GOBA Mom Lynn

Poland & Slovakia, Finland (homelands of our grandparents & great grandparents) Spanish Mediterranean (went with my Mom- need to go with DH!) Alaska renting a small class c rv in France & follow the Tour De France Oregon (to visit cousins) an extended, leisurely trip to WDW of at least 2 weeks

I'm following along, too. Keep up the good work. Your kids are soooo cute! (Our college-aged kids spent a week of their lives every summer since they were born in a bike trailer, until they could pedal a bike by themselves. Keep them going!)

Well, I have totally enjoyed another TCD trip report. Thanks for writing them, and keeping us entertained. Now, as far as the scale goes, I'm surprised that the highest ranking isn't simply: BEER! That would be the FF way, would it not? I hope they keep the food during Flower and Garden, at least through next year, as DH has said we may be planning a trip for next May. And I need to try some of that food!

One word for you, Kelly: WOW! And I mean that mostly for either writing it all down (including times) and/ or remembering all that from a year ago. :laugh:

OK about the frogs-- Sorry TCD, I should pay more attention to these things....I do remember seeing that post now that you reminded me.... And my excuse is, I've only seen the movie 1 time. You see, my DD is 18-- and she took to movie with her to college.

Thanks TCD! I'm a map and plan kind of girl. :) It helps me to see how it all goes together. Mostly because it's been so long since we've been there, I need all the help I can get. Oh, and from those signs around the creek--- they just said "friends of Pascal" I think you're the one who called them "frogs". You know, kids will call you out on mistakes like that all the time...

Thanks for going and spending the day at EPCOT and MK so we all could have something new to read. The last few times we've been to WDW, it has been in the spring, so it's interesting to see what they've done differently for F&G compared to what we saw. Some of the food options sound interesting, but for the price, I think I'd rather just buy food from the regular restaurants there. And it's great to see what the new Tangled restrooms look like, too. I remember sometime in the past the official plans where posted here somewhere. It would be helpful (and much appreciated) if someone

If you go here: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/let-the-memories-begin/limited-time-magic/vinylmation-easter-egg-hunt-epcot/?CMP=SOC-WDWFY12Q2FBDM0510 It explains more than the blog does. You get a 2 pack of vinylmation keychains ($12.95 value) when you turn in your completed map. (Hope the link worked OK, I'm usually no good at these kinds of things.....)

If you still have the old sets, you might be interested in this website that my DS discovered: brickset.com He opened an account and started marking how many sets he has. I think he said he stopped around 55......

What a great trip report! I for one am glad that you got back to finish it up, because somehow I missed it when you started it back in Oct., so I've read through the whole thing today! Can't wait for the rest. (You didn't learn your golf cart driving skills at Slippery Rock campground by any chance? That's where my in-laws have a trailer and my kids learned their driving skills there.) Go Pens!!!

Now I'm realllly late getting to this trip report, but, it's great! Funny about the no shoes. When my DD was about 4 or 5 we were going to my in-laws' trailer for a weekend away, and when we got there realized she had not put any shoes on when she got into the car. The thing is, I hadn't packed any for her either, since we were only going for the weekend. So off to Wally World we went. LOL we still tease her, all these years later, making sure she's wearing shoes....... :rofl3: Sometimes she's not too amused.... Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

We've only been to the Fort one time, and we stayed in site 1520. (We're the ones in that site on the video that was originally linked thru google earth.) Even though it was next to the road, it was plenty quiet enough. We loved how close to the Meadow area is was, too. We didn't have a golf cart, but were able to walk easily from the Marina to the site (although we only did it once, ) and I took a nice long walk over to 2000 and back one evening. Next time we'll probably bring bikes, but the buses were extremely convenient.

We use a queen size, but we use 2 sleeping bags that zip together. Now if we had separate sleeping bags, then the 2 singles might work better. You can always push them together if you want to snuggle...

We had balcony seats, on the corner, and thought they were good. You can really see everything on the stage since you sit up high, and little fear of being picked on, if you're shy. I don't think there's a bad seat in the house.

