document life now

Another project: Touring Cards

I'm a little over. the. top. about our Disney vacation. 

The last two weekends, Kiah and I have curled up on my bed with a bunch of printouts from Disney websites and spent time going through them to create the best plan for our family. By plan... I mean plan. We are sitting there deciding the order in which we will visit the attractions in the park.

I firmly believe the secret to having a successful Disney vacation -- and not waiting in line forever -- is to have a plan. This plan should utilize Fastpass to its fullest, put rides that get long lines first at the beginning of the day, and generally give us a purpose while we're in the parks. 

We will not be one of those families walking around, looking at a map, wondering where we should go next. 

So we made up a plan for each park we'll visit (8 in all) and I scribbled them on the back of scrap paper.

Because I like to have something to do on the weekends, I decided to digitally create index cards with our plans on them. I used some cards from Project Life to do this on Saturday morning, and I had fun choosing the cards and fonts and just playing with them.

I do a lot of things digitally that I never print, but since I decided to use Project Life for our Disney album, I bought some supplies to do some basic printing at home. I opened up Photoshop, put 2 cards on each 8.5x11 canvas, put some gorgeous white cardstock in my printer (orange peel texture from Bazzill) and hit print.

Then I got out my trimmer and trimmed them up. Watched Air Force One while trimming. Showed them to Dan. Found a ring to bind them.

Dan said, "What if they get wet?"

Yeah, what about that? It rains in Florida in the summer. Almost every day.

I'd dropped Kiah off at driver's ed early in the morning and we still had to pick her up and get some lunch. I used to work in the area and I seemed to remember that there was a Kinkos next to the sandwich shop in the area. 

I was wrong. It was a UPS store... but it was still there. And they did laminating.

Yes, I have lost my ever lovin' mind when it comes to planning this trip. Lamination sent me right over the edge.

Came home -- after lunch and a trip to a huge grocery store that was really fun -- and cut the lamination. (Side note: There's something calming about cutting lamination. Maybe it's because it's a mindless activity at work, but I really enjoy it.)

 

Punched a hole in those puppies. Put a red ring in it. Final result? Some really pretty touring cards. They make my little OCD heart happy.

some of my favorite Disney planning sites...

I am consumed by Disney planning.

I want to know where to be and when. I want to be prepared for the crowds and the weather. I want to get the best possible price on our rental car. There simply is not enough information available for me to devour.

I have several sites I really like to visit on my quest to find more. I thought I'd share them with you, in the event you, too, become a crazy obsessed planner.

Try not to be like me.

Unless you enjoy it. I do. And I won't apologize.

Anyway, first site:

 EasyWDW.com is one of the most sarcastic, yet informative sites out there. Dude makes me laugh and provides lots of photos and actual in-the-park information. In addition to almost daily reports from the parks, he has a crowd calendar featuring park hours and expected crowds. He'll tell you when to go to each park and why. There's some debate in the Disney community about which website is best for planning your trip, and I think Josh is winning. I don't know. I like him, and his reasoning makes sense. So I'm going with him for our trip.

Disboards.com has long been my social network for Disney. I've been a member for a dozen years, using the message boards to ask and answer questions for the 4 Disney trips we've taken since I joined. Well, five with this one. The Disboards gets a little cray-cray, as most message boards do at times, but it is a wealth of information if you can ignore the flames and trolls. I have learned so much about our resort, rental cars, even the right tickets for our family. And I found the perfect park bag through Disboards. One of my guilty pleasures is reading trip reports. Just people writing about their trips. I enjoy it so much, I have a pretrip report of my own going. You can read it here.

One last website I'm really enjoying: Orlando Informer. OI specializes in Universal Resort. We'll be journeying over to "the dark side" for the last five days of our trip, and I've found OI invaluable in planning for that portion of our trip. It is fee based, but the fee is nominal when I'm looking at the thousands we're paying for our trip. I've never quite understood people who pay four figures for a trip but balk at paying less than twenty bucks for a guidebook or access to a website loaded with information. If you're going to go, go all in. That's my philosophy.

There are other websites out there: Touringplans.com, Passporter.com, TourGuideMike.com. I've used them all. They all have good parts and some people love them. They're just not for me at this time in my Disney journey. 

And that sentence right there says it all. I'm on a Disney journey, people. I'm loving it.

