momof3kids-Yvonne

Not being able to work on Thursday and Friday because of Jury Duty, I found it necessary to put myself on-call for a Sat. night shift. Of course they called. Do you want a 6:30 pm to 12:30 am shift? I took it.
That's ok, so what if I only have one day to take care of that list, I can do it, I will do it.
As usual Buddy was up at 5am and so was I now, but I went back to bed after I took care of him. It's like have an infant.
Up at 7am, grab a bite and off to WDW.
In addition to the items on the list, I wanted to stop by the Grand Floridian and say hi to a friend that works there.
Ollie, the greeter. We became friends when we both worked there years ago. He's one of nicest guys I've ever met. If you're ever at the GF, say hi to Ollie.
Parked in the CM lot and walked over, but no Ollie, oh well.
Hop on the Monorail and it's off to the MK
Done, and in the size she requested.
Done, very impressive. It's going to be great when it's all done.
Didn't get to it. It was getting crowed and hot.
Not sure if I'd be able to tell the difference anyway.
Looks the same. I don't think they did anything as far as the appearance.
Must have been a mechanical tune-up.
Ok, now I can say I've done it.
The fanatics are nuts.
I'm a big SWs fan but people, really, get a life.
Done, one for me and one for Pam. They're about a foot tall, very cool.

It wasn't, so I didn't.
Done, a feast for the eyes.
Probably not going back for the concert tonight, but who knows.

My 10 year old just read Lorna's recap and told me, "We are going next year." I told her to go tell her daddy that.

What a wonderful time we had, I loved sending time with all of you. I loved the glass Holly thank you sooooooo much it will be used a lot LOL.
I am glad we got to meet Ryan and family, and can't wait till Halloween to spend more time with them. Also got to spend some time with Judy and Dave, and glad to get to know you better. New Holly had some mishaps but was glad to get to meet you and your family. Meeting Marty and family was a treat what well behaved childeren and so nice getting to spend time with you and hubby. Ken and Judy and family, with a cute little one in tow, who no one could resist. Sheila and Tim so glad that Tim was talked into joining the fiends by Sheila can't wait to meet up again. Holly and Ashley and Dylan who is soooooo cute. Dave and INC and the girls who I look so forward to seeing every time. Scott and Beth and family, Bob and Kathy, and grandkids,even peanut started speaking to me, Jen and Chris, and CJ, TJ and MIssy who cooked and cooked and cooked for us. Kim and H and the boys who I love to see, Kim we had a few drops from the sky when you left, I think it was fiends tears as you were leaving. Christy and family, Doodle and Mike, Carol and Rich who came with food, cooked and left. most people eat and run, Rich cooked and ran, thanks Rich and Carol. Donnie and Annie what would a GG be without them. Kelly, Stacy, and Brit with their new beautiful camper. Of course Lou and Gail and family came and spent some time (guess what I gave Lou a HUG) It is a little bit of a come down, we have planned this for a year and it's over. I loved every minuet of it and can't wait for next time. I hope I didn't leave anyone out MISS U ALL (this is how I say it) ALREADY What a great bunch of FRIENDS we have.

Who are you and did I meet you?
More like stalking.
Like you and her don't have enough to do.
I didn't know you had left until I looked around at the potluck and didn't see you guys.
Hey, where's Marty and family?
I saw a number of people taking pictures. I'm sure you'll see a ton of them once everyone is back home.
Anyway, there were so many Fiends there yesterday that it took me most of the afternoon to chat with them at their sites.
The ones that I didn't catch up with, I saw at the potluck later that night.
And speaking of the potluck, just an amazing variety of great food and I mean great food.
As a professional moocher, I took full advantage of it. Even If I had brought something, I'm sure I'd be bringing most of it back home.
Thick steaks, a couple of different sausages and brats, brisket, pasta dishes, sauerkraut, potato salad, pulled pork, mac and cheese, pies, cakes and much more.
And speaking of steak, our resident steak grilling guru, Rick, Carol's hubby, came all the way from Alabama, grilled the steaks, but had to return home last night as he had a commitment.
Wow, what can you say about Rick that hasn't been said.
He's looking slimmer and trimmer. He's lost, I believe he told me it was 40 or 45 lbs so far. Good for him. We want him to be around for a long time. I'm sure I speak for everyone, thanks Rick, you're a special person.
A big shout-out to Holly (MicknMIn). She made great looking and detailed, what are called Redneck wineglasses for the ladies. They were personalized with their names. How generous is that.
I need to get my hands on one of those.
And Lorna gave attendees of the last WWW a mounted photo of the participants.
As I stopped by the WWW for a quick visit, Lorna gave me one with a photo that I was in.
It was pleasure to meet Ryan, Joana, and their little boy Trent. They're the recipients of this years FHF project.
Judy, Ken, and the three kids stopped in for the afternoon and that's no easy feat.
I saw more than one person shake their head in disbelief and amazment at the unbelievable work they both do for the kids. There are no words.
Jen, Chris, and CJ finally showed up safely. They were in great spirits considering what they had been through.
All's well that ends well.
So many Fiends, many cute kids, cute dogs, so much food, does it get any better?

The prince has been waiting and watching for his princess....
Stef arrived today....
There's been a whole lot of :hah: HUGGING going on!!

