And a dog throws a wrench in everything.

So, the original thought was that we wouldn't get a dog until AFTER our trip. That way we wouldn't have to worry about where said dog would go while we were away.
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Then Ella happened. My hubby fell madly in love with a Brittany Spaniel mix named Ella and now she's taken up residency in our home. Don't get me wrong, I'm in love with her too... But it does throw a wrench in my plans for surprising the boys. In case you don't remember, I was originally planning on walking them most of the way to school, having a "chance" encounter with their grandparents and then getting a ride to the airport where we would THEN tell them about the surprise.... Having Ella toys with that.
You see, I could keep to the plan and have Ella in the car with us.. But then that means we have to deal with her terror as the boys scream up and down about where they're going, we have to navigate the airport situation while we're getting our stuff checked in to board and that also leaves my in-laws responsible for getting her to my parents house where she'll be staying.

It's doable... and the idea of being able to wake up and shower in my own home the day we leave is VERY appealing (I love my parents but they have a lot of dogs... You smell like dog when you leave)..... BUT, sticking to the original plan just doesn't seem very convenient or easy when you throw Ella into the mix. The more logical plan seems to be to go down to my parents house Sunday afternoon, stay the night (so the kids don't even think about the fact that they're supposed to be in school) and go from there. I mean, I could always have my in-laws on skype so they don't miss the surprise (they really want to see it)

Pros and Cons of the new idea:

Pros:
1. Less stress for Ella because she'll be able to acclimate back to my parents house for longer before we're gone.
2. The boys won't have to be wearing their school uniforms
3. My parents could give us a lift to the airport and they're a lot closer
4. No drive time for my in-laws.
5. Don't have to deal with leaving Ella in the van OR taking her into the airport

Cons:
1. We'll smell like dogs
2. My parents are notoriously late (the last time I had them give us a ride to the airport we BARELY made it on the plane on time.


I know the Pro's outweigh the cons.. But that smelling like a dog bit is a really big deal for us... And, I really do love my parents... but it's awful how dirty we all are when we leave and I'm just not 100% sure how stressful it will be taking extra precautions to make sure we're all clean and smelling nice when we leave in the morning.

Autograph/Memory books

I got to working on upgrading the kids Autograph journals the other day. Like I said before, I realized that there are way more pages that could be autographed than will be autographed... So, taking a queue from my buddy, Sommer, I started making scrap book pages for the kids to write and draw their memories. Here's what I've got so far.

I gave the boys different themes based on what they liked more.

I also added different things for them based on their age level. So for my Kindergartner I asked him to draw how he feels vs. my 3rd grader who I asked to write how he feels.

This is for me to add a picture of each of them as we're getting ready to enter the park for the first time.

Pretty sure Disney loves me

Yeah, I'm convinced that Disney can't wait for me to come visit. I got home from picking up the kids yesterday to be greeted by this great tri-fold card from Disney. It talked about how school breaks are coming up and even marked possible dates we might want to consider coming in 2014. The part that really made me giggle was all the planning tips it gave. I just looked at them and went , yup, check, check, check, check. One step ahead of you there, Disney!
My truly favorite part of this card was all the great artwork on it. It gave me the great idea to modify the kids autograph books that I made. I'll take some pictures and try to get them posted later tonight... In truth, the idea originally started with my friend who went over the summer. The books we got are so thick, there was no way they were going to be used strictly for autographs... They wouldn't fill 1/2 the pages... Yet, they could use them as their travel journals. They could color, sketch and write about their experiences in them. Which is what my friend had decided to do with hers.
So, last night I sat down and got to work on creating fun themed pages for the kids to fill in. I look forward to creating a few more decorative pages in there and then letting them go at it.... It almost makes me want to make my own...... I actually just might.. Why? Because I'm a dork like that and I'm okay with it. I'll probably just keep a journal of our adventures so I can look back on lessons learned, what went well and what didn't, that kind of thing.. And then fill it with fun little tidbits and decorations.

Fact

100% true

Graphing our emotions

8 months and counting

Time is just flying by... Which, interestingly enough, leads into number 8 of the countdown.

My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I REALLY love flying. Do I like airport security? No. Do I like the idea of luggage being lost, long delays or the kids misbehaving? Of course not. But how can anyone deny the magic of being above the clouds. Of realizing just how small we all are in this big world? I know the kids will share my excitement. The last time my youngest was on a plane he was just barely 3 months old so this will be all new for him.
I also realized that in the next month or two I'll be able to finally book our flight and our time share.. Everything is really starting to come together and it's all getting this "unreal" feeling. I'm entering a phase where I just can't believe this vacation is actually going to happen. This SURPRISE is actually going to work. Several years of hard work is coming to a close in 8 months time. It's just crazy to me. And if that's how I feel now, how am I going to feel when there's 4 months left? 2 months? 2 weeks?