Way Out Here, Eh? - A June 2019 TR *PTR Link Posted

So sorry I'm late to joining in. I LOVE your reports.

Hi Dee!! Good to see you here! Hope all has been well with you.


That is a lot going on with your move and planning for your extended trip "home". Once again, I'm impressed!

I'm so happy the move is over and done with. In hindsight, taking a trip mid-move wasn't the best idea and we won't do it again, but we did have a great time.



How cool that you got to meet up with cindianne320. My family's first DISmeet outside of the park was with MissyRose and PixelDust. At Shake Shack (DC).

That could be their official slogan. "Shake Shack. The official meet-up spot for Disney-crazies"

What're the odds?! :rotfl2:


It is RX here, but maybe in the UK you can get it OTC?? Never hurts to ask though... pretty common med here and I saw MANY in the parks on my last few trips.

The U.K. has a chain of RXs here that I can see if they sell them there. Or I can always be the annoying daughter that sends her mom to a store in the U.S. to buy and ship me some. :rotfl: (She might or might not already do this with our barbecue sauce and protein bars.)


I plan on getting the scopolamine patch before my surgery on Thursday, and if I like it- using it on my next cruise.

You'll have to let me know if it works better/worse/the same as the Bonine.
 
June 3 – June 6, 2019:


After a jam-packed day at Walt Disney World, Alex and I had to wake up at 3:45 a.m. for our early morning flight to Minnesota. Walking through the lobby in the pre-dawn hours was both peaceful and eery. I don’t think I had ever seen Animal Kingdom Lodge so quiet before.

Alex ran up to the desk to let them know we were checking out of our room – hopefully allowing MouseKeeping to turn it over early (for any hopeful early arriving guests) – when he noticed the Cast Member working was from the same area of Maryland he grew up in. He proceeded to chat with the girl for a good five minutes, allowing me to soak up my final looks at the woodwork of the balconies and the red and gold patterns of the couches.

I keep telling my family I am going to diversify and have us stay at new deluxe resorts, yet I always circle back to the Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge. It’s hard not to, though, when I left my third stay at the resort as excited and in love with the place as I was the moment I first saw the floor to ceiling glass window.



Back in the days of our researching and planning, Alex and I discovered it would be cheaper to keep our rental car and park in the cheapest lot rather than turn it in and get a new one three days later. So off we went to the way out there parking, the sun still slumbering through our journeying.

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Check in was a breeze, our Chick Fil A breakfast reliable, and TSA pre-check a blessing. I’ve been through some long security checkpoints over the years, but I think MCO takes the cake as one of the worst. It just seems to wind around forever! Getting the pre-check through Alex’s job was one of the best things to have happened to us, and it was downright laughable without the kids in tow.

T
his was my very first airplane ride without kids!


Finally…FINALLY I was going to get to take a plane ride where I didn’t have to navigate a kids’ screen or pull out snacks or fight against tiny hands to keep the seatbelt secure.

I could actually watch a movie! Read! Play games on my phone!

I had three hours to entertain myself; the concept was almost foreign to me.


To celebrate, I got in a massive line at Starbucks and waited to order a fancy coffee. Then I strolled down to my gate at a leisurely pace, pausing to look in the some of the shops. Doing everything I couldn’t do with kids.

It was amazing.



Then I stepped on board our plane, excited because I had booked myself a window seat. Landon and Evie always get that spot…they’re blocked in and gives them something to look at. But this time it was all mine!

Except….

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Because we booked this flight kind of late, I didn’t check the seat map and had no idea some window seats don’t actually have a window!


:sad2: :rotfl2:

Smooth moves, Alicia.



Alex, who was sitting in the middle next to me, laughed long and hard when I pointed this out to him.

I shouldn’t complain too much though, because what did I do during my free time? The time I allotted for downloaded Netflix shows? The time I had charged my phone for? The time I reserved for my noise cancelling headphones?

I slept.
:confused3

Give a mom a kid-free flight and an empty wall and she’ll use it to nap!


Oops.




Once in Minnesota, Alex and I spent the following three days visiting with our newest niece (the true reason for the time away from the kids) and seeing some of the highlights of the area.

We ate cheese curds:

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And dined at the famous Matt’s bar:

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We went to the Mall of America and found interesting gems:

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As well as visited Minnehaha Park:

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But the coolest perk of going to visit Alex’s sister and her family was the ability to schedule a DIS meetup one of the evenings! @Dugette and @cindianne320 were gracious enough to meet up with Alex and I for dinner one night, which was a big feat for them. Their kids were still in school, it was a worknight, and we all had to travel 30-40 minutes to reach a middle location.

