Dairy Farmers wife is getting a "Dream" trip! About This Page:

[jenseib]

Hello all!
I am Jen. Most people call me that, but my DH calls me Jennifer, as does my immediate family. I go by either...but never call me Jenny! Those are fighting words!
I am a 42 year old mom of 3.
Michael, Paige and Claire.



(this was taken almost 3 summers ago...I need to get a newer one of the 3 of them)
I don't think I have any good recent pictures of myself. I am usually the one behind the camera. And for some reason other peoples pictures show me as fat? I can't imagine what they are doing to add all this weight to me? I know I am a size 2 and a perfect 10, but these pictures all seem to be lying!



I'm the one in the colorful dress by the way!
I live on a dairy farm with my DH of almost 9 years, Skip.



We have 1 child together...Claire. She keeps me young, thats for sure.



So a little about us!
Skip and I got married on July 18, 2002. I had two children already, he had none, nor had he ever been married before. We just did a court house wedding, and then had a huge party/reception a few months later.



When I got married, I was at one of my skinniest points. I am working on trying to get back there. LOL! I don't think I ever will. It's so hard and I've actually put on a few pounds over the holidays that don't want to come off again. But I will keep at it for the rest of my life, I suppose.
Skip is a dairy farmer. Which means he is busy all the time...or at least he uses that as an excuse to get out of things he doesn't want to do.
He is lucky that I grew up on a farm. My dad didn't come to a lot of things, but my mom just took us without him. She always said she wasn't going to miss out on the fun, because he was busy. So I'm the same way.
I do know it is hard for him to get away from the farm for very long. And I am very understadning about it......to a point.
Here are some shots around the farm. Again, these are a few years old. I should go and take some updated stuff.









I am a licensed cosmetologist, but have been a stay at home mom since we had Claire (in Dec of 2004)
I also used to worked for AC Delco full time for a few years before I had Claire as well.
I love being at home.

[jenseib]

Skip will be turning 50 in May. He is into tractorpulling.
He took the last 2 years off, but plans to go out this year again and do some pulls.
It is fun to go to tractor pulls, but it can get really hot and the days can drag at times. But we have traveled to a few neat places because of it.
Claire loves it too!







On this trip we were in Tomah, Wisconsin. About 2 1/2 hours away from the Mall of Amercia. So Claire and I drove over there one of the days for fun. She had her hair done at Libby Lu, and thought she was just the most beautiful thing ever!



You CAN be beautiful at a Tractor Pull.



So back on track.....
Skip does like Disney, but he's not obsessed like Claire and I are.
He enjoys the trips alot, but is always ready to come at the end of each one. He likes to eat alot there too. I always tell him, just because a buffet is all you can eat, doesn't mean you HAVE to.
Skip is one who doesn't like change either. So going to the same place over and over is good for him. When I try to get him to try new things, he usually is resistant a bit. Sometimes he will, but alot of times he won't. Sometimes it take a few years of asking before it becomes reality...as in this upcoming trip!
For example, our 2009 trip was supposed to be a Disney Cruise, but he was so hesitant about it, and finally said, no, let's go back to WDW instead.

He is also pretty thrifty.....sort of...and thats a nice way of saying cheap.
He will spend money like water on things he wants or "needs", like farm equiptment, and his tractor pulling hobby, but then in other areas he watches every dime.
Every year he has griped about the cost of Disney. But yet, he will ask why we didn't upgrade to this or that. Or if I say we could add this, but it will be $100 more, and he will say, "what's $100?". He also would rather pay more for a local flight out and rent a car, rather than driving to a further airport and being able to fly into MCO and use ME.
Once on the trip though, he's not so bad. He has moments though,where he is a bit cheap, which is reason I like the dining plan. No griping about how much meals are.
Last trip he had no problem forking money out to do the Richard Petty Driving Experience Ride along.

Back to Introductions...
As I said, I have 3 children.



Michael is my oldest. He is 22.



I don't have alot of recent pictures of Michael, because he doesn't allow me to take any.
Michael likes Disney, but can't afford to go (Michael is not very ambitious in the working world), and he and Skip do not get along very well. So much so that Michael moved to my parents house a few years ago. (his choice) Michael has been to WDW twice as a child, once in 1997 and once in 1999. We also did Universal on those 2 trips.

