Day three February 5th

February 5 – As part of the mousesavers rate, we got free breakfast for two. This means a free bagel and coffee or you can upgrade to the buffet for $6 each. The kids were 3.99 so against my better judgement, we did it. We should've stuck to the bagels and let Bob pay the $8 for the buffet. It was awful – my kids hated the syrup and wouldn't even eat the Mickey waffles!!

There isn't one thing good that I could say about the breakfast and it was a big waste of $20 because even Bob wasn't full when we left and that is unusal for him!! We went to Downtown Disney to pick up our tickets for the week. We went down on the homeschool plan and our tickets couldn't be added to our room so we could choose when and where we wanted to get them. I chose the day before our room reservations because we got the water parks and more option so we went to Typhoon Lagoon for the first time ever! Can I say it was AWESOME!!! We had so much fun!!

I am not a big water person, thanks to some bad experiences as a kid and of course, the first waterslide we choose, is the kind I HATE!! Gang Plank Falls – a family waterslide so we all fit in the tube but the water comes down on top of your head!!! That's the part I hate the most!! After that we did Keelhaul Falls and Mayday Falls and then walked forever (I highly recommend watershoes – our feet were so sore from walking on that rough concrete!!) to the storm slides. First we went the wrong way and then we ended up at the bottom of them so we had to walk all the way back up again. Andy wasn't too sure about this one (it's a body slide, no tube) but I told him he had no choice because there was no way that I was walking back down. It was the only way out!!  He went before me and when I got down there, he said “Let's go again!!” Again, my answer was, I'm not walking back up there lol!! So we decided to take a ride on the lazy river or Castaway Creek as it's known. That was awesome. There were literally no crowds at all so we had the river to ourselves, it seemed. The boys took turns being in tubes and just swimming. They were so good to me, making sure to push my tube away from any water that was running into the creek (that was no heated water coming out of the hoses)!! I felt like a real princess with all of that attention :) When we made it back to the start, we headed over to Shark Reef. We were going to swim with the sharks and sting rays but the feel of that 60 fresh water deterred us!! I do regret it a bit but even the 80 air temp. couldn't get me into that cold water!! We went under and watched the swimmers from below – it was so cool to see all the different fish and the sting rays are incredible!! I didn't mention this before but Andy is always very apprehensive to try a new ride (or slide in this case). We made our way over to the Crush-n-Gusher water coasters. These tubes are for 2 or 3 people and you have to carry them up many flights of stairs. I could've stayed at this ride all day except for the fact that my princess status was now gone and I had to carry said tubes up all these stairs. Since there are 4 of us, we always needed 2 tubes and they are not small tubes!! The boys weren't much help, although they tried to be. I did it 3 times and let them go with a 3 seater once. Again, we got to the top and Andy was my partner, he didn't want to do it. So we stood there aside and let others go ahead of us. I finally told him that he had to try it just once. The CM's told him that he would love it and they weren't wrong!! We did the Pineapple Plunger on our first trip and Banana Blaster on our next two. When they went back up, they did Coconut Crusher because Banana Blaster is only for 2 riders (it's the fastest of the 3!!). After we were done with the slides, we walked in the sandy white beach sand for a bit and then went to get our stuff. The boys did some pin trading and one of the CM's challenged Austin to a game of checkers. Andy and daddy were off in the changing room at the time.

When they came back, Austin wanted to finish his game so Andy and I headed up front to take some pictures. I purchased an underwater disposable camera from Amazon for a little over $7 and we used that on all the rides. We still have photos left on it so they aren't going to be developed for a little bit but I can't wait to see what kind of pictures we get from that day!!

After we went back to the hotel and changed, we headed over to The Boardwalk for lunch and to see the Syracuse game at the ESPN Club. The game was being shown on one of the outside TV's so we got lunch at the little hot dog stand and ate outside in the warm weather at half time. After the game, we did a little browsing in the gift shops and then headed back to the car. It was a bit drizzly out at this point but not bad.

I love these Surrey bikes and we will be back before the week is over to finally rent one!!  This year's trip is gong to be all about firsts!!  We aren't going to skip things that we have never done before.

The flowers are always so beautiful, no matter which resort or park you go to!!

We had some discount coupons for an outlet store so we drove down to that and wasted our time – it was a hole in the wall!! They claimed it was a Disney outlet but even though it had Disney items in it, it also had SpongeBob and the like and most of it looked fake. So we left there and decided to try the Cici's pizza with the coupon that they gave us at the hotel for that. Second time in the same day that I didn't go with my gut instincts and run away!! We had a coupon for a free buffet if you buy 2 drinks and a buffet. The adult buffet was $5.99 and the kids was $3.99. They gave us one free adult buffet and one free kids buffet but the four drinks that we had to buy cost us $9.96!!!! The pizza was GROSS, the soda was gross!! I decided to try the iced tea so I put a little in the cup to taste it and all I could smell was sulfur!!! YUCK!! So another $22 down the drain and again, nobody (but Andy) was full when we left. Back to the hotel because tomorrow we get to check in at All Star Sports!!!

