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

Wow! I couldn't imagine living out of a caravan. I've watched a few documentaries and read a few blogs about people building their own home and living in a similar place until it was finished, and I just can't fathom it. I love my family, but I love them even more when I can shoo them into another room. :rotfl2:
:rotfl: I’ve forgiven them now,just about, almost 40 years later (36 but who's counting).:rotfl:
We just bought a minivan and our goal for our time in England is to road trip around the U.K. as much as possible. I'm really curious to see if this is easier or harder than flying to a destination.
Sounds like fun :)
 
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Welcome, Mouseketeers!

YAY, I'm so glad this was at the top of the page, I'm for sure joining in!

the most consistent and reliable way to overcome the post-trip blues is to dive into a trip report.

Absolutely!

Alex and I keep chasing her down with the Disney bug and waving it in her face, but so far she hasn’t been bit.

Come on, Evie!! It's so amazing!

It was going to be, by far, the longest and most extensive vacation we had ever taken!

I cannot wait to read all about it!

When I saw what gate we would be flying out of, I got my hopes up that we might get a Lufthansa plane. Sometimes, United runs through them and their planes are known to be really nice. But alas, once at our gate we saw we would be on the lone United plane that was nestled on both sides by no less than six Lufthansa planes.

Oooh Lufthansa is amazing. When I flew to Germany I got a United plane and the seats were so uncomfortable, and the food was horrible - like still frozen horrible. I got a Lufthansa plane on the way home and it was AMAZING. Super comfortable seats with free movies, and food that tasted homemade and was served on real plates. There was even a warm snack later! Anyway, it was the best flight experience.

However, I'm glad that your United experience was good! Aside from Alex's sickness. Migraines are just miserable, can't imagine flying with one.

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Look at those little beach babes! Evie looks in her element.
 
I certainly understand how that goes. Not to mention, you are gearing up for another Disney trip next month which means there's probably lots of other things that need to get squared away beforehand.

Indeed I do!! I have some of my Intro written for my next PTR/TR and I'll be sharing some of what my preps have been. But, I'm not sure if you saw on my TR, I got another (additional) job which will take up even more time now. :(
 
No way!! That's wild! I love reading about Kristy's stories in her TRs. And her DS seems like a super cool kid. I bet you had a great meet, despite being so tired.

It was a really fun meet; I just wish I hadn't been so tired at the time! I usually have a pretty good memory, but I don't remember anything we talked about! It all just slipped through the sleep-deprivation fog. :rotfl:



Oh man, the joys of international travel with small kids!!! I keep thinking since the kids have passports for the next few years we should try taking them to Europe but you've sure got me rethinking that. I get migraines sometimes, and I can't even imagine poor Alex having to deal with that on such a long travel day. What a bummer.

It's random enough to run into a DISer unplanned while in the parks. At a Chick-Fil-A in Florida not even to Disney yet was SO CRAZY!!! It made me smile reading about that. It was so awesome to meet you!! Hopefully one of these days our trips line up and we can spend some time together in the parks!!

I can definitely understand your hesitation about traveling to Europe with kids, but if you do decide to there are more kid-friendly places than not. London, especially, is really great for families. And Germans love kids! There's playgrounds attached to most restaurants and servers always give the kids treat at the end of meals.
If you can survive the plane trip, it's totally worth it. And if you stop through England in the next four years, you'd have someone local to help with anything you might need...:rolleyes1:rotfl:

Maybe one day our trips will overlap! I'm beyond ready for my kids to get old enough to take to Universal!



So excited to have found your trip report! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks so much for following along!
 


Oooh Lufthansa is amazing. When I flew to Germany I got a United plane and the seats were so uncomfortable, and the food was horrible - like still frozen horrible. I got a Lufthansa plane on the way home and it was AMAZING. Super comfortable seats with free movies, and food that tasted homemade and was served on real plates. There was even a warm snack later! Anyway, it was the best flight experience.

Where I lived, people got soooo excited if their flights were booked through Lufthansa. I've heard nothing but amazing things about them! They are also amazing with handling pets; their cargo is temperature controlled for them! When we move back, I would consider driving to Germany with my dog and flying back stateside with them just because their reputation is so great.



Look at those little beach babes! Evie looks in her element.

Evie was pretty excited to pick her hat and sunglasses for the beach!


Indeed I do!! I have some of my Intro written for my next PTR/TR and I'll be sharing some of what my preps have been. But, I'm not sure if you saw on my TR, I got another (additional) job which will take up even more time now. :(

I did see that. You must be overloaded right now! You certainly need another Disney trip to rest and breakaway from real life for a bit.
 
June 1st, 2019 Part 1:

The beginning of my Disney vacation began in a slightly unorthodox way.

Without the kids.


Yes, indeed. Alex and I were headed down to Orlando to bask in our childless millennial inner selves.

