Holiday Hootennanies with Scarlett and the Fam Damily! Day Two, Part 4, Updated 4/25 About This Page:

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‘Twas two nights before Disney-departure – and all through the house – not a creature was stirring – not even a mouse…

Psych. Snap out of it.

Creatures are stirring – humans are going crazy with vacation and holiday preparations, dogs (notice the plural there, even though we only OWN one dog – more on that later) and cats are notably freaked out by the decorations and trees that have invaded their territory (not to mention the appearance of suitcases!), our miniature goats are protesting a change in their feed by audibly complaining between the hours of 2:15 am and 4:25 am, and yes, there is even a mouse. Our big hunter kitty caught one on our front porch yesterday and brought it inside as a “gift.” Delightful.

But all the chaos really matters so little, as we’re just a few short days for leaving for Walt Disney World! Time to pull out the woot smilies.

First, for all of you out there that read my last pre-trip report, I have to question your sanity a little bit. I mean, it only took me a year-plus to finish it, and you stuck through? Seriously, I really appreciate it, and this one will go much faster, I promise! Also, I hope you won’t find too much repeat information here, as I’m trying to dig up some new fam-damily stuff to amuse and entertain.

For those of you that didn’t read my last trip report, I have to question your sanity a bit too – it was so awesome! Ha! Kidding. However, if this is truly your first reading experience with me and the fam-damily (the name I’ve appointed to the group of loonies I’m related to by simply switching around a few letters in what I call them behind their back ). – I hope we don’t scare you off after the first few paragraphs.

I’ve been around these parts for long enough that a lot of you probably know a lot about me already. If you don’t, or need a refresher course, here’s the basic gist:



My name is Scarlett, and I just celebrated my 25th birthday. I live in North Carolina, work in university admissions, and am a Scorpio. I also enjoy long walks on the beach, shopping for household organizers, and…wait, um, sorry, wrong introduction. Where were we. My family is a bit Disney-obsessed – shocker! Not only that, but there are a lot of us. My mama is a golden only child, and she decided to make up for that by having a big family of her own, and then THOSE kids started growing up, marrying, and reproducing. I’m happy to say that despite our expansion, we’re a close knit unit and I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful group of people to call my own (except for those moments when I spot my nephews having temper-tantrums in the produce aisle and I pretend not to know them). We spend a lot of time together and I wouldn’t want it any other way!

We’ve been going to Disney for as long as I can remember, and love to go together, although logistics and scheduling are always problems. When the plans start falling into place for a new WDW trip, it starts out as an open invitation for the entire fam-damily to join. To date, we’ve yet to take a Mama ‘n ‘Em Disney Extravaganza Vacation, but I hope that someday – someday! – we will all be able to make it down there together. Until then, you better believe that there will be Disney trips with smaller combinations of various family members.

Here is this trip’s “cast,” which may or may not look familiar to you.

First, for the pre-trip report, my purpose is two-fold: One, to show some cute shots of the fam-damily, and so you get to know them a little better. Awww. Second, to humiliate my fam-damily. That’s right. Payback is a you-know-what, and being the youngest sibling, I’ve had my share of mortification over the years. Do you know how many times baby-bathtub photos have been brought out at inopportune moments? Now I have the power of a scanner and the Internet in my possession, and I will be posting embarrassing pictures of the fam-damily in this thread. Also, I hope that after this trip, I’ll have even more pictures to add to my file of Pictures That Exemplify Why Someone Should ‘Accidentally’ Break Scarlett’s Camera.

The Parents:



Let’s start with Gwen.

Gwen, a.k.a. Mama to me and my sibs, and Nanoo to the grandbabies, is in her late fifties and is “mostly retired.” Really, it’s quite appropriate to start with her as she’s the one who started this whole thing anyway, by having kids and therefore passing on the Disney-crazed gene. Likes: Christmas, or really any holiday, china patterns, sparkly things, Paula Deen, shopping and playing bridge. Dislikes: white shoes after Labor Day, thank you cards that say “Thank You” on the front, and basically anything else she considers mildly offensive.

