Disney...An Overview of Our Trip

I still haven't looked through all the pictures, but I think I can at least take a few minutes now to sketch out the basic choices we made about our Disney trip.  Not sure if anyone cares...or will find it interesting...but I found the whole planning process to be pretty involved.  Perhaps some of my hindsight would help someone.  Or not.  Maybe you'd rather go watch a rerun of the Andy Griffith show like my kids are doing.  I'm fine with that.

Park Tickets:
We went with the basic 1 park per day tickets.  We found that 1 park was enough for each day, and we didn't miss having the Park Hopper feature.  If we had stayed less than a week, maybe I would feel differently.

Schedule:
We spent 2 full days in the Magic Kingdom, 2 full days in Epcot, 1 day in Hollywood Studios and 1 day in Animal Kingdom.  I thought this was the perfect amount of time per park.  By the end of the week we felt like we had seen everything we wanted to see in every park and we were ready to come home. We did make the mistake of going to the Magic Kingdom on Saturday night after our flight.  It was a Z.O.O., and we were very tired.  I wouldn't do that again.

Accomodations:
We stayed at Pop Century, which is a Value Resort.  Not sure where the Value part came in, but it was cheaper than most of the other Disney resorts.  We had two connecting rooms, which worked pretty well for us. We didn't actually spend much time in our rooms...we pretty much just crashed there every night...so I didn't miss the plush features of the nicer resorts.  But our kids are older and can go all day.  I can see how someone with younger kids might want a little more space, or a washer/dryer in the room.

Food:
We bought the dining plan that allowed 1 Table Service meal, 1 Quick Service meal, and 1 Snack per person per day.  I think it was probably worth it, but I would be more careful next time about where we used our Quick Service credits.  More on that and where we ate in a later post. We had some basic groceries delivered to our room so that we could eat breakfast before we headed out.  This kept us from wasting meal credits at breakfast...plus it saved time.

Miscellaneous:
1. Disney coffee stinks.  It is Nescafe.  It is Disgusting.  Go to AllEars.net to find places at Disney that sell real coffee.
2. Many people find the refillable mugs to be a great deal.  We found them to be a ripoff.  You can only use them in the hotel, we don't like Nescafe, the iced tea was also made from a powdered mix, and we don't drink much pop.  That didn't really leave much to fill our mugs with.  I'm pretty sure we didn't use $32 of teabags during the week.
3. We all (with the exception of J-Man) carried backpacks in the park every day.  I'll share more later about what everyone carried and how it worked out.  I'll say now that the most important item in everyone's bag was bottled water.  I did not once have to listen to anyone complain about thirst.  A minor miracle.

Congratulations...

I read a great blog post yesterday with realistic cards for new moms.  This one struck me as particularly funny in light of my current state of being.  Which, by the way, the doctor informed me this morning is pneumonia.  I'm too busy for pneumonia.  Pneumonia will have to respond to antibiotics while I'm running errands, teaching school and baking cookies for The Husband's work party tomorrow.  I thumb my nose at you, pneumonia.

If you'd like to read the rest of the cards, go to Jill Smokler's funny post at Scary Mommy. Beware, though, some of you may be offended by the crudeness and swear words on a couple of cards.

Disney...Coming Soon!

We are just back from a week at Disney World. The weather was mostly beautiful and things ran mostly smoothly. Except that I'm sick. So, I'm thinking I'll probably write several posts about our trip. But not until I feel better. Pictures too, once I find the energy to look through them.

Gather your personal belongings, take small children by the hand, and have a magical day!

Asking the Right Question

Many of you know that I've been seeing a pastor at our church for counseling for almost a year now. What I really needed (and still need ongoing help with) was an attitude adjustment. Now, I am certainly not all the way there yet, but I think I'm starting to ask the right questions.

When we started out, I was angry. My primary question was: "Why would God let all this this awful stuff happen to me?" Not at all a biblical attitude. But oh, so easy to fall into.

My question more and more these days is: "What is God trying to teach me through all this awful stuff?"

Maybe now we'll start to get somewhere.

Thankfulness

Yes, I know it's been awhile. I've been crazy busy with the start of a new school year and some new challenges that go along with it. But, I decided that instead of dwelling on the rough stuff, I need to take a few minutes to remind myself of the blessings.

So, today I am thankful that:

God loves me and has a perfect plan for my life.
My husband has a job.
J-Man is back in school.
The furnace worked yet again this year.
My husband is handy and we rarely need a repairman.
We have a parking spot for the truck and camper this winter.
I am part of a community of moms who love and support each other.
Our health insurance is unexpectedly reimbursing some claims.
We have enough extra money to contemplate a family vacation.
We were able to buy a washer and dryer made in this century.
I finally have time to get physical therapy for my ankle.
The dog is walking on 4 legs again.
The kids are healthy.
God created cocoa beans.
God created coffee beans.

I Did a Stupid Thing

I ate pizza. Yes, I know. Wheat and dairy. Oh, believe me, I know. It sounded so good. So greasy. So cheesy. So not worth the two days of extreme discomfort I endured afterward. I doubt if I will ever touch a piece of regular pizza again.

This all got me to thinking about a handful of people I've encountered lately. The ones who roll their eyes or look all offended when I say that I'm allergic to wheat and dairy. You know what, I don't really care how inconvenienced they might feel, or how offended they are that I'm not willing to try their cheese-encrusted whatever. I'm starting to feel a little offended that someone would want me to spend a couple of days doubled over in pain. Or that my long-term health matters less than their birthday cake. And some of them are people that you would think would care about such things.

So, to those people who think that this is just a fun new hobby I'm trying out, you can think again. I cannot begin to express how difficult this journey with my health has been, what a relief it is to feel a little better, and how much I don't care that your cheese and cracker platter didn't get eaten. Feed it to the dogs.

Why We Don't Have Pictures Taken Very Often

I finally got my act together and took the kids for some real live studio pictures. This picture demonstrates why I hate this activity.

I have 29 similarly unusable poses. See, here's another one.

This one of J-Man is a beauty.

Big K looked lovely and was very cooperative. I'm trying to give credit where credit is due.