It wasn’t convenient and for that I appreciated the effort even more.

Alex and I had gotten the chance to spend several awesome days in Disneyland Paris with Dugette and her family, and I felt like our easy friendship picked up right where we left off. We might have met as internet friends, but I would definitely consider Dugette’s family true buddies at this point.

Cindi, I had known on the DIS for years and was looking forward to finally meeting.
*I’m not sure if she’s aware of it, but she’s also become a reading buddy. Anytime I see she’s reading a book I haven’t heard of on Goodreads, I look into the content because I feel like we share similar book interests. :rotfl2:*

And if you can share a love of books with someone, it goes without saying you’ll get along with them in real life.


I think we had a really pleasant chat, and in a crazy turn of fate were able to meet up with her again two months later in London!


Dugette’s husband was kind enough to take a photo of us at the end of the meal to memorialize the occasion:

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I said in my Paris report, but I’ll say it again. It’s mindblowing to me that I met Dugette and Cindi when our kids were babies and now they are in elementary school, growing up knowing one another.

Did any of us ever think the DIS was going to connect us in this way???




Continued in Next Post:
 


Continued from Previous Post:


The days in Minnesota were fun and passed easy, but by the 6th of June I was ready to get back to Florida. Five days without my kids was starting to weigh on me, and I think Alex could tell I was spending more time missing them than I was enjoying the time away.


Our return flight was another early morning excursion. I think by the time we booked the tickets the only options available had us landing at either 11 in the morning or 5 at night. Naturally this momma wasn’t going to let any more time than necessary pass before being reunited with her babies.



Alex’s brother in-law dropped us off at an ungodly early hour, where we proceeded to wait in a massive check-in line. There was another Delta flight leaving in less than an hour than we arrived, and the airline employees were trying to sort them through so they didn’t miss their flight.

One woman showed up with – I kid you not – thirty minutes to spare.

I was stressed out for her.

Kept turning to Alex going, “She’s never going to make that.”

Sadly, I don’t think she did. We saw her again while we were waiting in a coffee line, and she was running to her gate. But I want to say the flight left in five minutes, and there was no way they hadn’t shut the doors by then.

Poor gal.


Once we did wind our way through the line and handed over our suitcases, marveling at the number of kids outfitted in Disney gear around us, we were through TSA pre-check in no time and on our way to grab a bite to eat.

We had never heard of Caribou Coffee before this trip, so we stopped there and tried their breakfast sandwiches:

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Their coffee is really sweet, much sweeter than I prefer, but it wasn’t bad and gave me the caffeine I needed. The food was pretty mediocre.



On board the plane, Alex and I soaked up the last few hours of “us time.”

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And I enjoyed my actual window this time around:

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As we were landing, Alex got stuck talking to the woman seated next to him. She was from North Dakota, traveling to Orlando for a conference and asked Alex if he knew where her hotel was located. She also asked if he knew where the taxi station was, and if you could walk to any restaurants from her hotel.

It was like the sweet woman from Satu’li Canteen all over again; poor Alex was probably having déjà vu!


The most memorable part of their conversation, though, happened right as we were taxiing. She turned to both of us and went, “Have you seen this Mary, Queen of Scots movie?”

“No.”

“Oh, well I expected it to be light. But it was actually quite sad!”


Several minutes later, as Alex and I were walking to baggage claim, Alex turned to me and asked, “Didn’t Mary Queen of Scots die?!”

“She didn’t just die, sweetie. She was beheaded.”

“That’s what I thought.”



With that conversation to muse over, Alex and I gathered our bags, found the shuttle we needed, and returned to our car where we felt like a cooking pizza. Our rental was black with black leather seats and no sunshade, forcing us to sit down inside then promptly hopping back out again.

The two of us had to stand in the lot for a good five minutes, letting the car cool a little, before we could try and drive anywhere.
:rotfl:

The positive side to the lot we parked in was that we were able to pay for it through our Sunpass. Which I had remembered to find and set aside before the packers arrived three weeks prior!

One of my better accomplishments in trip planning, I must say. ::yes::



Shortly after we got on the road, my mom called me. (This was at about 11:45.) Her and the kids were already at Shades! Apparently, she had left at five in the morning, changing and feeding the kids quickly and loading them in their seats so they could sleep for a few more hours.

