Planning and Planning....and more planning

I have managed to squeeze quite a bit of planning into this trip, in spite of the fact that I found out I was going only 4 days before leaving!

Bethany's babysitter (her mom) will be driving down with me (hopefully that will still be the plan!) to stay with her kids at their house while she is gone. I hope to leave Adairsville by 6am. This is just a necessity since we have to go through Atlanta you must leave super early or late. I don't want to leave late because it takes 4-5 hours to get to Valdosta and we need to be leaving there by lunch time in order to get to Orlando in time for our evening plans.

Bethany and I have decided for sure to go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party the night we arrive. It is only shown certain nights of the week and Tuesday night is the only night it is showing while we are there and you can get into the park at 4pm!

I am very excited about this! Bethany has NEVER BEEN to Disney World before!!!! This is an after hours event that you buy a special ticket for. They will serve hot chocolate and cookies for free (well the price of the ticket, $52...you know), have a special Christmas themed parade....have a special Christmas fireworks show, SNOW falling at the beginning, special meet and greets with the characters dressed for Christmas, and most of the major rides will still be open. The park will be open until midnight for the party, so this will be a perfect way to experience the park without paying the full price for a ticket. The crowds should be non-existent as well....I am really really excited about that and I hope I can talk Bethany into wearing a "first visit" button while we are there! :)

My "online friend" Marcy, is going to be in Disney World next week too, so we will finally get to meet in person while we are both far from home! She actually lives in GA and is a college friend of Bethany's so we plan on meeting maybe Thursday in Downtown Disney. Isn't that wild?! I was so jealous when she started planning her trip that she was going so soon, and CRAZY that I get to go the same time! They are celebrating their anniversary, so Happy Anniversary Marcy and Scott! See you in FLA!

I also have been challenged by Corey with my food budget. He thinks it would be unthinkable for someone to be able to eat on $30 for 4 days. This is not my budget by the way, but when we were deciding how to afford it I suggested that I COULD do this if I had to. He thinks its impossible. I plan on proving him wrong. Bethany already has her BOGO coupon for Sweet Tomatoes ready! ha ha! Anyway, who knows if I will actually make the budget, but I do plan on being as cheap as possible with food just to see.....

I have a long list on my fridge. Katie has been busy herself, making lists of things....she is so cute! She has a list of toys to take to Nana's house (babys, dolls, frog Lily, etc), a list of foods to tell Nana to have (oreo dessert, soda pops, strawberry pop tarts) and just general lists...remember to tell Nana that we love you mom...just adorable! Don't worry Nana, they aren't bringing all that stuff! I think they still don't understand exactly what is going on...Noah mentioned spending the night at Nana's earlier and I explained to him that he would be coming home to sleep. It is so odd for them to think about being HOME when I am not there...staying with Daddy. It is the other way around when Corey has to travel as he does regularly, so this will definitely be different for them. I hope and pray they will not miss me too very much that they cry at night or something.

My list includes every single thing in the world I want to remember to take....believe it or not "clothes" is on my list. ha ha. And, before you think that is a little nuts, let me explain. It will remind me to check my clothes again just to be sure I have what I needed and didn't forget to add something I was washing to get ready to go. Also, computer,camera and memory sticks, vitamins, snacks, swim suit, etc...the usual stuff.

The funniest thing has been the things that Corey has requested I get ready for him while I am gone. He wanted me to get all the clothes laid out and ready for the kids for the week...yeah, Katie's clothes can be a challenge sometimes as far as what still fits, what shoes go best with which pair of jeans (some are long and require boots for example).
He also said to be sure that if their nails need clipping to do that before I go! ha ha!
Another request: be sure there is a brush and at least one pony tail holder where he can find it!

This will not be the longest I have ever been away from my kids...I am pretty sure Corey and I were gone on our solo Orlando trip this long too...but this is definitely the longest amount of time that Corey has had the kids on his own! I know he will do fine...I just hope he remembers the vitamins and medicine every day!

Anyway, better get back to getting things ready....laying out clothes...packing up stuff...cleaning..calling Bethany 100 times to discuss stuff...