US & Canada PTR - 2 sleeps to go, wow

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Actually now I think about it, I said that if they didn't eat the healthy stuff, they wouldn't get the sweet stuff. DD14 will be fine, she loves all food but DS will need to be managed along the way.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Actually now I think about it, I said that if they didn't eat the healthy stuff, they wouldn't get the sweet stuff. DD14 will be fine, she loves all food but DS will need to be managed along the way.

Now. that. is. cruel!

 

[Marlea98]

Wow - what a day!! You did get a lot done! Canberra is good for getting around - much better that Brissy!!!
Just a note re the TravelSim. I took one of those away with me and I couldn't get data on it for love or money! I couldn't even make a phone call back home on the silly thing, but that may have been user error!! I ended up buying a Net10 sim at Target for about $30 I think, and then bought a 1 month package of unlimited phone, text and data for about $50. No more troubles!!
So, I was thrilled to have the Travel sim before I left, did all they asked re registering etc, and the stupid thing never worked for me! As I said - possible user error - I am a bit slow on the uptake!! Others may have had better luck than me! I tried for days to get an internet connection with it and finally gave up!
Don't mean to rain on your parade - just want to let you know!

I struggled with the travelsim too. I hated that you had to dial the international code everytime you wanted to call someone, and it was a pain if you were calling another U.S state as you needed to know their number as well. Then there was the 'lag' where you called, then it rang you back then you 'answered' your outgoing call. Calling home to Australia was like calling on a satellite phone, too, with the long pause between callers. Never again. We ended up going to Walmart and buying 2 cheap phones for calls and prepaid calling cards. We used free wi-fi at McDonald's etc if we needed it.

 

[Marlea98]

Hahahaha, so I am a little bit sneaky. Our family is full of "personalities". Trying to manage those personalities 24/7 for 5 weeks would be enough to test even Mother Theresa. I'm so keen for this holiday to be as happy and relaxed as possible which is why everything is super duper planned out to accommodate everyone's interests and energy levels etc.

We had a little family meeting this afternoon which I sold to everyone as a great fun opportunity to sit and discuss a few of the finer details of the trip etc. I served platters of food to lull them into a false sense of security and then hit them with the "good behaviour contract" .

There were some discussion points, well when I say discussion, it was me talking/lecturing, them listening. Then I had individual "points" I wanted to make to each member of the family so that they knew there were things I thought they could work on and that I wanted them to not do/be/act out. Basically a list of expectations .

Then I made everyone sign the bottom of the sheet bwahahaha.

It looked a little something like this:-

US Trip Family Meeting


Food

Must have at least 1 piece of fruit per day

Must have salad or veggies with at least 1 meal per day

Desserts only sometimes

Cereal and fruit in our room will be a common breakfast throughout the trip

Everyone to try and embrace some new foods


Sleep

Kids to go to sleep of an evening when asked

Getting up in the morning is really hard for everyone, please try to be as pleasant as possible

Must get up and out of bed and ready for the day when asked


Showers

Mum, DD and DS to shower of an evening, dad to shower of a morning


Grumpiness and Tiredness

Its going to be a long trip, what are some things that we can do to give everyone some space to unwind and rest eg. Perhaps headphones on watching a movie on the ipad, listening to the ipod quietly on the bed, an afternoon nap or rest. Lets discuss


Being considerate of others

DS10 - no silly noises EVER, speak nicely to people, please and thank you, dont annoy your sister, try to remember how lucky you are to be on such an adventure, no whinging, be considerate and remember that its everyones holiday, be happy and have fun

DD14 - no annoying your brother, no attitude, speak nicely to people - especially your brother, listen to your parents, no whinging, try to remember how lucky you are to be on such an adventure, we cant buy you everything you want, be considerate and remember that its everyones holiday, be happy and have fun

Dad - if you are tired make time to rest, even if that means going back to the room for a nap without us, speak nicely, deep breaths before growling at the children, be happy and have fun

Mum - try not to be grumpy, remember that its everyones holiday, speak nicely, deep breaths before growling at the children, be happy and have fun


My list of things to remember is the shortest and really it was just a token gesture hahaha, but it's a fair assessment I guess.

You can imagine how enthusiastic everyone was. The discussion points about food and sleep up the top though were well received and agreed upon.

I'm so stealing this contract, having them sign in blood AND laminating it!!!!!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I struggled with the travelsim too. I hated that you had to dial the international code everytime you wanted to call someone, and it was a pain if you were calling another U.S state as you needed to know their number as well. Then there was the 'lag' where you called, then it rang you back then you 'answered' your outgoing call. Calling home to Australia was like calling on a satellite phone, too, with the long pause between callers. Never again. We ended up going to Walmart and buying 2 cheap phones for calls and prepaid calling cards. We used free wi-fi at McDonald's etc if we needed it.

This doesn't sound like things that would concern me too much to be honest. We mainly want the phones for texting each other if we are separated, so family could contact us in an emergency and perhaps some local calls if we need to book something etc.

Since we visiting Canada on this trip and then heading to Europe in March, the Travelsim was the best option long term for us.

The prepaid local phones are great for just the US, that's what we've done in the past but Travelsim should fit the bill this time.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

So I've been dying to start packing for months, absolutely hanging out. I finally at 1pm caught up on my workload. It is only a 1 1/2 day window until I get crazy busy again and this will likely last right up until we leave.

So now would be the time to pull everything out and get a little start on what's what, if I need to buy anything else etc.

But I'm dragging my feet. I can't seem to make myself do it.

Why is this?

Help me get enthused.