 

 

entertainer photos

We saw SIX in their new theater. Really enjoyed the show. While there was a lot of stuff we'd seen before, there was an equal amount of new stuff, including Journey, Van Halen, Rick Springfield and Party Rock Anthem. Any show that sings Jessie's Girl gets my vote.

Michael Haygood. You sing so pretty.

Matt Gumm in the Clay Cooper show. So talented -- as a musician, vocalist and comedian. Really enjoyed him. 

One more from SIX. My family loves Jak. Dan even got Jak's signature concrete at Andy's. Jak gives us a wealth of family jokes. He's awesome.

random photos from Spring Break

Don't you hate it when you forget to save a blog post and it disappears?

One day we went to the Red Roof Outlets. Really, we did. I know there's nothing there, but there is a Crocs outlet I wanted to check for shoes for Brady.

We usually park behind the mall so we have to go up stairs to get to the stores. You may remember that I have a fear of heights. 

I really have a fear of stairs that have spaces between them. That's what they have at Red Roof.

So I climbed this very steep hill. I had to grab the grass in order to accomplish this. I was laughing my fool head off. Mykiah was yelling, "Stop Mom! I want to take a picture." I had momentum. I didn't stop.

Kiah settled for a photo of Ches going down the hill. It's not the same, but the story is pretty funny still.

My meal at Cantina Laredo. It was the first night of our trip, and everything came together perfectly. Excellent food, smooth margarita, being in Branson on the Landing, seeing my friend Jason again for the first time in nine months. Brady loves Cantina Laredo. Excellent vegetarian options.

The kids on the way home. Ches is holding a gigantic soccer ball. Kiah is holding a body pillow. Hayden the Dog is somewhere in the cargo area.

Driving an SUV is an adjustment. Note to self: always underpack. That way you can bring back all the stuff you buy during vacation. 

my Andy's frozen custard love affair

I sort of fell in love over Spring Break.

I don't know why we stopped at Andy's Frozen Custard, but I saw something on the menu that I decided to try.

I tend to want everything so it's always a surprise to me when I actually order something because I don't know what I'll choose until the words come out of my mouth.

Had no idea I'd order an Askinosie Woo Hoo concrete.

But I did. And I loved it.

Creamy vanilla custard. Niblets of bitter, dark chocolate.

The perfect combination of flavors.

I had three.

In three days.

I made my friend Rose go with us to Andy's on our final day. She lives in Branson and had never had Andy's. 

If nothing else, I hope I have changed that for the future. If I lived in Branson, I'm pretty sure it would be a Friday treat.

Every single Friday for the rest of my life.

lodging review: Grand Crowne Resorts

When we were looking at where to stay on our Spring Break trip, the first thing I did was ask if my parents could watch the dog. They could, but I really still wanted to take Hayden with us. We're going to have to leave him for over 2 weeks this summer (with my parents again) so I'd rather take him with us if we could.

I emailed the owners of the cabins we love at the Notch, and they did have availability. However, I kept looking, and found a timeshare owner on my favorite Branson message board that would "rent" his timeshare points to me for a very affordable price (significantly less than anywhere else we were considering).

I had a couple of options at Grand Crowne and ended up going with a 2 bedroom BC combination. Grand Crowne is comprised of sets of 3 1-bedroom lockoffs. For 1 bedrooms, you can rent either A, B, or C. For 2 bedrooms, you can go AB or BC. For 3 bedrooms, you get A, B, and C. (PS -- Dan told me to rent the AB because it was $50 cheaper than the BC, but I rented the BC anyway... and we were glad I did.)

Our B unit was the master. Dan and I had the bedroom, with the shower and jacuzzi tub in the bedroom and the toilet in a tiny room next to those. The vanity was also in the bedroom. We had a balcony off our bedroom.

The B unit also had a nice big living room and a full kitchen, along with another full bathroom containing a washer/dryer combination unit.

The kids took the C unit. Brady turned the living room and kitchenette into his bedroom. He hates sleeping on sofa beds more than anything, but he did it. Bought a body pillow to make it easier, but he still hated it.

Oh, and I have no pictures of the C unit. Mykiah was taking the photos and didn't take any of the C side. Sorry!

There was another full bathroom in the C side (with the washer/dryer as well). The girls had a smaller master, with a queen size bed and a balcony. They also had a jacuzzi tub in their room and a toilet off their room.

