ELEVATE! Is that a whale out there? A three-generation cruise to Alaska!UPDATE 8/29

[RGirl]

Oooohhh....you really have me intrigued!!!

Yep - Palo ended up being a HUGE part of our trip. As you will very soon seen.

 

[RGirl]

Ok, this is too funny that you have a FB photo album about Rapunzel's hair! And I especially love that your stylist is willing to work on the doll!

Right?????? It STILL makes me laugh! I am totally taking my stylist up on the offer - I wonder if he remembers making it.

 

[shan23877]

That is so funny that you posted that about Rapunzel's hair!!!! I have an entire Facebook photo album dedicated to Rapunzel's hair!!! DD has one of those Barbie Rapunzels (with something like 17 inches of synthetic hair) - it is a RAT'S NEST. I realized it one night and immediately snagged baby Rapunzel and discovered that her hair was going down the same path. I was able to save it, braid it up, and it has been good since. I still need to figure out the time and technique to fix Barbie Rapunzel's hair, but it is soooo bad! My own hair stylist suggested that I bring it in and he would see what he could do for it. Let me know if you find a good technique.

Well, Dell is my darkest nemesis, so I will never encourage that purchase. But I can totally understand how you might lean in that direction.

I've spent so many hours and used so much real spray detangler on Rapunzel! I hate it! The worst for sure is the "little Rapunzel" she barely has any hair left because I pulled so much out trying to brush it. Maddie always lets me braid it right after I've brushed it out, but then of course she removes the braid the next day. Someone got Mads one of those "Princess & Me" Rapunzel dolls from Toys R Us 2 years ago. It has curly hair (?) and has been tangled since the day she got it. I simply can't get it out!

I'll let you know if this new "recipe" works.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you have a FB photo album devoted to this. HILARIOUS!

 

[RGirl]

I've spent so many hours and used so much real spray detangler on Rapunzel! I hate it! The worst for sure is the "little Rapunzel" she barely has any hair left because I pulled so much out trying to brush it. Maddie always lets me braid it right after I've brushed it out, but then of course she removes the braid the next day. Someone got Mads one of those "Princess & Me" Rapunzel dolls from Toys R Us 2 years ago. It has curly hair (?) and has been tangled since the day she got it. I simply can't get it out!

I'll let you know if this new "recipe" works.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you have a FB photo album devoted to this. HILARIOUS!

I think I caught Baby Rapunzel (from the countdown calendar) just in time, and I guess I must have inadvertently put the fear of Mother Gothel or something in Willow because she hasn't dared unbraided her hair since. I did three braids and then braided the braids. Willow seems to like it. So far.......

I have read a bunch of recipes for Barbie Rapunzel's hair, but I've been a bit depressed about the thought of starting it. When I posted her pic on FB, one of my friends responded with, "Our Rapunzel now sports a lovely short bob."

 

[shan23877]

I think I caught Baby Rapunzel (from the countdown calendar) just in time, and I guess I must have inadvertently put the fear of Mother Gothel or something in Willow because she hasn't dared unbraided her hair since. I did three braids and then braided the braids. Willow seems to like it. So far.......

I have read a bunch of recipes for Barbie Rapunzel's hair, but I've been a bit depressed about the thought of starting it. When I posted her pic on FB, one of my friends responded with, "Our Rapunzel now sports a lovely short bob."

That's fantastic!!! Seriously, the best thing I've ever heard. I may have to try that, I wonder if you can dye Barbie's hair so that it looks authentic after it's bobbed?

Those braids sound cool! Maybe I'll try that on one of them....probably couldn't get away with chopping the hair off all 4 Rapunzels (plus the one that my niece left here)

 

[RGirl]

That's fantastic!!! Seriously, the best thing I've ever heard. I may have to try that, I wonder if you can dye Barbie's hair so that it looks authentic after it's bobbed?

Those braids sound cool! Maybe I'll try that on one of them....probably couldn't get away with chopping the hair off all 4 Rapunzels (plus the one that my niece left here)

I think it may be possible that you have too many Rapunzels!

The good news is that you can try a different technique on every one and report back!!!

 

[shan23877]

I think it may be possible that you have too many Rapunzels!

The good news is that you can try a different technique on every one and report back!!!

I think that you may be right.

I'll give you a full report when I've completed Operation Rapunzel Hair Takeover. (making a mental list, one gets a brown bob, one gets the triple braid treatment, one gets the Pinterest recipe, and one gets "lost" in the circular file )

 

[RGirl]

I think that you may be right.

I'll give you a full report when I've completed Operation Rapunzel Hair Takeover. (making a mental list, one gets a brown bob, one gets the triple braid treatment, one gets the Pinterest recipe, and one gets "lost" in the circular file )

I can't wait! You may have to start your own Facebook album!

 

[Momma2Jax]

I'm in! Love the countdown gift idea! Can't wait to see more!

 

[RGirl]

I'm in! Love the countdown gift idea! Can't wait to see more!

Thanks! We love the countdown calendar!

Thanks for joining in!

Your cruise is coming up fast!!! I know you will have a wonderful time, because you should have the same amazing crew as we did. I'm so excited for you!

 

[iloverags2]

I love your countdown calendar!!! Very cute, and the notes in them are clever! Wish we had a little one around to do something like this with.

 

[hstrickland]

OMG...you just started and you're already on page 3....I feel late. Now back to the beginning to catch up.

Heather

 

[barbbarnes]

I love your countdown, I wish I had thought about that! We are doing an Alaskan cruise leaving on Aug 13th with my in laws so I'm loving your report! Thanks

 

[JLCJMC]

Really looking forward to hearing about the trip Welcome back!

 

[RGirl]

I love your countdown calendar!!! Very cute, and the notes in them are clever! Wish we had a little one around to do something like this with.

Thanks! We love the calendar. You should make one for yourself! I swear - it's at least 50% for me - helps get me all excited for the trip!

OMG...you just started and you're already on page 3....I feel late. Now back to the beginning to catch up.

Heather

You haven't missed much! And I have to leave for a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party soon - hope to get organized and at least a little update written tonight though!

I love your countdown, I wish I had thought about that! We are doing an Alaskan cruise leaving on Aug 13th with my in laws so I'm loving your report! Thanks

You'll have to do a calendar for your next trip!

Your cruise is so close! You are going to have an amazing time! We LOVED it - Alaska is so beautiful, words can't describe it.

Really looking forward to hearing about the trip Welcome back!

Welcome! So glad you joined in again!

 

[hstrickland]

All caught up...now the trick is to NOT get behind We couldn't get the Palo brunch that I wanted, but we did do Remy one night Next time, Palo will be a must!!!

I should have an actual update up tonight, although Photobucket is giving me fits and hasn't uploaded my photos in the last two hours.

They changed it again I wasn't liking it at first, but now that I've 'relearned' the program it's fine. They did take away a couple of things that I liked to use, but added lots more. You'll get it....and listen, no pressure about making another installment we'll all be waiting patiently, kind of....

 

[jedijill]

Can't wait to hear about the trip and how all of the Rapunzel's hair turns out.

Jill in CO

 

[RGirl]

All caught up...now the trick is to NOT get behind We couldn't get the Palo brunch that I wanted, but we did do Remy one night Next time, Palo will be a must!!!

They changed it again I wasn't liking it at first, but now that I've 'relearned' the program it's fine. They did take away a couple of things that I liked to use, but added lots more. You'll get it....and listen, no pressure about making another installment we'll all be waiting patiently, kind of....

It is hard to stay caught up on all these TRs, isn't it???

I am so excited to read about your cruise and compare notes!

I will get at least one update done tonight (VERY soon) - maybe more!

Can't wait to hear about the trip and how all of the Rapunzel's hair turns out.

Jill in CO

Welcome Jill! Thanks for joining in!

