zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on May 13, 2015 11:17:25 GMT -5
Gave a surprise birthday party for my ex. Gave a friends name and number for people to RSVP to. You can't believe how many people called MY home to RSVP. What part of surprise do you not understand? So I'm talking funny into the phone in front of my then husband who must have thought WTH? Needless to say, by the time of the party, thanks to fools, it wasn't much of a surprise .
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on May 13, 2015 12:02:13 GMT -5
Do camping trips count?
We did one years ago, thought we were going to a camp ground where you parked right next to your camp site. Nope, you have to park in the parking lot and haul all your stuff about 200 yards away to where you're pitching your tent. Ok, but we didn't really pack for hauling, so DH are trying to drag our gear (and a 3 year old) to the tent site. Picked the one next to the bee nest, accidentally. The first night, woke up with the worst headache ever in my life (probably a migraine), crawled out of the tent, stumbled back to the car, and drove randomly through unknown country roads searching for an open store. At 3 AM. (No we did not have tylenol in our first aid kit - we were idiots). Got to the point I was almost wishing a demented hill person would emerge from the woods and slice my head off with a chainsaw. Next day, DS gets stung by a bee, much wailing (but we did have first aid supplies for that). That night, cook hamburger meat that had been sitting for two days in a cooler that apparently did not have enough ice, because DH and I spend that night vomiting our guts out in the woods (I'm sure the other campers loved that, especially DH, who vomits at about 90 dB, and for a good 15 minutes).
Next morning, it's raining, but we've had enough, so we drag our wet gear through the mud and rain, throw it into the car, and flee.
I think it was another three or four years before we tried camping again, after that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2015 13:58:23 GMT -5
Not sure if Captain or happyhoix get my vote! Great stories everyone, well, you know what I mean. As for me.. Worry for nothing. It was awesome. Love kids engaged in learning about their world. Am so glad I went with two last night though, because it gave me the narrative and structure I needed to make it work. Otherwise... Well, no sense dwelling on disasters averted
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whoami
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Post by whoami on May 13, 2015 14:09:38 GMT -5
I didnt plan it but we did go to a wedding that turned out to be a total disaster.
Our flight was delayed because of bad weather....hours. Kids were total PITAs. We finally left and an hour into the flight, lost an engine. Had to make an emergency landing in the middle of nowhere. We ended up at this hotel because that was all we could find.
Left again the next morning after they brought a new airplane in. Went to the location of the wedding, only to learn the father of the groom had a heart attack that morning and they ended up getting married in the emergency room of the hospital so the father could witness it.
Got into a huge fight with my SIL because she's just a bitch.
I've never been so happy to get home.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on May 13, 2015 14:13:36 GMT -5
Not sure if Captain or happyhoix get my vote! Great stories everyone, well, you know what I mean. As for me.. Worry for nothing. It was awesome. Love kids engaged in learning about their world. Am so glad I went with two last night though, because it gave me the narrative and structure I needed to make it work. Otherwise... Well, no sense dwelling on disasters averted Gee, thanks ? Glad your event worked out fine!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2015 14:15:58 GMT -5
I know... I keep 'liking' these things hoping everyone realizes I dont 'like' that the content occurred... But that it certainly applies!
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on May 13, 2015 14:19:04 GMT -5
Don't worry, oped - I get it . Hopefully you could tell from how I posted that I was able to see the humor in the situation.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on May 13, 2015 14:52:52 GMT -5
Our recent trip to Disneyland.
I have a cousin who is a Princess at Disneyland. I had told her we were coming and had been trying to get her schedule so we could see her as a person and as a princess. She never responded to me. I have an uncle and his family who live in the area. I had been trying to arrange a meet up with them. Basically, they decided they were too busy for us to even come to them (I told him we had a rental car).
I started getting sick on Friday. We flew to Disney on Saturday. We have a two bedroom condo for the week and girls have been told they would be sharing a room. Pop Tart (who up until the Cupcake placement, and even at the start of it) has always wanted someone to share a room with, had started angling to be allowed to sleep on the sofa sleeper weeks before and I ignored it. We don't get to the condo until after 11pm (normal bedtime is 8-9pm for girls). Get them in bed. Suddenly, the light on in the room is too bright for Pop Tart. Again she had NEVER slept without a night light before this, and would happily sleep in a room with lights blazing, but suddenly, the light was too bright. It is now midnight, and we're supposed to meet friends at the park in the morning, so we give in and let her sleep in the living room.
Next morning, texting with friends to arrange meeting. Get to park and at the spot we're supposed to meet them to get the text that they won't be coming that day.