I told her to hang tight and we would meet them there with some Chick Fil A lunch.



Around 1:00 p.m. Alex and I pulled onto property and parked our vehicle in the garage. The great thing about Shades of Green is that they have a covered garage and it only cost 9 dollars a day to park. Much cheaper than the Disney resorts!



My mom asked that I text her when we were close because Landon kept insisting he wanted to be waiting in the lobby when we arrived. Unfortunately, they had found the pool while waiting and were distracted by the water. So that when they did make it back into the lobby Alex and I were already in line to check in.



Landon and Evie ran up and gave us giant hugs and judging by the looks on their faces, they were happy to see us. I think they loved spending time at the grandparents’ house but they were relieved to be back with us. Landon was certainly more willing to hang with me than he had been in awhile, which was nice to have.


Our rooms weren’t ready yet, so my group took our food to some tables and wolfed it down. Ahhh, Chick Fil A, how I miss thee.



Because Alex and I had been away for a few days, there were a few grocery and travel items we needed to pick up, so after lunch we decided to head to a Wal-mart and do some shopping until our rooms were ready.


My mom ended up finding a few Disney shirts she liked, as did Landon, so I considered it a successful trip despite the store not having a lot of the medicines/supplements we needed.


As we were checking out, there was a mother and father trying to take a picture of their daughter with a cardboard cut out, and I froze when I heard them say their kid’s name.

Back in March, my brother and sister in-law had their third child – a girl – and her name is super unique. It’s based off a Lord of the Rings character, which if their second kid’s name (Kylo) was any indication, wasn’t far-fetched for them.

My mom and I were flabbergasted that we were hearing the name, because we honestly never in a million years expected anyone to ever share the name.

I couldn’t stop myself from walking up to the couple and double checking that I had heard correctly. Then they became ridiculously excited when they learned about our niece.

It was the wildest encounter.


Then, in what seemed almost too eery to believe, it happened again! Back at Shades, my mom wanted to run into the AAFES (the store) for a look around and Alex was unloading the cars, so I parked the kids on a bench under a large frame celebrating Shade’s recent 25th birthday.

And then there, among the hundreds of signatures, was my niece’s name again!

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Unbelievable!

Incredible, really.

What a start to our Disney stay.



Shades has been working hard to refurb and update their rooms. I had read online that most of the fixes were cosmetic and some of the underlying issues remained, but I still became really excited when I entered our room and saw we had one of the refurbed rooms.

The changes they made are beautiful; modern and clean and way more in line with a Disney deluxe hotel. Outlets everywhere, large televisions, new colors on the wall. Before this trip I was hesitant to stay at Shades again, but now I was more than happy with our choice.



My mom had gotten a connecting room, which the kids LOVED. Landon has declared that Nana must always be “through the door” on all future trips.

Because my kids were running around like madmen, I went to my mom’s to take photographs:

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And when I did try to take one in my room, this was what I ended up with:

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Landon might have been over the moon about having my mom so close, but he wasn’t the only one. My mom’s room was the oasis of calm that I escaped to when my brood got too much. Early morning coffee (tea, for my mom) in her clean, quiet space was decadent.



Because WalMart didn’t have everything we needed, Alex agreed to run out to a CVX and get the remaining items. He left to do that while I unpacked and listened to the kids tell me all their adventures over the past few days. Evie was excited to share her experience with a llama at a petting zoo stealing her bag of feed, Landon insisted on telling me ad nasuem that Nana made him pancakes most mornings.
(“You never make pancakes, and you NEVER give me as much syrup as Nana does.”) Meanwhile my mom gushed over baby pictures of my niece and gladly let me take over referree duties when the kids started arguing over a toy.



Alex ended up having a lot of trouble finding the things we needed and ran from a CVX to a Walgreens and then back to the CVX. It ended up pushing us into dinnertime, and I called to let him know my mom and I were going to pick something up from the hotel restaurant and bring it back to the room.



While down in the restaurant lobby, waiting on our food, I was showing Landon a funny text typo, trying to keep him entertained, when Alex texted me with news of a toy spotting.

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Landon about lost his mind. He and Evie are obsessed with the tiny TY plushes, and a few months back when he announced two of his stuffed dogs were going to have a baby we made a promise to him that we would find him a tiny TY to use as the newest family member.