The beginning of my trip reports/February THIRD

I have been trying to write up my trip reports and did really well right when we got home but have not done so well since. I figured that I could at least get the first few up. I hope it's okay to do them this way instead of on the group page....

Driving South – we woke up to snow showers but nothing we couldn't handle. The boys got all their travel entertainment in the car and we were on our way!!Were on the thruway by about 7 and despite some yucky weather on I-81, we made awesome time through both NY and PA!! The sun started to come up and the falling snow stopped before we got to Binghamton.

The mountains in PA are so pretty - it's not a bad ride as long as the skies are clear and the wind isn't blowing!!

We were eating lunch in Maryland by 12:30!! I brought lunchmeat and pb&J from home along with sodas and chips so our lunch was free!! We try not to spend anymore than we have to on the trips down and back to make up for the rest of the time in between lol!! We took the risk of driving through DC and the beltways and sailed through without a hitch - those traveling north weren't so fortunate though.. It was getting to be dinner time when we hit North Carolina and we had decided we wanted to eat at Wendy's. One of my fellow co-op moms had told me how awesome their new fries are and I wanted to try them. I have to say that I was not disappointed!! We have tried to stop the McDonald's habit and wanted to avoid it as much as possible on this trip. Andy is a fan of Mickey-D's so I wasn't sure how well this would go over!! Of course, because we were looking for a Wendy's, there weren't any until mile marker 105, I believe!! We waited it out and finally got there. It was in a gas station with a Subway and a huge convenience store and that truck in the photo below.

After we ate, we continued on for another 125 miles or so until we stopped at a Best Western in SC at mile marker 181 – I don't recommend it as a Mickey's Mile Marker!! We got a good price by picking up the book at the Welcome Center, I think we paid $54. The room was nice but their staff was less than friendly and not readily available. THey did have free wifi in the room. The deluxe breakfast that they advertised was less than we hoped for (and we don't hope for much). They had cereal but no milk, lukewarm “grits”, and coffee that looked like amber colored water. The plus side was, we were in SC and there were palm trees outside our window!! Andy described the scene as paradise lol!!

We went from needing heavy sweatshirts, to short sleeves by afternoon on day 1!!
We got up early on the second day and drove the rest of the way through SC and all of GA without stopping – we were at the Florida Welcome Center having free orange juice by 11!! We continued on to our usual stop in St. Augustine for lunch at Sabaro's and a visit to the Disney outlet! I totally forgot to bring our ponchos with us and I hate them anyway. They had a bunch of them in the outlet that were actual jackets but they fold up inside of themselves and have a handle - $7.95 each, down from around $25 or 30, I believe. We grabbed 4 of them and some frames for $1.99 and 3.99 (I always buy last year's frames there, the one that was 1.99 was $19.99!! Andy got some legos of park rides (9.99 down from 19.99) and Austin decided to wait til we get to Downtown Disney to spend any of his money.

                                       We always get a photo beside this fountain at the outlet!

We left the outlet to continue our trek south. We finally arrived in Orlando to 83 degrees!! I booked the mousesavers rate at the Best Western in Downtown Disney. It was a great room!! Queen sized beds, a balcony, fridge, coffeemaker, and a nice big bathroom area!

 There is nothing like the feeling we get when we finally see this sign for the first time!!!We went over to Downtown Disney to get it in our system, do a little pin trading, and just take it all in. I am so glad that I got a pin deal off ebay – the boys had the best time trading on this trip!! They got a lot of them that they wanted for a simple trade, instead of $8 - $12 each!! The pin traders store in DD had the board open (the only time we were there for the whole trip that it was open while we were there!!) They each traded for 2 that they wanted and we moved on. For those of you that don't know, you can go in as a family and trade 2 pins or you can go in individually and trade 2 pins each. To me, that was strange but whatever.. We then headed to Walmart to get our snacks for the week, grabbed subs at Subway and brought them back to the room to eat them on the balcony. After dinner we went down to the pool. The water was very warm but it was a cloud free night and 83 degrees dropped pretty quickly so I chickened out and only put my feet in. It was a cold walk back to the room for those that were wet lol!! We went back to the room to try and get to sleep a little early but ended up watching the must dos channel til after 11!!! Why does that channel never get old?

One of my most favorite sights is the Mickey topiary and all of these amazing flower pots!!  I love this fountain so very much!!! I even did a photopass picture here where I got Tinkerbell's wings!!!

We found this familiar sight in a new place this year - we assume because they are remodeling Pooh's corner

WOODY!!! How cool is a larger than life Woody made out of legos? We discovered him in the make shift lego store while the real store gets remodeled. I could not stand being in this store - the smell of that plastic top or whatever it is was nauseating to me!!!

The boys had to pose with this pirate - when I said we have lots of pictures of you with him, Andy said - not one from Twenty Eleven!!!

Is unstale a word??

Being that I am a stay at home mom, I try to be as frugal as I possibly can.  Some may call it cheap and if that's what they want to call it, fine - it doesn't bother me.  I am smart with my money and being so allows us to live on one income very comfortably (and we spend a week in Disney each year ;)  So today when it was lunch time and the boys wanted to open a new bag of chips, I decided to see what was open already.  They have a bad habit of opening things and putting them away without closing them properly.