Well, I am loving this trip report! Anna, or should we say Cinderanna, is just adorable! :heart: And I think you've just discovered a new Fort phenomena.... the rope tree. Now, what site is that behind again?

Just a final update... The trip is off. Seems the boy neglected to tell us he actually won't graduate until December. :gaah: Who knows when we'll take that trip, now. Thanks anyways for the advice.....

Thanks for the photos of Legoland. I was going to say that we would definately put it on our list for the next time we're down, but at $64 a person, I don't know.... My DS got back into Legos this Christmas when he put up his Lego trainset this year, after not putting it up for a couple of years. He has the trains from the 1990's that use a transformer, a different system than the trains they sell today, and he's looking to buy another engine, if he can find one. This led him to what he calls "the greatest website ever". It's brickset.com. They have info on about 90% of all sets that Le

I'm starting to wonder why Disney doesn't somehow 'dress up' the backstage escape route in a way that would make it un-photogenic, or so boring that if anyone did take a picture, it would be no big deal. It sure seems like they use it often enough, judging by how many people here have actually had to use it to get out of the park. Oh, and I'm totally enjoying your trip report. Your girls have the most striking eyes and hair! (spoken by someone with hair that wouldn't curl if my life depended on it :) .)

Looking at the map, I saw something interesting. If you zoom in, icons appear that you can click on, and there is one on the inside of the 1600 loop that says "service animal break area". Didn't know there were such things at the Fort. Unless..... Isn't the dog park adjacent to the 300 loop? Well, not according to this map. I guess they moved it, and apparently it's for more than just dogs.

TJ I haven't but I'm sure my son has..... I think that's what he's most excited about for this vacation. That and staying at a Holiday Inn in Albuquerque.

I've been so enjoying your trip report. J and her outfits are the cutest things! I know just how she feels, too. Dislocated my elbow during a volleyball game eons ago. It took awhile, but yes, it went back to normal in no time. And since she's little, it should heal just fine. Hope the rest of your trip helped ease her pain. :)

Thanks for the replies. Funny, I had started reading that trip report back in September (I think), before we had any idea that we would be doing this trip. And I had forgotten about it, so thanks for refreshing my memory! Now I'm just waiting for him to finish it. Well, we made reservations for Mather's campground for 4 nights, then 2 nights in Zion. Our kids then voted to go to Las Vegas so they can see the Penn & Teller show, so those reservations will be next. We'll head back toward home via Colorado. We know we'll have long days of driving, but we're used to that. When we go to

We are starting to plan a 2 week trip to the Grand Canyon as our oldest is set to graduate from college (and hopefully gets a job!). Has anyone done a camping trip to the Canyon? ...in May? We're thinking about 3 nights at the Mather campground. Is that going to be enough time? Then we're hoping to hit a couple of other parks north of there, as we head back toward Colorado, then driving east on I-70 back home. I hope somebody out there has done something like this to help me feel confident in planning. :)

These are all great ideas! I found a cookbook that has another way to cook that you might be interested in. It's called "Glorious One-pot Meals" by Elizabeth Yarnell. The method I've used is different than anything I'd seen before. Use your Dutch oven in your kitchen oven. Put frozen meat and veggies in the D-oven along with some sauce and bake for only about 45 min. @450 degrees. It really works. (Probably don't want to do it now, with temperatures of 90 degrees + outside LOL.) Marty mentioning the frozen ingredients reminded me of these recipes.

A whole month at the Fort! You guys sure are lucky. Maybe in a few years (once our kids get out of college, lol) we'll have the time and money to spend a long vacation down there. Love the animal pictures, especially the butterfly. :heart: And a question for you and anyone..... What is it with turkeys these days? We've had them roaming our neighborhood lately, too. Never had them before. Deer, yes. Turkeys, no. Have they been common "wild" animals at FW? Have a good time and thanks for keeping us filled in on all the goings-on at the Fort. :thumbsup2: