stefa70

Photobucket has been a little wonky today. I've got most of your pics now.

Sorry to hear about you feeling rushed.

I thought your Belle looked adorable even if the other Belle didn't take notice!

Thursday, January 10th-

Jordan had planned on buying a 4 day park hopper pass, which he did.

At Animal Kingdom! He had only been to the MK and DHS in the past so we debated between Epcot and AK for the first day.

I know not everyone loves AK, but I do! I enjoy the themes and I love the animals.

While BTM is fun, I've rode it countless times. It's a Small World is a classic, but again, I've rode it countless times. Nothing changes much.

You never know what the animals will be doing, if you take the time to watch them for a bit.

Here is our families favorite you tube video. My boys will literally cry with laughter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ssXJtzFOjA

This video came into play countless times during our AK visit. We're easily amused.

On the way to AK. We drove the truck:

Jordo buying his ticket

We're in and crowds are very manageable.

A Lion King show was getting ready to start, so that's what we decided to do.

That's enough LK pics. The show was fantastic, as always!

Jordan liked it so much, he's decided to become a monkey. Not really

The wild birds around AK are nice

Until they poop on you.

You probably can guess where we headed next. Come on, this is a Stef report!

Primeval Whirl!

We had a blast and laughed like kids.

Gotta love the the colors in Dinoland.

Dinosaur was next on the list.

Look, a Dino-vane!

And a Dinosaur!

And Jordan's face in the ride photo!

Jordan said Dinosaur is a lot like riding in Nate's mud truck.

Trevor stopped on the way out to share a smoke with this dino. Heathens.

This seems like a good stopping point.

The title of this report was going to be Red White & BLUE at the Fort, because of Jordan.

Instead that was changed to BOO at this point in the trip.

I bet your hubby loves those mirrors. I got them on my last truck, and it turned out to be one of those "I didn't know what I was missing" things.

That mini fridge looks a little naked without some NASCAR themed sticker......come on......

What's up with Judy leaving? I thought she usually stayed a bit longer before heading back west.

Hubs does love the mirrors!

Good call on the stickers. A big yellow 48 would look outstanding on the fridge.

Judy's had a busy summer and is just ready to go home.

Hey, I don't remember Nate having a camper.

That looks awesome!

TCD

Nate bought that a little while back. He's still changing things in it and wants to replace the canvas, but it works perfect for camping and toting all his toys.

I like G's decorations.

Bringing a golfcart for a FrIEND. Awesome.

I am glad Jordan has you all. I wish all the vets had people like you and your family.

It will be fun one day to meet you all and hang out at the fiend hangout otherwise known as your campsite!

Thanks Aaron and we would love to have you!

I kept eyeballing that giant box of chocolates and now I wish I had opened it up! Holy guacamole!!

How is it I missed the jello shots? Maybe you only give those to VIP's. Next time I will have to sneak one. It's OK though, the punch more than made up for it!

Seriously though, thank you again for your hospitality.

You didn't get a jello shot? Darn, must be the punch did a number on me too and I lost my manners. I will make sure you get one next time.

It prob would have been safer, they don't spill! :rofl2:

Glad that you were able to come down and party with us for Genia's Bday!

That's it? :)

That was more of a rough petting, than a ruffling.

I liked Mermaid. It's cute and aimed at the little ones who will dig the animatronics and colors.

Will I ride every trip? Not a chance.

YUCK!

All of that will definitely make me rethink Fort trips with Fort prices.

At $80 for a site, I figure $40 of it is for the slab & $40 of it is for the serenity.

After your purple crayon comes to life, a lot of serenity will be gone.

I know way too much about fairies for a straight, 30 something man.

I may never look at Buckeye the same way. :rofl2:

Sorry to see another report come to an end. When you finish your last update, please immediately book another trip.

I've never seen Anna look so sad. Glad she snapped out of it.

BTM is my favorite ride too!

Ruffle away...I like a good ruffling.

What a cutie! As a young man, or a pirate!

Enjoyed as always!

Your bro seems like my kind of guy...minus the arson tendencies.

Wow! You got the shaft with that chicken breast. I can't ever get past the Nutella waffle to try another one.

Be glad that the scantily clad woman was wearing undies! I saw a girl of about 14 wearing a black mesh shirt, with just a black bra under it at DHS.

I'm NO prude as you all know, but WTF? My 14 year old daughter would have had something on under that.

Loving your humor! Especially coming from a band geek :rofl2:

Sorry I didn't get in until page 2! A couple comments.

Although it would be awesome to be at the Fort after serving in Afghanistan, I hope you let that boy have some time for other things that he probably missed more than Mickey Mouse after he got home....

Nice mini fridge, although I am sure your redneck DNA will have you upgrading to a full size frigidaire w/ beer tap before long.

Please continue your TR now.

:lmao1:

No full fridge! Trevor says I must stop buying stuff to take camping..or buy a bigger camper. I usually don't have that much food, but needed a ton for Jordan's party.

Jason is exactly right! We told Jordo we would take him anywhere he wanted to go, and he picked WDW.

He got home on December 21st, so he had time to decompress and do all his other family obligations.

Just to help Stef out while she writes her post. Jordan was home for a little bit before his Fort/Disney fun and When they had asked him what he wanted to do he picked Going to Disney. From what I saw he had an awesome time and seemed more and more relaxed as the week went on.

Stef if your dam adopts me does that make TCD my grand-dad?

There you go again! Always helping, one step ahead of me! :heart:

Yes, you may now call TCD, Gramps! :hah:

Wednesday, January 8th -

I slept in til about 5:30 and ventured outside with my laptop to catch up on some e-mails. At 6:00 I received a text from TJ:

Are you awake?

I responded:

Of course!

He asked:

Do you want some company?

I responded;

Sure!

(I know TJ lives in Jax, and figured he would be driving down for the day)

He was almost at the Fort gate!!

Imagine me sitting outside, in the screen room, fresh out of bed, in a small t-shirt! EEK!!

I ran inside, put on some shorts and woke Trevor up. TJ Arrived at site 550 about 20 minutes later.

By the time the sun came up, Jason also showed up.

WARNING! If you've just eaten or have any heart conditions, these next 2 pics may do you in!

If my mug, first thing in the morning, didn't scare you off, you are one brave soul!

We sat around and BS'ed, waiting on Tony & Genia to arrive.

Remember the fries from last night? They did not go to waste. TJ had them for breakfast! Of course, I took his picture.

When Genia got there with the rest of the punch supplies, Trevor and I left the boys at camp and ran down to get some ice.

Judy's empty site from the rear.

We got the important stuff out of the way (punch on ice) and took a couple cold beers to Genia's site in the 1600's. TJ was with us, Jason went to MK for a while.

Genia's decorations.

We could see Kelly's (tiggerinbama) site from Genia's

Not long after, Kelly and Brit showed up.

As usual, we all ended up back at my site!

Even Mama & Ed showed up!

(Ed bent over so he would look the same height as Mama & I....it actually looks like he's passing gas! :hah: )

Nate & Jordan would be arriving this evening, so we hung around camp.

TJ took off around 4:00 to head back to Jax.

I went over to Judy's and we relaxed on the swing solving all our girl problems.

I made Jordan's favorite meal, BBQ pulled pork with coleslaw.

The boys showed up and dropped off the cart we brought for Genia & Tony. Trevor gave them a quick lesson.

Then followed them to Genia's site to help Nate get his camper set up.

With everyone's beds ready, we went back to 550 to let the boys eat. We then toasted to Jordan!

He was one happy young man! :heart:

It was a great night! By midnight, we were all tired...or drunk...or tired of being drunk.

But Nate had a sweet tooth.

If you are diabetic, I would refrain from looking at this next photo.

Running a gym, we get TONS of these boxed candies from clients as Christmas gifts. My mother sent this one with Nate, knowing that with all the kids and visitors, someone would eat it.

We ended up eating about 15 pieces. FAIL.

That's a wrap for Wednesday!

Coming up: "It's Jordan's choice!"

I'd like a blue jello shot to wash down my cookie, please!

Anything for you Mo!!

Jello shots and fries for all! Woooo hooooo!!!!

Don't forget the cookies too!

I'm in! Looks like that fridge can hold a lot of punch!

Hey hot stuff! Good to see you!