I found 3 opened bags of pretzels and one nearly empty bag of cheese puff things.  2 of the bags of pretzels were super stale.  I have a mind to force them to eat them since they are the reason they are stale in the first place.  All it would take is to ask for a little help until they get the "closed tight" thing down.  Instead of doing that though, I decided to try something that I had read in one of the frugal blogs I read - rebaking them.  I took a couple handfuls, put them on a microwave safe plate and hit the 30 second button.  That wasn't enough so I hit it again, 3 more times actually.  After 2 full minutes in the microwave, we all tried them and agreed, they were perfect once again!!  I read you can do this in the oven on a cookie sheet at 375 for 20 - 30 minutes as well.  It took 4 plates for all the pretzels we had but now we have a ziplock bag full of fresh pretzels and not a garbage full of wasted food!  I doubt the word unstale is in the dictionary but we made these snacks unstale again. 

I think that maybe some of these packages that are harder to keep closed will automatically go into a ziplock upon opening from now on but it's good to know there is a way to save them too!!

Thomas Bagel thins

I was given a free coupon to try Bagel Thins by Thomas'.  My store only had the plain ones, I was hoping for the Cinnamon Raisin though.  My family loves it when I make bagel pizzas.  I usually make them on Thomas' mini bagels but I thought it would be easier to make them on these since there is a bit more surface area to work with.  I needed lunch for 4 boys (2 little, 1 overgrown).  I made 3 of the bagels into pizzas, and then 3 more at their request.  The next day, there were 2 bagels left and when I asked what they wanted for lunch - bagel pizzas rang loud and clear!!  So in 2 days, they are gone.  These "pizzas" are so easy to make - I had leftover sauce from spaghetti, added some frozen peppers and onions that I had in the freezer for the overgrown boy, topped them all with mozzerella cheese, and baked in a 400 degree oven for 12 - 15 minutes (I used my toaster oven). Delicious was the response from everyone!!  I have a couple of $1 off coupons, if you would like one, let me know -first come, first serve with them!!

I live for deals!!

The link below is to a site called living social, a site with daily deals - todays deal is great if you shop on amazon at all (which I do all the time lately - I even just bought Ragu Sauce there!!)  Anyway, you can buy a $20 gift card for $10, today only.  (I am only sorry that it's one per customer) You can sign up on amazon for 3 months of free shipping by signing up to be an amazon mom too. 

Gift card link
https://livingsocial.com/deals/21336?ref=conf-jp&rpi=391134

Amazon mom link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/mom/signup/welcome

Today was an icy day - I love it when the ice forms on the windows in pretty pattern.  I don't love it, however, when we have to go out in it.  We had our homeschool co-op planning meeting for our second session.  It doesn't start until March but we like to get things planned out.  Our leader is wonderful - she gets us going and keeps us on track.  We have a lot of fun classes and activities planned for the spring session and I'm sure the kids will love it!

 

These cold, icy days are making me very excited about our annual Florida trip in just a few short weeks.  We take the boys down to visit grandma and grandpa and it's my excuse to spend a few days at Disney.  The boys have fallen as much in love with Disney as I.  It is the one week of the year that there are no outside distractions - no phones, no school (although the learning is priceless while we're there), no church responsibilities (we love what we do but it is nice to have a little break), no telemarketers, etc etc etc.  For one short week, the world stops spinning and we are in our happy place.  We visit with characters, roam the 11 countries of EPCOT, go on safari in Africa, spend a little time in Asia, eat yummy food, swim, walk a million miles, and just spend time together!!!  Grandma and Grandpa usually spend a day with us and this year, Uncle Tom might come down while we're there too!!  The photo above was taken last year on Primevil Whirl at Animal Kingdom - the boys don't know it yet but it will be closed this year for refurbishment.  This is one of our most favorite rides so that will be disappointing but everything else we love will be open so we can't complain, too much ;)

Fun in the sun???

 I guess the saying should be fun in the snow but it's too cold, in my opinion, to have fun out there today!! When I opened the window to take these photos, a strong wind was blowing, snow was falling down and blowing up, and it was just plain bitter out there!!  Aussie has been wanting to learn to ride the snowmobile on his own - so today was the day.  I started crying when I saw him out there.  HIs big brother used to do the same thing - around and around the house for hours on end.  He didn't care that he didn't go anywhere - he was driving all by himself!!  Aussie used to watch him out the window and say "there he goes again!!"  Now it's his turn to be out there and he is beaming with joy!!  I am glad that since we have to deal with all this cold, white stuff, the kids can enjoy it.  I am longing for days of flip flops and shorts but it's a long time off (except for our little tropical break to my paradise next month!!)     

Aussie on trip 502 around the house and field on my MXZ440

 Daddy is doing the best he can to keep the little guy happy since he's not big enough to ride alone, he is in his glory being pulled behind on the sled!!

                                          Gizmo says - let me in - it's too cold out here for me!!

                                         One more shot of my big boy!!