[jenseib]

My second child is Paige. She will be 19 in June. She and Michael are about 3 1/2 years apart, but were 2 years apart in school.
She loves Florida, but is not a huge Disney fan. I took her twice as well, and she has gone with her dads family a few times, but usually those were one day trips and they would only spend a partial day at a park.
I have asked if she is interested in going with us, and her reply is only if I can bring a friend. So I guess we are pretty boring. Here, all this time I thought we were fun!









Now for Claire's introduction~
It seems like EVERYONE knows Claire!



So much so that last trip, when we were at the Beauty and the Beast show, as we were walking out, a lady asked me how Claire liked the show...Which I replied she loved it....then thought..how the heck does she know who she is. My guess is she eithr was sitting near us and heard us talking, or has follwed one of my TR's on one of the forums I am on????
We have taken Claire to Disney 3 times, March of 2007,2008, and 2009. She really loves it.
Claire had gotten sick on the 2007 and 2008 trips. She requires alot of sleep. She is a late nighter, but also then likes to sleep in. I really pushed her in 2007, and I think by the end she was overtired and over stimulated. She threw up on the way to the airport going home and it was a long flight home with her not feeling good.
Same with 2008. I slowed down a bit, but still went a little to hard for her. We stayed a day and 1/2 longer, but she threw up again towards the end of the trip. Also in my defense, she did lick a pole on the bus one day and I wonder if she had gotten a bug of some sort from that as well. We ended up spending most of a day in our room with her sleeping and though she seemed to be a bit better the next day , she wasn't up to par. And we had a very long flight home with a crying child. I was "that" person with the bratty kid. I just held her most of the flight, and she did drift off after take off, and was decent most of the flight, but it was not ideal. Stressful fo all of us.
2009, I went in with a whole new plan of letting her sleep. It worked out well. Still a bit overtired, but things went much more smoothly for us.
Claire is really into princesses. She thinks she is really one herself. She also is pretty girly and likes to wear dress and skirts a lot. Even when she is working with dad in the cow barn, she likes to be dressed up.

[B.M.]

Great start!

[jenseib]

A little bit about my past Disney trips and history.
I went to Disney for the 1st time in 1974. I think I was almost 5. My parents took me down to FL to visit my grandparents in there winter home. We drove down in a rented Bronco. I don't remember alot about the trip, but some memories really stick out still. I know that the drive was long and I spent most of the trip pretending I was a dog and hopping all around the back of the bronco barking (back in the days where there were no car seat laws). And I remember my mom yelling at me alot to stop barking.
I don't know the order of things, but I know we went to Kennedy Space Center, which bored me to tears at that age, Disney (MK was only open), Miami, and Bush Gardens.
The thing I remember most about Bush Gardens is that my parents wanted me to lie about my age to get me in free. I think I was 4, almost 5, and they wanted me to say I was 3 (If asked), so they didn't have to pay, but I refused to. They paid for me.
I remember bits and peices of the Disney day. One Memory is walking through the castle and being so Disappointed. I want to tour the inside, and all we were allowed to do was walk through. What a rip off.
My mission was to meet my favorite character, Winnie the Pooh! And I did. It was back in the day when the characters roamed freely, so in one of my pictures with him, I have another little girl on the other side.



Another memory is wanting to ride Dumbo really badly. My mom said the line was too long and we would do it later, I begged all day, and then she said we were out of tickets. It took MANY years before I ever did get to ride it too.
The trip was fun, but my parents didn't know how to vacation and do parks like I do them now. They arrive late and leave early.
Here is all of the shots my mom took the whole day. And look how awful they are too. She is NOT a photographer in any way. Thanks mom for capturing all those memories!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start!

[jenseib]

In 1995 I went with my best friend. We stayed at her parents winter home about 2 hours away and went to MK for 1 day.





We had alot of fun, but the day was short and I vowed I would come back some day to do more.....Little did I know how much of an obssession it would be come!

In 1997 I took Michael and Paige to Disney. My mom came along as well. This was the first trip hitting more than one park!