Lines are short, everything is awesome. We do Pirates, and the Haunted House, and Big Canyon Railroad, and Winnie the Pooh... It is almost lunch time. But the line for Splash Mountain is only 10 minutes. Cupcake gets soaked. She doesn't want lunch. She wants to go change. Trying to convince her the LA is not Seattle and she will dry off by the time we're back to the condo results in a melt down. We spend 45 minutes making our way out of the park to the busses that will take us back to the condo. 30 minutes of that is spent with Cupcake lying on the ground under a bench screaming "No" and "I don't want to", and determining that she won't walk anywhere, she has to be carried. Pop Tart gets mad at the start of the breakdown and wants to know why she has to leave the park. She thinks C should take Cupcake back and she and I should stay and do more rides. Trying to explain to her that our plan was lunch and then back to the condo anyway doesn't work. And from that moment on, she has decided that the Disneyland trip was supposed to be all about her and Cupcake has ruined it, so her goal is to make every minute we are all at the park together miserable. (She was perfectly lovely on the times when we did split up at the park.)
The one day that C and I were supposed to have "off" from the girls, we decided to only let Cupcake be gone half a day because of how many breakdowns she had had the day before (including one in her sleep). And instead of being able to relax during that time, we spent it grocery shopping and taking some of the friends we were with grocery shopping too.
And did I mention I was sick through all of this. And got C sick.
And then on the way home, on the descent into Oakland, had a sinus pressure attack over his eye that had him feeling like someone was driving an ice pick into his head (really, in pain to the point of involuntary tears). The "good" thing about this was that Cupcake was sitting next to him and was distracted from her own ear discomfort by his pain. On the second leg, the kids moved to sit next to me. On the descent into Seattle, Cupcake decided to have one last major breakdown. We were "those people" - the ones with a kid screaming uncontrollably for about 30 minutes on the plane. It did not stop when we landed (and we landed early and had to sit on the runway for a few minutes). It didn't really stop until we were in baggage claim.
Okay, so maybe family vacation isn't the type of event you were talking about, but it feels good to share my misery.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2015 15:21:42 GMT -5
I think that definitely counts Shane!
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on May 13, 2015 15:34:44 GMT -5
Agreed.
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Spellbound454
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"In the end, we remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends"
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Post by Spellbound454 on May 13, 2015 16:44:42 GMT -5
Yeah...that's kids for you. No matter how hard you try its never enough.
They get all over-stimulated and turn in to monsters.
such is life...
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Cass
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Post by Cass on May 13, 2015 16:45:23 GMT -5
Today! DBF has been having a tough time at work. He was supposed to be off today. Friend and I plan a surprise trip to an amusement park 2.5 hours away. Tickets are bought online, 3 adults take day off work and pull 2 kids out of school. Then he's not off today after all. Boss calls him in. Some back and forth with work before boss says ok, don't worry about coming in. So we hit the road late and drive to Toronto. And we find an empty parking lot. And cranes servicing the coasters. And a sign that says the park is only open weekends until May 24th. God thing the tickets and parking passes are valid for the entire 2015 season
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2015 16:52:06 GMT -5
OMG Cass... It's Lampoon's Vacation for real.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on May 13, 2015 17:09:37 GMT -5
Spellbound454 - I don't blame Cupcake for the meltdowns. We knew we should have stopped, but pushed to "just one more". It was a hugely overstimulating trip for her. My biggest issue was with Pop Tart's attitude after that, and her insistence that I should hold a 1st grader to the same behavioral standards as a 5th grader (ummm, no, especially since Pop Tart is old enough to be a 6th grader). And then when confronted about her attitude creating problems for others, her response was "you chose to have a bad time. my attitude/sulking/trying to refuse to do anything I was asked that wasn't exactly what I wanted to do/purposeful and unnecessary meanness to Cupcake had nothing to do with that. it was all your choice."
And yes, she's a pre-teen girl, so that's totally age appropriate, too. And I get that. Doesn't make it any less frustrating.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2015 17:11:55 GMT -5
Ok. I'm technically off topic now, since I did in fact not have a disaster today. But photos, if anyone is interested. Wish I could post other peoples kids, lol. Tempted on some since you can't really make out faces behind magnifying glasses smushed up against containers... but no. Just critters.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2015 18:07:52 GMT -5
No, but we have one in group .. I'm usually too busy during events to get pictures. Lol. After Valentines this year I posted two pics of the piles of returned bowling shoes and called it 'remains of the day'... Luckily other people send me shots of my kids.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on May 13, 2015 18:46:58 GMT -5
32 kids is not a big deal. I have art day every year, two days in a row actually because when it gets over 50 kids it can be hard to get to all the paint and clay etc I have strewn all about... I routinely have 30+ each day then. And it's no problem. And there are sharp things. And paint ... But it's on my turf. Parents do mill around. I think it's just that people are used to a certain level of 'free learning spirit' with me. My father is not so , unconstrsined. And there are legitimate concerns. It's just that he's a bit touchy. Not powder keg any more, but small eruption possible. I'm sure it will be fine. But I didn't sleep much. I also dreamed of losing a kid in the woods. Sounds like Dad could use a "guys day". Get him out of the house. Kind of like my SIL when she found us with 20 feet of wall cut out of the side of the house and jacking up the roof with the jack from the car. SIL decided it was a good time to go shopping. That was a good thing.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on May 13, 2015 18:55:31 GMT -5
Our recent trip to Disneyland.
