PTR: When You Wish Upon A (Death) Star updated 11/09/2015 About This Page:

[OhToodles!]

I have been slacking on the dinner & movie nights. I just don't have the time to plan them much anymore. So far though I've only skipped 2 weeks, so not bad. Love the detail in the fight about the countdown chain.
Way to go on your weight loss! Please tell me what you're doing!

[stardust190]

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

I have been slacking on the dinner & movie nights. I just don't have the time to plan them much anymore. So far though I've only skipped 2 weeks, so not bad. Love the detail in the fight about the countdown chain.
Way to go on your weight loss! Please tell me what you're doing!

You're a busy lady! I dropped out of grad school when I had the kids. I'm thinking I'll go back at some point, but probably not until they are in high school. Or at least upper grade school. I wouldn't know how to find the time. The kids love the count down chain, but my goodness do they bicker about that thing. At least with dinner and a movie they are eating and can't be fighting while eating right?

The weight loss has been easier than I thought with a smart phone! I don't really have time to exercise much and I'm at the office all day so not exactly active. What I ended up doing was downloading the LoseIt! app and then I bought a FitBit and sync that to my FitBit app as well. LoseIt! and FitBit apps sync so I log all exercise in FitBit and all food in LoseIt! I get bonus calories when I exercise a certain amount (ie. just get a certain amount of steps). I found that getting enough bonus calories for a glass of wine is a HUGE motivator for me to get off my butt! Not enough calories left in the daily budget = no wine! So I make sure I get on the exercise bike for a glass of wines worth of calories.

[stardust190]

So for some reason for a Disney vacation I feel the need to purchase things. You would think that I would have spent enough money on the trip that I would resist the urge to spend any more money. But no, I find more ways to spend money on things I probably don’t need. I justify this by ensuring my husband that these things are needed in order for us to fully enjoy our vacation. I’m pretty sure by the side eye I often get that he questions the need for my purchases, but he subscribes to the happy wife, happy life philosophy and doesn’t say too much.

I haven’t purchased a TON of stuff, but have picked up little things and even gotten little things as gifts. Then there’s the list of things that need to be purchased. I’ll start with the first thing that I “needed”:



I am obsessed with Jamberry nail wraps and when I saw the Mermaid Tail ones I couldn’t resist. Since I had just ordered a LOT of wraps I had to find a reason to buy them. So I ordered them for the cruise!

Then of course we really did have to purchase these:



My mother had to get one as well and she had a little issue with her photo being rejected initially and it needing to be retaken. We’re glad we applied and got them early as now we don’t have to worry about it. Well except for losing them I guess.

Then Disney had their yearly sale and I scored these dresses for my daughter. I figure they can be used for formal night on the cruise. And she’ll be getting them for her birthday in a few weeks so it’s doubling as a b-day gift! She’s going to be thrilled:



I think I spent about $70 on the collection of 5 dresses so I’m pretty happy about that find! Plus it came with a shawl and dress hanger and keeper. My DH hates how glittery they are, but he’s got to get used to it with a princess in the house.

Then for my son’s birthday my mom made him this for pirate night:



And she purchased this for him for SWDAS (someone is excited to sail with us!):



Rumor has it that my daughter has something coming for pirate night in a few weeks. I think my mom takes pity on my children as I don’t have a crafty bone in my body (remember the origami…) so she makes them a lot of stuff as she is VERY crafty. It’s always really cute so I love that she does it.

My one crafty thing (other than the dreaded countdown chain) were these cruise fund jars:



The kids can earn $2.50 in quarters for every 10 chores they do. I’m estimating that by the time we cruise they will have accumulated about $10. And no that isn’t a piece. Both of them together will have earned a TOTAL of $10. They’re not that good at helping, but I’m working on them.

My mom also got me these socks, flip flops and dress for my birthday:





It’s super cute and I think will be lovely for the cruise. And then I had to get something for formal night:



I’m still not sure what accessories I should pair with it. Or if I need to get a second dress for semi-formal or Palo. I’ll have to see what I find.