 

[RGirl]

2. Our WONDERful Trip Begins

With our trip looming before us, DD and I set out after work and school on Friday evening to accomplish a VERY important mission - vacation hair!!!!! I had gone to get my hair colored the weekend before. I let DD choose my color , and she chose “Rapunzel,” so that’s what my stylist did. However, he wanted to do another round of toner before I left because he had had to spend about 3 hours trying to get out the terrible color that another hair dresser had put in before he moved back to town. SO glad he moved back!

Okay, that was more than you needed to know! Anyway, I had to get that done, but DD had to get vacation hair too.

She got tinsels! We love doing this, and it is quickly becoming a pre-Disney-trip tradition for us. (I didn’t get any this time because there was a very limited supply.) Anyway she got a bunch put in; you can see a few of them in this pic that I took later that night.

The next day was packing day. It was a nightmare - I had no idea what I was doing. I won’t even tell you about it. So fast forward…...

Finally the day arrived! We were leaving home, ready to sail away. First, we loaded up our Beast, Oscar, and took him to the doggy hotel.

Not sure why Oscar refused to turn around to have his picture taken, but in case you were wondering what he actually looks like. Here is a picture from our Christmas card photo shoot last year.

Now, we live in a small town on the eastern side of Washington State. The Wonder was leaving from Seattle, obviously on the western side of the state. So we had reserved a hotel in the Seattle area for the night before our cruise. On this day, July 1, we were leaving home for Seattle, looking forward to stepping aboard Mickey’s ship the next day. We had loaded up the car and picked up my mom. Something about this pink and purple polka-dot luggage makes me think that the back of our car could easily be mistaken for a girl band tour bus.

I was actually quite concerned about our luggage. It is hard-shell luggage and quite large. I was worried about whether it would fit under the beds in our staterooms given that that is where everyone says to store your luggage. I did ask on the DIS, and people seemed pretty sure that it would, so I decided to take it. But I was still nervous……..

We stopped on our road trip to have lunch at a Mexican restaurant.

I don’t even remember what town we were in! Actually, I’m not even sure I knew what town we were in!!! I decided to practice getting back in the swing of taking food pics. I realize that these are not Disney food pics and don’t look very tasty, but what the heck!

Willow had a quesadilla with FRENCH FRIES. Yep, vacation has officially begun:

Willow wanted to have some input on this TR, so I asked her what she thought about this lunch. She said that the french fries were “very tasty” but the quesadilla was not because “it was like the ones we have at school, and I don’t eat those. They taste germy.”

My mom (we’ll call her “Judy 1”) - okay, wait, I’m going to explain that right here and now! My mom is named Judy. Her best friend for the last 30 or 40 years (who joined us on this trip, meeting up with us in Seattle) is also named Judy. In this report, I will refer to my mom as “Judy 1,” her friend as “Judy 2,” and the two of them collectively as “The Judies.” Got all that?

Back to the less-than-yummy-looking road trip food. Judy 1 had chicken fajitas, I believe.

I had the chicken enchilada. Doesn’t that look disgusting? It actually didn’t taste bad at all, but it was enormous. No one would be able to eat all of it!

We had a nice road trip. Judy 1 and I enjoyed the satellite radio that came with my new car. And Willow enjoyed watching several movies.

Next up: The Worst Embassy Suites Ever ​

 

[amandaw]

Woo Hoo! Y'all made it are on the road!

Oscar may be a big beast but he looks like a sweet doggie!

I love all the girlie luggage! And you girl band comment.

Interested in hearing about the worst ever Embassy Suites.

A little off topic: my mom & stepdad came in to town today to spend some time with us & my sister & her family. Anyway, my family went out to dinner with them & we started talking about vacations. They never go anywhere because they are so different & can't pick a place they both want to go. I'm officially trying to convince them to go on an Alaskan cruise (either Disney or Royal Caribbean). My stepdad would love the scenery & excursions. My mother would love the cold weather & reading all day long. If they decide to listen to me (for once) & start doing some research, I may have to pick your brain a bit for them.