Her first trip was when my oldest sister, Donna, was around four or five – and now Donna’s 41 – so you do the math.



Since then, she’s got numerous other trips under her belt. Here’s a classic shot of Mama doing one of her favorite things at WDW – shopping! (that's me in the pink shorts)



And one of her least favorite things at WDW: carrying stuff for people



For an embarrassing photo (as if those yellow pants weren’t enough)…back in the day, local department stores would have town folk come in and “model” their clothes for advertisements in the paper. Here’s Miss Gwen, probably around age 25, doing her thing in the Chatham News and Record.



Don’tcha love a time when 100% Polyester was something to brag about. Luckily, my mother doesn’t know how to use a computer, much less the Internet, because if she discovered I had shared this with the world, you would be waiting indefinitely for another update, as I’d probably be buried in a pasture somewhere unknown.



Dad, known as “Pop” to the grand-youngin’s, is the only person that did not make an official appearance during my last pre-trip report. Dad is actually my step-dad. My daddy passed away when I was five years old, and while I miss him like crazy, I’m so incredibly lucky to have won the father-lottery a second time around a few years later. Dad is one of the nicest, most generous people you’ll ever meet, and better yet, loves Disney! He’s also in his late-fifties, and his likes are anything with wheels and a motor, golf, mustard (he puts it on EVERYTHING – including spaghetti) and concrete (he’s a concrete contractor, and is kind of like Bubba from Forest Gump when talking about it – “Well, you’ve got colored concrete, and printed concrete, and then you’ve got stoned concrete…”). Dislikes would include turning the TV volume down below fifty decibels, not understanding the “magical” Internet, and discovering that my mom sneaked green peppers or onions in a dish and he actually liked it.

Dad’s first trip to WDW was pre-marrying into the fam-damily, when he took my step-brother over Thanksgiving. It was a nightmare and he never wanted to go back – until we made him and now he loves it.

Here’s Dad and Mackenzie during Kenz’s first trip.



He is actually a pretty photogenic guy, so I had some problems finding a bad picture of him. Even his old school pictures are cute, although he did have to grow into his ears a bit. I’m going to have to work on getting some better embarrassing pictures of him on this trip…

The Millers:



Krista’s my next victim, er, cast member. Krista is 36 years old, a stay-at-home-mom and my next-to-oldest sister. With the age difference, Sista Krista is both my doting older sibling and the second-Mama-I-never-knew-I-wanted. Krista loves reality TV, being right, searching for bargains and sleeping late. She does not love being wrong, yogurt, bananas and her middle name, Cecile (and put those last two things together and you get the nickname we torture her with – Cecile Cecile The Banana Peel. I never said we were mature, y’all.).

Here’s a picture of Krista at her first trip to WDW:



And here are her embarrassing pictures. The 80’s were really kind to Krista, indeed.



Haha. She’s going to kill me.

To make up for that, and since this is a Christmas trip – here’s a precious picture of Krista before the Siler City Christmas parade, back in the day:



Jeff is Krista’s other half. Jeff is 38, and is retired from the military. He now works for the Army as a civilian and is also the captain of an Army reserve unit. Jeff, the poor sap, really had no idea what he was getting into when he married Krista, but luckily he’s taken it in stride and stuck around.



We loooove Jeff, and he’s one of the best daddy’s and husband’s that I’ve ever seen – there’s just nothing he wouldn’t do for his girls! I get the sneaking suspicion that Jeff hearts Disney because his family hearts Disney, but as long as he keeps making his way down to WDW, I don’t question the motives.

Jeff loves NASCAR, hockey, politics, and my Mama’s cooking (he has a countdown calendar on his desk until Christmas morning, a.k.a. the day my mom makes her Krispy Kreme Casserole). He doesn’t like…hmmm. You know, Jeff is so pleasing, I really can’t think of something he absolutely doesn’t like! No wonder he is so adored in my fam-damily.