My husband is still trying to find the perfect Star Wars attire. He will also be getting formal wear - even if he isn’t 100% on board with this. We also need pirate gear for ourselves. The kids want goggles for the beach. Anyone know if the snorkels will work for small kids at CC? I need to make sure we all have dress shoes. And the kids need some carry on luggage. I figure I paid for 4 seats I had better make sure I have 4 decent carry on bags. That the kiddos can hopefully roll around themselves. Since they will be 3 and 5 I’m expecting to have to help them sometimes, but if they could be semi-responsible for their own carry on that would be a huge help!

I’ll be sure to post more about purchases when I make them. And the crafts my mom comes up with. I’ve heard a rumor that she is going to be putting my countdown chain to shame. And that she’s got a bunch of “projects” in the works. Whatever that means. You’ll know when I know!

[chezp]

Great purchases and you've got the passports!

[SuperDave]

A lot of great stuff you bought and I think it was a good idea on the Passports....not that you need those or anything! I think I'd rather have an extra port day than the Star Wars deck party, but that's me, even being a big fan of the movies! Well at least the first three releases!

[MayraLR]

Of course we have to purchase new things for each Disney vacation. Great purchases btw!

[mcc0313]

Congratulations, you look great!!! I always feel better when the flights are booked, I have often been in that situation that once I purchase I see them come down even more so I have sworn off looking at flights after I book (but you know I cheat right and of course get aggravated - I have forced myself to see it this way, well my flights were higher but that means more Jet Blue points for our flights . Hey whatever works right?)

[Soarin829]

Love both of your dresses!

Have you only used the LoseIt app? Or have you also tried MyFitnessPal? I've been using MFP (on and mostly off........) for a while now and wonder if LoseIt is better.

[stardust190]

Originally Posted by chezp

Great purchases and you've got the passports!

I debated on if I needed the passports or not. Since you only really have to have birth certificates I could have skipped it. It's not cheap to buy 4 passports! In the end I figured better to be safe than sorry and I got them. DH and I have them for 10 years now so we'll just have to travel more. Just wish the kids didn't expire after 5 years.

Originally Posted by SuperDave

A lot of great stuff you bought and I think it was a good idea on the Passports....not that you need those or anything! I think I'd rather have an extra port day than the Star Wars deck party, but that's me, even being a big fan of the movies! Well at least the first three releases!

With little kids I'm ok with having one less port day. While I like to explore I think it will be easier to stay on the ship with little ones. When they are older we can do more ports. The Star Wars stuff will be interesting for me. I'm sure my boys will drag me to all kinds of it.

Originally Posted by MayraLR

Of course we have to purchase new things for each Disney vacation. Great purchases btw!

I just picked up some other stuff yesterday. It's a Santa surprise though. And of course I showed my husband and he rolled his eyes.

Originally Posted by mcc0313

Congratulations, you look great!!! I always feel better when the flights are booked, I have often been in that situation that once I purchase I see them come down even more so I have sworn off looking at flights after I book (but you know I cheat right and of course get aggravated - I have forced myself to see it this way, well my flights were higher but that means more Jet Blue points for our flights . Hey whatever works right?)

I still find myself looking at our flights from time to time. I can't help it. Recently they have been more expensive for the exact times we booked so I'm not feeling too bad about what I bought. I like having it off my TODO list.

Originally Posted by Soarin829

Love both of your dresses!

Have you only used the LoseIt app? Or have you also tried MyFitnessPal? I've been using MFP (on and mostly off........) for a while now and wonder if LoseIt is better.

I used MyFitnessPal after my son was born. And I couldn't lose any weight. Might be because he was so little and then I had another baby 2 years later, but I didn't remember liking it that much. So when I started trying to lose again in January I searched for alternatives and found LoseIt. I kind of remember MyFitnessPal being a pain for me because it could never find the stuff I was eating. And I didn't care for the interface. I've been really happy with LoseIt though.