I actually had so much food (and jello) this trip, the punch had to go "redneck bucket style" again!

Jordan was home.

There were jello shots, cookies, GAG.

Fiend visiting.

Relaxing and enjoying the sounds.

That's like the Patriots team in the playoffs. Cant beat it. I did that for Dave and Lou.

Yes, all in all, a great vacation!! Thanks for joining in!

I'm in!! pass the fries.

:lmao1:

I will...er....I did!!

First Page Dibs

Way to go Annie! Happy to have ya!

Wahoooo....I'm in on this trip report!!! Yeah for Jordan being home and safe!!! Can't wait to read more!!! :pc:

Thanks a bunch! More on the way!

I think those jello shots would get me in the mood quicker than the mickey cookies........ Just saying'.......

I hear ya! I love fresh sugar cookies, but jello shots definitely help the mood more.

Hope the little guy is feeling better!

Her jello shots pack a punch. But her beer is just right.

Just right, when the mountains are blue! :clint:

Those fries could feed all the fiends.

Technically, they fed three fiends. That's coming up soon.....

I'm in! Yvonne can have the cookies and TJ the fries... pass me a jello shot please! :parrot:

Atta girl Pam! The jello shots have much less calories for your girlish figure.

Cool. A new Stef report. Missed you guys by just a few days. I dreamed I heard that Whippoorwill sing...

Wish we could have caught up with you guys, but you're easy...I KNOW I can find you again.

Well done with the BBS reference!! I may have just fell in love.

I'll take a cookie while I read please!

Cookie coming your way!

I am in! Those jello shots were great and I was happy to be a part of welcoming Jordan home.

p.s. I think I have to get started on my own.

:heart: Jason! I know I said it a million times, and hugged you half to death, but I honestly can't thank you enough for all your help. I will praise you some more when I get to that day but thank you, thank you, thank you!

My family is ready to adopt you.

This was quite a cause for a celebration! I know y'all were so happy!

It was a great cause and the least I could do. I wish I could do it for every man & woman serving. Thanks for joining in!

I'm in! So happy that Jordan joined you all!

Hey Gwen!

Happy to have you along. Hope I can give you a Fort fix until you can return.

In.

You had me at Jell-O shots and GAG

Howdy stranger!

I may be able to appeal to you even more throughout this report...and I can promise you there was no tea. ^-^

Can't wait to read more!!!!!

More coming right up!

Page one.

Did your fries come in the bucket like that? I haven't seen that before, and I've seen a lot of GAG's.

I don't think you had enough jello shots.

I don't like it when Judy takes down her decorations

TCD

Yes, we had a bucket O'fries! They are normally in the grease filled sack....maybe they ran out of bags?

I actually toted about 20 jellos home (out of 90!) They will be consumed at another farewell party for Jordan this Saturday.

The Fort is much less fun when Judy is gone.

Woo hoo! Another Stef report, and a celebration for Jordan to boot.

I gotta tell ya...for the last several days of our trip I excitedly checked 550 every day for your camper. I was still thinking you were arriving earlier. INC had to talk me off the ledge every night when you guys didn't arrive.

:hugs2: Thanks Dave! We had planned on the first week, specifically to meet up with you, but schedules didn't permit. We WILL get it together one day!

I'm in, She had me at It's

Aww, I always know I can count on you!

Update to follow comments.

I'm in too!

May I please have a cookie while I wait?

Heck Yvonne, you can have 2!!

Do you want me to fill you in on the blanks from this night? Well?

:clint:

Uhhh, probably not.

I know I had a couple cocktails before the GAG and may have texted some jibberish. Explains why we decided on the GAG for dinner....close and quick.

It's that time again!

We just got home from a week at the Fort. We arrived on January 8th and checked out on January 14th.

This trip was extra special as we had Jordan along for the ride. Imagine how he felt. Just one month ago, he was on the front lines in Afghanistan. He was now at Disney World!

2 days before we left, I made some Mickey cookies to get everyone in the mood.

1 day before we left, I made jello shots.

After a lot of planning, scheming and schedule changes, we were all set to go. I had a very special night planned for Jordan, which forced me to tell quite a few fibs.

We'll get to that later.

Tuesday, January 8th- Trevor & I loaded up the truck around 10:00 am and headed out.

(Nate & Jordan wouldn't be down until Wednesday night after work)

Trevor got new tow mirrors for this trip since he liked Nate's so much.

After a quick stop at Walgreens, we were off!

We took the stinky road in this trip. The official road name is 429, but you do pass Disney's landfill and if your windows are down, your senses will be assaulted. Especially when it's 83 and sunny, as it was this day.

We pulled into the Fort about 11:30

Did I mention that the weather was beautiful? Check out those blue skies.

Check in was a breeze. We were given our site # and I asked for "We're Celebrating" buttons, which I decorated when we got settled in.

We were thrilled to get our favorite site; 550!

As I was backing Trevor in, Mason and I both noticed something afoul.

Notice the small gap where the grill attaches to the concrete? Here is a side view:

Some idiot hit the grill. Obviously, by where the crease is, it was a Fort idiot. Either with the bucket of the tractor used to move the picnic tables, or maybe a mower.

Another new addition this trip was a mini fridge. If you read my last report you know that our electric cooler started smoking and I just didn't trust it.

If I'm doing a lot of cooking, our RV fridge fills up quick, so this gives me more room for food and/or drinks and is not much bigger than the electric cooler.

The site's all set up.

With set up complete, we took Mason out for a ride and made our usual first stop at Judy's. After checking out the scenes, we discussed dinner and settled for a GAG. Mason enjoyed the chicken tremendously, and so did we.

They gave us enough fries to feed the 500 loop!

We relaxed until the sun went down and went out for some more looping. It was going to be an early night as I had worked at 4:00 am.

Judy is down to bare minimum decorations as she is leaving in a week or so. :-[

That's it for Tuesday. We snuggled down in bed to enjoy the sounds of camping.

Coming up: Thank God I'm an early riser!

I'm along for the ride!

Your son is adorable, especially in the comparison shot. They grow too darn fast.

Keep up the good work!

Well thankfully since all the pictures are in order, I'm really guessing that morning pictures start each morning, then when it gets dark, that's the end of the day, and the next daylight picture I have is the next morning :)

I guess that makes sense when you take as many pics as you do. I sometimes don't take night shots, then my days melt into one another.

Thanks for the Lego shots, would probably never visit there. If I had a quarter for every Lego I sucked up in the vacuum when Nate was young, I'd be rich!

Easy on the Van Halen bit there pal...Aerosmith is perhaps even more un-Disney!

I'm going against the grain here, but I agree.

First, I dig Van Halen. I see enough "Disney" singing around the world and have no idea what or where it came from. Nate hasn't been into Disney channel for about 10 years. It's a nice change to hear some rock n roll.

I have seen MS&T draw a crowd and it was that music that got people moving.

(Can you tell, I hate prickly balls!!)

:hah: I will add nothing to that.

Thanks for breaking out the spankula and the Gator Gnome!

Hate all the pics of the abomination. Gets worse with every trip.

Love that Jeannie did New Years decorations, Dick included!

By Dick, I mean Dick Clark

How did I know this report would be a "wham bam, thank you maam?"

Next time, try not to be so wordy.

I'm going to try and at least get mine started today to help explain some of the regurgitation you spewed.

Work is complete madness (Ya know, those new years resolutions that last for a couple weeks ^-^ ) And I had a mountain of laundry and mail!

Our pleasure on the coffee, food, cart and hot young men at your site.......that's what friends are for!

Sung in my best Dionne Warwick voice.

Heck yeah, you can come along! Just don't wear any NASCAR stuff. We like to give the illusion that we have some class.

:rofl2: Forget it, I'm out!

:lmao1:

That gift was even funnier once Tony told me you couldn't whistle! (hence where duck tape came into play for the key situation)

Caught up!

That visit seemed so long ago. I suffer from CRS and wouldn't know which day was which.

Wish I had little ones to take to AOA! So cute!

Woohoo!! I'm in!

I was thrilled that you guys were able to come. One of the best trips we've had with a bunch of our favorite friends. :heart:

I will be able to fill in some blanks whenever I can get my report started.

I'm in too!

Can't wait to see more pics of those cute little redheads.

Might I add that you're a genius who uncovered some amazing things? :)