And so far Alex and I had come up short on finding any in stores. Poor kids even brought the expectant parents with him on the move so they could meet their baby. They were becoming impatient! (Fun fact: the kids and I held a massive wedding ceremony for these stuffed dogs. Our entire living room served as the chapel. A stuffed French bulldog named Gaston officiated. The reception had round tables seating six. A monkey and Dumbo argued over who was going to sit with the Mickey Mouse gang. It was A THING.)


So when Landon was looking at my phone and saw Alex’s announcement it then became a new Must Do.

At some point in the trip, Alex was going to have to take Landon and Evie to CVX to pick out a pup.

Good grief. Let’s not think about the fact that we were in Gift Shop Central, where almost anything else in the world was readily available.

Nope, my kids were deadset on a drugstore toy.

That’s Landon and Evie for you…



Originally, the plan for this evening was for me to take my mom and go to the TTC to activate her ticket, but neither of us felt up to it after our early mornings. Instead, we pushed it off until the following morning and headed to bed.




Up Next…Hey, it’s Germany, How Are You?
 
What a great first part of your Disney trip!!! Minnesota sounded great. Now, for part 2 of Disney and I can't wait to hear all about it!!!

How awesome to finally take a flight without kids!!! That's such a treat when you have little ones!!!
 
I plan on getting the scopolamine patch before my surgery on Thursday, and if I like it- using it on my next cruise.

We apply them pretty routinely for procedures that are longer or if the pt has a history of post-op nausea and vomiting. They can make you pretty dry and sleepy though. I'll be curious to hear how it goes for you!

The U.K. has a chain of RXs here that I can see if they sell them there. Or I can always be the annoying daughter that sends her mom to a store in the U.S. to buy and ship me some. :rotfl: (She might or might not already do this with our barbecue sauce and protein bars.)

Our "please-send-me"s were: peanut butter, homeschool books, spices like curry and such, and dvds.

but I think MCO takes the cake as one of the worst.

Yes.

To celebrate, I got in a massive line at Starbucks and waited to order a fancy coffee. Then I strolled down to my gate at a leisurely pace, pausing to look in the some of the shops. Doing everything I couldn’t do with kids.

It was amazing.

Isn't it bliss?!

Because we booked this flight kind of late, I didn’t check the seat map and had no idea some window seats don’t actually have a window!

:sad2: :rotfl2:

Smooth moves, Alicia.

:lmao:

Did any of us ever think the DIS was going to connect us in this way???

I've made some fantastic, life-changing friends here. I love the DIS!

Sadly, I don’t think she did. We saw her again while we were waiting in a coffee line, and she was running to her gate. But I want to say the flight left in five minutes, and there was no way they hadn’t shut the doors by then.

Poor gal.

Been there. Done that.

It sucks.

One of my better accomplishments in trip planning, I must say. ::yes::

Go you!!!

Unbelievable!

Incredible, really.

What a start to our Disney stay.

Whoa, that is rather incredible! Such a unique name!
And so far Alex and I had come up short on finding any in stores. Poor kids even brought the expectant parents with him on the move so they could meet their baby. They were becoming impatient! (Fun fact: the kids and I held a massive wedding ceremony for these stuffed dogs. Our entire living room served as the chapel. A stuffed French bulldog named Gaston officiated. The reception had round tables seating six. A monkey and Dumbo argued over who was going to sit with the Mickey Mouse gang. It was A THING.)
This is hilarious! Love it!
 


Alex and I discovered that while Evie might not like going to Disney, she sure does enjoy dressing up in Disney attire. We finally got photographic proof that she does smile! :rotfl:

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Evie is a very pretty Anna and Landon is very handsome!

Alex ran up to the desk to let them know we were checking out of our room – hopefully allowing MouseKeeping to turn it over early (for any hopeful early arriving guests)

That was very considerate.

This was my very first airplane ride without kids!

:cheer2:

Finally…FINALLY I was going to get to take a plane ride where I didn’t have to navigate a kids’ screen or pull out snacks or fight against tiny hands to keep the seatbelt secure.

And now you're making me nervous for when we fly with JP next month.

Because we booked this flight kind of late, I didn’t check the seat map and had no idea some window seats don’t actually have a window!

:scared1:


I shouldn’t complain too much though, because what did I do during my free time? The time I allotted for downloaded Netflix shows? The time I had charged my phone for? The time I reserved for my noise cancelling headphones?

I slept.

There's nothing like a kid-free nap.