[lexiemom]

Congrats on the weight loss! I've recently started working out again, but I have been dragging my feet on tracking what I eat. I'll have to to check out LoseIt.

[Jeanna]

Originally Posted by stardust190

I just picked up some other stuff yesterday. It's a Santa surprise though. And of course I showed my husband and he rolled his eyes.

We are arriving at WDW the day your cruise is over. My husband roll his eyes every time I think about buying stuff for our trip.

[stardust190]

Originally Posted by lexiemom

Congrats on the weight loss! I've recently started working out again, but I have been dragging my feet on tracking what I eat. I'll have to to check out LoseIt.

It's never easy trying to lose weight. I did find that apps really help me stay in check. You just have to use them. LoseIt has been pretty easy to use. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Jeanna

We are arriving at WDW the day your cruise is over. My husband roll his eyes every time I think about buying stuff for our trip.

I have quit telling my husband about my pre-cruise purchase plans. He knows I have a bin in our closet that I keep putting stuff in. He could see the purchases I make on the credit card statement. He is choosing to ignore it. It's working out well for both of us.

[stardust190]

The cruise has pretty much taken a back burner to all other things going on in my life. Work has been busy and my baby turns 3 on Friday. She’s having a princess party and has asked for a Rapunzel dolly cake. Which if you don’t have little girls you might not know what exactly these are. It’s a cake shaped like a dress with a barbie stuck in the middle. They have them at the bakery, but when I asked about it I was told they were like $60 and the doll was a “fake” Rapunzel. So I decided that it wouldn’t be that hard to make one myself. I watched a YouTube video. It didn’t look hard. And you know how I am with YouTube videos. I learn a lot. Like how to make Oragami flowers.

I did manage to make this stuff out of fondant so I think I’ve got some decent decorations for the cake:



Goal is something like this:



I’ll be sure to update later with my fail….

As for the cruise I am currently in the process of banging my head against the wall with the DCL website. Pretty much par for the course when planning a Disney trip. They are in the process of rolling out a new website and things just aren’t working. I tried to add Disney transfers to our reservation, but I can’t get them to add without making a payment. Even though my PIF date isn’t until October 11th and it says I have a $0 balance due today. It won’t save the adding of the transfers without paying at least $20.

I would just pay the $20 except I have all the money for the cruise payment in a DVA and want to use that. In order to get the bonus gift cards for the DVA your account has to be open for at least 120 days. So I have to wait until next week to make that payment to ensure I qualify for the bonuses. And I think I’ll have about $100 in bonus gift cards once I make my payment so I just need to be patient I guess.

I’ve also been looking into excursions as I can book those at the end of October. Initially we were just thinking that we’d get off the ship and bum around near the port. Mostly because our kids are a little young for most of the excursions. However, I also read that sometimes in January you are unable to dock at CC because of high winds. Our kids really want to swim in the ocean and so do I as I figure that is one thing you SHOULD do when on a cruise. Since CC is our last day if we are unable to dock (in which case I will ) we wouldn’t have swam in the ocean at all. So I’ve been considering adding a beach excursion in Cozumel. My son informed me that he doesn’t want to do the Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman so that’s out.

With Cozumel I’ve looked at Disney’s excursion that takes you to PlayaMia. I can’t remember what it is called and the website isn’t letting me look it up. I think something like Beach Break. The cost of booking this through Disney is quite a bit more for us than booking directly with PlayaMia though as Disney will charge for our 3 year old, but PlayaMia does not. So we’re weighing our options there. We’re also considering just taking a cab to Paradise Beach. My uncle went in March when he was in Cozumel and he really enjoyed it and said it was easy to get a cab there and back and that it was inexpensive.

Anyone ever been to PlayaMia or Paradise Beach? Got any other family friendly ideas for a beach day in Cozumel or Grand Cayman for that matter?

[MayraLR]

Oh boy! I can't wait to see how the cake turns out! I have faith in you.

[chezp]

Oh wow, with the cake - I hope it all works out and you can solve those problems with the website too.