happy that they're able to make it for this!

On "the Disney front" Target had a pretty good sale last week and I picked up four pairs of shorts Nolan, (4 for $20) and my mom picked up shorts for Patrick. She said she also picked up a few more shirts because Patrick and Cullen both wear 3T now, at least for shirts. Shorts...they're still wearing 18 months (Cullen) and 24 Months/2T (Patrick). We have 3 ADR's planned and I'm still trying to decide if we want a fourth. We did 3 last time and it seemed to be a pretty good balance, but...the boys are a bit older this time.

Hope everyone has a good day! I'm off to start the race that will be this week!
Melissa

[shnewell]

Wow, you've been busy! If things keep up this way, your trip will be here before you know it!

Congrats on your great grade!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OhToodles!]

Oh my goodness! How do you even have time for anything after all that? I was saying all that I had to do and it's nothing compared to this.

And it is cool that Patrick & Dylan share the same birthday.

So nice that you'll be spending time with your family soon.

[LouigiAnne]

Enjoy our visit with your Brother and The Quiet Family Time , Good Luck with the studies!! Great Find on the shorts at Target

[mfirst]

Originally Posted by shnewell

Wow, you've been busy! If things keep up this way, your trip will be here before you know it!

Congrats on your great grade!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you! I was notified today that I have been made a member of Wright State University's Gold Key Society...and I will get to wear the gold cords at graduation. I never thought I'd be an "honor" level student - despite teaching them for many years (lol). I'm hoping to be asked to join the faculty at Wright State when I finish my studies.

It's been such a busy 24 hour period that I just checked my calendar to see if somehow it's Wednesday yet...nope, still Tuesday and still more to do today!

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

Oh my goodness! How do you even have time for anything after all that? I was saying all that I had to do and it's nothing compared to this.

And it is cool that Patrick & Dylan share the same birthday.

So nice that you'll be spending time with your family soon.

If you could see my house right now, you'd understand...I think the laundry pile alone is as tall '40 inches high...not to mention the floors and bathrooms that need to be cleaned. Instead, I'm "taking a break" after my observation and enjoying the blissful quiet for a few minutes while Patrick and Cullen finish their naps...and before I'm off to pick Nolan up, get his homework done and rush off to baseball tonight.

Originally Posted by LouigiAnne

Enjoy our visit with your Brother and The Quiet Family Time , Good Luck with the studies!! Great Find on the shorts at Target

Thank you! I love a good bargain

[mfirst]

Is there an almost paid dance? We have a balance of....$200 left before we're paid in full (and that will be taken care of next Friday).



I also learned today that we still qualify for the AAA diamond parking pass because we booked our hotel through them! I don't know how much we'll use it considering we're going to be within walking distance of Epcot and DHS, but it's nice to know we have it if we need it. Our TA is also schedulling our Wishes preferred viewing, though the character story time is already filled.

I started working on our packing list for a weekend at the cabin..the Ohiopyle area sounds really cool - lots of hiking/fishing etc. My brother and Jill have sent an idea list for foods so we can "divide and conquer" though my mom and I have decided to bring the bulk. My drive is about 4 1/2 hours, my parents have a 6 hour drive (we'll meet in Columbus for a quick dinner and the follow each other the rest of teh way) and for Matt it's bordering on 12 hours once he factors getting out of NYC on Friday of a major holiday weekend. My mom called me and said she made some Disney purchases...3 glow in the dark pirate swords, 12 glow in the dark necklaces (she's ordered more so that each boy can have one per night of our vacation). In addition, she picked up some glow sticks for our camping weekend, giant marshmallows and graham crackers for s'mores. I started my list of "camping" things to pack:

Baseball stuff/soccer stuff
Games like Sorry/Uno/dominoes and cards
DVD players and a couple of movies for the car ride
Nolan's "bug tracker" kit (giant magnifying glass attached to a vented tube with tweezers so he can find bugs, put them in the tube and examine them.
Bug spray
Sun Screen

Haven't started thinking about clothes yet, but I know the boys will need to bring both pairs of tennis shoes.

I just started raining/thundering here again...2nd straight day we've had a "Florida" afternoon shower...makes me realize how quickly our July vacation is approaching! Off to pick up the oldest - hopefully the rain stops in time for his game tonight (nothing like sitting in the rain to watch 1st graders play baseball, right?)

[OhToodles!]

Originally Posted by mfirst

If you could see my house right now, you'd understand...I think the laundry pile alone is as tall '40 inches high...not to mention the floors and bathrooms that need to be cleaned. Instead, I'm "taking a break" after my observation and enjoying the blissful quiet for a few minutes while Patrick and Cullen finish their naps...and before I'm off to pick Nolan up, get his homework done and rush off to baseball tonight.

Well good, then I feel better because mine is about the same.


Congrats on the gold cords! That's great!
Love the bug tracker kit! I think I need to get Dylan one - he loves to find bugs outside, especially roly polys.

[mfirst]

I have always called the roly poly's potato bugs...don't know why or even where that term came from. I told Patrick to bring the kit to b-ball tonight so he could find some potato bugs, he just looked at me like I'm crazy and said "Mom, a potato can't fit on that - even one with legs". If you have the Five Below chain of stores near you, that's where I got it. All three had them, but the younger two turned theirs into "light savers" and broke the lense out of them before I could stop them.

[shnewell]

Congrats on your academic honors!!