 

[alicia1506]

make a list.

go get all your packing cubes and plan how you will fill them.

also, smell your packing cubes. this gets me in the right frame of mind. it's like new car smell, but with ocd overtones

these are my only tips for now.

i'm mostly just seething with jealousy that you're going on a trip this year and i am not

 

[PrincessInOz]

So I've been dying to start packing for months, absolutely hanging out. I finally at 1pm caught up on my workload. It is only a 1 1/2 day window until I get crazy busy again and this will likely last right up until we leave.

So now would be the time to pull everything out and get a little start on what's what, if I need to buy anything else etc.

But I'm dragging my feet. I can't seem to make myself do it.

Why is this?

Help me get enthused.

Rest up for tonight and then get started tomorrow. It's a sign that you're tired.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Rest up for tonight and then get started tomorrow. It's a sign that you're tired.

Oh yes, tired, sigh. That's very much what I am actually

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Just got a cute email from Radio City Musical Hall saying I'm part of the Fan Family for the Christmas Spectacular with downloadable colouring pages that are so super cute. Am I too old to colour them myself? I love colouring.

And I love that I'm going to see the Christmas Spectacular on Christmas day. I have finally gotten over the cost, it's taken months to feel good about it and now I'm just in my happy place.

It's going to be amaze-balls.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Just got a cute email from Radio City Musical Hall saying I'm part of the Fan Family for the Christmas Spectacular with downloadable colouring pages that are so super cute. Am I too old to colour them myself? I love colouring.

And I love that I'm going to see the Christmas Spectacular on Christmas day. I have finally gotten over the cost, it's taken months to feel good about it and now I'm just in my happy place.

It's going to be amaze-balls.

And afterwards, you won't even think about the cost.

 

[skier_pete]

The Radio City Music Hall christmas show is well worth it. I saw it in New York as a kid a couple times. I've also seen the touring version here in Buffalo, but this is not at all the same. It's a one and only experience.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

The Radio City Music Hall christmas show is well worth it. I saw it in New York as a kid a couple times. I've also seen the touring version here in Buffalo, but this is not at all the same. It's a one and only experience.

I'm hoping my children always remember it too Pete.

 

[shushh]

Just got a cute email from Radio City Musical Hall saying I'm part of the Fan Family for the Christmas Spectacular with downloadable colouring pages that are so super cute. Am I too old to colour them myself? I love colouring.

And I love that I'm going to see the Christmas Spectacular on Christmas day. I have finally gotten over the cost, it's taken months to feel good about it and now I'm just in my happy place.

It's going to be amaze-balls.

It will definitely be amazeballs! And I personally thought it was well worth the money. Nothing like it at all here in Australia. We LOVED it, and that included my children. Lara watched transfixed the whole time.

 

[battymum]

Radio city Christmas spectacular is definitely on my bucket list, just have to get to NYC to do it, I keep getting emails from them I don't know why.

Shuttergirl I have been thinking about your luggage / shopping woes, in Japan a lot of people courier their luggage to the next destination as it is quite difficult to take on trains, maybe you could ship some stuff to Washington , I am assuming most of your shopping will be done on Orlando and NYC.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Radio city Christmas spectacular is definitely on my bucket list, just have to get to NYC to do it, I keep getting emails from them I don't know why.

Shuttergirl I have been thinking about your luggage / shopping woes, in Japan a lot of people courier their luggage to the next destination as it is quite difficult to take on trains, maybe you could ship some stuff to Washington , I am assuming most of your shopping will be done on Orlando and NYC.

Yes, this is something I was thinking about but had thought perhaps we might send some stuff home. The post office has these boxes that are a flat international rate so I was thinking we might do something like this in either Orlando or NYC.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I have only asked DH to do 4 things in preparation for this trip.

1. Find out what sim option is best for us

2. Unlock the iphones

3. Download new music and put on ipod

4. Put some movies onto an external harddrive as well as on the ipad.


So far I had to research the sim options (with alot of Diser help), I found out exactly how to go about unlocking the iphones (with alot of Diser help), have explained to him he has to actually unlock them because they are in his name, I got the kids to write a comprehensive list of what music to download, he has downloaded the music but it isn't on any ipods yet, I got the kids to each write a list of movies to be loaded, movies haven't been done yet.

I started the kind reminders (read nagging ) a few months ago. We are now 20 days out and I have told my sweet husband not to come home tonight unless those damn iphones are unlocked so I can test the new sims . Let's see if he can get something crossed off his tiny list, while mine keeps growing and growing.

 

[alicia1506]

lol. for this reason, i give carlo 3 things to do.

work out what clothes he is taking (in consultation with me) and to pack them into his bag.
call his bank (same bank, separate accounts, so he has to call) and notify of the trip dates and locations so that the cards won't be blocked
actually arrange for the leave from his work

oh, and to occasionally listen to me rant/whine/bounce ideas off him.

same goes for the others coming on the trip. i even did up packing lists and suggested clothing types/fabrics etc.

everything else i do so that i know it will be done by the time i need it done.

sounds like your DH needs a little bit of a reminder about the realities of time constraints and your workload

it will get better soon, i promise

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Ahhhh, good to hear I'm not the only organised (aka control freak) Disboarder .

I know it will get better soon, I am trying to keep my eye on the prize. Until then, there is always champagne

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

My son asked me this morning how many days until we go away. I said "honey, mummy isn't counting because she feels a little sick when she realises how close it is" .

Mother of the year award coming my way right.

Anyway, I finally did the math and we are at.....

16 sleeps!!!!!!!!

Wowsers.

Still so much to do, seems the to do list is getting longer not shorter but I guess it will all get done in the end.