We went to the Mall of America and found interesting gems:
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This is too funny. Danielle's roommate for DCP is from Minnesota. It should be interesting to put her southern accent and her roommate's Minnesotan accent together.

But the coolest perk of going to visit Alex’s sister and her family was the ability to schedule a DIS meetup one of the evenings! @Dugette and @cindianne320 were gracious enough to meet up with Alex and I for dinner one night, which was a big feat for them. Their kids were still in school, it was a worknight, and we all had to travel 30-40 minutes to reach a middle location.

Yeah a Dis Meet!

Cindi, I had known on the DIS for years and was looking forward to finally meeting. *I’m not sure if she’s aware of it, but she’s also become a reading buddy. Anytime I see she’s reading a book I haven’t heard of on Goodreads, I look into the content because I feel like we share similar book interests. :rotfl2:*

I've been thinking about doing Goodreads. I belong to a local book club and several of the members use it.

Five days without my kids was starting to weigh on me, and I think Alex could tell I was spending more time missing them than I was enjoying the time away.

:hug:


One woman showed up with – I kid you not – thirty minutes to spare.

I was stressed out for her.

Kept turning to Alex going, “She’s never going to make that.”

Sadly, I don’t think she did. We saw her again while we were waiting in a coffee line, and she was running to her gate. But I want to say the flight left in five minutes, and there was no way they hadn’t shut the doors by then.

Poor gal.

Now I'm stressed! I hate this for her.

Landon and Evie ran up and gave us giant hugs and judging by the looks on their faces, they were happy to see us. I think they loved spending time at the grandparents’ house but they were relieved to be back with us. Landon was certainly more willing to hang with me than he had been in awhile, which was nice to have.

:cloud9:


The changes they made are beautiful; modern and clean and way more in line with a Disney deluxe hotel. Outlets everywhere, large televisions, new colors on the wall. Before this trip I was hesitant to stay at Shades again, but now I was more than happy with our choice.

Love the updated rooms.
 
Whoo hoo! I made it into the update! It was so great to meet you and Alex- and even better to get to meet your kiddos in London!

I love that we can follow each other's travels AND books! Now to find that book we kept seeing in the Underground...
 
however, I think after my tenth or eleventh visit to FOP I’ll be mighty sick of that long pre-ride act.

YEP! It's the worst, but I guess it does help you forget that you're still technically waiting in line.

My poor husband was looking a little pale. He felt about the same. Of all the coasters he did during the trip, Flight of Passage hit him the worst. It was what finally convinced him that he has reached the point where motion sickness medicine is necessary.

Aww, poor guy. Hopefully motion sickness medicine helps him on future trips.

Once she got the number and someone answered on the other end, Alex and I heard her go, “Hello, I’m staying at your resort. I just had one quick question. I took a bus to Hollywood this morning. But I’m at Animal Kingdom now. Can I still be picked up from this park? Would that be possible?”

I know there's a lot to learn about Disney but I can't imagine not knowing about the buses! And after going there yearly?! What?

She hung up the phone and turned back to us. “Isn’t that the nicest thing? They have buses everywhere!”

Wow, this just blows my mind!!

Just my opinion, but this is the prettiest spot in the whole park:

I agree! I love that area so much.

“I warned you she was a slow eater.”

“Yes, but one noodle at a time?”

She's such a character! Love this

Well, who could resist a cookie with Simba’s face on it?!

Not me!!


I've just melted, they're adorable! Evie looks ecstatic to be Anna!

I keep telling my family I am going to diversify and have us stay at new deluxe resorts, yet I always circle back to the Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge. It’s hard not to, though, when I left my third stay at the resort as excited and in love with the place as I was the moment I first saw the floor to ceiling glass window.

My dilemma exactly. Theoretically I want to try new places, but AKL just feels so wonderful!

And then there, among the hundreds of signatures, was my niece’s name again!

Looove her name!


Wow the rooms look so nice!
 
Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Alex and I discovered that while Evie might not like going to Disney, she sure does enjoy dressing up in Disney attire. We finally got photographic proof that she does smile! :rotfl:

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So precious, I love their costumes!!

I keep telling my family I am going to diversify and have us stay at new deluxe resorts, yet I always circle back to the Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge.
I feel like this is the crux with regular Disney trips. There's always a pull between trying something new and wanting to redo all the things you love.

Except….
:rotfl:

We ate cheese curds:
Yum

And dined at the famous Matt’s bar:
YUM

And if you can share a love of books with someone, it goes without saying you’ll get along with them in real life.
So true!!