I have a cousin who is a Princess at Disneyland. I had told her we were coming and had been trying to get her schedule so we could see her as a person and as a princess. She never responded to me. I have an uncle and his family who live in the area. I had been trying to arrange a meet up with them. Basically, they decided they were too busy for us to even come to them (I told him we had a rental car).
I started getting sick on Friday. We flew to Disney on Saturday. We have a two bedroom condo for the week and girls have been told they would be sharing a room. Pop Tart (who up until the Cupcake placement, and even at the start of it) has always wanted someone to share a room with, had started angling to be allowed to sleep on the sofa sleeper weeks before and I ignored it. We don't get to the condo until after 11pm (normal bedtime is 8-9pm for girls). Get them in bed. Suddenly, the light on in the room is too bright for Pop Tart. Again she had NEVER slept without a night light before this, and would happily sleep in a room with lights blazing, but suddenly, the light was too bright. It is now midnight, and we're supposed to meet friends at the park in the morning, so we give in and let her sleep in the living room.
Next morning, texting with friends to arrange meeting. Get to park and at the spot we're supposed to meet them to get the text that they won't be coming that day.
Lines are short, everything is awesome. We do Pirates, and the Haunted House, and Big Canyon Railroad, and Winnie the Pooh... It is almost lunch time. But the line for Splash Mountain is only 10 minutes.
Cupcake gets soaked. She doesn't want lunch. She wants to go change. Trying to convince her the LA is not Seattle and she will dry off by the time we're back to the condo results in a melt down. We spend 45 minutes making our way out of the park to the busses that will take us back to the condo. 30 minutes of that is spent with Cupcake lying on the ground under a bench screaming "No" and "I don't want to", and determining that she won't walk anywhere, she has to be carried. Pop Tart gets mad at the start of the breakdown and wants to know why she has to leave the park. She thinks C should take Cupcake back and she and I should stay and do more rides. Trying to explain to her that our plan was lunch and then back to the condo anyway doesn't work. And from that moment on, she has decided that the Disneyland trip was supposed to be all about her and Cupcake has ruined it, so her goal is to make every minute we are all at the park together miserable. (She was perfectly lovely on the times when we did split up at the park.)
The one day that C and I were supposed to have "off" from the girls, we decided to only let Cupcake be gone half a day because of how many breakdowns she had had the day before (including one in her sleep). And instead of being able to relax during that time, we spent it grocery shopping and taking some of the friends we were with grocery shopping too.
And did I mention I was sick through all of this. And got C sick.
And then on the way home, on the descent into Oakland, had a sinus pressure attack over his eye that had him feeling like someone was driving an ice pick into his head (really, in pain to the point of involuntary tears). The "good" thing about this was that Cupcake was sitting next to him and was distracted from her own ear discomfort by his pain. On the second leg, the kids moved to sit next to me. On the descent into Seattle, Cupcake decided to have one last major breakdown. We were "those people" - the ones with a kid screaming uncontrollably for about 30 minutes on the plane. It did not stop when we landed (and we landed early and had to sit on the runway for a few minutes). It didn't really stop until we were in baggage claim.
Okay, so maybe family vacation isn't the type of event you were talking about, but it feels good to share my misery. I don't suppose that a large roll of duct tape would be considered an appropriate solution? If it's done right, you can fashion a handle on their back so you can carry then like a suitcase. Tskeeter sits down to write the article announcing the opening of his new child care center!
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t-dog
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Post by t-dog on May 13, 2015 19:07:32 GMT -5
selling my house...its an ongoing disaster
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on May 14, 2015 2:09:04 GMT -5
My biggest "disaster" was a huge fundraiser that took months to organize, only to be called off because of the start of the first Gulf War and threads made against westerners in the city I was living in at that time. Calling it off was the right thing to do, but it was still tough.