Bring on the pretzels…



In actuality, part of our trip back to the states involved going up to Minnesota to visit my sister in-law, who had just had a baby. Prices for plane tickets were a lot cheaper from Orlando, so Alex convinced me to take a little getaway from the kids and spend a day at Disney before our side trip.

I struggled with leaving the kids for a total of five days. This would be the first time I would be away from them for more than an overnight trip, and the stress manifested in a 3 a.m. wake up call.

The morning of the trip, I tried to get myself to doze until 5:30 but eventually gave up the fight and got up to go for a run. The Florida humidity was atrocious this morning, though, and I only made it a mile before I called it quits and headed back home.


When I got back inside, my mom was awake and told me she overheard Evie coughing. At some point earlier in the week, she had gotten my cold.

Evie with a cold is never a good thing.

She only catches one about once a year, but whenever she does it always turns into croup.


I listened by her bedroom door for a few minutes and sure enough, I heard the telltale barking cough.

:sad2:

I went and woke Alex to get his opinion on what we should do. As we saw it, there were two options. Let my mom monitor her and make a judgement call if it got worse or go ahead and take her to the emergency room and get her medicated before we left.

Ultimately, I didn’t want to put that kind of stress on my mom, so I made the call to get her the steroids she’d need now. With any luck, the medicine would open her airways and allow her to recover completely before she got to Disney.



Starting off our Disney vacation with a trip to the emergency room:

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Needless to say, I was feeling quite a bit of Mom-guilt that morning. Not only was I leaving my baby, I was leaving her while she was sick! What kind of thoughtless monster does that?!

I ruminated over the implications for hours.

She’s going to wake up and want her mom and I WOULDN’T BE THERE!

She’s going to hate me!

I’m a selfish mother!

What kind of evil person picks Disney over their child?!



My mom talked me down from the ledge about fifty times before she finally looked at me and asked, “Aside from the coughing, has she been acting any differently?”

“Well, no.”

“Has she had a fever or any other symptoms?”

“No.”

“Has she been sleeping through the night? Eating like normal?”

“Erm, yes.”

“Then would staying here change her behavior in any way?”

“I guess not.”

“Then GO.”



Still, I hesitated. After Evie returned from the doctor (medicine, indeed, distributed) she immediately wanted to start playing the game Landon was in the middle of and kept brushing off my attempts to cuddle with her.

“Evie, can Mom have a hug?”

“Okay….now let me go so I can go play!”

“Are you sure?”

Mommmmm.”

She could have cared less if I were in the room. By this point in her life, injecting medicine for a barking cough was just routine for her. This was the fourth time it had occurred; Evie probably thinks this sort of thing is part of having a cold.

In other words, she wasn’t freaking out.

That was all me.



After watching the two kids play for almost half an hour, my mom turned to Alex and said, “Get her out of here before she makes me go crazy.”

Love you too, Mom.



Alex loaded our belongings in the rental car we had picked up the day before:

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And somehow he got me away from Landon and Evie with lots of promises to call and text should Evie worsen.



Much later than we normally leave, the two of us were officially on the road!

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The drive down was uneventful. We stopped in my old college town, Tallahassee, for lunch and gas. It might have been the Dayquil I was still taking to nurse the remnants of my cold, but I was feeling quite nostalgic during our pit stop. It was strange being back in the town I lived in ten years prior, passing shops I used to visit when Alex and I first began dating.

Ten years younger me never in a million years would have dreamed that I would be passing through those same streets (from our home in Europe!) with the guy I was at the time dating.

Places stay the same, it’s the people that change…




Lunch was Alex’s favorite fast food chain in America:

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Which I was perfectly all right with. I love deli sandwiches but had actually given them up a year ago. My nutrition and food intake had changed and evolved a lot in the last year, and I only mention this because it plays a role in later Disney updates. But for this trip, I was allowing myself this splurge and therefore thoroughly enjoyed our lunch.


Then, because I had been awake since three, I was able to buy a specialty coffee drink at the gas station:

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We have the standard vanilla and coffee flavored bottles on base in Germany, but we definitely didn’t have any of these new and exciting flavors. It was a real treat for me to browse the offerings and pick a new flavor to try.

(This one was really sweet but very good!)



There was a little bit of traffic on I-75 due to an accident, but I napped through the worst of it, and Alex passed the time listening to an audiobook. Everybody won.


Eventually, we were approaching the iconic arches. Alex looked over at me and raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you going to take a photo?”

“Oh, right!”

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It had been so long since I was at Disney that I was out of practice!

Photos, Alicia.

Photos of everything!



Recovered from my rookie mistake, Alex had to again drive the Disney Facts 101 into my head.

“You need to grab a MagicBand out of the bag.”

“What? Oh yeah! Our bands!”