I said in my Paris report, but I’ll say it again. It’s mindblowing to me that I met Dugette and Cindi when our kids were babies and now they are in elementary school, growing up knowing one another.

Did any of us ever think the DIS was going to connect us in this way???
I love the internet and the way it connects people! It's so cool that you found such awesome connections in real life and that your whole family is enjoying it all together.

One woman showed up with – I kid you not – thirty minutes to spare.

I was stressed out for her.
I'm stressed reading this and it's already in the past.

marveling at the number of kids outfitted in Disney gear around us
I love flights to Orlando because of all the Disney stuff! It helps get me pumped about the destination.

Several minutes later, as Alex and I were walking to baggage claim, Alex turned to me and asked, “Didn’t Mary Queen of Scots die?!”

“She didn’t just die, sweetie. She was beheaded.”

“That’s what I thought.”
:rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

Ahhh, Chick Fil A, how I miss thee.
If I had to move to another country this is the food I would miss the most.

Back in March, my brother and sister in-law had their third child – a girl – and her name is super unique. It’s based off a Lord of the Rings character, which if their second kid’s name (Kylo) was any indication, wasn’t far-fetched for them.
My cousin has a girl named Arwen and a woman I graduated high school with has a daughter named Eowyn. Both are so pretty but definitely stand out for anyone who is a LOTR fan!

Outlets everywhere
SO IMPORTANT.

Ah so glad to see you reunited with the littles. Even though it seemed like you really enjoyed your time away it's so sweet to see how happy it made everyone to get back together. And having your mom there to help was a blessing as well, I'm sure! (especially those morning quiet times in her room)
 
That's a great picture of your kids! Both of them look so happy (and they look great in their costumes!).

It sounds like a nice trip to Minnesota! I grew up in a small town in Minnesota just west of the Twin Cities, so I'm still very fond of the state.

It's a bummer you missed out on the window seat, but I'm sure the nap was nice!

I didn't realize @cindianne320 was from Minnesota! I had the pleasure of meeting @Dugette during our trip in 2015 and it was wonderful to meet someone whose reports I'd read and loved for years. What a great dinner to meet up with both of them! I'm also glad you managed to get an authentic Juicy Lucy while you were in the Cities. They are delicious!

Caribou's food is pretty on-par with Starbucks and other coffee shops, but they have a Campfire Mocha that's absolutely delicious!

I'm impressed your mom got up so early and got everyone to Disney before you arrived! How nice that your kids were as happy to see you as you were to see them. :goodvibes
 
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Sounds like a great time in MN and so awesome that you could squeeze a DISmeet in there!

I'm sure you were anxious to get back to the kids though and I'm glad they were just as excited to see you!

And so far Alex and I had come up short on finding any in stores. Poor kids even brought the expectant parents with him on the move so they could meet their baby. They were becoming impatient! (Fun fact: the kids and I held a massive wedding ceremony for these stuffed dogs. Our entire living room served as the chapel. A stuffed French bulldog named Gaston officiated. The reception had round tables seating six. A monkey and Dumbo argued over who was going to sit with the Mickey Mouse gang. It was A THING.)

LOL this whole thing just sounds hilarious! :rotfl:
 
Okay the TY wedding is ADORABLE!! Something they'll definitely remember forever! Can't wait to hear about your family's experience in Disney 😁
 
Andi had the same seat on Delta with no window, boo!

I‘m glad you enjoyed Minnesota and met up with some Dis friends! Summer is the time to visit not now, lol!

Shades of Green looks really nice. How fun to have your mom along.

It is always nice to have some time from the little ones, and it is just as nice to see them again!
 
So cute! together in corrdinating costumes.

Five days without my kids was starting to weigh on me, and I think Alex could tell I was spending more time missing them than I was enjoying the time away.
After 4 days away I was ready to be back with my girls, so I get it.

My mom had gotten a connecting room, which the kids LOVED. Landon has declared that Nana must always be “through the door” on all future trips.
I love it.
 
Brilliant update! Love the halloween costumes and the Ty wedding made me laugh and wonder who ended up with Mickey and the gang :confused3 Priceless childhood memories made right there :lovestruc
Those rooms look beautiful and I've a sneaking suspicion that your mum couldn't wait to see you just as much as you couldn't wait to see Landon and Evie :goodvibes
 
What a great first part of your Disney trip!!! Minnesota sounded great. Now, for part 2 of Disney and I can't wait to hear all about it!!!