My wife and I were going to stay in a cabin again for our next trip in Feb 2013, but then we found Fortcamperrental.com that was shown on this site. I have been emailing back and forth with one of the owners who you know as bord1niowa on FF. We have one of the pop-up campers reserved! The company is a startup by a husband and wife FF team! They have been awesome to deal with thus far and I have no reason to believe any part of the experience will be any different. They are very prompt and professional answering any questions you may have. They even want to know about the kids ages, genders, and disney interests so they can make the experience more magical for them. I think their new business is off to a great start and if you are looking for a rental camper; I would definitely say give them a try. You'll be helping out your fellow fiends!

Vinylmation and Monorails combined, my dream has come true.

I appreciate that Andrew. I've known Judy for several years and I used to see Lil B sitting on the steps and he'd kinda wave or say hey when I'd come by. VW Dano and I were hanging out one night (Dan has known Judy and B longer than me) and B was with him. I wasn't sure to be honest, due to me never being around a special needs person much of his capabilities. Anyway, Dan was telling somebody he was heading home that weekend and Lil B asked if he was going to give him a hug before he left. Now let me explain, Dan is at the fort way more than me and he looks at B and says well you know I'm probably gonna be back after I drop the camper off (30 minutes away) so I got to see he has emotions. Like I said, I've never been around anyone with Downs before so I knew nothing.
Over the past couple years I've spent time with him playing bean bag toss and taking him to lunch or a park. I'll tell you 2 things about him. He WILL beat your ass at bean bags and if you say something you don't want him to hear you'd better be far away because he has bionic ears. He loves people and once he gets to know you and you him there is no more special a friend can you have. I've learned a lot from B and seeing things through his eyes is amazing. For those of you who know Tina who is next to Judy her daughter is also special needs and she's a little doll. There's no words to describe what these people will give back to you.
Sorry to ramble but until you've been around someone with special needs you haven't lived right yet.

I've been given small gifts, been asked for a hug, it was a little boy so I was ok with it. paid compliments for my driving, done high fives, gotten thank you cards, but today was a first.
This really happy and friendly small group got on my bus this morning at CBR when all of a sudden one of them yelled out, lets sing "hail to the bus driver". Which they did. They had a song all prepared hailing, yes, me. It was too funny and I really got a kick out of it. I told them they should have waited until I got them to their destination in one piece.

News Flash;
I was in the Meadow TP this morning as a castmember was putting out new Fort license plates, license plate frames and car magnets. Also a new men's tshirt. I was the very first to purchase the new men's shirt. I am posting from my phone so no photos for now.
TCD

To heck with pretending to buy it for kids, I'm getting one for ME!!!!!

Just added the first of a BUNCH of new content I've got in the works for the website side of things.
First off there are some new menus posted on the MENU GUIDE page, including counter service and snack locations.
There's also a new Fort Wilderness laundry facility page with hopefully all the info you'd ever want to know about such a topic. :)
If you haven't checked out the Site Map lately, or are looking to see what information we have on the site so far, you can find it all HERE.
And if there's any specific topic anyone would like to see a page on, please let me know and I'll work on it.

"Whoooooo are you? Who? Who?"

I told you we should have stayed in the 500 loop where being loud and obnoxious is acceptable. Now where is my red solo cup?

Well, here is my first trip report. It's going to be a little slow, since I have to watch the girls at night and be forewarned that there aren't a lot of pictures of the Fort, since it was girls first trip to Disney. The cast of characters included myself at the age of 43, my wife Anne who is 34, my 70 year old mother who also name is Anne, and my darling daughters Cadence and Claire who are 4 & 3 respectively.
First off, I would like to say, that I had a lot of help from people on this board directly and indirectly. I took in much information over the last few months from this board and put it together with my stuff and POOF!! a trip came out of it. So with that said, thanks to everyone.
As some of you may or may not know, we decided not to tell the girls we were going and make it a surprise trip. Of course we had to tell them we were going somewhere, so we told them we were going to a race track that I had gone to and since they have been to Watkins Glen before this was nothing new, so off we went.....
We left at 11PM on Friday and this was a stop off in South Carolina at the welcome center on Saturday morning.

Cadence loves pine cones and SC has some big ones, so she was excited to find these.

We finally got into Florida and headed to the race track.

Thanks for the tip to go around Jacksonville on 9A, it was simple and a nice quiet ride. Going to Daytona, we always headed down 95, now we have solved that nightmare.


We than proceeded to tell them, that we had about an hour to get to the campground we were staying at. We jumped on I-4 and headed West.


Made good time to Orlando and started seeing the signs.....


Down 192 we went and headed for THE SIGN where we were going to tell them.

Here is the video of the magical moment.
http://youtu.be/Zyptn5wQikI
That's it for this segment, hopefully the pics came out, I think I did it correctly. I will try and do the next segment tomorrow.
Best Regards,
Norm

I had a great time and can now say I am officially no longer a "fiend virgin!" I have never been to Mellow Mushroom before that sounds great!

U.S. Navy..68-72 Vietnam Vet..

S/sgt USAF 1966-1970 Offutt AFB Neb, Strategic Air Command, 3902nd operations squadron......USAFE TUSLOG Det 193 Incirlik AB Turkey. USAFR

For hubby
Tony Stinnett
US Air Force 1968-1970
70% disabled (appealing for 100%)

MLM5 US Army 1997 to 2005
Mr. MLM5 aka Dave US Marines 1996 to 2002

U.S. Army, retired. 1979-2006.

100% Disabled Vietnam Veteran - United States Navy

Judy in Texas, proud veteran of the United States Air Force, 1969-1973
:usa:
Thanks!