Jeff’s embarrassing picture comes from our last trip to WDW, when he tripped coming off Peter Pan’s Flight and I caught it on camera:



He’s also the one who says, “There’s always a smart-@$$ around with a camera, isn’t there?” whilst glaring in my direction (maybe “Scarlett” is on his list of “Dislikes” )

Here’s a picture of Jeff and Krista during his first Christmas with us. He wore a tie. We laughed at him. It’s a miracle he’s still around.



Mackenzie is K&J’s oldest daughter and my oldest darlin’ niece.



She really didn’t have a fighting chance against the Disney bug:



Kenz is nine years old and one of the sweetest, most agreeable children you’ll ever meet. She’s also incredibly tender-hearted, but has somehow managed to survive in the fam-damily. Kenz loves to read, loves school, loves swimming, loves Hannah Montana and High School Musical and probably loves whatever you love, too. She really doesn’t like scary stuff, but would rather pee in her pants than cause a scene.

There aren’t really embarrassing pictures of the kids – anything that might be “embarrassing” would be just cute at their ages – curse them – so I’ll skip that part.

Maeve is K&J’s youngest daughter and my youngest darlin’ niece.



Here are some classic Maeve photos:



Maeve is six years old and she is an absolute trip. She’s mischievous, sassy and, unlike Mackenzie, probably likes whatever it is you DON’T like just so she can argue with you. She also loooves spooky and creepy stuff. To be honest, Maeve reminds me a lot of myself, but I don’t let her know that, as she can, on rare occasions, be a wee bit aggravating. She’s so tiny, though, it’s hard to stay mad at her. We do have a lot in common – she loves Chee-tos, hippos and hot dogs and honestly, those are definitely in my Top Five as well. One of my favorite things about Maeve is her amount of energy. Long after Kenz is passed out, Maeve is still bouncing off the walls. In fifteen years, she’s totally going to be the family member I want to go to the bar with.

And finally – there’s ME!



Anyone who runs into me next week, please do not except me to look like this. While this picture was just taken two weeks ago, it was before a party where I had spent quality time on hair and makeup. During park commando time, I look more like this:



Kind of constipated and disgruntled. Very attractive.

You already know all the basics about me. Other stuff you should know is that I’m a proud alumnae of UNC Chapel Hill and I’m a Tar Heel born, Tar Heel bred, and when I die I’ll be a Tar Heel dead (there’s a reason why God made the sky Carolina blue ). I also really like karaoke, laughing at people and being laughed at, Mexican food, almost all sports, almost all beers, and pretending not to be interested in celebrity gossip but actually being totally obsessed. I don’t like tomatoes, carnations, and when turn signals blink too fast (it makes me nervous).

Here’s a picture of my first trip to Disney World:



I know what you’re thinking – “Wait, that’s a picture of your mom, and also, I totally see where you got your affinity for large sunglasses.” True on both accounts. However, this is why it’s a picture of my first trip –

Three months later…



That’s me and my daddy! Yep, I had black hair, which turned to blonde a few weeks later, and then mysteriously went darker as I got older…and even more mysteriously seems to occasionally appear lighter. Hmmm.

I wholeheartedly believe that my parents being at Disney World during a formative time in my development totally had an effect on my Disney-craziness. After all, my mom was crazy enough to go to Disney at 7 months pregnant.

Really, here’s a picture of me during the first trip I remember (I'm on the right):



And a couple more over the years:



Did I mention I also loooove Christmas? (the lipstick on that second picture was a joke. The antlers, however, were serious)



What? Oh, you expected me to post embarrassing pictures of MYSELF? See, no. When you write the trip report, you get full editing rights, and there will be no bad pictures of Scarlett in this trip report. Which probably means these are the last pictures you’ll see of me, as they have been carefully chosen and selected based on factors such as lighting and skin clarity.

Sigh. Okay, fine.



Tip to parents: never put a tie on your kindergartener unless you want them to be mistaken for a boy. (Why, Mama? Whyyyyy?).

Just because I feel guilty about not including them at all, I have to briefly mention the fam-damily members that won’t be joining us, and why.