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Post by mojothehelpermonkey on May 14, 2015 15:41:51 GMT -5
If trips count, I think my recent one would qualify. I planned a birthday/5-year-anniversary trip for me and my SO. I bought tickets and booked a hotel room a few months in advance for a 2 day music festival. The tickets were expensive and non-refundable, and of course we both started feeling under the weather in the days leading up to the event. The day we left, my SO was in the constant-sneezing/nose-dripping stage of a head cold. It was also raining, so it took us significantly longer than it should have to drive to the city where the festival was. When we checked into the hotel, we found out that the rooms were actually booked at the "signature" version of the hotel. The room actually ended up being bigger than expected, but the "signature" hotel was a 15 minute walk from where we were. I had also pre-purchased shuttle passes to get us to the venue because that seemed like the most efficient way. The shuttle pick-up location ended up getting moved to a place that was a 25 minute walk from our hotel. We were late the first day and my SO was feeling so awful that we left early. We only got to see one of the bands that we was hoping to see that day. The next day, I was starting to develop the same head cold, so we were both ready to leave before the headliner for that night came on. We both really wanted to see that band, but it was cold and our hotel room had a jacuzzi tub. To top it off, we were hit with a $400 "stupid tax" after a mutual lapse in judgement. At this point, we both just started laughing. Now that I think about it, this probably was a perfect anniversary trip because we both still managed to have a good time. I can't think of anyone else that I could have gone on that trip with and not have had an awful time.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 14, 2015 23:02:34 GMT -5
I'm too lazy to re-read. oped - did your thing happen yet? How was it? I am having a thing on Saturday. Another friend and I went back and forth on if it should be at our house or theirs. We decided it was going to be here, and I felt relieved, because then I can control it. Now I am wishing I didn't have to mess around with this. Why do I want all these people in my house??
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2015 2:16:58 GMT -5
It went well. I was worried for no reason
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2015 9:26:52 GMT -5
I'm going to an event that has the potential to be a disaster on Tuesday. Our dept. is doing a retirement party for three teachers. We were asked to sign up for a food item and contribute to the gifts for them. The whole faculty and staff are invited so approximately 300 people. It's an ambitious undertaking. I looked at the sign-up list for food. Ten people have volunteered to bring a dessert. Of course, no one may show up. Would that be better or worse?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2015 9:29:30 GMT -5
Let us know how it goes
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on May 15, 2015 9:43:57 GMT -5
OPED, do you have an education degree? I understand that you are committed to homeschooling your kids, but if you can plan and organize an event like this, I kind of see why you think you could land on your feet if you needed to seek outside employment.
I have a cousin who homeschooled and she had an education degree. Her youngest is about 11 or 12, I am not sure if she is still doing it or not...she has about 8 kids, and most went to the public HS when they got to that age.
I am glad your event turned out! Did you have a lot of parent "helpers"?
Shane, thanks for the Disney story. I have always felt some Mom guilt b/c we never took our kids to Disney. When they were in HS/Middle school we did Universal Studios and we all enjoyed it, but they don't seem to feel and lacking in their upbringing b/c they did not get to Disney. On the other hand, my DD gives me a hard time b/c I didn't let her spend her summer in Mexico with DH's cousin. (I don't know anything about her/her friends/living conditions).
Thyme, I am having a family birthday party next weekend for DH and his Dad...I kind of feel the same way. It is a lot easier when someone else is the host. Unfortunately, it is either us or my MIL, no one else in the family ever offers.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2015 9:53:07 GMT -5
Yes, I have a BS in special Ed and an MS in Ed development.
I did have a lot of parent helpers. It's uncharachteristic of me, but I assigned groups and parent helpers to those groups for the 'scientists gathering specimens' segment of the day... Groups were age ranged, rather than peer ranged, one big kid, one little kid, two Middle Aged. Which worked awesome because older kids helped younger too. I assigned moms to the group with their youngest and other moms filled in. Things didn't go exactly as assigned, but well enough that we had lots of eyes and spread out enough so that it was smooth sailing.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on May 15, 2015 10:25:52 GMT -5
bean29 - I went to Disneyland once, for about half a day, the summer before 8th grade. I then spent two days at Euro Disney the summer after senior year of high school, and C and I spent about a week in the DsineyWorld area for our honeymoon. So this was really my first chance to explore Disneyland to any degree. But C's family has always LOVED Disneyland, and he went there quite a bit. (We have his mom's lanyard with pins in the basement.) But I don't think Disneyland is a need, or even a right of passage, for kids. I guess to go along with my family, C's aunt, cousin, and late cousin's daughter (same age as Pop Tart) were supposed to join us for the week. However, his uncle ended up in the hospital a week and a half before the trip was planned, so they had to cancel.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on May 15, 2015 10:41:09 GMT -5
Shanedoah,
I went to Disney when I was 25 with a friend from HS. We had a great time. I know there is a lot to offer kids, I am sure your kids got a lot out of the trip. I decided long ago, that when my kids were overstimulated, it was best to leave...forcing them to stay at an event would just ruin their memories of the event.
I really wanted to take my kids there. I always planned to take them, just that when the opportunity finally presented itself, DH had a business trip to Universal, and extending the tickets was very inexpensive but buying 4 tickets to Disney would have added probably $800-$100 (we were all considered Adults at that point) to the cost and we would have needed a rental car. The kids opted for more days at Universal.
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