I have to admit, I thought I was stylish the day this pic was taken...gues I was wrong!



In 1999, again I went and took Michael and Paige. This trip my boyfriend (Now an ex..thank goodness!) went with us as well.



That trip was finally my first ride on Dumbo too!

Several years went by, life continued and I had gotten married and then had Claire.
In late 2006 I talked Skip into going on a short Disney trip. We decided on March of 2007. We decided to stay onsite, and now we LOVE Pop Century!
It was short, fun, and I had discovered message boards...so I learned a lot prior to going, and learned a lot more after being there.



The next year, (2008) Skip randomly said one day, "price a trip to Disney!" OK! And in 2 weeks time I had everything booked,ADR's made and we were in Disney!



And one of my all time favorite pictures. Claire just wan't wanting her picture taken by photopass most of the trip, so she would make nasty faces or cover her face in a lot of them.



In 2009, I was turning 40! So my plotting began in early summer of 2008....MUST..GO..ON ...A ...DISNEY...CRUISE....
Skip had other plans. He hem hawed around on the decison till late Jan, and said no. Now we have cruised before, but he just was more worried about doing it with Claire. The next best thing...WDW!
We had a fabulous time that trip. Probably the best we have had so far. Little did I know how many troubles the next year and a half would throw on us!





Skip had trouble keeping up the pace with us on that trip. He had been seing a Dr at home trying to figure out why he was in pain and tired all the time. After months of run arounds, he found out his hip was bad, and he was scheduled for a hip replacement in Oct. of 2009.
At first he felt better, but then after a few months, things just didn't seem right.
He said no to a march 2010 Disney trip. He wanted to get healed up first...so we talked about going in Dec. for Claire's b-day. He said if things got better, we could probably go...but a lot of "we'll" sees went with that.
I planned for a Dec trip. Made ADR's, booked 1 night at AKL, and 6 at Pop with free dining. I had the perfect trip planned.
Meahwhile he had been going to several Dr.s over the summer. No one could figure out why his hip still hurt, and the hip Dr. said nothing was wrong.
In mid Oct. Skip said yes to the Dec. Disney trip...as long as al lwent well with his next Dr.s appointment. He then threw for a lopp and said he would possible like to try out the Disney cruise this time around. So I looked up prices and the plan was to go to AKL one night, then a 3 night cruise and then a few more nights at Pop, enjoying free dining still.
That plan didn't happen!
Skip went to the Dr's appointment and was told it appears his hip never adhered to the bone and they were going to re do it. On Dec. 6th.....2 days before we had planned to leave for Florida. Plans totally changed then!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great start!

Originally Posted by B.M.

Great start!

Thanks!!!!

[jenseib]

The Dec. trip was canceled completely. But Skip said we would go in March for sure. In Jan. I started talking about it again. Skip was panicking over going. (he does this about things sometimes) I had a reservation for early March so we could still get free dining, BUT we had to be paid in full by mid Jan. Skip said he changed his mind again, and wanted to go in May. But he couldn't commit to anything. Now it had been a long year, and I was getting fed up with his indesiciveness! It didn't matter so much when we went, but more that I wanted dates so I could make ADRs and plan. Lets just say there were a few days in Jan where he recieved a very cold shoulder from me.
After about 3 days of the freezing temps in OUR house...he told me he had called a TA and priced out the Disney Dream. Wow! Was I ever surprised.
Then he had me spend a few days online pricing out flights, WDW, the Dream, DL and even Vegas (and then drive to CA for DL. One thing he couldn't get over was the flight prices. He thinks he should get some special price..I guess! LOL!
When all was said and done, we decided on 3 nights on the Disney Dream, sailing March 31, arriving one day prior and staying at Residence Inn near the port. After we get back, we are heading over to Pop Century for 1 night and going to MK for the evening EMH. We then will move over to Residence Inn Sea World and got to Sea World one day and Epcot one day. WE fly home on April 6th!

Now for the real planning fun!

[jenseib]

The plans at this point and time....always subject to change....

Wed. March 30th.