How awesome to finally take a flight without kids!!! That's such a treat when you have little ones!!!

The very first time I ever flew on a plane I was 25 and had to take 3 connections (the last being an international leg) with a 3 year old, a 6 month old, and a dog. Literally, every flight since has felt easy. :rotfl2: But this one to and from Minnesota? I felt like it was going too easy!



Our "please-send-me"s were: peanut butter, homeschool books, spices like curry and such, and dvds.

Peanut butter is a necessity overseas! Even in the cities I live in, American peanut butter is vastly different than European's. (Theirs is more nut butters.) Thankfully, our base's grocery store carries them!
However, I do make my mom send my kids workbooks a few times a year!



And now you're making me nervous for when we fly with JP next month.

It won't be bad. Kids just want to be entertained. It's no worse than keeping them occupied at home; I have just always wanted to be one those people that could relax and do something mindless and entertaining on a plane.



There's nothing like a kid-free nap.

Before kids, I never napped. Now, my day is made when the kids are out and I can doze on the couch!


This is too funny. Danielle's roommate for DCP is from Minnesota. It should be interesting to put her southern accent and her roommate's Minnesotan accent together.

Oh, that will be funny to hear. Talk about two vastly different accents. :rotfl:



I've been thinking about doing Goodreads. I belong to a local book club and several of the members use it.

I love my goodreads. It helps me keep track of what I've read (so I don't pick something out of the library, start reading it, and go, "Wait, this sounds familiar." Been there, done that...) and let's me have a running list of what I want to read. Occasionally, I'll pull up my library account and my To-Read shelf and start requesting books I've been meaning to read for a while. It also has articles that let me know what books are being released soon so I can see if a favorite author has something new.
 
I love that we can follow each other's travels AND books! Now to find that book we kept seeing in the Underground...

:rotfl2: Yes! Hopefully it'll be good!


My dilemma exactly. Theoretically I want to try new places, but AKL just feels so wonderful!

AKL is hard to resist! The only thing going against it is their yellow bathroom lights. :rotfl:(Now I'm doubting myself...this was a thing in one of your TRs right?! Or am I mistaken? Oh dear, hopefully you can relate to weird lighting regardless.)


Wow the rooms look so nice!

The refurb really raised the bar for Shades. I was very impressed.



So precious, I love their costumes!!

Landon kept walking around going, "Ice is my life!" He takes his character roles very seriously.
While Evie kept asking Alex and I why we weren't wearing Frozen outfits....I'm slightly scared to see if Disney bounding is still a thing when she's a teenager what she'll make us all wear to the parks. :rotfl:



I love the internet and the way it connects people! It's so cool that you found such awesome connections in real life and that your whole family is enjoying it all together.

On this last trip, Landon's finally reached an age where he realized I have "internet friends" because he asked several times, "Are we meeting up with any more of your Disney group friends?"



If I had to move to another country this is the food I would miss the most.

I can 100% back this up. Yes, Chick Fil A is the most missed food over here. :rotfl: Everyone misses it. There's sort of a running joke within the spouse community that basically says all we want to do on trips back to the states is eat Chick Fil A and go to Target.



My cousin has a girl named Arwen and a woman I graduated high school with has a daughter named Eowyn. Both are so pretty but definitely stand out for anyone who is a LOTR fan!

Oh wow! I genuinely thought when my brother announced Eowyn's name I would hear it once, maybe twice in my life again. I'm starting to learn it might be more common than I first thought.
 
I'm slightly scared to see if Disney bounding is still a thing when she's a teenager what she'll make us all wear to the parks.
Oh man I hope she plans all these amazing family outfits for you guys!!

On this last trip, Landon's finally reached an age where he realized I have "internet friends" because he asked several times, "Are we meeting up with any more of your Disney group friends?"
Okay so how does the whole internet stranger danger conversation work these days when some internet strangers actually turn out to be amazing??

There's sort of a running joke within the spouse community that basically says all we want to do on trips back to the states is eat Chick Fil A and go to Target.
:rotfl:

Oh wow! I genuinely thought when my brother announced Eowyn's name I would hear it once, maybe twice in my life again. I'm starting to learn it might be more common than I first thought.
I feel bad for Eowyn's when they have to introduce themselves or someone else tries to do roll call or something. Unless you know the source material it's not an easy name to pronounce 😂
 

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