We really enjoyed our stay. The resort had a nice indoor pool (with varying water temps... always cold when I was there), and the kids liked playing basketball and the game room. 

The location was very nice for us. Just off Green Mountain Drive, we could get to dining options fairly quickly and we loved our view of Thousand Hills golf course. 

Hayden was not particularly fond of the tile floors (we have carpet) but he seemed to like being with us, and the location made it convenient to get back to let him out and feed him. 

If/when we go back, we'll get a 3 bedroom so that everyone can have a real bed. My fault, but I just didn't think about how uncomfortable that sofa bed would be... and I don't know why I didn't think about it because we had the exact same problem last summer. Great place to stay, though. Highly recommend.

P.S. I should add that I was a little worried about being bugged to go on a timeshare tour. We weren't. Since we were renting through an owner, I didn't have to do anything but pick up our room keys and parking pass and go to our unit. We did have a couple of phone calls to our unit, which may or may not have been from the sales department, but we simply didn't answer the phone. Easy peasy.

a dining review, Dobyn's Dining Room at The Keeter Center by Kiah

A couple of months ago mom and I were discussing my upcoming 16th birthday and what I wanted to do to celebrate in Branson. On my own time I enjoy watching the Food Network and I cook dinner for my family on a fairly regular basis due to my passion for cooking. I have always desired to eat at a “fancy” restaurant with proper table manners and respectable waiters, so when mom surprised me with a birthday lunch at the Keeter Center I was stoked!

Upon checking into the Keeter Center we were seated by our young waiter who kindly pulled out our chairs.  The dining room was just beautiful, with stone detailing and rustic wood details throughout. I was eager to review the different food items the menu offered. A default food item for me when dining out is salad, so my eyes instinctively went there first. I debated on the spinach salad with pulled chicken and the chicken fajita salad up until we gave our orders, but decided on the spinach salad in the end.

While we were waiting on our food to arrive our waiter brought out a bread basket containing fresh baked whole wheat rolls and cranberry raisin biscuits. Small divided dishes with home made butter and home made apple butter were served for topping. I snacked on a roll with apple butter smeared on top and it was delish!

Our food arrived not long after. Dad ordered the Chicken Fried Chicken after finding out the chicken salad was prepared with onions. The Chicken Fried Chicken was served over mashed potatoes with pepper gravy and fresh green beans on the side. Dad felt the meal was good, but not anything special and he wished there would have been more gravy. Mom choose the Pork Quesadilla on a whim. Mom never knows what she’s ordering until it comes out of her mouth. Mom found the Quesadilla to have a nice flavor and she loved the BBQ sauce over top. Unfortunately, pork is not her favorite so she did not finish her meal. (Note from Kim: the homemade potato chips were delicious and worth the price of the meal!)

Chesney ordered the Aggie Burger and loved it! Brady picked the Vegetable Garden Sandwich. He found the vegetables were thick cut and did not care for his sandwich.

I absolutely loved my salad! The pecans added a nice crunch, while the sorghum vinaigrette added a nice smoky flavor to offset the fruit!

While we were eating lunch our waiter informed me there was a complimentary dissert for birthday guests. He brought out regular dessert menus for the rest of the family. Mom and Brady split the Campfire Berry Cobbler with home made vanilla ice cream over top. They thought it was delicious! (Note from Kim: The Keeter Center makes their own ice cream and it was the perfect topping for the cobbler. You could see the vanilla beans in the ice cream!)

Ches ordered a Chocolate Sundae with hot fudge, chocolate chips, and whipped cream over top. My goodness that thing was gigantic! Ches was giggling like a little girl when they brought it out! She devoured every last bite.

My dessert was two slivers of rich, smooth chocolate fudge cake with a dollop of whipped cream and a strawberry. The chefs had also nicely wrote Happy Birthday in chocolate along the rim of the plate. It was out.of.this.world.good. Mmmmm!

I had a fabulous time at the Keeter Center and would definitely return. The food is amazing! 

 

the story of the best day of spring break

I thought a bit about how I wanted to share our Spring Break trip with you and decided I'd just open the folder of photos and tell you the stories that go with them. 

And I'll start with the best.

Wednesday morning was my oldest daughter's sixteenth birthday. I had planned ahead and brought her gift with us... an Aeropostale messenger bag (which we will decorate with rolled flowers in a few weeks), two Aero tops, and the set of Lying Game books (she'd been asking for these for a long time).