I'm sure I will wake up at the crack of dawn! Who can sleep the night before vacation.
I'll get any last minute things packed and the car packed.
Claire will recieve her bag full of goodies to take on the plane (and I keep adding to it and the bag is buldging, so some might have to be packed in a suitcase after she opens it)
Here are a few of the things for the bag. I will have it left out that morning with a note from Minnie!



Skip and I will wear these shirts! The magnet and autograph book will go in the bag of goodies as well.




My plan is to leave here around 10:30-10:45. We live very close to the airport. Our flight leaves at 1:05. Allegiant is pretty nice. The seats are comfy for plane seats, and it does have a little more room than some airlines.
We will arrive in Sandford at 3:25. Though everytime we have flown there we usually arrive about 10-20 minutes earlier. .... knock on wood!
I will most likely get our luggage while Skip goes to get the car from the alamo desk, which is across the street from luggage claim, but very close. Then we head out to our first destination.....Port Canaveral. We may stop for a quick bite to eat, amd/or pick up some water, so something. Or we may do that after we check in at the Residence Inn.
This is where we will be staying for the night.







The plan is just to hang out, eat dinner in the area, possibly swim, possibly go pick up some water and beer to take on the ship.



This will probably be our last chance to take it easy over the next week, so I hope to get to bed at a decent time. Especially for Claire's sake. I want her to enjoy this vacation with out being so tired that she' miserable...good luck on that one.

[MickeyWatch]

Great Start!

[jjyork]

Beautiful pictures, Jen!

[scrappyjae]

Great start. I hate when life interfers with trips we had planned. I too, was hoping to get back to WDW this year, but medial issues with my DD changed those.

[jenseib]

Thurs. March 31.

I will get up early and shower, etc. I think I will have to get Claire up by 8:30 at the latest. I hate to get her up early, but I want to be sure she is fresh, clean and ready to go.
Claire will recieve this little gift from a "character" on this morning before. (I like to give her a daily gift from characters each morning, along with a note from them...and she loves it too.



These are the other little gifts I have picked up and wrapped. I'm not sure which days she will get each, but she will get one each day.





This carriage holds a pearl and when we go to Epcot we will pick a pearl to put in it. I got one for me too.





If look close you can see a dew drop neakclace in this package



We will be wearing these shirts/dress for our special boarding day!








The hotel offers a free breakfast, so we'll go get a bite to eat.





The hotel offers shuttles to the port.($6 round trip per person) We will sign up for one when we check in. I think they start running around 10, and I'm not sure how often or how many, but I would like to be on one by 11. Our rental car will be left at the hotel.
The shuttle will take us to a very exciting place!
The Disney Terminal!!!



Where we will hurry up and wait.
I have paper work I need to fill out and bring with us to check in, and get Claire's kids club band. There are characters there for greets. And a lot of waiting from what I hear. I am still reading up on everything that needs to be done, but I know when you check in you get a number, and thats when you board.
I know you walk through a Mickey looking Arch to get on and they take your picture. I think about 1:30 or so you can actually get into your cabin.
And this is where I will stop for now. I'm still reading up on what to do and activities to do. I hope to get some nice pictures on board of the 3 of us.
I have a fish extender to put out for our exchange. Claire is pretty excited about this!



We will explore the ship, Possibly try out the Aqua duck, and just enjoy it all. I will be snapping a million pictures too!
We have the 7PM show scheduled and late seating for dinner.
The plan for this night is that Claire will wear her Rapunzel dress to dinner.



At some point we will probably take Claire to the club to have a little fun and see how well she likes it. She is excited to try it out. I just wish we had more time to do everything!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by MickeyWatch

Great Start!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by jjyork

Beautiful pictures, Jen!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by scrappyjae

Great start. I hate when life interfers with trips we had planned. I too, was hoping to get back to WDW this year, but medial issues with my DD changed those.

It's been a rough year. I hope this hip takes. So far it seems to be so much better, but it will be a few more months before they actually know for sure. I also didn't mention, when they did the second replacement, the whole hip had corroded inside of him. The yhad to break his thigh bone to get part of it out because it basically was all rusted. That part of course adhered to the bone, but the upper part was just floating around inside him. Everyone tells him he should talk to a lawyer, but he's not that kind of guy. He just wants to be better and be done with it.