Some fumbling around in the backpack and finally I emerged with the new icon for a Disney vacation:

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We pulled up to the gate of our resort later than I had planned but still pretty reasonable:

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It had been so long since I had stayed on Disney property, that everything felt a little unusual. We were back.

We were home!

I saw this bumper sticker and thought it very fitting for our resort of choice:

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“I want that sticker, Alex!”

“Sure. Now how about you take a picture of our hotel before I drive past and you get mad that you missed it?”

“You know me so well.”

“Seven years of marriage will do that.”


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Ahhh, Animal Kingdom Lodge. How I missed you!


Back when Alex convinced me to stay at Disney for two nights, I knew we needed to commemorate the occasion with a deluxe stay. Fortunately for me, Alex was accommodating and willing to stay at one of my favorite places. I wanted these few days to evoke a sense of calm and relaxation (something that cannot be reached when vacationing with young children) and the resort that I feel most at peace at is Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Sitting out on a balcony with a cup of coffee and a giraffe in your peripherals will do that to a person.


So here we were: home.




Up Next…You Guys Must Not Have Played Nicely
 
Ultimately, I didn’t want to put that kind of stress on my mom, so I made the call to get her the steroids she’d need now. With any luck, the medicine would open her airways and allow her to recover completely before she got to Disney.



Starting off our Disney vacation with a trip to the emergency room:

Poor girl! But Im sure she was in great hands with your mom!

“Then would staying here change her behavior in any way?”

“I guess not.”

“Then
GO.”

Oh some motherly tough love!


Great music choice!!

Ahhh, Animal Kingdom Lodge. How I missed you!

So lucky, AKL is the best!
 


Ahhh you've arrived! I was a wee bit worried there when I saw that 1st stop was the ER but I'm glad you made it. Probably bodes well for Evie to get sorted before her Disney adventure begins. How is it possible to look so cute in a face mask :confused3
I laughed when your mum was asking you all the questions as she sounds just like me :rotfl: She knew you needed some time away and if anything was worrying her about Evie I'm sure she'd have said so. Granny's worry just as much as mums when it comes to grandkids :)
Great photo of the welcome arch especially since you needed Alex's prompt:thumbsup2
Love the bumper sticker-did you buy it?
I've never stayed at AKL but I'm looking forward to seeing around through your eyes. Hoping your room had a great view of the savannah :)
Love George Ezra's music btw :goodvibes
 
Yes, indeed. Alex and I were headed down to Orlando to bask in our childless millennial inner selves.

Bring on the pretzels…

:rotfl:
Nathan and I purchased "Childless Millenials" t-shirts for our upcoming trip. It's nice that some Etsy shops/small businesses have been reaping the profits of that lady's crazy meltdown!

Prices for plane tickets were a lot cheaper from Orlando, so Alex convinced me to take a little getaway from the kids and spend a day at Disney before our side trip.

#Disneymath
Extra Disney time is always the right choice. I think it's wonderful that you and Alex got some time there together before spending the majority of the time there with the kids.

Evie with a cold is never a good thing.

She only catches one about once a year, but whenever she does it always turns into croup.


I listened by her bedroom door for a few minutes and sure enough, I heard the telltale barking cough.

Uh oh! Poor Evie! My little niece is 22 months and is just getting over the croup, and it's been lousy business. I hope she recovered quickly without too much stress on her or the rest of you.

“Then would staying here change her behavior in any way?”

“I guess not.”

“Then
GO.”

:goodvibes Yes!! Your mom is awesome. Your relationship reminds me of the one I have with my mom. Glad she could talk you off the ledge, even if you were still a bit stressed with leaving her.

After watching the two kids play for almost half an hour, my mom turned to Alex and said, “Get her out of here before she makes me go crazy.”

Love you too, Mom.

:rotfl:

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We have the standard vanilla and coffee flavored bottles on base in Germany, but we definitely didn’t have any of these new and exciting flavors. It was a real treat for me to browse the offerings and pick a new flavor to try.

Ooh, yum! I'll have to remember this. Nathan loves these drinks as a treat once in a while, or when he's driving and is feeling a little tired. I'll have to make a note to tell him to look for the new flavours to try when we're on our trip. We have a few in Canada, but I haven't noticed whether we have these new ones or not.

I saw this bumper sticker and thought it very fitting for our resort of choice:
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“I want that sticker, Alex!”

“Sure. Now how about you take a picture of our hotel before I drive past and you get mad that you missed it?”

“You know me so well.”

:rotfl:
Also, I want that sticker, too!! :lovestruc
 
What a start! I could feel your pain leaving your daughter but I'm glad you were able to tear yourself away. With all your life craziness, how great you could spend 2 days with your DH at your happy place. We've visited AKL but never stayed there. Looking forward to hearing about your time there!
 