She didn't even see her gift for about a half hour and then she opened the bag and started getting happy. She and I ran to Old Navy that morning to exchange some shorts, and while we were already at the outlets, we decided to pop into Aero and see if they had anything she could spend her birthday money on. She ended up with a pair of capris. I think she may have gotten a shirt, too, but I can't remember and she's currently napping so I can't ask.

We had been missing our Keurig -- a lot -- so on the way back to our condo we drove through the McDonald's drive through and got coffee for her and iced tea for me. I don't know how we're going to function for 2 weeks in Florida. I need my Keurig tea every morning.

Oh, here's my girl as she looked dressed to celebrate:

About 10:45, we left for the Keeter Center at the nearby College of the Ozarks. College of the Ozarks is unique in that the mission is to provide an education for children of the Ozarks who have grown up in poverty. Tuition is free but in exchange the students must work for the college while attending. Dobyn's Dining Room at the Keeter Center is one of the many employment opportunities for students and offers fine dining at a reasonable price. Mykiah is all about the fine dining right now. She watches the Food Network to go to sleep every night. Her pinterest boards are full of food. What better place to take my girl? 

I'll let her tell you all about it later this week. She's wanting to practice her dining review skills so she can write our Disney dining reviews, so she's going to start with her birthday lunch. I will say that it lived up to her expectations and more.

After lunch it was back to town, where we attended one of our favorite shows, Buckets N Boards. It was voted Best Comedy Show in Branson last year, and well deserves the title. We love to laugh and Buckets N Boards just makes us laugh. Even Brady liked it. 

The guys in the show made Mykiah's day by not only recognizing her birthday from the stage (thanks to Facebook!) but calling her on stage later. She got to play the squeaky turtle towards the end of the show. It was a hoot.

After the show, we had to get the obligatory photo with the performers.

I really think these guys are the best of what Branson has to offer families. If you're just googling Buckets N Boards review and it's found you here, know that I've seen a lot of Branson shows and this is one I recommend wholeheartedly and without question. There is just good, clean fun. 

Disney must agree. When they're not in Branson, they're on the Disney Cruise Line doing shows for passengers. I honestly can't think of a better fit than Disney and Buckets N Boards. I only wish they were performing in the parks so that we could see them in Florida this summer... but they're in Branson, so if you're there, go see them for me. Tell them Kim says hi.

Anyway, they gave Mykiah a broken, show-used drum stick that has become a prized possession. We ended the day with dinner with our friend Jason at Panera, then dragged him along to go see the Haygoods. Kiah liked the show and said it was the best birthday ever.

No car, not even a big party, and the girl was thrilled. I'm so happy that I was able to make her happy. Happy birthday, Kiah! I'm so proud of you and proud to have you as my daughter.

Spring Break

We are having a wonderful Spring Break.

Good food.

Good friends.

Lots of fun.

Lots of quality family time.

Wish it wouldn't end.

my other blog

I started another blog back in July. 

Mykiah and I (and to a lesser extent, the rest of the family) are deep into planning our 2012 mega-Disney trip.

You've heard this one before. I know. But we're not changing our minds this time. If I could buy our airfare on Southwest right now, I'd do it. That's how sure I am that we are going to Orlando for two weeks next June.

My son will graduate from high school in June. And it's been five years since we last went to WDW. Both worthy of a celebration.

So I started a blog with our pre-trip plans. I rant a bit about corporate Disney. Do we really think Walt wanted his parks to be so expensive the average family couldn't afford them? (I think the answer might be yes... but that's beside the point.) 

If you're a Disney addict, like me and Kiah, you might enjoy reading along. I haven't been really great about updating it lately, but it has a good 3-4 posts up to including the fact that we're planning to rent a pool home rather than stay on property. 

I think from here on out I'll probably feature a mix of our planning updates and Disney stuff I find around the internets. If you're interested in it, add it to your blog reader. I made my brain hurt pretty bad last night in order to get that "subscribe in a reader" button down in the left column, so I'd love to have you join us on this journey. I have a bunch of ideas for this blog, including a "what I wore" in the parks feature once we're there, so I can report on the comfort of various articles of clothings/shoes/bags, as well as packing lists and other checklists that anyone planning a Disney trip would find helpful.

In the meantime... two seventy four. It's gonna fly.

Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand, our Florida 2012 blog