First, I have a step-sister, Beverly, who is married with two kids, my step-niece Jordan, and step-nephew, Bryce. Bev is an assistant school superintendent and lives at the beach, the lucky so-and-so. She, along with my step-brother, Todd (an environmental engineer who lives in Blacksburg, VA), are not Disney obsessed - obviously, we’re not blood related. They say they want to tag along to WDW sometime, but it’s yet to happen.

My only living grandparent, Decie (aka “Mom” to all the grandkids), is also not Disney obsessed (surely, my mother is adopted). Once upon a time, when I was littler, she and my grandpa used to come along on all our Disney trips, but he was the more Disney-enthused half of that pair, so since he’s been gone, she’s only joined us on one WDW trip. She much prefers staying at home, watching Fox News, doing search words and bowling. This actually works out pretty good, as someone has to watch the home fires (plus, she usually distributes a little spending money to those of us going ). Anyway, since these folks aren’t Disney-crazed, they don’t get pictures. Yes, I’m ruthless.

Donna, Rey, Ryan and Joseph



(this picture is a couple of years old, and I have to say, I kinda hate Donna’s haircut in it – it’s grown out now, thank goodness! Also, I can’t figure out why Joseph’s face looks “flat” in it. Must be something weird with the pixels or some other digital something or ‘nother I don’t understand)

Donna is my oldest sister, and is married to Rey. She has two little boys, Ryan (12) and Joseph (6). Donna and her family love Disney, but Donna also has probably the craziest schedule of all of us. She travels a lot for work, and takes her family with her as much as possible, so they get to go to cool places all the time. Donna & Company were initially signed on for this December trip – and then Donna was asked to present at a conference in Los Angeles in June. So, she and her crew took their money to California and spent ten days at Disneyland and Legoland/San Diego instead. I couldn’t blame her for taking that opportunity, as her office paid for her way and part of the hotel and rental car for the trip. However, I could pout a little that she and my darlin’ nephews wouldn’t be joining us at Disney World AGAIN (and that they went to Disneyland without me ).

Mary Clayton:



Mary Clayton is my next-oldest sister, and she’s a music teacher. We’re only eighteen months apart, and I’ve taken the majority of my Disney trips with her. There’s a big age difference between my oldest-older siblings, so when we were kids, they were in that I’m-too-cool-for-this late-teen/early-twenties stage, and it was usually just us and our parents at WDW. Mary Clayton is arguably the most Disney crazed of all of us. The amount of seemingly-useless information that she can store in her head flabbergasts even moi, the Queen of All Things Useless.

Since Mary Clayton is a teacher, traveling in the off-season is difficult. When we took our free-dining trip last year, she was very understanding about us leaving her in the dust for free food. We wanted to make sure to try and schedule this trip so she could join us. MC is also one of The Funniest People You’ll Ever Meet, so traveling with her is always a blast! However, her holiday concert schedule is crazy, and even with Mama chipping in for part of her substitute teacher costs and us shifting our dates back as far as we could manage, we still couldn’t find anything to work for the whole month of December. We had all basically cancelled the trips in our heads, to be honest – with MC being so Disney-loony, we couldn’t just leave her behind again. However, when Clayton realized what was going on, she threw a hissy for us to go ahead without her. She argued that with her concerts, it could be a long time before she would be able to manage a trip in December so we should just go ahead this year and enjoy the decorations and holiday festivities. Of course, this all comes with the understanding that we’ll be buying her lots of stuff.

Buying her lots of stuff doesn’t mean she’s exempt from embarrassing pictures, though – here she is during her spring concert, the theme of which was “Down Home Hoe Down” or something like that.



I do have to include a couple of pictures of me and Mary Clayton at WDW.



I really hope that our next trip will include both Donna and her family, and Mary Clayton.

Oh, and we’re not taking the pets with us. Pets includes Quincy, our Pekingese, who is the center of the universe and our four cats.

Now that you’ve been properly acquainted with the entire fam-damily, I suppose I should start on how this trip came about and all the planning processes!

Continued in next post...