What a crazy start to your trip! I feel your pain at leaving Evie (and Landon, too), but I'm glad you had your mom there to reassure you that it would be okay. I hope everything went well during your time away!

I love that Alex kept reminding you to take pictures! I'm sure you were distracted but how nice for you (and us!) that you have all the important photos. What a great guy!

Oh, I love Animal Kingdom Lodge, too! I stayed there in 2012 and LOVED the resort. I loved the lobby, I loved the animals, I loved the restaurants, I loved the pool... I hope to stay there again sometime!
 
Poor Evie! Too funny though that she was like Mom I'm fine, let me play! lol Definitely a good call on getting her all situated with medicine before heading out though, I'm sure that alleviated a lot of the stress and worry for you guys!
 
How stressful for Evie to wake up sick when you're supposed to be leaving! I'm glad you went (even if your mom had to push you out of the house) because us moms need breaks!
 
Ugh, so sorry that Evie got sick right at the beginning of your trip. A few years ago, we had plans whereby each of the sets of grandparents would take one of the girls (my parents are separated, thus 3 sets of grands) and Hubby and I would have 48 kid free hours. The day they were going to come get them, C started vomiting. I sat there crying on the playroom floor because I desperately needed the weekend off but didn't want to be the bad mom who sent her sick kid to the grandparents. Eventually, everyone talked me into keeping things as scheduled (It's not like we haven't taken care of sick kids before. We're only a few minutes away if it gets any worse. She'll appreciate the one-on-one attention) but it was a really tough choice. I hope you were able to put it out of your mind once you were properly in the Disney bubble.

Entirely unrelated, I love the tiny snapshots of your road trip playlist as seen by the dashboard photos! I'll still listen to the full Some Nights album when I'm in a certain kind of mood. Plus, Shotgun isn't particularly popular in the states, but I love George Ezra. Fun life story: the crowd portions of this video were filmed at a concert I attended in Philly, so theoretically Hubby and I are two of the blurred people to the right when he's singing on stage.
 
Oh boy your travel adventures did not sound fun! I'm so sorry Alex got sick on the flight :( But after a long day- you made it!

That is way too cool that you spotted Kristy at CFA of all places!

Oh no I'm sorry Evie got sick before your left :(

But yay you made it on property!
 
Starting off our Disney vacation with a trip to the emergency room:
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My mom talked me down from the ledge about fifty times before she finally looked at me and asked, “Aside from the coughing, has she been acting any differently?”

“Well, no.”

“Has she had a fever or any other symptoms?”

“No.”

“Has she been sleeping through the night? Eating like normal?”

“Erm, yes.”

“Then would staying here change her behavior in any way?”

“I guess not.”

“Then
GO.”
A very good mom! And probably right. I know how hard it to leave them when they are sick. But I am sure they were in good hands with your mom.

After watching the two kids play for almost half an hour, my mom turned to Alex and said, “Get her out of here before she makes me go crazy.”

Love you too, Mom
Ha! I love. I am glad you went! I know you were saying the last couple times you tried to get away, something happened.

Eventually, we were approaching the iconic arches. Alex looked over at me and raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you going to take a photo?”

“Oh, right!”
Ha! You trained him well!
 
The barking cough, I remember well! Both my kids would always get this with colds and had to be on steroids. It is hard to leave, I’m glad your mom convinced you to go!

AKL is such a beautiful resort, I also feel calm and at peace there! The balcony is my favorite spot at this resort, especially with a savanna view!
 
Thanks @TheOneWithTheTriplets fir the blast of George Ezra this morning. Danced round the kitchen while making breakfast:) Looked like an amazing concert.

It was an incredible concert. He ended his set with Shotgun and, when we were all cheering waiting for the encore, a bunch of crew came out and started setting up cameras. It quieted down because everyone was confused, but then he came and asked if could do that song again and would we like to be in an upcoming video. Everyone lost their freaking minds. It was so good darn cool!!!
 
I struggled with leaving the kids for a total of five days. This would be the first time I would be away from them for more than an overnight trip, and the stress manifested in a 3 a.m. wake up call.

That is a big step when you're not use to being away from you kids.


Starting off our Disney vacation with a trip to the emergency room:
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Poor Evie, but she looks like she's handling it pretty good.

My mom talked me down from the ledge about fifty times before she finally looked at me and asked, “Aside from the coughing, has she been acting any differently?”

Good job Mom. She was right.

In other words, she wasn’t freaking out.

That was all me.

I hard to see your kids growing up and not always needing you. She was telling you to go too in her own way.

Ten years younger me never in a million years would have dreamed that I would be passing through those same streets (from our home in Europe!) with the guy I was at the time dating.

It's amazing how fast time goes by.

“Aren’t you going to take a photo?”

You sure trained him right.

It had been so long since I had stayed on Disney property, that everything felt a little unusual. We were back.

We were home!

Yeah you're in the bubble.
 

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